On the second day after leaving Drum Island, the Going Merry sailed steadily across the calm sea.
Once they left the winter climate behind, the skies turned bright and sunny. Chopper quickly adapted to life on board—thanks to the care of the two girls and his easy friendship with Luffy and Usopp, he was already fitting right in. At this moment, he was chatting happily with Karoo the duck.
At the stern deck, Vivi and Nami lounged on chairs, each holding a newspaper. Their faces were pale as if they'd just read some shocking news.
"I–Is this real?"
"What's wrong?"
"Look at this."
Nami sat up and spread the paper wide.
Liner, who was lifting weights nearby, noticed. Setting down the barbell, he walked over, sat cross-legged on the deck, lit a cigarette, and began to read slowly.
On the top left of the front page was a battle photo, showing hundreds clashing. The bold headline read: [Frontline Report: Latest News on the Alabasta Civil War].
The further Liner read, the deeper his frown grew.
"The royal army lost over 300,000 troops in just a month?"
Originally, the kingdom's 600,000 soldiers had the advantage against the rebels' 400,000. But in the blink of an eye, the numbers had flipped—now the rebels had 700,000, and the royal army only 300,000.
A war involving over a million soldiers… Liner had never seen such a thing, nor could he truly picture it. The sheer scale far exceeded anything he'd imagined.
He glanced at Vivi. She was surely burning with worry right now.
"And this report is already several days old. The showdown in Alabasta might not be far off."
"Liner! Don't say it like that—Vivi's already upset enough." Nami shot him a glare, clearly annoyed.
But nice words couldn't change reality. Liner raised a hand in surrender.
"Still, Sanji did manage to contact Crocodile by Den Den Mushi. Based on that, it looks like we'll arrive before the decisive battle begins."
"Exactly. Vivi, don't worry too much," Nami added.
"I'm sorry for making you all worry."
Vivi raised her hand to wipe her face, forcing out a smile. "You're all already doing your best to hurry. Even if I'm anxious, the ship won't move any faster.
"I'll go wash my face." With that, she stood and walked toward the bow.
"This child… she still won't ask us directly for help."
Nami watched Vivi go, her expression troubled. Then she turned back to Liner. "We will help her when the time comes, right?"
"Wasn't that already decided by everyone?"
Liner picked the barbell back up. Even though Vivi's "request" had originally been just to escort her to Alabasta, every crewmate already treated her as one of them.
"So it all comes down to this Warlord problem, huh? Guess we just cut him down when the time comes," Zoro said from where he was training.
"Don't make it sound so easy, you idiot! That's one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea!" Nami scolded, hands on her hips.
A while later, Usopp and Sanji came over. "Liner, Zoro—shall we start?"
"Perfect timing." Liner set the barbell aside and wiped sweat from his brow with a towel hanging around his neck.
Ever since Little Garden, Liner had been practicing Haki using the method the two giants taught him. His progress? Practically zero. There was no way he'd master it before the upcoming Alabasta battles.
But Haki wasn't something learned overnight. Onboard, Liner, Sanji, Zoro, and Luffy all had the physical strength to begin Haki training. The earlier they started, the sooner they'd grasp it.
The method was simple—exactly like Rayleigh's later training with Luffy. Almost every pirate trained this way: blindfolded sparring.
At the same time, they were meant to train both Observation Haki and Armament Haki—feeling the opponent's presence while imagining an invisible suit of armor covering their body.
It sounded simple enough, but once you tried it, you understood the difficulty.
Usopp pulled out three black bands and tied them around the eyes of the seated Liner, Zoro, and Sanji.
"Ready? I'm going to start."
He swung a wooden stick through the air a few times, the whoosh making Nami shiver from the side.
"You guys train. I'm going to check on Vivi." With that, she hurried off.
"I'm ready."
"Bring it on, Usopp!"
They'd chosen Usopp for this because, as the giants had said, unless the attacks were serious, they'd never be able to sense an opponent's presence. But if the attacks were too serious, the only ones they could withstand safely were Usopp—or the girls, Nami and Vivi.
Clearly, the two girls weren't interested. As for Liner's undead—they didn't count. Undead had no life force to sense.
Thwack!
"Ow!"
"Ahh, sorry, Liner!"
"It's fine. Keep going, Usopp."
Before long, the training area echoed with blows and groans.
As for Luffy, his body was too resilient. Blows didn't threaten him at all, so he couldn't feel any danger, meaning he couldn't train. They couldn't exactly slash him with real swords, after all.
"Phew… I'm done."
Eventually, Usopp collapsed from exhaustion. The three trainees, dizzy and battered, couldn't focus any longer, so they ended the session.
"Ugh, my head's killing me… I'll go make dinner." Rubbing his temple, Sanji staggered off.
The remaining three lay flat on the deck, staring blankly at the sky with lifeless expressions.
"You guys are monsters… Compared to you, I'm no different from an ordinary person."
"Don't say that outside. I'm weak, really," Liner replied.
"Yeah, right." Usopp scoffed. After a pause, he added:
"Liner, Zoro… can you teach me how to get stronger?"
Liner glanced at him. "What brought this on?"
He never forced anyone to train. True strength came from personal resolve. Without determination, training or coaching was just wasted time.
Even carefree Luffy had trained hard since childhood.
"This time, our enemy is a Warlord. I want to be useful too."
Usopp stared at the sky as he spoke, though his eyes flashed with rare determination. Being the weakest felt awful, and no one knew that pain better than he did.
He was the crew's sniper, after all—a combat role. Yet his strength was no greater than that of a logistics member who just handled chores.
"Well… everyone has their own path," Liner said calmly. "I don't know of any way to suddenly make you strong. Unless… have you considered eating a Devil Fruit?"
"A Devil Fruit, huh…" Usopp thought for a moment before shaking his head.
"Forget it. If too many of us can't swim, we won't be able to save each other if someone falls in."
"I see. In that case, we'll start by training your body," Liner said with a smile. "No matter which path you choose, a strong body is the foundation."
"Yeah… Then let me join your training from now on."
"Of course."
"Welcome aboard."
And so, the days passed with training.
On the fifth day after leaving Drum Island—
"I see land, everyone!"
From the Merry's crow's nest, Liner shouted to the crew below, then turned back to look forward.
The Kingdom of Alabasta. A superpower with a population in the tens of millions.
From afar, the island was an endless expanse of red earth, scorched under the blazing sun. Even before reaching the shore, the very air grew hot and oppressive, stirring irritation in everyone's hearts.
At the call, the crew rushed on deck. Vivi, more anxious than anyone, dashed to the bow, clutching the railing as she gazed toward her homeland.
"Where should we dock, Vivi?" Liner asked as he leapt down from the lookout to her side.
"Nanohana," Vivi pointed. "It's a port city—the Merry can anchor there."
"Got it."
At his signal, undead crewmen adjusted the helm and sails. Slowly, the Going Merry shifted course toward Vivi's homeland.