Led by captain Luffy, the Straw Hat Pirates finally reached the Grand Line after beating their way through the somewhat well-known pirates of the East Blue.
Charles hadn't expected to run into this crew right at Twin Capes. They did, however, match the image he had of them.
With Laboon blocking the waterway ahead and a collision imminent, they actually chose to fire their cannons to slow the ship down.
In the end they snapped the goat-head figurehead, but at least they came to a safe stop.
Yet even though they could have simply sailed around Laboon, Charles watched Luffy recklessly stretch out his arm and sock Laboon right in the vulnerable eye.
Laboon might be mild-tempered, but no one stays calm after being hit where it hurts. The Going Merry was promptly swallowed whole.
Stella, baffled, said, "Is that guy not right in the head? Why do that?"
Charles laughed. "It's too early to be surprised. That's the Luffy I told you about. Once you get to know him, you'll see he has plenty more ways to shock you."
When Laboon settled down he dove and started ramming the Red Line.
Laboon is an island whale, the largest whale in this world, but trying to shake the Red Line that quartered the world along with the Grand Line was like an ant trying to shake a tree.
All Charles could do was sigh that Oda understood the romance of manliness. You rarely see things like this in other worlds.
Laboon didn't carry on for long, of course; that was why Crocus had gone inside his body in the first place.
When Laboon surfaced again he did calm down, though his mournful calls didn't stop.
A hatch in Laboon's body opened and the Merry sailed out. Then Luffy showed Stella what "reckless" really meant.
No sooner had they come out than Luffy rushed up to brawl with Laboon, even yanking out the ship's mast to stab it into Laboon's head.
But once he drew a crooked Straw Hat jolly roger on Laboon's head, everyone understood what he was doing.
Luffy and Laboon made a new promise. Everyone knew it was just to keep Laboon from hurting himself again.
When things settled down, the Straw Hats and Crocus gathered under the lighthouse.
The Going Merry had taken a beating this time. The rudder had broken before they even entered the waterway, and the figurehead snapped in the collision with Laboon.
Then Luffy recklessly yanked out a mast. In that condition, continuing the voyage was out of the question, so they had to make repairs here.
Charles and Stella formally met the Straw Hat Pirates as well.
Captain Luffy, swordsman Zoro, navigator Nami, cook Sanji, and sniper Usopp—each with a striking personality.
Charles had long wanted to meet Luffy, but now his attention was drawn even more to the Going Merry.
The sea is the theme of this world, and ships are naturally the primary means of travel.
Pirate ships in particular come in all shapes and sizes, some fitted with high-tech beyond imagination.
Compared to those, the Going Merry is unassuming, even on the smaller end.
It's built of the most ordinary wood, and its maker wasn't even a professional shipwright.
But in Charles's eyes it was far more precious than those luxurious vessels, because this ship had a soul.
Newborn and still naive though it was, a soul is still a soul—something only living beings possess.
A ship's spirit is legendary even in this world; throughout the whole story, only the Going Merry's appears clearly.
It's said that only when all crew members care for each other and truly love their ship will the ship's spirit appear with a thick fog to help them.
Giving a soul to a dead thing is a miracle in any world.
Of course, what Big Mom does—mere soul transfer—doesn't count. Across all the worlds he'd seen, Charles had encountered it only once.
That was the two-hundred-million-valis little black blade in Orario forged by the familia's main god Hephaestus—the Hestia Knife.
That blade is no longer just a weapon; it has its own stats and can level up through experience.
The reason is that Hephaestus, through divine craftsmanship, imbued the Hestia Knife with a soul. It even received Lady Hestia's Blessing, no different from an adventurer.
But even that blade's soul couldn't manifest in a visible form and converse like a ship's spirit, which only made this sea feel more wondrous.
Sensing the chick-like newborn consciousness within the Merry, Charles couldn't help but marvel.
Even with his near-master-level knowledge of magic, he couldn't probe how this soul had formed, and his curiosity surged.
Luffy was sprawled on the ship's rail. As the chief culprit in damaging the ship, he'd been thoroughly scolded and was now "reflecting."
Seeing Charles "spacing out" at the Merry, Luffy said, "What are you doing?"
Charles came back to himself. "Nothing. You really do have a fine ship."
Luffy flashed a carefree grin. "Of course! The Merry's the best!"
He stated it with absolute certainty, and he meant every word.
Charles suddenly thought of the legend of the ship's spirit. Perhaps trying to analyze its birth with knowledge was the mistake; Luffy and his crew were the true reason the ship's spirit would appear.
Smiling faintly, Charles said, "Then you'd better treasure her. If you keep hurting her, she'll cry."
Luffy blinked, then smiled. "You're funny. Want to join my crew?"
Charles smiled. "I'll pass. I've got an illness where I'll die if I get on a ship!"
Usopp, halfway through the repairs, looked up. Someone had just stolen his line.
He hadn't thought much of it when he said it himself, but hearing it from someone else made him realize how fake it sounded!
Luffy looked regretful. "Oh, really? That's too bad. I had a feeling adventuring together would be fun!"
Judging by his reaction, he didn't doubt it in the least—he actually believed it.
Even Zoro couldn't take it. He smacked Luffy on the head. "Idiot. How could that be true? He's stringing you along!"
Luffy's face went slack with shock. "Huh? It was a lie?"
Nami covered her face with a sigh. Their captain could be exasperating. She didn't even dare look at Stella's expression.
Stella was indeed a bit at a loss. Even after all she'd seen, she truly hadn't met someone like Luffy.
Charles already knew what Luffy was like. "No lie. The one thing I can't stand is riding in vehicles. So spare me the traveling by ship."
Simple-minded as he was, Luffy dropped the matter right away.
Zoro, however, noticed there was no ship for Charles and Stella. They didn't look like castaways who'd drifted here, either.
So how they had arrived—and from where—was worth pondering.
Most importantly, Zoro felt both Charles and Stella ratcheting his nerves taut.
The last person to make him feel like that had been Hawkeye Mihawk when he drew the black blade.
Right then, Zoro felt the vastness of the sea in his bones. He hadn't expected to meet people like this the moment they reached the Grand Line.
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