The Star Train's Journey Through the Heavens

Chapter 195 Island Whale Laboon, Mihawk Rowing

The Justice Ship descends upon Twin Capes.

Due to gravity, the current at Twin Capes is more rapid than that at the Ascent Channel.

As long as no one sabotages it, Himeko is more than capable of guiding a ship's course.

"There's a huge marine creature blocking the exit. Turn the rudder to starboard, adjust the sail to the right at a 20-degree angle, and hold on tight," Himeko warned.

The Skyfall Justice drifted and passed through the gap between the Twin Capes exit and the Giant Island Whale.

Everyone else was holding onto the boat's mast, but Xing was holding onto a hemp rope.

Under the immense centrifugal force, Xing was thrown off the ship like a gorilla, with only a rope connecting them.

"Oh hoo!"

The star let out a stimulating roar.

"Click...bang..."

When the star was thrown to its furthest point, the rope suddenly snapped.

The star traced a graceful arc as it was flung into the island whale's gaping maw.

"Huaifeng! You tricked me!" Xing cried out in grief and indignation.

Everyone turned to look at Meng Huaifeng.

"I didn't, it wasn't me, I'm innocent!" Meng Huaifeng hurriedly said, looking completely innocent.

"You really didn't do it?" March 7th looked at Meng Huaifeng suspiciously.

The Ether editor works silently; if he were to reduce the strength of a rope, no one would notice if they weren't on guard.

"This time it really isn't!" Meng Huaifeng was on the verge of tears, but there was no way to prove it.

What a huge smear! I hope I won't lose my innocence.

Yan gripped the broken hemp rope, rolling her eyes slightly.

Half a day ago, a bullet shot by and happened to break half of the hemp rope.

Hmm, it was a bullet fired randomly by the Mad Wolf Pirates during their rebellion.

"It has nothing to do with Huaifeng, it's just that Axing was unlucky," Yan confirmed. Of all the ropes available, this was the one that was chosen.

"Thank you, Sister Yan, for speaking up for me and clearing my name!" Meng Huaifeng said gratefully.

"Just verbal thanks, nothing more?" Yan teased.

“In this world, whatever Sister Yan says goes. I’ll listen to you,” Meng Huaifeng said, patting his chest.

"Just this one world? That's not very sincere."

"You expect me to listen to you for the rest of my life over something so trivial?"

"I don't mind, sister."

"I mind."

"Alright, then I'll have to think carefully about how to use it," Yan said, eyeing Meng Huaifeng with a hint of ill intent.

"Don't go too far, you can't violate my principles."

"So what are your principles?"

"I have not decided yet."

"cut."

"Why hasn't Xing come out yet?" March 7 asked curiously.

"You've encountered something interesting inside, haven't you?" Meng Huaifeng glanced around and spotted a lighthouse.

There was no one in the lighthouse. It seems that Crocus, the Pirate King's ship's doctor, is now inside the island whale's belly.

"Would you like to go in and take a look together?" Meng Huaifeng asked.

"No, no." March 7 shook its head repeatedly. What's so interesting about the inside of other creatures' bellies?

Even if the space is large, the smell probably won't be pleasant.

Beautiful girls wouldn't go to places like that.

Anyway, Xing will definitely be fine.

Only Red Hair and Dawn flew into the island whale's huge mouth and explored it.

No one else was interested.

Half an hour later, the three people and an old man emerged from the island whale's enormous mouth.

"Huaifeng, I'll fight you to the death!"

The first thing Xing did after emerging was to rush towards Meng Huaifeng.

"It's not me, it's just your bad luck!" Meng Huaifeng turned and ran.

"Do you think I believe it or not?"

Xingcai didn't believe it, so she jumped onto his back, grabbed his neck, and shook him violently.

“Sister Yan can be my witness.” Meng Huaifeng shrank his neck and looked at Yan.

Yan told Xing why the rope broke, and Xing froze instantly.

"You've wronged me without even knowing the facts, apologize to me!" Meng Huaifeng said arrogantly.

Xing jumped off Meng Huaifeng's back, stood at attention, and bowed her head, saying, "I'm sorry."

"I didn't hear you, speak louder."

"I'm sorry!" Xing said loudly.

“Speak louder, haven’t you eaten?” Meng Huaifeng asked.

Xing took a deep breath, grabbed Meng Huaifeng's ear, and shouted, "I'm so sorry!"

In an instant, Meng Huaifeng felt a buzzing in his ears and couldn't hear anything.

Goodness, her voice is much louder than Su Chang's.

"You should have just quit while you were ahead. You deserved it," Yan said, amused.

Meng Huaifeng kept picking at his ears and didn't hear what Yan was saying at all.

