Chapter 19

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East Blue 

Somewhere in the middle of the sea 

"You're telling me you left behind one of the treasure bags I stole? WHY DID YOU DO THAT, YOU MORON?", Nami asks angrily, shaking Luffy. 

"Relax, Tangerine. They need that money more than we do. It'll be a big help when they rebuild the town. But if you really want that money, we can turn around, and you can get it back", Luffy suggests with a smile. 

"No, that's not necessary, just... just let me know next time you want to do something like this, and we'll decide together", Nami says, not wanting to play the villain. 

"Oh, I get it! I thought you just wanted the money back, but actually, you wanted to be part of the good deed too", Luffy deduces, feeling quite clever. 

Agreeing with their captain, Chouchou rubs against Nami's leg, thanking her for the generosity toward his hometown. 

"Yeah... yeah, that's it... I just wanted to be part of the good deed", Nami says, impressed by how off-track Luffy's logic can go. 

'The more time passes, the more amazed I am by how clueless this guy is. But I guess that's part of his charm', Nami reflects silently. 

Sometime later, Luffy, seeing Chouchou all bandaged up, decides to call a meeting. 

"Alright, crew, now that we have four members and a pending invitation," he says, glancing at Nami before continuing, "it's time to start your real training. Zoro and Tangerine have already started, and Chouchou will start now. From today, you'll train under my instruction every day, and you'll only rest when I say so. Everyone agrees?" 

"Fine by me", Zoro says, eager to get stronger. 

"Same here, but shouldn't we wait for Chouchou to recover from his injuries?", Nami asks, a little concerned. 

At that moment, Chouchou barks, saying, "Don't worry, Nami, I'm strong, I can handle it, Cap." 

"Shishishi, relax, Tangerine. I have a solution for that", Luffy says, opening a box and pulling out an Akuma no Mi. 

"This is the Inu Inu no Mi – Model: Fenrir. It's a Mythical Zoan, which lets whoever eats it transform into the mythical wolf Fenrir, known as the God Slayer. It grants enhanced regeneration, a huge boost in strength, durability, and endurance, and, obviously, the ability to transform into a giant 20-meter-tall wolf. But don't rely too much on the regeneration; the last user was tough to defeat because of it, but in the end, they were still killed by a shot to the head. So, it's not infallible... at least, not yet." 

"I'm telling you this to explain what this fruit is, Chouchou. If you want to eat it, now's the time to decide. It's an Akuma no Mi, so it has that whole weakness to seawater thing, but we can work on that with training. So, what do you say?" 

Chouchou barks again, saying, "If this makes me stronger so I can experience more adventures with my friends, then bring it on." 

"Shishishi, alright, here you go", Luffy says, placing the fruit in front of Chouchou, who devours it completely despite the terrible taste. 

"Just don't transform on the ship, or we'll end up sinking. Your half-form is already big, and your full form is gigantic, so you won't fit on this boat", Luffy warns him. 

As Chouchou feels better, his wounds slowly healing, Nami comments, "Speaking of space, this ship's already too cramped, especially with all these instruments just taking up room." 

"Hey, a pirate crew is nothing without music! When we find a musician, these instruments will be very useful", Luffy says, pouting. 

"But you're right about one thing: it's getting tight here. What's the next island we're heading to, Tangerine?", Luffy asks, thinking of a solution. 

"We're headed to Syrup Village on Gecko Islands. It'll take several days to get there. Why?", Nami asks, petting Chouchou. 

"When we get there, we'll buy a bigger ship, if they have one for sale", Luffy says. 

"Well, it's unlikely they'll have a ship for sale, but it doesn't hurt to try, right?", Nami says, shrugging, used to Luffy's odd logic where, even when things seem impossible, they somehow always happen the way he says. 

"Exactly! You're getting the hang of it, Tangerine. But enough talk, it's time to train." 

"Train? Zoro and I already trained today," Nami points out, gesturing to herself and Zoro. 

"You're calling those four hours of training? No way. I trained twelve hours a day without stopping to get this strong, so you'd better work hard unless you want to fall behind. Plus, it's Chouchou's first day of training. You're not going to leave him to train alone, are you?" 

Zoro didn't mind continuing, but Nami only agreed after seeing the puppy-dog eyes Chouchou gave her. 

"Good work, buddy", Luffy says, giving Chouchou a low-five, the little dog laughing like Muttley. 

After that, Luffy spent another six hours training the three of them, pushing their bodies far beyond their limits. 

During their free time, they played cards, and chatted about whatever came to mind, or Luffy would grab a guitar and start singing, with everyone eventually joining in. 

After a week of this routine, Nami had grown much stronger than before, able to use Observation Haki, not 100% of the time, but still managing it. She also had relative success with the Rokushiki technique Soru, managing to kick the ground five times in an instant. 

Zoro saw a huge boost in his strength and was now able to use Armament Haki, though not fully mastered either. With Rokushiki, he could use Soru perfectly and was working to refine it, just like Luffy. Additionally, Zoro felt he was close to hearing the breath of all things. 

Thanks to his Akuma no Mi, Chouchou had experienced the most physical growth of the three, nearing Zoro's current strength. He had also mastered Soru like Zoro and was working on his Observation Haki. 

Seeing Chouchou's rapid progress, Zoro put even more effort into his own training, not wanting to be outdone. 

With two days left before reaching Syrup Village, Luffy spotted an island in the distance, which Nami identified as uninhabited. 

Despite Nami's complaints that it made no sense to stop there, Luffy decided to explore the island. 

