The Strongest Eriri in History

The waterway leading from Reverse Mountain to the Grand Line was quite narrow—less than ten meters wide. Compared to the Voyage, which was about thirty meters wide, this passage was extremely tight.

Passing through it normally was completely impossible.

However, this posed no challenge for Eriri. Whether it was shrinking the Voyage or widening the waterway of Reverse Mountain, either could be accomplished with a mere thought.

To keep things simple, Eriri chose to shrink the Voyage to about one-fifth of its original size, making it more than capable of passing through the narrow waterway.

Due to the stormy weather, the currents at the entrance of the waterway were extremely turbulent. The raging seawater, driven by the howling winds, formed massive waves that crashed violently against the Red Line.

Passing through a series of massive floodgates covering the waterway, the Voyage surged forward, carried rapidly upward by the counterflowing currents toward the peak of Reverse Mountain.

Everyone stood along the edge of the deck, excitedly observing the strange and marvelous scenery around them, their voices buzzing with discussion.

After advancing for over an hour, the extreme weather outside began to ease. As they neared the mountain's summit, a dense layer of dark clouds appeared ahead.

Before long, the Voyage, carried by the powerful current, plunged directly into the thick clouds.

The dense clouds swirled around the ship like fog, but they were unable to penetrate the invisible energy barrier surrounding the Voyage or reach Eriri and her companions on the deck.

None of them were unfamiliar with clouds.

Once their strength had reached the level where they could fly, all of them had, at some point, taken the opportunity to soar through the skies and explore the vast world above. Passing through clouds was nothing new.

The Voyage continued sailing through the thick cloud cover for about half an hour before, with a sudden burst of momentum, it broke through the upper layers.

The contrast between the world above and below the clouds was like night and day.

Beneath the clouds, fierce winds howled and torrential rain poured, while above, the sky was bright and clear.

After passing through the clouds, the summit of Reverse Mountain was now within reach.

As expected, after another ten minutes of sailing, the Voyage finally shot out from the waterway and landed in the river at the mountain's peak.

The summit of Reverse Mountain wasn't very large—it mainly served as a transit point. The currents from the four great seas all converged here before flowing into the single waterway that led to the first half of the Grand Line.

Naturally, the Voyage was no exception.

The ship barely paused at the summit before smoothly turning into the central waterway, where the current flowed downward toward the Grand Line.

The descent was far quicker than the ascent. Finally, at around 7 PM, the Voyage successfully exited the waterway, arriving at Twin Cape, the starting point of the Grand Line.

Once they had cleared the waterway, the Voyage returned to its original size.

Eriri and the others didn't stop here; the ship continued forward at a steady pace.

However, before they could travel much further, Shea, who was leaning against the railing and looking into the distance, suddenly shouted excitedly, "Look over there! There's a huge whale!"

Although it was already nighttime, the darkness posed no obstacle to their vision.

As a group of at least National-Level superhumans, failing to see clearly in the dark would have been far too unreasonable.

"Where? Where? Let me see!" Sayuri immediately responded to Shea's excitement.

The others were equally intrigued, including Eriri, Arifureta, Seira, and Yuzuru Hanyu.

Although they already knew that the whale Shea spotted was Laboon, the same one encountered by the protagonist's crew in the original story, that didn't dampen their curiosity.

Following Shea's pointed direction, everyone turned their gaze to the distant sea. Sure enough, several kilometers away from the Voyage, a massive whale's head emerged from the water.

Although the distance made Laboon's head appear not too large, for Eriri and her companions, such a distance was no different from looking at something up close.

They could clearly see the numerous scars covering Laboon's enormous forehead, as well as the crudely drawn skull wearing a straw hat.

"It's definitely huge. Just the part of its head sticking out of the water is several times taller than the Voyage," Utaha Kasumigaoka observed with interest. "The Sea Kings we've encountered over the past few days can't even compare to this whale."

"Hah! This is nothing. The largest Sea Kings can reach a length of five thousand meters," Yuzuru Hanyu waved dismissively, as if it was no big deal.

