"You're taking this too lightly, Luffy," Lina sighed.
"Crocodile is strong. He's an enemy we have to take seriously. Don't do anything stupid like that again."
Lina had put a lot of thought into preparing for their fight with Crocodile. Even so, she didn't feel confident they had things under control.
Luffy, on the other hand, had had a smooth journey ever since setting out to sea. He hadn't faced any setbacks.
Lina hoped his fearlessness came from the courage to face difficulties and the determination to keep going after failure, not from the foolhardy confidence of someone who'd never known fear.
"Ah, sorry." At that, Luffy stopped grinning and replied seriously:
"I understand, Lina. Let's keep going."
The group ran toward the royal palace without stopping. The capital was huge, so Lina summoned several horse templates and had them ride on the horses.
Zoro and Sanji stayed behind to face Daz and Mr. 2.
Mr. 1 and the other undead went after the spiky-haired woman and the mole woman.
When they reached the palace, Vivi led Lina and the others straight through as if no one were there, heading for the very center.
Every guard recognized the princess who had been missing for three years. No one tried to stop them, and the group soon reached the entrance to the central hall.
"Princess Vivi!"
A hurried voice rang out from above. They looked up to see a giant falcon diving down from the sky, wearing a white robe and carrying a sword.
"That giant bird can talk?"
"Is it an enemy?!" Luffy readied himself to attack.
"Everyone, don't worry. Bell is the deputy commander of the Royal Guard," Vivi hurriedly explained.
The giant falcon landed and changed into human form. He wore a white headscarf, and his clothes were