"BATTLESTATIONS!" Luffy called out.
The Going Merry was under attack by a Marine fleet. One of the officers on board was grinning.
"Those Straw Hats are all bark and no bite. Instead of fighting, they run like cowards. We'll have them in no time, Sergeant. We'll get medals for sure!"
Sergeant Minchey calmly watched as the ships tried to hit the Merry.
"Damn, they're persistent. You'd think they'd learn not to fire on us after the fifteenth time Luffy or Ariala has redirected their cannonballs." Zoro said.
"Heck of a crew we joined, huh?" Hilda laughed as Luna and Lara held on tightly.
"Hold on, guys, there's fog up ahead. We should be able to lose them in there." Usopp said.
"Uh, one problem, there are also whirlpools and reefs within the fog." Nami pointed out.
"This is going to take some expert sailing," Boss noted.
"Leave it to me! I know how to steer a boat!" Lana said. "Weigh anchor, people!"
With impressive skill, Lana was able to keep the Merry away from the reefs. The Marine ships weren't so lucky, their bulkier size working against them.
"We've just hit a class-one danger zone, Sergeant! We can't pursue the Straw Hats any further!" An officer reported.
Minchey nodded. "Withdraw and have all ships come about at once."
"But, sir, we've got clear orders from Captain Moore to eliminate the Straw Hats on sight!" The first officer said.
"But Captain Moore isn't the one in command, I am."
That seemed to be the end of the argument, as the fleet immediately turned around and retreated. Meanwhile, the Merry had successfully made it out of the danger zone and into calmer waters.
"That really was some impressive sailing!" Bella noted.
Sonson grinned. "Ukikikiki! You sure know how to handle a boat!"
Lara blushed. "Awww shucks!"
"Land ho! There's an island ahead!" Usopp called out.
"Good, we can take some time to assess the damage," Lithos said.
As the crew came ashore, an old man watched them using a telescope and started calculating something on an abacus.
"Thirty-one people, five animals. No matter how many pirates there are, I will stop them."
Down below, the crew was checking out the island, which seemed to be largely empty.
"This island seems uninhabited," Robin noted.
"Not entirely. Look up ahead." Vivi said.
There was a baby goat peacefully grazing just up the mountain path.
"Awwww, it's a little baby~!" Hilda cooed as she held her chubby arms out. "Come to Mama, sweetie!"
"Careful, lass! That little fella is not alone." Grahambel warned.
Sure enough, a whole herd of goats was coming out of the brush.
"They say herbivores are more dangerous than carnivores, since carnivores only kill to eat. But herbivores kill for way more reasons." N'Doul noted.
Noctis nodded. "And this herd definitely doesn't look happy to see us."
"Maybe we're intruding on their territory. Think they'd back off if we headed to the ship?" Ariala suggested.
"I wouldn't recommend it. That could just in get them to start chargin'!" Carue said.
"Hold on, these aren't bad goats." Chopper said as he addressed the herd. "Excuse me, why did you try to set a trap for us?"
"Someone asked us to. He saw your ship coming in and wanted us to keep you off the island." The lead goat said. "Now if you don't mind..."
The group got ready to charge. Thinking quickly, Chopper shifted into his Heavy Point. Naturally, this shocked the goats, but also caused the old man to fall out of a nearby tree.
"It's a monster!"
"Correction; It's a reindeer with human abilities." Johnny said.
"That still makes me a monster," Chopper pointed out.
"We're all monsters, little friend." Choi chuckled. "Don't go selling yourself out."
"Can we all focus on the old man who just fell out of the tree?" Nami asked.
"Nami, that sort of thing is normal in the East Blue," Luffy pointed out.
"It's still not the sort of thing you see every day," Nami retorted.
"This here your boss?" Grahambel asked the goats.
The lead goat nodded. "Yeah, that's him."
"Ah, talking animals!"
"We'd better stop before we give him a coronary," Boss said.
"Or an ulcer!" Eddy laughed.
"He must have thought we were trying to attack him," Zoro said.
"There's no need to panic, Pops. We're just here to pick up some water and provisions." Hsiao said.
"Why should I trust anything a pirate says?" The old man demanded.
"You got a Transponder Snail?" Grahambel asked.
"No."
"Well, I can't help ya there, then."
"Look, there's no treasure on this island, got it?"
"We've already got our hold chock full of gold as is. We couldn't hold any more treasure if we wanted it." Ferros said. "And I'm pretty sure our navigator here would want it."
