The boat continued without docking and began sailing down the small river that crossed the island. As they progressed, the island became increasingly clear.
Wherever they looked, the most striking thing was those enormous cacti that captured most of the attention. On the other hand, the flora here is practically sparse, except for a few cacti here and there as decoration, there was nothing else to see.
Rody observed the place with interest. Somehow, he sensed that the island's climate was warmer, as if it were a desert; the climate seemed to have adapted to the island's aesthetic to offer visitors greater immersion.
"It's truly magical. If I remember correctly, this island is called Cactus Island—what an appropriate name," Rody thought with interest as he felt the stifling heat.
"Wow, Captain, this island is truly magical! Look at those cacti, they're enormous. I wonder how many years it took them to reach that size," Leo and José exclaimed in surprise.
"Haha, who knows," Rody replied casually.
After sailing for a few minutes on the river, voices were suddenly vaguely heard, followed by warm and ecstatic cheers, as if something joyful had happened. But no matter how hard they looked around, they couldn't see anyone.
"Someone's cheering. Do you hear the voices?" Leo asked, puzzled.
"Well, I heard them too, but it's strange. Why do they sound like cheers? Has something good happened?" Bumblebee replied in a puzzled tone.
"Well, whatever it is, I think it's something good. I was afraid our first island would be uninhabited and deserted, with no places to have fun, but it seems not!" Jose exclaimed, his face filled with happiness.
After all, they had sailed at sea for who knows how long. Those few days had been extremely boring, and he was already looking forward to reaching an inhabited island to have fun with his companions.
"You're right. I hope there's something fun to do!" Leo replied cheerfully, eager to explore the new island.
The boat continued sailing, the light fog disappeared, and after passing a huge cactus, the island scene appeared before everyone's eyes.
....
At that moment, a small town appeared before everyone. Seeing its strange buildings, Rody remembered those Old West cowboy movies he watched in his previous life. This town is practically an exact copy of a typical Old West town.
"Welcome to the cozy town of Whiskey Peak!"
"Welcome to the Grand Line, our new nakamas!"
Many townspeople began to cheer euphorically on both banks of the river, waving small flags and lighting fireworks to welcome Rody and his group.
"..."
This strange welcome left everyone in Rody's group speechless, even the serious and elegant Sebastian Tian, who was also in a state of shock.
"Rody, what the hell is up with this little town? Why are they welcoming us so warmly? Is this normal on the Grand Line?" Nami asked, surprised to see the huge crowd gathered on the riverbank, cheering and setting off fireworks.
"Perhaps it's customary on this island to welcome guests this way. By the way, come to think of it, they didn't mention that their town is called Whiskey Peak. Does the name of their town have anything to do with welcoming us like this?" Bumblebee guessed, trying to understand this group of strange humans.
"Hmm, who knows, it doesn't matter if this welcome is a fake or not. Let's take a look around, don't overthink it, and have a good time." Rody waved his hand dismissively, replying in a monotone, not caring at all what this group of trash wanted to do.
"Well, whatever happens, we have the Captain with us, hahaha," Leo said, bursting into laughter.
"Come on, Leo and José, stop acting like fools. This is the first island we've reached on the Grand Line. Join me and let's find the best chefs in the area. It's time for our first Grand Line culinary competition," Carmen said, hitting her apprentices' heads with her fist, causing a huge bump to appear. Although Carmen's face was solemn and serious, the excitement in her voice was audible.
"Yes, Chef Carmen, whatever you say!" Leo and José exclaimed in unison as they rubbed the bump in hopes of easing the pain.
After a few seconds, the ship docked, and Rody and his companions disembarked. At that moment, many townspeople gathered in front of them, staring in surprise and curiosity, especially at Bumblebee, a motorcycle that can walk like a human and has a strange appearance.
At that moment, the crowd parted, and a tall, middle-aged man emerged from the crowd.
The middle-aged man cut an imposing figure. His nose was extremely small and red. The most peculiar thing about him was his hair, which resembled the wigs worn by European kings in ancient times.
