The sea was calm, and for the first time in what felt like an eternity, the small crew was not in immediate mortal danger. The sun was warm, a gentle breeze filled their single sail, and the mood on board was surprisingly domestic.
Nami, with a look of intense concentration, was hunched over Luffy's straw hat. With a needle and thread she had kept in her pack, she was meticulously sewing up the gash that Buggy's knife had left. Her stitches were neat and surprisingly skillful.
"There," she said, biting off the thread. "Good as new. Just be more careful with it from now on, you idiot."
Luffy's face lit up with pure, unadulterated joy. He snatched the hat and placed it reverently back on his head. "WOW! NAMI, YOU'RE AMAZING! It's perfect!" He was so excited that he couldn't resist poking the newly mended spot. "It's so strong now, I bet I can't even—"
Poke.
His finger went right through the straw, creating a small, brand-new hole.
A dark aura seemed to emanate from Nami. She was still holding the sewing needle. Without a word, she reached over and jabbed it directly into Luffy's forehead.
"OWWWWW!"
"I JUST TOLD YOU TO BE CAREFUL!"
"FOOOOOOD!"
The combined shouting woke up the third member of their crew. Zoro sat up, his wounds bandaged, his stomach rumbling like an earthquake. "Where's the food?"
"We don't have any!" Nami snapped.
Just as despair began to set in, her sharp eyes caught something on the horizon. "Wait… look! An island!"
All arguments were forgotten. Luffy, filled with the renewed hope of a grand meal, grabbed the tiller and aimed their small boat straight for the distant patch of green.
They landed on a pristine, white-sand beach. Before them lay a dense, primal forest, unnervingly silent. There were no signs of civilization, no smoke rising, no paths.
"Anybody home?!" Luffy yelled into the trees, his voice swallowed by the thick foliage.
"Let's go find some food!" he declared, ready to charge into the wilderness. Zoro was already asleep again, leaning against the boat's mast. "We'll leave him here."
Nami reluctantly agreed, her hand resting on the bag of treasure, her other on her staff. They ventured into the jungle.
The island was unlike any place they had ever seen. The wildlife was… bizarre. They saw a creature with the body of a dog but covered in feathers, which let out a sharp "Bawk!" before running away. A little further in, a long, furry creature with the ears of a rabbit slithered past them like a snake. Later, they startled a wild boar that had the magnificent, bushy mane of a lion.
"What is this place?" Nami whispered, a chill running down her spine. "The Island of Misfit Animals?"
Suddenly, a voice, deep and booming as if coming from the heavens themselves, echoed through the forest.
"LEAVE THIS ISLAND, FOOLISH MORTALS!"
Nami and Luffy froze, looking around wildly.
"YOU HAVE DISTURBED THE SANCTUARY OF THE GUARDIAN! LEAVE NOW, LEST THE CURSE OF THE TREASURE CLAIM YOUR SOULS! YOU WILL DIE!"
Nami's fear quickly turned to skepticism. "Curse? Treasure? Sounds like a load of nonsense to scare people away."
"Yeah!" Luffy shouted back at the sky. "We're not scared of your stupid curse! We're hungry!"
BANG!
A gunshot rang out. A bullet whizzed through the air, aimed straight at Luffy. But it simply bounced off his rubber chest with a dull thwump and ricocheted back into the trees.
"Hey! That's dangerous!" Luffy yelled, annoyed.
They followed the direction of the shot and found the source. It was not a person, but a strange object peeking out from behind a large bush. It looked like a treasure chest, but with a wild, green afro of hair sticking out of the top.
"What is that?" Nami wondered.
As they cautiously approached, the hairy chest suddenly sprouted two tiny legs and began to run away.
"It's alive!" Luffy shouted, and they gave chase. The chest-creature wasn't very fast, and after a few yards, it tripped on a root and tumbled head over heels, landing with a loud crash.
As they caught up, they saw that the fall had revealed the truth. A man was wedged inside the chest, his legs sticking out the bottom, his head and arms out the top.
"Finally! Finally, after twenty years, I get to talk to another human being!" the man cried, tears of joy streaming down his face. "My name is Gaimon! It's a pleasure to meet you!"
Luffy, ever the pragmatist, grabbed Gaimon by the shoulders. "Let me help you out of there!" He pulled with all his might.
"NO, STOP! DON'T!" Gaimon shrieked in panic. "My body! It'll fall apart! After twenty years, my bones and skin have molded to the shape of this chest! I'm one with the box now!"
Luffy let go, and Gaimon slumped back into his metallic shell. He explained that he used to be a pirate, and was overjoyed to meet fellow pirates. The mention of the Grand Line came up, and Nami cautiously showed him the map they had stolen from Buggy.
"Ah, the Grand Line," Gaimon said, his expression turning somber. He couldn't read the map, but he knew the legends.
