Somewhere on the East Blue, Tom and the others were sailing on the Going Merry, heading for the Grand Line.
When they had first set sail from Syrup Village, they had toasted with drinks to celebrate their new crew member, Usopp, and their new ship.
Three days had passed since leaving Syrup Village.
Tom was on deck, fiddling with the fishing rod and accessories Kaya had given him. Yesterday, when Zoro and Usopp learned Tom called his freely extendable rod the "As-I-Will-It Rod," their reactions nearly made him blow his top.
"Do you know what color my hair is?" Zoro had asked, looking seriously at the silver-gray rod in Tom's hand.
"You think I'm an idiot? It's green, you green-haired bastard!" Tom couldn't stand Zoro treating him like someone who couldn't even distinguish colors.
"If you're trying to learn how to lie like me, this isn't the way. People will see right through it," Usopp had said, wagging his index finger with an air of superiority. "It took me decades to master this peerless art of deception. People call me the Great Captain Usopp. Compared to me, you're still too inexperienced."
Unfortunately, before Usopp could finish his self-aggrandizement, Tom had turned and walked away with a dark face, thinking talking to these two was a waste of time.
"Hey! Listen to me properly!" Usopp had been happily boasting one moment, only to find Tom and Zoro walking off in different directions the next, leaving him standing alone.
While examining the rod's accessories, Tom discovered there was actually another, identical fishing rod in the bag. This meant Tom effectively had two freely extendable rods. To his surprise, the two rods could also be combined. He had initially thought the extra rod was a spare, but now it seemed that wasn't the case.
Tom laid out the dozen or so accessories and looked them over one by one. His attention was quickly drawn to two watch-like devices.
That night, Tom sought out Usopp. After talking with him for a long time, he handed over the two rods and accessories.
A few more peaceful days passed. During this time, the sprain in Tom's right foot had mostly healed, and he resumed his usual intense training regimen. He did over a thousand frog hops back and forth across the deck, followed by over seven hundred one-handed push-ups while in a handstand, switching hands. By the end, he nearly cramped up and lay limp on the deck. Nami, wearing a stern expression, ended up feeding him.
Luffy had wanted to help, but Tom refused. He'd been burned by Luffy before—the captain would just shove massive amounts of food into his mouth. He was lucky not to have choked to death last time; he didn't dare trouble the captain again.
After Tom had eaten his fill, Nami smiled and held out her hand to him. "That'll be one hundred thousand Berries, please."
"I know you don't have the money," Nami said, and under Tom's astonished gaze, she took out a small notebook and efficiently recorded what she had done for Tom today and how much he owed her.
Tom secretly glanced at the notebook in Nami's hand. It was densely packed with entries, most of which were records of Tom owing her money for various things.
"Today, after Tom finished training, he walked past me. His sweaty smell stank me out. Charge him 500,000 Berries."
"At night while sleeping, Tom's loud snoring kept me awake. Charge him 700,000 Berries."
"In the morning, Luffy and I had a small argument about our course. Tom didn't speak up for me. Charge him 300,000 Berries."
"I wanted to take a nice bath and asked Usopp to heat water. He was busy with other research. Tom happened to walk by but just said hello and went to rest. That idiot. Charge him 1,000,000 Berries."
"At noon, I had things to do and wanted Zoro to watch the ship's heading. He said he needed to practice swordsmanship. Luffy wasn't suitable for the job. Usopp was busy. I had to go find Tom, but after searching the entire ship, I found he was doing special training with Zoro. He's a super big idiot. Charge him 2,000,000 Berries."
Seeing that Nami's notebook was almost entirely filled with things like this, Tom was completely dumbfounded. Unknowingly, he had accrued yet another massive debt to her.
"How dare you peek at my privacy, you idiot!" Nami's face flashed with a blush as she saw Tom had apparently read her notes. She then raised an iron fist and punched Tom flat.
Damn, this woman's crazy! She has the nerve to write it but is afraid someone will see it? Tom thought, utterly baffled, watching Nami's graceful figure stride away.
