144 Chapter 144

144

"Woohoo! Our second Island on the Grand Line!" Bartolomeo and Usopp shouted together side by side, arms on each other's shoulders.

They just had breakfast, and morning training was done. So almost all of them were thrilled to explore the new Island.

Two days passed on the Going Merry, each of them just as crazy to the crew and company.

Even though most of the storms were luckily avoided by Nami's caution and Momoo's speed, they still had to go through a lot. The weather was never consistent for more than a half-hour, and more than once were the pirates forced out of bed in the middle of the night because of a storm, but the chaos and Vivi's willingness to help quickly made her as much of a crewmember as anyone else aboard.

The blue-haired princess was now accustomed to the happy-go-lucky tune of the Straw Hat Pirates. Still, the princess didn't like the training the captain of the ship put her through. But training was mandatory for anyone that sailed on the Going Merry, so she complied.

And she didn't regret it so far, learning a lot about her strengths and weaknesses in her fighting techniques.

All of them assembled on the deck as the ship pulled into a river that led deeper into the island, thick greenery rising from the shore on either side. Above the treetops in the distance stood two mountains, both as white as sun-bleached bone and with multiple holes that must have led to impressive cave systems. Bestial roars echoed through the jungle, each one making Usopp and Nami jump.

"W-what was that?" Usopp shrieked looking at Nami who was just as frightful.

"Must be the volcano or something, nothing to worry about." Gin said, making both of them sigh in relief. Coby wanted to point out how wrong he was, but Vivi spoke first.

"We should be careful… I'm worried about what Miss All Sunday said about this island…" Vivi reminded them. The Island came into a clearer view, still a few hundred meters before they would reach the shore. A loud screech from a bird flying above the island surprised them.

"Y-y-you don't think there are m-monsters here, do you?" Usopp stuttered as he fell to the floor, suddenly losing his excitement.

"Hot Pot!" Sparky said, with saliva dripping from his mouth.

"Yes, Sanji can make hot pot out of them, if you are able to catch one." Luffy said, nodding.

Speaking of Sanji, the cook came out of the kitchen with a bunch of lunch boxes for each of the crew-mates. "Lunch boxes for everyone." Even though not too long ago they had breakfast, all of the crew mates accepted the additional food. But they wouldn't be eating it anytime soon.

With the visit to a new island, most of them might miss Lunch, so Luffy told the cook to make something carriable for the whole crew. With how tough the training was, good recovery and nutrition were very important.

So missing a meal was not an option.

Almost all of the crewmates had visible signs of muscles in their body. Most notably was Coby, who hit a growth sprout of some sort. Gaining a height of almost six feet and most of the baby fat on his body were now gone. Now he didn't look like the scrawny kid of the crew anymore.

"So, this is Little Garden, huh?" Kuina muttered. "Just what about this island is little? I wonder."

"This Island… It's like a land yet to be explored by people. The entire island is a thick jungle." Sanji commented.

"Hey, it's just large trees and stuff… I'm sure nothing dangerous is here." Gin said, being the only optimistic one in the crew. "I think the Sunday lady was just trying to scare us."

"Yeah, nothing bad will…" Usopp stopped mid-sentence when a large crocodile was fished out of the sea by an even larger bird. "Did my eyes just play a trick on me?" he asked Nami, who looked equally frightened.

Nami shook her head, sadly. All blood drained from her face.

"We are screwed!"

Their fear only worsened when a tiger five times as large as any tiger should be limped out of the treeline. It growled at the ship, only to wince as the blood dripping from its stomach began to form a puddle under its body. With a final wheeze, the tiger keeled over, exposing the deep lacerations that had caused its demise, its eyes losing their light.

"This is definitely not normal!" screamed Nami, frightened.

"Y-yeah, let's not set foot on this island!" Usopp decided. "I think I can feel my Don'tGoOnThatIsland Disease acting up."

"I second that!" Bartolomeo agreed, shivering, his fingers already in a crossed position. In case he needed to shield the whole ship.

Hatchan and Momoo even they looked worried.

"Let's just wait quietly on our ship… and leave the very second our Log Pose finishes recording! After all, we have to hurry on to Alabasta as soon as possible."

"As much as I wish we could, Nami-swan, we don't have that option," Sanji replied, "Our food stores are running low and won't get us to the next island, no matter how much we try to ration."

"That means we're going hunting," Zoro grinned.

Kuina shook her head. "Boys and their challenges..." Though for the record she looked equally as excited about the prospect.

"Oh, before I forget… Tada!" Luffy said, taking out something from his pocket. A bug spray.

"What's that?"

"A bug spray!"

And after that Luffy swiftly sprayed the whole crew, even Hatchan and Momoo. All of them coughed due to sudden exposure to gas.

"What the heck was that Luffy?" Nami asked, coughing.

"Yeah, *cough… I can barely breathe in this." Usopp said.

"I have to agree, captain." Coby said, "What kind of bug spray smells that bad? And I stink now… Blah!" As he had a sensitive nose, he felt double the side effect.

Luckily Sabo already had his plague mask on, so he didn't have to face the side effects. As a revolutionary he knew about the island, so he was prepared.

"This is a special kind of Bug spray, having very strong effect." Luffy pointed out. "Something that will help us survive here… you see there's a reason why Robin said that we won't survive Little Garden. Well, it's because of the Island's ecosystem."

"What?! Does that mean, this Island has dinosaurs?" Usopp cried, half in fear, and half in awe.

"This is a prehistoric Island, filled with God knows what kind of disease, that's why I bought some bug spray along with some protective medicine for all of the crew." Luffy said before addressing the sniper. "And, yes. This Island does have dinosaurs, amongst other things."

Luffy finished speaking just as the Going Merry docked the prehistoric Island. "Now, who's ready to explore the Island with me!"