Luffy chewed quickly. "Really? It's delicious."
Sanji could only bite the bullet and say, "Yeah, yeah, some dishes just don't look that great." He then took a bite himself, Naruto Uzumaki and the others followed suit.
!!!???
"Is it really that bad?" The little girl looked at everyone's expressions, still somewhat incredulous, and took a bite herself.
"Ugh!!! It's so spicy!"
"What happened? Did I put the wrong seasoning in?" The little girl was still standing there in disbelief.
After mentally preparing himself, Sanji bent down and said, "Ah, these kinds of mistakes happen often. Just be more careful next time. By the way... what's your name?"
" Apis, my name is Apis. I'm sorry, I'm not very good at cooking, but I really want to help." Apis apologized to everyone.
"It's alright, we appreciate your kindness. And you can leave the cooking to me. After all, it's my job as a chef to cook for everyone. If you want to help, there are other things I can do," Sanji comforted him.
"Speaking of which, why were you adrift at sea, Apis?" Everyone asked the question that had been lingering in their minds.
After thinking for a moment, Apis said, "I... escaped from a naval ship."
"A naval ship?" Usopp was quite surprised.
"Yes, we escaped on that stormy night three days ago," Apis said.
Nami found it unbelievable. "You actually sailed in a storm in one of those small boats? You're really reckless! But what kind of trouble did you get into?"
"Since you had to escape, it means you weren't just a guest on the warship, right? That being said, the Navy doesn't have time to deal with all those small fry." Zoro, still leaning against the wall, pointed out the key point.
"That's because, well..." Apis was somewhat at a loss for words.
Seeing Apis's hesitation, Luffy's mind raced. "What? Are you a big bad guy?"
Apis was very agitated. "No, that's not true! How could I do anything bad? I didn't do anything bad... but I can't say why..."
Sanji, who had been washing the dishes, dried his hands and patted Apis's head. "What does it matter? You must have your reasons for not wanting to talk about it. We don't need to press you."
"That makes sense, but could you tell us where you came from?" Nami completely agreed.
"Huh? I'm from Warship Island." Apis was quite surprised that the others didn't delve into the matter.
" Warship Island? Nami, do you know it?" Usopp asked the navigator on the ship.
Nami rummaged through the map data in her hand. "Let me check. Thanks to the world topographic map that Naruto had before, it has greatly enriched my understanding of the world."
Naruto knew that the map he had provided didn't have any names marked on it; it was just pure terrain. "Why is that place called Warship Island?"
Apis's answer was somewhat bewildered, "Because the island's shape resembles a warship, that's what it's always been called."
"It looks like a warship? That's really interesting." Luffy had already imagined a small island floating on the sea like a warship.
Nami smiled and said, "Found it! Look, the shape of this island looks a lot like a warship, doesn't it? Apis, do you think it is?"
Apis craned her neck. "Hmm... it does look a bit like it, but I'm not sure, though it should be it."
Nami nodded. "That's right then. This island is located near the Grand Line. We're in this area now, so it's not far to get there." As she spoke, Nami looked up at Apis. "What do you want? Do you want to go back to Warship Island? We're planning to go to the Grand Line now."
"I..." However, Apis did not seem very excited. After thinking for a while, she nodded, "I know you saved me and it's wrong of me to cause you trouble, but I want to go back to the island."
I'm sorry, I was too willful, wasn't I...? If possible, I'd like to catch another westward-bound ship along the way, and I'll figure out the rest myself."
Sasuke Uchiha, "What a hassle. We're a pirate ship, how can we make contact with other ships? Right, Captain?"
Luffy smiled and nodded in agreement, "That's right! Anyway, we're not in a hurry, let's just go to Warship Island and have some fun."
"Anyway, we're almost at the Grand Line, so we can go up there to resupply before setting off again." Usopp agreed.
Luffy's smile practically stretched to the back of his head, "Oh, I see. It looks like an island that resembles a warship. I really want to go see it."
"Did you hear that?" Sanji patted Apis on the shoulder.
Apis jumped off the stool. "Really? You really want to take me back to Warship Island? That's great, thank you Luffy! That's great! That's great! I'm so happy! Thank you so much, thank you, thank you so much everyone."
"Hehe." Luffy returned the laugh with his signature big laugh.
Apis was delighted. "To thank everyone, I will cook for you every day from now on."
"No, no need..." "You're repaying kindness with enmity..."
"I still think it tastes pretty good," Luffy disagreed.
"Shut up!" *N--
Seven or eight naval warships were sailing on the high seas.
"Report! A vessel is visible at 13 o'clock ahead. Upon inspection, it appears to be a medium-sized sailing ship with a skull and crossbones marking on its mainsail," a naval officer reported to his superior.
"Pirates, huh? They actually dared to come to the waters under Admiral Nelson's jurisdiction. These reckless fools... Oh well, they're probably just small fry. Let's ignore them." The naval officer remained noncommittal.
"No, that pirate flag belongs to no small fry. It must be Straw Hat Boy Luffy, the guy with a bounty of 30 million Beli." A man stepped out of the cabin, overturning the previous naval officer's judgment.
"Sending so many fleets and still not finding her, she might have been captured by someone, let alone pirates. It's probably not a good idea to ignore this, Major. Seize that ship!" The man who approached was wearing a suit and had purple hair with pointed ends.
"What's this feeling? There's a ship behind me." Naruto had a very bad feeling.
"How could this be? That's a navy ship, isn't it?" Usopp was on the mast, also noticed the anomaly.
"The Navy?" Nami, somewhat surprised.
"Yes, and there are more than just one or two." Usopp continued observing through his monoculars.
