Transcended as Lord Buggy-Part 3

413. The Real Start

After leaving Loguetown, the Straw Hats go to Reverse Mountain immediately. But before they arrive, they do a kind of ceremony by saying their dreams or goals out loud. It is just to set their goals and their reasons to enter Grandline.

"I will be the Pirate King."

"The strongest swordsman."

"Finding All Blue."

"Creating World Map."

"Defeating my dad."

"T-to be a brave warrior of the sea."

They say their goals while slamming their feet onto a barrel. Then they break the barrel to finish the unknown ritual.

"Why should we break the barrel? It can still be used to store water," says Leo.

"To show our conviction, right, Luffy?" says Usopp

"Nah, it just looks cool," says Luffy.

Leo sweatdrops at that answer, but he doesn't mind it because it's not that important now. The scene in front of them is more important. They finally arrive in front of the Reverse Mountain, the place where the sea is rising to the sky.

The crew is in awe at the sight of water climbing a very tall wall at a very high speed. But their amazement doesn't last long because now they need to enter the stream. They need to avoid crashing into the wall and it won't be easy although their ship is small.

Nami directs them where to move and eventually they can enter it safely. Now they can't control their ship anymore and can only follow the stream. They keep going up the Reverse Mountain until they reach the peak.

The sight on the peak is amazing, yet they can't enjoy it for a long time because gravity is pulling them down. They fall and the ship goes down the Reverse Mountain even faster than when they climbed. So they hold onto the ship because they don't want to fall.

They finally reach the bottom and the sea gets calm again. There is no Whale wall like how it was in the series because Laboon isn't there anymore. Laboon is staying in the sea around Clownland because Brook is there now and the whale is happy by Clownland's merriness.

Instead of Laboon, the Straw Hats see some dolphins swimming around the coast. An old man with a flower head is checking one of the dolphins on the shore. He is injecting something into the dolphin before releasing it and then the dolphins leave after jumping around happily.

Crocus finally sees the Straw Hats and he stares at them menacingly, making them nervous. But then he sighs and just turns around to leave. He doesn't say anything, but the Straw Hats feel offended for some reason.

"What's with that old man?" asks Sanji pissedly.

"I don't know, but he looks disappointed for whatever the reason is," says Usopp.

"Well, let's just go there and ask some questions," says Luffy.

They go ashore and get down from the ship to ask Crocus a few things about Grandline. Crocus is already sitting on his beach chair while reading a newspaper.

"Uhm, excuse me," says Usopp.

"Toilet is there," says Crocus while pointing at a small hut without looking at Usopp.

"Uuh, I don't ask for a toilet," says Usopp confusedly.

"Hmm, my name is Crocus, 71 y.o, my birthday is June 4th, my blood type is XF, and I'm 203 cm," says Crocus, making them even speechless.

Usopp tries to ask again, but Zoro stops him to ask himself.

But before Zoro can even say anything, Crocus says, "You wanna ask about this place? This is Twin Cape, the gate to Grandline. It's the place that everyone from 4 Blues reaches first when they enter Grandline. They come happily not knowing the horror of this place that is often called as Pirates' Graves."