Chapter 203 - 61

Chapter 61Because the seven routes almost never interfere with each other except at their intersection at Reverse Mountain at the start and Sabaody Archipelago at the end, it's rare to encounter other ships. This is completely different from the situation in the East Blue, where pirate crews or Marines are encountered from time to time."So slow... when will we reach Small Garden?"Luffy was lying on the sheep's head doing push-ups, and Merry sat on him, helping him count.This kind of stacking game no longer felt out of place on him.The training intensity brought by the plan was too high.Not long ago, he had spent several hours learning from Robin, and after coming out, he worked on developing his Devil Fruit abilities. Even eating grilled fish along the way was done in squeezed-out time.Luffy had quite a few ideas in his mind.As soon as he heard that Small Garden had giants and dinosaurs, he couldn't wait to test them out on those guys.Third Gear was developed based on giants; if he met a real giant, could he develop new moves?So he was looking forward to it."Soon, soon! Look ahead!"Nami pointed to the scene appearing on the distant horizon.A massive island gradually came into view.Most eye-catching was the towering white peak in the center of the island, bare and shaped like the horn of some giant creature.Surrounding the peak was a lush, endless primeval forest, with trees so tall and thick they were beyond imagination, as if they had been growing for thousands of years."Wow, such big trees!""Is that Small Garden?""Even the smell of the air is different."Everyone came to the bow of the ship, looking out curiously.They had arrived at Small Garden.Chapter 79: Her Heart is Black to the CoreThe going merry slowly sailed into the interior of the island along a wide river.On both sides of the river were giant trees that blotted out the sun, and ferns grew extremely lushly, presenting a prehistoric landscape.Luffy had already asked Sanji to prepare lunch boxes, ready to set off at any time. At this time, there was no Companion Day, so he needed to perform extreme maneuvers; any slight carelessness and his pants would bulge."Giants, and dinosaurs!"Luffy looked at this strange sight with a burning gaze; most importantly, "Fighting a giant would be so beneficial for the development of Third Gear."Mainly, he could also pick a fight.Huge beasts appeared on the riverbanks from time to time, and without exception, they were all a size larger than what they had seen before."Ma-maybe I should stay behind to watch the ship." Usopp's legs were already shaking.Luffy suddenly sensed something and said, "Staying behind would be even more dangerous."Just as Usopp was about to ask why,Suddenly, a massive shadow swept over their heads, accompanied by a sharp screech.Everyone looked up to see a giant bird with long tail feathers and a sharp beak flying through the air.Before they could react, a giant python as thick as a barrel and covered in eerie patterns suddenly lunged out of the river below. Its bloody maw opened, and with lightning speed, it accurately bit the strange bird, instantly dragging it into the murky river water, leaving only a few feathers drifting down.Usopp immediately hugged Zoro's leg, refusing to let go no matter what. Zoro tried to shake him off with a look of disgust.While Coward No. 1 was like this, Coward No. 2 on the other side wasn't much better.Nami was pale with fright, her previous composure gone, instinctively hugging one of Luffy's arms tightly, almost hanging onto him."Is that a Titanoboa?"Robin, on the other hand, appeared very calm, even watching the scene with an appreciative gaze; these were amazing ecologies, like living pages of a history book.Vivi was also terrified by the sudden predatory scene, her face turning pale. She looked at Namihugging Luffy tightly; although she was also a bit scared, she felt too embarrassed to hug Luffy's other arm, looking somewhat at a loss.At this moment, Merry, sitting on Luffy's shoulder, seemed to see Vivi's fear. She turned around and opened her small arms toward Vivi, a warm and encouraging smile on her face.In Merry's simple understanding, once you're on the ship, you're a companion who needs to take care of each other.So she was quite friendly toward Vivi, and even toward Robin.Vivi looked at Merry's pure, innocent smile and her kind gesture, feeling like her heart was about to melt. This was simply an angel.She thought to herself that the Merry who did that kind of thing with Luffy back then must have been egged on or coerced by Luffy.The atmosphere was already tense, and suddenly a violent tremor came from the ground ahead, as if some massive creature was approaching.The trees by the riverbank fell in patches, and a massive head suddenly poked out from the woods. It had a thick neck, a huge mouth filled with dagger-like teeth, and cold eyes staring intently at the going merry in the river.It's a Tyrannosaurus Rex!Before the T-Rex, the going merry looked like a small sapling, teetering.Luffy had already jumped up, except he had an extra attachment on him.Merry looked up and saw that Nami hadn't come down yet, and asked Vivi beside her in confusion, "Why isn't she coming down?"Seeing Luffy reach out, Merry, who was sitting on his shoulder, habitually jumped down, but Namiwas clearly not that practiced.Nami had already climbed onto Luffy like an octopus, not even daring to raise her head. Who could have thought that Luffy and Merry were already so in sync!The T-Rex let out a deafening roar, creating a gust of air that carried a fishy stench toward them!It opened its bloody maw and bit toward Luffy.However, what met it was a fist."Gum-Gum Giant Pistol!"The moment it saw the fist, the T-Rex seemed to recognize a familiar attacking style.Someone on this island had