Chapter 117: Typhoon Whirlwind
Three weeks of after setting sail from, and saying good bye to Water Seven; as well as Gerd and Kāshī, the straw hats were now well into the grand line and making their way through the waves with effortless ease. Using the log pose, Nami had identified the next island but had been confused by the downward pointing needles. "It's because Fish Man Island is underwater", Vivi and Robin both explained. "Fish Man island", Sanji hollowed. "So cool! Mermaids beautiful mermaids, as far as the eye can see!" He was then struck across the face by Vivi's slap, before she yelled "could you be anymore of a misogynist!" The argument is was ended by Usopp yelling for the crows nest, "Hey, guys!" There's a barrel floating out on the ocean!" From his spot laying beneath the mast, Zoro shrugged his shoulders. "So? What's it got to do with us?" Usopp's response made him flinch; knowing full well that they wouldn't escape her insane lust for money. "It's got a banner that reads 'treasure'!"
At the helm, Franky began to spin the wheel hard to port, as Nami behind him seated at a desk and pouring over sea charts; didn't even look up to tell "pull it onboard. And if you value your lives you won't damage any of the treasure!" Out on deck, Luffy and Chopper began operating the block and tackle to hoist the barrel up into the Sunny. "Treasure; offering to the Gods," Suki read the attached label on the barrel. "What's that supposed to mean?" Appearing from the kitchen, Sanji spoke. "It's an old seafarers practice. Sailors, merchants and soldiers fill barrels with preserved meats or alcohol to appease the God of the Sea, in the hope of being blessed with safe travels". Almost instantaneously, Luffy and Zoro bounded forwards grinning from ear to ear; "meat", "booze". And began attempting to pry the lid off, ignoring the scowl fro Vivi and Usopp. "What the hell are you doing! If it's a deity offering, we shouldn't mess with it. We all know from newspapers what God's can do...do the words Ishgaran Civil War, not alarm you?
"I don't know about that," Luffy replied. "But the only person who called themselves a god was Eneru. And we defeated him". Franky suddenly came over holding out a crowbar, "okay then! Let's open this sucker", he yelled, jamming one end under the lid. He shoved down on the other end with such force that the lip popped off with little resistance, only to then release a sudden explosion of fireworks shooting into the air. "Well That was disappointing," Luffy groaned. "We can't eat fireworks." Sighing, Nami grabbed a piece of meat from her plate of food and threw it to her boyfriend, who blew a kiss back to her as thanks; missing the glare of jealousy from Sanji. "Who would stuff a firework in a barrel?" Zoro remarked, "I mean that seems pretty disrespectful to me". Almost as quickly as the words left his mouth, huge storm clouds appeared overhead , and began pelting the ship with sleet and rain. "Divine judgement... or maybe a trap?" Robin demurely stated, turning a page in her book without looking up. Vivi frowned at seeing the looks of fear upon the faces of Chopper and Usopp, "Robin will you please lighten up? You're hardy helping the situation".
Suddenly, the whole ship lurched violently hard to starboard, before being brought back under control by Franky. "Guys! I don't wanna be the stick in the mud", the helmsman spoke, "but I don't like the look of those clouds". Racing to the front of the ship, it only took Nami seconds to determine the veracity of the oncoming storm. "Get to the sails! We need to move otherwise we'll be torn to pieces in that oceanic typhoon!" "Don't worry!" Franky yelled. "In preparation for situations like these, Sunny Dock System: Channel 0 can help. Now, activate the Sunny's paddle-boat mode!" He pulled a lever next to the helm, whilst turning two dials on an adjacent control panel, both marked with the numbers 0. And appearing either side of the Sunny, two Paddles spread out from the end of the ship and lowered into the water where they began spinning; pushing the Thousand Sunny forward and sped through the broiling sea at a substantially increased speed away from the typhoon storm clouds.
Hours later, having escaped the main brunt of the typhoon but still succumbing to the torrential rain, the Thousand Sunny emerged into a stretch of seas that were clouded in a deep dense fog. Robin and Suki had gone into the female sleeping quarters for change out of their wet clothes, whilst Chopper had gone below deck to once again marvel at the medical bay built and stocked by Franky and Granny Kokoro. "At least the rain has gone", Usopp grumbled, sitting against the mast sniper rifle in hand, with narrow eyes glaring at the sky. "My gunpowder is ruined now!"
"Oh come on", Vivi interjected walking towards him, "don't you realise what my devil fruit can do?" The frown on the snipers face contorted even more, as he tried to contemplate what the princess was eluding to. "Wait the sand-sand fruit...you can draw out the moisture in the gunpowder. Making it usable again," Usopp grinned jumping up and hugging Vivi. "Plus, we save a ton of money on supplies!" Nami yelled from within the kitchen dining room, after which Sanji cried out, "don't stick your fingers in the fondue you moronic oaf! I don't care if you are the captain!"
After eating his full, Luffy retired to his cabin and sat down at his captain's desk staring at a book he had taken from Eneru's sky fortress; the title of which both confused and intrigued him, but not been able to read yet due to everything that happened whence they returned from Skypiea.
'The Medusa Cascade'. The book cover was a purple sky lit by red flames, and written in fanciful gold calligraphy; was the title. He had tried to open the book several times since acquiring it but found that it was locked tight. Yet, after trying his devil fruit upon the lock he had been surprised when nothing occurred, the book remained locked, and upon closer inspection the lock itself required not a key, per se, but more like a talisman or stone that when pressed into the metal padlock would release the pages.
Staring down at the book, Luffy suddenly felt fingers brushing against his face; tantalisingly familiar. Looking up he saw Robin dressed in black jeans, purple crop top and boots standing before him. As beautiful as ever, his mind immediately took him back to his first time. Yet, as he tried to think about something else, he owed it to Nami to remain true to her, still Robin was his first kiss, even if it was just her saving his life back in Alabaster, she was still important and special. So in that moment both captain and archaeologist let go of their inhibitions and walked over to the bed.