"I swear, you take one pleasure bath in gold pieces and everyone asks you to hold back," Nami muttered.
"I'm impressed you don't have bruises from that!" Chopper scolded.
"Why did I think of an old duck when I saw you doing that, by the way..." Luna muttered.
"It was a real Ducktale, huh!" Ed laughed.
The old man looked at them, blinking in shock. This was not how this thing usually went. He was so stunned that he wound up keeling over. Chopper quickly went to check on him.
"His heart's stopped!"
He quickly started doing CPR before turning to the goats.
"I'm a doctor! We need to get him to his house!"
"Get him on my back! I'll lead the way!"
The old man woke up, feeling a towel on his head. He looked around and noticed the Straw Hats looking at him in concern.
"Did I... Just die?"
"Your heart stopped. Likely from shock." Chopper said.
"For someone with so much grit you're pretty fainthearted. I would think the Grand Line would have plenty of surprises every day. It's impressive you've lasted this long." Sanji noted.
"Well you damn pirates went and completely messed up my rhythm," The old man said as he got out his abacus. "Now I can't chop the firewood or draw any water. I've lost 50 million Berris from this ordeal!"
The crew all looked at him in bemusement. That led into Nami and the old man starting to haggle pricing, which led into the crew agreeing to do his chores.
"That old man certainly seems to have a grudge against pirates," Sanji noted.
"What does he have against us anyway?" Noctis wondered.
"Well, keep in mind most pirates are not nice people," Merone pointed out.
Ferros nodded. "Dad's got war stories of the evil pirate crews he's destroyed over the years."
"Makes me real glad he took them out of commission," Ariala said with a shudder.
"According to the goat leader, the old man has been alone on the island for the last twenty years. He washed ashore from somewhere else." Chopper said.
"Now there's a familiar story,, right down to the tales of treasure. It's Gaimon all over again." Usopp noted.
Back on the Island of Rare Animals, Gaimon sneezed.
"Is something wrong, dear?" Sarfunkel, a woman in a barrel much like how Gaimon was in a chest, asked.
"Either I'm catching a cold or someone's talking about me."
"Well, at least Gaimon was friendly, this guy cannot be satisfied," Nami said. "Like, who cares how you chop wood? And in a place so outdoorsy you can't escape having at least an inch of dust in your house at all times."
She noticed Robin didn't seem to be doing anything, until she saw an extra pair of hands growing out of the old man's back and massaging his shoulders.
"Show off..."
Robin just smiled before Carue suddenly raced back.
"You fellas won't believe this, but I think the old man might be a former pirate!"
"What makes you say that?" Vivi asked.
"I was just on the other side of the island when I saw this old boat with a Jolly Roger on it that had a large red abacus behind it."
He led the crew over to where he found the ship. It looked like the ship had been in the process of being built, but the project was stopped halfway through.
"Huh, somebody's not a good shipwright," Boss muttered as he checked the ship out.
"It almost looks like a ghost ship," Delphia noted.
As if to make it look more ethereal, several fireflies started flying around as the evening set in.
Lassoo sniffed around. "All this wood smells exactly like the trees. He must have gotten all the lumber from this island."
"But why would he stop building in the middle of the project?" Robin wondered.
"And all this still doesn't explain why he hates pirates so much," Hilda pointed out.
"Aren't we just assuming he hates pirates based on his actions?" Romaz pointed out. "It could be that he's just trying to protect this ship or his treasure from thieves. He did seem surprised that we're not interested in it. Well, most of us..."
He took a look over at Nami.
"What's that look supposed to mean?" Nami asked.
"Nami, we've been together in the Arlong Pirates way too long for us to not know you," Kuishi pointed out.
"To be fair, his cabin looked way too well-furnished for him to be flat broke." Vivi said.
"I'm shocked you noticed that," Nami said.
"I may be a pirate like the rest of you, but I'm still Alabasta's princess. I know luxury furnishings when I see it."
Noctis nodded. "Same here."
Nami facepalmed at her own absentmindedness.
"I still don't buy it. With how fainthearted the old man is, there's no way he could be a pirate." Eddy said.
"Maybe not now," but you have to remember he was stranded here twenty years ago. The fact that he has a Jolly Roger says he had to have been somewhat of a notable pirate back then." Lithos said. "Then there's the fact that he built this ship in this exact location."
