TitoVillar
patreon
OPI Chapter 9: Reverse Mountain Blockade
🕑 Added 2023-10-08 14:30:45 +0000 UTCMary Geoise – Pangaea Castle
'The Pirate King’s ultimate treasure—
One Piece.'
He had a pretty good idea of who was behind it.
Imu sat atop the Empty Throne, gazing coldly down upon the kneeling Five Elders.
But today, his face was colder than usual.
The intelligence on the One Piece rumor had reached him even before the Marines were notified. It was the very reason he summoned the Five Elders again.
This was something he couldn’t afford to ignore.
“It must be Roger’s surviving crewmates spreading the rumors,” said Ju Peter. “It’s likely Roger instructed them to do so before his death. But… what’s their goal?”
“The Great Pirate Era.”
Imu spat out those four words.
He had tried to gag Roger before the execution, thinking that would be enough to prevent this very outcome. Yet Roger had made his move anyway—just not with words.
Even though this method—having his former crew members spread rumors across the globe—lacked the shock value of a public shout during execution, the allure of the Pirate King’s treasure hadn’t diminished one bit.
It would just take more time to ferment and spread.
And Imu could already picture it: across the vast seas, countless young men and women raising their sails, shouting “One Piece!” as they raced toward the Grand Line, toward Reverse Mountain!
The Five Elders grew heavy-hearted at Imu’s declaration. He had previously warned them of such a future—one where a Great Pirate Era would emerge.
It was said to be an age where the number of pirates would soar to such extremes that even the Navy, in its current form, couldn’t suppress them.
For eight centuries, under the World Government’s rule, the seas—despite occasional unrest—had largely remained in order.
But Roger’s final act had sparked a fire that now threatened to engulf every sea, every island, every nation.
The Elders had once believed such an era could never repeat itself.
But now…
They had no choice but to admit they had underestimated the Pirate King—and so had Imu.
“We should order the kings of our affiliated nations to strictly regulate who is allowed to leave port. At the same time, naval patrols increase across all regions. Cipher Pol must arrest anyone spreading the rumor to make an example—let the world and the seas know we will not tolerate this!”
It was Nusjuro who made this fierce suggestion.
The others nodded in agreement.
But Imu knew deep down their approach would be futile.
The seas of this world were far too vast.
Yes, the Marines had many soldiers and warships, but even so… patrolling every corner of the oceans?
Impossible.
Sensing Imu’s disapproval, the Five Elders fell into uneasy silence.
So after a few minutes of thought, Imu finally spoke.
“These people who set out to sea as pirates because of the rumors—they’re all after that so-called great treasure. Their destination is the ‘New World.’ From the Four Blues to the first half of the Grand Line, and finally to the ‘New World,’ there are two mandatory checkpoints they must pass.”
Saturn replied, “You mean Reverse Mountain and Fish-Man Island?”
“That’s right. If we establish a Marine branch at the entrance to Reverse Mountain, specifically tasked with intercepting and inspecting incoming ships, we could effectively block the flow of pirates from the Four Blues into the Grand Line!”
“That is an excellent solution.” Mars exclaimed in admiration.
“Exactly—and not just on the Grand Line side. We could also station Marine branches on the other side of Reverse Mountain, in each of the Four Blues. Or even have several warships permanently stationed there, serving as the first line of defense!” Warcury continued.
“It really is a good plan. But…” Nusjuro hesitated.
Imu turned his gaze to him. “But what? Speak.”
“It’s just that this plan would require the Marines stationed at Reverse Mountain to have substantial strength and numbers. They’d be facing a constant stream of ships from all four seas. If every single one needs to be inspected, we’d need a large enough base to accommodate docking and queues of people.”
“At the same time, the government officials conducting the inspections and the Marine personnel stationed there would all need living quarters. But as far as I know, there aren’t any suitable islands near the base of Reverse Mountain.”
Nusjuro laid out his concerns one by one. Imu nodded silently as he listened—this was indeed a critical issue that couldn’t be ignored.
The other four Elders fell into deep thought. What could they do if there were no islands? They couldn’t just conjure one out of thin air.
They’d also considered whether the first islands along the seven routes of the Grand Line could serve as Marine bases—but those were all a bit too far from the Reverse Mountain entrance.
At that moment a memory came to Imu's mind.
“Do you still remember the Rocks Pirates?”
Rocks?!
The Five Elders all showed surprise at the name.
Especially Saturn, who instinctively reached up to touch the scar on his face.
Although fourteen years had passed, just hearing that name still brought a faint sting.
“In the year 1480, Rocks led his pirate crew in an attempt to break into the ‘New World.’ But he discovered that the main ship he brought from the West Blue was too large to pass through the fissure beneath the Red Line. With no other choice, he had to switch to a different ship.”
Imu’s voice was slow but detailed, clearly laying out the background of the event. The five men below listened attentively. Back then, none of them had paid much attention to the ship switch by the Rocks Pirates. After all, what mattered were the people on board—not the ship itself. It wasn’t as if it were Pluton.
“You mean to say that the Rocks Pirates’ original main ship was large enough to be used as a naval base at Reverse Mountain?” Ju Peter asked with a hint of hesitation, trying to recall anything he could about the ship.
So many years had passed—he could barely remember. But if needed, he could have someone dig up the records. The other four were even more stunned. How big must a ship be to serve as a navy base?
After all, their impression of the Rocks Pirates mainly centered around their activity during the New World period.
“The ship was called the Thriller Bark. It’s likely the largest vessel in the world. Based on what I’ve seen in future visions, it will eventually become Gecko Moria’s flagship. For now, it should be hidden deep within that misty sea region,” Imu said coldly.
He remembered it clearly: when Gecko Moria and his crew fought Kaido in Wano next year, their ship wasn’t the Thriller Bark.
According to background information, Moria likely fled into the foggy sea after his defeat and stumbled upon Thriller Bark there, taking it over as his territory.
And 'territory' was the key word—not 'flagship'—because after that, whether heading to the Summit War or venturing into the New World to ask Blackbeard for help saving Absalom, Moria never sailed out in the Thriller Bark.
Clearly, even Moria understood the ship was far too massive to be used for actual sailing.
“Gecko Moria? Isn’t he that rookie pirate who just got a 120 million Belly bounty?”
Ju Peter clearly paid some attention to pirates with bounties over 100 million.
“His Shadow-Shadow Fruit is quite interesting... and so is his bloodline. Send CP-0 to capture him alive at the first opportunity,” Imu ordered without hesitation.
At this stage, Gecko Moria had yet to grow into a serious threat. While sending CP0 might be overkill for someone like him, Imu had no intention of letting him mature. Better to capture him now and be done with it.
“As you command,” Ju Peter replied respectfully, bowing his head. Then he added, “I will also dispatch personnel to investigate the foggy sea region.”
Imu gave a small nod, then added a directive: “Once Thriller Bark is found, begin retrofitting it immediately. All the castles and other structures must be rebuilt in the Navy’s style. Especially that ridiculous red-lipped, toothy entrance—it must be torn down at once.”
“Understood, Lord Imu!”
The Five Elders responded in unison.
“That’s enough for now. Once preparations are complete, we’ll consider appointing a base commander for the new division. Now... let’s talk about Fish-Man Island.”