Two more days passed quickly. For Tom and the others, this day held special commemorative significance, as their ship finally had an official Jolly Roger.
"Everyone, look! This is the Jolly Roger I drew! From now on, it's our crew's symbol!" Luffy said, displaying the freshly made flag with a proud grin. "I thought about this design for a long time. You're satisfied, right?"
Tom looked at the flag in Luffy's hand. It depicted a skull wearing a straw hat. Not only were the skull's hollow eyes uneven in size, but it was also cockeyed with a crooked mouth. The upper and lower teeth were extremely asymmetrical. At first glance, it looked like a deformed freak—extremely ugly.
"What are you doing?" Nami asked curiously, seeing Tom look for a piece of cloth after seeing Luffy's flag.
"With such a ridiculous-looking Jolly Roger as our symbol, I'd better cover my face quickly to avoid embarrassment," Tom said, covering his face with the cloth.
"That's so rude... but thinking about it, it really is quite scary. I'm referring to his drawing skills," Nami said, lightly punching Tom's face. She looked at the flag in Luffy's hand and pondered for a while.
"True. That guy has zero artistic talent. Maybe I should find a cloth to cover my face too," Usopp said dumbly, his jaw nearly hitting the deck as he stared at the flag.
"A Jolly Roger should be a symbol of death. But in a certain sense, his flag really would scare people if you look at it," Zoro said, arms crossed, a vein already bulging on his forehead.
"What's with those reactions? I worked hard to draw this!" Luffy said, not pleased upon hearing their comments. He turned to Tom. "You say my flag is embarrassing? Then you draw one."
"How could something like that possibly stump me?" Tom said full of confidence. He had learned some sketching a while back; drawing a Jolly Roger would be easy, right?
A few minutes later, Tom revealed the Jolly Roger he had just drawn to Luffy and the others. "Well? See? This is what you call true art."
Silence. Everyone looked at the flag in Tom's hand, saying nothing.
"Did you actually finish drawing it?" Nami asked skeptically.
"Of course. Can't you see it?" Tom said displeased, feeling questioned.
"Isn't your flag just pitch black with nothing on it?" Usopp asked, rubbing his eyes and looking at the flag a few more times.
"You're not joking with us, are you?" Zoro also asked suspiciously.
"Where exactly is the skull you drew?" Luffy asked, snatching the seemingly pitch-black, empty flag from Tom's hand, looking it over repeatedly but finding nothing.
"You guys have terrible eyesight. The skull emblem is right here!" Tom said with a stern face, spreading the flag out and pointing to the upper left corner.
Looking where Tom pointed, they finally noticed there seemed to be something drawn in the upper left corner of the flag. It was just a bit small and hard to see clearly.
"It's true! You really drew such a delicate little straw-hat skull here. It's really well drawn," Usopp said, putting on his sniper wind goggles and finally seeing the straw hat skull emblem clearly. It was only about the size of an index finger in the corner, but it was indeed well crafted.
"You drew it well, but what's the use of it being so small?" Nami said, lowering her head to take a close look at the small emblem. She thought if it were enlarged several dozen times, it would be perfect.
"Uh..." Tom sweatdropped. He had tried drawing it bigger initially, but it didn't work. The larger he drew the straw hat skull, the more it distorted. Eventually, shrinking it to index-finger size, he was finally satisfied. He'd even specially borrowed Nami's chart-drawing pen to color it, but the result wasn't great.
"And you dared to say mine wasn't good? Isn't yours even worse?" Luffy said, stroking his chin. At least his was visible.
"Yours is hideous. How can you compare it to mine?" Tom sincerely thought Luffy's flag was ugly and said so without hesitation.
"You're the dumb one. Whose Jolly Roger emblem is that small?"
"You're the dumb one. Whose Jolly Roger is as ugly as the one you drew?"
Luffy and Tom started arguing and soon got into a scuffle.
"You two are completely unreliable. Let me give it a try," Usopp said, seeing Luffy and Tom rolling around on the deck brawling. He figured it was better to step up himself.
