By the time Bardock and his crew finally departed from the Kano Country, it was late April. However, because they leisurely toured the entire West Blue rather than rushing, the year 1507 had already drawn to a close, and they found themselves at the very end of 1508.
Unlike Luffy and his crew, who always seemed pressed for time, Bardock's crew treated their voyage like a true vacation. Whenever they docked at an island, they took their time exploring, sampling local delicacies, admiring unique landscapes, and occasionally lingering for weeks if an island caught their interest.
Along the way, Bardock had even made inquiries about 'Demon Sheriff' Laffitte—the notorious West Blue lawman who would later join the Blackbeard Pirates. Unfortunately, he came up completely empty-handed. Bardock figured Laffitte either hadn't made a name for himself yet or wasn't even serving as a sheriff at this point in the timeline. Since time waits for no one and they were scheduled to enter the Grand Line right after the New Year, he dropped the investigation.
Back in the Ilusia Kingdom, another New Year's Eve arrived. Bardock and his crew hosted a massive, extravagant banquet to celebrate. Aside from the core crew members, several high-ranking executives of the Dandelion Trading Company were also invited to attend.
The Dandelion Trading Company was no longer a small local operation. In less than two years, it had aggressively expanded its markets across the Ilusia Kingdom and neighboring nations, officially evolving into a massive, multinational corporate syndicate.
Many of the newly promoted executives looked at Robin with an expression bordering on religious awe. It was this young woman who, operating entirely from behind the scenes, had orchestrated their expansion with flawless precision. Every single major corporate decision she made had yielded massive profits. Everyone in the company firmly believed that as long as they continued following a leader of her caliber, the Dandelion Trading Company would only grow stronger, eventually becoming a terrifying, cross-ocean commercial empire.
Bardock had largely kept his hands clean of corporate management, leaving only one specific directive: establish an elite Security Corporation to train top-tier bodyguards and protect the trading company's merchant fleets.
To that end, Bardock had personally designed a specialized training regimen and handed it over to Robin. Under this rigorous system, recruits with basic aptitude could quickly attain the physical capabilities of low-ranking Marine officers, with the ceiling scaling upward based on their personal hard work and talent.
Seven days later, aboard the White Dragon.
"Look! Is that the Red Line?! It's so tall! I can't even see the top!"
Perona stood at the crow's nest, pointing frantically at the towering, sheer mountain wall looming ahead of them.
"This is insane! Are the clouds seriously just halfway up the mountain?!" Sai exclaimed, having never witnessed a geographical marvel of this scale before.
Leo and Mansherry, however, remained completely calm. They had already crossed over the Red Line once before aboard Bardock's ship.
"Yeah, rumor has it that it's ten thousand meters high! It's genuinely mind-boggling that a mountain this massive acts as the gateway to the Grand Line," Robin murmured, gazing up at the Red Line. Her heart was a chaotic mix of intense excitement and lingering dread. Because of her heritage, she always carried a baseline fear of the World Government, constantly worried her presence might accidentally endanger her crewmates.
"Who on earth even thought to build a canal up a mountain like this?" Even a stoic, level-headed man like Daz Bonez couldn't help but voice his utter disbelief.
"Who knows?" Bardock smiled, stepping up to the helm. "The entrance to Reverse Mountain is right up ahead. The ocean currents naturally rush straight up the mountainside. Everyone hold on tight! The current is going to be incredibly violent, and we don't want anyone getting washed overboard."
Bardock's Fiery Golden Eyes had already locked onto the famous canal gateway ahead. He raised his voice, shouting instructions to the entire crew.
A short while later, the White Dragon was caught by the rushing marine current, rapidly accelerating toward the foot of the Red Line. Bardock carefully adjusted the ship's angle. Thanks to his months of hands-on sailing experience, he handled the helm with the confidence of a seasoned veteran. The galleon smoothly entered the incline without a hitch.
"Alright! Now we just sit back and let the current carry us straight into the Grand Line," Bardock breathed a sigh of relief, though he still kept the Flying Nimbus summoned on standby just in case an unexpected emergency arose.
