Time flies, and half a year has passed in the blink of an eye.
In the past six months, Lynn helped Bell-mère with work during the day and got up early every morning to train.
After all, Arlong is a potential enemy, and he cannot be taken lightly with his current strength.
On land, Lynn wasn't worried about fighting Arlong.
But if he accidentally ended up in the sea, it would be troublesome. He had to ensure Arlong was taken down in one strike!
It was a pity that Bell-mère didn't have the training methods for the Rokushiki techniques. Otherwise, if Lynn had learned even one or two of them, he could've easily taken down Arlong in an instant!
Bell-mère said that in a place like the East Blue, probably only the Marine base in Loguetown had access to the Rokushiki training methods.
Loguetown… Lynn wasn't ready to go there yet.
The base commanders stationed there were all Marine Headquarters officers with the rank of Captain or higher. Lynn wasn't confident he could take them on.
His close-combat strength was still too weak unless he wanted to resort to burning down the base.
If he did that, Garp might return to the East Blue to deal with him, and worse, Bell-mère and the others could get caught up in the consequences.
"Lynn! Lynn! We can go out to sea!" Nami came running to the orange orchard to find him.
Every morning, Lynn trained in an open space in the orchard.
Hearing Nami's voice, Lynn put down the two 500-kilogram boulders in his hands.
This had become routine for the past six months. At first, he could only lift 200 kilograms, but now he had reached 500 kilograms. Nami wasn't even surprised anymore.
"Nami, will Bell-mère let us go out to sea?" Lynn asked, puzzled.
Nami had been planning this trip for a while. She told Lynn about it, but Nojiko didn't know.
"Of course not! But Bell-mère and Nojiko are going to the village to work today, and they won't be back until evening." Nami said excitedly.
"Huh? If Bell-mère finds out, we're dead." Lynn hadn't expected Nami to be this bold.
Bell-mère's anger meant real punches!
They would both get beaten!
"Well, that's why we won't let her find out. I calculated it—if we use your speed, we can be back before evening!" Nami grinned.
Otherwise, who knew when she'd get another chance to go out to sea?
"…Alright, I'll go back, change clothes, and grab some weapons just in case." Lynn thought for a moment and agreed.
"Yes! Hurry up!" Nami was so excited she grabbed Lynn's hand and dragged him home.
Lynn felt a little excited too. Being around kids every day made him feel like a kid himself.
After changing and grabbing the sword Bell-mère gave him, Lynn and Nami arrived at the beach on the other side of Cocoyasi Village.
This place was usually deserted—perfect for sneaking off unnoticed.
"Nami, step back for a bit," Lynn said quietly.
"Yeah, hurry up and change, Lynn." Nami answered seriously, stepping back more than ten meters.
Once she was at a safe distance, Lynn prepared to transform. After all, the moment he turned into his full Zoan form, his body would be covered in blue flames.
With a muffled boom, an eight-meter-long phoenix with a twenty-meter wingspan, burning with brilliant flames, appeared before Nami.
"Wooooow!!"
"Skrriiiiii~~~"
Even though she had seen it before, Nami still found herself awestruck by Lynn's full-beast form.
Lynn retracted his flames, crouched down, and Nami skillfully ran up and jumped onto his back.
"Hold on tight, Nami. We're taking off!"
"Yeah! I'm ready, go, Lynn!!"
Nami sat on his back, gripping tightly with her left hand while making an excited departure gesture with her right. Her little cheeks were flushed with excitement.
"Here we go!"
With a whoosh, Lynn flapped his wings and soared into the sky with Nami!
"Waaaaaah!"
"Sugoi! This is amazing!!"
"Hahahahaha~~"
As they soared higher, little Nami couldn't stop laughing.
"Nami, which direction?"
"Hmm~ Right! Yeah, that's the angle. Just keep flying, hehe!"
"Alright, I'm speeding up then!"
"I'm holding on tight, go ahead, Lynn!!"
Nami leaned over his back, her little face glowing with joy.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Lynn flew like lightning, and in the blink of an eye, Cocoyasi Village vanished from sight.
"Nami, where's our destination?"
"The Oykot Kingdom!"
"What? The Oykot Kingdom?"
"Yup, that's it!"
"…Alright, got it."
When Lynn heard the destination, he didn't know what to say.
The Oykot Kingdom was Nami and Nojiko's birthplace—the place where Bell-mère adopted them nine years ago.
Did Nami pick it on purpose, or was it just a coincidence?
This kingdom had been destroyed more than a decade ago and was now in ruins.
Hardly anyone lived there anymore.
"Lynn, what's wrong?"
"Oh, nothing. By the way, Nami, why do you want to go to the Oykot Kingdom?"
"Well~~ It's the closest island to us, so I figured I'd check it out."
"…Did you know it was a destroyed kingdom?"
"Eh??? A destroyed kingdom?"
Lynn sighed. So Nami didn't know.
Bell-mère must have never told her.
"Yeah, I heard it was destroyed more than ten years ago. Now, it's just a ruin. Nami, do you still want to go?"
"Well~~ We've come this far, and I've been planning this trip for half a year. It's too late to change our course now!"
"…Alright, I understand, Nami."
Nami had been secretly preparing for this voyage for six months.
Lynn had only just learned their destination, so one quick trip wouldn't hurt.
After flying for more than two hours, a large island came into view.
"Nami, look, is that it?"
"Lemme check!"
Nami was thrilled to see another island besides Cocoyasi Village.
She pulled out a nautical chart and a hand-drawn navigation map from her backpack.
After a moment, she confirmed it.
"That's it! Lynn, let's go down!" Nami put away her maps and spoke seriously.
"Alright, descending now. Hold on tight!"
Lynn dived toward the Oykot Kingdom.
Whoooosh~~~
The wind howled as they plummeted.
The gusts made Nami's hair fly wildly.