"...So I have accepted Mr. Crocus's commission to search for information about the Rumbar Pirates on the Grand Line."

When Meng Huaifeng's hearing returned to normal, he heard Xing had already finished speaking.

Forty years ago, a group of very generous pirates came from the West Blue, the Rumbar Pirates, and the young island whale Laboon followed behind them.

The pirates had been traveling with Laboon all along. They had originally told Laboon to stay in the West Blue, but it still came along.

Island whales are social animals, and Laboon has already considered the pirates as his companions. However, because the Grand Line is too dangerous, their captain, Tocrocus, takes care of Laboon.

I made a promise with Labs that I would travel around the world in three years and then take Labs with me on the trip.

But they've been gone for forty years and haven't come back.

"It's so touching. Labour waited for them here for forty years for a promise," March 7 said, moved.

"Although I don't want to be pessimistic, there's been no news for forty years, so they've probably been wiped out by now, right?" Dan Heng asked rationally.

“I know that too, but I still hope to get some news about them, to know how they were destroyed, where they were destroyed, and it would be best if we could find some of their relics, so that we could at least have some explanation for the agreement between Lab and them,” Crocas sighed.

"I find something rather strange. The Rumbar Pirates started their journey across the Grand Line from here, right? Since Laboon misses them so much, why didn't they follow in their footsteps instead of turning around and crashing into the Red Line?" Meng Huaifeng asked.

"..." The scene fell silent.

"puff!"

Meng Huaifeng received a special treatment from a star, being elbowed by March 7th.

"Don't say such jarring things at a time like this!" March 7th muttered through gritted teeth.

"Although Laboon is intelligent, it does not have the ability to plan its own course. Its choice to crash into the Red Line may be because it wants to return to the West Blue, where it and the Rumbar Pirates have spent the most time, to find or wait for them."

"It came from here, so it would naturally choose to return via the same route. When it came, it was just a small whale, so it could pass through. But as it grew, it became too big to go back through this waterway," Crocus explained speculatively.

"The injuries on its head were all caused by the impact with the Red Earth Continent, right?" Dan Heng asked.

“Yes, if I hadn’t been treating it, it probably would have killed itself long ago,” Crocus said.

Dan Heng flew to the front of Lab's massive body and placed his hand on its head. "Cloud Chant - Healing".

With a burst of emerald green light, the countless wounds on Lab's body disappeared.

"Buzz~buzz~"

Labu emitted a comfortable, grateful chirp.

"Stay here obediently and don't crash into the continent again. In a little over two months, we will bring you news of the Rumba Pirates." Dan Heng released a slight aura and instructed Laboon.

Raab nodded his massive head with a mixture of fear and affection, causing the Skyfall Justice to shake violently from the impact of the splashing waves.

Dan Heng wasn't worried about not finding news of the Rumbar Pirates; he could simply have Meng Huaifeng and Yan take action.

Sometimes, you don't need to worry about the small gains and losses in life.

"Huh? What kind of fruit did you eat, kid? It actually healed and calmed Labu." Dan Heng flew back to the ship, and Crocas asked curiously.

Even with his extensive knowledge, he couldn't recognize it at all.

"Just think of it as the Azure Dragon Fruit," Dan Heng said.

The Legend of the Azure Dragon, the Wisdom-Holder of Luofu.

"What kind of dragon is Azure Dragon? I only know that Kaido, one of the great pirates, has the Azure Dragon Fruit," Crocus said.

Dan Heng smiled without saying a word. Azure Dragon, also known as Green Dragon, Meng Zhang, is one of the Twenty-Eight Mansions.

The Azure Dragon is a type of Green Dragon, but not all Green Dragons are Azure Dragons.

The train crew did not linger at Twin Capes and soon said goodbye to Crocus.

The magnetic field along the Grand Line is chaotic, making it impossible to determine direction; one can only rely on the log pointer for navigation.

People only know that the pointer is pointing in the direction of the next island, but they don't know exactly which direction is east, west, north, or south.

Therefore, there are no sea charts of the Grand Line available on the market.

Even if Himeko could ignore the chaotic magnetic field and determine direction, it was useless.

Without a nautical chart, we have no idea where the next island is.

Himeko did buy Log Pose in Loguetown, as well as several permanent Log Pose for the first island of each of the seven routes in the Grand Line.

However, if a recording pointer is used, the time it takes for an island to record the magnetic field is uncertain, ranging from a few hours to several months.

The train crew doesn't have that much time to wait.

The permanent pointers are incomplete, with only a few islands.

Let's launch a satellite.

Himeko was tempted to open the briefcase.

Launching satellites is a bit of a hassle and could also impact scientific development in the local world.

"Huaifeng, scan a map," Ji Zi said to Meng Huaifeng.

