Chapter 28

The Ashen Dragon was sailing on a calm sea. The waves weren't turbulent at all and the winds were pushing the sails forward. Ace was surprised to see how their sail towards Reverse Mountain was a calm one.

"Alright, everyone! Let's gather at the meeting room! We'll talk about how we'll enter the Grand Line!"

Ace called out to his crew. He entered first and waited for them. The meeting room was similar in design to the one Doppol made for their base in Loguetown.

It had to be said that the Ashen Dragon was a very big ship indeed. It had multiple rooms. There was a kitchen, dining room, a meeting room, a forge on the bottom level, a storage area, a brig where prisoners can be kept, a map making room, a communications room, and a whole floor of bedrooms below deck just to name a few.

Ace sat at the head of a neatly crafted mahogany table in the meeting room. Soon, his friends entered one after another. Seeing that all of them were already there, with Second representing Doppol who was puking on his bucket as usual, Ace signaled to Some to bring out what he asked.

Soma stood and took one of the maps on the shelves of the meeting room. He spread it out on the table for everyone to see. It was a map showing what the seas looked like around Reverse Mountain.

Ace led the meeting. He pointed at the center of the map. It was where Reverse Mountain was.

"This is where we'll be sailing. Reverse Mountain! From there, we enter the first half of the Grand Line!"

"We need to go to a mountain to enter an ocean?" Vash asked.

"We do. It's how pirates from the Four Blues enter the Grand Line. We ride the current going upwards. Once we get there, it'll be smooth sailing downwards."

"An ocean current going upwards? Really hard to believe. But if you say so, I guess it's true," Soma commented.

"Ahh! This is exciting! I can't wait to see it!" Terzo furiously wrote in his journal.

"What about you two?" Ace turned to Hepha and Doppol's Second. "How'd you guys get to East Blue from the New World?"

"We went to Fishman Island and resurfaced at Sabaody Archipelago. After that, we just sailed north along the Red Line, through the Calm Belt, then arrived at East Blue. Can't really get lost if you have the Red Line right next to you," Second briefly narrated how he and Hepha sailed to East Blue.

"You sailed through the Calm Belt?" Terzo and Soma asked.

They were surprised to hear that it was even possible to sail through the Calm Belt. Vash didn't know what the Calm Belt was, so he had no reaction. Ace just whistled.

"That's one way to navigate the world. How'd you guys coat the ship in the New World?" Ace asked.

"How'd you know about coating?" Hepha raised an eyebrow at Ace's knowledge.

"Oh, that," Ace suddenly fumbled. He can't really say he watched it, so he made up an excuse. "My grandpa told me about it."

"Ohh. I guess your pirate grandpa taught you how to fight, huh? Well, to answer your question, I coated the ship," Hepha said.

"You know how to coat?"

"Of course. How'd you think I survived sailing alone in the New World? Can't really get attacked by strong pirates if I'm a thousand meters underwater."

"Smart. So, if I ask you right now, can you coat our ship?" Ace asked.

"Of course. I still have some resin in the storage room. Probably enough for about two coatings."

"Nice," Ace said with a smirk. He had many ideas on how they could use Hepha's coating skill.

"I have a lot of questions on my mind, and I won't even bother asking," Vash said.

"Same here," Soma said. Terzo was just scribbling down in his journal.

"You guys will know what we just talked about when we get there," Ace consoled his friends who knew little to nothing about the Grand Line. "For now, we go to Reverse Mountain! This is great! None of us went there yet!"

The Royal Aces nodded with a smile. They were about to step into an unknown territory as one crew.

"I guess that's it for our short meeting?" Ace mused. "Vash, can you keep an eye out? Tell us if you see the Red Line."

"Sure thing, Ace," Vash said as they stood up to exit the meeting room.

…

"I see it! Is that Reverse Mountain?" Vash shouted from atop the crow's nest a few hours later after their meeting.

The Royal Aces checked to see if Vash was seeing correctly. Of course, he was. There in the distance, they were seeing a huge strip of rock reaching all the way up above the clouds. The Red Line.

