"Nami already told me everything," Sanji said. "Robin is in their hands right now. If possible, I want to take her back right here."
"So—what's your answer?"
If they could rescue her here, there'd be no need to go to Enies Lobby at all.
But Luffy was the captain. Starting a fight like this required his approval—Sanji understood that much.
"Alright. Go cause as much chaos as you want!"
"Eh?!" Nami was stunned. He agreed just like that?
"Hey, Luffy!" Zoro frowned. "Tell him not to act recklessly. We should wait until we catch up first."
"Cook, can you hear me? There are some really dangerous guys on that train. It's not something you can—"
"That's enough, Zoro!" Luffy interrupted. "If it were you, what would you do?"
"Robin was willing to sacrifice herself to save us. If it were you, could you really just sit there and do nothing?"
At those words, Zoro fell silent.
He couldn't.
If he'd been the one who reached them first, he'd probably already be fighting. There wouldn't even have been time to make this call.
"Stopping him won't work anyway," Luffy said. "So… Sanji, go do what you want to do!"
When it came to his crewmates, Luffy had absolute faith in them.
"Heh, you really get it," Sanji grinned. "Oi, moss-head—are you worried about me?"
"Who the hell is worried about you, bastard?!"
Jin glanced at Zoro from the side.
Something about his expression seemed… off.
That face just now—was he blushing?
"Either way, now that I understand Robin's resolve, even if it were the captain's order… I wouldn't stop!"
"Crack—!"
With a sharp sound, the receiver of the Den Den Mushi was crushed in Sanji's grip!
"Hey, what the hell are you doing?!" Franky stared in disbelief. "I still had things I wanted to ask Straw Hat!"
"How would I know?"
"You damn—!"
Franky was furious. Hanging up was one thing, but actually crushing the receiver?!
Sanji ignored him and explained everything that had happened on Robin's side.
The moment he finished, Franky was moved to tears, somehow pulling out a guitar from nowhere and crying while strumming it.
Sanji's eyelid twitched.
He honestly didn't understand why Franky was crying—he wasn't even part of the Straw Hat crew.
"And you?" Sanji turned to Usopp. "The people Robin was protecting… included you too."
Seeing Usopp lower his head in silence, Sanji let out a sigh, then turned to face the front of the train.
"Anyway, I'm going to save Robin."
"She's in the very front carriage of this Sea Train."
"Alright, count me in!" Franky laughed loudly. "As the leader of the Franky Family—Franky—I've gotta show some spirit!"
"Curly-brow bro, I'll help you!"
"Long-nose, let's go!"
"I'm… not going."
"Huh?" Franky froze. He had no idea what this guy was thinking now.
At a time like this, what did he mean by not going?
"You're planning to reunite with Luffy and the others, right?" Usopp said with his head lowered. "I already left the Straw Hat Pirates. When it comes down to it, this has nothing to do with me anymore."
"After making such a mess… what right do I have to stand alongside you again…?"
"Sorry. Let's part ways here."
Watching Usopp walk toward the back, Franky was dumbfounded.
"Hey, what do you mean 'part ways'? Even if you want to leave, you can't exactly get off now!"
Usopp didn't respond.
Before long, he disappeared from their sight.
"…Forget it. Let him go," Sanji said, shaking his head. He turned his gaze forward again. "Even if it's just the two of us, we're rescuing Robin."
Since he was already here, there was no reason to retreat.
"Alright, let's—"
"Hm?"
"Where's that singing coming from?"
The two turned around.
The Usopp who was supposed to be gone had come back—now wearing a mask and muttering to himself.
"I was born on Sniper Island…"
"What's with this act?" Franky asked in confusion. "What are you doing now?"
"Greetings," Usopp said in a deep, dramatic voice. "I've already heard the whole story from him."
"You're going to rescue a young lady, correct?"
"Allow me to lend you my strength!"
"My name is… Sogeking!"
"Ahahahaha!"
Franky: "..."
"Is he always this awkward?" Franky asked, turning to Sanji.
"Try to understand how he feels," Sanji said helplessly. "He can't bring himself to save a companion openly, so this is the only way he can do it."
"Let's go."
"Follow us, Sogeking. Once we rescue Robin, I'll introduce you to a ninja guy!"
"Yeah!"
...
"That guy's really decisive," Nami said.
He hadn't even left them time to keep talking before hanging up.
"He didn't hang up," Jin said. "He crushed the receiver."
"That cracking sound just now definitely wasn't the line disconnecting."
He clearly wasn't planning to leave himself any way back.
"That stupid cook…" Zoro rubbed his forehead. "Great. Now even if we want to contact him, we can't."
With that Den Den Mushi destroyed, even if Sanji got beaten half to death, they'd never know.
"Haha, we'll catch up to them sooner or later anyway," Luffy said casually. "Doesn't matter if we don't have a Den Den Mushi."
As he spoke, Luffy started stuffing leftover meat into his pockets.
"Den Den Mushi really are amazing creatures," Jin said curiously, taking the snail from Nami's hand and poking it gently.
Such a tiny organism, yet its bioelectric waves could transmit over incredible distances—basically functioning like a telephone.
At least normal phones had signal towers.
This thing was just transmitting directly from the body itself.
I wonder if there's some gigantic Den Den Mushi somewhere in this world acting as a relay station, Jin thought.
"Of course they are," Nami smiled. "Without them, staying in contact would be incredibly difficult—hey, Luffy! Stop stuffing meat into your pockets!"
"Damn it, why aren't these pants made bigger?!" Luffy complained.
"That's your problem!"
What kind of normal person stuffed meat into their pockets—especially pieces that big?
Watching Luffy completely ignore Nami's scolding, Jin smiled.
This feeling… wasn't bad at all.
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