Fifteen minutes later, a brand new Jolly Roger was born. This time, everyone was satisfied with the straw hat skull flag Usopp drew.
(Initially, Usopp had drawn a flag with a long-nosed skull, but Luffy and the others had beaten him up for it.)
After a while, Usopp finally painted the straw hat skull emblem onto the sail as well.
From then on, Tom and the others finally had their own Jolly Roger. They could be considered deserving of the name, true pirates. At the very least, anyone seeing the straw hat skull flag fluttering on their ship would know it was a pirate vessel.
"To celebrate the birth of our Jolly Roger, I'm going to eat a huge feast!" Luffy said, looking up at the flag on the sail, grinning widely at Tom.
"Good. Let me show you my new hunting method," Tom said, taking the two rods and accessories from Usopp. He had given these to Usopp earlier to ask for modifications, and now they were finished.
"What is that?" Luffy asked, eyes sparkling at the devices Tom was wearing on his wrists.
"You'll see soon," Tom said with a mischievous grin. The watch-like things on his wrists were part of the rod's accessories.
"Those big birds in the sky look familiar. Have we seen them before?" Luffy said, reaching to touch the things on Tom's wrists when he accidentally saw two large birds flying in the sky not far away.
"Aren't those birds the same kind that carried you two away last time?" Zoro said, looking up at the birds in the sky, to Tom and Luffy.
"What do you mean they were carried off by birds? What happened?" Usopp and Nami showed gossipy expressions, asking Zoro.
So, Zoro explained in detail the incident where Tom and Luffy were carried off by the giant bird.
"You two are really stupid, getting carried off by a bird. That's hilarious!"
"Exactly! One of you is the captain, the other claims to be the world's greatest hunter, yet even a bird could bully you. Ahahahaha!"
Nami and Usopp laughed happily. Their words made Tom's and Luffy's faces turn as black as charcoal.
"Why do I feel really unhappy seeing them laugh now?" Luffy picked his nose, seeing Usopp and Nami laughing so hard they couldn't straighten their backs, feeling inexplicably annoyed.
"What do you think? We're being mocked," Tom said to the slow Luffy. He felt like smashing Zoro into the sea to feed the turtles. Who knew this green-haired guy, usually quiet, would spill his embarrassing past the moment he started talking more?
"Watch closely. I'm going to take care of those two idiot birds flying over right now," Tom said resolutely, merging the two rods together and looking up at the large birds about forty meters up in the sky.
"Those birds are flying pretty high. Are you going to wait for them to fly lower and catch them with a net again? But you don't have a net now," Luffy said. He had thought it was a shame they didn't get to eat that bird last time. If there was a chance now, he'd really enjoy tasting their flavor.
"No need for trouble like that. I'll go up and grab them directly," Tom said. As he spoke, he extended the rod and drove it into the ship's deck.
Under the astonished gazes of Nami and the others, Tom grabbed the rod and kept extending it. In moments, the rod stretched to about forty meters. Holding onto the rod's top end with one hand, Tom was lifted high into the air, almost at eye level with the two approaching large birds.
"Whoa! That looks like fun! Go for it, Tom!" Luffy said, getting excited seeing Tom hanging from the top of the nearly forty-meter-long rod—a distance even his own arms would struggle to reach.
"What is he doing going up so high? What if he falls?" Nami held her head, her expression somewhat panicked. What would happen if Tom fell from a rod almost forty meters long?
"Tom! How dare you damage the ship! Be careful or I'll beat you up!" Usopp shouted up at Tom, hanging high on the fishing rod, seeing the rod had made a small hole in the deck.
"What's he trying to do? Even if he reaches their height, it'll be hard to catch them, right?" Zoro muttered to himself, looking up at Tom high above.
I must wash away this disgrace this time. Otherwise, I'll be laughed at for the rest of my life for being beaten by a bird.
Just as Tom was thinking this, two large birds flew toward him. These bald-headed birds had clearly seen Tom and let out simultaneous strange cries.
"Perfect timing!" Tom saw the two birds flapping their wings, beaks open, swooping at him from left and right. He took a deep breath and prepared to act.
