"Nami told me everything," Sanji said. "Robin is in their hands right now. If possible, I want to rescue her here."
"What's your answer?"
If they could retrieve her here, there'd be no need to go to Enies Lobby.
But Luffy was the captain, and Sanji understood clearly that initiating a fight required his approval.
"Alright, go wild and cause chaos!"
"Eh?!" Nami was dumbfounded. He agreed just like that?
"Hey, Luffy!" Zoro frowned. "Tell him not to act recklessly. Wait until we catch up."
"Cook, can you hear me? There are some really strong guys on that train. You can't—"
"Enough, Zoro!" Luffy interrupted. "What would you do in this situation?"
"Robin sacrificed herself to save us. Could you just sit still if it were you?"
At these words, Zoro immediately fell silent.
Yes, he couldn't do it either.
If he had caught up earlier, he'd probably already be fighting them, with no time to make this call to Nami.
"Trying to stop him is pointless," Luffy said. "So... Sanji, do what you want to do!"
Luffy had absolute faith in his crewmates.
"Such sound reasoning," Sanji grinned. "Hey, moss-head, were you worried about me?"
"Who's worried about you, bastard!"
Meiser, standing nearby, glanced at Zoro and noticed his expression was off. That look... had he just blushed?
"Anyway, now that we know Robin's true feelings, even if it's the captain's order... I don't plan to hold back!"
Crack!
Under the immense force, the Den Den Mushi's receiver was crushed in Sanji's grip!
"Hey, what the hell are you doing?!" Franky exclaimed. "I still had questions for Straw Hat Boy!"
"How should I know?"
"You bastard..."
Franky was furious. Even if he wanted to hang up, there was no need to crush the receiver.
Ignoring Franky, Sanji explained what had happened to Robin, moving Franky to tears. The cyborg pulled out a guitar from somewhere and began playing while sobbing.
Sanji's eye twitched at the sight, wondering why Franky was crying when he wasn't even part of the Straw Hat Pirates.
"What about you? What are you thinking now?" Sanji asked Usopp. "You're one of the people Robin protected."
Seeing Usopp lower his head in silence, Sanji sighed and turned to gaze into the distance. "In any case, I'm going to save Robin."
"She's in the front carriage of this Sea Train right now."
"Alright, count me in!" Franky laughed loudly. "As the leader of the Franky Family, I've got to show some spirit!"
"Eyebrow-swirl guy, I'll help you!"
"Long-nose, let's go!"
"I... I won't go..."
"Huh?" Franky paused, baffled by this sudden change.
What did he mean by "won't go" at a time like this?
"You're planning to meet up with Luffy and the others, right?" Usopp said with his head lowered. "I've already left the Straw Hat Pirates, so this matter has nothing to do with me anymore."
"After causing such a scene... how could I possibly face you all again..."
"Sorry, let's part ways here."
Watching Usopp gradually walk away, Franky was dumbfounded. "Hey, what do you mean 'goodbye'? Even if you want to leave now, you can't just walk away."
Usopp didn't respond and soon disappeared from their sight.
"Forget it, let him go."
Sanji shook his head and turned to look ahead. "Even if it's just the two of us, we'll rescue Robin."
No matter what, since he was already here, there was no reason to back down.
"Alright, let's go..."
"Huh?"
"Where's that singing coming from?"
Hearing the sound, the two turned around to see Usopp, who should have left, walking back wearing a mask and muttering to himself.
"Born on Sniper Island, I..."
"What's the meaning of this?" Franky asked, confused, unsure what act Usopp was putting on.
"Greetings," Usopp said in a deep, magnetic voice. "I've heard the story from him. You're going to rescue a lady, right?"
"Allow me to lend you a hand!"
"My name is... Sogeking!"
"Ahahaha!"
Franky: "..."
"Is he always this awkward?" Franky asked, turning to Sanji.
"Try to understand how he feels," Sanji said helplessly. "He can't face saving his comrades openly, so he has to do it this way."
"Let's go."
"Follow us, Sogeking! After we rescue Miss Robin, I'll introduce you to a ninja!"
"Alright!"
...
"That guy is really decisive," Nami said.
He didn't even give them a chance to keep talking before hanging up.
"He crushed the receiver, didn't he?" Meiser remarked. "That crisp sound just now definitely wasn't from hanging up."
The last sound from the Den Den Mushi was clearly something being crushed. Was he cutting off all retreat?
"That damn cook," Zoro said, rubbing his forehead. "Great, now we can't even contact him if we wanted to."
Without that Den Den Mushi to communicate, even if Sanji got himself killed, they'd have no way of knowing.
"Haha, we'll catch up to them sooner or later anyway. No Den Den Mushi? No problem!" Luffy said carelessly.
After speaking, Luffy started stuffing leftover meat into his pockets.
"Den Den Mushi really are fascinating creatures," Meiser said curiously, taking the Den Den Mushi from Nami's hands and poking it with his finger.
Such a tiny creature could produce bioelectric waves that travel so far—it's practically a telephone.
But telephones at least have signal towers as relays. These things transmit waves purely through their own bodies.
'I wonder if there's a giant Den Den Mushi somewhere in this world acting as a relay station,' Meiser thought to himself.
"Of course," Nami laughed. "Without this thing, it would be extremely difficult for everyone to communicate with each other... Hey, Luffy, stop stuffing meat into your pockets!"
"Darn it, why aren't these pants made bigger?" Luffy grumbled.
"That's your own fault!"
Normal people don't stuff meat into their pockets, especially not such large chunks of meat.
Watching Luffy, who clearly had no intention of listening to Nami, Meiser smiled. This feeling... was actually quite nice.