Chapter 51 - Whiskey Peak Party

Under the warm evening sunlight, the Going Merry sailed onward toward an island covered in massive cacti. The Straw Hats lined up and peered out over the front deck at the island with varying expressions.

"Woohoo! Our first Grand Line island!" Luffy exclaimed with a wide smile. "Thank god none of those giant fishes knocked us over along the way. Shishishi."

A voice from the side suddenly drew their attention. When they looked, they saw the two hitchhikers squatting on the railing as though about to jump off.

"Now then, we ask you to please drop us off here!" Mr. 9 said.

"If fate wills it, then let us meet again!" Vivi added.

""Bye bye, baby!"" They then said in unison.

The two jumped backward… and promptly slammed headfirst into a barrier. Stunned, the two sat up with large welts on their skulls. They found themselves trapped in a cube-shaped barrier.

"No, no, please stay," Jin said, shooting them a knowing smile. "Don't you want to party with us after reaching the island?"

"Yeah! Let's have a party!" Luffy immediately agreed.

Next to Jin, Zoro raised a brow and glanced back and forth between his crewmate and the hitchhikers. He realized that Jin also seemed to catch on to the two people's origin, though that didn't surprise him since Jin previously stated that he knew about this world in the Chat Group. Then, Zoro rested a hand on his sword handles and looked at the island again with a pondering gaze.

Jin pulled his barrier toward himself before releasing it. The blue-haired princess-in-disguise and the ugly blondie plopped onto the deck. Both of them groaned before looking up at Jin in trepidation.

"Good job stopping them, Jin," Nami said, visibly pleased. "They still haven't paid up on their transportation fees."

The two hitchhikers broke out into a cold sweat. Within their minds, they decided that this was a pirate ship full of demons.

Once Nami walked off to help with navigation again, Jin squatted in front of the two and rested his hands on their shoulders. Smiling in a way that didn't quite reach his eyes, he quietly said, "Just stick with us for now. We'll let you go later after I figure out your intentions, okay?"

"We don't have bad intentions. We aren't part of a secret organization called Baroque Works that has people stationed here to capture pirates new to the Grand Line," Vivi said, but then she immediately placed a hand over her mouth.

Next to her, Mr. 9 dropped his jaw. His eyes trembled in their sockets.

Meanwhile, Jin simply raised a brow upon experiencing the girl's loose tongue for the first time in person. Then, he patted Vivi's shoulder and said, "Your tongue is very loose, Miss Wednesday. You might get yourself killed one day if you aren't careful."

Both of the Baroque Works agents broke out into a nervous sweat. Vivi refused to remove her hands from her mouth. Mr. 9 reached for a weapon hidden in his clothes, but a barrier stopped him. Vivi also considered using hypnotism, but Jin stopped her with a simple look. Even he was surprised by her lacking escape attempt.

Shrugging, Jin said, "So long as you don't do anything stupid, none of us will care. Despite being pirates, we're more like adventurers, so there's no need to fear for your life."

'I'm not really trying to threaten them on purpose… but I guess they're taking it that way. Oh well.'

Leaving the two hitchhikers in a terrified stupor, Jin walked over to Zoro and quietly said, "That girl just confessed to being from Baroque Works, but I assume you already guessed that."

Zoro glanced at the blue-haired girl, who flinched in response. Then, he faced forward, nodded, and answered, "I had my suspicions."

"Want to go along with whatever they've got planned for now?"

"Sure. I'd like to see what they've got in store here before taking them down."

With that out of the way, the two joined the rest of the crew in a brief discussion about the island. The two hitchhikers sat quietly in the corner like children in timeout during its entirety. Afterward, the crew sailed down the river leading inland. Before long, they sailed into a harbor. Cheers from the island's inhabitants greeted them.

While the rest of the crew looked a bit puzzled by the cheering, Jin and Zoro calmly observed the crowd. Nami noticed their stern expressions and frowned. Since those two were the most level-headed in this crew of crazy people, their attitude made her take the situation a bit more seriously.

In contrast, Luffy and Usopp happily accepted the cheers with wide smiles. Sanji got a little weak in the knees upon seeing attractive ladies among the people.

Minutes later, the crew dropped anchor and lowered a plank used to disembark from the ship. A tall man with broad shoulders greeted them. His face was rather long and ovular, like that of a stretched out ostrich egg. White hair spiraled off the back of his head to form six symmetric circles. In a way, it looked like many of the wigs used by the upper class in the 1700's. He also wore a blue suit and carried a saxophone in his left hand.

"Welg- Ahem! Maa- Maa- Maaaaa~" The man stumbled over his words at first, but then greeted them properly. "Welcome. My name is Igarappoi. You may be shocked, but this is Whiskey Peak, a town of liquor and music. Hospitality is our-"

Suddenly, the man's eyes and mouth widened uncontrollably. The moment Vivi nervously followed the Straw Hats down the ramp, the man simply couldn't believe his eyes.

