36 Chapter 36

"Listen!"

Atop the Shooting Star, Nami was found giving a brief lecture to Rowan and others. Pointing at her log pose, she said,

"I didn't get to say it before because of all that panic, but... the bottom of the Reverse Mountain we've been at is called Twin Capes! Twin Capes, being the pseudo-island with the lowest magnetism among all islands in the Grand Line, is the first place that the log pose points at! Upon arrival at the destination and waiting for a certain amount of time, log pose points at the next island—which ultimately leads to the end of this first half of the Grand Line known as Paradise!

Twin Capes is special in the sense that no waiting time is required for the log pose to point at the next island. However, it is only in Twin Capes that we get to choose among one of the seven different paths that are laid out in Paradise..."

Rowan asked,

"Which island are we heading to?"

Nami shrugged,

"No idea! No place in the East Blue sells a map of Grand Line, perhaps to put a hindrance to pirates' sails! I do know though, that we are heading in the right direction!"

"Ehem,"

Then, a cough was heard from the back. Turning around, Rowan saw Carina smiling in confidence as she revealed a map from her purse.

Deuce's eyes widened,

"Is that...?"

"The map for the portion of Paradise!"

Nami's jaw dropped.

"H-How did you get that?"

Carina smirked.

"In the black market, there exists everything that you can think of."

"Mind if we take a look?" Asked Rowan.

"I wouldn't have taken this out if I didn't want you to look at it!"

With approval, Carina opened the folded map. The map wasn't that detailed and only the first seven islands were noted, but this nonetheless was helpful.

"Nami. Based on our direction, do you know which island we're heading to?"

"Hmm..."

Nami entered a thought, making a thorough calculation. Eventually, she concluded,

"It must be here, Coconut island!"

It was an island that lied on the right of Cactus island and left of Apple island. In terms of order from left to right, it was exactly in the middle.

"Awesome!"

Carina seemed to be approving of this fact, probably because being exactly in the middle had the highest chance of reaching her destination, Alabasta Kingdom.

"Anyway, why have you come here again?"

Scratching his head, Bartolomeo asked Carina.

"What was it again? Reach, uh... Alabama Kingdom?"

Carina looked at Bartolomeo with a confused expression on her face.

"What?"

"SWEET HOME ALABAMA BABY!!"

Bartolomeo all of a sudden laughed. Then he stopped as he realized that no one else was following his suit. Instead, everyone looked at him coldly, wondering if something had gone wrong in his head.

Deuce approached Bartolomeo with a concern written on his face,

"Dementia?"

Bartolomeo's eyes widened,

"Huh? Me?"

Rowan muttered,

"Where the hell did you even hear that from?"

Turning around, Bartolomeo pointed his finger at Rowan in response, much to Rowan's confusion.

"I heard you sleep-talking like that last night, captain. Thought you're from Alabama Kingdom."

"What?"

Rowan's eyes twitched. Nami on the other hand snickered,

"Wow Rowan, since when was Cocoyasi village the Alabama Kingdom? Are you like some hidden prince?"

"If anything, I'm closer to a beggar than a prince."

"Hehe, true!"

Rowan deadpanned, and Nami laughed.

"Hold up."

Then, Carina raised her hand, garnering everyone's attention.

"Before all else, how do we know if Bartolomeo is speaking the truth?"

"Huh? Why would I lie—"

"Hmm... that's also a good point."

Deuce nodded.

"Bartolomeo... are you a hidden spy or what? Why are you trying to create a distrust among us?"

Nami shook her head in a faked disappointment.

"H-Huh?!"

"It's my fault," Said Rowan in a faked sadness, "I didn't realize that Bartolomeo was suffering from a mental disorder... but no more. Worry not, Bartolomeo,"

Rowan formed a shady grin,

"for we are here to help you now."

Bartolomeo then found four shoes flying toward his face.

"What have I done?!"

Before they stomped onto his visage, they stopped before retracting back. Rowan shrugged,

"Nothing."

Then, everyone dispersed, leaving the confused Bartolomeo at his spot, alone.

Nami returned back right after a second though, with an alert written on her face.

"Storm!! A storm is approaching!!"

Carina tilted her head, "But it's still calm out here!"

Rowan, walking past Carina, said,

"If our navigator says a storm is approaching, then a storm is approaching."

Gazing at Nami, Rowan asked,

"How many degrees?"

"60 to the right final! Turn it gradually!"

Without a further do, Rowan turned the steering wheel. Simultaneously, Carina felt that the wind around her was picking up, and found herself surprised to see that Nami was indeed right.

Nami quickly shouted,

"We have to fold the sails! The storm is stronger than any other, and just grazing by it may rip them!"

"Bartolomeo!"

"Roger that, captain!"

Bartolomeo quickly nodded before getting to the work.

Nami, in a serious expression, looked around as she stated,

"Our sail to the destination will be delayed by approximately 10 hours based on the estimated size of the storm! Also, watch out for the waves; the storm of this magnitude is bound to be followed by tall ones!"

Rowan inspected the dark clouds just ahead. He called out to Deuce,

"Deuce, take over the steering wheel. Bartolomeo, keep your hold on that rope, since we can't risk having the sails spring back up. Carina, here,"

Rowan lightly threw the binoculars to Carina.

"keep a careful look at the surroundings and report if there is anything strange."

"Well... I guess I can do that much."

Then, Rowan quickly reached inside before bringing out a long rope that seemed to have its one end tied somewhere inside of the ship. Quickly approaching Nami, Rowan tied the other end of the rope around Nami's waist.

"What is this?"

"A safety measure."

