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— — — — — — — — — — — —
Chapter's Events:
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"Wow…! So, those are Luffy's friends? They really do look like a fun bunch!" Marguerite cast just one glance at the Sunny-Go and was instantly convinced—Luffy's crewmates looked like a lively group.
"A whole bunch of mysterious creatures! One, two, three, four…" Sweet Pea, on the other hand, was busy counting the strange beings aboard Luffy's ship.
Back on the Sunny-Go, Franky had begun preparing the ship to dive into the deep sea. "I'm opening the valve now! It's gonna pump air into our undersea airbag!"
"Ahhh!!"
"What the—?! This jelly-like stuff is expanding!" exclaimed Usopp.
In less than a minute, the ship was completely sealed off from outside air and wrapped in a thick bubble of powerful adhesive fluid—ready for its underwater voyage.
"Whoaaa!! We've got a giant bubble roof!!" exclaimed Luffy.
Usopp stood silently, staring out at the horizon. Chopper noticed this and asked: "Is something wrong, Usopp?"
"Did you guys take out all the marines on your way here?" he asked, his voice uneasy.
"No… I could still hear a bunch of them yelling when we left!" Chopper replied.
"Then why don't I see them coming from the island?"
Usopp found it strange. But before he could dwell on it further, Franky spoke up: "If they're not coming, all the better! We'll just leave before they arrive!"
"Lucky for us if something distracted them, right?"
— — — — — — — — — — — —
East Blue, Syrup Town:
The store goddesses here were working diligently to satisfy every customer, but their boss—calm and serene—was lounging as she read manga with a peaceful smile.
After all, she was in the late stages of pregnancy and couldn't exert herself much anymore. Her name was Banshina, and from her appearance, Usopp was about to make an appearance in this world.
"Did Usopp sense something? What's bothering him?"
At that moment, Banshina's full attention was locked onto that particular manga scene. After all, the crew was finally about to leave this cursed checkpoint—the Sabaody Archipelago—where they'd been stuck for years. They were now heading to their next destination, each member having fought through two long, painful years to reach this point.
"I'm curious too… Why is the Marines taking so long to arrive and stop them?"
Beside her stood the renowned hunter and real-life counterpart of the infamous pirate, Yasopp—her husband.
"Looks like Heracles is helping delay the marine forces somewhere… and Usopp may have sensed it. His Observation Haki has become sharper!"
Even before it showed in the manga, Beckman had already figured it out, leaving both Banshina and Yasopp speechless.
"Stop spoiling events, man…" Yasopp muttered, clearly annoyed.
"In any case, seems like my son's trainer has that typical master-student bond going on…"
"No, it's not just Heracles. The others seem to be helping too…"
"Pfft… Looks like the marines are seriously out of luck this time."
…
The Boin Archipelago:
In this bizarre place of carnivorous plants and wild jungles stood a proud Art Store—a building so sturdy, even the trembling island and its predatory nature couldn't shake its foundations. The island itself was a living, deadly trap… a giant carnivorous plant.
Yet it was incapable of digesting something like this Art Store, which had become a peaceful refuge for one man— "Heraclessen!" he exclaimed.
"With my counterpart over there, just forget about messing with Usoppun's journey and his friends."
Heracles himself looked exactly like his manga counterpart—down to every detail—and even wore the same outfit.
He had been rooting for Usopp in the manga since chapter one, long before any real connection as mentor and student had even surfaced.
This Art Store was packed wall-to-wall with the same giant beetles seen in the manga! Strangely enough, they even seemed to have a human-like awareness.
Yet, Heracles still lived in total isolation on this island, disconnected from the rest of the world. The only thread tying him to it all was this Art Store—identical to the one found on Little Garden.
"Go, Usoppun! I'm sure you'll become a brave warrior of the sea with that determination—and after being trained by my counterpart!"
Heracles kept flipping through the manga pages, losing all track of time. In this store, he felt completely at home.
And Rob didn't mind that at all.
…
— — — — — — — — — — — —
{This is the 4th backup unit!!!}
{We must apologize!!! A sudden downpour has ruined our gunpowder! Our weapons are useless!!} The marine officer in charge of this support unit reported the unexpected obstacle preventing their advancement.
{"…Rain?! What do you mean, rain?!"}
{"The skies above Sabaody are completely clear!!"} The person on the other end nearly lost their mind—how could it be raining if the sky was perfectly blue?
They didn't realize this particular support unit was being directly targeted by the Weatheria weather scientists.
…
"Don't use the lightning!!"
"We don't want to hurt any innocent civilians!!"
"All these soap bubbles are such a nuisance!!"
These old weather scientists were the reason the fourth unit was struggling below.
"Still, we've been lucky with the wind! It's placed us right above the Sabaody Archipelago!"
"Nami-chan, you're such a good girl… Good luck on your journey! We'll miss you here in Weatheria…" Haredas peered through his binoculars, watching over the situation below, all to ensure Nami had a safe departure.
— — — — — — — — — — — —
10,000 meters above sea level — Sky Island Birka:
Once home to many famous individuals—including Enel, and currently Urouge, dozens of well-known Wizards from Weatheria had now also gathered here, led by Haredas.
Inside the Art Store, Haredas was now wiping away tears and blowing his nose, moved by the scene in the manga.
"Ah~ How I wish I could follow my dear Nami on her journey…"
"Just go with her already, you old perv! Like Luffy would ever let some creepy grandpa join the crew!"
"Damn it! Who are you calling a perv?!"
"Why should Sanji be the only one blessed with such heavenly grace aboard that ship!?"
"Quit dreaming! You think your old self compares to Sanji?"
"Neither of those things… But—well, we've shared so many wonderful moments with Nami over the past two years in the manga. Surely she feels a sense of belonging with us, doesn't that warm your hearts?" asked Haredas, turning to his fellow weather scientists.
"Yes, you're right."
"Knowing that Nami feels a bond with us—that's something to be proud of!"
"Hey, hey… Enough with the nonsense! This and that are totally different things. Stop attaching yourselves to your manga counterparts—those moments won't happen again outside of its pages."
Urouge smacked the Weatheria wizards back to reality, snapping them out of their daydreams.
…
In Ohara, Mihawk could sense that his side was being represented at that very moment by Perona, who was delaying the second marine unit.
The battleship had been stopped by the Kuja Pirates for Luffy's sake.
The third unit was being held off by Heracles for Usopp.
The fourth was delayed by the Weatheria Wizards for Nami.
And now, for Zoro, the second unit was also being blocked—this time by Perona.
"Do you think your counterpart ordered Perona to do that?" Issho asked with a smile.
"Maybe… who knows," Mihawk replied, downing his sake in a single gulp.
"I don't think so, personally. The whole point of Zoro's training was to learn how to overcome obstacles on his own… That's why he trained on your island. I wish we had a full flashback arc of Zoro's training, from start to finish."
Issho was clearly excited about the idea.
But sadly for him, no such arc was coming.
"You said it yourself—overcoming obstacles is the goal of training. These weak marine units don't even count as obstacles for Zoro and his friends."
"Their being stopped by the very people who helped them during the last two years… That's just a personal gesture—it was never necessary."
Hearing this from Mihawk, Issho nodded in full understanding.
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Upcoming chapter titles (spoilers):
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Chapter 895: Straw Hat, Our Present Moments Are Alike.
Chapter 896: Sailing Towards Fish-Man Island!
Chapter 897: Fan Letter! (Part 1)
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