Morrow laid exhausted on the deck, feeling like he had when he finished his SAT in what seemed like so long ago. Riding a a current up a mountain had seemed like an interesting experience when he planned this, but while that had been true it had mentally tiring as well. His boat was small so there was more room for clearance, but he had still cut it close even holding the rudder at maximum while making the turn at the top.

He was finally clear though, and there had been no whale or old man to greet him. Now it was just a matter of picking a route and starting his journey. Barring a permanent log pose there was only one chance to choose the route on the Grand Line, and Morrow had already decided on the nostalgic choice. He set course for Whiskey Peak.

Was it a boring choice? Maybe, but Morrow admitted to himself that he still hadn't given up on seeing the Straw Hats later even if their paths never went parallel. He also wanted to see the sights of the manga in person, especially the giants of Little Garden. Although it was never shown in the manga, being from the New World they should have access to Haki training methods.

Morrow of course knew the importance of Haki, but his attempts to figure it out on his own had been little more than fumbling in the dark. He knew it was an 'innate power that everyone has,' but how to bring it out? The only version of haki that he had some idea on was observation haki, but he had either not satisfied the strength requirement for learning it yet or he was doing it wrong.

While he was musing, it had started to rain and the waves were starting to climb. He got back up from his rest, and after confirming he was still on course he settled in for a battle against nature.

I knew all that reading was good for something.

While Morrow may not have the innate talent that Nami did for navigation, he hadn't come to the Grand Line as a total white. Knowing that he would come here someday, he had done his homework his free time on it's weather patterns and geography. He also had another advantage that couldn't be found no matter how genius Nami was. Fish were very sensitive to the weather, and he could simply ask them for any dangers in the way.

["Boss, get up!"]

zzz....

["Boss, you told me to wake you when the island was in sight!"]

"...kay. I heard you."

Jerry, a fairly smart juvenile giant shark he had conscripted to watch the boat while he slept, sat in the sea off the bow as he came out of the cabin. Why he called himself Jerry, Morrow had no idea, but who was he to say?

"Here's your payment. Thanks for the help Jerry."

He tossed him a tuna and turned to look at the giant mountains of cacti in the distance. While he wanted to avoid changing the subsequent story too much, if the bounty hunters of Whiskey Peak thought they could pull the whole welcoming routine on him then he didn't mind showing them some 'hospitality' of his own.

Forgot I wasn't flying the pirate flag...

No one met his poor little boat as he pulled into port, and after some thinking he finally thought of the reason. While the government seemed to have labeled him wanted he hadn't actually flown the pirate flag yet, which left the bounty hunters with no reason to implement their charade. They didn't even know a bounty existed here yet.

While he was happy to not be pointlessly harassed, he really did need to get a flag made up. He was wanted anyway, and pretending to lay low would only make him seem cowardly. Pirate crew of 1, coming right up.

He anchored down before jumping onto the docks to go into town. Whiskey Peak was a fully functional town, however small, and it had the stores he wanted. He had intended to get some more food and alcohol one way or another since he had been rushed in Loguetown, but he now also planned to get supplies to make the flag he wanted.

How long til they catch on and try something?