Is He Always This Awkward

"Nami told me everything." Sanji said. "Robin is in their hands now. If possible, I want to take her back here."

"What's your answer?"

If they could snatch her back here, there'd be no need to go to Judicial Island.

But Luffy was the captain, so starting a fight with the enemy required his approval—Sanji understood that much.

"Alright, go wild!"

"Huh?!" Nami was dumbfounded. He just agreed like that?

"Hey, Luffy!" Zoro frowned. "Tell him not to act rashly. Let us catch up first."

"Cook, can you hear me? There are some seriously strong guys on that train, you can't—"

"Enough, Zoro!" Luffy cut him off. "If it were you, what would you do?"

"Robin sacrificed herself to save us. If it were you, could you just sit still?"

At those words, Zoro fell silent immediately.

Yeah, he couldn't do it either.

If he'd chased ahead, he'd probably already be fighting them, with no time to call Nami.

"Stopping him is useless." Luffy said. "So... Sanji, go do what you want!"

He had absolute faith in his crewmates.

"You really get it." Sanji grinned. "Hey, Green Algae Head, were you worried about me?"

"Who's worried about you, you bastard!"

Xi Yan glanced at Zoro from the side and clearly noticed something off about his expression—that look... had he just blushed?

"Anyway, now that I know Robin's feelings, even if it's the captain's orders... I'm not backing down!"

Crack~

With immense force, the Den Den Mushi's receiver was crushed in Sanji's hand.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing?!" Franky gaped. "I still had questions for Straw Hat."

"How should I know?"

"You bastard..."

Franky was furious. Even if the call was over, there was no need to crush the receiver.

Sanji ignored Franky and explained to the two of them what had happened with Robin, moving Franky to tears. The guy pulled out a guitar from somewhere and started crying and playing at the same time.

Sanji's eye twitched. He had no idea why Franky was crying—he wasn't even part of the Straw Hat Pirates.

"What about you? What are you thinking?" Sanji looked at Usopp. "The people Robin protected include you too."

Seeing Usopp hang his head in silence, Sanji sighed, then turned to look into the distance. "Anyway, I'm going to save Robin."

"She's in the front car of this Sea Train right now."

"Alright, count me in!" Franky laughed loudly. "As the leader of the Franky Family, I've got to show some spirit."

"Curly Brow, I've got your back!"

"Long Nose, let's go!"

"I'm not going..."

"Huh?" Franky paused, baffled by this guy's sudden change of heart.

At this point, saying he wasn't going—what did that mean?

"You guys are going to meet up with Luffy and the others, right." Usopp said, head down. "I've already left the Straw Hat Pirates. This whole thing has nothing to do with me anymore."

"After making a big scene, what face would I have to stand with you all..."

"Sorry, let's part ways here."

Watching Usopp walk toward the back, Franky was stunned. "Hey, what do you mean 'goodbye'? You can't even leave now if you wanted to."

Usopp didn't reply and soon disappeared from their sight.

"Forget it, let him go."

Sanji shook his head, turned forward, and said, "Even if it's just the two of us, we're saving Robin."

No matter what, since he was already standing here, there was no reason to back down.

"Alright, let's go—"

"Huh?"

"Where's that singing coming from?"

Hearing the sound, the two looked back and found Usopp, who should have left, walking back with a mask on, muttering to himself.

"Born on Sniper Island..."

"What does that mean?" Franky stared at Usopp in confusion, having no idea what he was playing at.

"Hello there." Usopp said in a magnetic voice. "I've heard the whole story from him. You're going to rescue a young lady, right?"

"Let me lend you a helping hand!"

"My name is: Sniper King!"

"Ahahaha!"

Franky: ...

"Is he always this awkward?" Franky turned to Sanji and asked.

"Just try to understand how he feels." Sanji said helplessly. "He can't go save his crewmate openly, so he has to do it this way."

"Let's go."

"Follow me, Sniper King. After we rescue Miss Robin, I'll introduce you to a Ninja Bro!"

"Oh!"

"That guy sure is decisive." Nami said.

He didn't even give them a chance to keep talking before ending the call.

"Did he crush the receiver?" Xi Yan said. "That sharp crack just now definitely wasn't the sound of ending a call."

The last sound from the Den Den Mushi was clearly something being crushed. Was he planning to leave no way out?

"That cook." Zoro said, holding his forehead. "Well, now we can't contact him even if we want to."

Without that Den Den Mushi to reach him, even if Sanji got beaten to death, they'd have no way of knowing.

"Haha, we'll catch up to them sooner or later anyway. No Den Den Mushi, no problem." Luffy said with a carefree look.

After speaking, Luffy started stuffing leftover meat chunks into his pockets.

"Den Den Mushi really are a strange species." Xi Yan said curiously, taking the Den Den Mushi from Nami's hand and poking it with his finger.

Such a tiny little creature, yet the bioelectric waves it produced could travel so far—basically like a phone.

But phones at least had signal towers as relay stations; this thing relied purely on its own body to transmit waves.

'I wonder if there's a giant Den Den Mushi somewhere in this world acting as a relay station.' Xi Yan thought to himself.

"Of course." Nami laughed. "Without these things, it'd be really hard for everyone to contact each other... Hey, Luffy, don't stuff meat into your pockets!"

"Damn it, why aren't these pants made bigger?" Luffy complained.

"That's your problem, okay!"

Normal people didn't stuff meat into their pockets, let alone meat chunks this big.

Watching Luffy, who clearly had no intention of listening to Nami, Xi Yan smiled. This feeling... wasn't half bad.