After the little confrontation, Luffy got to work and started painting the Straw Hat symbol on her, although with his own artistic style.
"There you have it! It's a symbol for you to remember our promise!" Luffy said while covered in paint. "Don't hit your head anymore or it will be erased before we see each other again."
Laboon made a happy sound.
"That's it!" Luffy said with a big smile.
"I'm going to plan our route," Nami said, sitting at the table with the map.
"I'm going to prepare this elephant tuna," Sanji said, cutting the fish.
"THAT IDIOT HAS DESTROYED THE SHIP! Oi, Zoro, help me fix it!" Usopp shouted, trying to repair the mast while Zoro was sleeping peacefully. "I'm not a shipwright!"
"Let's see if I can help you," Oliver said, helping him with an iron plate to secure the mast.
While everyone was doing something, a loud scream was heard from Nami.
"What's wrong? Why are you screaming?" Luffy asked her while trying to clean off the paint.
"What's wrong, Nami-san? If you're hungry, the food is already ready!" Sanji said, doing a dance with numerous plates of food.
"Alright, time to eat," Usopp said, finishing his carpentry work.
"We have to hurry before Luffy eats everything," Oliver said.
Zoro kept sleeping on the ship while the rest got ready to eat and listen to Nami.
"The compass! It's broken! It's spinning like crazy!" Nami shouted worriedly, since without it they couldn't move forward.
Crocus found that extremely strange.
"It seems you know nothing about this place. It's as if you want to commit suicide," Crocus said, catching Nami's attention.
Luffy started eating like crazy while the rest paid attention to Crocus, eating little by little, though Oliver didn't waste the opportunity to eat too.
"I already told you that common sense is useless here. The compass isn't broken," Crocus explained.
"Then why? Because of magnetic fields?" Nami asked him.
"Exactly. All the islands in the Grand Line are made of minerals. And that has caused a magnetic field to be created all over the Grand Line." He began to explain how the islands worked.
"Aside from that, the weather isn't constant, so the sea isn't either. If you are really the navigator, you should know how dangerous these waters are. If you try to sail out knowing nothing, you will simply die." He finished his explanation.
"You're right. If we don't know where to go, we're dead. And I'm afraid I have no idea," Nami said, embarrassed.
"This is bad! How are we going to do it?!" Usopp asked, worried.
"Even when she apologizes, she's gorgeous," Sanji said with heart eyes.
"SHUT UP!" Nami shouted at Sanji and Usopp to keep them quiet.
"What's wrong?" Luffy said, looking at the food. "Thish fish ishh sho good!!" [This fish is really good]
"To navigate the Grand Line you need a Log Pose," Crocus said.
"A Log Pose? What is that?" Nami asked curiously.
"It's a special compass that records the magnetic fields of the islands," Crocus explained to them.
"A strange compass?" Luffy asked with half the fish in his mouth.
"They have a very peculiar shape," Crocus told them.
"Like this?" Luffy said, showing a Log Pose.
"Yes, exactly. Without it, it's impossible to navigate the Grand Line. And the truth is, it's hard to get your hands on one of those outside of the Grand Line itself," Crocus said.
"I see, just one thing. Where did you get one of those?!" Nami punched Luffy in the face, almost making him drop the food from his mouth.
"Those strange people left it behind when they left," Luffy explained to her.
"From them?" Nami asked him, to which Luffy nodded.
"Why did you hit me?" Luffy asked her, adjusting his hat.
"I felt like it," Nami replied.
"Ah, okay," Luffy said, finishing his fish.
"So this is a Log Pose. But it doesn't have any markings," Nami said, looking at the Log Pose.
"Each island in the Grand Line has a unique magnetic field, the same thing happens on all islands. You have to let the Log Pose memorize the island's field so it can guide you to the next one, it's the only way. Since it's impossible to know your exact location, the Log Pose is the only thing that can guide you once you've entered," Crocus began to explain to them. "There are 7 different paths to enter; you'll have to choose one of them before anything else. Although it doesn't matter which one you choose, because in the end all paths lead to the same place. Laugh Tale, the final island. In history, the only one who has confirmed its existence is the late Pirate King. It's the legendary island."
