Chapter 43: Whiskey Peak

"Aaaand… There! All done! This mark represents our promise, so don't you go rubbing it off, you hear?"

"Buuuooooohhhh!"

I couldn't help but cringed at the sight of Luffy's 'masterpiece' of a Jolly Roger; I knew his drawing was bad, but this is on the level of a toddler with its wobbly line work and misshapen… everything.

Thankfully, aesthetics wasn't the main goal behind that painting, so his lack of any artistic talent didn't really matter in the end; though it would be nice if he could learn to draw a bit better.

"Rein, it's leaning! Hold it steady!"

"Oh, oops. My bad."

I readjusted my footing and shifted the mizzenmast till it was straight, allowing Usopp to hammer in the nails onto the sheet of metal that reattached the splintered wood back together.

A temporary measure that would be repeated many times throughout our adventure in the Grand Line.

Meanwhile, Zoro was busy snoozing in the corner and Sanji was in the kitchen cooking up our first lunch in the Grand Line, with Nami being the only one besides Luffy to not be on the Merry at the moment, though for reasons unknown to any of us.

"Damn that Luffy…" Usopp grumbled away, "We just entered the Grand Line and he already broke the Knight Merry this much…!"

"Be grateful I talked him out of using the main mast." I told him.

"Indeed, I am."

As I kept up holding the wooden mast in place, my mind went to the possible events that awaited us on this stretch of the Grand Line, specifically the whole debacle with Vivi and the Alabasta saga.

Whiskey Peak would definitely be next considering that we currently had Vivi's and Mr 9's Log Pose in our possession; and that meant that we would have to come into contact with Baroque Works and its many agents.

That also meant that we would eventually have to deal with Mr 5 and Miss Valentine when they came for the princess, which in turn would put us on their blacklist and be hunted down till Alabasta.

After that… we would encounter Nico Robin for the first time.

Not going to lie, I was kind of excited to finally see her in the flesh; out of all the female characters in the series, she was easily my personal favorite. It didn't helped that Oda drew her character to be quite the femme fatale, even more so than Nami.

Even so, the idea of having to deal with her in her Miss Sunday persona was rather daunting to say the least, especially considering her Devil Fruit abilities to sprout arms anywhere in her line of sight.

Still, the dice had already been cast, so I just have to come up with another solution.

"Rein, it's leaning again!"

"Ah, my bad! My bad!"

With the mizzenmast all patched up, we all returned to the lighthouse and settled into our lunch that Sanji had cooked up for all of us, which was the entire elephant tuna he bought back in Loguetown.

Even Crocus joined in with the feast, even contributing with the giant squid he had caught in Laboon's stomach; its grilled tentacles laying among the plates Sanji served up.

"Mm… this tuna's trunk tastes really good…!" Luffy mumbled through the large chunk of tuna in his mouth.

"I'll say." The lighthouse keeper noted, "It has been a while since I have Elephant Tuna this good. My compliments to the chef."

"You are too kind." Sanji then turned to me and Nami with a wide grin, "Is the food to your liking, mademoiselle?"

"Yes it is, Sanji."

"Oh, I'm grateful to hear that~!"

Zoro huffed as he took another bite of the massive tuna, "It's not bad."

"Huh? Not bad?" Sanji scowled as he got up into the swordsman's face, "You dare call my masterpiece 'not bad'!?"

"So what if I did?" Zoro scowled back, "What are you going to do about it?"

"Do you two have butt heads over anything…?" I groaned.

"So, are we heading out after this?" Usopp asked.

"That's the plan. But first… Rein." Nami turned to me and lifted her arm to show off the Log Pose we had just bought, "The needle has been spinning from one end to another quite often since we got here. Is that normal?"

"It is on Reverse Mountain. Remember what I said about the Log Pose recording the island's magnetic field?" When she nodded, I explained further, "From this mountain, there are seven islands that lead to seven routes down the Grand Line, and currently all those magnetic fields are all mixed about."

"So, the Log Pose is currently being split between all those islands?"

"Pretty much. And we have to pick one route in order to proceed on."

"Well, someone's done their research." Crocus noted in surprise, "It's been a while since anyone entered the Grand Line with the right preparations. You did well to learn that much, lass."

"Thanks for the compliment." I noted with a grin.

