Chapter Sixteen: A Feasibility Study on Crossing the Windless Belt

“One of the main reasons—and the fundamental method—that allowed us to make the decision to cross the Calm Belt is actually based on the same principle…” Grisha explained as he walked alongside Qiubai on the deck.

The ship was sailing into the night, but because time was extremely tight, if they wanted to reach the Northern Sea within ten days, they had to risk traveling through the dangerous night of the New World. Traversing the Grand Line horizontally, then passing through the Calm Belt, and sailing further in the Northern Sea—all within ten days—was an incredibly short and urgent timeframe.

Even if they did manage to cross the Calm Belt successfully, it was still uncertain whether they could accomplish their goal on time.

“Earlier, I mentioned that my homeland, Little Rock Island, contains important minerals required by the World Government, didn’t I?”

“Yes, so the key must be that mineral, right?” Qiubai considered the possibility.

“Exactly.” By now, the sharpness of Qiubai’s reactions no longer surprised Grisha, so he continued, “Have you ever heard of Sea Prism Stone?”

As expected, it was Sea Prism Stone. This came as no surprise to Qiubai. After all, the types of minerals that could attract the attention of the World Government as ‘strategic resources’ were few and far between, and Sea Prism Stone was undoubtedly one of them—the only one Qiubai knew, in fact.

He had anticipated as much, but his expression remained composed. “No, I’ve never heard of it. Sea Prism Stone… what is that?”

His response was perfectly natural—not every inhabitant of the New World was familiar with Sea Prism Stone.

Thus, the captain continued his explanation, “Sea Prism Stone is a special material. Simply put, it emits an energy identical to that of the sea, and this energy allows our ship to become ‘invisible’… This is the only method I could think of that might let us cross the Calm Belt.”

By now, the two had reached the bow of the ship.

The bow of the Giant was quite peculiar; Qiubai had noticed it before. It seemed to have been specially modified, resembling a huge, flat funnel raised high above. In truth, it was a funnel.

“Once we enter the Calm Belt, we’ll pour Sea Prism Stone powder from this funnel. The powder, driven by inertia and its own weight, will flow along the hull from the bow to the stern, following the current beneath the ship and forming a membrane-like structure. This membrane will cloak the Giant—so much so that we even had to modify the entire hull structure for this purpose.”

“Although the Calm Belt is a nest of Sea Kings, if we can use Sea Prism Stone to conceal the ship’s presence, theoretically, we should be able to avoid attacks and cross safely.”

…Provided, of course, that no Sea King suddenly loses its mind and pops up under the hull for no reason.

Captain Grisha’s explanation omitted the most crucial function of Sea Prism Stone—because it shares the same properties as the sea, Sea Prism Stone is the most important weapon against ability-users like Ein, nullifying the powers of Devil Fruit users. This is the real reason the World Government values it so highly.

At this point, the Navy Headquarters’ technique of embedding Sea Prism Stone in ship hulls probably hadn’t been invented yet, so their ships couldn’t cross the Calm Belt. But Grisha’s method was feasible, as the principles were the same.

Still, there was a problem.

“From what the captain said earlier, this ‘Sea Prism Stone’ seems to be a highly regulated strategic resource. How did you get your hands on it?” Qiubai asked.

Even if Little Rock Island contained Sea Prism Stone deposits, they belonged to the World Government. Under strict regulation, miners could hardly obtain any, perhaps not even a single piece.

Furthermore, as a rare and invaluable strategic material, using Sea Prism Stone in the way Grisha described—how much would they need to cross the Calm Belt?

At that rate, it was not Sea Prism Stone they’d be scattering, but gold coins.

If they had so much Sea Prism Stone, wouldn’t selling it on the black market be the smarter way to get rich? Why risk crossing the Calm Belt?

Besides, Sea Prism Stone was as hard as diamond. Miners had no means to process it, let alone grind it into powder. Even fifty years of single-minded effort wouldn’t suffice.

“To be precise, we don’t actually have Sea Prism Stone. We only have ‘residual ore’—large quantities of stone mixed with trace amounts of Sea Prism Stone. The extraction and processing costs render it worthless, which is why the World Government abandoned it. That’s how we’ve been able to use it,” the captain said with a touch of helplessness. If there were any valuable minerals left, they wouldn’t be transporting fruit to the Northern Sea.

It was easy to imagine—the World Government would never relinquish anything with the slightest value, and what they abandoned as worthless has ironically become the greatest lifeline for this group.

In truth, people at the bottom survive on what those above disdain, whether Sea Prism Stone or anything else.

In this world, as in others, Qiubai understood this well.

This made everything clear to him, and he found it reasonable: The miners truly had no ability to compete with the World Government for resources.

“In that case, I have one last question… How is the route determined?”

The Log Pose only points to the next island; it doesn’t indicate the direction of the Calm Belt. Without a way to navigate, the Giant could get lost forever and never reach the Calm Belt.

“That’s simple… There’s a species of fish in the New World called Golden Arrowfish. Every season, the schools migrate upstream back to the Northern Sea to breed. At this time, no matter what waters you place them in, they’ll always swim toward the Northern Sea,” Captain Grisha explained—this was his straightforward way of determining direction.

“Even in an aquarium?” Qiubai asked.

“Even in an aquarium,” the captain affirmed.

“Then be sure to take good care of your aquarium.”

At the moment, Captain Grisha’s aquarium was undoubtedly the most important in history; the fate of the entire ship depended on it.

“No need to worry—we’ve filled even our bathtubs with those fish.” The captain was far more cautious than Qiubai, the unexpected guest.

Qiubai, however, couldn’t help but curl his lip.

Who was he kidding? Where would a little rundown ship like this have a bathtub?

Well, his malicious inner thoughts reflected the truth—there really wasn’t anything as high-class as a bathtub on this little wreck.