Chapter 89: A Young Girl's Heart

“All departments, attention, the ‘first impact’ is coming!”

“And we’re live on air—be careful, or an NG means it’s GG!”

At the Reverse Mountain, the scale and force of the water, as well as the roar, were several magnitudes greater than Angel Falls. If Qiu Bai wanted his companions to hear him, he could only shout at the top of his lungs.

And shout he did.

To prevent anyone from falling overboard in the raging currents, the severely injured Elron was strapped into the cabin like a madman restrained in an asylum. Beppo and Ein were also secured with safety ropes.

“One last question… Are we really heading to the East Blue?”

Beppo replied with a “beastly roar,” but it was just as powerless against the torrent.

“Of course! How can we change a decided plan on a whim?” Qiu Bai replied with such firmness that it stank of unconvincing bravado—going to the East Blue had nothing at all to do with any “plan.”

“And… enough nonsense, great and beastly navigator, keep your eyes on the helm—don’t lose control of the helm!”

Qiu Bai yelled frantically. If they crashed into the banks of the canal, the ship would be smashed to pieces.

On the surface, passing through Reverse Mountain into the Grand Line was far more thrilling than crossing the Calm Belt. At least the latter began with a suffocating silence, barely a ripple, like a tiny object slipping into a deep crevice.

But here, at Reverse Mountain, it was a continuous crescendo of chaos… Excuse me—let’s be elegant.

In fact, Beppo didn’t need Qiu Bai’s reminders to grip the helm tightly. He could only hope that the helm, the wheel, and all the transmission mechanisms of the Interna had been reinforced to withstand such a violent trial.

This time, the navigator’s hands worked in a frenzy, wrestling with the wheel in a wild, desperate dance. Amidst tremors and spasms, the little ship barely managed to enter the river channel.

And then they felt a tremendous force of propulsion—the current slammed into the boat like a torpedo tube packed with sixty-nine tons of gunpowder, launching their pitiful vessel at breakneck speed.

It was a velocity the Interna had never experienced before.

The ship creaked and groaned, as if it might fall apart at any moment… an ominous sign, considering the name itself seemed cursed with disintegration.

“Beppo, hold on!” Qiu Bai bellowed.

“At this point, what good does my endurance do? What matters is that the ship holds together!”

In truth, the novice navigator did just fine; the ship was right in the middle of the current. Though they were hurtling forward, they wouldn’t easily crash into the sides.

“No, the state of the ship can’t be changed—only willpower matters now. All obstacles must be overcome by sheer determination!”

“…That’s impossible!”

“Then why are we going to the East Blue?!”

Yes—why had Qiu Bai, on a sudden whim, decided to turn toward the East Blue?

Personally, Qiu Bai thought that, at this point in time, he might just run into a certain red-haired legendary pirate—Red Hair meeting Red Hair, both in tears. But that wasn’t his real motive—in fact, his memory was off. The Red-Haired Pirates wouldn’t return to the East Blue for at least another two years. The only things in Windmill Village now were windmills, a monkey boy, bandits, and a barmaid.

But it was perfectly natural for Qiu Bai’s memory to be fuzzy. Only obsessive fanfic writers would study manga “chronology” so diligently—Qiu Bai had never had that kind of free time in his past life.

So, while he might remember some things, he couldn’t pinpoint the exact year or sort multiple events in order… better to let that go.

Still, even if by some freak coincidence the world boss Red Hair dropped his gear in the starter village, Qiu Bai had no intention of picking up the orange-grade “Hand of the Emperor” for Elron—the size wouldn’t fit a child anyway.

Speaking of lost limbs, there was a crucial theory: if a single man is fated to lose an arm, he should try to keep his right rather than his left. It wasn’t about being right-handed, or which hand is your “real girlfriend”—the reasoning was practical.

If your right hand mutates, it might be due to a parasitic monster; if the left mutates, perhaps it’s inhabited by a “Divine Clown” with holy powers—hard to say which is worse.

But if you lose your right hand, you might forfeit “the King’s Power,” or the fabled “Pickup King’s Hand” that wins the hearts of maidens. Lose the left, though, and the compensation might be immense—a universe-dominating power: the “Face Fruit.”

Eat the Face Fruit, and everyone, everywhere, will “save your face” at all times…

Ahem. The real reason Qiu Bai came to the East Blue was his sudden realization that leaving Elron, disabled as he was, in the Land of the Future would be a recipe for misery. Alone in a foreign land, unable to care for himself, it was a bleak prospect. While hardships could be overcome, it was always better to travel with companions.

But there was a problem—who could accompany him?

So Qiu Bai decided to make a trip to the East Blue, to see if he could “abduct” a suitable candidate.

The so-called “weakest sea” was home to all sorts of miraculous trios—blonds, greens, and long noses…

But for the most persuadable, most suitable, and mutually beneficial choice, he still thought of a certain girl.

“I just wonder… at this point in time, has she already fallen?”

He asked himself. He couldn’t possibly remember to the exact day or month… but it didn’t matter. As any fanfic author can confirm:

At this moment, she was alive and well.

“Down we go!!”

As Qiu Bai mused over these weighty matters, Beppo’s shout snapped him back to reality, just as the boat reached the summit of the upward current—now came the even more treacherous descent.

“All departments, the ‘second impact’ is starting!”

He shouted, regaining his focus—now was not the time for daydreams!

……

Two weeks later, in Shimotsuki Village of the East Blue—a rare place whose name Qiu Bai could remember.

Girls always mature a bit sooner, and as they grow, they face all manner of troubles. This girl was no exception.

There are people in this world whose hearts yearn for a single thing—their ideal, their goal. For that, they’re willing to forsake everything else.

For example, the way of the sword.

Yet talent and weakness often come hand in hand. Worse, as one grows older, talent fades and weakness grows… so the saying goes: “A clever child is not always a great man.”

Thus, for a gifted girl drawn to swordsmanship… it was a pity. From birth, she was destined never to reach the summit of the path.

There is inequality between the sexes. To put it simply—wrist strength, for instance, is a gap between men and women that can hardly be bridged.

For this very reason, the girl’s father—a dojo master—had never considered letting her inherit his dojo. It might seem sexist, and it wounded her pride, but it wasn’t without reason. The role of “father” is always both cruel and gentle—better to give up now than ten years later.

But the stubborn girl was angry and unwilling to accept it, and such disappointment left a vulnerability for others to exploit.

One day, as she stood lost in thought at the dojo gate, she suddenly saw a grinning, cherubic stranger with fiery red hair approach.

She thought he might be a friend of her father’s, but then he cut straight to the point:

“Girl… do you want to become a boy of magic?”

Yes, this was a girl who hated being born female. The question struck right at her heart.

And he wasn’t lying. He happened to know a big-faced individual named Ivankov, someone who could easily change a person’s gender.

Of course, his motives weren’t just for Elron’s sake—he needed to recruit more companions. It was now the year 1507. What was most valuable in the fifteenth century?

Talent, of course.

And in the way of the sword, among girls who could casually beat grown men to a pulp at a young age, Qiu Bai knew of two geniuses.

One was Tamaki Kawazoe… but let’s leave her aside for now. She was more renowned among stocking aficionados.

The other, standing before him now—

Kuina.

Ps:
Note 1: Shimotsuki Village and Syamoshiki Village—is this a translation issue?
Note 2: The novel might go online next Friday, but I may not reach all the planned plot points in time, so to speed up, I had to simplify and condense these two chapters, making them a bit jumpy.