A ship with a sheep's head figurehead drifted across the waves.
On its sail, a new jolly roger had been painted: a skull wearing a straw hat.
The flag of the Straw Hat Pirates had officially risen.
…
Over the next few days, the crew had a strange adventure on the "Island of Rare Animals," where they befriended a man named Gaimon who was stuck in a treasure chest.
Interestingly, the rare beasts on the island, which had been hostile at first, immediately bowed down and started following Chouchou around after he let out a single roar.
Everyone figured it had something to do with the demonic power in his bloodline.
Zoro, however, gave Ray a long, searching look.
Chouchou's transformation was all because of Ray's blood. Just who is this guy? he wondered.
But out of trust for his crewmate, he kept his questions to himself.
~
Meanwhile, life on the Going Merry had settled into a brutal routine.
Every day, Ray put Luffy and Zoro through hellish endurance training to help them master Armament Haki.
If they failed to coat the part of their body he was about to hit, the pain was, in their words, "soul-piercing."
The deck was often filled with their agonized screams.
When Usopp first boarded the ship, he was so terrified by the scene that he was convinced he'd made a huge mistake.
It wasn't until he saw Nami also pushing through an insane physical training regimen every day that he realized: this was why the Straw Hat Pirates were so strong.
And the strongest one on the ship wasn't the captain; it was the impossibly handsome guy, Ray.
Ray, being fair, designed a training plan for Usopp too.
In addition to Nami's workout (1,000 push-ups, 1,000 sit-ups, etc.), he had to shoot down at least one bird from the sky with his slingshot for their dinner.
If he failed, he got the same "special training" as Luffy and Zoro.
For the first two days, Usopp barely even saw a bird, let alone hit one.
Soon, a third set of pained howls joined the daily chorus on the deck.
Nami and Chouchou, the only two who hadn't been beaten up by Ray yet, found the whole thing hilarious.
…
Today, the sun was bright and the sea was calm.
Zoro was trying to cut through a giant metal hammer, part of Ray's training to "cut steel."
Luffy had just finished his "reaction training," which basically meant getting beaten up by Ray without being allowed to fight back.
Though covered in bruises, Luffy was still full of energy.
He and Usopp were on lookout, searching for birds.
"Huh? Is that a News Bird?" Luffy said, peering through a telescope.
Usopp was overjoyed.
Any bird would do.
Hitting it meant he wouldn't get a beating tonight.
"Where is it?" he asked excitedly.
"It's in the 19:59:59 direction!" Luffy replied with a dead-serious expression.
"Alright, leave it to me… Wait, what the hell are you even talking about?" Usopp smacked Luffy on the back of the head.
"Okay, calm down… around eight o'clock, right?" he muttered, aiming his slingshot.
As the bird got closer, Luffy suddenly remembered the feast he'd had after catching one before, and drool started dripping from his mouth.
He shot up to the crow's nest, ready to pounce.
Just as the hardworking News Bird reached their ship, ready to drop off the paper, Usopp fired.
The steel pellet shot through the air and shattered the poor bird's skull, sending it plummeting to the deck.
Its promising career of delivering news was over.
Luffy was already grabbing its still-warm corpse.
"Let's go cook this thing!" he yelled, and he and Usopp ran off to the kitchen.
~
Nami, having finished her workout, walked onto the deck and picked up the fallen newspaper.
"Hey, we're in here! It's an article about us defeating Buggy!"
"Oh?" Zoro paused his training and walked over.
"Ray's at 30 million, Luffy's at 20 million, and I'm at 15 million. Hmph. Why am I falling further and further behind Ray?" he scowled, then went back to swinging his sword at the hammer.
"Whoa, I'm worth 20 million!" Luffy yelled, running out of the kitchen and snatching the paper.
"But Ray is way stronger than Buggy! How come they have the same bounty? That's not fair!"
Ray just shrugged, completely indifferent.
He knew the Marines had probably assumed they'd ganged up on Buggy.
Besides, based on the strength Buggy had shown, he was worth way more than 30 million anyway.
"Listen up," Ray said, turning to the crew. "From now on, pirates worth tens of millions are just small fry. You all need to get stronger."
Luffy and Zoro nodded seriously.
Usopp and Nami, however, started trembling.
"We'll be counting on you three to protect us, then!" they shouted in unison.
All they got in return was an icy glare from Ray.
Nami nervously stuck out her tongue, and Usopp didn't dare say another word.
Luffy's serious mood lasted for about five seconds. "Shishishi! Usopp shot a bird! We're having meat for dinner!"
Hearing that, everyone's mouth started watering.
The reason was simple: on their very first day at sea, Luffy had eaten every last piece of meat they had in the fridge.
They hadn't had any in days.
"Shishishi, I'll go cook!" Luffy announced, rolling up his sleeves.
Suddenly, Ray had a vivid flashback to a story he'd once read about Luffy nearly burning a ship to the ground.
With a crack of his Light Whip, he sent Luffy sprawling.
"If you can't cook," he said coldly, "don't make trouble."
"Are you going to cook, Ray?" Nami asked, her heart fluttering at the thought of watching a handsome man in the kitchen.
Ray just snorted.
"I can't. Nami, you do it."
Nami: "…!!!"
…
An hour later, the roasted bird was gone, its skeleton being happily gnawed on by Chouchou.
The five of them sat around the table for a meeting.
Usopp: "First, our meals are not balanced!"
Zoro: "Second, our captain eats too much!"
Nami: "And finally, none of us can actually cook!"
Luffy frowned for a long time, then slapped his head.
"I've got it! We need to find a cook!"
Ray nodded. "If we keep heading this way, we should run into a floating restaurant called the Baratie."
Luffy's face lit up. "Shishishi! Alright! Next stop, the floating restaurant! We're gonna find ourselves a cook!"