As the distant horizon began to fade from darkness into a hazy white glow, the battered black prow of the Terror Ghost cut through the dense fog, revealing the majestic sight of the Red Line ahead.
Its towering, brick-red layers of jagged cliffside looked like a divine barrier carved by the hands of giants, falling straight down from the heavens. It blocked the majority of ocean currents flowing from the East Blue, like an immovable dam.
Alvida yawned and extended her collapsible monocular telescope with a series of clicks, peering ahead through the blurred edges of the magnified lens.
Moments later, her eyes widened.
"Captain!" she spun around and dashed to the door of Davy Jones's cabin, knocking anxiously. "I see Navy flags! A whole line of warships—they're stationed right up ahead!"
Her knocking and shouting stirred the rest of the ship's crew from their sleep.
Buggy and Hatchan opened their cabin doors and stepped into the narrow corridor. Kuro, on the other hand, took his time, only appearing once he had finished slicking his hair to a glossy shine.
"The Navy?" Buggy's red nose twitched, and panic spread across his clownish face. "I knew it—I knew it! We're in deep trouble now!"
Still not quite convinced, he pushed past Alvida and rushed to the ship's prow to see for himself.
Hatchan, folding his six suction-cupped arms in pairs, looked puzzled. "Why's that trouble? We could all just jump in the sea and swim down to the ocean floor. They'd never catch us!"
Alvida rolled her eyes at him. She raised her hand to knock again—but the door creaked open before she could.
Davy Jones stepped out, boots clicking against the wooden floor, the faint scent of tobacco lingering on him.
"We're near Reverse Mountain and the Red Line already?" he asked without urgency. Alvida nodded, and Jones walked out onto the deck. "Let me see just how many ships they've brought."
Thanks to the earlier warning from the mysterious Dragon, he wasn't the least bit surprised as he raised the telescope to his eye and scanned the waters ahead.
Buggy was pacing frantically by the railing. Seeing Davy Jones emerge, he rushed over, spreading his hands in panic.
"Captain! Let's turn around. Find a small island and lay low for a few months. Once the heat dies down, then we head into the Grand Line, yeah?"
Davy Jones shot him a single glance with his cold, stormy blue-gray eyes, then raised his voice.
"Set course forward. I'm not entering the Grand Line days from now or months from now. I'm going in today. Let them try and stop me if they can."
Buggy stood there dumbstruck, mouth hanging open, unable to form words.
"Raise the flag. Set the sails."
"Yes, Captain," Alvida, Kuro, and Hatchan replied in unison.
Soon, a black pirate flag flapped between the dark sails, its eerie design resembling a living creature, waving its tentacles in the wind.
Buggy clutched his head in panic. He looked toward Reverse Mountain. Even from this distance, he could clearly see the dense formation of Marine warships waiting for them.
It hit him like lightning—just like the day over twenty years ago, when he was still an apprentice pirate.
Back then, his ship had also faced a full Marine fleet. The captain hadn't hesitated to charge in. And now, though the time, place, and people had changed, the sense of déjà vu was overwhelming.
Why am I always stuck with such reckless captains?!
Buggy wanted to scream at the sky in frustration, but reality gave him no room for tantrums. If he didn't want to die here, he'd have to get his cannons ready.
---
"Captain Smoker!" Tashigi ran up the cracked stone steps to the temporary command post near Reverse Mountain. "We have a situation!"
Smoker, holding two cigars between his teeth, paused his smoke-filled conversation with Captain Tashigi, who was puffing her own cigarette. He frowned and turned to the breathless woman before him.
"Don't panic," he said, removing one cigar. "What is it?"
"There's suddenly a thick fog rolling in across the sea—and it's headed straight for us. And… there's a ship inside it. Here, sir." Tashigi handed him her telescope.
Smoker peered through the lens, surveying the ocean from high ground. Sure enough, a dark silhouette could be seen drifting amid the strange, ghostly fog.
