Pirates: Martial Arts Masters on the Straw Hat Ship

"Um... please, I beg you, since you're all good people!"

"We really want to go home! Waaaaah!"

It's the same old routine again.

Ronan sighed and rubbed his forehead in disbelief.

With that kind of quick change of expression, it's a real shame she's not a professional opera singer.

At that moment, Luffy, who had been wringing out his clothes, suddenly draped his soaking wet vest over his shoulder and grinned:

"OK!"

"Let's get on board! You said it's Whisky Peak, right? Let's go there!"

"Huh?!"

Everyone was shocked.

"Really, Luffy?!"

Usopp shouted incredulously, "You're really taking these two suspicious guys back?! They're the villains who tried to kill Laboon!"

"Yeah, right!" Luffy nodded matter-of-factly. "What does it matter? Besides... let's not make a fuss over small things!"

Crocus, standing to the side, looked at Luffy with a hint of admiration in his eyes.

This unpretentious attitude is exactly like that man's.

"However, Straw Hat Boy."

Crocus cautioned, "Now that you've chosen Whiskey Peak, your route will have to start there! Once chosen, it can't be changed."

"If you don't like that place, you can just go back and come back!" Luffy laughed nonchalantly.

"Going in circles... Heh, I see." Crocus laughed, a meaningful laugh. "That's an interesting answer."

Everything has settled down.

"It's about time we went!"

Luffy put on his straw hat and stood at the bow of the Going Merry, looking at his crew who were all ready to set sail, and then at the giant whale that had calmed down:

"We've made arrangements with Labu, let's get ready to go!"

Vivi and Mr. 9 huddled obediently in a corner of the deck, watching Luffy standing at the bow of the ship. Vivi couldn't help but ask:

"Hey...who exactly are you?"

Luffy turned around, sunlight streaming onto his face. His smile was even brighter than the sunlight, and his voice was firm and resonant:

"Me?"

"I am Monkey D. Luffy! The man who will become the Pirate King!"

At that moment, even the sea breeze seemed to stand still.

Ronan leaned against the mast, looking at Luffy's profile, and sighed inwardly:

That's just Luffy's style.

No matter who I'm facing or where I am, that confidence has never changed.

The Merry slowly sailed away from Twin Capes.

Luffy stood at the stern of the ship, waving goodbye to the old man on the shore, and shouted loudly:

"We're leaving! You eccentric old man, like a flower! Thank you for your Log Pose!!"

Crocus stood on the shore, his pink shirt fluttering in the wind. He waved, said nothing more, and simply replied:

"Ah...go! But don't die!"

Luffy then looked at the enormous whale:

"We're leaving, Raab!! Goodbye!!"

"Don't forget our promise! Don't break the sign!!"

"Brut—Brut—!!!"

Labu raised its head and let out a high-pitched and joyful cry.

A huge column of water shot into the sky, transforming into a magnificent rainbow in the sunlight, bidding farewell to these new friends.

Following the pointer, the Merry sailed through the waves, speeding towards Whisky Hill.

shore.

Crocus lowered his waving hand, still standing there, gazing for a long time at the small boat that gradually disappeared on the horizon.

His eyes became incredibly deep, as if they could pierce through time.

"Are they... the pirates we've been waiting for?"

"What an incredible man... that aura, that look in his eyes."

"Right... Roger?"

The sea breeze blows across Twin Capes, and the lighthouse's light still shines.

The afterglow of the old era has not yet faded, but the sun of the new era has already risen.

......

The Grand Line, the Unknown Seas.

The sky was a bleak, leaden gray, with thick, low-hanging clouds that seemed almost within reach.

Large, fluffy snowflakes fell in a flurry, enveloping the once azure sea in a vast white curtain.

The cold wind howled, sweeping across the sea like a knife, whipping up icy shards.

However, on the deck of the Going Merry, a bizarre scene defying the laws of nature was unfolding.

"Ha ha……"

White steam rose from above the heads of Ronan, Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji, mingling with the falling snowflakes and making a soft hissing sound.

They were shirtless, revealing their strong, sweaty muscles.

In this sub-zero temperature, they not only did not feel cold, but their bodies turned red, as if they were steel just pulled out of the furnace.

On one side of the deck, a huge cylindrical iron pot, large enough to accommodate two adults, is placed on a specially made fire-resistant stove.

Inside the furnace, orange-red flames licked the bottom of the pot, crackling greedily.

"Glug... Glug..."

The pot did not contain spring water, but rather a thick, green broth that boiled with a pungent medicinal aroma and a fishy, ​​sweet smell.

As the bubbles burst, waves of heat spread outwards, instantly vaporizing the falling snowflakes.

"Who...who are these people...?"

Inside the cabin, Vivi was wrapped in a thick quilt, curled up in a ball, looking out at the scene in terror through the frosted glass window.

Her teeth were chattering, not only because of the cold, but also because the scene before her was too horrifying.

"That...that's a pot for cooking people, isn't it? Mr. 9, have we boarded a cannibalistic ship?!"

Mr. 9, standing to the side, was also pale, and his crown was askew.

"I...I don't know...Who cooks soup naked in the snow? And the soup looks poisonous!"

Nami, wearing a thick cotton-padded coat and holding a cup of hot cocoa, sighed helplessly.

His eyes held both disdain for these idiots and a barely perceptible hint of admiration.

"Don't make a fuss," Nami said calmly, blowing on the hot air. "This is just a routine, suicidal training session."

on the deck.

Ronan exhaled a long breath, a breath as condensed as an arrow, which shot three feet before slowly dissipating.

He walked to the iron pot and stirred the viscous liquid with an ebony stick.

This is a rare medicinal herb he bought from Rogge Town, which he used to make "Bone-Forging and Marrow-Cleansing Soup" by boiling it with the bone marrow of a small sea monster he had just killed.

"The timing is right."

Ronan turned around, his gaze sweeping over the three people in front of him, his eyes bright:

"We've been stuck on the second stage of the Thirteen Protectors' training—copper skin and iron bones—for several days now."

Simple blows are no longer sufficient to deeply stimulate the bone marrow; drastic measures are necessary.

"This pot contains boiling water and medicinal soup."

Ronan's voice sounded particularly cold in the biting wind: "Who wants to go first?"

The air seemed to freeze for a moment.

That was a truly boiled medicinal soup, boiled at 100 degrees Celsius.

If an ordinary person jumped in, they would probably be burned and their skin would be torn open instantly.