Unpredictable Town of Welcome

Rumble~~~

Heavy snow fell, and thunder and lightning sounded in the sky simultaneously! In a normal world, this would have caused many heartbroken lovers to despair.

As the saying goes, "Winter thunder rumbles, summer rain falls, mountains have no ridges, heaven and earth are one, only then dare I be separated from you!"

These are "natural" phenomena that exist in the Grand Line.

"As Roman said..."

Nami, wearing a cotton coat and earmuffs, looked at the Log Pose in her hand. She felt the Golden Merry was sailing in a straight line, but the pointer kept shifting to one side.

"Roman, turn the helm to port!"

As Nami commanded, Roman, who was in 'auto-pilot' mode, immediately turned the ship's wheel. Meanwhile, in the ship's cabin, the fake prince Mr.9 and the real princess Miss Wednesday, wrapped in blankets, complained to Nami.

"It's so cold."

"Doesn't this ship have any heating equipment?"

?

Bang!

"Where do you think you are? Get out and help shovel snow!"

As soon as the two were driven out of the cabin by Nami, the sky, which had been covered in heavy snow, suddenly cleared up, and a gentle spring breeze began to blow.

??

"What the hell is this..."

Unfortunately, before the gentle spring breeze could blow for a few minutes, the air was suddenly filled with a dense fog! The visibility was exaggeratedly less than ten meters.

"It's foggy..."

"Be careful, there's an iceberg ahead!!"

"Quick, quick, turn—"

Bang!

"Roman, turn the helm to starboard."

"Usopp, Sanji, grab your tools and check the ship's hull. If there's any leakage, fix it quickly!"

"Luffy, turn the mainsail to face the wind, catch the wind from the port side..."

"You two, you're in charge of the jib sail..."

Everyone was running around at Nami's command, even the two passengers. Everyone except Zoro, who was sleeping leaning against the ship's rail. Let alone mere lightning and thunder, wind, frost, rain, and snow, even Nami's kicks couldn't wake him up! In the end, they had to give up on that guy...

"Come on, everyone eat while you work~~"

With Sanji's help, various foods that could quickly replenish energy were constantly being made, providing continuous energy for everyone rushing around. But:

"Luffy! Don't eat and take at the same time!!"

"I want some too~~"

"Of course, my mysterious Miss Wednesday~~"

"I want some too~~"

"Don't you have hands? Do you expect me to feed you?"

"The weather is changing so fast!"

With a sudden gust of wind, waves several times higher than the Golden Merry suddenly struck, forcing Nami to deal with them exhaustedly.

"Luffy, furl the sails—"

"Damn it, the pointer is off again..."

"Roman, turn starboard!"

While facing all sorts of harsh environments and needing to rapidly adjust the ship's course, the busy Nami couldn't help but miss the time when Roman was normal: he could always resolve various crises with his Devil Fruit ability...

No!

She shook her head fiercely, throwing away the weak thought.

Nami, you are the Navigator of this ship. If you rely on others for your own duties, what kind of nakama are you?

"Quick, quick, everyone get moving..."

Bang!

Under the lighthouse of Twin Cape, the old man Croccus punched out, turning half of 'Roman's' head into flying scraps of paper.

"Concentrate! Getting distracted during a fight, are you looking down on me?"

Facing the stern Croccus, Roman, with his eyes 'closed', bowed and apologized.

"I'm sorry, it seems my 'main body' just experienced some chaos..."

"So you're going 'back'?"

Facing the old man's question, Roman, who had kept his eyes closed, shook his head.

"No need, I trust Luffy and Nami."

"Hmph, then let's continue—"

After interacting with him, Croccus found that the young man named Roman was eager to improve his strength, and it didn't seem to be for himself. Judging by how he inadvertently revealed his extensive knowledge of many major powers and secrets in the New World, this kid's background must be quite prominent!

If he hadn't joined the 'Straw Hat' crew, he would have had plenty of time to steadily improve his strength. Instead of trading secrets for Haki training with him like he was doing now.

What a shame.

Learning through a puppet could never compare to one's true body. He wondered how much this kid could actually learn?

"Your comprehension of Armament Haki is too poor."

"Experts who are proficient in Armament Haki are basically close-combat masters who have 100% confidence in their own bodies..."

"Although your martial arts are good, you're more accustomed to relying on external defenses rather than wholeheartedly pouring your spirit into your muscles..."

Roman felt wronged by Croccus's words. He was now a tough guy who could face sword slashes and axe chops without batting an eye, and speaking of fearing injury...

"Charlotte Cracker from Yonko Big Mom's crew always fights from within biscuit puppets created by his ability. That guy is so afraid of needles, am I not tougher than him?"

Roman was unconvinced!

