Chapter 70 Capturing the Navigator Monkey and Encountering a Sky Island Projection"That's right, all the shipwrecks in this area belong to me!"
The ape-man smugly shook his head, looking utterly obnoxious. "You guys didn't secretly try to salvage my treasures, did you? Hmm?"
Luffy smiled at the ape-man, a meaningful smile. He turned to Nami excitedly and said, "Look, here comes our ready-made guide!"
The ape-man flew into a rage upon hearing this: "Who are you people? How dare you ask me to lead the way? You must be tired of living!"
Zoro, without a word, drew his sword and stepped forward, the blade gleaming coldly in the sunlight.
Sanji, on the other hand, calmly lit a cigarette and took a deep drag.
The two of them then leaped onto the opposite pirate ship with a "whoosh," like cannonballs.
Five minutes later.
The once arrogant ape, now bruised and battered, fawned over Luffy, "Oh, it's Vice Admiral Luffy! It's a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding! We're law-abiding citizens, perfectly law-abiding citizens! We're just shipwreck salvage workers. Look at our pirate flag… ugh! Look at our flag, it's a monkey! Have you ever seen a legitimate pirate crew use a monkey as their flag instead of a skull?"
Nami and the others watched this lightning-fast kneeling slam: "...This guy's such a coward."
"But is he human or a monkey?" Vivi asked curiously, scrutinizing the ape's atavistic appearance.
"He's probably an ape? Somewhere between the two?" Sanji analyzed, stroking his chin.
Upon hearing this, the ape beamed with joy, even the pain from his injuries vanishing. "Thank you for the compliment! So I'm really that ape-like? That's the highest praise I can receive!"
Everyone was speechless. "...We weren't complimenting you!"
Luffy waved his hand at them. "Alright, this guy works for Roland's descendants; he's the navigator ape we're looking for."
The ape continued grinning foolishly. "Hahaha, navigator ape, I love that title!"
Just then, the calm sea suddenly trembled violently, as if some colossal creature was awakening deep within.
Below the ship, a gigantic black shadow slowly emerged, its depths unfathomable.
Splash!
A terrifying giant turtle suddenly rose from the surface, its size so immense it blotted out the sky. The Going Merry was no bigger than a single piece of its shell.
Nami stared wide-eyed at the tortoise shell that seemed to be moving land, utterly bewildered: "What the hell is that?! Is land floating up?"
Usopp covered his eyes and shouted, "I don't know! I don't know! I didn't see anything! This must be a dream! Wake up!"
Chopper, sweating profusely, forced a smile that looked more like a grimace, trying to convince himself, "Is it a dream? Really? Then I'm relieved."
Nami, Usopp, and Chopper simultaneously wiped the cold sweat from their brows: "Ah, it was just a dream..."
Zoro looked at the three clowns speechlessly: "Are you idiots? There's a limit to escaping reality!"
Just then, the giant tortoise's enormous eye suddenly turned, its gaze locking onto the tiny Going Merry below.
Nami, Usopp, and Chopper's hair stood on end, their souls nearly leaving their bodies: "Aaaaah! Run! What are you waiting for? We're going to be eaten!"
In that instant, the once clear sky was suddenly shrouded in dark, thunderclouds, plunging the light into darkness.
Then, several terrifying, gigantic black shadows, tens of thousands of meters tall and with wings, appeared on the distant sea surface—a scene straight out of the apocalypse.
Even the giant turtle from before was nothing compared to these shadows, barely the size of a fingernail.
Everyone stared in stunned disbelief as these seemingly endless shadows slowly raised their spears; the oppressive aura was almost suffocating.
"A monster!!!"
Everyone screamed in terror. Such a creature was beyond human comprehension, leaving Zoro and the others without even the courage to draw their swords.
Only Luffy watched the enormous black shadow with interest, a slight smile playing on his lips. "So this is the Skypiea projection formed on the Thundercloud? It's quite spectacular. I wish I could go up there and step on it."
Zoro roared at Luffy, "Is this the time for sighs?! Run!! Or you'll be crushed!"
Chopper and Sanji instantly transformed into electric motors, their arms whipping around like wheels of fire, frantically paddling the oars.
The Going Merry, originally powered by the wind, now sped across the sea like a runaway dog.
The giant turtle, which had been planning to hunt, let out a mournful howl and dived into the deep sea without looking back, afraid of being crushed by the shadow if it was too slow.
"Oh~ I'm flying~"
Luffy sat atop the goat's head, enjoying the sea breeze, and smiled contentedly.
Exhausted from paddling like madmen, Zoro and Sanji roared in frustration, "You fucking come paddle already!! Are you trying to die, you idiot?!"
