Kaido looked at Red-Haired Shanks's warning gaze and laughed disdainfully. "Don't look at me like that, Red-Haired Shanks. I want to find Liu Qing as soon as possible too, but there's no need to go looking for him right now. At the rate they're traveling, we can wait another half month for him."
Kizaru, who was clipping his nails, saw that there would be nothing to do for the time being and gave Crocodile a sleazy look. "How terrifying. They're all monsters. Young Crocodile, sorry for the trouble, but we'll be relying on you for meals for the next half month. Tsk~ How terrifying~" With that, he headed for his room.
The others returned to their quarters as well. Watching everyone leave, Shanks said to Crocodile, "Don't go making trouble for Luffy. You wouldn't want to delay their voyage and have us stay here for several dozen more days, would you?"
Crocodile's face darkened. "Don't worry. I'll recall the assassins I sent out in a moment. Even if it's only to get you freeloading bastards out of here sooner, I won't make trouble for Straw Hat."
Satisfied with that answer, Shanks left the office. Seeing so many people disregard him filled Crocodile with anger, but there was nothing he could do. He couldn't beat them. He shook his head with a sigh, took out the Den Den Mushi for contacting his assassins, and called them.
On the assassins' end, a tune rang out-"I gaze into the distance, above the moon~"-and Mr. 5 answered the Den Den Mushi. "Hello~ Boss, we're almost at Little Garden. Don't worry. Just watch me take care of them."
"Take care of them, my ass! Stop hunting Straw Hat. All of you, come back and await orders." Crocodile hung up immediately after speaking.
Then he looked toward the door. "Nico Robin, come in here."
The door opened with a click.
Robin walked in. "What do you need, Boss?"
Crocodile gritted his teeth. "Find Alabasta's historical stone tablet as soon as possible. I want you to locate Pluton as quickly as you can."
"Yes, Boss. No problem, Boss." Robin agreed and left.
Crocodile's face darkened again as he thought, If you weren't the only one who could read the Poneglyphs, I would have handed you over to the World Government long ago. I hope you don't disappoint me.
Back with Luffy, since Crocodile had recalled Mr. 5 and Mr. ahead of time, they encountered no trouble and arrived directly at Little Garden.
"Everyone, we've reached Little Garden! Get ready. We need to replenish our supplies!" Nami shouted from the bow.
Everyone hurried out. "Ah~ We're finally here!"
Usopp came out looking utterly drained, holding a twenty-centimeter stick. He handed it to Nami. "Nami, this is the weapon I promised to make you back in Loguetown. It's made from wood produced by Liu Qing's ability, so it's tougher than ordinary weapons."
Nami excitedly took the wooden stick. "Thank you so much, Usopp!"
A little later, the Going Merry docked on the shore of Little Garden.
"I'll assign the jobs. Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, you three will find food. Liu Qing will protect us. Vivi, Usopp, you'll gather firewood and fresh water with us." Nami looked at everyone and began giving instructions.
"Haha~ Sure, sure! Zoro, Sanji, how about we compete to see who can bring back the most meat?" Luffy asked the two of them.
"Sure. I'll definitely bring back twice as much as this curly-browed guy," Zoro said provocatively.
"Tch~ Only twice? I'll bring back five times as much food as you, Moss Head." Sanji refused to back down.
Zoro said, "Ten times!"
Sanji said, "Twenty times!"
The two pressed their foreheads together, neither willing to yield.
Luffy simply ignored them, picked a direction, and walked into the forest.
Watching Zoro and Sanji's antics, even Vivi began to lose confidence. She said to Nami, "Um~ Can we really defeat Crocodile with them? They don't seem reliable."
At that, Nami clenched her fists and walked over to the two, who were still competing.
Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump! A string of punches landed on their heads.
Both dropped straight to their knees, clutching their heads and twitching wildly on the ground.
Nami pointed at them through gritted teeth. "You're still arguing here? Luffy left ages ago! He might have already caught several animals, and you're still arguing over how many times more you'll get. If you don't leave now, I'll hit you again!"
Hearing that Nami was going to hit them again, both instantly stood up and apologized solemnly. "Sorry~ We'll go right now."
Zoro looked at Sanji. "Hmph~ I'm going this way. You go somewhere else. We'll see who brings back more prey."
Sanji looked back at Zoro. "You think I want to go the same way as you? I'm going this way."
With that, the two headed in different directions.