"Does it matter which one we pick?" Usopp asked, "What if we pick one and we end up in a dead end?"

"Nope, not possible. No matter which one we pick, all the routes will eventually lead to one island at the end of the Grand Line; Raftel. The legendary island only the Pirate King Gol D Roger have ever set foot on."

"Th-Then, is the One Piece on that island!?"

"It is possible. I mean, no one else has managed to reach there to confirm it."

The island was also where all the secrets of the Void Century and the truth of this world could be located; that would be where I would find the answers to everything about this world's many secrets.

"Heh… then we just have to head there and see for ourselves." Luffy chuckled before letting out a loud burp while patting his full belly, "Whew! I am stuffed!"

Sanji looked down and did a spit-take, "You ate everything!?"

We all followed his gaze and saw the empty plates where the many pieces of cooked Elephant Tuna once laid on; even the plate with the grilled octopus Sea King was empty too.

"He…He even ate the bones…" Usopp noted in shock, "How strong are his teeth…?"

"Hahah, that tuna tastes great, Sanji!"

"Damn you, Luffy! That fish was for Nami and Rein!"

With a kick square to his head, the blonde cook sent our captain crashing into the ground with a loud thud before bouncing away like the rubber man that he was, laughing up a storm all the while.

"Well, at least we managed to take a bite of it." I noted, "Better than nothing, I suppose."

"I swear, that glutton is going to be the end of us…" Nami groaned.

"…wait, why are you calling it 'Raftel'?" Crocus suddenly pointed out, "That's not its name."

"…It's not…?"

"No, it's 'Laugh Tale'. Not 'Raftel'."

"Wait, really!?"

Raftel… Laugh Tale… oh my god, had I been calling it the wrong name this entire time!? Had the entire community been calling it the wrong name this whole time!?

"…Rein…"

"I…I think I need a moment…"

*KABOOM!*

But before I could collect myself from the world shattering revelation, a huge explosion blasted up from the ocean below that shook the ground.

Moments later, two soaked Baroque Works agents climbed up the ladder onto solid ground; Mr 9 flinched when his eyes met ours.

"He-Hey… um… I have a request…"

It didn't take long for the two agents to find themselves kneeling in front of us as they explained their situation and their request to us.

"Whiskey Peak? What's that?" Luffy asked.

"It's… the name of our hometown." Mr 9 explained.

"And you want us to ferry you two back home? Isn't that a bit much?" Nami pointed out, "Especially after you two had tried to kill that poor whale?"

"Grgk…! I-I'm aware that I'm asking a bit much after what we have done, but we don't have any other options!"

"Shouldn't you at least tell us who you guys are?" Usopp pointed out.

"I'm a king—"

"That's bullshit and you know it."

"We really can't say!" Vivi cried out, "Our organization's motto is 'mystery', so we absolutely can't tell you anymore! So please…!"

"Please, help take us back to our town!" Her partner agent begged, "We swear to return the favor afterwards! Anything you want!"

"Hm… anything, you say…?" Nami mused with a sly grin, "Then it might be worth considering… what say you, Luffy?"

"Sure. They can—"

"Wait! Time out!" Usopp cried out, "Emergency crew meeting, now!"

Dragging Luffy along with him, the sniper pulled us as far away from the two agents as possible before had us huddle up shoulder to shoulder with each other like football players before their game.

He then turned to me, "Okay, Rein; spill it. You know who those two are, right?"

"…Indeed, I do." I nodded.

"So, who are they?"

"…Well… it isn't too spoiler-ry, so I guess I could tell you; they are agents of a bounty-hunter organization known as Baroque Works."

Zoro snapped his fingers, "I knew their names sounded familiar; one of their agents approached me a couple years back. A Mr 7, if I recall."

"Yeah, every agent goes by a codename; number for males and days for females."

"Then… this Whiskey Peak island… is it their headquarters?" Sanji asked me.

"One of them, yes." I nodded.

Usopp visibly gulped, "Th-Then, this is most likely a—"

"A trap." Nami concluded, "They are going to ambush us the moment we make landfall, aren't they?"

"Okay, that part is a huge spoiler, so…"

"Ah, no spoilers!" Luffy cried out.

I shrugged my shoulders, "As you can see, captain's orders."

"Of course it is…"

"So, what are we going to do about them?" Zoro asked, "Should we not ferry them?"

