Town of Welcome?

Goose down snowflakes fell heavily on the rough seas, and the Going Merry sailed through the swirling snow.

"What the heck! It was just raining, and now it's snowing again!"

"That's just how weird the weather is on the Grand Line."

"It's just like Crocus said! Good thing Reiner bought clothes for all four seasons back in Loguetown."

On the deck of the Going Merry, Nami shivered despite wearing a down jacket, a scarf wrapped around her neck and a warm ear hat on her head.

"Women are so hard to understand."

Looking at Nami's bare legs, Reiner muttered in exasperation, "Nami, if you're so cold, why don't you wear thicker pants?"

"Mind your own business, bleh~" 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 Crocus as expected.

Crocus had also given them some information about the Grand Line.

Due to the extremely chaotic magnetic fields on the Grand Line, ordinary compasses were useless here. That was fine; Reiner had already prepared ten of them yesterday.

The real problem was that the chaotic magnetic fields also made the weather, currents, and wind directions incredibly unpredictable.

Even Nami was a bit flustered at first, which added a lot of extra work for Reiner.

When the weather changed, his Undead helped with steering the ship, raising and lowering sails, and so on. They handled accumulated water in the rain and cleared snow.

Nami even made him burn the bones of the Undead skeletons for warmth, which was absolutely insane, treating the Undead's lives as if they were worthless.

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

Nami pondered for a moment before replying, "We're almost within the magnetic field of the next island. The wind direction and currents should be relatively stable then. If all goes well, we should get there by evening."

"Cactus Island, the first stop on the Grand Line," Reiner mused with anticipation.

It had been two and a half years since he transmigrated, and he finally had enough strength to enter the Grand Line.

Luffy and Zoro's contributions were indispensable. Without their two templates, Reiner, with his ragtag group of Undead, would have found it incredibly difficult to pick a fight with Kuro and Arlong.

His ability allowed him to snowball his strength once he accumulated a certain level of power in the early stages.

Now, with the two Saw Devil Undead, the strengthened Wolverine Undead (integrated with Sanji's template), and the Bone Chain Sword molded from Arlong's template, he finally possessed decent strength for the first half of the Grand Line.

Once he obtained the templates of the two Elbaf Giant leaders from Little Garden, very few people in the first half of the Grand Line would be able to threaten him.

After all, the terrifying physical prowess of giants was undeniable, and in his hands, their strength would be even greater than their original selves.

"Hehehe, look at my snowman Laboon!"

"Not bad, Luffy, but it's still too rough. Let me show you my snowman queen!"

"Wahahaha, that's amazing, Usopp!" Luffy exclaimed excitedly.

Reiner couldn't help but admire Usopp's snowman. With its exquisite crown and ornate attire, it was so lifelike it was uncanny, yet its appearance seemed somehow familiar.

"Tsk tsk tsk, is that Kaya?" Reiner recalled a certain figure and teased Usopp, "You're not missing your sweetheart, are you, Usopp?"

"Wha-wha-what are you talking about!"

Usopp blushed and took a few steps back. "I'm going to be a brave warrior of the sea! How could I be tied down by romance?"

"I think Kaya's great, she's beautiful and gentle. How about I bear that burden for you instead?"

"You scoundrel, how dare you!!!"

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

"Well~, that elephant trunk tuna from last time is on its last breath. Let's butcher it."

Sanji pondered for a moment, exhaling a puff of smoke. "What should we make? Any ideas?"

Luffy: "Grilled fish!"

Usopp: "Fish head soup!"

Reiner: "Sashimi!"

Zoro: "Whatever..."

"Then we'll make fish head soup, sashimi from the belly, and grill the rest. As for the best part, the fish nose...

—Of course, that's for the adorable Nami-san to decide!" Sanji's eyes turned into hearts as he instantly transformed into a lovesick fool.

"Tch, perverted cook."

"What did you say, Moss Head!"

Reiner couldn't help but smile, watching the two rivals. It had only been a few days since Sanji joined the crew, and he and Zoro had already started their bickering.

Soon, Sanji went into the kitchen to get busy, Luffy and Usopp started their daily fishing routine, and Reiner went to the stern with Zoro to work out.

"You're improving fast, Reiner," Zoro couldn't help but exclaim. "It's been less than two weeks, and your weights have already increased."

"Well~, it's mainly because of the Devil Fruit's boost. It makes workouts twice as effective," Reiner explained.

When he first transmigrated, he was just an ordinary person with no strength to speak of, but now his physical abilities far surpassed those of a normal human.

Without Devil Fruit powers of the Animal-type, he would have had a very hard time reaching this level through training alone.

"At this rate, you'll probably surpass me in less than a year," Zoro muttered, watching Reiner do push-ups with 1200kg of added weight. He couldn't help but grip his own barbell tighter.

"Not at all. I'm not the only one making progress. It'll be a long time before I catch up to you," Reiner replied, glancing at the 2100kg barbell in Zoro's hands. He unconsciously put a little more effort into his own reps.

The two continued their silent competition until Sanji called them for dinner.

After eating, Reiner returned to his post on the crow's nest, bringing his barbell with him.

It wasn't until dusk, when the sun was almost touching the horizon, that Reiner finally spotted a small island.

From a distance, he could vaguely make out houses clustered together, and behind the town were several giant cactus-shaped peaks.

"Everyone! I see an island! There's a town on it!" Reiner shouted down, then lit a cigarette and watched as the ship slowly approached.

Luffy and the others immediately became excited. After sailing for several days, they were finally coming to a lively island.

The island was called Cactus Island. A river split the island in two, and the Going Merry sailed up the river into an inland port.

"It's pirates!"

"Quick, tell everyone pirates are here!"

Someone at the port spotted the pirate ship and hurriedly ran into town. After a while, the port was crowded with villagers.

Strangely, the villagers showed no signs of panic. Instead, they all looked incredibly cheerful.

"Brave warriors of the sea!"

"Welcome to Whiskey Peak!"

Hearing the bustling shouts from the port, everyone wore a strange expression, except for Luffy and Usopp, who were beaming with excitement.

"Hello, everyone!"

"Waaah, they said I'm a brave warrior of the sea!"

Compared to those two, Nami and the others seemed much more normal.

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

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

Soon, everyone disembarked. Reiner threw down the anchor, secured the Going Merry, and then jumped down himself.

A tall man with a large, fluffy perm stepped forward, clearing his throat like a singer warming up.

"Ah~, ah-oh-oh~"

Then the man with the perm smiled and looked at them.

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

Upon hearing this, Luffy immediately rushed forward to greet him. Soon, the entire group was happily mingling with the villagers.