"Mi- Miss Wednesday! We- Welcome home!" Igarappoi nervously stammered before throwing a surprised gaze at the Straw Hats themselves. However, as a practiced and well-ventured individual, he stabilized his expression and said, "It is good that you have brought Miss Wednesday and Mr. 9 back home. That was very kind of you."

"No problem, old man!" Luffy replied with a confident laugh. Then, in a quieter voice, he said, "This man's hair is too curly."

Igarappoi raised his brows, but then forced a smile and said, "Sing- Ahem! Maa- Maa- Maaaa~ Since you've brought back our friends, how would you like to join us in a banquet? You may entreat us with tales of your adventures while enjoying food and liquor."

Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji wrapped their arms around each others' shoulders and happily charged forward with wide smiles on their faces.

"Gladly!" They all said, almost in unison.

"This idiot trio…" Nami mumbled.

Jin and Zoro stood to either side of her. Zoro crossed his arms and shook his head. Meanwhile, Jin smiled wryly and said, "Even if they are idiots, isn't that fine? Life becomes very hard when you forget how to smile and laugh."

Both Zoro and Nami looked at him with furrowed brows. Different memories passed through their minds due to his statement, causing them to nod subtly in agreement.

Behind them, Miss Wednesday and Mr. 9 started to sneak away, but then glanced at Jin and hesitated. Just as they worried would happen, Jin and Zoro looked at them.

"You two may as well join the festivities, too, right? Not like you'll suffer from partying," Jin suggested with a knowing look.

The two hesitantly nodded before following them inside the tavern that the other three Straw Hats already entered. In the following minutes, food and liquor was brought out in spades. Luffy engorged himself. Usopp embellished stories for a crowd of listeners. Sanji flirted with all the ladies. Zoro and Nami engaged in a drinking competition. Zoro eventually 'passed out', leaving Nami to challenge a nun. Jin, on the other hand, casually ate some food at a corner table. Vivi and Igarappoi sat at the table with him, shoving more food in his direction. The moment liquor arrived in front of him, he frowned.

"I don't drink."

"You may as well drink a little while you are visiting this town, friend," Igarappoi suggested.

"Hmm… Fine," Jin said, a slightly pained grimace on his face. Then, he chugged down an entire mug of whatever alcohol it was, but he didn't even taste it. A moment later, his pupils dilated, and he fell off his chair. Subtle snoring followed.

Both Vivi and Igarappoi widened their eyes. Even Igarappoi worried about this man's Devil Fruit ability after hearing about it from Vivi when they found a moment alone, but who knew that liquor was his weakness? While Igarappoi smiled happily, Vivi stared at Jin with a conflicted gaze. Something about this didn't feel right to her, but she didn't know why.

Deep into the night, all of the Straw Hats finally passed out. At that point, everyone in the area dropped their happy show in favor of serious expressions.

"I can't believe we had to waste all of this food and liquor on these pirates."

"But they supposedly captured Miss Wednesday and Mr. 9 without much effort. At least this way, we won't have to fight them."

"Yes, but look how much that fatty ate! And those two drank a month's worth of liquor on their own! Such a waste of money!"

"Quiet. Go grab seastone shackles and ropes. We will hand them in alive for the bounty tomorrow," Igarappoi stated. "Hm? What's wrong Miss Wednesday?"

"...I don't know. Something doesn't feel right. They knew we were from Baroque Works, but still partied like that."

"Eh? What did you just say?"

"That they partied themselves into a stupor?"

"No. They knew about Baroque Works?"

"Baroque Works…" A voice casually commented from a nearby roof. "An organization of bounty hunters whose identities are hidden from each other and refer to each other by code names. I never thought I'd encounter that organization again after turning down their invitation."

All the people huddled around whipped their heads towards the voice. What they saw startled them. There, sitting on the edge of the roof, a pair of green-haired and purple-haired young men looked back down at the crowd with the moon at their backs.

"Wha-?! How is this possible?!"

"A true swordsman never allows alcohol to take control of himself," Zoro answered with a confident smirk. "Ain't that right, Jin?"

Jin averted his eyes.

"Ah! I saw you pass out!" Vivi exclaimed.

"Well…" Jin mumbled. Then, he opened his mouth. A thin barrier stretched out from within. When the full barrier floated out his mouth, the crowd saw a large amount of liquor held within it. "Does this count as not letting alcohol control you?"

Zoro stared blankly at his crewmate.

Within this gap, Igarappoi narrowed his eyes and said, "Since they know about us, we need to eliminate them. Two more tombstones will need to be added to Cactus Rock tonight."