“No problem, leave it to me.” Meng Huaifeng nodded.

"Map teleportation!"

A map of the entire planet lit up in Meng Huaifeng's mind, and he could teleport to any location in the next moment if he wanted to.

Instead of teleporting, Meng Huaifeng directly edited the scanned map.

Himeko took the map; although it was different from the sea chart, it was sufficient.

“We are now at Upside Down Mountain, with seven routes…” Himeko planned the route based on the strange islands she had seen in the libraries of the East Blue.

The climate along the Grand Line is extremely changeable. One moment it may be calm and peaceful, and the next moment it may be stormy and rainy, and sometimes it may even be snowing heavily.

However, none of this could stump Himeko.

They fight against nature without using any special powers, relying only on methods that ordinary people can use.

Himeko felt a faint sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.

"Look, there's a small boat over there. Has it been wrecked?" March 7th exclaimed with sharp eyes.

Xing glanced at it and said, "Wearing a formal dress and rowing a boat with a sword, that's hilarious."

“Hey, need help?” March 7th called out, waving.

As always, Dracule Mihawk, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea and the world's greatest swordsman, sails the seas in his small boat.

He felt that his swordsmanship had improved again. He saw in the newspaper that the Red-Haired Pirates had appeared in the East Blue, so he wanted to find Shanks to test his swordsmanship.

Shanks' swordsmanship is slightly inferior to his, but his domineering aura is stronger. Overall, the two are about evenly matched.

Aside from the missing Golden Lion, Shanks is basically the only swordsman he can discuss swordsmanship with.

Hmm? There's a boat!

Was someone seen?
Mihawk, who was rowing vigorously, narrowed his eyes and stood up to look in the direction of the boat.

I heard a little girl calling out from afar if she needed help.

They're not pirates, so let them go.

However, I am the world's greatest swordsman, how can I be treated like a refugee?
We need to show them the prowess of the world's greatest swordsman.

What I just saw doesn't count!
Hawkeye's aura turned fierce, and he unleashed a flying slash towards the stern of the ship.

Driven by the reaction force of the waves and the sword energy, the small boat sped forward like lightning.

One sword aura after another, and the small boat quickly passed by the Heavenly Justice.

He couldn't withstand the continuous sword energy for more than a few days, so sometimes he had to row the boat manually.

But they can easily maintain a facade of competence in front of others for a while.

Meng Huaifeng looked at the arrogant newcomer, whose huge black cross-shaped sword revealed his identity.

“He’s the world’s greatest swordsman, Hawkeye Mihawk. He’s not a victim, so we don’t need to help him,” Meng Huaifeng said.

"The world's greatest swordsman?" March 7's eyes lit up.

After being instructed by Shimotsuki Koshiro, she realized that swordsmanship level and strength are two different things.

If Koushirou was already so skilled in swordsmanship, what level did the world's greatest swordsman reach?

"Are you the world's greatest swordsman? May I challenge you?" March Seven asked hurriedly as he watched Mihawk about to pass by.

Upon hearing the challenge of March 7th, Himeko quickly slowed down and stopped the ship.

Hawkeye also used his sword in the opposite direction to stop the small boat.

Hawkeye looked up at the person who had challenged him.

A lively and cheerful young girl, who looks like she has just come of age, has a hint of swordsmanship, but her skill level seems to be limited.

Which noble lady learned a few sword techniques and thinks she's so great that she doesn't know her place?

“Not interested.” Hawkeye turned back and was about to continue forward.

"Huh? I'm very strong!" March 7 exclaimed, taking out a sword and unleashing a bit of sword intent.

The sword isn't a glass sword; it's a precious sword that Xing retrieved from the bottom of the sea. It would be too unfair to use a glass sword to spar with someone.

Sensing the sword intent emanating from March 7, Hawkeye looked over in surprise again.

It seems to be a bit stronger than I imagined, but still only to a limited extent.

However, to have such strength at such a young age is quite impressive, and one's talent is also remarkable.

If he weren't from a noble family, he might have achieved considerable success with more effort.

Then let's give this junior a chance!
"Are you sure you want to challenge me? You'll die." Mihawk's sword intent, almost tangible, enveloped March 7.

"Of course I'm sure!" March 7th nodded excitedly, seemingly oblivious to everything around him.

Are they too carefree or too naive to notice?

Mihawk was slightly puzzled, but still said, "Alright, I accept your challenge."

Mihawk leaped onto the Skyfall Justice.

I glanced around and saw a group of handsome men and beautiful women, all exuding a peaceful aura, without the decadent and disgusting feeling that ordinary nobles usually have.

Several of them exuded the aura of seasoned warriors, suggesting they were quite capable.

(End of this chapter)