Chapter 31: Where's My Chopper?
"What nonsense! How could I possibly get hit by that!" Reiner retorted irritably.
Seriously, I can't understand it. He has the Bomb-Bomb Fruit, capable of detonating even the air he exhales, yet he chooses to develop booger attacks.
If that fails, maybe diligently practice some kind of hair-needle technique? Why insist on being so disgusting?
Reiner scanned the area but didn't see Luffy. He casually scooped up a cup of wine and gulped it down fiercely, droplets spilling from the corner of his mouth and dampening his shirt.
"Hasn't Luffy returned yet?" he asked casually after putting down the cup.
Nami took the cup, refilled it for him, and handed it back. "Luffy's not back yet. Just in case, Reiner, maybe you should go take a look."
"Always ordering me around."
He finished the cup, turned, and walked towards the T-Rex. "Come on, let's take you out to play."
"ROAR!" The T-Rex quickly came before him and lowered its body.
The man and dinosaur headed off into the woods. Reiner summoned the Blue Ogre and had it scan the area with Observation Haki, but found no trace of Luffy's presence.
"Honestly, did they fight that far away?"
He sighed. Given Luffy's strength, fighting Brother Three shouldn't have been this much trouble. He probably got distracted playing with the guy's wax-shaping ability.
Hm, what's this?
Through the layers of trees, Reiner spotted a white house.
"Let's check over there."
"ROAR!"
Arriving outside the white house, he could faintly hear familiar voices from within.
"...Anyway, after you take care of the Straw Hat crew, come directly to Alabasta. To prevent the Marines from monitoring our plans, this will be the last time we use the Den Den Mushi."
"Understood, Boss. That's all then. Hanging up."
Sanji?
Reiner recognized one of the voices. The white house appeared to be made of wax by Mr. 3; it had no door.
He walked straight in. Sure enough, inside was Sanji, dressed in his black suit, leaning back on a white sofa and holding a Den Den Mushi.
"Reiner?"
"Sanji? What's the situation here?"
Seeing two figures lying on the floor, Reiner couldn't help but ask, "And what the heck are these things? Sea otters wearing clothes?"
"Well~ Apparently they're called the Unluckies or something."
Sanji roughly explained what happened. While hunting earlier, he had inadvertently wandered here, got curious, went inside to look, and discovered the Den Den Mushi ringing.
Upon answering, he realized it was the boss of Baroque Works. Sanji then disguised his voice as Mr. 3's and bluffed his way through the conversation.
"So the Unluckies are these things?"
Reiner crouched down, examining the sea otter and vulture on the floor. They seemed vaguely familiar, yet not quite. He picked up a small hourglass-shaped object from the ground.
"This must be the Eternal Pose they delivered."
"Ah, with the Eternal Pose for Alabasta, we can head there directly if we want to make quick time."
"Mm, we'll see what Luffy says about the route," Reiner said, pocketing the Pose. He offered Sanji a cigarette, and the two left the room.
After briefly explaining the earlier ambush on the island, Sanji immediately declared he needed to go protect Nami and Vivi.
"Heh heh, are you going to protect them, or..."
Reiner rolled his eyes, mounted the T-Rex, and rode off.
After circling around for quite a while, he finally spotted a battered-looking Luffy.
"Hey, Luffy!"
"Ah, it's Rein— Wait a second!"
Luffy responded upon seeing Reiner, then suddenly froze as if seeing something incredible.
"It's a T-Rex!!!"
"WAHAHAHA!!"
Luffy's eyes lit up as he charged forward, leaped high, and landed sitting on the T-Rex's back. "Heeheehee! Let's go, T-Rex! We're heading back!"
Reiner looked speechless. If you want one, can't you catch it yourself?
Ah well, let him have his fun. I can always make more whenever I want anyway.
"Why do you look so rough? Did you take care of the enemy?"
"Ah, yeah. Took care of 'em."
"Everyone! Mister Giants! We're back!"
"Gahahahaha! Looks like you took care of everything."
Reiner jumped off the dinosaur, collected its template, then sent it back into the forest (or possibly just dismissed it), turning to the laughing giants.
"Ah, it went smoothly. Thanks to you Misters being so strong."
"Gahahahaha! Of course!"
"Hey Reiner! You bastard! How dare you take so much of my booze!"
A voice called out from the group. Reiner looked over – it was Zoro?!
"What are you doing here?"
"Well~ Bagged some decent prey."
Zoro took a swig of booze, gesturing with his hand towards a Triceratops lying nearby. "Was dragging it back to the ship, ended up here somehow."
"Heh, you got lost the right way for once?" Reiner laughed.
"What did you say!? I'll cut you down, bastard!"
"Are you alright, Luffy?"
Seeing Luffy covered in injuries, Vivi rushed forward, hands clasped over her heart, her face full of guilt. "Sorry, it's all my fault for attracting these people... Maybe... Ouch ouch ouch!"
Nami pinched Vivi's cheek, tugging slightly, and said exasperatedly, "On this ship, we never say 'whose fault it is' or 'it's because of so-and-so'."
"Little delinquent cries quite a bit, huh? Don't worry, no one blames you," Reiner added, casually pinching Vivi's other cheek.
Mm, quite soft.
It was already noon, the perfect time for Sanji to cook.
Reiner sent undead to the ship to fetch kitchen utensils. Zoro stingily declared his Triceratops was off-limits until the contest results, so Reiner had the undead hunt some other beasts as well.
"Let's eat!" x9
"Quack!"
The ship's crew, two giants, and one duck sat down on the grass for a meal.
"Delicious! Gahahahaha! Curly Brows kid, your cooking skills are amazing!"
"Damn it! Gnaw the meat off the bone properly before throwing it away!"
"Gahahahaha! Sorry about that, little bro."
Under Sanji's glare, the two large men could only sheepishly pick up the bones from the ground and gnaw on them, looking exactly like children caught misbehaving despite being giants.
The sight made everyone else laugh. After eating their fill, the group rested for a while. Nami took the opportunity to ask:
"Misters, how long does the Log Pose need to set for Little Garden?"
"Here? Takes a year."
"NANI!!!"
Everyone was shocked. Reiner was also stunned. How could this be?
Luffy instantly became unhappy. "I waited ten years just to finally set sail! Misters, please help me figure something out!"
"Idiot kid! How could we possibly have a way around that?"
"No, wait! Sanji found this in the forest." Reiner pulled out the small hourglass-shaped object from his coat.
Broggy recognized it instantly. "Ooh~ You have an Eternal Pose."
"Eternal Pose?"
This was another first for Nami. Vivi explained it to them – a special type of compass that always points towards a specific island.
"So that means we can only head straight for Alabasta using this?"
"Doesn't that mean we'll miss out on adventures on other islands?" Hearing Nami's words, Luffy looked dejected.
Reiner was even more stunned than him. Where's my Chopper!? Wait! What about the ship's doctor I've been looking forward to getting!?
"Wait, Nami! Do you have your sea chart?"
Reiner quickly asked Nami for the Grand Line chart she had stolen from Buggy back in the East Blue.
Checking the direct route from Little Garden to Alabasta, he saw that Drum Island was not far off the path. Reiner finally felt relieved. I can just make up some excuse to detour there later.
After resting sufficiently, the group prepared to leave. Dorry and Broggy, sitting where they were, looked at each other and smiled.
"Let's go, Dorry. Time to see our friends off."
"Ah, these old partners would be honored too, I bet."
The two picked up their rust-spotted swords and axes and walked towards the coast.
These weapons, the sole witnesses to their century-long duel, now looked damaged and fragile, as if they might shatter at any moment.
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