The crew set off for the Panipuri Kingdom with their new members, Lulupo, Puerco, and Prince Samudra, in tow. The scratch on the Humo Robinson left by the Squared Circle Pirates was fairly deep, however; one could accurately call it a "gash", and it had to be patched up crudely with wooden boards and nails as no one on the crew had any experience as a shipwright. Shaska, Schwarz, and Samudra were all gathered around the steering wheel. Samudra had to crouch due to his height, but Shaska managed to fit thanks to her octopus flexibility.

"Based off the charts in the navigation room, it should take us about a month to get to the Panipuri Kingdom," said Schwarz, looking at the Eternal Pose.

"So… this is what we're doing instead of going to Fishman Island?" he asked.

"The suits at Kemurchant corporate can wait. More… pressing matters came up," Shaska replied, eyeing up Samudra.

"I cannot thank you enough for your kindness in undertaking this endeavor, Lady Shaska," said the prince.

"The pleasure's all mine."

"So, those legs go all the way up?" Schwarz asked, looking at Samudra's freakishly long legs.

"Don't be rude to our guest, pretty boy!" Shaska cried.

"It is alright, Lady Shaska. Many are unaware of my tribe's existence," Samudra replied. "The Longleg people of Panipuri Kingdom are a proud and industrious people, famed for our cuisine and our musical tradition, we…"

As Samudra droned on about his homeland, in another part of the ship, Puerco and Lulupo were examining the wares that were leftover from the Humo Robinson's merchant days.

"Wow, I've never seen so much stuff for sale before," said Puerco. "We didn't have anything like a Kemuri Mart in Salt Town. Then again, we didn't have much of anything in Salt Town."

"Yes, it's quite a decently popular chain," said Lulupo, looking at the clothes. "I've seen two before in my travels, but not one quite this big. I read in the paper that Kemurchant Enterprises did some serious restructuring after giving Shaska the boot. I suppose we'll be running into them again soon after our little detour for the prince."

"So, you said you're a mercenary?" Puerco asked.

"I'm much more than that, darling! I sing, I dance, I play several instruments, I'm everything you could want in an entertainer. I just also happen to know how to put hecklers in their place," he replied with a wink.

"And what should I call you? He or she?"

"Darling, you can call me what you want, just don't call me late for dinner."

Andy's voice came on over the ship's transponder snail loudspeaker.

"Attention! Attention!"

He then made a loud farting noise, which was followed by his and Roxanne's snickering. The transponder snail itself wasn't amused.

"Aaaaaahhhhh… we have fun here. Seriously though, we have hors d'oeuvres and cocktails in the galley in case anyone wants any. Dinner's in three hours."

"Classy," said Puerco and Lulupo in unison.

————

Later, the crew gathered around one of the tables in the galley. Shaska, who normally got her food delivered to her room, was with them. Mostly just to be close to Samudra.

Andy and Roxanne came out with several huge platters, platters so big it was surprising that two normal people could carry them. They set them down and pulled off the lids, revealing a massive pile of steaks and a wide assortment of vegetables and starches for sides.

"Tonight, in honor of our new members, I prepared an extra special steak dinner with lots of different sides: coleslaw, broccoli, mashed potatoes…" Andy said.

"And because we're among royalty," Roxanne began, "I found our finest wine and cracked it open, that way we have some real refreshments instead of the water, grog, or cola we normally have."

"Let's eat!!" most of the crew exclaimed as they dug in. Samudra simply filled his plate with everything but steak.

"What's wrong, Your Highness? Is medium rare not to your liking?" Andy asked.

"Yeah, this guy's steaks are outta this world!" Shaska added with her mouth full.

"It is not that, Sir Andy. In my culture, cattle are sacred animals. We do not eat beef."

Andy had a look of profound shock, horror, and sadness on his face. It was as if he had just watched Roxanne die right in front of him.

"N-no beef…?"

"It's okay, sweetie. Different cultures are part of the adventure!" Roxanne said, rubbing his shoulder.

"I will gladly partake of your other dishes, though," Samudra added, smiling.

Tears were streaming down Andy's face, but he immediately sobered up with "that's okay! More for me!"

"That was too fast!" Schwarz complained.

Roxanne looked over to find Puerco in a similar situation; he hadn't touched his wine at all.

"What's wrong, Puerco? You're not drinking," she asked.

"Oh, I don't drink alcohol. I'd actually rather have a cola right about now."

Roxanne had a look of profound shock, horror, and sadness on her face. It was as if she had just watched Andy die right in front of her.

"W-what kind of a-adult doesn't d-drink…?"