These two birds were even slightly larger than the one that had carried Tom off last time. With wings fully spread, they were nearly fourteen meters wide.
As the birds closed in, Tom pushed off from the rod with his feet and pounced toward the two oncoming birds.
"What is he doing? If he lets go like that, won't he fall?" Nami on the deck saw Tom jump from the top of the nearly forty-meter rod, moving farther from the rod and starting to fall. She was so frightened her face turned pale.
"So cool! Tom, take those birds down!" Luffy remained calm, cheering Tom on.
"This guy is too reckless. Even though I helped modify those things for him, this is his first time using them. If something goes wrong mid-air, it'll be bad," Usopp thought Tom had guts but was a bit worried for him.
"What did you modify for him?" Zoro asked Usopp beside him, watching Tom battling the birds in the sky.
Having jumped from the rod, Tom was now falling rapidly. He aimed the device on his right wrist at the bird above him.
Whoosh!
A giant net shot out from the device on Tom's wrist, instantly entangling the bird trying to grab him with its sharp talons.
Tom then grabbed the net holding the bird and extended his left hand, aiming the device on his left wrist at the fishing rod.
Zing!
A thin line shot out from the device on Tom's left wrist. Upon contacting the rod, it stuck firmly.
And so, Tom, suspended in mid-air, right hand gripping the net holding a bird, left hand gripping the line stuck to the rod, and began swinging in circles in mid-air, leaving Luffy and the others on the deck below dumbfounded.
"Why are strange lines and nets shooting out of his hands?!" Nami looked utterly shocked.
"This is really awesome! Can he shoot these things out of his butt too? So amazing!" Luffy looked up at Tom, swinging from the line and net, using the rod to circle in the sky while casually kicking away the other, un-netted bird. His eyes sparkled, though his words were questionable.
"Don't say such disgusting things!" Nami punched Luffy flat.
"That's really convenient for him," Zoro said, seeing Tom in the air. With the line that could stick to things, he could maintain a high degree of agility to a considerable extent.
"Of course! What he's wearing on his hands are the modified net launcher and fishing line launcher I helped him with. Now both can shoot nets and lines. Under my humble guidance, he can use them so skillfully. It wasn't a waste of my painstaking effort," Usopp said, unable to resist starting to brag.
Seeing the other bird refusing to give up, flying back ferociously even after being kicked away, Tom, holding one bird, found it inconvenient. He decided to reel in the fishing line first. With his left hand, he punched the netted bird unconscious.
Tom then threw the unconscious bird along with the net down onto the deck below. While falling, he shot another line from his left hand, sticking it to the long rod.
Grabbing the line, Tom swung in a circle through the air, arcing upward to come above the remaining bird. He delivered a fierce kick to the bird's head, making its eyes roll back, and it weakly fell down.
Seeing the bird about to fall into the sea, Tom quickly switched, shooting a line from his right hand to stick to the rod. With his left hand, he launched a net, capturing the falling bird.
Just as Tom, grabbing the fishing line with both hands, caught up to the falling bird and grabbed the net, he suddenly felt his direction change. He began falling at high speed, even though his line was still attached to the rod.
Soon, Tom realized the rod inserted into the ship had become tilted. It was likely due to enduring massive external force several times in a row.
If the rod kept tilting, Tom would fall into the sea. With no other choice, Tom had to reel in the line while grabbing the rod, quickly shortening it.
As the rod kept shrinking, Tom, still holding the net with a bird, sped toward the ship.
But the rod retracted too fast. Before Tom could react, he along with the netted bird crashed into Luffy and the others on deck.
Luffy and the others had just dodged the first bird Tom threw down and hadn't caught their breath when Tom, holding the other bird, crashed into them, sending them flying in all directions, dizzy and disoriented.
BOOM!
The entire Going Merry bounced on the sea's surface, showing clearly how great the impact force of Tom and the bird hitting the deck was.
Now, Tom, like Luffy and the others, lay spreadeagled on the deck, stars spinning in his eyes, unable to get up for a while...
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T/N :
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