Miss. Valentine finally succumbed to Sherlock's overwhelming pressure, spilling every last detail of the intelligence she knew.
Aside from the mysterious Mr. 2, the Straw Hat crew now had a rough understanding of the other high-ranking assassins in Baroque Works.
And now, the assassin lady—who had lost all usefulness—was assigned a new task by the sorcerer, one perfectly suited to her.
It was still fine weather.
Uncharacteristically, Zoro wasn't napping during the day. Shirtless, he stood at the stern, gripping a thick iron bar tightly in both hands, swinging it with powerful, deliberate chops. Miss. Valentine stood prettily atop the bar, serving as his weight...
Yes, weight.
According to Sherlock, Miss. Valentine's only value on this ship now was to serve as a sparring partner for the green-haired swordsman...
"1797, 1798—hey, you can make it heavier!" Zoro called up to the assassin lady.
"Uh, sure, 700 kilograms!" Miss. Valentine, holding her parasol, broke into a cold sweat on her forehead. Is this guy a monster?
"Hmph..." The sudden increase in weight forced a grunt from the green-haired swordsman. He gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead, muscles trembling all over. Moments later, he resumed swinging, causing Miss. Valentine's body to bob up and down. It made her dizzy, but thankfully she could adjust her weight to avoid falling.
"1799, 1800..."
The entire ship shuddered noticeably with each of Zoro's swings, prompting Vivi, standing nearby, to sigh in awe: "Mr. Bushido is truly a beast in human skin!"
The navigator checked the Log Pose on her wrist, confirming the course was correct, then glanced at the beauty-and-beast duo at the stern. She turned to a certain bespectacled man sitting in a chair reading a book and asked:
"What's gotten into Zoro? Ever since he learned about Baroque Works, he's been full of energy these past few days."
"Well, there's a guy from the West Blue who claims he's never been cut by a swordsman. Zoro wants to give him the experience of being sliced." Sherlock closed his book, pushed up his glasses, and said calmly, "Plus, it's rare to have such a convenient training tool."
"Tch, that moss-head." Sanji emerged from the kitchen, spitting out a puff of smoke in annoyance, muttering: "Getting to train with such a beautiful lady—makes me jealous!"
He flicked the burnt cigarette butt into the sea and called out to Luffy and Usopp, who were fishing: "Hey, you two bastards who sneak food at night—can you actually catch any fish? If not, I'll have to..."
At that, the curly-browed cook shot a malicious glance at Karoo, who was enjoying a tasty juice nearby. The duck let out a terrified quack at the threatening look.
The King of Fishing, Usopp, was about to retort when his rod suddenly jerked downward with tremendous force. The high-quality rod bent into an exaggerated arc—whatever was on the line was huge.
"Amazing! Usopp, I'll help! Gum-Gum..."
Luffy dropped his own rod and stretched his arms back dramatically, looping them around the mast before grabbing Usopp's rod tightly. Then he yanked hard.
"...Fishing!"
The line groaned under the strain. The sea surface bulged violently, and amid splashing water, a massive turtle—at least seven or eight meters long—was hauled up by Luffy right before the astonished eyes of Nami and the others. The creature's enormous body hurtled like a giant iron disc toward the stern, sending the rubber boy into excited shouts.
Nami's eyes widened in shock: "Hey, hey, hey—why did fishing bring up a turtle?!"
Sherlock calmly pushed up his glasses: "Not bad at all. Turtle soup tastes pretty good."
Sanji lit a cigarette and raised a curly eyebrow: "For soup, this one's a bit on the large side."
Princess Vivi covered her mouth in horror: "Wait, the place it's falling toward isn't..."
"Quack..." Karoo very humanly covered its eyes with a wing, unable to watch.
"Jeez, these guys are way too noisy!" Miss. Valentine, perched on the iron bar, turned her head in irritation—only to see the enlarging form of a giant turtle.
The assassin lady's face went pale with fright...
"1943, 1944—huh?" The focused green-haired swordsman first noticed the sky suddenly darkening, then felt the iron bar lighten abruptly in his hands.
BOOM! A massive crash echoed as the inexplicably caught turtle smashed into Miss. Valentine, knocking her flying before slamming heavily onto the stern deck. The wooden planks creaked painfully under the exaggerated weight of the giant beast, rocking the Merry violently.
"Ah! Miss Valentine, don't be afraid! Your knight is coming to save you!" The lovestruck cook leaped into the sea without hesitation after the assassin lady fell in, shaking his head at Sherlock.
Luffy circled the massive turtle on the deck three times left and three times right, smacking his lips. Then he looked at a trembling long-nosed fellow with pure admiration: "Usopp! You're amazing! Truly the King of Fishing!"
Hearing the idiot captain say that, Usopp immediately struck a pose of total control, puffing out his long nose and saying disdainfully: "Tch, a little turtle like this doesn't even showcase my true skills as the King of Fishing!"
Just then, a very familiar voice came from under the turtle's belly: "You two bastards! I'm gonna chop you up!!"
Luffy blinked, then his face twisted in horror as he yelled to everyone: "Hey, bad news—the big turtle's talking!"
