Chapter 48 - Calm Belt

The Going Merry charged through the storm with the wind in its sails. Wild waves smacked the hull. Thunder rumbled through the sky.

Most of the guys on board struggled to keep a steady course according to Nami's directions due to their injuries. Jin had an especially hard time since it was his first time helping steer a sailing vessel. Most of his boating experience took place on advanced war vessels or small speedboats. Controlling an old fashioned boat in stormy waters became an arduous task. Even so, Nami barked out detailed instructions to guide him.

"Nami! The light just went out!" Luffy exclaimed while hanging upside down from the ram-like figurehead.

"Well, that can happen. That's what a navigator is for, you know? So, don't worry. I know the basic direction."

"Wow! You're amazing, Nami!"

"More importantly, can you get down from there and help them? Even Jin-san is steering the ship, and it's his first time."

"No! This is my spot! You can't have it!"

"When did I say I wanted it?!"

"Anyway… at this rate…"

"You worried about the waterway?" Jin asked while walking over since Usopp took over for him temporarily.

"Yeah, it's just a mountain."

"Yup."

Nami blinked a few times and looked up at him with a puzzled expression before asking, "Have you gone there before?"

"Not physically, no."

"What does that mean?"

"I just saw it from a distance. The water will carry us up, but it's a bit rough."

"Water going up? Sounds cool!" Luffy said, still swinging around on his perch.

Ignoring her captain's craziness, Nami asked, "Eh? How much else do you know? Why haven't you mentioned it until now of all times?"

Jin shrugged and said, "It didn't come up until now."

Nami sighed, but then said, "If you have any other relevant knowledge I need, please tell me ahead of time."

"Ah, like the log poses?"

"The what?"

"It's essentially a compass for the Grand Line since normal compasses don't work there."

"Eh? You're joking, right?"

"No? Why would I joke about that kind of thing? The Grand Line is a crazy place, as you'll soon discover."

"Wait. Did you come from the Grand Line?" She asked, raising her brows.

"Did Zoro not tell you anything about me before I came here?" Jin asked in return, raising a brow.

"Not really. He only said he got something that let him talk to some strange people and that you are the leader of the group."

"Hmm. Well, since you're the most responsible person here, it shouldn't hurt to tell you. I'm not actually from this world, but have watched it as an observer for a long time."

"Pft. If you don't want to say anything, you don't have to."

Jin simply stared at her. She stared back.

"...You're not joking? What does that even mean?"

"I guess you might not have context for it yet, but I'm sure it will make more sense to you after traveling the Grand Line for a while. You'll learn many crazy things there."

"Hmm. So are you from there or not?"

"No, but I've seen a good portion of it from an outside perspective, if that makes sense."

"...You might be the best addition to the crew Luffy has found. Everyone else is crazy and foolhardy."

"I'm not crazy! I'm Luffy!"

Jin chuckled, but then retorted, "To be fair, everyone has at least a little crazy in them."

Eyes shining with curiosity, Nami asked, "What else can you tell me!"

"Don't tell her, Jin! We need to find out for ourselves what the Grand Line is like!"

"Haha. Don't worry, Luffy, I'll only tell her things that will help her as the Navigator. I won't spoil anything for you."

"Good."

Nami stood on her tiptoes and whispered in Jin's ear, "Just tell me as much as you can later when he's not around."

"Sure. Would be happy to make everyone's lives a bit easier."

While they were caught up in conversation, the clouds overhead vanished. The sun shone brightly upon the deck of the Going Merry.

"Wow! Such nice weather!" Luffy exclaimed.

"Oh no! This is bad! We've entered the Calm Belt!"

"Ah, yeah, the calm belt. Kinda forgot about that…" Jin said, rubbing his chin. "Maybe we can hunt a sea king or two? I've always wanted to taste one."

"...You're crazy," Nami mumbled.

"Yeah! Let's eat a sea king!" Luffy agreed, hopping down from his perch.

"Forget that! Grab the oars and start rowing! We need to get back to the storm immediately!"

Luffy and Usopp started complaining. Sanji immediately agreed.

"Hm. I can probably use some barriers for that," Jin surmised. Then, he sighed and said, "Guess Sea King meat will have to wait."

"But the weather's so nice," Zoro said, looking out over the railing.

"We've drifted south of the entrance to the Grand Line!"

"But we can get in through there, right?" Zoro asked. "That means we're in the Grand Line now, then."

"If it was that easy, anybody could go to the Grand Line whenever they wanted!"

Nami ranted about the Calm Belt to Zoro, but the ship started shaking a moment later. The Going Merry rose into the sky, startling most of the crew.

Usopp almost passed out.

Nami tried to hug the mast out of fear, but Jin was in her way, so she hugged him instead. He was just about as sturdy anyway, considering he barely reacted to the event. In fact, he was probably safer than the mast since he could fly. After hugging him, though, she cried, "This place is a den for Sea Kings."

"Yup. Cool place, to be honest," Jin commented.

"Is this the time to say such a thing?!" Sanji asked.

"Alright…" Zoro said through gritted teeth. "As soon as this thing dives back down into the sea, start rowing your arms off, got it?"

"I mean… I can just make a barrier propeller when we hit the water," Jin offered, to which the others hesitated to let go of the oars they had grabbed.

While the Sea King looked around, Jin heard a small notification on his phone. He went ahead and checked it while waiting for the beast to either drop back into the water or sneeze like he remembered.

"How are you so laid back right now?" Nami asked, clinging to him so strongly that she would have cracked the ribs of a normal person.

"Why be scared if I'm not in danger?" He casually replied while reading the notification.

{Tutorial Mission #3 Completed. Issuing Rewards.}

{Received 1 Bronze Lottery Ticket.}

{Received 93 RP.}

Upon seeing the RP amount, Jin grimaced a little. Then, he sighed and dismissed his phone. Unlike what he remembered, the sea king dropped back into the water without sneezing. The Going Merry happily bobbed in the small waves, but after the sea king fully submerged, a large wave surged toward the ship.

Since the others stumbled after the drop, Jin cast a huge barrier wall around the ship that prevented the wave from hitting the deck. Briefly, they sank underwater, but Jin's barrier brought them back to the surface in a few seconds. Both magical and physical exertion from moving something so heavy with a barrier took a toll on him. His recovering energy reserves dwindled quickly again.

'That was a bit harder than I expected.'

Because he used a barrier there, the crew rowed back into the storm manually. Overall, it was a fun experience for Jin and a traumatizing one for everyone else.

(A/N: This was a bit of an intermission. Was just setting up some interaction with Nami for obvious reasons and having some fun. Jin will stay in OP world for a couple more chapters, but how many will depend on you guys. I could potentially have him stay until Robin shows up, since that only seems to be a couple days after this event. Depends on if you guys want me to keep him there that long. Would be one chap with Laboon - where Vivi first shows up - and two or three on the cactus island. If not this, then I can just summarize some training and the events in a couple sentences and send him back. I'm fine with whatever for this interlude, honestly, so I'll leave it up to whichever opinion seems more prominent in the comments.)