"Yes! I can't believe how easy that was!" Perona cheered. She had heard terrifying stories about the Grand Line's entrance, warning that countless pirate crews were dashed to pieces against the Red Line every year.
"Most things in life are only difficult if you don't know what you're doing," Robin noted thoughtfully. "The failures of those other crews were likely caused by poor preparation rather than bad luck."
The White Dragon rocketed up the sheer canal, cresting the ten-thousand-meter peak before violently plunging down the reverse slope toward Paradise.
"That was ridiculously smooth."
Right up until they officially crossed into the Grand Line's waters, the crew hadn't encountered a single hiccup. Their rudder hadn't snapped, and they hadn't violently collided with a giant island whale named Laboon.
"Is this Twin Capes?" Robin asked, consulting her nautical charts. "I heard there's an old lighthouse keeper stationed here. I wonder if he's still around."
It was genuinely impressive how Robin had managed to gather such detailed intel on the Grand Line while still residing in the West Blue, a testament to her thorough preparation.
"Let's go check out the lighthouse!"
Bardock steered the ship toward the rocky shore of Twin Capes, immediately spotting signs of human habitation.
As they docked the White Dragon and walked up to the base of the lighthouse, they found an old man sitting in a folding chair, completely absorbed in reading a newspaper.
Sensing the arrival of visitors, the old man slowly glanced up, took one look at the newcomers, and deliberately went right back to reading his newspaper.
An awkward silence fell over the docks. Bardock knew that Crocus had a notoriously dry, trollish sense of humor, but he wasn't entirely sure how to kick off the interaction.
Robin and the others were waiting for Bardock to speak; after all, he was the captain.
Crocus, meanwhile, was silently waiting for them to speak so he could hit them with a sarcastic remark. Teasing clueless rookies was one of the few meager entertainments he had left while keeping watch at Twin Capes. Seeing young people get infuriated and lose their cool never failed to amuse him. 'Kids these days really lack patience,' he thought smugly.
"Hey, are you just going to sit there ignoring us?" Perona finally snapped, thoroughly confused by the silent stare-down.
"Alright, Perona. Hit him with a Negative Hollow," Bardock deadpanned.
He decided to preemptively ruin Crocus's script. Let's see you try to troll someone after a ghost turns you into an emotional puddle.
"Eh? Oh, okay!"
Though she didn't fully understand Bardock's reasoning, Perona obediently commanded a glowing white ghost to shoot toward the lighthouse keeper.
Crocus frowned. This rookie crew wasn't playing by the standard rules! Sensing an ominous, otherworldly aura radiating from the flying ghost, Crocus instantly abandoned his newspaper. With a burst of physical agility that entirely belied his frail, elderly appearance, he leaped backward out of his chair, smoothly dodging the projectile.
"Newbies! Who the hell are you?! Why are you attacking me?!" Crocus barked, glaring at them.
"When asking someone a question, shouldn't you introduce yourself first as a basic courtesy?" Bardock immediately countered, stealing the old man's exact line.
Crocus froze. A deeply unsettling sense of déjà vu washed over him.
"My name is Bardock, and these are my crewmates. We are traveling adventurers," Bardock continued cheerfully. "As for why we 'attacked' you... let's just say we wanted to play a little practical joke on a senior."
Crocus finally realized that this kid somehow already knew who he was—and knew his exact conversational tricks.
"You've heard of me?" Crocus asked, his brow furrowed.
"Crocus. One of the finest doctors on the open seas," Bardock replied, keeping his description strictly limited to the old man's public reputation.
"Finest doctor? A hollow reputation built on vanity," Crocus muttered, his expression darkening as bitter memories surfaced. He thought of his utter failure to cure Gol D. Roger of his terminal illness. "What do you want with me?"
"We'd like to purchase a Log Pose from you. An Eternal Pose would be even better. We're heading to Jaya."
Bardock already possessed an Eternal Pose leading to the New World, but he completely lacked standard navigation tools for the first half of Paradise.
"Jaya, huh? I have regular Log Poses, but I don't carry an Eternal Pose for Jaya," Crocus replied, crossing his arms. "Bring me food supplies as payment."