"It's okay, Roxie, some people are just teetotalers," Andy said, rubbing her shoulder.

Tears were streaming down Roxanne's face, but she immediately sobered up with "that's okay! More for me!"

"Not you too!" Schwarz complained again.

The ship shook, then started rocking violently.

"Ah crap, I think we just ran into one of the Grand Line's random storms," Shaska said. "Hey, blond pretty boy, go take the wheel!"

"On it."

Schwarz was not an experienced helmsman. He really had no business being the crew's navigator, especially on a ship the size of the Robinson. But because Shaska was too stingy to hire someone else back at the Gokashi Kingdom, he and Lulupo were the ones in charge due to their experiences sailing alone. It just happened to be Schwarz's turn tonight.

"C'mon! Let's keep it together, girl!" he said as the ship was tossed around on the waves.

The ship was still incredibly turbulent; Schwarz at the wheel did little to help the situation.

Samudra just sat there with a thousand yard stare. "It's happening again… why does this keep happening? I'm… I must save my country. The gods…"

"Shshshshshsh…" Shaska interrupted, wrapping a few tentacles and her arm around his back. "It's okay. I've been doin' this a long time; haven't sunk once, and I'm not starting today!"

The gash in the Robinson, which happened to be in the galley's wall, was ripped open by the force of the storm, causing water to start splashing in.

"Haaaaaaaaa… yup," Shaska said. "Gotta hire a shipwright."

The ship shook extremely violently. Puerco flew into the other wall; naturally, the food was everywhere, to Andy's dismay.

"Aaaaand a helmsman," Shaska added.

The storm eventually subsided, but unfortunately, Andy and Roxanne's special dinner was ruined.

————

Two weeks later, Schwarz was in the crow's nest. Thankfully, there had been only milder disturbances since then.

He looked through the telescope and saw an island in the distance.

"That's weird… we should still be another two weeks from the prince's island. I've been following the Eternal Pose exactly!"

He immediately ran down to the deck to tell everyone.

"You know, Lady Shaska, it never occurred to me to ask, but why exactly do you have an Eternal Pose to the Panipuri Kingdom in the first place?" Samudra asked.

"We got Eternal Poses to most places in this half of the Grand Line; that place in particular has a Kemuri Mart, though. Just opened it last year."

She blew some smoke.

"Here's a question for you. What the hell were you doing away from your kingdom in the first place?"

Samudra thought back to his gambling and womanizing abroad.

"Uh… diplomatic mission."

"Hey, Shaska?" Schwarz asked.

"What is it, pretty boy?" she replied, puffing on her cigar.

"We're about to run into an island, and I don't think it's the one we're looking for."

"That can happen due to how weird the Grand Line is. Normally, you'd follow one of a handful of set paths once you leave Reverse Mountain. But when you use an Eternal Pose, especially from a random location like we did, the changing magnetic fields of the Grand Line might lead us in any number of directions before we get there. The pose probably isn't even pointed at that island right now."

Shaska paused for a second to think about if what she said made any sense, then continued.

"I say we stop there for a little while. Much as I want to help you, prince, we desperately need a shipwright. Who knows if we'll survive another storm like that one a while ago?"

"That is fine by me, Lady Shaska. As long as we do not stay too long," Samudra added.

Schwarz headed to the navigation room to check the Eternal Poses. There was one pointed straight forward: to the Mazurka Kingdom.

————

The ship docked at around two in the afternoon.

The Mazurka Kingdom was located on Pierogi Island, a fall island. It was a fairly small island, with only a few towns and villages. The port town itself seemed fairly well off. The architecture was nice. The fancier buildings were made of stone with lots of pointed arches and flying buttresses. Smaller buildings were wooden with thatched roofs. The trees and other foliage were beautiful shades of orange and brown. In the distance, there was a lovely forest, along with what looked like amusement park rides like a ferris wheel and a roller coaster.

"Sure is nice to come to a town that isn't dirt poor or being run by pirates," said Shaska, as she stood on the deck and surveyed the port, puffing on her cigar.

"Alright, men, woman, and whatever the hell the bald guy is, here's the plan. Blondie, you're gonna guard the ship, just in case. Doctor kid, you're comin' with me and the prince to find a navigator or helmsman."

Puerco nodded. He relished the opportunity to consistently look up Shaska's skirt, an easy feat due to their height difference. Blood started to drip from his nose; just because he was a doctor didn't mean he couldn't also be a pervert. Shaska didn't particularly mind, either. For one, her short skirt made fighting easier, and it was necessary for when she turned her legs back into tentacles. More importantly, though, giving a perv like Puerco a free upskirt every now and again meant she didn't have to pay him as much.

