One Piece: The Strongest Trait System

[66] : The Calm Belt's Great Use! The Red Line!

And crossing the Calm Belt? It was simple enough.

Rayleigh had once swum across the Calm Belt himself, astonishing the world.

'I'll have to ask Rayleigh later what kind of physical standard is needed to swim across the Calm Belt.' Rowen smiled faintly.

"Phew!" Zoro, Sanji, Usopp, and Luffy collectively sighed in relief when they saw Rowen relent at Nami's pleading.

They looked at Nami with immense gratitude.

'Thank goodness Rowen listens to Nami!' Otherwise, fighting monsters like these... Rowen, being a Logia user with strong Haki, wouldn't be afraid.

But they wouldn't survive!

"Listen up! The moment this monster submerges, we row like hell!" Zoro, who had been reluctant to row earlier, now gripped a giant oar tightly, sweating profusely as he instructed Sanji and Luffy.

"Right!" Luffy and Sanji nodded grimly, also grabbing the Merry's large oars.

Faced with monsters thousands of meters long, even Luffy knew this wasn't the time for recklessness.

"Aaah... CHOO!" Just then, the giant Sea King supporting the Merry let out a tremendous sneeze.

The Going Merry happened to be right near its nostrils...

"AHHHH!" Luffy and the others screamed as they were launched into the air.

"White Blow—!" Rowen's eyes narrowed, activating his Smoke-Smoke Fruit.

His arms dissolved into several streams of smoke, catching Luffy and the others safely.

Nami was gently enveloped in smoke and placed beside Rowen.

"White Out—!" Rowen commanded. Smoke surged beneath the Merry's hull, cushioning its landing gently back onto the sea surface.

Not being cursed by the sea, Rowen could freely use his abilities even over the water.

"Whoa! Rowen! That frog is leaping at us!" Before they could catch their breath, Nami screamed, pointing at a frog-like Sea King jumping towards the Merry.

"GET LOST—"

VMM! Holding Nami, the terrifying crimson-black light flared intensely in Rowen's eyes.

"Croak!" Cold sweat instantly covered the frog Sea King's body. It whimpered fearfully and dove back beneath the waves.

"ROWEN! SUGEEEEEE!!!" Luffy roared, his mouth wide open in awe.

This scene—felt familiar!

Just like... when Shanks saved him back then!

So Shanks was using Conqueror's Haki too!

"Is this really the time for that?! ROW!" Zoro and Sanji grabbed their oars and began rowing with frantic intensity.

Luffy snapped back to reality and started rowing furiously as well.

Under their combined desperate efforts, the Going Merry finally re-entered the stormy waters bordering the Calm Belt.

Although back in the storm, Zoro and the others felt immense relief, collapsing onto the deck, gasping for breath.

"Now you see why we have to use the entrance channel, right?!" Nami yelled at Zoro and the others, still trembling slightly and clinging to Rowen, remembering their earlier dismissal of her warnings.

Her legs still felt like jelly.

"That was interesting. We should go swimming in the Calm Belt next time," Rowen chuckled, holding the still-shaken Nami (who felt almost boneless in his arms) and looking at the exhausted crew sprawled on the deck.

"Don't joke about that!" Zoro and Sanji yelled back, transforming into their sharp-toothed angry states.

Swim in a place like that?! Are you crazy?!

"Rowen, didn't you eat a Devil Fruit? How can you still swim?" Luffy suddenly asked, tilting his head curiously.

"I'm special. Even with Devil Fruit powers, I can still swim," Rowen replied with a smirk.

"Eh?! SUGEEEEEE!" Luffy's eyes widened in amazement.

He had thought he wouldn't be the only one on the ship unable to swim anymore!

Luffy looked at Rowen with immense envy.

Being unable to swim as a pirate had been Luffy's biggest regret since eating his Devil Fruit.

"I wasn't entirely joking. Swimming across the Calm Belt would actually be great training for your Haki—both now and for future development," Rowen added, smiling at Zoro and Sanji.

Although they lacked the Born of the Sea Trait, conquering the Calm Belt with its countless giant Sea Kings would significantly strengthen their willpower and spirit.

Even if it didn't directly boost their Haki like Rowen's Trait did for him, the experience would greatly benefit their future Haki training and growth.

And the reason conquering the entire Grand Line made someone the Pirate King likely stemmed from this principle too.

Conquering nature itself also strengthens the spirit, which in turn strengthens Haki!

This was also one reason why Devil Fruit users often had a harder time developing Haki compared to non-users.

Being unable to swim prevented them from directly confronting and conquering the sea in the same way.

Furthermore, during perilous voyages on the Grand Line, their inability to swim often led to greater fear and panic in dangerous situations, hindering the development of their willpower and thus making Haki growth more difficult.

But conquering the most terrifying sea—the entire Grand Line—as the captain of the crew that achieved it... would forge unparalleled Haki!

However, for others, this process of strengthening Haki through conquering nature still required subsequent training and combat experience to fully manifest.

Whereas Rowen, with his Haki training cheat code, Born of the Sea, could directly enhance his Haki.

Zoro and Sanji looked conflicted upon hearing Rowen's words.

They desperately wanted to learn Haki.

But swimming across a sea teeming with those monsters...?

Zoro and Sanji shivered involuntarily.

Maybe after they got a bit stronger.

"How about it, Usopp? If you swim across, you'll truly become a brave warrior of the sea!" Rowen clapped the green-faced Usopp on the back, laughing.

"I-I think I need... m-more training first," Usopp stammered, his legs trembling uncontrollably.

"Hahaha," Rowen laughed at Usopp's reaction.

He was mostly teasing, anyway. None of them had even awakened Haki yet.

Even Rowen himself needed more 'training'.

Rowen then pointed ahead.

"Soon... we should be able to see it. Reverse Mountain," Rowen stated, his lips curling into a smile.

Soon, following Nami's directions through the storm, a colossal mountain, so vast its peak was hidden by clouds, loomed before them.

"LOOK! I see it!" Luffy yelled.

"It's huge!" Usopp gasped, his mouth agape.

"That current! It really is flowing up the mountain!" Nami exclaimed, clutching Rowen's arm tightly in amazement.

<><><><><><><><>

~ 18 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!

https://p-atreon.com/dragonnx

(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)