"Didn't he build it just to escape the island?" Lara pointed out.
"And leave it unfinished?" Boss countered.
"Plus keep in mind this is a dense forest with no paths. Carue had to slice his way through here with his Devil Fruit." Robin added. "And just past us is a steep cliff with the sea several meters below. Not exactly the ideal location to build an escape vessel."
"The clues just add up too well, Usopp. The old man may very well be a retired pirate." Merone said.
Meanwhile, Minchey was reporting to Captain Moore at his base.
"How are you supposed to preserve the Marine's justice when you fear a danger zone in the middle of the ocean?" Moore asked.
"There was no reason to pursue. It's unlikely they would have escaped the danger zone so easily," Minchey said.
"You underestimate what the Straw Hat Pirates are capable of. They have beaten every big name in the East Blue, evaded both White Chase Smoker and Black Cage Hina, and even slayed the ex-Warlord Crocodile." Moore admonished. "Truthfully, if it wasn't for orders from Marine HQ I'd pin them all with medals for resolving the conflict in Alabasta, not go hunting for their heads. Unfortunately, we're not in a position to celebrate pirates as heroes. So go locate them at once."
"Yes, sir," Minchey said with a salute as he walked out of the office, joined his corporal.
"Sergeant, why didn't you report the island to the captain?"
"I take it you saw it too. What do you make of it?"
"There's no record of the island on any chart. Likely because very few ships could make it through the danger zone."
"Let's keep that little tidbit from the captain."
"But Marines have a duty to uphold the truth!" The corporal argued.
"And yet the truth about what happened in Alabasta was covered up. Compared to that scandal this little secret is less than nothing." Minchey countered. "I don't care how many men we have. I'm not tangling with the duo who proved strong enough to take down Crocodile. And let's not forget Tremor Lithos, Metal Machine Ferros, Sea Queen Merone, and Wind Dancer Ariala are the children of Whitebeard himself. You could put a billion Berris on their head and it wouldn't be worth bringing a Yonko down on mine. Not that they'd need a Yonko's help to wipe us all out. But there is one good reason to go to the same island they're on."
He chuckled, which filled the corporal with great unease.
As the old man slept, Chopper and Double-D took the time to give him a thorough checkup.
"Hmm... This is serious..."
"Oh my..."
They headed over to the others.
"Oh hey, guys. We were going to sleep back on the Merry." Sonson said.
"I'll be staying here for the night. I can't abandon one of my patients." Chopper said.
Double-D nodded. "I figure I should stay as well. Chopper will need an extra pair of eyes."
"His heart can't be that bad," Usopp said.
"It's worse than that. His heart didn't stop because he was timid. It stopped because he's very sick." Chopper said. "He'll be dead in three days."
The crew was shocked.
"Chopper, are you sure?" Ariala asked.
Chopper and Double-D nodded solemnly.
"Friends! We must make his final days the best he's ever had!" Ed said heartfully.
Hilda nodded. "You read my mind, big guy."
The old man was surprised when the next morning, he found Sanji had cooked him an entire feast for breakfast.
"None of this is poisoned, is it?"
"My good sir, you insult me!" Sanji huffed. "I can assure you that I'd never poison anybody I offered food to."
With that reassurance, the old man tried some of the food. The next minute, half a plate was down his gullet as the crew introduced themselves.
"Ah, that explains the talking animals, several of you have Devil Fruits. You know, I remember once visiting an island where the locals had a group of warriors who used the Earth-Earth Fruit, Gust-Gust Fruit, Water-Water Fruit, and Metal-Metal Fruit to act as avatars for their gods."
"Whoa, you were there?!" Ferros exclaimed in surprise.
"Probably not when we got there, that's for sure." Merone pointed out.
Meanwhile, Minchey and the corporal were in the records room.
"Here it is. There was a man who fought against some pirates in that area twenty years ago. He hasn't been seen since."
"I thought that so. As I recall, that man's name was Zenny. And along with him, his huge treasure is also said to have disappeared..." Minchey said before chuckling darkly. "Assuming he made it to the island, he's probably died of old age by now. But treasure doesn't have a life expectancy."
Back at Goat Island, the crew was busy finishing the old man's ship for him. The goats proved to be a well-oiled machine with the heavy lifters of the crew as they helped cart all the lumber for the project.
"Mush, mush, mush, mush..." Ed chanted as he carried.