Luffy chuckled, remaining unmoved. If he hadn't known the shadow was just a mirage projected by the Skypiea people, even he might have been startled.
After all, the projection was so huge and realistic, it was utterly despairing. The Gedo Mazo from Naruto would probably be nothing more than an ant compared to this shadow.
Once Zoro and the others had painstakingly paddled the Going Merry out of the cumulonimbus cloud's reach, everyone collapsed onto the deck, panting heavily, their lungs feeling like they were about to explode.
"Huff...huff! It's...unbelievable!" Zoro gasped, his voice trembling.
Usopp took a deep breath, feeling like he'd just escaped death: "Unbelievably huge, this world is insane."
Sanji, his hand trembling, lit a cigarette, trying to calm his shaky heart: "Hiss... This Grand Line is full of weird things."
The ape nodded frantically beside him: "Yeah!! That's terrifying!"
Everyone finally reacted, turning to look at him in unison: "...Eh? What are you doing on our ship?"
"Haha, of course I brought him," Luffy laughed, "We need this monkey to guide us to Jaya Island."
"You're going to Jaya?" the ape looked at them strangely, "But my Perpetual Pose landed on that pirate ship we just saw!"
Everyone: "..."
The air froze again.
"Then what good are you?!" The roar of the crowd echoed through the sky.
...
"Damn it! We're almost out of food!"
Sanji frowned, looking at the dwindling ingredients in the legendary kitchen treasury, and shouted to Luffy outside:
"Hey, Luffy! Stop playing around and get some fish! Otherwise, we'll all starve!"
Vivi saw Luffy fishing by the ship and curiously walked over: "Why haven't you caught anything after all this time? Is the bait bad?"
The next second, she saw her mount—the fast-running duck Karu—being tied to a fishing rod by Luffy and Usopp, struggling wildly in the sea: "Quack quack quack quack!!!"
A huge tic-tac-toe expression instantly appeared on Vivi's forehead: (╬￣皿￣)!!
Thump thump!
After two muffled thuds, Vivi, still fuming, carried a soaking wet Karu to C.C. for afternoon tea to calm her nerves.
Leaving Luffy and Usopp, with two huge bumps on their heads, sprawled on the deck like two salted fish.
"Sigh, I was hoping to catch a Sea King to improve our meals."
"Maybe Sea Kings don't really want to eat duck? Too much feathers?"
"What do Sea Kings usually eat?"
"Humans?"
Usopp froze: "..."
"Hey, Luffy, don't look at me like I'm food, you idiot! What are you doing? Let go of me! Yamete!!"
Thump thump!
Nami, fists blazing, roared at Luffy and Usopp, "Have you two had enough?! As captain, shouldn't you be thinking about how we're going to get out of here, lost on the Grand Line and about to be eaten by fish?"
Then, Nami instantly switched into her dramatic persona, feigning pitifulness and clutching her chest, "Poor me, I'm just an eighteen-year-old girl in the prime of my youth, I've never even been in love..."
Immediately, her expression changed, transforming her into a vengeful demon: "Get me a plan! We need to get to the next island! I don't want to die on this crumbling ship with you bunch of idiots!!"
Luffy and Usopp, clutching their heads, weakly replied, "...Okay, we got it."
Nami raised her fist again: "(╬￣皿￣)!!! Hurry up and go!"
In an instant, the two of them perked up and took off running, afraid of getting beaten up if they were even a second late.
"You must be exhausted, Miss Navigator."
Robin said to Nami with a smile, watching Luffy slip away like a rabbit.
Nami sighed helplessly, feeling like she was getting wrinkles: "You know, even though this guy's usually unreliable, he's actually pretty dependable when it counts."
"Lightning Spear!!"
Just then, Luffy roared, and a terrifying current instantly coalesced into a blue-white spear, piercing straight into the sea with destructive force.
With a deafening boom, a gigantic wave erupted from the sea, blasting countless belly-up fish into the air.
The crew of the Going Merry felt a jolt of electricity run through them, their hair standing on end, instantly transforming them into afros.
Nami gritted her teeth, her hair still smoldering: "(╬￣皿￣)!! Luffy!!!"
Luffy shuddered and yelled, "I'm going to fish! Don't hit me!"
Then he darted off from the Going Merry, jumping into the sea and disappearing from sight.
"Heavens! Why did I end up with such a troublesome captain?!"
Nami clutched her afro, letting out a desperate wail.
Robin, standing nearby, covered her mouth and chuckled, watching her energetic crewmates, her gloom receding somewhat.
Meanwhile, in another stretch of water not far from the Going Merry,
a pirate ship bearing a strange SF marking was slowly sailing.