48 Chapter 48: Puffing Tom

Dialogue "sample"

Thoughts 'sample'

Author notes -sample-

Disclaimer: One piece and all of its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda.

Chapter 48: Puffing Tom

During the next week, Vivi did her best to teach the crew, the basics of observation haki as well as practice herself since she was nowhere near close to mastering it.

Unfortunately, the only one who showed a bit of progress was Usopp in that limited amount of time.

"Don't feel bad, Luffy. I'm a genius after all!" Usopp bragged with no shame.

"Argg!!, how can He get it before me?!" Exclaimed Luffy with frustration.

"Oi!, look at this! There is a frog swimming next to the ship." Called Zoro.

"Oh!, that's right. It's swimming freestyle too!" Said Luffy who had just arrived at the rails.

"Don't be ridiculous, frogs don't swim freestyle!." Said Usopp.

"Wait…it does!" He said after seeing it for himself.

"Everyone!, let's catch that frog!" Ordered their Captain.

"Full speed ahead! two o clock!" Yelled Usopp.

Nami came running from the cabin.

"What's going on?!, why are we changing course?"

"We found a weird frog with scars all over his body and swimming-free style." Answered Usopp.

"Yeah, we need to catch it for BBQ no matter what!" Said Luffy.

"Wait!, the plan was to eat it?!" The others asked in shock.

"Wait!, there is something ahead! It's a light tower." Said Nami.

"You found the island?" Asked Luffy.

"No, just a light tower, but the log pose inst pointing to it. That's weird"

"What about the frog?"

"The frog is going towards the lighthouse." Said, Robin.

"Full speed ahead then!" Ordered Luffy.

"Is anyone else hearing that noise?" Said Vivi after hearing the sound of an engine.

"The frog stopped!"

"Let's get him!"

"Wait, there is something approaching!"

"Turn back! 180 degrees!"

As soon as the ship change course, a giant black train passes right next to it, almost hitting the Going Merry.

"Whoa!!" The crew exclaimed.

"What the hell is that?!" Asked Sanji.

"It's huge…" Said Vivi.

"Look!, the frog has stopped in front of that thing!" Usopp pointed out.

"Oi frog! Get out of the way!" Yelled Luffy.

The frog stood in front of the giant train and was promptly sent flying away.

"Ah!, it got hit!" Exclaimed Usopp.

The train continued its course and was soon out of view.

"What kind of ship was that? it was blowing smoke…"Wondered Zoro.

"Granny, Granny!, pirates are coming!" They heard a little girl yell.

"What really?, hold on," Another voice said.

They all looked at the wooden house at the base of the lighthouse.

"There is someone coming out." Sanji pointed out.

An old drunken woman came out of the wooden house.

"Hey…um…what were you saying?." The woman blurted while tumbling around with a bottle in hand.

"You are too damn drunk!" Screamed Usopp.

Eventually, they managed to introduce themself.

"My name is Chimney." Said the little girl. "This is my granny, Kokoro."

"I thought you were train robbers kakakaka" The old lady chuckled.

"You would have been in deep trouble if we were…" Commented Vivi after seeing that there was only a drunk old lady and a little girl protecting the lighthouse.

"I'm Luffy. I'm going to be the next King of the Pirates."

"What an interesting fellow." Kokoro chuckled.

"By the way. What was that black metal ship we saw earlier?" Asked Nami.

The little girl looked at Nami. "It's no wonder you have never seen it before. It only exists in this area. That is a sea train called Puffing Tom."

"Sea train?"

"Right! It's a steam-powered vehicle that moves on the railroad in the sea" Explained Chimney.

"Railroad?"

They looked at the waters next to the lighthouse. One could faintly see the rails underwater.

"Oh!, there are some rails underwater!"

"Yes, and you guys just sailed over the railroad, that was dangerous!" Warned Chimney.

"We didn't see any warning!" Complained Nami.

"Yeah!, and that train thingy killed the funny frog! That was our prey…" Said Luffy.

"Frog?, oh…you mean Yokojina. He is not dead. He does that all of the time, standing in front of the train. Is quite bothersome, it's always scaring the passengers." Kokoro clarified.

"Why would it do that?" Asked Sanji.

"Yokojima likes to compete with strong opponents and it's always challenging the train." Said Chimney

"That's so cool! Now I wanna met that frog even more!" Said Luffy with excitement.

"So, where are you guys going? The train can take you to many interesting places like The city of the Queen of Spring, Sento Popura, the city of cuisine, Poochi, the city of meat, Sun Faruto."

"Did you say, city of meat?" Said Luffy with interest.

"Luffy, we can't just go to random places, we need to follow the log pose!" Said Nami.

"Where is your pose pointing to?" Asked Kokoro.

"That way" Nami pointed with her finger.

"Ah. That would take you to Water Seven then. The train that you saw was actually coming from there. That place is nicknamed the city of water and it has the best ship factories in Grand Line." Said Kokoro.

"Oh?, then we will definitely find some great ship mechanics to fix the Going Merry." Exclaimed Usopp.

"Of course, you will find the best carpenters there." Added Kokoro.

The crew got immediately excited. They could finally repair their ship.

"Alright, it's decided then!. We are going to Water Seven to find a good carpenter who wants to join our crew!" Said Luffy.