Chapter 81: Eternal Pointer
“Hey, you coward! Come back here!”
Ian slapped the ship’s railing, shouting loudly at the departing Pike Pirates, trying to taunt them into turning around.
The result of this was… the Pike Pirates’ ship sailed even faster…
The sailors on board exchanged bewildered glances, unable to figure out what Ian was thinking. As a merchant fleet, having the pirates run away was a good thing—they’d be glad to see them go. Why would anyone want them to come back?
Bill pulled Ian back from behind and shook his head, saying, “Forget it, you won’t call them back. Don’t think just because Pikes looks fat and clumsy, he’s actually stupid. Anyone who becomes a captain on a pirate ship isn’t a fool. Since he’s made up his mind to escape, a few insults from you won’t make him turn around. Your job is just to protect the ships and cargo; there’s no need to get tangled up with pirates.”
Hearing Bill’s advice, Ian could only grumble and give up.
Seeing that his words had worked, Bill finally cracked a faint smile and said, “Don’t worry, on the Grand Line, there’s plenty of everything, but what you’ll never run out of is pirates. If you want to catch pirates, you’ll have plenty of chances later.”
Since they had crossed the Reverse Mountain while Laboon was diving underwater, the remaining eleven merchant ships arrived safely. However, because the mast of Ian’s flagship had been damaged, the entire fleet docked at the lighthouse shore of Twin Cape, waiting for the flagship’s mast to be repaired before continuing their journey.
Repairing the mast wouldn’t take long, but they’d have to stay here for at least an afternoon, so Ian followed Bill ashore.
“Old friend! Old friend, are you there? I’m back!” Near the lighthouse on the shore stood a house. As soon as Bill stepped onto land, he started calling out toward it. Ian was taken aback: Could Bill’s “old friend” be Crocus?
Ian couldn’t quite remember the man’s name, but it seemed to be that. He recalled that Crocus was the lighthouse keeper of Twin Cape, but wasn’t he supposed to live inside Laboon’s stomach?
At Bill’s shouts, the door of the house opened, and an old man in a short-sleeved shirt with a petal-like hairstyle stepped out, glasses perched on his nose. It was none other than Crocus. He blinked in surprise at Bill, then greeted him, “Bill, you’re here with your fleet again?”
“Yeah! This is the last time!” Bill laughed heartily, delighted to see his old friend.
Ian stepped forward and quietly asked Bill, “Do you know this old man?”
“Of course!” Bill nodded. “After so many trips back and forth, we’ve naturally gotten to know each other.”
As Ian and Bill talked, Ian didn’t notice Crocus staring at his hat for a moment before suddenly asking Bill, “Who is this young man?”
“Oh! He’s the most famous pirate hunter in the East Blue right now!” Bill quickly introduced him. “He’s captured the highest-bounty pirates in the East Blue. We were lucky this time to hire him as our fleet’s guard.”
Crocus nodded without saying much, pulled out a few chairs, and invited Ian and the others to sit down.
Just then, a timid voice came from behind, “C-Can I sit here and rest too?”
Ian turned around and saw it was Roland Gale. Gone was the arrogance he’d shown when first boarding the ship. During the attack by the Pike Pirates, he’d been hiding in the cabin, trembling, not daring to show his face. Now that it was safe, he finally dared to come ashore for some fresh air.
It seemed that this encounter on the Grand Line had shaken up this young noble, who hadn’t seen much of the outside world.
Ian ignored him, but Bill handed him a chair and poured him a glass of water, letting him sit aside to rest.
Crocus and Bill chatted, reminiscing about their past meetings. Old folks loved such memories. Ian listened on the side, then suddenly asked Bill with curiosity, “Bill, I’ve heard that once you enter the Grand Line, you can’t leave. Is that true?”
He’d had this question for a while. He’d come with the merchant fleet, and from what Bill said, after selling their goods, they’d buy supplies and return to the East Blue. Given the way the Reverse Mountain’s currents worked, Ian had long wanted to ask how they planned to go back. This doubt had been gnawing at him, and now, with Crocus present, he finally voiced it.
“Can’t leave? Who told you that?” Bill asked, looking surprised.
“Isn’t it true?” Ian said. “I’ve heard that on the Grand Line, the climate and currents are chaotic. The only thing you can trust is the Log Pose, but it only points to the next island. If you want to go back, you can’t just follow the pointer all the way around the Grand Line, can you?”
In truth, Ian’s “hearsay” came from his memories of reading the manga, and this very statement had been made by Crocus himself. So Ian asked now, hoping to hear Crocus’s explanation.
“You’ve got it wrong!” Bill grinned. “We’re a merchant fleet; we don’t have the strength to venture deep into the Grand Line. Our destination is just the nearest island from Twin Cape. There are seven such islands, the starting points of the seven routes on the Grand Line.”
