Kokoro

"How's Usopp?" Li Ziming asked Chopper.

"He's still a little worked up, but physically, he's fine." Chopper shook his head. "I'm just worried about what he might do."

"I'll go talk to him," Luffy said seriously.

"Let me." Edward stopped Luffy. "I'm the reason this happened in the first place. Let me talk to Usopp."

"Then we'll leave it to you, Shorty." Li Ziming smiled. "Luffy, trust Edward and Usopp. Have some faith in your crewmates."

"All right, but I'm hungry. Sanji, is there anything to eat?" Luffy's sudden change in mood left everyone staring at him helplessly. Before long, Sanji had made several servings of fried mashed potatoes.

"Hey, hey! Look! There's a really weird frog over there!" Luffy shouted, pointing out at the sea as he chewed his potatoes.

"What's so weird about a frog?" Zoro walked over to the rail curiously, but perhaps because it was too far away, he couldn't see anything strange. Or perhaps he simply refused to believe his eyes. "Usopp, come take a look. That frog really does seem strange."

"That's right! It's a frog doing the freestyle!" Luffy shouted in shock.

"The freestyle?" Usopp asked incredulously. "Are you kidding me?"

"No, that really is a frog swimming freestyle." Li Ziming nodded. "Why isn't it doing the breaststroke?"

"That's what you're hung up on?!" Usopp felt as though he was going mad.

"I've decided!" Luffy suddenly shouted. "That frog's interesting! Let's go catch it!"

Luffy gave the order, and Usopp was interested too. Zoro was simply bored, while Sanji's passion as a chef suddenly flared to life. Edward was just as intrigued, and they immediately turned the ship to pursue the frog.

"What's going on?! Why did we suddenly change course?!" Feeling the change in their heading, Nami ran outside. "This isn't the way to Water 7!"

"They seem to want to chase a frog." Li Ziming shrugged.

"A frog?" Nami looked utterly bewildered. "What frog?" She raised her binoculars to take a look. "There's no frog at all. All I see is a strange lighthouse." She checked the Log Pose on her wrist. "That's strange. The Log Pose isn't reacting in this direction."

"I found the frog!" Robin spoke up, pointing everyone in its direction.

"For a frog, you could use white wine to remove the fishy smell, then coat it in flour and fry it." Sanji had already begun considering how to cook it.

"I want grilled frog!" With that one sentence, Luffy revealed why he was chasing it.

"So you want to eat it!" Usopp shot back.

"Would you all stop already?!" Nami was on the verge of tears. Having such an unreliable captain was a real headache.

"Hm?" Sanji paused. "I think I heard something."

"Hurry! The frog stopped!" Luffy shouted anxiously.

"Sorry, but I think we need to turn around right now!" Li Ziming suddenly said. "Edward, turn the ship around, quick!"

"Okay!" Edward controlled his own body, starting to move away from the frog.

"What are you doing?!" Luffy looked at Li Ziming indignantly. "The frog's stopped! We were just about to catch it!"

"But I think keeping ourselves safe is more important." Li Ziming rolled his eyes in exasperation. A moment later, an enormous, steam-belching machine came hurtling toward them.

"What is that?!" Everyone stared at the approaching thing in shock.

"No, look at the frog!" Luffy shouted.

"It's about to get hit!" Usopp cried in shock.

In the end, unsurprisingly, the frog was sent flying.

"Is that frog trying to be funny?" The corner of Zoro's mouth twitched. "Eating something like that would make you stupid, wouldn't it?"

"There seems to be someone at that lighthouse," Robin said.

"All right! Let's go take a look!" Luffy said excitedly.

"Pirates!" a girl shouted. "Pirates are here!"

"Really, Chimney? Wait a moment!" An old woman came out, holding a bottle of liquor.

"Is she going to call for help?" Zoro was already prepared to fight.

"Hic! What was I going to do? I've forgotten." Kokoro took a swig.

"Hahaha! You're pretty funny, Granny," Luffy said with a laugh.

"You're not bad yourself, kid." Kokoro laughed too. "So you're pirates. As long as you're not train robbers."

"A train?" Nami asked in confusion. "That was a train? Not a steamship?"

"That wasn't a steamship!" Chimney said with a smile. "It's called Puffing Tom, the Sea Train. It runs on steam and travels along the tracks."

"Tracks?" Nami asked curiously.

"That's right. The tracks are just below the surface." Chimney pointed at the rails faintly visible beneath the water. "The Sea Train carries passengers along a fixed route, and sometimes it carries cargo too."

"There really are tracks." Luffy stared at the rails beneath the sea in amazement.

"Tom?" Robin seemed puzzled by the name.

"He was probably the best shipwright there was. He designed and built the ship of the king of the pirates, and he designed the Sea Train too," Li Ziming briefly explained. "We're heading to Water 7 this time. If possible, we should find Mr. Tom's apprentices. Their craftsmanship is the best in all of Water 7, and they should have some ideas for dealing with Shorty's problem."

"You're looking for Franky and Iceburg?" Kokoro seemed quite familiar with the two. "Getting those boys to join your crew would probably be difficult. But I can give you a letter of introduction. If you take it to Iceburg, he won't join you, but at least you'll get a discount when you buy a ship or have one repaired."

"Really? Thank you so much, Granny!" Nami said excitedly, her eyes shining as she looked at Kokoro.

"Here, take these." Kokoro pulled out two sheets of paper. "This is the letter of introduction, and this is a map of Water 7. It takes a week for a Log Pose to record Water 7's magnetic field, so you can take your time enjoying yourselves there. But Water 7 is very big. You'll get lost without a map."

"Thank you, Granny!" Luffy said excitedly. "Is there any tasty meat there?"

"Haha, you certainly won't be disappointed!" Kokoro looked at Luffy with amusement. "Have a safe trip, boys!"

"Yeah! Then let's set sail for Water 7!"