used such a fist to hit it before!Bang!The massive Rubber fist slammed solidly into the T-Rex's cheek. The terrifying force sent the behemoth flying, crashing heavily into the giant trees on the riverbank. It broke several large trees before collapsing on the ground."Sanji!"Luffy waved excitedly at Sanji. He had eaten all kinds of meat, but never dinosaur meat.Sanji had lit a cigarette at some point, looking at the T-Rex with the light of a professional chef in his eyes: "T-Rex tenderloin? It's my first time cooking it too."Nami was still on Luffy, having been scared to death just now.Her legs were definitely weak.So she temporarily hung onto Luffy like a sloth, but for Luffy, this was a kind of torture.While waiting for Sanji's cooking, his mind had to continue with the plan, but Nami was in his arms and wouldn't come down.Thus, Nami was the first to feel that kind of impact.Nami's face gradually turned red, her previously panicked expression becoming even more flustered."What are you thinking?!""You?" Luffy was indeed thinking about Nami, thinking about how to peel her off him.But in Nami's ears, this was a different level of meaning. She really wanted to give him that contemptuous look as if looking at something filthy and then mock him through gritted teeth. But in reality, she was flustered and in a mess."Hey, this isn't the bedroom! You're not allowed to think about those strange things in your head!""Are those things strange?" Luffy asked."Of course they're strange! Although I don't exactly dislike your reaction, you have to consider the place." Nami's gaze drifted. "I know you've reached that age, but you can't do those perverted things."Nami didn't even know what shocking things were coming out of her mouth; wasn't this basically a disguised agreement?!"Has Miss Nami run out of strength?" At this moment, several hands grew out of Nami's body and peeled her away from Luffy.Nami turned around and saw Robin's meaningful smile."You're welcome," Robin said.The light faded from Nami's eyes.It's over, I've been found out.That black-hearted woman!...Just as Luffy and the others had landed on Small Garden, on the other side of the island, two slightly disheveled figures were trudging through the dense ferns."Pah, pah, pah!"Mr. 5 spat out the dirt in his mouth. A crack had appeared in his stylish sunglasses, and his expensive suit was covered in mud spots and scorch marks.Beside him, Miss Valentine was equally covered in grime. Her beloved parasol had several holes, and her meticulously groomed hair hung messily.The laughing girl would touch her buttocks from time to time, where there was a burning pain as if it were about to split open, and there were some water stains on her skirt.Recalling being kicked here by Luffy, her face turned from white to red.Chapter 80: No Rule Says Pirates Can Only Have One Ship"That damn Straw Hat boy!"Miss Valentine stomped her foot in anger, her high heels sinking deep into the soft soil. "The mission isn't finished and we're in such a mess. How are we going to face the boss when we get back!""Shut up!"Mr. 5 interrupted her irritably. "What's the use of saying this now! We need to quickly get in touch with the higher-numbered agents. I remember Mr. 3 and his partner should be on this island for a long-term surveillance mission."Following the contact methods in their memory, they struggled to find a secret base located under a massive fossilized skeleton, which was an entrance cleverly disguised as a rock using wax.Pushing open the wax door, the inside was a whole different world.Rather than a secret base, it was more like an artistic studio.Various half-finished wax figures stood around, and the air was filled with the smell of wax and paint.A man with hair styled in the shape of the number 3 and wearing glasses was sitting elegantly on a wax sofa, sipping black tea.Beside him sat a little girl, focused on coloring the drawing board in front of her, indifferent to the intruders.They were the top agents of Baroque Works, Mr. 3 and Miss Goldenweek.Baroque Works was composed of two-person teams from top to bottom.Almost all the top agents were ability users.Not to mention the rarity of Devil Fruits, Baroque Works had relied on these top agents to become a famous criminal organization in recent years.But the two in front of them looked a bit disheveled."Oh my, oh my?"Mr. 3 put down his teacup and adjusted his glasses, the gaze behind the lenses carrying undisguised sarcasm. "Look who it is? Isn't it our Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine? How did you end up with such a post-modern artistic look?"Miss Valentine was provoked by his sarcasm and wanted to retort, but was stopped by Mr. 5.Mr. 5 said with a dark face, "The mission failed. The Straw Hat Crew is much more difficult to deal with than expected.""More than just difficult!"Miss Valentine couldn't help but add, "Even The Unluckies were taken out by them, and our ship was destroyed!""Oh?"Mr. 3 was truly a bit surprised this time. He sat up straight. "Even those two unlucky fellows responsible for reporting bad news have fallen? It seems this group of newcomers is indeed interesting; they've caused quite a loss for our Baroque Works."He slowly picked up two of the latest bounty posters on the table, which prominently featured Luffy's image and a staggering amount."Straw Hat Monkey D. Luffy, bounty 50 million Berries. Such a high initial bounty is indeed hard to deal with."He changed the subject. "But right in front of us, there's a more important big business."Mr. 3 took out two more yellowed bounty posters that seemed to be many years old, and the amounts on them both exceeded 100 million Berries!And the targets of the bounties were two giant warriors.The leaders of the Giant Warrior Pirates, Dorry the Blue Ogre and Brogy the Red Ogre.