"Never thought I'd see this project get back up and running," The old man said.
"Just why are you building a ship out here in the first place?" Bella asked.
"Well, it's not really a ship. I actually intend for it to be my coffin." The old man clarified.
That got the group stunned. Ed, Hilda, Usopp, and Chopper all dropped the large amount of lumber they were carrying as their arms went limp from shock.
"Isn't it a little early to be planning out your grave?" Kuishi asked.
"First off, it's never too early to plan out a grave. You never know when you'll need a fresh one. And second, look at me. I'm sure you've all realized I'm not long for this world. I'm just over 80 years old and living by myself on an island. Have to plan out even the possibility of my own death." The old man said.
"So why make your grave look like a pirate ship?" Sanji asked.
The old man smiled, and then promptly fell asleep without answering.
"Hey! You owe us an answer!" Eddy snapped.
"So you've found the Straw Hats on a deserted island nearby," Moore noted. "Then we should attack with all our forces at once!"
"Sir, just a moment, you have to keep in mind that a good chunk of the senior officers of the Straw Hats have Devil Fruits. Plus they have two fishmen and the feared bounty hunter Roronoa Zoro among their number." Minchey said.
"Are you starting to lose your nerve, Sergeant?" Moore asked.
"Just trying to avoid unnecessary casualties, sir," Minchey insisted. "I actually have a plan in mind that can grant us complete victory while minimizing casualties."
By the time the crew realized it, four days had gone by and the old man was still alive.
"Could Chopper and Double-D have misdiagnosed him?" Usopp wondered.
"I don't think that's it. It's more like his more cheerful mood coupled with the medicine I made for him, Sanji's nutrient-rich cooking, and the clean environment helped him overcome the sickness." Chopper said. "I never said it was terminal, just that it left him with a few days to live."
Meanwhile, Robin had just beaten the old man at chess. She wasn't even sitting at the table, just using her Flower-Flower Fruit to create a hand to play for her. The old man laughed in spite of his loss as Double-D stepped up to have a turn playing with him.
That night the crew decided to have a party.
"I gotta say, for as long as I've lived I've never met a more interesting pirate crew." The old man said.
"We were actually under the impression that you were a pirate once. I mean, you have all this expensive stuff lying around the cabin." Nami said.
"Well, it's true I have a few trinkets from my old life, but the only real treasure I have left is what I have shared my joys and sorrows with. That being the goat herd I've spent these long years with." The old man said.
"Love you too, Zenny," the goat leader said cheerfully.
"The truth is I'm not actually a pirate."
"Really?" Noctis asked.
Zenny shook his head. "Never was. I was actually a moneylender who dealt with them."
"Wow, you must have had guts. No ordinary person would dare try lending money to pirates." Ariala said. "Paying back anything they borrowed would have been out of the question, let alone the interest."
"Yeah, those bastards kept bilking me out of my money," Zenny admitted. "Every pirate I worked with wound up breaking their word. They thought nothing of betraying trust, almost like it was second nature."
"Most pirate crews tend to be loyal only to their own crew," Romaz agreed, "And the worst won't think twice about betraying anyone else."
"So that's why you hate pirates," Nami realized.
Kuishi chuckled. "Nami had similar feelings but then she met us!"
"I couldn't just stand back and take it, otherwise I'd have no business left. I had to risk my life fighting pirates to get them to pay back their debt. Problem was I was weaker than a kitten even then. But I did have a dream I was willing to fight and die for." Zenny said.
Luffy and the children of Whitebeard became especially vested as they listened in.
"See, I don't actually hate pirates. What I hate is what they tend to do to people. But I always dreamed of being a pirate myself. The adventuring, swashbuckling heroes you read about in fantasy stories. That was the sort of pirate I wanted to be." Zenny explained. "So to live up to that dream, I used my guile and a few clever tricks to get every last pirate who owed me a debt to pay it back in full. And every time I succeeded, I felt a little more like a swashbuckling pirate."
He took a drink, then sighed.
"But one day, I got hit with a sneak attack from some pirates taking out their anger on me. That's how I got washed ashore on this island. I've been here ever since. Twenty long years now."
"And you've been making that grave the whole time?," Yosaku asked.
"Well, it didn't start out as a grave. Originally I wanted to build the ship near the sea. But bringing down the lumber proved to be too much work, even with the goats helping." Zenny explained. "All the same, I didn't want to give up on building it, so I decided to just build it right there in the mountains. Before I knew it, I was getting too old to sail the Grand Line, so I decided to make the ship my coffin instead."