"Of course, we shouldn't!" Usopp cried out, "We shouldn't head for such an obvious trap."

"I would suggest that we accept their request." I pointed out, "I can't say too much, but it will lead to a better outcome down the line."

Such as getting Chopper and Robin and having a princess as well as a kingdom within the World Government's influence as allies; especially Robin and her expertise on poneglyphs, something that we would need in the New World.

Though to be honest, the thought of that bastard Crocodile having his way with Alabasta pulled on my conscience a bit, and I was worried that the Robin would probably die there without our interference.

After all she had gone through throughout her life. She deserved to have friends and allies that would not turn on her in a moment's notice.

Nami queried as she raised her eyebrows at me, "…Spoilers?"

"Huge ones." I nodded.

"Then we know what we must do; right, Luffy?"

"Yup! Hey, king guy!" Luffy called out to them, "We accept your request!"

"He-Hey, Luffy!" Usopp cried, "It such an obvious trap!"

"A trap is only a trap when we don't know about it!"

"I-If you say so…"

"Ah! Thank you so much for your generosity—!"

"Whoa! Hold it, mister. We may have accepted your request, but there is still the issue of how much you are willing to pay for our services."

"Ho…How much do you wa-want…?"

"Let's see here…"

With how the two agents were crying out in shock after being presented with the ludicrous bill by the money-grubber that was Nami, it was suffice to say that it was at least in the millions.

Though I find it highly unlikely that they would pay up.

Once the Log Pose had fixed on Whiskey Peak, we packed up and prepared to set off into the Grand Line; Crocus even spared us a few provisions as thanks for all we had done.

Which wasn't much, but it was better than nothing.

"You sure about this, kid?" The lighthouse keeper asked Luffy, "You can't change course once you leave here, you know?"

"It's fine." The rubber man told him, "If I don't like the route, I can just pick another one after sailing around."

"…I see. Well, safe travels, kid!"

"See you later, flower gramps!"

"BUUUOOOOHHHH!"

"We'll be going now, whale! See you soon!"

As the whale let out a loud echoing cry, we unfurled our sails and sailed into the ever mysterious sea that was the Grand Line, and to the next saga in our grand adventure.

It didn't take long for the Grand Line to rear its ugly head at us.

For moments after we no longer could see the Twin Capes, its unpredictable weather immediately struck us with a heavy snowfall that had Sanji shoveling snow off the deck.

"Brr… what is this crazy weather…?" Nami grumbled from under her winter coat as we stood outside in the snow, "It was sunny just moments ago…"

"That's the Grand Line for you." I told her, a fur-lined jacket replacing my usual one, "Unpredictable weather patterns are the norm here."

As if to prove my point, lightning streaked across the cloudy sky with a sharp crackle.

"Never thought your suggestion to get winter gear would pay off."

"Told you."

"Aaand… Done!" Luffy let out a cheer as he put the finishing touches on his badly shaped snowman, "Presenting the man that fell from the sky; Mr Snowman!"

"Ha, amateur. Behold!" With great flourish, Usopp presented us with a really nicely done snow sculpture of a lady in a flowing dress, "My masterpiece in the snow arts; the Snow Queen!"

"Woah, that's amazing! But can it do this? Snowman Punch!"

"My masterpiece! Why you…! Take this!"

"Gah! Mr Snowman!"

With both snow creations reduced to many clumps of snow, the two of them started throwing those very clumps at each other in an improv snowball fight, much to the annoyance of our stressed navigator.

"At least they are having fun with this…" She grumbled.

"Better than anything, in this kind of weather." I stated, "Speaking of which, is the Log Pose pointing the right way?"

"Yeah, we are still on course—shit! Zoro! Rudder to port side! Sanji! The jib sail! We are swaying off course!"

"On it!"

"As you command, Nami~!"

I then took notice of the warm spring breeze suddenly taking over the winter winds and quickly took off my winter jacket, "Shit! Nami, the winds change directions!"

"Dammit! Turn the sails 40 degrees—!"

"Ah, there's a dolphin over there! Let's go take a look!"

"Not now, Luffy!"

"Forget that! Iceberg approaching three o'clock!"

"Hard to port!"

"Fuck! It grazed us!"

"Leak in the lower deck!"

"Hurry and patch it up!"