Hearing this, Utaha's eyes sparkled with excitement. "Five thousand meters? Just how enormous is that? I have to see one for myself someday!"

"Eriri-nee, what happened to this whale? Why does it have so many scars on its head?" Myu tugged at Eriri's hand, her face full of curiosity.

"There's actually a rather touching story behind it," Eriri said with a smile, gently patting Myu's small head.

Illya, eager to hear more, quickly rushed to Eriri's side with a bright, excited expression. "What story? Eriri-nee, tell us!"

Thus, Eriri began narrating the tale of Laboon and the Rumbar Pirates.

As she recounted how Laboon had spent decades ramming its head against the Red Line in hopes of reuniting with its long-lost companions—leaving itself covered in scars—Myu, Illya, and the other little girls couldn't help but gaze at the distant Laboon with sympathy.

However, upon learning that Laboon had made a new promise, their expressions quickly shifted to joy, reassured that the whale no longer suffered in despair.

The others also listened quietly to Eriri's story. Though their emotions weren't as expressive as the children's, subtle changes in their expressions revealed their thoughts.

Once the story was finished, Myu eagerly turned to Eriri with bright, expectant eyes. "Eriri-nee, can we go visit Laboon?"

"Yeah, I want to see it up close too!" Illya and Reina chimed in, eyes sparkling with anticipation.

Eriri naturally wouldn't refuse such a request.

With a smile, she nodded. "Of course, we can."

Upon receiving Eriri's command, the cosmic energy surrounding the Voyage adjusted its course, steering the ship toward Laboon.

The Voyage moved swiftly, and within minutes, it arrived beside the giant whale.

Laboon, naturally, noticed the approaching ship. However, it neither fled nor acted aggressively. Instead, it simply remained floating with its head above water, curiously watching the Voyage.

Although it was nighttime, the moonlight provided enough illumination. While distant objects might have been difficult to see, at such a close range, Laboon could clearly make out the massive cruise ship before it.

As soon as they reached Laboon's side, Myu, Illya, and the others immediately flew off the Voyage, stopping midair directly in front of Laboon's eyes.

"Hello, big whale! We came to play with you!" Myu raised her right hand and greeted Laboon with an adorable smile.

Laboon could understand human speech, so it naturally grasped the meaning of Myu's words.

Perhaps sensing the kindness radiating from Myu, Illya, and the others, Laboon did not show any signs of resistance. Instead, it opened its massive mouth and let out a loud call in response.

Myu, Illya, and the rest of the little girls didn't understand the exact meaning of Laboon's cry, but seeing that it showed no hostility, they cheerfully flew onto its massive head.

Even though any one of them could have easily forced Laboon into submission with their overwhelming power, they had no intention of treating the poor, loyal whale that way.

Aside from them, the others aboard the Voyage who were interested in Laboon also flew over to examine it from up close.

Meanwhile, Nana happily engaged in conversation with Laboon. Since birth, Nana had possessed the ability to communicate with all animals, so speaking with Laboon was no challenge for her.

And so, nearly half an hour passed.

During this time, the sounds of laughter and chatter never ceased, and Laboon quickly became more familiar with everyone.

Although its large whale head didn't show much in the way of facial expressions, the gleam in its eyes made it clear that it was in a great mood.

However, partings were inevitable. As much as everyone enjoyed their time with Laboon, they couldn't stay with it forever.

To Eriri and her companions, Laboon was just one of the many memorable encounters along their journey.

At last, under Laboon's reluctant gaze and its deep, resonant farewell calls, the Voyage slowly departed from Twin Cape.

...

Ten days later.

On the deck of the Voyage, Eriri lay on a reclining chair, dressed in a frilly two-piece swimsuit that left much of her fair skin exposed. In her hands, she held a newspaper she had recently obtained from a News Coo.

The newspaper reported several major events that had taken place recently, but there was no mention of Ace being captured.