"Welcome... ahem... ahem..."
"Ma~Ma~Ma~~~"
The man cleared his throat, prompting laughter from the crowd. After recovering his voice, he said cheerfully,
"Welcome, esteemed guests. My name is Igarappoi, and I am the mayor of Whiskey Peak..."
Igarappoi was about to continue when his eyes widened in surprise. His surprise wasn't feigned like his courtesy, after all. In front of him were Mr. 13, the bespectacled otter, and Miss Friday, the vulture with machine guns on its back.
After being stunned for a few seconds, Mayor Igarappoi smiled and continued his speech. "I'm sure you'll be surprised by the unusual welcome from the locals, but let me tell you, this is Whisky Peak, a town where winemaking and music are popular. Hospitality is our motto and pride. Our town may not excel in other things, but it does in welcoming guests with good wine, good food, and good music."
Mayor Igarappoi said as he pulled a man wearing a large, oddly shaped wool wig. He was holding his throat with one hand and a saxophone with the other as he played a cheerful tune.
Nami and the others looked at each other in bewilderment, obviously amazed by the strange customs of the locals, but then shrugged it off without giving it another thought.
Seeing that Rody's group didn't respond, Mayor Igarappoi hurriedly said enthusiastically:
"We have as much wine and beer as the vast sea. Let's hold a grand banquet and enjoy it all together... ahem... Ma~ Ma~ Ma~, let's welcome these new guests!"
HOORAY! Hearing Igarappoi's words, the gathered crowd erupted in cheers.
...
"Hey, Mayor, calm down. Please stop talking so much. If your throat hurts, don't talk too much; it's not good for your health. Also, tell me, why is your hair so strange?" Bumblebee said, surprised, looking at Igarappoi's hair.
"Thank you for your concern..." Igarappoi looked at Bumblebee, who had a strange appearance more like a machine than a man, and didn't know how to address him, so he finally said the first thing that came to mind. "Uh, well, thank you... strange sir. Although I feel a slight discomfort in my throat, this won't interfere with my duties as mayor. As for my hair, it's been like this for as long as I can remember."
"Oh, I see!" Bumblebee replied with a flicker of headlights, not wanting to delve further into the subject.
"Excuse me, Mayor. May I ask how long it will take the Log Pose to complete the survey of this island's magnetic field?" Nami asked.
"Uh, uh... Please, let's put such serious matters aside for the moment. Let's enjoy the banquet first and recover from the fatigue of the journey. As soon as I'm done, I'll tell you how long it will take the Log Pose to complete the survey of the magnetic field, miss!" Igarappoi laughed, changing the subject.
Not caring about Nami's response, Igarappoi turned to the villagers and waved his hand. "Then everyone, prepare a banquet for our brave sea adventurers!"
"Yes, let's sing Binks' Sake to celebrate the arrival of new residents to the Grand Line."
"Let the party begin!"
The crowd erupted with excitement. Nami, seeing this, became suspicious. Even more so, seeing how this strange-looking mayor changed the subject, her suspicions grew. She tugged on Rody's sleeve and blinked slightly.
Seeing Nami's worried face, as if to say, "Something's wrong here," Rody realized that Nami had become suspicious, so he smiled reassuringly.
Seeing Rody's reassuring smile, Nami sighed in relief. It seemed her man also knew something was wrong in this town.
…
Late at night, the full moon is high in the sky, but tonight it can't dampen the banquet being held at Whiskey Peak.
Rody hugged Nami with one hand and held a huge beer mug with the other, drinking it until it was empty. At that moment, seeing that Rody's beer mug was empty, Sebas approached to refill it.
Rody's eyes were fixed on the blue-haired beauty dancing on the stage not far from him.
"That should be Nefertari D Vivi, the princess of Alabasta, right?" Rody thought.
...
Next to Nami, Alpha and Beta ate and drank happily, enjoying the banquet. Meanwhile, Carmen laughed and chatted with the Whisky Peak chefs, sharing a bit of her culinary expertise. Making the chefs praise her, with each compliment she received, Carmen became excited and began to dance happily.