"You know quite a lot. Then tell me, how old is that Charlotte Cracker this year?"

Uh...

"That kid is 43 this year, and you?"

Fine...

"With your talent, you can catch up to him in twenty years. However:"

But Roman didn't even have twenty years, let alone twenty! Two months...

"Alright, let's continue."

Since his talent for Armament Haki was lacking, they might as well develop Observation Haki first.

Grumble grumble~~

It was calm and peaceful, with seagulls flying in the sky.

On the Golden Merry, Zoro stretched and stood up.

"I had a good sleep~~"

Looking around, Nami, Usopp, Sanji... and the others were sprawled on the deck.

"Hey, hey, hey, even if the weather is good, you shouldn't be so lazy? — Are we making progress according to the route?"

You—!!!

The guys who were exhausted on the deck didn't even have the strength to curse. Who knew how Zoro managed to sleep soundly through thunderstorms and raging waves?

Even a pig wouldn't sleep as soundly as him.

Zoro then looked at Mr.9 and Miss. Wednesday, who were also exhausted, and asked with belated realization, frowning.

"Why are these two on our ship?"

...You're too slow!

"We're heading towards their town now." This was Luffy, who was the only one not lying down, sitting at the bow of the ship. In fact, he didn't even show any signs of exhaustion, which was a testament to his incredible stamina.

"We have no obligation to send them home,"

Facing Zoro's question, Luffy grinned.

"Yeah, no."

"Alright, you're the captain, you call the shots. But—"

Zoro squatted down, looking at Mr.9 and Miss. Wednesday on the ground, and chuckled evilly, stroking his chin.

"Mr.9 and Miss. Wednesday, right?"

"Your names remind me of some interesting things, what could they be..."

Bang!

However, before Zoro could finish 'intimidating' the two stowaways, Nami punched him on the back of the head.

"You guy,"

"We were all so busy, and you were the only one sleeping soundly!"

"Huh?!"

Zoro turned around, dark veins bulging on his forehead.

Zoro was furious!

Bang bang bang bang—

????

Sitting dumbfounded on the deck, Zoro, with a head full of bumps and a question mark plastered on his face, thought, Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?

Zoro fell silent!

"In short, we've truly witnessed the terror of the Grand Line!"

Nami stood before the ship's wheel, facing everyone. Beside her was Roman, whose expression had devolved into an 'abababa' state from prolonged inactivity. Fortunately, it didn't affect his ability to follow Nami's commands.

"My previous Navigation skills are completely useless here, that's undeniable..."

"Hey, don't get discouraged!"

Facing the concern of her good 'friend' Usopp, Nami smiled confidently.

"Even so, we can still find a way forward. — Look,"

Not too far ahead, an island resembling a 'cactus' loomed faintly.

"For the first round, we won!"

Just then, two people named Mr.9 and Miss Wednesday leaped onto the ship's rail simultaneously, their movements so synchronized it made one suspect they'd rehearsed it many times.

Snap! x2

"Thank you for sending us back~~"

"Farewell, my darlings~~"

A 360-degree backflip into the water, no splash, perfect! x2

"These two guys..."

Were they here just to be funny?

"Never mind them, let's head to the island."

Nami raised the Log Pose on her wrist and explained to Luffy, Zoro, and the others.

"According to Roman, the Log Pose needs to 'recharge' its magnetism on an island before it can point to the next one."

"This could take a few hours, or it could take days..."

"In other words, if there are monsters on the island..." Usopp's face turned pale, "Everyone, I've come down with 'can't-go-on-the-island' sickness..."

However, as the Golden Merry slowly approached:

"Welcome~~!!"

"Welcome, heroes of the sea—"

"This is the welcoming town, 'Whiskey Peak,' brave men of the sea!"

Instead of monsters or beasts, or weapons and cannons, the arrival of the Golden Merry was met by a dock packed with an enthusiastic crowd! They waved various flags, their faces beaming with warm smiles, cheering loudly and heartily welcoming Luffy and the others.

"Ooooh ooooh ooooh~~~"

"As expected, Pirates are the heroes of the sea~~"

Faced with the cheering crowd, Luffy and Usopp responded with loud excitement. Even Sanji was mesmerized by the women in the crowd. Only Zoro sighed, holding his forehead, while Nami quietly whispered the 'code' into Roman's ear.

!

In an instant, Roman, who had been in a dazed, 'abababa' state looking up at the sky, suddenly 'snapped back to reality,' his eyes sharp as knives!

"Nami, this is..."

"We've reached the first small island of the Grand Line: 'Whiskey Peak Town.' You've seen the surrounding situation — it's very abnormal."

This is it?

Roman rubbed his chin and nodded.

"I understand,"

"You guys go 'play,' I'll watch the ship."