Town of Welcome?

The Merry sailed through a blizzard of goose-down snow on the turbulent sea.

"What the heck! It was raining just a moment ago, how did it start snowing again!"

"This is the Grand Line's weather, it's truly bizarre."

"It's just like Uncle Crocus said. Luckily, Lina bought clothes for all four seasons in Loguetown beforehand."

On the Merry's deck, Nami, with a scarf wrapped around her neck and wearing earmuffs, shivered despite her down jacket.

"Women are so hard to understand."

Looking at Nami's bare, white thighs, Lina, standing beside her, complained speechlessly, "Hey Nami, if you're so cold, why don't you wear thicker pants?"

"None of your business, nya~" Nami playfully stuck out her tongue.

It had been several days since they left Loguetown and entered the Grand Line. They had met Laboon and Uncle Crocus as planned.

Through Crocus's introduction, they had also learned some information about the Grand Line.

Because the Grand Line's magnetic field was extremely chaotic, ordinary compasses were completely useless here. That was fine, though; Lina had already prepared ten of them yesterday.

The troublesome part was that the chaotic magnetic field caused the weather, currents, and wind direction here to become incredibly bizarre.

Even Nami was a bit flustered at first, adding a lot of work for Lina.

When the weather changed, his undead crew would cooperate with him to steer the ship, raise and lower the sails, and so on. They handled accumulated water during rainy days and swept snow during snowy days.

Nami even had him burn the bones of his undead to make fires for warmth, which was truly insane, not valuing the lives of skeletons at all.

"Nami, about how long until we reach the next island?" Lina asked.

Nami pondered for a moment and said, "We're about to enter the magnetic field coverage of the next island. The wind direction and currents will be relatively more stable then. If all goes smoothly, we should arrive before this evening."

"Drum Island, the first stop on the Grand Line." Lina began to look forward to it.

It had been about a year and a half since he transmigrated. He had finally accumulated enough strength to enter the Grand Line.

Luffy and Zoro's contributions were indispensable. Without their two templates, it would have been as difficult as climbing to heaven for Lina to find Kuro and Arlong with his current group of weaklings.

As long as his abilities could accumulate a certain level of strength in the early stages, he could start to snowball later.

Now, with the two undead from the Blade Demon template, the strengthened Wolverine undead (fused with the Sanji template), and the bone chain sword made from the Arlong template, he finally had decent strength for the first half of the Grand Line.

After obtaining two templates of Elbaf's giant leaders on Little Garden, there would be very few people who could threaten him in the first half of the Grand Line.

After all, the terrifying physical qualities of giants were undeniable. In his hands, the strength he could unleash would be even greater than their original bodies.

"Hee hee hee, look at my snowman Laboon!"

"Not bad, Luffy, but it's still too crude. Let me show you my Snow Queen!"

"Wahahaha, so strong, Usopp!" Luffy exclaimed excitedly.

Lina couldn't help but admire Usopp's snowman. With its exquisite crown and gorgeously styled attire, it could be said to be lifelike. But why did its appearance look so familiar?

"Tsk tsk tsk, is that Kaya?" Lina thought of a certain figure and teased Usopp, "You're not missing your gentle haven, are you, Usopp?"

"Wh-wh-what are you talking about!"

Usopp took a few steps back, his face red. "I'm going to be a Brave Warrior of the Sea! How can I be bound by romantic entanglements?"

"I think Kaya is quite nice, both beautiful and gentle. How about I bear this burden for you?"

"How dare you, you scoundrel!!!"

"Haha~~, alright, I'm just kidding." Lina turned and asked Sanji with a smile, "Our head chef, what's for lunch today?"

"Well~, that Elephant Trunk Tuna from last time is barely alive. Let's butcher it."

Sanji pondered for a moment, exhaled smoke, and said, "What should we make? Any ideas?"

Luffy: "Grilled fish!"

Usopp: "Fish head soup!"

Lina: "Sashimi!"

Zoro: "Whatever..."

"Then let's make fish head soup, sashimi with the belly, and grill the rest. As for the most delicious part, the fish nose...

--Of course, Miss Nami, the cutest one, will decide!" Sanji's eyes turned into hearts, and he instantly transformed into a pervert.

"Tch, perverted cook."

"What did you say, moss-head!"

Lina couldn't help but smile watching these two rivals. Sanji had only been on the ship for a few days, and he had already started their 'can't stand each other' routine with Zoro.

Soon, Sanji went into the kitchen to get busy, Luffy and Usopp started their fishing routine, while Lina went to the stern to lift weights with Zoro.

"You're improving very quickly, Lina," Zoro couldn't help but sigh. "It's only been less than two weeks, and your weights have increased again."

"Well~, it's mainly due to the Devil Fruit's boost. Training is twice as effective with half the effort," Lina explained.

When he first transmigrated, he was just an ordinary person with no strength to even tie a chicken. Now, his physical fitness far surpassed that of ordinary people.

Without the enhancement of an Animal-type Devil Fruit, it would be difficult for him to reach this level through training alone.

"If this continues, I'm afraid I'll be surpassed by you in less than a year." Watching Lina do push-ups with a weight of 1,200 kilograms, Zoro couldn't help but grip his dumbbells tighter.

"Not at all, I'm not the only one improving. I'm still a long way from catching up to you." Lina looked at the 2,100-kilogram dumbbells in Zoro's hands and unconsciously exerted a little more force.

The two continued to compete silently until Sanji called them for a meal.

After eating, Lina returned to the crow's nest to keep watch, bringing his dumbbells with him.

It wasn't until dusk, as the sun was about to touch the horizon, that Lina finally spotted a small island.

From a distance, he could vaguely see rows of houses, with several giant cactus-shaped peaks behind the town.

"Everyone! I see the island, there's a town on it." He shouted down to the others, lit a cigarette, and watched as the ship slowly approached.

Luffy and the others immediately got excited. After all, they had been sailing on the ship for several days, and they had finally arrived at a lively island.

This island was called Drum Island. A river divided the island in two, and the Merry followed the river into an inland port.

"Pirates!"

"Quick, inform everyone that pirates have arrived!"

Someone at the port spotted the pirate ship and hurried into the town. After a while, the port was filled with villagers.

Strangely, not only were the villagers not panicked, but they all looked excited.

"Brave Warriors of the Sea!"

"Welcome to Whiskey Peak!"

Listening to the bustling cheers from the port, several of them looked bewildered. Only Luffy and Usopp looked excited.

"Hello everyone!"

"Waaah~~, they called me a Brave Warrior of the Sea."

Compared to their reactions, Nami and the others seemed much more normal.

"Did I hear that right? They're welcoming pirates?"

"Heh, what a strange town." Zoro surveyed the 'villagers' below the ship with interest.

Soon, everyone disembarked. Lina dropped anchor, secured the Merry, and then jumped down.

A tall man with fluffy, curly hair walked out, cleared his throat as if a singer was warming up.

"Ah~, ah-oh-oh~"

Then, the curly-haired man smiled and looked at them, saying:

"My name is Igaram, and I am the mayor of this town. Welcome, everyone, to Welcome Town—Whiskey Peak!"

Upon hearing this, Luffy immediately rushed forward to greet him. Soon, the group blended in harmoniously with the villagers.