Chapter 39: Recalling the Past, The Legend Begins.

"Do you think my dream is random?"

Roman spread his hands, looking at the others on the deck.

"But there's no helping it. Dreams and such are usually deeply connected to one's past."

"Whether it's idols, friends, parents, or benefactors... whether it's power, knowledge, or dreams, people inherit them from generation to generation."

"You all have precious memories, but my past..."

"Roman, the past is already—"

In this world, tragedies are... everywhere. Nami took a step forward, thinking about how to comfort Roman, but he raised his hand to stop her.

"You misunderstood, Nami."

"My past, I should say, was very happy."

?

Then why are you acting all deep?!

Facing the expressions of 'Are you kidding me?' on his companions' faces, Roman shrugged.

"How should I describe my past,"

"A normal family, a normal life, a normal daily routine..."

"Every day, if I wanted to eat something, I just made a call... and it would be delivered to my door. (referring to delivery)"

"Every day, if I wanted to watch something, I just moved my fingers and it appeared in front of me, whether it was novels, anime, or opera. (referring to a smartphone)"

"If I was bored and wanted to exercise, I could follow a coach... an instructor to train, boxing, sports, shooting... (referring to online fitness youtuber)"

Hey, hey, hey, that's not 'normal' at all, is it!?

Zoro, Nami, Sanji, and Usopp couldn't help but complain. In this chaotic world, even nobles... no, even royalty might not have such treatment, right?

"Every day was peaceful and uneventful. The worst injury I ever had was accidentally cutting my finger..."

"As for battles, death, and such, I only saw them on TV and in newspapers..."

...

Looking at the 'so boring' expression on Roman's face, everyone couldn't resist the urge to punch him!

Is this what they call 'not knowing how good you have it'?

With such a background, it's already—

"In short, that's what my past was like."

"Although I had many wild daydreams, they were just dreams."

"And then, I inexplicably ended up at sea as a pirate..."

...

"Because of the various books I read out of boredom and the martial arts I learned for fun, I barely managed to get by as a pirate..."

Bro, your bounty is in the millions, and you call that just getting by?

What does that make us, apprentice sailors?

Except for the thick-skinned Luffy, the others were at a loss for words.

"Because I have no deep regrets, I don't have any dreams."

Roman summarized his 'transmigration.'

"Punching the Four Emperors, kicking the Three Admirals... I've thought about it occasionally, but I have no grudges against them, so there's no motivation. At most, it's a fleeting thought."

...

Nami, Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji exchanged glances.

Got it! This Roman is just a bored noble.

"Anyway, I really envy you guys."

Roman finally got to the point, "You have goals to strive for all your lives, and you're unwavering. I really envy that! Compared to you, I'm just a drifter."

"But today is different,"

Roman spread his arms as if embracing the world.

"I want to see the moment your dreams come true. It might be laughter, it might be tears, it might be melancholy, or it might even be emptiness. But:"

"I really want to see it with my own eyes!"

Yes, if you had to say it, this was Roman's 'dream.'

"Hehe~~~"

"Roman, you've been saying things I don't understand."

Luffy pressed down his straw hat and looked at Roman with a bright smile.

"So you want to see 'One Piece' too."

"Decided, I'll make your dream come true!"

...

"Alright, Luffy, that's one way to understand it."

Roman shrugged, and talking about the past seemed to lighten him up a lot. — Always holding onto past secrets while opening up to others is a bit ridiculous. But:

"Hmph, I've learned a lot from books, like revolutionaries, the Five Elders, the Void Century, and even..."

"One Piece and the Blue Sea, I also—"

Roman deliberately dragged out the word 'also,' and seeing Luffy and Sanji's faces pleading 'don't spoil it,' he suddenly became serious.

"I also don't know."

???

"We'll beat you up, believe it or not!"

"Hahaha, just kidding. I'm not an encyclopedia~~~"

---

In the cabin, a group of people sat together, with a nautical chart from Buggy's pirate crew spread out on the table.

"The entrance to the 'Grand Line' is a mountain."

"A mountain?" x4

"Although it's hard to believe, if the position on the chart is correct, the entrance is indeed at the Reverse Mountain ahead..."

"Are we supposed to crash into the mountain?"

Facing the four confused faces and Nami's uncertainty, Roman knocked on the table.

"Not crash into the mountain, but prepare to 'climb' it."

???

"Up ahead is the Red Line, where the four seas meet through canals..."

"The powerful currents of the four seas push the seawater up to the mountain top, then merge into a single flow down, — which is the starting point of the Grand Line."

Roman began to use his 'book knowledge' to explain to the group.

"The entire Grand Line circles the world, so..."

"Wow, look, it's calm over there~~"

Usopp leaned against the window, looking into the distance.

"Then why do we have to take this bizarre route?" Zoro asked, "Why don't we just go around to the south..."

"The answer lies in that calm sea."

"That's the Calm Belt, the Grand Line is sandwiched between two areas called the 'Calm Belt.'"

"The so-called Calm Belt, as the name suggests, has no wind. Sailing ships can't move an inch there, but more importantly..."

Roman pointed to where Usopp was looking out the window. — Even though the sea they were in was pouring rain, not far away it was calm and sunny.

Outside, the paper puppet 'White Knight' was steering the ship in a raincoat, and the reason the Going Merry had deviated from its course to come here was, of course, Roman's doing.

"No matter how much I say the Grand Line is dangerous and powerful... you all have no concrete concept. So,"

Boom boom boom—!

With a thunderous sound, the entire Going Merry began to rock up and down! Like a poor leaf in a stormy sea, when they finally steadied themselves, Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji rushed outside. Then:

"What the heck is this?!" X4

Four... no, three stunned faces.

Because poor Usopp had already fainted with foam at his mouth.

In the calm sea next to the Going Merry, a group of... hundreds of meters, or even thousands of meters? Giant sea beasts surfaced! Just their bodies above the water looked like a series of rolling mountains!

The Going Merry, carrying Roman, Luffy, and the others, looked like an ant next to these sea beasts. So small that it couldn't even attract their attention.

"Calm Belt specialty: Giant Sea Kings."

Behind the stunned trio, Nami clinging to the door in tears, and the fainted Usopp, Roman slowly walked out.

"Now you understand why everyone obediently follows the Grand Line."

"Roman—"

"Turn around, turn around!!"

"Stop talking..."

"Bro... big bro..."

Even the fearless trio were scared out of their wits! In front of these hundreds or thousands of meters long beasts, fists and swords were useless, not even worthy of a scratch! And if these beasts just turned over...

The only outcome would be to be buried at the bottom of the sea.

Without them saying anything, Roman had already commanded the 'White Knight' to steer the Going Merry in an arc. Touring the edge of the Calm Belt was just to show them the terror of the Grand Line, not to really court death.

— But without Roman, who knows if Luffy and the others would have courted death by running into the Giant Sea Kings' nest...

"Alright, let's head to Reverse Mountain."

Grand Line, here we come!

----

You can read 30 advanced chapters at my patreon.com/YeyeQiu