Luffy woke before dawn, his laughter echoing through the inn's wooden halls.
"Today should be the day!" he giggled, bouncing on the edge of his bed.
"Geez, he's been like that since sunrise," Nami muttered, folding her arms with a gentle grin.
"Still… I'm really excited to see what our new ship will look like," she added, glancing over at Robin, who gave her a quiet nod of agreement.
Just then, the door swung open with a cheerful squeak. Granny Kokoro and little Chimney stumbled in—Kokoro clutching a half-empty sake bottle, Chimney balancing on her shoulder.
"Ahoy, my dear Straw Hats!" Kokoro slurred affectionately, making a show of wiping her mouth on her sleeve. "You all well?"
Chimney gave a tiny salute, giggling at Kokoro's unsteady steps.
Kokoro's eyes landed on Nami's log pose, glinting on her wrist. "Shay, Nami-swan, how's that log pose of yours? Which way's it pointing now?"
Nami glanced down, tapping the device. "It locked in just yesterday… but I'm not sure where to yet." She frowned thoughtfully.
Luffy tilted his head. "Huh? What's wrong?"
Nami shrugged, voice low. "I just have this… deja vu. Feels like Skypiea all over again."
Kokoro erupted into a drunken laugh. "Ze island ze poze is pointing to is Fishman Island, I tell ya!"
"Fi-Fi-Fishman Island?!" Sanji burst out, nearly tripping over his own feet. His eyes sparkled. "My dream… finally!"
Nami sighed, mixing excitement with worry. "I've got mixed feelings about this one."
"Right," Luffy nodded cheerfully. "You had a… rough time there."
"That was all pirates back then," Zoro added, sheathing his sword with a thoughtful clack. "Doesn't mean every Fishman's the same."
Sanji stepped forward, arms wide. "Exactly—no prejudice! Besides, I can't wait to meet beautiful mermaids who draw arcs above the water and play with fish in the dream kingdom!"
Kokoro let out a loud, boozy laugh that practically rattled the windows. "Zee road to zee Paradise ain't as easy as it lookz!" she cackled, swaying slightly with her bottle in hand.
Robin tilted her head thoughtfully. "Could it be… because it lies beneath the sea?"
"Zat's not quite it," Kokoro replied, wagging a finger and grinning mischievously. "Zat's a suh-prize you'll shee for yourshelves."
With a hiccup and a spin on her heel, Kokoro pointed dramatically to the corner of the room. "Look at zee newzzpapah zere."
Nami, blinking in curiosity, picked it up and unfolded the front page. "Let's see… 'Fourteen ships disappeared this month again'?"
She read it aloud and frowned. "What does that mean?"
Kokoro stepped forward with theatrical flair. "It meanz… it's zee Devil's Triangle!"
Usopp practically jumped out of his seat. "D-D-D-Devil's Triangle?! Like the Devil's Triangle?!"
"Yesh," Kokoro confirmed with a dramatic sweep of her arms. "In order to reach Fizzman Island… you'll haff to pass right zhrough it! If you're headed to zee Paradise of yoursh, that is."
Lucas raised a skeptical brow. "What's all the hype about this place anyway?"
Kokoro's grin grew wider. "More zhan a hundred ships disappear in it every year... People say they zee ghost ships, or come across boatz with no crew. Some ships come back empty—and some never come back at all!"
"Ghosts!? Ghost ships!!" Usopp and Chopper shrieked in unison, hiding behind the nearest piece of furniture.
Luffy's eyes, meanwhile, sparkled with excitement. "Whoa! Do you think we'll meet a living skeleton? That would be awesome! Maybe we should invite one to join our crew!"
Zoro narrowed his gaze. "What kind of wish is that...?"
Nami held her face in both hands, looking horrified. "No way. I'm not sharing a ship with a skeleton—I don't even want to see one!"
Kokoro leaned in close, her voice suddenly low and spooky. "They shay… az you're sailing, you'll suddenly come upon a dark shea with thick fog… and once you're in eet… zere's no coming out!"