What they were seeing was their path to enter the Grand Line. Ace, Vash, Terzo, and Soma shivered in anticipation. They were about to do something grand.

Hepha and Second were rather calm, but still had excited smiles on their faces. As usual, Doppol was barfing on his bucket. It wasn't evening yet, so he was still seasick. Still, they felt the exciting atmosphere on the ship and it affected them despite growing up in the latter half of the Grand Line.

"Ace! I see some kind of crack on the Red Line!" Vash shouted again from the crow's nest.

"That's definitely it! Reverse Mountain!" Ace then turned to Second. He then noticed Doppol. "You know what? I think we should wait for evening to come. I feel like Doppol would actually die if we ride a current that strong."

"Nah, he'll be fine," Second said with a chuckle as if he wanted to see his original suffer. "We've been through worse waves. The Grand Line's strange phenomena are much worse than going up Reverse Mountain."

"Hmm, you sure?"

As if supporting Second's statement, Doppol made a Double to answer for him.

"Don't worry, Ace! I can take it!" The Double made a thumbs-up sign before disintegrating.

"Well then, let's go! Soma, make me some snacks! It'll be a while before we reach the entrance!" Ace said.

"Just how bottomless is your stomach?" Soma complained but went back inside the kitchen nonetheless much to Ace's amusement.

Reverse Mountain loomed closer and closer as the Royal Aces sailed aboard the Ashen Dragon. Despite being in a big ship, the Royal Aces still felt dwarfed by the size and majesty of the great mass of land in front of them.

An hour later after they saw the Red Line, they felt the Ashen Dragon settle and be carried by a strong current heading inside the stream going upwards.

"Oh no! Ace! Our starboard side is gonna hit the Red Line!" Vash shouted at Ace. He had the best eyesight, so he made himself the temporary scout of the crew.

"I'll handle it!" Ace said as he munched on the biscuits Soma quickly baked as his snack.

Ace's feet lit up in flames before flying. He flew beside the right side of the ship and pushed the Ashen Dragon to the left. He didn't use his physical strength at all. His hands were propped on the Ashen Dragon's broadside as the jet of flames on his feet got strong enough to generate a strong pushing force that sent the ship out of harm's way.

The Ashen Dragon entered the upwards stream going up Reverse Mountain. Ace flew back on the ship after seeing how it was safe and sound. The current will do the rest of the work for them.

Ace flew up and stood on top of the Ashen Dragon's figurehead. He raised both his arms and greeted the wind head on. His grin grew wide.

"Grand Line! Here we go!"

The moment they reached the top, the Royal Aces felt as if they were floating for a moment. They took in the view of being above the clouds. Seeing that sight would make one feel as if they're at the top of the world.

Then, as quickly as it came, they were brought back on water. This time, they were being carried straight down. The downwards current submerged them in a sea of clouds.

"HAHAHAHA! THIS IS GREAT!"

Ace crouched low as he closed his hand around the horn of the dragon figurehead to steady himself. The speed they were going felt like it could sweep them off their feet.

With his Observation Haki, Ace looked out for the wellbeing of his crew. They all steadied themselves in a similar way he did. The Doubles were doing good as well. They were mostly the ones that kept the ship running as the captain and the navigator wanted.

Then, Ace heard the loud booming noise of a whale crying. As a fan of the story, he knew who it was.

'Laboon! Is he really that big, I wonder?'

The sound of the wind rushing past them was very loud. No one other than Ace heard Laboon cry. Soon, they exited the sea of clouds that blocked their vision. They were greeted by a gigantic looming figure.

'Oh, man. I don't think drawings do your size justice, Laboon!'

Laboon was simply a massive whale. Ace had no other words to put it. It was like looking at a mountain in the middle of the sea.

"What is that?" Vash gasped.

"Whatever it is, I don't think this ship would survive crashing on it!" Second shouted.

Taking into account the path and speed of the Ashen Dragon, it was quickly obvious that they were about to crash into the massive sight of Laboon in front of them.

Suddenly, Laboon cried again. This time, all the Royal Aces heard him properly. They had to cover their ears from the sheer volume of the sounds Laboon was making.

