Chapter 81: Eternal Pose

“Bastards! Come back! “

Ian went to the side of the boat and shouted at the far-away Pike Pirates in an attempt to open the mocking mode and make these guys turn back.

The consequence of this was… The Pike Pirates’ boat was running even faster…

The sailors on the boat looked at each other and wondered what Ian meant. As a caravan, the pirates ran away, and they still want the other party to run. Why was he calling them back instead?

Bill pulled Ian from behind and shook his head. “Forget it, you can’t call them back. Don’t think that Pixar is so fat and really stupid. If he’s a captain on a pirate ship, none of them is silly. Since he has made up his mind to escape, he can’t be turned back by a few words. Your duty is just to protect the ships and goods. There’s no need to be too entangled with the pirates.”

By being so persuaded by Bill, Ian can only give up madly.

When Bill saw that his persuasion worked, he finally smiled and said, “Don’t worry, you are not missing that much, because, in the Grand Line, the most common thing is probably the pirates. You want to catch pirates, then you have come to the right place, and there are a lot of opportunities in the future.”

The remaining eleven merchant ships arrived safely as Laboon dived into the sea and crossed the Reverse Mountain, but because the mast of their flagship was damaged, all the ships of the merchant fleet stopped at the beacon of the Twin Cape and were ready to go together after the mast of the flagship was repaired.

It wasn’t long before the mast was repaired, but it took at least an afternoon to stay there, so Ian followed Bill to the shore.

“Old man! Old man, are you there? I’m here again!” There was a house near the beacon. As soon as Bill got ashore, he shouted at the house. This stunned Ian: Bill can’t be calling for the old man, Crocus?

Ian can’t remember the name of this man. It seems that’s what it is. Ian only remembers that he is the lighthouse keeper of the Twin Cape. But shouldn’t the keeper live in Laboon’s belly?

As Bill shouted, the door of the house opened. A man in a short-sleeved shirt with petals around his head. His nose was really large, and his eyes covered with glasses. It was Crocus. When he came out, he was surprised to see Bill: “Bill, you’re bringing the fleet again?”

“Yes! This is the last time!” Bill laughed and was very happy to see his old friend.

Ian stepped forward and whispered to Bill, “Do you know this old man?”

“Of course!” Bill nodded and said, “If you go back and forth more often, you’ll get to know each other.”

When Ian spoke to Bill, they did not notice that Crocus was staring at his hat for a while, and then he suddenly asked Bill, “Who is this young man?”

“Oh! He is now the most famous pirate hunter in our East Blue!” Bill quickly introduced Ian, “He has caught some of the highest bounty pirates in the East Blue. We are lucky to have him as the escort of the caravan this time.”

Crocus nodded and said nothing. He moved several chairs out and asked Ian to sit down.

Just then, a voice cautiously sounded in the back and said, “Ca… Can I also sit here and have a rest? “

Ian looked back and found that it was Roland Gail. Where was he when he first got on the boat? When they were attacked by the Pike Pirates, he was shivering in the cabin and dared not reveal his face. Now that it was safe, he dared to go ashore for a breath.

To think of this encounter into the Grand Line, Ian stimulated that the little aristocrat has not seen much of the outside world.

Ian ignored him, but Bill gave him a chair and poured him a glass of water to sit down and rest.

Crocus and Bill chatted for a while. They both talked about the scenes when they first met. Older people just liked the memories. Ian listened and suddenly asked Bill doubtfully, “Bill, is it true that you can go in and out on the Grand Line?”

He actually had doubts. This time he came with the merchant ship, and listened to Bill’s plan that they would sell their goods here and then goes back to the East Blue. According to the phenomenon of the Reverse mountain, Ian always wanted to ask them how to get back. This question had been held in his mind for a long time, and now he finally took advantage of Crocus’ appearance, and he asked.

“Can you come in or out? Who are you listening to?” Bill asked in surprise.

“Isn’t it possible?” Ian said, “I heard that on the Grand Line, the climate is very chaotic. The only thing that can be trusted is the Log Pose (Grand Line compass), but the Log Pose will only point to the next island. If you want to go back, you can’t follow the compass all the way and go around the great voyage, can you?”

In fact, the so-called hearings of Ian only come from his memory when he reading the Manga on his previous life, and this was what Crocus said before to Luffy, so Ian asked Bill at this moment because he wanted to hear Crocus’ answers.

“You are wrong!” Bill grinned and said: “We are caravans. We can’t go deep into the Grand Line. Our caravan destination is just the nearest island to the Twin Cape. There are seven such islands, the starting point of seven paths within the first half of the Grand Line.”

“Even if you didn’t go too far, how can you come back?” Ian still frowned and said, “The Twin Cape is not an island. It’s impossible for the Log Pose to point here, isn’t it?”

