"Luffy!"
Nami strode quickly towards Luffy, who was doing his morning warm-up exercises against the golden stele in the corner of the deck, newspaper in hand.
"What's up, Nami?" Luffy paused, wiping sweat from his forehead. Even after high-intensity training, his body still radiated heat.
Nami thrust the newspaper in front of him, pointing at the front-page headline.
"World Government Announces Candidates for Seven Warlords of the Sea—Battle Erupts Over Crocodile's Vacancy!"
Below the headline was a list of several nominated great pirates. One name in particular stood out.
Marshall D. Teach.
Also known as Blackbeard.
"Blackbeard?" Luffy blinked. "That guy I punched into the sky before we went up to Skypiea?"
"Him!" Nami's tone was incredulous. "According to this paper, his biggest claim seems to be betraying Whitebeard and killing the 4th Division Commander, Thatch.
But when we ran into them at the Knock Up Stream, I thought your Gomu Gomu no Bakkoku would have at least crippled them, if not killed them. Not only is he still alive and kicking, he's actually been nominated for the Warlords?!"
Usopp sidled over, glancing at the paper and immediately starting to grumble. "Hey, hey, this Blackbeard guy gets nominated, but Luffy, who actually defeated Crocodile, doesn't even get an invite?
I mean, sure, we wouldn't want to be some stupid Warlord anyway, but it's a matter of face!
From now on, when I run into other pirates, I, the great Captain Usopp, can brag that the Straw Hat Pirates were personally invited by the World Government to become Warlords—we just turned them down!"
Now that's some next-level prestige!
Luffy laughed a little awkwardly, scratching his cheek. "Well, that might have something to do with my grandfather."
"Grandfather?" Nami and Usopp both turned to look at him.
They hadn't really heard Luffy mention much about his family.
"Yeah. My grandfather is a Marine Vice Admiral," Luffy said casually.
"Oh, a Marine Vice Admiral." Nami nodded absently.
Then she lunged forward, grabbing Luffy by the collar. "HUH?! A MARINE VICE ADMIRAL?!"
You're a third-generation Marine through and through—how the hell did you end up a pirate?!
Nami's head was practically spinning.
Luffy smiled sheepishly. Well, that's what happens when you run into Shanks.
What Garp talked about most was throwing that red-haired bastard into Impel Down. It was all Shanks' fault for poisoning Luffy with this "Red-Hair" fixation.
Garp had wanted to raise Luffy into the finest Marine soldier, and instead his grandson ended up defeating a Warlord... The next time the World Government held a meeting, if Garp happened to be at Marine Headquarters, wouldn't it be just perfect if the next day's headline read something like "Marine Hero Engages in Fierce Battle with His Own Grandson, a Warlord of the Sea, at Marine HQ" ?
Just imagining that scene was almost too beautiful to bear.
"Anyway," Luffy's smile faded slightly, his expression turning more serious, "so that Blackbeard guy somehow survived and kicked up this much of a fuss. Does that mean Ace still hasn't caught him?"
He muttered quietly to himself, a trace of concern in his voice. But then he shook his head.
Well, that's Ace's own adventure.
"Luffy! Your nutritional meal!"
At that moment, Sanji and Chopper (in human form) approached, carrying several enormous plates.
The plates were piled high with all kinds of meat—roasted, stewed, you name it—along with carefully prepared supplemental nutrients that Sanji had specifically formulated to support Luffy's intense training regimen.
Now that they were rolling in wealth, Nami was completely generous with the food budget. No more worrying about Luffy eating them into poverty.
Luffy's eyes instantly transformed into star-shaped sparkles. But his body still remembered the plan. All he could do was swallow his drool and pitifully wait for the brief window between training sessions when he could snatch a few bites.
Only one more minute until official breakfast time...
Soon, the crew gathered in the dining room for breakfast. Robin ate lightly, elegantly dabbing the corner of her mouth with a napkin before excusing herself early.
She preferred reading in quiet places.
After breakfast, plans were made to explore the new island.
Whenever they arrived at a new island, everyone followed their usual habit of disembarking to relax and explore.
Nami and Vivi paired up. Their tasks were to record the island's magnetic force, gather information about the island, and update the navigation charts. With Vivi's Fūfū no Mi ability, soaring high to survey the terrain had become effortless.
Zoro got lost the moment he stepped off the ship. Usopp, watching from behind, was dumbfounded.
"Zoro... where are you going?"
"Huh? Isn't it obvious? I'm going on a solo expedition."
"That's the direction back to the ship."
Zoro: "..."
Sanji walked past with a long-suffering sigh. "Stay away from me, Marimo-head. I want to see if this island has any unique ingredients. Don't infect me with your stupidity."
Zoro: "..."
Usopp and Chopper, brimming with curiosity about the island's weirdly elongated trees and strange animals, immediately dashed off to investigate.
Soon, only Luffy and Robin remained on the deck. Little Merry and Nika were nearby, whispering about something.
Finally, his daily training was complete.
[Warning: Scheduled time for archaeological studies with Robin has arrived. Please locate Robin within one minute to begin training... Countdown: 59, 58.]
Ah, finally some room for flexible maneuvering.
Luffy glanced at Robin, who was quietly reading beside him, and then at Merry, blinking her big, round eyes at him with clear expectation.
"Robin, want to come explore the island with me?" Luffy invited.
The plan just says I can't be too far from Robin. Learning while walking around the island should be fine. It's not every day we land on a strange new island—he really wanted to see it.
Merry immediately nodded vigorously from the side, firing off full-power "cuteness beams" with her eyes as she chimed in with her squeaky, adorable voice, "Let's go together, Robin-nee~!"
Robin had originally planned to stay on the ship and enjoy a quiet reading session. But faced with the pure, expectant look in Luffy's eyes and Merry's utterly irresistible cute assault, she couldn't help but purse her lips in a smile. She closed her book.
"Well, since both the captain and Merry insist..."
And so, the three of them walked down the gangplank together and stepped onto the soft, grassy terrain of Long Ring Long Land.
Nika cautiously poked her head out for a glance, then broke into a grin.
Finally! The ship is all hers!
Luffy and Robin walked side by side, discussing knowledge points about the Poneglyphs. The conversation naturally drifted to Fish-Man Island and the giants.
Robin's scholarship was vast and she spoke with ease. "According to scattered ancient texts, both the Fish-Men and the giants seem to have intricate connections to the Void Century. Fish-Man Island lies hidden ten thousand meters beneath the sea, and Elbaf, the homeland of the giants, is hailed as the world's strongest nation."
"Wow! Look, a deer with a super long neck!"
Merry, completely ignorant of history, called out whatever caught her eye. She pointed at a deer grazing in the distance, its neck absurdly long, her tiny face full of wonder. "All the animals here are so strange!"
Robin smiled. "Skypiea itself was plenty strange. Fish-Man Island, ten thousand meters under the sea, and Elbaf, land of the giants, are also steeped in legends. This sea is truly synonymous with miracles."
***
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