For the next week, the crew didn't encounter any major islands—only a few deserted ones.
At this moment, Luffy was sparring with Zoro and Sanji.
At this point in time, the two of them still didn't have the level of coordination they would develop after the two-year timeskip.
At the beginning, they tried to cooperate… but before long they started arguing and nearly came to blows.
Then Luffy beat both of them until they were covered in lumps.
Now—
"Curly-brow!" Zoro shouted.
Zoro gripped two swords in his hands, Wado Ichimonji clenched in his mouth. The twin blades spun through the air, radiating a sharp aura—as if they could tear through anything.
"Got it!" Sanji dashed toward Luffy.
"Flanchet!"
Luffy tilted his body and turned his head slightly, easily dodging.
"Hey! Don't hit the face!" Luffy complained.
"Collier!"
"Côtelette!"
"Poêle à Frire Spectacle!"
One "dish" after another was served.
If they were real dishes, Luffy would've eaten them all already.
But every single attack was dodged.
This was the power of Observation Haki.
"Curly-brow, move aside!" Zoro shouted.
The next moment, Zoro shot forward like an arrow.
Three-Sword Style Secret Technique—Three Thousand Worlds!
"Nice teamwork!"
Luffy's right arm instantly turned black as Armament Haki coated it.
"Iron Fist!"
He threw a punch.
Zoro was blasted backward, coughing up blood.
Sanji attacked from the side instantly.
"Côtelette!"
Luffy's right leg also became coated in Armament Haki.
He kicked out.
CRACK!
A sound like breaking bones echoed as Sanji was sent flying.
"Chopper, they're yours!" Luffy said with a grin.
"Leave it to me!" Chopper replied helplessly.
This had been happening every day for the past week.
At first, Chopper tried to stop them.
Later, he simply gave up.
Originally, it was Zoro who proposed sparring with Luffy.
But everyone knew the relationship between Zoro and Sanji—they absolutely couldn't stand each other.
As soon as Sanji heard about it, he insisted on joining too.
One sheep to herd or two sheep to herd—it made no difference.
Still, both of them had improved tremendously.
Zoro had recently awakened Observation Haki—something related to his perception of the "Breath of All Things."
He had also begun touching the threshold of Armament Haki.
His swordsmanship had reached a bottleneck. The only thing separating him from becoming a true Master Swordsman was the ability to unleash flying sword slashes.
Sanji was slightly behind.
However, his kicking techniques and combat experience had improved significantly, and he had also begun touching the threshold of both Observation Haki and Armament Haki.
As for the others—
There wasn't much improvement.
The reason?
They were naturally lazy.
"Wait! What's that?" Nami suddenly shouted, pointing at the sky.
"Huh? That's a huge ship!" Usopp panicked and ran around wildly.
"Usopp, take the helm!"
"Zoro, Sanji, Luffy—stop the debris from hitting the Going Merry!" Nami commanded calmly.
Fragments of a ship were falling from the sky.
Zoro grinned excitedly and gripped his swords.
Three-Sword Style—Dragon Twister!
Sanji lit a cigarette and raised his leg.
Concassé!
Luffy stretched his arms forward.
Armament Haki: Gum-Gum Gatling!
In an instant, the falling debris above the Going Merry was completely cleared.
The enormous ship finally sank into the ocean.
"Why would a ship fall from the sky?" Sanji asked, puzzled.
"That's way too strange."
"But there's nothing in the sky!" Zoro said while looking upward.
"What kind of crazy place is the Grand Line anyway?" Usopp said while clinging to Chopper in fear.
"I bet there's an island in the sky," Luffy said with a grin.
"That's impossible!" everyone replied at once.
"Then what do we do?" Nami suddenly shouted.
"The Log Pose is broken! It's pointing straight upward!"
"No," Robin said calmly.
"I think it has been attracted by the magnetic field of a stronger island, which caused it to reset."
"Since the needle points upward…"
"It means this Log Pose has locked onto Skypiea."
"To be honest," Robin continued,
"I don't know much about Skypiea either."
"I knew it!" Nami said.
"The Log Pose must be broken! There's no way sky islands exist!"
"No," Robin replied seriously.
"Navigator, what you should be thinking about right now isn't whether the Log Pose is broken."
"You should be figuring out how to reach the sky."
"No matter how strange the situation becomes, or how dangerous the circumstances are…"
"A navigator must never doubt the Log Pose."
"That is the iron rule of navigation."
"Hey guys! Look what I found!" Luffy shouted as he jumped back from floating ship debris.
He held something in his hand.
"Look!"
"A map of Skypiea!"
"So Skypiea really exists!" the crew exclaimed.
"But how do we find a way to get there?" Nami said worriedly.
"That's easy," Luffy said with a smile.
"We can just ask those people over there."
Everyone looked.
A massive ship shaped like a giant monkey was approaching.
"Salvage! Salvage!"
"That's a salvage ship," Robin said with surprise.
"So this is where the sunken ship fell?" said the leader of the Masira Pirates, Masira.
"Prepare for salvage operations!"
"All sunken ships belong to the Masira Pirates!"
"Excuse me," Luffy said casually as he jumped onto the monkey ship.
"Do you know how to get to Skypiea?"
"Who the hell are you?" the pirates laughed.
"Skypiea? That's just a legend!"
"Who still believes in that nonsense? Are you an idiot?"
"Oh," Luffy replied casually.
"So you don't know about Skypiea."
"Then do you know about any other islands? We'll go ask them instead."
"Hahaha!" Masira laughed.
"Who do you think I am? Why would I tell you?"
"Oh? Masira?" Luffy asked curiously.
"Huh? Do I really look that much like a monkey?" Masira said happily.
"But if you think flattering me will make me give you this—"
He held up a Log Pose.
"It's set to Jaya Island."
"If you want it, we'll do things the pirate way."
"Defeat me, and it's yours."
He tossed the Log Pose into the air and caught it again.
"Oh," Luffy said, lowering his straw hat.
"So all I have to do is beat you."
"That's right!" Masira roared as he leapt forward.
At the same time, Armament Haki spread across Luffy's arm.
"Mercy! Mercy! Spare me, hero!"
A moment later—
Masira was covered in bruises and lumps.
Luffy calmly picked up the Log Pose.
"Done."
The scene left the Straw Hats speechless.
After a week of training, everyone already knew that Luffy was a genuine monster.
Yet someone still dared to challenge him.
Truly the courage of someone who didn't know what he was getting into.
"Um… we're about to begin salvage operations," Masira said with a flattering smile.
"Alright everyone," Luffy said.
"Our objective is achieved."
"Set sail!"
"Next desHination—Jaya Island!"
As the crew sailed across the sea—
Zoro was lying in the crow's nest when his expression suddenly changed.
"What's that?"
Everyone looked.
Cold sweat poured down their faces.
Several enormous shadows appeared across the sea.
They were unimaginably huge.
One of them even threw a gigantic spear.
"Run! Full speed ahead!" Nami screamed.
"No need," Luffy said with a grin.
"That's just people from the sky island hunting."
"It's only their shadows, stretched across the sea."
"There's nothing to worry about."
Looking carefully, the shadows indeed had no real effect on them.
"Luffy… how did you know that?" Robin asked in surprise.
"I guessed," Luffy replied with a smile.
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