Shaska pulled out a huge stack of money and gave it to Lulupo.

"Bald guy and happy couple, here's five million berries. Go find this town's best shipwright and hire him. If he says it's not enough, tell him we got more."

The crew nodded and disembarked from the ship.

————

Lulupo and the couple walked around the port. They asked around for shipwrights, and every time they asked, they got a similar answer:

"Go look for Ren."

"Ren is best shipwright our town has!"

"Ren can make any pile of scrap sail!"

"How can we find this 'Ren'?" Lulupo asked.

"Half mile down end of dock is Ren's shipyard."

"Thank you, kind sir."

They made their way to the shipyard, and found a crew of huge, muscular men working on a small caravel among a host of other ships that appeared to be damaged in some way or another. Attached to the shipyard was what seemed to be a watch tower

As the group were transfixed by the men working, a teenage girl walked up to them. She was around average height, had messy purple hair and goggles on her forehead, and was wearing a dirty Doskoi Panda t-shirt with short denim shorts and a large tool belt, which surprisingly also had two flintlocks holstered in it. She also had a toothpick hanging out of her mouth.

"Can ah help you?" she asked.

"Yeah, we're looking for Ren? Which one of those guys over there is Ren?" Andy asked.

"Ah'm Ren," she replied with an eye roll. "Ah'm the foreman of this here shipyard."

The group crossed their arms, and their heads collectively tilted at that.

"Huh??" they collectively said.

"You're so young, darling!" said Lulupo.

"What's with the guns?" asked Andy.

"Why's your accent different from everyone elses?" asked Roxanne.

"Oh fer the love of… state yer business! Ya got a ship fer me to fix?"

"Oh! Yes!" Lulupo began. "We come representing an organization called 'Worldwide Smoke'. Our business is small at the moment, so we're looking to hire a ship-"

"Ah ain't interested. Already got mah own business," Ren interrupted, hands on her hips.

"No, see, we have our own business, too," said Andy. "And our boss is helpin-"

"Ya lost me at 'boss'. Ah lahk bein' a small business owner, not havin' mah own boss! Besahds, ah got deep roots here."

"Could not tell from the accent," Roxanne thought.

"Look, ya caught us at a bad tahm anyways. We're really backed up raht now. Just pull yer ship around and we'll get to it soon enough, if'n that's what yer lookin' fer."

She walked away.

"Hmm… I doubt she would have been interested in the five million berries anyway," said Lulupo.

"Well, now what? She's supposed to be the best around," said Roxanne. "I don't think Shaska wants to see us again until we hire her."

A huge man covered in tattoos who saw what had happened left his work and approached the crew. He was brandishing an equally huge steel mallet.

"Do not worry about Ren. She has not been same ever since parents died. My name is Kowalski, second in command here. Is pleasure."

Ren put on a pair of heavy gloves and got back to work sawing lumber while Kowalski talked to the crew.

"You are comink to right place for help with ship, yes. But Ren has too many scars on her heart to leave and go on adventure. All time on her breaks she is reading adventure stories and comic books. She wants to leave, but leaving is also too painful for her."

"You say the poor thing's parents died?" asked Lulupo. "She can't be older than 17! How awful!"

"Yes. Her parents were former owners of shipyard. Killed in pirate attack. Was very sad."

As Kowalski finished his sentence, cannons could be heard in the distance. A cannonball soared to where the group was standing. Before it could land and explode, though, Lulupo managed to catch it with his hair. He laid it down gingerly.

"Pirates," growled Kowalski, raising his mallet. "Excuse me, is time to keep peace."

He walked away. Ren left her post and headed for the watch tower.

As citizens scrambled during the pirate attack, Shaska and her part of the crew remained calm. She looked out at the pirate ship with a pair of binoculars to see what was going on.

"Hmm… skull and crossbones with a blond ponytail. Must be the Scorpion Pirates, led by one Colaart. Complete small fries, worth only forty eight million."

"Are you not going to stop them?" asked Samudra.

"Hm…" she wondered.

She looked at the deck of the ship to see Colaart, a blond man in a blazer, sunglasses, and blue jeans with a ponytail tied like a scorpion's tail. He was laughing as his crew fired upon the port town.

Suddenly, he collapsed and seemingly died, slowly followed by other members of his crew, who became increasingly more panicked as they were being shot like fish in a barrel.

"Interesting…" Shaska said, puffing on her cigar. She looked around for a sniper perch and found the watchtower attached to the shipyard. At the top was Ren holding a long barreled rifle with smoke billowing out of the end.

"I don't know who that girl is," she said. "But I'm getting her on my crew."

TO BE CONTINUED