"I'm on it!"

"Hey, the waves are getting rougher all of a sudden!"

"Fog rolling in!"

"The winds are picking up! Raise the sails!"

"This ocean is ridiculous!"

The ever-changing climate had us running about the deck like headless chicken; just as we dealt with one weather disaster, another immediately took its place and had us scrambling to deal with it.

Heck, Nami even roped the two agents into helping us with the rigging and everything, not that it helped much with how chaotic things were.

It wasn't until another hour later when the sun was setting that the weather finally calmed down that we were able to take a breather from it all.

"Is…Is it always going to be this crazy everywhere on the Grand Line…?" Zoro groaned, "Because I don't think I can handle anymore of this…"

"Just… Just this part of Paradise…" I panted out, "With the seven different magnetic fields, the Red Line's and the crazy currents from Reverse Mountain, this particular stretch has the most crazy weather throughout. It shouldn't be this chaotic for the rest of the way…"

"That's a huge relief… " Nami sighed, "My navigation skills didn't even work at all…"

"Isn't that really bad…!? Are we going to be okay…!?" Usopp cried out, before blinking in confusion, "Wait, Paradise?"

"It's what they call the first-half of the Grand Line." I explained, "The other half is called the New World."

"…If it is this crazy in Paradise, I can't imagine what it's like there…"

"Trust me, you don't want to."

"You are… really well-informed on the Grand Line despite not being a native…" Vivi pointed out, "Where did you learn all of that?"

"That's for me to know, and for you to never find out." I told her with a knowing grin, "Unless you are willing to spill more for us, Miss Wednesday?"

"Grgk! Yo-You can keep your secrets…!"

"I will, thank you."

"Hey, I see land!"

"Whoa, look at all the huge cacti!"

We quickly rushed to the front with Luffy immediately taking his usual seat on the bow. We were then greeted by several giant cacti grouped together on an island colored orange in the evening sun and covered in fog.

It was the first island in our adventure, Whiskey Peak. And where the first saga of our story in the Grand Line unfolds.

"Now then, we shall bid you—"

"No, you won't be. Zoro!"

"Way ahead of you."

Just as the two agents were about to leap off the railings, me and Zoro grabbed them by the ankles and threw them back onto the deck with a loud thud.

Looming over them like a vengeful phantom, Nami growled at them, "You're not planning on running off without paying me a single dime, are you…?"

"Ah… haha! Of-Of course not!" Mr 9 laughed, "We were just… heading in first to inform our leader about your arrival!"

"Yes! Yes!" Vivi nodded fervently in agreement, "It takes time to gather that much money! So we thought about getting an early start on it!"

"Yeah, I know bullshit when I see one."

It was quite the sight to see Vivi act like such a common thug, especially considering her noble upbringing; then again, she was shown to be a bit of a tomboy when she was younger.

Guess that was where she got the Miss Wednesday persona from…

"You two aren't going anywhere." Nami snarled, "Not until you and your boss pay every beri I was promised! Do I make myself clear!?"

""Ye-Yes, ma'am!""

"Good! Now, tell me where the port is!"

"Right away! There's a river up ahead!"

"Yes! The port is just further inland!"

"Nami sure get crazy when money is at stake…" Usopp noted.

"Like she isn't crazy about it already…" Zoro noted.

"Oh, Nami~!" Sanji swooned, "The way you threaten them is so lovely~!"

"Hahaha! As expected from Nami!" Luffy laughed.

As the Knight Merry slowly made our way into the river and deep into the fog, Usopp shuffled up to me before whispering to me.

"Can't you tell me a bit about the trap we are walking into?"

"Sorry, I can't. Captain's orders, remember?"

"Urgh… damn it, Luffy…!"

"All I can tell you is to not judge a book by its cover."

"Huh? What does that mean?"

I gave a small grin and a wink, "You'll see."

"Shush!" Sanji hushed us with a raised hand, "Did you hear that?"

Usopp quickly looked around warily with his hands to his ears, "It sounded like… people? And… quite a lot of them…"

"Their allies, you mean?" Zoro pointed out with his thumb on his katana's guard, ready to draw it in a moment's notice, "Prepare yourselves; we might have a fight—"

"WELCOME PIRATES! WELCOME TO OUR TOWN!"