Nami quickly went to the edge of the deck and, sure enough, saw several outlines in the distance. "It really is! But why is there such a large fleet here?"
Hearing the sounds from the deck, Luffy and the others also came up to the deck. "What? What happened? Are they here to take my head? But there are so many of them! It means it takes so many people to deal with me! I'm so amazing! Hahahaha!" Only Luffy remained carefree at this moment.
Sure enough, Nami couldn't stand it anymore. "Why are you still so leisurely?"
"That's the Eighth Branch's ship! I escaped from those navy ships! What am I going to do...?" Apis was terrified.
"Got it! I see her! I see that girl on the other side's deck!" The navy team had also spotted their target.
"Am I right, Major? Did I hurt your pride?" The purple-haired man was incredibly foul-mouthed. "However, if because of your mistake, she, the clue to the elixir of Elixir of Life — the Dragon Bone —escapes, I wonder how furious Admiral Nelson will be."
"Main gun, prepare to fire! We must capture that pirate ship!" The major could only suppress his anger for the time being due to the opponent's strength.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The opposing warship fired three shells immediately, perhaps out of consideration for the people they needed on this ship, so they did not fire all their ships at once.
"Ah, an attack is coming!" Usopp shouted from the mast.
"Listen up, pirates! Stop the ship immediately! That was just a warning. Next time, we'll be targeting your ships." The three cannonballs landed precisely beside the ship, creating waves that caused it to rock violently.
"What should we do, Luffy?" Naruto asked the person next to him.
"Let's fight if we want," Luffy said calmly.
Usopp, on the other hand, tumbled and scrambled down from the mast. "Why are you always like this? How are you going to deal with that fleet?"
Zoro touched the long sword in his hand. "Charge in."
"Will charging in solve the problem?" Usopp was still trying to dissuade him.
"I'll handle it," Zoro continued, emphasizing.
At this moment, Sasuke interjected, "If we don't make a move, are we just going to wait for them to attack? Are we going to pray that they won't kill us when they have a sword to our throats? Don't dream about it. The best option now is to destroy all their ships."
"But there are so many ships on the other side, how are you going to sink them all?!"
Ignoring the argument, Sanji kept an eye on Apis, preventing her from getting hurt due to the bumpy ride or other reasons. " Apis, what's wrong?" Apis suddenly froze after seeing a few seagulls.
"It says the wind is coming, a very strong wind," Apis said.
Upon hearing this, Nami quickly looked up at the sky. " Zoro and Naruto, turn the sails south! Usopp and Sanji, turn the Sanji hard to starboard! Be quick!"
Luffy was puzzled. "What's wrong? What happened?"
"A hurricane is coming in a minute. We need to escape by riding the wind. If we fight them head-on, we won't have enough lives," Nami explained.
Luffy seemed somewhat reluctant. "I'm fine."
"Major, they don't seem to have any intention of stopping the ship," a navy officer reported.
"Damn it, how dare they look down on us!" The major was holding back his anger, but a sudden gust of wind blew his words back down.
call!
"They're here!" Seizing the opportunity, Nami immediately directed everyone to move.
"The pirate ship has suddenly accelerated and changed course!" the navy officer on the mast shouted, but those below couldn't hear him at all in the strong wind.
"They've headed south." Perhaps realizing that those below couldn't hear them, those above used a set of flag signals.
"South? How is that possible? Do they even know what's ahead?" The major found it unbelievable.
It was that same foul-mouthed guy urging on. "Major, what are you waiting for? Chase after them, hurry up and chase them!"
"Wow, so fast! This breeze feels so nice." Luffy stood on the deck, adjusting his Straw Hat.
"Look, Luffy, we've left the entire Navy behind!" Usopp shouted excitedly.
"It's no use, we can't catch up," a naval soldier reported.
"Useless trash! The navy fleet can't even catch up with those small boats. What useless guys!" The foul-mouthed fellow continued to grumble.
"Small boats are inherently more maneuverable." The soldiers had been annoyed with him for a long time.
The man arrogantly tossed his head and said, "I don't want to hear your excuses."
"Major, our ship is almost at the right position, young hero!" A close confidant of the major was still urging the naval lieutenant commander.
After some internal struggle, the major finally gave the order, "Understood. Stop the entire ship and prepare to turn around."
The foul-mouthed fellow, forgetting his argument with the navy, hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "Wait a minute, Major, why are we stopping the ship?"
The major didn't turn around, and said with his back to him, "If we keep chasing, we'll enter the Calm Belt."
"So what? Go after them!" the man persisted.
The major's face was now solemn. "No!"
"You bastard, you have no idea what our situation is! We absolutely cannot lose that girl. How are you going to explain this to Admiral Nelson?" The man stepped forward and stared directly at the major.
"I'm prepared to accept punishment, but I absolutely cannot let my men and the entire fleet perish at sea. I think the one who really doesn't understand is you. You have no idea what ships will encounter after entering the Calm Belt. So no matter what you say, we can only chase them this far." The major roared at the man.
"Damn it, how could you do something so foolish..."
--
"The Navy doesn't dare to chase us anymore. They're afraid of Captain Usopp, aren't they? Hahahaha!" Usopp started his usual boasting again.
"Wow, amazing! As expected of a navigator, as expected of Nami, she was able to predict that gust of wind." Sanji also started his usual sycophantic flattery.
"It's alright, I just went with my gut feeling." Nami covered her face with one hand, feigning shyness.
"Humble Miss Nami is so charming! Let's head straight to Marine Island then." Sanji continued to lick her.
"Really?" Apis also very happy.
"Really, really! Great! Let's head to Warship Island!" Luffy cheered, raising his hands high.