"Is that where it is?! THE ONE PIECE?!" Usopp asked, totally excited.
"Maybe. But no one else has managed to reach it," Crocus told them.
"Well, when we get there we'll see it with our own eyes," Luffy said, finishing his food. "Alright, let's go! I'm done eating."
"YOU ATE THE WHOLE THING?!!" Sanji shouted with shark teeth.
"NOT EVEN THE BONES ARE LEFT!" Usopp shouted upon not seeing them.
"That's what happens when you don't make sure to eat," Oliver said, picking his teeth.
"I'll have to take good care of the Log Pose, without it we're lost," Nami said, putting on the Log Pose.
'I think it's time to step away from Nami's fury' Oliver thought, moving away from the table.
"Damn rubber idiot, you ate it all! All the food I had made for Nami-san!!" Sanji kicked Luffy, sending him straight into the Log Pose, destroying it.
"Huh?"
Nami saw the Log Pose break right before her eyes, freezing cold before staring fixedly at Sanji.
"Go soak your heads!" Nami kicked the two of them, sending them falling straight into the sea.
"What a fall," Oliver said, watching Luffy sink.
"Oi, weren't we lost without that?!" Usopp asked her, getting up from the impact.
"Crocus-san, what do we do now?!!" Nami asked him, worried.
"Don't worry, I'll give you mine as thanks for Laboon," Crocus told them.
--
--
After a few minutes, Luffy came up with Sanji along with Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday to explain a situation to them.
"Whiskey Peak? What is that?" Luffy asked, standing in front of the 2 bounty hunters.
"It's the name of our town, sir," Mr. 9 said, kneeling next to Miss Wednesday.
"And you want us to take you there, because you don't have a ship. Why should we help you, Mr. 9? You tried to kill the whale," Nami asked them.
"Who are you guys?" Usopp asked them.
"I am a King," Mr. 9 told a lie, causing Nami to grab his face, making him squeal in pain.
"Liar," Nami told him.
"We can't tell you anything! But we really want to go back, if you help us we will return the favor!" both Bounty Hunters told them, doing a Dogeza.
"The truth is we didn't want to do this dirty work. Our organization is like that, everything is a secret. We can't tell you anything. We can only hope you take pity on us," Miss Wednesday said.
"Don't bother, the only thing you'll get from them is trouble," Crocus warned them.
"It doesn't matter that we broke the Log Pose and don't have another one. Do you still want to come with us?" Nami told them, showing the broken Log Pose.
"WHAT?! You broke it? That Log Pose was mine!" Mr. 9 shouted angrily.
"We got on our knees and begged! And you are just like us!" Miss Wednesday shouted.
"Calm down, I don't want to have to knock you out again," Oliver said, using Electro, which scared them.
"Oh! I almost forgot, Crocus-san was going to give us another one," Nami said, causing them to kneel again.
"We are at your feet appealing to your kindness," they said, doing a Dogeza again. 'Shit! She tricked us, that shameless woman!'
"Alright. You can come with us," Luffy said after thinking about it.
"Are you sure?
A few hours passed where the Going Merry was already repaired and the Log Pose charged.
"It's time. The Log Pose should be ready. Did you use the map to configure it?" Crocus asked her.
"Yes, everything is ready! It's pointing to Whiskey Peak," Nami told him.
"Are you sure you want to go to Whiskey Peak just for those 2? This is the only place where you can choose the path," Crocus asked her if they were going to take that route.
"Yeah, and if we don't like it, we can always come back, right?" Luffy told him with a smile.
"Yeah, sure," Crocus said with a smile.
'Hehehe, stupid pirates'
That was what both bounty hunters thought upon seeing the pirates' foolish attitude.
"We're off, Flower-Old Man," Luffy said goodbye.
"Thanks for the Log Pose," Nami thanked him.
"See you later," Crocus said goodbye.
At that moment, Laboon gave a loud cry of farewell.
"We're finally leaving," Nami said, looking ahead.
"I'll be back, whale!" Luffy shouted, saying goodbye to Laboon.
As they sailed away from the Twin Capes, Crocus watched them closely.
"Maybe they are the pirates we've been waiting for. That girl seemed special. Don't you think so, Roger?" Crocus asked the air.
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