All the tension immediately dropped when the cheers of at least a hundred villagers echoed across the island beneath the evening sun, with them even waving a large banner welcoming us.

There were even pretty ladies in beautiful and sensual dresses standing at the front waving at us all the while giving us an eyeful of their assets, which Sanji gladly burnt into his memory.

If I hadn't known that this was a trap, I may have been fooled as well; though even if I hadn't known, I might still find all this to be a little suspicious. Only a fool would fall for such an obvious—

"Rein, what were you talking about!? This isn't a trap!" Usopp laughed as he blew kisses to the crowd, "This people love pirates!"

I let out a groan at his sudden reversal from just moments before, "…and just when I warned him about this…"

Nami leaned close to me and whispered, "Honey trap?"

I nodded and whispered back, "Honey trap."

"I thought so; they are being way too obvious in their acting. So, what's the plan?"

"We play along for now; don't rouse any suspicion that we are in the know."

"What about the others?"

"Zoro no doubt has a plan of his own. For the others… just leave them be. Those idiots probably won't believe us unless presented with an undeniable truth."

"True that."

We were directed to a small port where we alighted alongside the two agents, who were trying very hard not to look suspicious to us; and were failing really hard to do so.

Greeting us along with the crowd of undercover bounty hunters was their supposed ringleader Igarappol, aka Mr 8, aka Igaram of Alabasta.

"Welg—Ahem! Mah, mah, mah… Welcome to Whiskey Peak." He greeted us with a polite bow, "You must be surprised by all of this, seeing us welcoming pirates like you with open arms. For you see, we are a town of liquor and music. Hospitality is but a way of life."

"Woah, man. Your hair is so curly." Luffy unabashedly pointed out.

"Indeed it is; thank you for noticing. Ah, and I see you have with you two of my townsfolk. Now where have you two been all this time? We have been worried sick!"

"I-I apologized, Igarapool, sir." Mr 9 bowed to him, "We were… caught up with some trouble."

"Hm… Is that so…? Well, it is of no issue. Just head on home; can't have Carue waiting any longer, you know how grumpy she can get."

"O-Of course, Mr Igarapool! We better be heading off soon!" Vivi then quickly turned to us, "I swear, we will have your money by tonight! You have my word!"

"You better! Or else I'll be chasing you two down like a vulture!"

"Vu-Vulture… ri-right…"

As the two agents walked away, Igaram turned to us with a smile, "And since you have the time, I would like to cordially invite you fine ladies and gents to join us in our banquet; and hopefully entra—ahem! Mah, mah… Entreat us with tales of your many thrilling adventures."

"""WE WILL BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO!"""

Luffy, Usopp and Sanji immediately agreed much to our annoyance at their simple-mindedness; Luffy and Usopp were a given, but Sanj was supposed to be smarter than this.

Guess ladies really were his weakness…

"Excellent!" Igaram then clapped his hands, "Everyone! Prepare the banquet hall for our lovely guests! Bring out all the fine liquor! It's time for a party!"

As the sun set and the moon rose into the night sky, the party was in full swing with many drinks and food all rolled out for everyone to enjoy.

Suffice it to say, things went as expected with everyone involved.

"Then I said to him; 'Don't you dare lay a hand on my crewmate, you Sea King bastard!'"

"You are so cool, Captain Usopp!"

"Another down! That's the tenth person he outdrank!"

"And she took down thirteen! What heavy drinkers!"

"More food!"

"And the captain just ate enough for thirty people! Even the cook collapsed from keeping up with him!"

"Look over there! That guy is flirting with twenty women all at once! What a lady killer!"

I was right to make myself scarce by hiding in a corner when everyone wanted to cozy up to me, which drove me up the wall with how forceful they had been; I even noticed a few of them dropping sleeping pills in my drink!

It was painfully clear that they were attempting to knock me out by any means possible, especially when I had not touched any of the alcohol present.

Unfortunately for them, I was immune to most sleeping drugs, so it did nothing to me when I drank it; it did taste kind of funny.

Eventually like all parties, the excitement slowly began to die down.

One after another, the Strawhats collapsed when the exhaustion and alcohol finally kicked in. I followed suit as I closed my eyes and laid down on my side in the sofa before lightly snoozing away.

And when all was quiet, the footsteps of the townsfolk could be heard slowly exiting the hall with a gait that normal civilians should not be having.