His heart sank. He lowered the scope.
"Three days and nights of waiting—and finally, they show up."
"You're sure it's Davy Jones and his crew?" Tashigi stubbed out her cigarette against the wall. "Let's not rush in. We should confirm. Tashigi thinks caution is wise."
"I'm about eighty percent sure it's them. Fog on the sea isn't rare, but when it moves toward us this quickly—that's not normal."
Smoker, a smoke-user himself, knew better than anyone how unnatural this fog was.
"Not to mention, we've had this area under lockdown for a week. Every legal vessel knows to register at Loguetown first. So what kind of ship is coming from outside that route?"
He handed the telescope to Tashigi for her own confirmation, then turned to Tashigi again.
"Have we contacted Vice Admiral Garp? Where is he?"
"I just spoke to him—he reached Loguetown fifteen minutes ago. He's resupplying and will head this way shortly," Tashigi said, adjusting her glasses.
"'Shortly,' huh?" Smoker narrowed his eyes. "He said that two days ago. And yesterday. And now today. When exactly is 'shortly'?"
Tashigi answered cautiously. "He, uh… helped a few villages destroy a pirate stronghold along the way. Then he got caught in a storm. So he was delayed."
"What now?" Tashigi asked, lowering the scope. "If we wait for Vice Admiral Garp, Davy Jones will be sailing right over Reverse Mountain under our noses."
"Begin the operation," Smoker said flatly.
"Are you insane?!" Tashigi's eyes widened. "You're going to initiate the operation without Garp? That's overstepping command—you're not afraid of HQ coming after you?"
"Hmph." Smoker scoffed at the idea of Naval bureaucracy—but his tone softened slightly when he mentioned Garp. "You move in first. I'll request permission from Garp. We'll strike from both sides."
"Tashigi understands." Tashigi brushed back her long pink hair and strode off without another word.
Smoker pointed to Tashigi.
"Keep trying to contact Garp. Let him know the situation here. Request temporary command authorization. I want full tactical control—now."
"Yes, sir!" Tashigi saluted and ran off toward the communications tent.
Plip.
A fat raindrop landed on Smoker's face. He wiped it off and looked up.
Storm clouds were churning above like tidal waves in the sky. Rain began to thread down like silver strands, linking the sea and sky. A fierce gale blew in from the ocean, tossing the waves violently toward the Red Line.
The rain intensified into a torrential downpour. And from within the fog, a black ship burst forth like a blade—finally revealed in full view before the Navy.
Its sails were tattered, its hull battered and patched. A pirate flag never seen before fluttered ominously, exuding a sense of imminent doom.
"They're here." Smoker's eyes locked on the vessel, then turned downward toward the sea.
At the base of the East Blue side of Reverse Mountain, the Marine warships had arranged themselves in a fan-shaped formation. They had deployed a large number of barrels into the water.
Every five barrels were linked by iron chains, drifting with the current toward the entrance of the pass. There, a metal barricade had been erected to block the approach—turning the sea before the channel into a sealed trap.
In the blink of an eye, the black ship arrived. Warships on both flanks closed in, guns primed—and opened fire!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A barrage of cannon fire rained down from both sides. Shells whistled through the air toward the black ship.
But somehow—in the middle of this crossfire—the black ship twisted and weaved like a snake through the chaos, gliding between the cannon blasts without taking a single hit.
"Damn it…"
Even Smoker could hardly believe his eyes. He had studied the reports and planned this formation accordingly—but not even he could have imagined a ship this massive could move with such grace, like a dancer leaping between blades.
Too agile. Far too agile.
Then, from the left and right sides of the black ship, rows of hidden cannons extended outward—firing all eight of Buggy's custom Buggy Bombs at once!
BOOM!!
Eight pillars of fire tore through the storming sea, and in a blinding burst of explosions, eleven warships were destroyed before they could escape.
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