"You're never too old to make a dream come true. Father always says the only time you're too old to dream is when you're dead. And he just passed seventy, so he'd know." Lithos said.
Zenny blinked. "How old are you?"
"Believe it or not, Lithos, Ferros, Merone and I are only nineteen!" Ariala giggled.
"And you say your father is just past seventy?" Zenny noted. "Maybe there's still time for my dream after all."
Minchey was taking a single ship out to Goat Island.
"Are we really going to be able to lure out the Straw Hats with a single ship?" The corporal asked.
"They may be strong, but they're still rookies. If we do this right, we have nothing to fear from them. We don't even have to fight them." Minchey pointed out. "Just watch. While the captains argue about justice, we'll walk away with the treasure. And don't worry, Corporal, you'll be getting your fair share."
Despite this, the corporal still didn't look all too into the plan.
The next day, the Straw Hats spotted Minchey's ship as it pulled up.
"What's going on here?" Hilda asked.
"What are Marines doing here?" Choi wondered.
"Aren't those the ones who chased us the other day?" Lara asked.
"Greetings, Straw Hat Pirates! I'm Sergeant Minchey. Sorry about the other day, we didn't know who we were dealing with. Otherwise we wouldn't have chased you around like that. Please accept our humble apologies."
"Any of you buy this?" Vivi asked, bemused.
"Not for a single Berri, dear sister," Noctis said.
"Yeah, Marines would never give up on chasing pirates!" Luffy said.
"Hey now, let's not get violent! Considering you're the pirates who killed Sir Crocodile, I'd be absolutely stupid to fight against such powerful opponents!" Minchey said.
"Yeah, he's definitely up to something. His heartbeat is way too calm for how panicked he's acting." Grahambel noted.
"Well just think for a moment, why would we try to attack you with a single ship? We're just here to investigate the island, is all. It's not every day you find an island not on any map, so we need to make sure to update it." Minchey said.
"The only thing here is an old man and his island goats, good sir." Double-D replied.
"Plus I've already mapped out the island. I can sell you the map for a few thousand Berris." Nami offered.
"Ah, I see Zenny is being safely cared for here. That's good, that's good." Minchey said. "Once our survey is done, we'll just return to our base. So you can just sail out of here. I mean, Marine HQ is in a frenzy to eliminate you all, so it would probably be best to move on."
"Just one question before we do that... How did you know the old man's name?" Merone asked.
Minchey freaked out.
"Right, we never said his name, we only said an old man was here. We never said what his name was." Usopp said.
"And you can't fool my hearing! I can hear all the voices of the Marines on the ships hidden in the fog behind you!" Grahambel said.
"Oh, that's just a routine patrol, they're not with us at all!" Minchey insisted.
"Yeah, this guy's game is obvious, he's trying to grab the old man's treasure!" Eddy snapped.
"Not on our watch!" Sonson said as she summoned her staff.
Minchey was now sweating bullets. "How did such rookies figure me out so easily? But that means they know about the mountain of treasure Zenny the Moneylender received in order to settle the pirates' debts."
"So they were trying to sneak attack us while this jackass tried to grab Zenny's treasure. Seems Marines can play as dirty as pirates." Ferros noted.
"Indeed. And here I figured they were all about justice." Delphia said.
"They've got a landing party trying to sneak up on us too. I can hear them in the forest right now." Grahambel said.
"Well, they're in for a big surprise!" Hsiao said.
Just as said landing party came out to attack, a sudden rumbling was heard. To everyone's shock, Zenny's ship was now sliding down the cliff using a series of wooden rollers.
"How is a pirate ship sailing down the mountains!?" Minchey exclaimed in shock.
Zenny and his goats laughed as the ship started to reach the bottom.
"Prepare for the maiden voyage of the Zenny Pirates! Sail on!"
Usopp smiled. "And so Luffy inspires another dream."
"I'm actually surprised Zenny didn't join our crew during the party," Luna noted.
"I think he's better off as a captain in his own right," Luffy said.
Finally, the ship hit the water, right next to Minchey's ship as Zenny took a deep whiff of sea air.
"Ah, back out at sea once more. Looks like this ship is a ship once again."
"So Zenny the Moneylender is still alive," Minchey noted. "Even with a ship, you're nothing but a blood-sucking penny extortionist."