Leo and José were also excited by the chefs' praise.
....
In a place where a woman thought she was unseen, a person hid, and immediately after checking that no one was watching her, a woman who looked like a nun took off her nun's disguise, revealing her true appearance, which was not at all attractive unlike her previous disguise.
The nun's true appearance was far from the charming she had been before; now she appeared to be a strong woman with prominent muscles all over her body. She had pink hair, a dark complexion, and full lips. At that moment, she approached the mayor of Whiskey Peak and asked him, her face filled with surprise.
"Mr. 8, is it necessary for us to do all this? Except for the guy with the strange clothes and spiky black hair, who seems somewhat strong, everyone else seems very weak. We could have sunk his ship in the harbor, taken his treasure, searched for the bodies of those with bounties, then cut off their heads and finally collected the reward, all easy and simple. I don't understand why we have to do all this."
"Hmm, Mr. 8, since Mr. 13 and Miss Friday are following that guy, you know something about him, right?" another person asked playfully.
"Yeah, yeah, we want to know what you know too, Mr. 8..." said a man wearing a strange wig and a T-shirt with the number 7 printed all over it.
"Yeah, you must know something, just say it," repeated a woman dressed as a frog standing next to the strange-looking man.
"It seems I can't hide it anymore. It's like Miss Father's Day and Mr. 7 say, Miss Monday this time. I made so many preparations because a truly brutal man has come, nothing compared to the others who have fallen into our hands." Igarappoi, now known as Mr. 8, sighed with a trembling voice.
After a brief silence, and under everyone's curious gaze, he continued, "Miss Friday and Mr. 13 being with him is nothing unusual. Look at this." With that, Igarappoi took out a reward poster from his clothes, which had Rody's picture and name on it.
Everyone present looked curiously at the reward poster in Igarappoi's hand, but the next moment, upon seeing Rody's picture on the reward poster, their eyes widened and they shouted in disbelief, "Turns out it's Rody the Killer, that guy with a reward of 50 million Baileys!"
"Shhh, keep your voices down!" Igarappoi made a shushing gesture to signal them to keep their voices down. He was afraid someone outside would hear them and his whole plan would fall apart.
...
"Uh, sorry, Mr. 8," said Miss Father's Day, scratching her cheek, embarrassed, lowering her voice.
Mr. 8 sighed, "It's okay, it's okay."
"Well, listen, don't be fooled by the fact that this guy doesn't fly the pirate flag. This guy is much more brutal than ordinary pirates. In less than three months at sea, he's killed thousands of people, and they all died extremely tragic deaths," Igarappoi said seriously, his face more solemn than ever.
...
As the words fell, silence fell. Everyone looked at each other with solemn faces, not knowing what to say.
"You should understand by now, right? I wasn't planning on catching this group from the start. Everything I've done so far is so Rody and his group have the best time possible and get out of here as quickly as possible without a bad impression. After all, you don't want to be part of those thousands who were killed by the one I told you about earlier, do you?"
...
"Uh, I see, Mr. 8. Thanks for your excellent work!" Miss Father's Day replied, happy to have saved a life. After all, even she had heard of Rody, a ruthless man who kills without flinching.
"Whew, quite a sight to have encountered someone like that. Luckily, you recognized him at a glance, Mr. 8. Otherwise, we'd be dead!"
"Lucky us! Fortunately, we didn't act rashly. It's good to be alive, it's good to be alive, blessed be our luck." Several people gulped and muttered, looking like they'd just survived a disaster.
"Has anyone here seen my two animal subordinates?"
...
Those who were murmuring and celebrating their lives saved heard these words like the whisper of a demon coming to reap their souls. Mechanically turning their heads, they saw the person behind them, their legs immediately began to tremble, and they didn't know what to react or say.
"Shit, it's Rody the Killer!" they thought in unison.
"What an idiot I am! I was talking about good luck, and this happened to us the next moment, damn everything, damn my mouth!" Mr. 7 thought hysterically upon seeing Rody.