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BOOM!!
On the ancient island, the titanic battle between the two giants was finally drawing to a close.
They'd been fighting for a hundred years—they knew each other's strength like the backs of their hands.
And so, in the end, they both collapsed at the same time.
Dorry: 73,466 fights!Brogy: 73,466 ties!
After declaring this, the two looked at each other and burst out laughing.
"Brogy, I had some really interesting guests today. They even gave me some amazing booze."
"Ahahaha, same here! I met some fascinating folks too—and had some damn fine liquor."
They both paused for a moment.
"Sounds like we might've met the same crew," Dorry said with a grin.
"Well then, just this once... let's throw a joint party for our guests," Brogy replied with a hearty laugh.
And so, the two giants, along with Bai Ye, Luffy, and the others, gathered near the central volcano and threw a big feast.
Usopp, of course, went straight to Brogy to listen to more stories.
Inspired by their epic strength and warrior spirit, he decided right then and there—
He was gonna ask Dorry and Brogy to be his masters.
"I'm gonna be a great warrior just like my two masters someday!!!"
Usopp shouted, full of booze and bravado.
But what he got in return was Brogy's innocent question:
"Little guy, are you gonna turn into a giant?"
That cracked Nami and Vivi up—they couldn't stop laughing.
Gulp gulp gulp~
Dorry downed the special brew Bai Ye had brought in one go, laughing heartily.
"Hehehehehe! Bai Ye's booze is even better than the one Luffy brought!!!"
"Hehehe, of course it is! Bai Ye made this stuff himself."
Luffy didn't feel the slightest bit embarrassed—in fact, he took the chance to hype up Bai Ye even more.
"Oh?"
Dorry seemed interested after hearing that. He looked at Bai Ye seriously and said:
"If your captain's praising you like that, you must be pretty awesome, huh?"
"Eh, don't worry about it."
Bai Ye took another swig and replied:
"That's just how our captain treats all his crew."
Even though he said that, Bai Ye still felt kinda good hearing it.
Then Nami spoke up:
"Mister, can I ask how long it takes to fully charge the Log Pose on this island?"
Vivi looked over at Dorry too.
The two girls didn't really get all the stuff about "honor" the guys were going on about, so they asked something more practical.
Dorry went quiet for a moment, then slowly replied:
"I thought when you saw all those human skeletons along the way, you would've figured it out."
"All those people were eaten by the island's giant beasts while they were waiting for the Log Pose to charge."
"Of course, there were also some brave enough to challenge me and Brogy. Hehehehehe!"
That gave Nami a bad feeling.
"Don't tell me... it takes a really long time?"
Dorry nodded. "One year."
"What?!!" x2
Nami and Vivi were the first to shout in shock.
Especially Vivi—though the crisis in Alabasta had cooled off a bit, it was still super urgent.
There was no way she could afford to wait a whole year here.
Even Luffy started to panic a little:
"That's not gonna work, old man. A year's way too long! Isn't there any other way?"
"Well, there is an Eternal Pose... but it points to Elbaf. Wanna try taking it from us? Hehehehehe!"
"Elbaf?" Luffy tilted his head. "That's not where we're going, right Vivi?"
"Yeah. If I can't get to Alabasta, then there's no point in going forward at all."
Vivi looked totally lost. Nami could only pat her on the shoulder, not knowing what to say.
"Hm... well then, why don't you just sail ahead and see where you end up?"
Dorry thought for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter:
"If you're lucky, you might even land at your destination! Hehehehehe!"
Luffy actually started thinking about it seriously.
"Really? That doesn't sound too bad!"
"Don't joke around, Luffy!" Nami was on the verge of snapping. "Do you have any idea how low the odds are of reaching Alabasta without a Log Pose?!"
But Luffy looked at her dead serious:
"There's still a chance, right? If there's a chance, then we have to try!"
He added, "If we just sit here and do nothing, we'll get nowhere."
Nami stared at him and, for once, had no idea what to say.
Bai Ye thought to himself, Classic Luffy. Always you.
Even Dorry laughed again:
"Luffy, you're really something else! Hehehehehe!"
That's when Bai Ye suddenly spoke up:
"But maybe we won't need to go that far. After all, it looks like we're not alone on this island."
His eyes shifted toward the dense forest not far off.
"Luffy, you saw it too, didn't you?"
Luffy pulled down the brim of his straw hat and said:
"Yeah. Saw it clear as day."
Just as they finished speaking, a voice rang out from the forest:
"Tender Meat—KICK!!!"
Suddenly, someone flew out of the trees and landed in front of everyone. It was Mr. 3.
Right after, Sanji walked out of the woods, furious:
"You just said... you were gonna kill Miss Vivi?!"
—
Now let's rewind a bit.
Sanji, who had been hunting with Zoro, got distracted by the loud noises from the giants' fight.
While heading toward the commotion, he used Observation Haki and sensed Mr. 3 and Miss Goldenweek hiding nearby.
Mr. 3, after seeing the giants drink all that liquor without any issue, realized his original plan had failed.
Cursing Mr. 5 for being useless, he decided to change tactics—he'd find a chance to kill Vivi instead.
That's what pushed Sanji over the edge, and he kicked him without hesitation.
As for why Bai Ye and Luffy had been so chill the whole time? It's because they'd already sensed Sanji was nearby.
"Mr. 3!!!"
The moment Vivi saw him, she recognized who he was and cried out.
"Don't worry, Miss Vivi! I'll protect you like a true knight!"
Sanji declared proudly, then turned to Nami and added:
"And of course, Miss Nami too."
He was only rewarded with a massive eye roll from her.
"If he's here, then Goldenweek must be around too," Vivi said, then turned to Sanji in a panic. "Did you see a little girl with him?"
"Yeah, but she looked like just a kid, so I didn't pay attention. Besides, I don't hit girls."
Sanji answered calmly.
"She's no ordinary kid," Vivi said, clearly nervous. She then explained Goldenweek's strange power to manipulate people's actions with colors.
Sanji was shocked. "Wait, is that a Devil Fruit ability?"
"Nope~"
Bai Ye's voice came from the forest, and everyone looked over to see a hilarious scene.
A little girl was dangling from Bai Ye's hand by her collar, being carried over like a cat.
His whole body was covered in paint, even his face didn't escape.
"She's probably just naturally gifted," Bai Ye said with a smile, despite his colorful face.
"....."