"That's a whale!" Soma shouted after Laboon's loud cry.

"What a gigantic whale!" Terzo added, before taking out his pen and journal to scribble down on it.

Meanwhile, Ace just froze. Just now, he could swear he heard something different. He felt something different, as if a wave of sadness just washed over him…

Ace shook it off. He immediately flew up and went in front of the Ashen Dragon. With both hands propped up against the front side of the ship, Ace activated his Devil Fruit powers. He used his powers to create a jet propulsion to generate a building up force that went against the Ashen Dragon's momentum to stop it before hitting Laboon.

The Ashen Dragon slowed down and halted right in front of Laboon. Ace flew back up to the Ashen Dragon's figurehead.

'Was that the Voice of All Things? I have that ability, too? Would make sense, since my father had it…'

Ace then ordered his crew to quickly row to the little port by the lighthouse.

When they got there, Laboon slowly submerged and sank back under the ocean much to Ace's dismay. He wanted to interact more with the island whale.

"Welcome to the Grand Line!" a strangely familiar voice to Ace greeted them.

The Royal Aces turned to where the voice came from. The voice belonged to a tall and well built man wearing a black captain's coat. The man was observing them closely, his gaze alternating between the Royal Aces, their ship, and their jolly roger.

"ZEHAHAHAHA! You guys are definitely pirates! This is great!"

If Ace didn't know who the man was based on his appearance, he definitely knew who he was now with that iconic and strange laugh. The man that greeted them jumped up and landed in the middle of the Ashen Dragon's deck.

"This must be fate, us meeting here!" the man declared with his arms spread wide.

"Who the hell are you?" Vash asked with a revolver aimed at the man.

"You guys have a nice ship! Much better than the raft I made!" The man was not threatened at all by Vash. "I am Edward Teach, Captain of the Blackbeard Pirates! You guys! Join my crew!"

-----

(MARINEFORD, PARADISE)

Sengoku stood on a platform in front of 35 of the Navy's best Vice Admirals. Each one of them stood at attention. Their backs were ramrod straight. Their Vice Admiral coats fluttered in the wind. The word 'Justice' on their backs was imposing and proud.

After clearing his throat, Sengoku spoke to the Vice Admirals standing before him. He didn't need to use a Transponder Snail to make his voice louder. With a clear shout, all the Vice Admirals heard him clearly.

"Vice Admirals! You've been called here today because you have proven yourselves worthy of the task you are about to take!"

Sengoku paused. The Vice Admirals didn't interrupt him. They listened and waited. Sengoku nodded in appreciation of their calm and collectedness.

"A pirate proclaiming to be the son of an infamous figure has emerged in East Blue!"

At those words, Sengoku noticed that most of the Vice Admirals' eyebrows shot up. It seems they knew who he was talking about. Still, the marines were silent and paid attention.

"Gol D. Ace! It has been confirmed that his words were true. He is the son of the King of the Pirates!"

Sengoku observed how the Vice Admirals' eyes hardened. It seems they already knew what kind of mission they were about to take.

"Gol D. Ace must be captured! He must be brought here and executed in the name of all that is good! We must show to the world that they have nothing to fear! Justice still rules the seas!"

"YES, FLEET ADMIRAL!"

"There are seven routes in the first half of the Grand Line! Five of you must set out as a fleet on each of the routes and flush out the target!"

Sengoku threw a hand forward, gesturing to the Vice Admirals to go forth and accomplish their mission.

"Go and sail in the name of Justice!"

"YES, FLEET ADMIRAL!"

The Vice Admirals saluted Sengoku before going away orderly, row by row. Sengoku himself stepped off the platform on its rear side. Garp was waiting for him at the bottom of the platform the moment he made the last step.

Unlike his usual boisterous self, Garp was silent. He had his eyes closed and arms crossed. He said nothing to Sengoku. Instead, it was Sengoku who spoke.

"I had no choice, Garp. The Five Elders demanded it."

Garp said nothing in response to his words. He just looked Sengoku in the eyes and walked away, leaving Sengoku alone.