When he heard Ian’s question, Crocus finally opened his mouth. He pointed his thumb at the tall lighthouse in the mountains behind him, and then he said, “Young man, if you really want to get to here, then what do you think the lighthouse set up at this end of the Twin Cape is for?”

“Isn’t it guiding the ships that have come down from the mountain?” Ian said.

“Wrong. It’s the first purpose to guide the boats coming down from the Reverse Mountain. Another purpose is to guide the boats returning from the starting islands to the Twin Cape!” Crocus said. “It’s true that the Twin Cape is not an island, so the Log Pose will not be affected to point to the Twin Cape, but do you think that without the Log Pose, people can’t navigate at all?”

“As long as the lights of the beacon have not been extinguished, the ships returning to the Twin Cape will not lose their way at sea!” Crocus said, “This has been handed down from hundreds of years ago, human wisdom ah! In an era when people hadn’t invented the Log Pose, navigators were guided by lighthouses.”

Ian understood a little, nodded, but then asked again, “Even if you can return to the Twin Cape from the starting island, how can you get out of the Grand Line? It’s impossible to sail in the Calm Belt, isn’t it?”

“Indeed, a caravan like ours can’t sail without wind!” Bill said: “The Calm Belt is very dangerous. Even warships equipped with Kairōseki are not sure that they can cross the Calm Belt smoothly every time, let alone our ordinary merchant ships, but… We have our own way!”

Speaking of this, Bill squeezed his eyes at Ian and asked, “Ian, what do you think are the reasons that affect ocean tides?”

Ian thought for a moment and said, “Climate, temperature, and geographical factors…”

Bill shook his head and said, “What you said is one of the factors, but you forgot the most important one!”

After that, he pointed to the sky.

Ian looked up at the sky with doubts and said, “Heaven? You’re not talking about rain… The sun… Ah! I know, it’s the moon!”

“Yes!” Bill smiled and nodded. “It’s the moon, the tides of the sea, which are all caused by the gravity of the moon. Without the moon, you can’t see the surging tide of the sea. You can only see dead water.”

Crocus also opened his mouth: “The flow of water in the Reverse Mountain is not always so flowing like this, but it will actually reverse its flow. Whenever the moon reaches its maximum gravity, the direction of the flowing water will turn, straight up from the Twin Cape, and then split into four strands at the top of the mountain, which flow to the four oceans.”

Ian’s eyes widened as he listened, and that’s how it works!?

This was something that he didn’t know at all… This One Piece world is more wonderful than he knows…

Looking at Ian’s face, Bill and Crocus seem to have gained a sense of satisfaction. People who don’t know the Grand Line, or know a little about it, are usually surprised when they hear about it. As an old man, they like to see it the most.

“The time to reverse the mountain countercurrent is not very certain, but it is usually between the 15th and the 17th of each month!” Bill explained to him, “The Reverse Mountain will turn from the entrance of the great route to the exit, and the caravans like us who want to return will choose to come to Twin Cape at this time, waiting for the countercurrent to occur, and then return to whatever Blue.”

“This is something that most caravans which have traveled back and forth from the Grand Line know!” Crocus said. “Some pirates who are half-baked don’t know this, or some people who went too deep in the Grand Line can’t return to the Twin Cape. If they want to get out of the Grand Line and return to the four Blues, they will take risks and cross the Calm belt. And that really depends on the strength of the pirates, if they are strong enough, they may really be able to get out, but they are weak, they will be buried in the mouth of the large sea kings, so it is totally wrong to say that you can get out of the Grand Line.”

Ian rarely had someone to help him answer these questions, so he listened with relish and asked another question. “On the Grand Line, can we only take those seven fixed paths?”

“Not necessarily!” Crocus said. “The so-called fixed-route theory is inaccurate because it’s just the direction of going according to the Log Pose. In fact, as long as you have an Eternal Pose, you can jump from an island on one route to another, because the Eternal Pose is not disturbed by the magnetic field of the other islands, It will always point to a specific island.”

“Of course, it’s not easy to make an Eternal Pose!” Bill added: “it’s said that very special manufacturing techniques and principles are required. Ordinary Log Pose can be made by Crocus, but he can’t make Eternal Pose! So generally speaking, the Eternal Pose is very precious. People who have the Eternal Pose will carry it carefully and will not show it to others easily.”

However, the voice has not yet fallen, a weak voice sounded behind the crowd: “Do you mean the Eternal Pose, does it mean this?”

Ian and they were all in a daze. Turning their heads, they found out that it was Roland Gail who had just come ashore. Now in his hand, he was holding an elaborate, hourglass-like device with only one orb in the middle of the device, which was fixed by a frame supported by four small pillars. Among the glass spheres, there was a needle floating inside of the orb.

Although it looks very old, but this is absolutely an Eternal Pose, because, on the wooden board facing Ian, they can see a few letters very vaguely, Ian has carefully identified it for a while, and then read out: “A… Ala… Alabasta!?!”

What the Heck! This was an Eternal Pose to Alabasta!?