“Even if you don’t go far, how do you come back?” Ian frowned. “Twin Cape isn’t an island, so the Log Pose can’t point here, can it?”
Hearing Ian’s question, Crocus finally spoke up. He pointed his thumb at the towering lighthouse on the mountain behind him and took over the conversation, “Young man, if it were truly impossible to leave, what do you think the lighthouse at this end of Twin Cape is for?”
“To guide ships coming down from Reverse Mountain?” Ian guessed.
“Wrong. Guiding ships down from Reverse Mountain is one purpose, but another is to guide ships returning to Twin Cape from the starting islands!” Crocus said. “Indeed, Twin Cape isn’t an island, so the Log Pose won’t point here. But do you think people can’t navigate at all without a Log Pose?”
“As long as the lighthouse’s light hasn’t gone out, ships returning to Twin Cape won’t lose their way at sea!” Crocus continued. “This has been passed down for hundreds of years—human ingenuity! In the era before the Log Pose was invented, navigators relied on lighthouses to guide their way.”
Ian understood a bit and nodded, but then asked, “Even if you can return to Twin Cape from the starting islands, how do you get out? You can’t go through the Calm Belt, can you?”
“Indeed, merchant fleets like ours can’t cross the Calm Belt!” Bill said. “The Calm Belt is dangerous. Even warships equipped with Seastone can’t guarantee a safe passage every time, let alone ordinary merchant ships like ours. But… we have our own methods!”
At this, Bill winked at Ian and asked, “Ian, what do you think influences the ocean’s tides?”
Ian thought for a moment and said, “Climate, temperature, and geographical factors, I guess…”
Bill shook his head. “Those are factors, but you’ve forgotten the most important one!”
He pointed at the sky.
Ian looked up, puzzled, and said, “The sky? You don’t mean rain… the sun… Ah! I get it, the moon!”
“Yes!” Bill nodded with a smile. “It’s the moon. The ocean’s tides are caused by the moon’s gravity. Without the moon, you wouldn’t see the waves surging—just a dead, still surface.”
Crocus also spoke up, “The currents of Reverse Mountain aren’t always flowing this way. They actually reverse. During the full moon, when the moon’s gravity is strongest, the current at Reverse Mountain turns around, rushing straight up from Twin Cape, then splitting into four streams at the summit, flowing into the four seas.”
Ian’s eyes widened in shock. Was that really a thing!?
This was something he had no idea about… This real world of One Piece was even more wondrous than he’d known…
Seeing Ian’s face, Bill and Crocus seemed to share a sense of satisfaction. People who didn’t understand the Grand Line, or only knew bits and pieces, often wore that same surprised expression when hearing this. As old-timers, they loved seeing that look.
“The exact timing of Reverse Mountain’s reverse flow isn’t fixed, but it usually happens between the 15th and 17th of each month!” Bill explained. “During that time, Reverse Mountain changes from the entrance of the Grand Line to the exit. Merchant fleets like ours, wanting to return, choose to come to Twin Cape during this period, wait for the reverse flow, and then head back to the Blue Sea.”
“This is something only merchant fleets that frequently travel the Grand Line know!” Crocus added. “Some pirates who stumble into it don’t know this, or those who venture too deep into the Grand Line and can’t return to Twin Cape might risk crossing the Calm Belt to escape back to the four seas. The strong might make it, but the weak end up as food for giant Sea Kings. So the saying that you can’t leave the Grand Line is completely wrong.”
Ian was fascinated, having rarely had anyone answer his questions. He seized the chance to ask another, “On the Grand Line, do you have to follow only those seven fixed routes?”
“Not necessarily!” Crocus said. “The idea of fixed routes isn’t accurate, because they’re just directions based on the Log Pose. In fact, if you have an Eternal Pointer, you can jump from an island on one route to another, since an Eternal Pointer isn’t affected by the magnetic fields of other islands—it always points to a specific one.”
“Of course, making an Eternal Pointer isn’t easy!” Bill chimed in. “It requires very special craftsmanship and principles. Even Crocus can make a regular Log Pose, but he can’t make an Eternal Pointer! So generally, Eternal Pointers are very precious. Those who have one carry it carefully and rarely show it to others.”
But before he finished speaking, a weak voice came from behind them, “The Eternal Pointer you’re talking about… is it this?”
Ian and the others froze and turned around to see Roland Gale, who had just come ashore. In his hand, he held an exquisitely crafted object shaped like an hourglass—a round glass globe held in a frame supported by four small pillars, with a suspended magnetic needle inside.
Though it looked old, it was unmistakably an Eternal Pointer. On the wooden plaque facing Ian, faint letters could be seen. Ian squinted hard to make them out, then read aloud, “A… Ara… Alabasta!?”
What the hell!? This was an Eternal Pointer pointing to Alabasta!?