Peter let out a long drawn out whistle as he tilted his head back to look up and up and up toward the top of the red line and the top of reverse mountain.
It was one thing to see it on a screen but a whole other thing to see it in person. It really was truly massive! No wonder people rarely crossed the Red Line from above and stuck to going under it from Fishman Island.
The rest of the crew was equally impressed by the magnificent sight, especially Momo. As the newest member of the crew she hadn't seen much of the world yet.
Not that they'd seen anything near as impressive as the Red Line without her. His version of Momo was a bright and curious woman with a figure that demanded attention.
Even as a teen she'd looked mature in all the right places, but as a full grown woman in her twenties? She was a bombshell that just oozed 'ara ara' energy, especially when she let her hair down and looked like a curvy Yamato Nadeshiko, the ideal Japanese beauty.
She was still learning how to properly utilize her Quirk, but already she was good friends with the production girls and Valaria's self-proclaimed best friend. Not that is seemed like Momo minded it. With Valeria's help, he expected it would be a week at most before Momo was producing microprocessors and circuitry.
He had no idea how they would program any of it, but that was their field, not his own. He would just wait until they had their tech up to the point that he could get some high end equipment made for himself.
As they got closer to the mountain, Mera began shouting out orders that everyone rushed to follow. She had already scouted the area ahead of their arrival so knew what to expect as they approached.
Soon they were caught in the current, but thanks to Mera's excellent guidance they entered the rapid stream with ease. The ship shuddered under their feet while the powerful current literally pushed them up the mountain. As they neared the top, Mera called out, "Remember what the Captain said! At the first sight or sound of Laboon we slow this thing down as fast as possible!"
He'd had fun telling them all about the Island whale, as in a whale so big it could pass for an island by itself, and it's penchant for blocking the entrance to the Grand Line. It was pretty nice to have at least some foreknowledge of what to expect!
The problem was, once they entered the Grand Line, he had no idea what to expect. It's not like he would be tracing the exact same path that Luffy had. That wasn't how a Log Pose worked at all. From what he recalled there were three or four starter islands, of which Cactus Island was but one. So he only had a twenty-five to thirty-three percent chance to head in that direction.
He also didn't remember much about how the poses picked which island was next. So, he'd bought a half dozen Log Poses back on Hana Island. He wanted to see if all six would point in the same direction or if he would get multiple choices. He honestly had no preference where they went, but he did want to get them to Arabasta. There had still been no sign of Luffy getting a bounty so he was still in the lead for arriving at the island. This was good because he wanted to hunt down Ace first and make him an offer he couldn't refuse.
As the ship reached the peak of Reverse Mountain, Peter looked at the oceanic world spread out before him and felt himself smiling so hard it hurt. Ahead of him was a huge world filled with adventure and excitement! For just a brief moment it was as if he could see the entire world. Then the moment passed and the ship was plunging down toward the Grand Line. Peter threw his hands up and in the air and cheered. He didn't care how childish it was, he was excited as hell while they plunged down at an insane speed.
It was a little funny to him that he, the Captain, was physically the youngest member of the crew at only seventeen while everyone else looked to be in their mid-twenties. That might change when he recruited local denizens, but until then it was something that just entertained him.
About halfway down the mountain they all heard a loud keening sound with a deep bass tone to it.
"Laboon!" Mera called out.
Everyone got to work. The sails that had been pulled up were dropped to act as wind breaks. Mera ran to the bow of the ship and leaped off into the water to push against the hull to try and slow the ship. Peter, simultaneously, took over control of the wheel and kept them on course. Between the sails and Mera's strength, the ship began to rapidly slow. By the time they were three quarters of the way down the mountain they were going slow enough to maneuver the ship some. Once they actually reached the ocean, Peter turned the wheel hard to port to sail around the massive form of Laboon sticking out of the water.
While they sailed around the giant whale sticking straight up out of the ocean, the majority of the crew looked on in awe. Laboon was the biggest living thing any of them had ever seen. Peter had gone to Sea World as a kid in his last life but the Orca's they had nothing on Laboon. It was like comparing an iguana to Godzilla, just incomparable.
Laboon's mournful cry lasted for another minute, then he seemed to give up and sink back into the ocean. They could see the shadow of his massive form below them, but weren't about to try and annoy the big ass whale that could swallow them whole and not even notice. With the whale submerged, they spotted the tiny peninsula that old man Crocus lived on. It was hard to miss with the lighthouse on it.