Nami turned back to Vivi with a chuckle. "They might act like this normally, but when it comes to serious business, they're very serious. Besides, we still have our dear Liu Qing, don't we? Isn't that right, Qingy?" She gave Liu Qing a teasing look.
Liu Qing turned his head aside, not bothering to respond to Nami as she started acting crazy.
"I'll stop teasing you. The trees in this forest are so tall, the animals must be fierce. Make a few clones to follow us and keep us safe," Nami said with an innocent look.
"Sure. Go ahead. I'll make three clones to follow you." Liu Qing agreed readily, then added, "I'll go take a look at that volcanic crater. You'll be fine as long as you stay near the clones."
A little later, the three clones followed the three of them as they headed off in different directions.
After walking some distance, Luffy arrived at a pond, where he spotted an octopus with a shell. Excited, he picked it up and put it in the bamboo basket on his back.
Boom~ Boom~ Boom!
Just then, the ground began shaking in rhythmic jolts, as though an enormous creature was walking.
Luffy looked toward the sound in confusion and saw a towering long-necked dinosaur appear not far away.
Luffy looked baffled. "Whoa~ Sea Kings can come onto land?"
Then he grew excited. "Haha~ You're today's lunch!"
With that, Luffy leaped onto the long-necked dinosaur's back and ran straight toward its head, reaching it in just a few seconds.
"Gum-Gum Rocket Barrage!"
Bam~ Bam!
More than a dozen punches struck the long-necked dinosaur's head, knocking it straight to the ground.
Then he dragged the long-necked dinosaur with one hand and continued in one direction.
Meanwhile, Sanji muttered as he walked, "Strange. Why do I keep feeling like something's following me?" He looked around but found nothing. "Forget it. Maybe I'm imagining things."
Just as Sanji was about to keep walking, a drop of liquid half the size of his head fell onto him. Puzzled, he touched it, then looked up and saw a Tyrannosaurus rex lunging down at his head, jaws snapping.
Sanji jumped backward and gritted his teeth. "You piece of meat! How dare you drool on me and try to bite me!" As he spoke, he crouched, then kicked fiercely at the Tyrannosaurus rex's head. "Diable Jambe: Collier Kick!"
As the Tyrannosaurus rex collapsed unconscious, Sanji smiled disdainfully. "That's one. I wonder if Zoro's found any prey yet. He definitely hasn't. Haha~"
Elsewhere...
After getting lost and losing his bearings, Zoro wandered into a triceratops's nest. Man and dinosaur stared at each other for a long time, neither moving aside.
After waiting a while longer, Zoro grew impatient. "What is this thing? I wonder if it's edible. Whatever, I'll just take it with me. One Sword Style: Dragon Blaze!"
Without any sense of fair play, Zoro launched a swift surprise attack and killed the triceratops. Then he lifted it with one hand and continued getting lost.
Meanwhile, Nami and the others, who had gone out to gather firewood, had been back for quite some time, but Luffy and the others still hadn't returned with their prey. Bored out of their minds, they went to the ship's study to look for books about islands.
After searching for a while, the three finally found a book about islands and began reading. But then something frightened them: they found an introduction to Little Garden in the book.
Vivi said fearfully, "This is the Ancient Island? How is that possible? How did we end up here?"
Usopp looked blank. "The Ancient Island? Is this place scary?"
Vivi said in terror, "Thousands, even tens of thousands of years have passed here, yet it's still in the prehistoric age. Everything living on this island is either a huge dinosaur or some kind of venomous insect. The dinosaurs aren't so bad, but if we get bitten by the insects, we don't have a ship's doctor. We might never leave this island."
Nami nodded solemnly. "That's right. There are too many venomous insects here. We need to find Luffy and the others and bring them back. Otherwise, I'm afraid they'll get bitten."
Usopp hurried to his feet. "I'll find Liu Qing's clones outside and have them tell Liu Qing to hurry and bring Luffy and the others back."
Just then, the nearby volcano began to erupt, spewing thick volcanic ash and scorching lava.
The animals and venomous insects in the forest fled for their lives. Unnoticed by anyone, a tiny, tiny venomous insect flew onto the Going Merry's deck and temporarily lost consciousness.
At the same time as the eruption, shouts rang out from two directions. Two tall, burly giants rose from the ground, grabbed their weapons and shields, and charged toward each other.
The two were Dorry and Brogy, former captains of the Giant Warrior Pirates.
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