The light of the guiding light went out and Luffy, who had been hanging upside down from the going merry's figurehead, shouted, "the light has gone out! It's a disaster! The guiding light has been snuffed out"
"It's a lighthouse, sometimes the lights go out", Nami chuckled at her captain's antics, "but that is why you have brought me along, right? Trust me, I know what to do. But one thing still bothers me… according to the charts, the entrance is up a mountain!"
The rest of the crew looked confused but Ogsa simply nodded, "yes, reverse mountain"
"You know about it?"
"Yes, the water currents of the four blues meet up at reverse mountain, flowing up the mountain before meeting in the middle and spewing you into the grandline. It is the safest way of getting into the grand line, believe it or not. The other way is through the calm belt"
"The calm belt?" Zoro inclined his head to the side, "explain, how is a place called the 'calm belt' more dangerous than riding a current up a mountain?"
"The calm belt is breeding ground for sea kings. Beasts so big they could swallow the ship whole a hundred times over and worse yet, there is no wind in the calm belt for the sails to catch, no current for the boat to ride. The only way of moving through the calm belt is to row and- wasn't it storming just a few moments ago?"
It was true, the clouds of rain and lightning had disappeared right above them.
"Don't tell me…"
"We are in the calm belt, yes. Row for your lives before a sea king decides to make us their snack"
They rowed like their life depended on it. Luffy, still on the figurehead, looked down, "whoa, you weren't kidding, they are ginormous!"
"How do you know so much about the sea? You aren't a navigator, are you?" Nami asked when they were out of the calm belt.
Ogsa snorted, "an Amateur at best. I know it from a book I read a long time ago", yeah that book was a manga called one piece.
"You can read?"
"Yes I can and i don't appreciate the insinuation", Ogsa flicked her head with his finger.
"Don't you dare hurt Nami swan!" Sanji kicked him but Ogsa reinforced the place where he was about to be hit with armament Haki, taking no damage from the attack, "what are you made of, metal?"
"Not at all, it is all thanks to Haki"
"What is Haki?" Luffy asked, jumping onto the deck.
"Haki is the embodiment of will. There are three kinds of ways it can manifest. What I used right there was armament Haki. Coating your skin or weapons with a black layer of willpower that makes you more resilient and stronger and even", he flicked Luffy with a haki covered finger, "allow you to bypass devil fruit powers. I only know armament Haki and devolved it by accident when fighting a tough opponent"
"Ouch! Thar is so cool! That is how you were able to hit that smoke guy! Can you reach us?" Luffy asked, stars in his eyes.
Yeah, that's a problem. Ogsa knew about the training method for observation Haki, dodging attack blindfolded but how does one train armament haki? He hadn't awakened it through normal training, it was a life or death situation, "I don't know how to teach you that but we can train observation Haki together, I haven't awakened it yet but I know the training method for that one"
"What does this one do?"
"It allows you to sense incoming attacks and depending on your proficiency also emotions or intentions. Together with armament Haki, this makes or breaks a grandline pirate crew"
"Wait, you said there were three types of haki, yet you only mentioned one… what is the last?" Asked Usopp, scratching his chin.
"The last is known as conquerors haki… I don't know much about it, only that you are born with it and that it is very, very rare. We can start training after we have crossed reverse mountain. I think I see it already"
"We are being sucked in! Steer carefully!" Luffy commanded and Sanji and Usopp did their best to angle the ship.
"It is true! The ocean is rushing up the mountain!" Nami's mouth hang wide open.
" we are a little off, a bit more to the right!"
The whipstaff snapped and they were moving straight towards the gates of the mountain, about to collide, "gum gum balloon!"
Luffy's rubber body bounced the ship towards the right path and with a, "gum gum rocket", Luffy flung himself back onto the ship.
"We are in!" They climbed up the mountain higher and higher until they broke through the lowest layer of clouds. Their captain howled, "Suuuuuge! I can see the whole grand line from up here!"
Birds flew but a few meters above them and they could indeed see wide in every direction, "this is the world's greatest ocean!"
As they reached the peak, they angled downwards and rushed with the currents down the mountain. A whaling call came from below, Ogsa knew it was Laboon, yet he pretended not to know, "what was that noise?"
"Maybe it's the wind?" Offered Zoro.
"I see a mountain up ahead, nami swan!" Sanji called from the crow's nest.
"A mountain? That's not right! It should be open sea once we pass the twin capes", Nami looked confused, trying to spy what Sanji had seen.
"That is not a mountain… that's a whale!"
Laboon was massive, truly as big as a mountain and it didn't seem to notice them at all. There was a small gap where they could squeeze through but their whipstaff was broken, they couldn't steer the ship!
"I have an idea!" Luffy shot the cannon at Laboon and the whale took notice, turning to look at them but not before snapping off the figurehead. Luffy punched it in the eye, "that was my special seat, you dumb fish!"
Laboon's gaze snapped onto Luffy, "come and fight me!"
Laboon swallowed the ship. They were now in the whale…