However, through her own awareness, Eriri already knew that Ace had been handed over to the Marines by Blackbeard and was now imprisoned in Impel Down.

Since Ace had already been captured, it wouldn't be long before the Summit War began.

Because they had now entered the Grand Line, Eriri and her group had encountered numerous pirates over the past ten days, as well as several Marine battleships.

At first, every pirate crew that spotted the Voyage was eager to plunder it, but without exception, they were all wiped out by Jibril and the others.

Some of these pirates even had bounties exceeding tens of millions of Berries, yet none of them posed a real threat.

These battles did not go unnoticed. The News Coo birds witnessed several of them, and the reports eventually reached the World Economy News Paper.

As a result, news about the Voyage and its mysterious passengers spread across the Grand Line through the newspaper network, making Eriri's ship known to most pirates, Marines, and even civilians.

Since Eriri and her companions had visited various interesting islands along the way, the people of the Grand Line were gradually becoming aware of the Voyage and its enigmatic travelers.

Thus, it became widely known that the Voyage housed a group of exceptionally beautiful women and girls—so stunning that they even surpassed the Pirate Empress herself.

As a result, numerous pirates and professional kidnappers who specialized in capturing and selling people into slavery set their sights on Eriri and her companions, hoping to abduct them and auction them off.

However, these fools were merely moths drawn to the flame. No one who came looking for trouble with the Voyage ever lived to tell the tale.

This only further solidified the Voyage's growing reputation, making it just as infamous as the crews of the so-called Worst Generation.

However, since the Voyage did not fly a pirate flag and Eriri's group had done nothing overtly pirate-like aside from annihilating various pirate crews, no one classified the Voyage as a pirate ship.

As a result, the Marines who encountered the Voyage never attempted to antagonize Eriri's group—an oversight that, unknowingly, saved their lives.

By now, most ordinary pirate crews would flee at full speed the moment they spotted the Voyage, terrified of sharing the same fate as the many crews that had been wiped out by Eriri's group.

The Voyage was easily recognizable; after all, a steel-hulled cruise ship was entirely unique in the world of One Piece.

As for these fleeing pirates, Eriri had no interest in pursuing them.

As long as they didn't provoke her, she had no reason to bother with them.

Over the past ten days, Eriri and her group had visited several locations: they had gone to Skypiea, Water 7, and even a number of fascinating islands that had never appeared in the original story.

Now, they were en route to the Sabaody Archipelago, with only a few dozen kilometers left before they arrived.

After reading through the newspaper's headlines, Eriri casually tossed it aside.

Seeing this, Aoi Kujo, who was standing attentively behind her, immediately stepped forward and handed her a chilled fruit juice with a straw.

The Grand Line's weather was incredibly unpredictable—so erratic that it could only be described as bizarre. One moment, the sun might be blazing in a thirty-degree heatwave, and the next, a sudden blizzard would descend, plunging the temperature below freezing.

For ordinary people, surviving in such an environment would be nearly impossible.

If they weren't killed by pirates, they would be tormented to death by the capricious weather itself.

Eriri had not chosen to block these extreme weather shifts with the Voyage's energy barrier, allowing the ship to be drenched in rain, pelted with hail, and buried under snow.

But with the Voyage's passengers possessing bodies far beyond human limits, even the harshest weather fluctuations didn't affect them in the slightest.

Since they had the opportunity to witness such fascinating weather phenomena firsthand, why not enjoy it?

After finishing the fruit juice Aoi had given her, Eriri handed back the empty glass before rising from her reclining chair. She then stretched her arms above her head, arching her back slightly as she loosened up her body.

This alluring sight made Aoi Kujo's eyes burn with undisguised desire—she longed to pull Eriri into her arms and take a deep breath of her intoxicating scent.

However, she knew such thoughts were nothing more than fantasies. As someone who understood her place, she wouldn't dare act so boldly.

With perfect self-control, her expression remained entirely composed, betraying none of the emotions simmering beneath the surface.

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