Once I heard the door closed shut and silence permeated the room, I opened one of my eyes and glanced about the room to check if there were any one of those undercover bounty hunters still about.

After making sure there was no one other than my crewmates, I carefully got up from the sofa; just as Zoro and Nami also got up from where they had pretended to pass out.

"Alright, phase one is complete." I grinned, "Time for phase two."

"Which is… what exactly?" Zoro asked.

"We are going to turn the trap back on them. Nami, you go around and rob them blind. Anything of value, take it. Don't even skip a single coin!"

Nami snickered as she cracked her fingers, "With pleasure~!"

"And Zoro… you and I are going to give them a scare of the lifetime."

The former pirate hunter looked at me for a moment, before his iconic demonic smirk graced his lips, "I like the way you think. How are we doing this?"

"We first has to…"

It didn't take long for us to leave the banquet hall undisturbed and made our way up to the roof; they must be really confident in their sleeping drugs to not have another watching over us.

We could see Igaram and his partner Miss Monday were talking with Vivi and her partner Mr 9 below where we were lying in wait, Luffy's and my bounty poster in former's hands as his accomplices all cried out over the amount on them.

Though it was annoying when Miss Monday pointed out my short stature being inconsistent with the bounty I was given.

"You're getting quite the reputation, 'White Devil'." Zoro chuckled.

I slapped him on the shoulder, "Oh, shut up."

Moments later, the other bounty hunters came rushing towards them as they cried out in a panic, "Mr 8! Miss Monday! Three of the pirates had escaped!"

"What!? How!? They should be knocked out for days!"

"Quick, find them! They couldn't have gone far!"

That was our cue.

"Sorry, but would you mind letting my crewmates sleep in for tonight?" Zoro called out as we stood up from our spot.

I nodded with a wide grin, "They are exhausted from the journey over, you see. So I appreciate if you do not disturb their beauty sleep."

Our shadows loomed over them in the moonlight as Igaram asked in shock, "Why you…? How are you not passed out from all that drinking!? And you! I was sure you were slipped a sleeping pill!"

Zoro unsheathed Yubashiri as he atoned to them, "A true swordsman never let himself be controlled by alcohol."

"And, well…" I turned into my half-dragon form but kept my wings hidden, "Drugs like those don't work on me."

"A-A Devil Fruit user!?"

"A devil! Sh-She really is the White Devil!"

I drew Ryuga from its sheath and balanced it on my shoulder, "And did you think your little act had us fooled? An island that welcomes pirates so early in the Grand Line? Yeah, right; like that would happen!"

"This place is just a den of bounty hunters hiding in plain sight." Zoro said with a smirk, "Luring in overconfident pirates with 'hospitality' before robbing them of all their worth. Not going to lie, not a bad scheme; for schmucks, that is."

"Grgk… these guys really aren't your average pirates…!"

"Ten… twenty… fifty… looks like only a hundred of you lot. Perfect." I widened my smirk and showed off my sharp teeth, "Shall we split it fifty-fifty between the two of us?"

"Why, that hardly qualifies as a warm-up." Zoro shook his head in disappointment, "But it will be enough to test out my new swords."

"True that. I had yet to properly acclimate myself to Ryuga myself. Say, shall we have a contest? The one with the most kills wins? Loser has to wash the dishes for a month."

"Oh, you are on."

Our casual banter drew ire of the bounty hunters below as they immediately drew their arms with those with firearms immediately pointing them at us, many of them already cocking back the firing hammer.

"Well, somebody's impatient." I pointed out.

"Then we shouldn't keep them waiting." Zoro noted.

"Indeed, we shouldn't."

With a stomp of my foot, I jumped high into the air above them and unfurled my wings in the air as wide as I could till my shadow in the moonlight was casted over all of them, their eyes widened in horror.

With a wide grin, I looked down before shouting out to them.

"Shall we have some fun, Baroque Works!? Breath Cannon!"

…
To be continued…

Here we are! With Egg Island coming to a close, I thought now would be a good time to post this!

Here we are, at Whiskey Peak! Not going to lie, was looking forward to writing this part. And I have tons of ideas on how to approach this.

And with this, we have officially entered into the Alabasta Arc! Look forward to it!

With that, I thank you all for reading this!