"You're the turtle! Your whole family are turtles!!" The moss-head trapped underneath roared back in fury. With a heave, he crawled out from under the beast and lunged at his idiot captain.
Nami was used to this by now. She looked at Miss. Valentine, who had been rescued by Sanji and was shivering from the cold seawater, thought for a moment, then kindly fetched a blanket and draped it over her.
The assassin lady glanced in surprise at the blanket on her shoulders. After all the torment and exploitation from the sorcerer, this was the first time she'd felt care from someone on the Merry. She nearly teared up, then stammered softly: "Th-thank... you~"
Watching Luffy and Zoro wrestling on the deck, Vivi couldn't help but giggle. The fallen princess, who had been weighed down with worries since Whiskey Peak, smiled brightly for the first time.
"Being with these utterly stupid guys makes you forget all your troubles, doesn't it?" Sherlock pushed up his glasses and smiled at Vivi.
"Yeah!" Princess Vivi nodded with a smile. "What an interesting bunch!"
"Quack!" Karoo nodded along seriously.
The crew continued their chaotic voyage for a few more days like this until they reached the second island on the Grand Line: Little Garden.
But as the Straw Hats sailed up the inland river into the island, they realized Little Garden was anything but "little." And this place, brimming with danger everywhere, hardly deserved the somewhat cute title of "garden."
"I've never seen plants like these... and... ah! What was that?!" A black shadow flashed by, and the timid navigator immediately hid behind Sherlock like a frightened bunny. Subconsciously, she saw the sorcerer as the most reliable crewmate.
(Ah~ A startled Nami-san is so cute... but... why hide behind that glasses bastard?!) The perverted cook seethed with jealousy.
Rumble~ A strange noise echoed from afar.
"Did I hear that wrong? Is that a volcano erupting??" Nami clung tightly to Sherlock's clothes, looking pitiful.
Vivi broke into a cold sweat and warned everyone: "Be careful—Miss. All Sunday said this place is extremely dangerous. We could all be wiped out!"
"Roar~" A mournful cry came from the shore. A colorful tiger leaped from the bushes—but the king of beasts had none of its former majesty. Covered in blood, it staggered a few steps before collapsing with a thud, life fading away.
"Hey, hey, hey—can someone tell me why the king of beasts is in such a sorry state?! What the heck is on this island?!!" The timid navigator was on the verge of tears.
"Probably some prehistoric beast," Sherlock said, patting Nami's soft little hand reassuringly. "Don't worry—I was stranded on an isolated island just like this once. It was full of amphibious Sea Kings that fed on tigers and such..."
(Though they tasted pretty good~) Sherlock thought to himself.
!!!
Hearing Sherlock's words, Nami and the others shuddered violently. The sorcerer's "comfort" had the opposite effect.
"It's decided—I'm absolutely not setting foot on this island!" The brave warrior of the sea, Usopp, declared firmly. Miss. Valentine nodded in strong agreement.
"Sanji, make me a pirate bento." Luffy was trembling all over—but the idiot captain wasn't scared; he was excited. Eyes sparkling like stars, he said thrilled: "I smell adventure!"
A little later, with the curly-haired cook's meat-packed bento in hand, the Straw Hat captain dashed off under everyone's gaze. From the look of it, the moron was extremely curious about the massive monsters Sherlock mentioned that ate tigers.
"So boring... I'll go stretch my legs too..." With that, Zoro leaped ashore and slowly walked toward the dense primeval forest.
Everyone watched the green-haired swordsman's retreating back, inexplicably feeling a heroic sense of the wind whistles coldly by the Yi River; the warrior departs and never returns.
Come to think of it, for a supreme directionally challenged idiot like Zoro, coming back on his own would be a miracle!
"Hey, Zoro..." Sanji suddenly remembered something and called out hurriedly: "We're low on food—grab some game on the way~"
"Yeah, got it. I'll catch some prey you couldn't handle." Zoro tossed back over his shoulder as he left.
"Stop right there, you moss-head!" Sanji exploded in rage. "Are you saying I'm inferior to you?!"
...And so, a hunting contest began.
Sherlock watched the two rivals—who couldn't stand each other—walk farther away, pushed up his glasses, and said to himself: "Since they're off to get meat, I'll gather some vegetables. A balanced diet is the most nutritious."
"I'm quite familiar with plants in primeval forests like this."
"I'll go with you, Mr. Glasses." Vivi glanced at the thick jungle on the shore, hesitated a moment, then said to Sherlock: "After all, you've all taken care of me these days. I want to do something useful..."
Sherlock gladly accepted.
Watching the two walk off into the distance, the long-nosed one wiped the sweat from his forehead and muttered: "What a brave princess."
"Yeah~" The navigator nodded. "She did infiltrate the enemy organization, after all."
"Are they all insane?" Miss. Valentine opened her parasol, utterly puzzled. "How is everyone just leaving one by one? Don't they think this island feels seriously off??"
Silence... A few bizarre-shaped birds flew overhead.
"Huh?"
The three froze. They looked at each other, fell silent for a moment, then suddenly realized the ship now held only them—three extremely unreliable people.
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