"Gustave, are you all right?" Po asked with genuine concern, having watched Tom's rather violent method of fruit extraction.
"I'm fine now, thanks to Tom," Gustave replied, slowly rising from the deck where the impact had knocked him. "Without his quick thinking, I might have suffocated."
Tom preened at the praise, striking a heroic pose complete with cape that materialized from nowhere.
"By the way," Gustave continued, working his jaw thoughtfully, "what exactly was that fruit I just swallowed? Did anyone get a good look at it?"
Since he'd consumed the entire thing without tasting it, Gustave had no idea what had just taken up residence in his digestive system.
"I remember it being yellow," Po said, concentrating on the memory. "Shaped somewhat like a dragon fruit, but covered in strange spiral patterns and spikes."
"Spikes?" Gustave frowned, running his tongue around his mouth. "That's odd—I didn't feel any sharp edges when it was stuck in there."
"But how does a fruit just fall out of the sky and land perfectly in someone's mouth?" Gustave wondered aloud, scanning the clear blue heavens above them.
"Perhaps a seabird was carrying it as a meal and lost its grip at precisely the wrong moment," Po suggested diplomatically.
"Possible, I suppose," Gustave shrugged. "Well, what's done is done. No point overthinking a piece of fruit. Let's see how Luffy's handling his first real battle!"
"He should have finished by now," Po observed.
Their attention had been so focused on Gustave's predicament that they'd missed the conclusion of the pirate encounter. When they turned back toward the enemy ship, they discovered Luffy had indeed completed his mission—all of Joey's crew were now securely bound with rope.
During Gustave's fruit crisis, Luffy had used his superior agility and endurance to systematically wear down his opponents. Once the pirates were exhausted and gasping like overheated dogs, he'd delivered decisive iron-head strikes to knock them unconscious before efficiently securing them all.
"Tom, bring us alongside so we can collect Luffy and Ace," Gustave directed.
Captain Tom saluted and maneuvered their ship closer to the captured pirate ship.
"Luffy!" Gustave called across the water. "How did it go?"
"Piece of cake!" Luffy replied proudly, puffing out his chest. "I'm the legendary hero Luffy! A few small-time pirates were no challenge at all!"
"Excellent work, legendary hero," Gustave said with amusement. "Let's see what kind of bounties these dangerous criminals are carrying."
He approached the bound pirates and selected one who looked marginally more intelligent than the others.
"You there—who has the highest bounty on your crew?"
The pirate stared at him blankly. "Bounty? What's that?"
Gustave's eye twitched. "You don't even know what bounties are, and you call yourselves pirates?"
This was actually perfectly normal—these wannabe criminals were far too weak and inexperienced to have attracted Marine attention.
"Sorry, Luffy," Gustave said, turning to his deflated protégé. "These are complete rookies. No bounties, no rewards."
"WHAT?!" Luffy collapsed dramatically onto the deck. "All that effort for nothing!"
"Don't despair yet," Po interjected kindly. "Perhaps they have treasure or valuables aboard their ship."
"That's right!" Luffy perked up immediately. "I haven't searched for loot yet!"
But before he could begin his treasure hunt, Ace emerged from the cabin carrying an armload of decrepit weapons.
"Don't bother," Ace said flatly, dropping the rusty blades with a clatter. "I already searched everywhere. These broken swords are literally the most valuable things on the entire ship."
Luffy's spirit crashed again, his dreams of pirate treasure evaporating.
"Come now, Luffy," Gustave said encouragingly. "Victory is victory, regardless of the spoils. You did good work today, and you've probably saved some innocent merchant ship from being attacked by these fools."
He paused thoughtfully. "Remember, even the greatest heroes started as unknowns. Every legend begins with a single step."
This modest serving of inspiration was exactly what Luffy needed to hear. His enthusiasm returned instantly.
"You're absolutely right! Monkey D. Luffy will definitely become the greatest hero in history!"
Despite the lack of bounties, Gustave's crew dutifully secured the pirate ship with towlines and began the journey to the nearest Marine base. Even unsuccessful criminals deserved proper justice.
As evening painted the sky in brilliant oranges and purples, two ships moved across the calm waters—the Luffy towing its smaller captive behind like a reluctant child.
After dinner, Gustave had Luffy deliver simple meals to their prisoners. He believed in treating captives humanely, though their rations consisted of plain rice porridge and pickled vegetables—adequate nutrition without any luxury.
Tomorrow they'd reach the Marine base, and these wannabe pirates would become someone else's responsibility.
With the prisoners fed, Gustave and Po decided to try their luck at evening fishing. Unfortunately, Gustave's day seemed cursed by poor fortune—while Po steadily accumulated a respectable catch, Gustave's line remained stubbornly undisturbed.
"Seriously?" he muttered in frustration. "A mysterious fruit gets lodged in my throat during the day, and now I can't catch anything while fishing! What kind of ridiculous luck is this?"
Just as he finished complaining, his fishing rod suddenly bent nearly in half.
"Finally!" Gustave shouted triumphantly. "I've got something big!"
The resistance on his line was extraordinary—whatever he'd hooked possessed tremendous strength and seemed determined to drag him overboard rather than be captured.
"What in the world did I catch?" Gustave grunted, straining against the powerful force. "This feels like a Sea King!"
His current physical conditioning was impressive, yet the underwater creature was still pulling him toward the rail. Only something truly massive could generate such power.
The commotion drew everyone's attention. Tom, Po, and Ace gathered around the struggling fisherman, while Luffy bounded over from his galley duties.
"Gustave! What did you hook? Look at those waves!" Luffy pointed excitedly at the churning water in the distance.
"I'm about to find out!" Gustave replied through gritted teeth, veins bulging as he applied maximum effort to his fishing rod.
The underwater disturbance grew more violent by the second, building to a crescendo of splashing and foam. Suddenly, an enormous shape burst from the waves in a spectacular display of spray and fury.
"The Lord of the Coast!" Gustave gasped in recognition.
The massive Sea King that had terrorized them during their first days in this world now breached the surface, Gustave's fishing hook embedded somewhere in its hide. The creature's beady eyes swept the scene before fixing on familiar faces—particularly Tom, who had contributed to its previous humiliation.
The Lord of the Coast's memory was excellent when it came to grudges. The sight of that infuriating cat brought back painful recollections of repeated defeats and wounded pride. An angry roar echoed across the water as old hatred reignited.
Tom immediately dove behind Po with cartoon speed, leaving only his tail visible.
"Oh great," Gustave muttered. "A reunion with our old friend."
Enemies meeting again inevitably escalated tensions. The Lord of the Coast's roar of rage sent the bound pirates into unconsciousness from pure terror as the massive predator surged toward the Luffy with murderous intent.
Po stepped forward, energy gathering in his hands as he prepared to demonstrate how much stronger he'd become since their last encounter. This was no longer the same inexperienced panda who'd fled in panic two years ago.
But before Po could attack, an unexpected sound split the air—the crack of thunder on a clear evening.
Everyone watched in amazement as a brilliant bolt of lightning erupted from Gustave's body, streaking across the water toward the charging Sea King with devastating power.