"Mr. 1!"
Before Xia Chen could get the words out, he heard voices coming from the Going Merry and turned to look.
Mr. 9 and Vivi had woken up and were waving and calling to him nonstop.
"Sorry, give me a moment!"
With that, Conqueror's Haki surged out of his body again, sweeping toward the two aboard the Going Merry. Then they collapsed just as they had before.
The poor pair had barely woken up before being knocked unconscious again.
"You really... use Conqueror's Haki so casually!" Crocus looked a little embarrassed for him.
Why did it feel like using a cannon to kill a mosquito?
"Can't help it. It saves the most time and effort!" Xia Chen spread his hands.
"All right, let's get back to what we were discussing!"
"The entire Rumbar Pirates perished in a certain stretch of sea. That's why they never came back, not because they broke their promise!"
"I don't know where you got your information, old man, but it's wrong!"
"I see..." Crocus did not doubt the truth of Xia Chen's words.
Judging by what Xia Chen had shown during their time together, he knew far more than Crocus himself did.
So if even Xia Chen said it was wrong, then barring any surprises, the information he had received really was incorrect.
"By the way, old man, you still remember Brook, right?"
"Of course. We were quite close back then!"
"He isn't dead!"
"What?!"
"Is that true?" Crocus stood up excitedly.
"It really is, but his current situation is a little complicated. You could say he's dead, or you could say he's alive!"
Õ_Õ???
What kind of description is that?
Crocus was utterly bewildered.
Both dead and alive? Something that abstract?
Crocus could not understand what Xia Chen meant, and the others behind him were even more lost.
Never mind what he was saying now; they had already started losing track when Xia Chen brought up the Rumbar Pirates earlier.
At the same time, the same thought rose in all their minds. We're all on the same ship, so why do you know so much?
Still, following the principle of not butting in when they knew nothing, they all quietly watched the show from behind.
Xia Chen continued, "Brook did die in a battle, but he ate the Revive-Revive Fruit. So while his body really did die, his soul stayed alive!"
"And now he's a living skeleton!"
"A living skeleton?"
(✧∇✧)!
"That sounds so interesting!" Luffy said, his eyes shining.
"It sure does! I've never seen what a living skeleton looks like in all my life. I wonder if its bones would break if I slashed it with a sword!"
"I wonder how those bones would taste as ingredients?"
"Are you guys demons?!" Hearing the three of them, Luffy included, each offer a comment, Nami and Usopp could not help shouting.
What was wrong with these people?
A living skeleton sounded terrifying, okay?
"Hahaha... That's so interesting! I wonder if we'll ever get to meet it~" Luffy said expectantly.
Xia Chen smiled without saying anything.
After taking a while to process it, Crocus finally accepted the fact, and a smile appeared on his lips.
"That guy! Hahaha..."
After laughing for quite a while, Crocus looked at Xia Chen and said, "Thank you for bringing me this news!"
"Hey, mister, what are you saying? If you really want to thank me, how about giving us your Log Pose? We don't have one yet!"
"Hahaha... Of course!"
"A Log Pose? What's that?" Nami asked curiously.
"It's a compass used to guide you through the Grand Line," Xia Chen said calmly.
"Huh? Won't a regular compass work?"
"Take a look at your compass right now!"
"What's there to look at with this... Ah!"
"Why? Why does the compass needle keep spinning around?" Nami asked in alarm.
"Because the magnetic fields in the Grand Line are chaotic, and none of the weather conditions here can be trusted. Clouds, currents, wind direction-you can't trust any of them! The only thing you can trust is the direction the Log Pose points!"
"In the Grand Line, all the islands are connected by magnetism, so whenever we reach an island, we need to stay there for a while and wait for the Log Pose to finish recording its magnetic field!"
"How long that takes varies. Some take days, while others only take a few hours! Once it finishes recording, it'll point toward the next island!"
Xia Chen rattled off a great deal of information about Log Poses in one breath and grew a little thirsty. He picked up the coffee beside him and took a satisfying sip.
"You really are knowledgeable, Mr. Xia Chen!"
"Of course!" Xia Chen answered instinctively. Then he suddenly seemed to realize something, but just as he was about to turn his head, a heavy blow struck it.
"Ow~ That hurts!" Xia Chen clutched his head and wailed.
Looking at Nami's thunderous expression, he asked shakily, "Wh-what's wrong?"
"Why didn't you tell us all this sooner?"
"You didn't ask!" Xia Chen felt a little wronged. He knew all sorts of things, so of course he would only bring them up when a particular situation arose. Otherwise, why would he say so much for no reason?
But he did not dare say any of that aloud. That punch Nami had just thrown...
It hurt!
Xia Chen seriously suspected that Nami was the first member of the Straw Hat Pirates to master Conqueror's Coating. That power was pretty fierce!
Crocus took out a Log Pose and handed it to Nami, delighting her.
Perhaps it was a navigator's nature, but seeing a compass like this made her happy.
Crocus said, "There are seven routes through the Grand Line. Which one are you planning to choose?"
"The one through Whiskey Peak!" Xia Chen said calmly.
"Are there any differences between the seven?" Nami asked curiously.
"Yes!"
"What differences?"
"The islands you pass through!"
Nami's anger, which had just subsided, flared again. If not for the fact that Crocus was an old man, she would have let him experience what it meant to be a one-punch superhuman too.
Crocus was a little bewildered by Nami's changing expression. He had not said anything wrong!
This young girl's temper... Sigh!
No wonder every single member of their crew got a thorough pounding from her!
Returning to the subject, Crocus continued, "Whichever route you choose, they all ultimately point toward the final island-Laugh Tale!"
"So if you came here determined to become the Pirate King, any route will do!"
"Then why choose Whiskey Peak?" Nami turned to Xia Chen.
"Because that route is more interesting!" Xia Chen replied.
"More interesting?" Luffy's eyes lit up again at those words, and he declared loudly, "All right! Then it's decided! We're going to Whiskey Peak!"
Hearing that, Nami could not help pressing a hand to her forehead. Why did she keep feeling that nothing good would come of this?