"Oh, not anymore I'm not!" Zenny retorted. "I gave that up years ago! You're looking at a newly reborn pirate now!"
He laughed as Minchey's eye twitched.
"You're talking to a Marine, old geezer!" Minchey yelled.
"Really? You seem more pirate-like than me!" Zenny taunted. "I overheard that you want to steal some treasure I supposedly have. And here I thought hunting down pirates paid for all your bills. Or maybe they've been having budget cuts lately."
As Minchey growled, his corporal called out to him.
"Sergeant! The Straw Hats are on the move heading for their ship! Call the captain's fleet for backup!"
"Shut up!" Minchey said as he shot at the corporal with a rifle, shocking the entire group. "I already told you I'd give you a cut of the treasure, so just keep your mouth shut and don't let the captain know!"
Zenny nodded as he did some quick calculations on his abacus.
"Now I see... You must be paying off your men to take on this little side project. But most Marine soldiers are dedicated to the ideals the Marines put forth, so that must cost quite a pretty penny. Isn't that right, Sergeant? Well, if you want my treasure so badly, how about you come and take it? If you can, that is! Hey, Luffy! I need a hand getting my friends onto that ship!"
"I gotcha!" Luffy called back as he stretched out his arms to grab Zenny's ship, ramming it against Minchey's.
That action allowed the goats to all stampede on the Marine ship. The soldiers stood helpless as they got surrounded.
"What the hell are you all doing?! They're just goats!" Minchey called out.
"Sir, do you have any idea how expensive the fine is for killing an island goat?!"
Zenny was riding the lead goat and chuckling at Minchey, who was raging at the situation. Meanwhile, the Merry started pulling up as well. Minchey started to pull out his sword when several goats trampled on top of him, knocking him to the ground. Before long, the soldiers had quickly surrendered just as the Straw Hats boarded.
"Wow, all that with just a bunch of goats," Luna noted. "That's just sad."
"But hang on... There is no fine for killing island goats. I mean, lots of islands have them." Ariala pointed out.
"Yeah, you should see our old pal Rolf's pet goat where we live," Eddy muttered.
"Yeah, we were just looking for an excuse to stop doing what the sergeant wanted. Honestly, we hated following his orders that went against Captain Moore." A soldier admitted.
"Well, I doubt you'll have to worry about that any longer. Harvey was broadcasting the entire time. So Moore definitely heard Minchey's scheme." Romaz said.
Zenny smiled and walked over to Minchey as he was getting tied up.
"You want to know what the funny thing is? That treasure I had? When I decided to buy a pirate ship and get my pals together, I exchanged all of it for cash. But after I was attacked and drifted ashore here, all of that cash got eaten by the island goats. Ain't that something? Now the only treasure I have is the friendship I made with the goat herd."
Minchey nearly had a stroke when he heard that.
"Looks like you pulled that entire scheme for nothing. I think it's only appropriate we send you where you belong." Hilda said. "Captain, he's all yours!"
Luffy nodded as he grabbed Minchey by the collar and stretched out his arm for a punch.
"Gum-Gum Pistol!"
He slammed his fist into Minchey's face, sending him flying right over to Moore's flagship. The captain was obviously not happy to see his sergeant.
"You have a lot to answer for, Minchey. Your subordinates will be let off since you practically forced them into your schemes, making them the victims. But you will not get off so lightly."
He tore off the pauldrons on Minchey's jacket. The disgraced officer just bowed his head in defeat.
"Take him to the brig at once!" Moore ordered.
"Yes, sir! What about the Straw Hats?"
"Tell Marine HQ we'll be too busy with the paperwork processing Minchey's arrest and court-martialing. And get me in contact with Commodore Smoker. There's been rumors that he's making an alliance with Commodore Purin and Captain Hina." Moore said. "Whatever he's planning, he's going to need a lot more manpower to pull it off."
The Straw Hats all waved Zenny goodbye as he sailed off with his friends.
"Good luck on your journey! Hopefully we'll meet each other in another twenty years!"
"Or maybe sooner!" Bella said. "We're all sailing the same sea, after all!"
The two ships headed off, each on their own voyage. The Straw Hats had made another new friend that day, and would likely make many more as they continued to sail the Grand Line.
What should I call my version of the New World Masons from This Bites? Mtnetsurfer called his version the Spears of Heaven, I need a cool name of my own.