Following the preparation, the wind began to screech. The rains began falling on Shooting Star. The lightning crackled here and there, generating the frightening noises upon each strike onto the ocean. Said ocean too, was churning wildly as waves crashed down over and over.

The sail of Shooting Star became unstable as the Grimheart Pirates did their hardest not to get flipped. Deuce especially was struggling as he held the steering wheel with all his might.

"More to the right!"

As Nami cried, Deuce complied. Exerting all his strength, he pushed forth, straining his arms to their limits.

"Rowan!" In this state, Carina reported with binoculars in front of her eyes, "Wave is approaching at 9 O'Clock!"

Rowan immediately stood in the direction in which Carina reported. The big wave was rapidly approaching as Carina said. With full strength behind, Rowan jumped up and blasted a punch, which sent an air pressure that disrupted the wave.

"Tch!"

One wasn't enough. Briefly landing back on the ship, Rowan jumped back up and met the wave in its proximity. Rowan bombarded numerous punches at the wave within seconds, which caused the wave to lose its uniformity and crumble. As a result, Shooting Star was pushed back but didn't receive damage.

Tap.

Landing back on the deck, Rowan saw that Deuce was pushing the steering wheel, yet the ship wasn't changing the course.

"Rowan!"

Nami worriedly called out to Rowan, and Rowan swatted off the water on his hair. Within the heavy rain and wind combined, all voices were muffled. Rowan stated,

"The gears must've been jammed!"

Turning to Deuce, Rowan ordered,

"Let go of the wheel, Deuce!"

"You sure, captain?!"

"There's no point in holding that thing any longer!"

Deuce, gritting his teeth, knew that Rowan was true. Currently, they were slowly getting pulled into the storm to no avail.

"Just what the hell is with this sea?!"

Reaching the inside of the ship, Rowan quickly came back out with another rope, which was tied around him this time. Watching as Rowan approached the edge of the ship, Nami's face turned pale.

"Rowan! Don't tell me—"

"It's fine! The metal ladder that connects to the bottom of the ship is pretty sturdy!" Rowan stated, "Listen, Nami! I'm going to change the direction of Shooting Star, only for a split second! Immediately after the head of Shooting Star turns away from the storm, blast your ability into the booster!"

Rowan then ordered Deuce and Carina.

"You two, cover Nami up from the rain as much as possible!" Clothes, towels, whatever, bring out all you can!"

"Got it, captain!"

"Okay!"

Knowing how dangerous the current situation was, they complied right away.

"Bartolomeo! Am borrowing this!"

"Ugh... take it... captain!"

Taking out the sword from Bartolomeo's sheath, Rowan broke the blade into two. Holding the part without the hilt, Rowan dove into the wild sea and nimbly gripped onto the metallic ladder that was attached to Shooting Star. Uncaring of the fact that the sharp blade was digging into his skin and drawing blood, Rowan held his breath as he reached the bottom of the ship where the constantly moving rudder lied.

The current was incredibly strong and fast, but Rowan endured it with sheer strength behind his right arm. Without any hesitation, he stabbed one end of the broken blade into the bottom of the ship and the other end pushing against the rudder. Right after, Rowan felt that Shooting Star began to rotate as it was getting pulled into the storm.

'This thing will last less than 5 seconds at best!'

With extraordinary strength, Rowan quickly climbed back up to the deck. Revealing himself from the water, he cried,

"NAMI! NOW!"

Nami was already prepared, with her hand on the booster with Carina and Deuce holding clothes over her.

Knowing what was about to come, Carina and Deuce held the railings nearby with their free hand. At the same time, Nami poured in all the fire she could muster.

BOOM!

With the explosive noise, Shooting Star was flown into the stormy sky, flying in an arc. Upon reaching the sky, they finally managed to exit the boundary of the gigantic storm, however,

""""AHHHHHH!!!""""

Nami, Carina, Deuce, and Bartolomeo screamed as the ship began to fall from high above.

"Tch...!"

Rowan quickly assessed the situation as he untied the rope from himself. Kicking off the railing, Rowan then grabbed Nami by her waist and untied the rope off of her as well.

"DIVE INTO THE WATER!"

Hearing Rowan's shout, Carina, Deuce, and Bartolomeo's eyes widened. Before Shooting Star crashed, all five of them jumped into the water, and,

SPLASH!

as Shooting Star landed on the calm part of the sea, the five of them revealed their soaked heads from the surface of the ocean.

Huffing in exhaustion, Rowan brought Nami back up to the deck of Shooting Star, which was completely wet. Letting Nami take a breather, Rowan climbed down the ladder and held his hand out to help Carina, Deuce, and Bartolomeo make their way back onto the ship.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

One by one, they fell on the deck, having run out of energy. Rowan, supporting himself by holding onto the railing, checked their surroundings.

"Huff... huff... are we going in the right direction?"

Nami, although huffing rapidly, lifted her body back up to fulfill her role as the navigator. However, Rowan assured her by rubbing her on the head.

"It's fine. Look."

Nami turned her head, and there she saw, their first destination, Coconut—

"...Hold on."

Rowan squinted his eyes at the sight of the island. Instead of Coconut, the island looked like...

"...Apple?"

At the center of the island was a huge, apple-shaped mountain.

Nami checked the log pose and saw that it was pointing 90 degrees to the left.

Deuce couldn't help but mutter,

"Just how big was that storm...?"

"Haha, whatever..."

Staring at the sky in a lying position, Bartolomeo made a silly smile,

"We survived!"

Rowan found Bartolomeo's smile contagious as he too smiled.

"Indeed, we did."

Soon, Shooting Star was filled with jovial laughs as the ship reached the shore of Apple island.