Rayleigh smiled, then said, "In that case, have a pleasant journey!"
Luffy grinned goofily. "Thanks, old man!" Everyone else smiled knowingly, too.
Rayleigh said, "Since you're friends with Hachi, I'll coat your ship for free this time!"
"Really?! Thank you, old man!"
Nami grew excited the moment she heard that. She had heard that coating was incredibly expensive and had already braced herself to spend a fortune. Who knew such a pleasant surprise would come so suddenly?
Rayleigh smiled, then said, "But you should give some thought to your situation, too. An Admiral might already be on the island by now!"
Rayleigh stated that terrifying fact in a gentle voice. An Admiral might not mean much to him, but to these newcomers who had only just left the beginner village, so to speak, one would truly be a devastating disaster.
Yet Luffy and his companions clearly felt no tension. Nami even wanted to go shopping. In the end, they decided to split into several groups for their final escape.
Before leaving to coat the ship, Rayleigh handed his Vivre Card to Luffy and the others. "The coating will take three days. When the time comes, the Vivre Card will point you toward me!"
Without a trace of tension in his voice, Brook said, "So we have to stay on the run for three days! Yohohoho, how frightening!"
Rayleigh said, "All right, see you in three days! You're up against an Admiral, so don't die!" With that, he turned and left with his coating tools on his back, paying no heed to the Straw Hat crew's reactions.
Although they knew an Admiral was coming, the threat ahead alone was clearly not enough to make this incredibly thick-skinned bunch nervous. They were even excited, showing no sign of being fugitives. Anyone who