Warship Island, by the shore.
The setting sun had dyed the sea blood-red, and amid the shimmering waves lingered the desolation and tranquility after battle.
The Merry rose and fell gently with the tide, its hull occasionally letting out a creak.
"They're back! They're back!"
Usopp, who had been anxiously pacing the deck, spotted several figures approaching from beneath the distant cliff and shouted, pointing at them.
Nami hurried to the rail, but when she saw what they looked like, her heart skipped a beat.
Ronan, Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji were all in tattered clothes, covered head to toe in blood.
Luffy's red vest had a huge hole in it, Zoro's clothes were stained with blood, and Sanji was limping badly.
Most eye-catching of all was Ronan. His hands were empty; the Zhangba Iron Spear he never went anywhere without was gone.
A lingering scent of gunpowder smoke and bloody scent still hung around him, enough to make one's heart tremble.
"Oh my god... How did you get hurt this badly?"
Nami covered her mouth, her eyes full of worry. "Don't tell me... even you couldn't defeat those Thousand-Year Dragons? What kind of terrifying monsters were they?"
"I told you!"
Though Usopp's legs had gone weak with fright, seeing his companions return alive still made him breathe a sigh of relief. He patted his chest and said,
"How could creatures that look like dinosaurs possibly be easy to deal with? But... it's really great that you came back safely, and none of you lost an arm or a leg!"
Ronan jumped onto the deck, accepted the towel Nami handed him, and wiped the blood from his face. His expression remained as calm as ever.
"Yeah, there was a bit of an accident. But it wasn't a big problem. As for