"Robin-chan, please try my secret Sky Island curry~~~~"
Just as Robin was lost in thought, Sanji arrived with an exaggerated flourish, presenting a steaming, fragrant plate of curry before her. It seemed that while she had been caught up in her own mind, the Straw Hat crew had already started their meal.
"Ara, thank you very much, Mr. Cook," Robin said, her face lighting up with a smile.
Unlike her usual polite, somewhat distant smiles, this one was genuine and heartfelt. It was an inadvertent expression of her changing state of mind, yet the moving grace between her brows was enough to completely sink the "Simp Cook."
"Ohhh! I've decided! From now on, Robin-chan's smiles shall be protected by me!" Sanji shouted, suddenly brimming with an inexplicable fighting spirit. Watching him, Nami and Usopp could only shake their heads in exasperation.
(Strange. Why do I feel like she's suddenly changed a bit? Is it because of the message left by the Pirate King?)
Sherlock, ever observant, keenly caught the subtle change in the "black-bellied" woman's expression. He looked at Robin thoughtfully and pushed up his glasses before turning his full attention back to the curry on his own plate.
Under the silent night sky, beside the white sea of clouds, the campfire crackled and popped. Brushing against the cool sea breeze, the Straw Hat crew began to enjoy their dinner in a leisurely fashion.
Since arriving on Skypiea, these pirates had been forced into the "God's Game." After Luffy punched out the overbearing God Eneru, they had been swept up in the celebrations with the ecstatic Skypieans. They had been partying for days on end, and only now did they finally have a moment of peace.
"Everyone, there's something I need to tell you…"
After devouring an unknown number of plates of curry, Luffy suddenly spoke up, breaking the silence. "Let's leave this place tomorrow morning."
"We'll leave the Sky Island, head back to the Blue Sea, and continue our adventure!" The dimwitted captain's carefree smile was as bright as ever.
Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp all wore expressions that suggested they had expected this decision from their captain.
"Tomorrow morning? No problem. I've already learned how to get down from the Sky Island from Conis."
The orange-haired navigator said this as she raised her wrist to check the Log Pose. "The recording is complete. Once we're off the Sky Island, we can head toward the next destination."
"Eh? We're leaving tomorrow?"
Chopper was startled. He set his plate aside and said in surprise, "Isn't it a bit rude to leave without saying goodbye?"
"Don't sweat the details, Chopper," Usopp laughed, patting the blue-nosed reindeer on the shoulder. "We're pirates! We leave whenever we feel like it."
"That's right, we're pirates," Luffy nodded. "And a pirate is the freest person on the sea!"
(This guy...)
Zoro and the others looked at each other and smiled. Perhaps the reason this Straw Hat idiot was so obsessed with becoming the Pirate King was simply because he yearned for that life of absolute freedom.
"In that case, there are some things I must clarify with you now. Actually, I should have told you earlier…"
Having finished every last scrap of food on his plate, Sherlock leisurely wiped his mouth. He then pulled three wanted posters from his Mirror Space and handed them to Luffy and the others. When they saw the posters, the group instantly erupted.
"Yahoo! Hahaha! My bounty finally went up!!!" The dimwitted captain held his latest wanted poster high, grinning from ear to ear.
"Ten, hundred, thousand, million, ten million, hundred million! 124,500,000 Berries!!!"
Usopp's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "No way, Luffy! How did your bounty jump so much? It went up by nearly a hundred million!"
"Sherlock's bounty rose to 97 million too... Eh? Is there no wanted poster for me?" Chopper blinked his round deer eyes, unsure whether to feel happy or disappointed.
"Tch, only 63 million Berries?" Holding his own poster, Zoro's tone was dismissive, but the triumphant grin on his face betrayed his true feelings.
"Phew... Luckily, I don't have a bounty."
Nami patted her chest in relief, then glanced at Luffy's poster. "Luffy, your bounty is a bit strange. 12,450?"
"Strange? Is there something weird about that number?" Luffy asked, puzzled.
"A little. It just feels off to me…"
The orange-haired navigator arched an elegant eyebrow. She couldn't quite put her finger on why, but she felt the bounty was odd—it felt... "unrestrained."
"Hey, hey, hey, Sherlock!" Sanji lunged in front of the Sorcerer with a serious face. "Are these three the only new posters? Where's mine? Where's the one with my handsome photo that would charm thousands of girls and a bounty that crushes that Marimo?"
"That should be all of them. These were the only ones I got back in Mock Town."
Sherlock's calm reply sent the curly-browed cook's mood plummeting into the abyss. Ignoring Sanji, who was now sulking in a corner in an Orz pose, the glasses-wearing man cleared his throat and addressed the crew seriously.
"Including Robin's bounty of 79 million, our crew's total bounty has reached 363.5 million Berries. For a crew that has only just entered the Grand Line, this is truly a remarkable feat."
"Hehehe!" Luffy, Zoro, and the others chuckled proudly.
"However…"
The Sorcerer's tone shifted. The lenses of his glasses reflected two sharp flashes of white light, standing out starkly in the quiet night.
"A higher bounty also means we are now primary targets for Marine Headquarters officers and bounty hunters. And our current strength is still far too 'weak.'"
Recalling the deep sense of powerlessness he felt when facing Blackbeard in Mock Town, a flash of worry crossed Sherlock's eyes.
"There are countless powerful individuals on this ocean. Setting aside the rest, we don't even have an effective way to deal with Logia-type Devil Fruit users. We were lucky with Crocodile and Eneru, but can we rely on our luck staying this good forever?"
Hearing this, the smiles on the faces of Luffy and the others vanished. Sanji, who had been knocked unconscious by the Thunder God in a single encounter, pulled grimly on his cigarette, clearly dissatisfied with his own performance.
"And during this trip to the Sky Island, I'm sure you all experienced how terrifying the priests' 'Mantra' could be."
"I see what you're getting at, Sherlock."
Zoro crossed his arms with a serious expression, looking cool as he said, "You're talking about that thing called 'Haki,' right?"
"Exactly."
Sherlock adjusted his glasses, his gaze sweeping across his companions' faces. "Armament Haki, which allows one to strike Logia users, and Observation Haki, which allows one to predict an enemy's movements. If we can master these two types of Haki, our strength will take a massive leap forward."
"Therefore, in our upcoming adventures, we must find a way to learn these two types of Haki as soon as possible!"
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