When they arrived, Nami, Luffy, and Chouchou set off to explore, while Zoro stayed on the ship, sleeping. 

As they walked through the forest, they heard a voice trying to sound ethereal and mysterious: "You're not welcome here. Leave." 

Using Observation Haki, Luffy turned to face the source of the voice. "Look, Tangerine, an old man in a treasure chest", he said, pointing to a man trapped inside a treasure chest. 

The man tried to run away but tripped and fell, unable to get up. 

Chouchou circled the man, sniffing him before wrinkling his nose at the unpleasant smell. 

"Instead of sniffing me, you could at least help me up." 

"Was he born like this, Tangerine?", Luffy asked, curious. 

"I don't know, Luffy. Why don't you ask him?", Nami replied, helping the man to his feet. 

"Yes, my chest parents raised me since I was a little box... ARE YOU STUPID?", the man said sarcastically. 

"I'VE BEEN STUCK IN THIS CHEST FOR TWENTY YEARS ON THIS ISLAND. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT I'VE BEEN THROUGH?" 

"Wow, how did you survive for twenty years inside a chest?", Nami asked, impressed. 

"Dude, you'd have to be pretty dumb to get yourself into this situation", Luffy said, laughing in the man's face. 

"Do you want to die, kid?", the man asked, slightly irritated. 

"What's your name, old man?", Luffy asked curiously. 

"My name is Gaimon. I'm the guardian of this island." 

"If you want, I can get you out of that chest", Luffy offered. 

"Unfortunately, I can't accept that offer. My body and this chest have become one. If you take me out, my body will fall apart." 

"So, why did you stop on this island?", Gaimon asked, curious. 

"To explore. After this, we're stopping at a few more places and then heading straight to the Grand Line to look for the One Piece", Luffy said excitedly. 

"What? You're after the One Piece? Do you even have a map?" 

"We've got a navigation map for the Grand Line", Luffy said, showing the map to Gaimon. 

"Which part of this is the Grand Line?", Gaimon asked, looking at the map. 

"You don't know how to read a map, old man?", Luffy asked, curious. 

"I was never good at reading maps." 

"Uh-oh, then we're in trouble 'cause I know even less", Luffy said, and the two of them started laughing together. 

Chouchou joined in, laughing with his signature Muttley-like snicker. 

Nami then briefly explained the world's geography to the three of them. 

"That's weird, the world's geography seems manipulated", Luffy said, scratching his chin. 

"What do you mean, Luffy?", Nami asked, becoming curious. 

"Like, it's kind of impossible for the world to be perfectly divided in half vertically by a strip of land and horizontally by a strip of sea, surrounded parallelly by two strips of completely calm, windless seas, splitting the world into four oceans. That's why I think the geography of the world is manipulated", Luffy explained his theory with enthusiasm. 

"I thought you said you didn't know how to read maps", Gaimon said, raising an eyebrow. 

Chouchou, still a bit tired from the day's training, lay down at Luffy's feet, who started to pet him. 

"And I don't. It's just that I like creating theories and solving mysteries", Luffy said, closing the map and handing it back to Nami. 

"Now that you mention it, I can't help but think the world's geography really does seem synthetic and not natural", Nami said, theorizing answers in her mind, eager to solve the mystery. 

Gaimon then explained to them the horrors of the Grand Line, saying that the One Piece was nothing more than a dream within a dream. 

"Don't worry, old man, I'll find the One Piece. Besides, I'm lucky, so there's no need to worry", Luffy said with a smile. 

Chouchou barked a few times, agreeing with Luffy. 

"By the way, do you want us to take you off this island and to an inhabited one?", Nami asked, offering Gaimon a ride. 

"...Sigh... I can't leave this island. Twenty years ago, I was a pirate. Our crew had come to this island in search of treasure, but we found nothing. As we were preparing to leave, I decided to check a high place we hadn't seen before. Up there, I found several chests, but I slipped and fell, passed out, and when I woke up, I was already stuck in this chest. I found out my crew had left, and since I couldn't climb up there, I've been guarding this treasure for the last twenty years." 

"Whoa, do you want us to get the treasure for you?", Luffy asked. 

"If you can, I'd appreciate it." 

"Alright, let's help the old man", Nami said. She then saw Luffy looking at her strangely and said, "What? I'm not going to steal from him; I have my principles." 

They went to the location where Luffy quickly jumped to the top and said, "Yeah, there are about five chests up here." 

"Alright, Luffy, bring them down here", Nami said, already eager for the treasure. 

"I can't", Luffy said, sitting on the edge of the place. 

"What do you mean you can't? Stop messing around and bring those chests down", Nami said, starting to get angry. 

"It's alright, there's nothing inside them, right Straw Hat?", Gaimon asked, starting to tear up. 

"That's right." 

Chouchou rubbed against Gaimon, trying to comfort him. 

"It's okay, I had thought about that possibility many times. I just really needed to know." 

"Look on the bright side, old man, you lived long enough to see whether or not there was treasure", Luffy said, trying to cheer him up. 

=Scene Break= 

"Are you sure you don't want a ride?", Nami asked Gaimon, still offering him a ride. 

"Nah, I'm still the guardian of this island, and I've grown attached to the animals here, so I'll protect them from now on. But it's good to know there's no treasure; I feel relieved in a way", Gaimon said with a smile. 

"Well, goodbye then, old man", Luffy said with a grin. 

Chouchou also said goodbye to Gaimon in what sounded like a bark. 

They set off once again, this time towards Syrup Village. 

And while all of this was happening, Zoro still slept peacefully, showing no signs of waking anytime soon. 

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(AN: 2,100 Words)

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