Nami, seeing their confusion, decided to explain. "The world is divided by a single, massive continent called the Red Line," she began, drawing lines in the dirt. "And a single ocean current, the Grand Line, circles the globe perpendicular to it. Together, they divide the world into four seas: East Blue, where we are now, North Blue, West Blue, and South Blue. The Grand Line is the most dangerous and unpredictable sea in the world. The only man to ever conquer it completely was the Pirate King, Gold Roger."
"They call it the pirates' graveyard," Gaimon added grimly. "I've seen a few ships that managed to come back from there. The men on board… they weren't the same. Their eyes were empty, their spirits broken. It's a sea that swallows dreams whole."
He looked at Luffy. "And at the end of that sea, Gold Roger supposedly left his great treasure, the One Piece. But in over twenty years, not a single soul has ever found it. Some say it doesn't even exist."
Nami's eyes darted to Luffy. His entire quest was based on a legend that might not even be real. Was he just a fool chasing a ghost?
Gaimon sighed. "But I can't leave this island. Not until my mind is at ease."
He then told them his story. Twenty years ago, he and his pirate crew had landed on this very island in search of a legendary treasure. They searched everywhere but found nothing. Gaimon, however, refused to give up. He noticed a series of tall, sheer cliffs that his crew had searched around, but never on top of.
He climbed to the summit alone. And there, nestled in a small depression, he saw them. Five treasure chests, glinting in the sun.
He had found it. Overjoyed and ecstatic, he lost his footing and tumbled all the way down the cliff. He landed directly inside an empty chest his crew had found earlier, knocking himself unconscious. When he awoke, he was stuck, and his crew, believing he had deserted them, had sailed away without him.
"At first, I was furious," Gaimon said. "But then I realized… without them, all that treasure was mine! But I couldn't climb the cliffs to get it while stuck in this chest. I waited for my crew to return, but they never did. Over the years, other pirates would come, and I'd scare them away with my 'curse' to protect my treasure."
He looked at the cliffs with a look of pure, twenty-year-old longing.
Nami and Luffy exchanged a glance. His story was ridiculous, tragic, and strangely compelling.
"Alright," Luffy said with a grin. "We'll get that treasure for you, old man! You've guarded it long enough!"
With his rubber powers, Luffy scaled the sheer cliff face with ease, while Nami and Gaimon watched anxiously from below.
"I can't believe it! After twenty years!" Gaimon cried, his body trembling with excitement. "The treasure I've dreamed of for so long is finally within my reach!"
Luffy reached the summit. "I see them! There are five chests up here!"
"Throw them down! Throw them down!" Nami yelled, her eyes sparkling with the thought of gold.
But Luffy didn't move. He stood there silently for a long moment.
"Hey, Luffy! What's wrong?" Nami called up.
Luffy didn't answer.
Gaimon's excited expression slowly faded, replaced by a dawning dread. He had seen that kind of silence before.
"They're empty… aren't they?" he whispered.
On top of the cliff, Luffy nodded grimly. The five chests were wide open, and completely empty. They had been looted long before Gaimon and his crew had ever set foot on the island.
Tears began to stream down Gaimon's weathered face. Not tears of joy, but of profound, heart-wrenching loss. Twenty years of his life. Twenty years of guarding, of hoping, of dreaming… for nothing.
"Thank you," he sobbed, as Luffy climbed back down. "Thank you for your kindness. Now I know."
He looked utterly broken. But Luffy just walked up to him and patted him on his hairy head.
"What are you crying for, you idiot?" Luffy said cheerfully.
"Huh?"
"This is great!" Luffy declared. "Imagine if you had kept guarding them for another twenty years and then died of old age without ever knowing they were empty! That would have been really stupid! At least now you know the truth! You're free!"
Gaimon stared at Luffy, stunned. The boy's logic was insane, backwards, and… strangely comforting. A small chuckle escaped his lips, the first in years.
"You know," Luffy said, "we're looking for a great treasure too. The One Piece. You could come with us! Join my crew!"
For a moment, a spark of adventure lit up in Gaimon's eyes. But then he looked around at the strange, hybrid animals that had gathered at the edge of the clearing, watching them with curiosity.
He smiled, a gentle, peaceful smile. "Thank you, but I must decline."
"Why?" Nami asked.
"Because I already have another treasure to protect," Gaimon said. He explained that most of the humans who came to the island were poachers, hunting the rare animals. "After guarding empty chests for twenty years, I started watching them instead. They became my friends. My family."
He looked at the pig-lion and the dog-chicken with genuine affection. "Even if there's no gold, I can live happily here, protecting this island. This is my treasure now."
Luffy understood completely. He looked at Gaimon, a man who had found his own One Piece.
As they prepared to set sail, Gaimon called out to them one last time.
"Hey, Straw Hat boy! Will you really find it? The One Piece?"
Luffy turned back, his hand on his hat, the sun setting behind him.
He gave Gaimon a grin that was as wide as the sea.
"Yeah. Someday."