Through The Grand Line

Turns out I fell asleep after going into 'Chillax Mode', because I came out of my state of doing nothing to the morning sun, and then squinted to find Mariga cuddled up to my side.

'Did I really fall asleep? I thought I was gonna do more than that.. um.. yesterday. Oh well. I'm just waking up, guess I'll get my training done.'

Out of the things that happened during those six months of almost nothing but sailing and bounty hunting, I had learned a pattern of when I could do my devil fruit training, as well as my Haki training, although I only really needed to work on Armament since I had my Observation running a good chunk of the day, every day. I did have to combine my 7-Punch workout with my Soru training at some point because it felt weird not training at least some of my Two of Six powers. And so the only time I could do my Geppo training was even earlier than my 7-Punch and Soru training, meaning I was up extremely early most days to train at all.

I had a sneaking suspicion about how the ship constantly stayed in the same direction, and there were two options: number one, that the soul control that was partially disproved was controlling the ship; and option two, a Klabautermann. Although I still couldn't come up with an answer as to why, those were the best choices.

A week passed, and it was the last time we would be at Logue Town for a while, and so, while at the Shipyard with the last group of ships we brought, Rosalina told Branson "We will be gone for some time, I am going to visit my home, and I am bringing Buggy along with me."

I also overheard Branson sigh and say "Ya Don't 'ave ta inform me of how long it'll be, jus go 'ave fun. Ya don't 'ave ta be concerned of tha company either, Buggy 'as already brought in enough money for tha company to stay open fer a year easily. Please don't be gone that long though, I'd like ta keep growin at this pace. So, 'ave fun, say hi ta ya folks fer me." And I could tell he was smiling with a bit of 'Please go, you have done a lot of work, take a break.' mostly because I used observation, but then, we gathered some supplies for the journey to the South Blue, and when we were finally ready to set sail, I asked "Um.. how are we gonna get to the South Blue? I don't think you can just use Reverse Mountain to get there, so.. how?"

As Rosalina walked up to steer the ship, she had responded with "Well, you see Buggy, there is a material out there that not many know of. It is a very rare material to even find, and so, it also changes how Sea Kings look at it, having them perceive the material as a part of the ocean, and so, coating the bottom of a ship, especially like this is-"

I had a sneaking suspicion I knew what she was talking about and interrupted her. "It's Sea Stone, right? It's really the only material that would allow a ship, with the bottom covered in it, to sail over the Calm Belt, and through the Grand Line, all the way to the South Blue. I assume you have a way to know if we are going straight then? I wouldn't want to get lost in the Grand Line without a Log Pose."

I then almost regretted what I just said, and started sweating a little. 'Crap. I just let it slip that I know about all of that. Mind, how dare you betray me like that!'

She peered at me, as if I had just stolen her spotlight, changing her mood again. Then standing at the helm, she went back to normal, and said "Yes. You are correct about that. I suppose that you learned that from somewhere?"

'Um.. yeah. I learned it from watching the whole show. Now what?'

Leaning on the nearby railing, I answered in kind with "I read a lot of books and stuff somewhere, it was a little boring, but it needed to be done. I know a bit about what to do, but I'm not gonna remember all of it, I did well to remember all of that though."

'I hope that was a good save.'

"Is that so? You must be well educated then to have casual access to such knowledge. I only know of a few people who know about Sea Stone, let alone a out the Calm Belts, but it seems I would not need worry about you, more rather worry about the other three."

I had stopped sweating at this point, the nervousness subsiding. "So, how are we gonna get to the South Blue from here then?"

Rosalina's eyes lit up, as if no one had ever asked her about how she's gotten from one sea to another before. It must've been a lot of lonely traveling for this to have happened.

"Well, I am very glad you asked! Since I do not have to inform you of the properties of Sea Stone or the Calm Belt, or even the Grand Line, I can give you a run down of the process! It is a very simple process, where We sail alongside the Red Line rather than go up Reverse Mountain, and then pass by the Twin Capes, and sail until we reach the other Calm Belt, and then we will be in the South Blue! I've learned it is the fastest way to and from, since there is almost no other way to get there."

"That.. is.. probably the smartest thing I could have conceived to get to a different sea that isn't past the Red Line. I guess you've done it before, so, I will trust you with getting us to the South Blue. I can.. try.. to help if you need it, especially in the Grand Line with it's crazy weather. So, how about we get going? Would probably be good to get a head start, just to make sure we take as little time as possible."

Rosalina nodded, and then started talking about ships for what seemed to be no reason other than the best ones to sail over the Calm Belt with.

"While this ship is indeed outfitted with Sea Stone, it is a fairly old ship, that I have taken care of for a while now. It is one that I had found seemingly at random, but It is my home, and now yours, Taki's, Alice's, and Mari's. So please, I would be grateful for your help in maintaining her." She smiled brightly at me, and so I just sat there listening and nodding, and she ended up talking about Marine ships and how they were great ships to sail through the Calm Belt in, and then encinuating that she had never been on a marine ship before, and only that she had heard rumors about it.

I was a little skeptical, but I still didn't have any proof for my other theories, so I just had to go along with it.

In less than a days travel from Logue Town, we ended up at the cliffs of Reverse Mountain, only to turn left to follow the Red Line to the Twin Capes, and eventually the South Blue.

But, as soon as we hit the Calm Belt, I noticed the ship still moved even with no wind in the sails.

I just ended up with more questions, but I still couldn't answer them, so I went and asked Rosalina what the cause of the ship sailing without wind was, and her answer of "This ship is special, especially to me, so of course it has some unexplainable.. quirks." And all I could think of was 'That's possibly one of the dumbest esoteric answers ever. Maybe Observation will pick something up?'

Without hesitation, I found.. nothing. Absolutely nothing. The sails weren't able to blow wind themselves, and the rudder didn't have any motor or engine or anything connected to it, nor did the bottom of the ship have anything like an engine, or chains connected to a Sea King, or even tracks to move the ship, and I had more to figure out. Out of all things, I had a ship that could sail itself along with move without any wind.

With a very flat face, I thought 'Great, a ghost ship. That's one thing I didn't expect. But A Klabautermann might explain it, so I'll stick to that, since a soul powered ship would make it talk, and Big Mom wouldn't do that for just some informant of hers. Klabautermann it is, hopefully that's the right theory. Otherwise I may regret ever trusting Rosalina, especially if it comes to bite me in the butt.'

During our trip through the Grand Line after we had finally exited the Calm Belt, it was surprisingly just helping Rosalina sail a bit before the sea calmed down.

I had thought 'Why is this weather so tame? Nevermind, this is the beginning of Paradise, the New World is the worse one.'

And once we finally had the Twin Capes in sight, a ship had started to approach ours.