Nami and Chopper gasped. "Eeek!"
"...Wait," Nami blinked. "Chopper, that was my scream!"
Lucas, who'd remained suspiciously calm, smiled slyly. "Still, a place like that's gotta be packed with treasure."
Robin nodded gracefully. "Indeed. Merchant vessels and pirate ships gone missing… when they do reappear, it's often tied to legends of treasure ships."
In that instant, Nami's eyes gleamed with ambition. Her mood flipped like a switch. "Treasure ships? Then what are we waiting for?! Let's go ghost hunting!"
"Yeah!" Luffy cheered, pumping a fist in the air. "Leave it to me—I'll find that skeleton and treasure too!"
The room buzzed with a strange mix of excitement and dread, the Straw Hats once again poised at the edge of an adventure most people would flee from. And that was how you knew: the greatest journey was about to begin. Again.
The inn doors burst open with a creak and a "Boom!" as the two twin sisters from Franky's crew came skidding across the floor, puffing for breath.
"Straw Hat bros!!!" they shouted in unison.
The crew turned. "Hmm?" Luffy tilted his head.
They struck a dramatic pose. "The ship… it's finished!!!"
Luffy's eyes exploded with excitement. "EEEHHH?! REALLY?! I wanna see it! Come on guys, let's go!" he shouted, already halfway out the door.
Nami smirked, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear as she followed. "I wonder what it'll look like. It was built by five top-notch shipwrights, after all."
Robin smiled gently. "I'm looking forward to it."
As the crew spilled out onto the sunny street, buzzing with anticipation, another chorus rang out across the cobblestones.
"Straw Hat bros!!!"
They turned again to see the rest of the Franky Family thundering toward them, waving sheets of paper like madmen.
"What now?" Usopp asked, raising an eyebrow.
One of them skidded to a stop, dropped to one knee like a messenger delivering grave news, and held up the stack. "It's bad—your bounties!"
"Bounties?" Luffy said, ears practically twitching.
The crew snatched up the flyers in a flash. Their reactions were immediate and predictably chaotic.
"Look!!! My bounty's up to 310 million beri!" Luffy grinned, waving his poster around.
Zoro held his calmly. "140 million. Hmph. Not bad."
Robin glanced at hers, eyes glinting with curiosity. "90 million. Acceptable," she murmured.
Then came the rest.
"20 million..." Nami's voice cracked. "That means more people will chase me!" she wailed, clutching her head.
"Sniper King!" Usopp shouted, posing with his wanted poster. "40 million! Not bad for the King of the Snipers!"
Sanji's jaw hung open. "80 million... but this picture—what is this?! It doesn't look a thing like me!" He shook the flyer furiously.
"It looks fine to me," Luffy said innocently. "Kinda captures your vibe."
Zoro shrugged. "Not bad for a first."
Then they all turned to Chopper, who was staring in disbelief at his poster. "One... one hundred... one hundred beri?! I'm a Cotton Candy Lover, not a pet!" His voice trembled as he fell to his knees, a rain cloud hovering over him.
"Shape-Shifting Demon Lucas," someone read aloud, raising a brow. "700 million?!"
Lucas beamed, hands on his hips. "Hmm. Not quite a billion yet… but I'll take it." He exhaled with a mock sigh of satisfaction. "I love a round number."
Chopper continued to sulk. "Even after everything I did…"
"And I get a stick-figure impersonator," Sanji muttered. "Why is my nose huge?! I don't even look like that!"
"Aw, cheer up," Luffy said, still grinning. "You're just famous now! People like weird."
As the tension started to ease, the Franky Family guy cleared his throat again. "Oh, wait—there's more!" He slapped another sheet down onto the pile.
The crew leaned in.
"Franky—55 million beri."
"Eeeeh?!" Luffy's eyes sparkled anew. "Franky's got a bounty now too?!"
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