"La la la la~"
Chopper hummed as he walked over to a large tree nearby. He crouched down, picked up a stick, and said excitedly,
"I found it!"
Rustle~
Rustle~
Rustle~
"Hmm, I think I hear something..."
Chopper's ears twitched. Hearing a rustling sound, he turned toward the bushes nearby and spoke.
"Huh, strange patterns, a moving branch. Hmm, maybe it was just my imagination."
He turned around and suddenly saw a thick, strange "tree root." He shook his head and spoke.
"Hey, Chopper, what are you doing? Hurry up and catch up. We're not waiting for you!"
Zoro, who was nearby, saw Chopper's odd behavior but didn't pay it much mind. He just called for him to hurry up and catch up.
"Oh! I'm coming." Chopper answered and quickened his steps to catch up.
If I tell them I saw a moving branch, they'll definitely laugh at me for being a scaredy-cat. No, I'm super brave today. I can't let them look down on me.
Chopper said this silently to himself and didn't tell them what he'd seen.
Rustle~
Rustle~
Rustle~
The sound of something scraping along the path grew louder and louder until it finally reached Luffy and the others.
"There's been a sound coming from somewhere for a while now. What is it?"
Luffy was the first to speak. Then he looked at a spot where the trees beside them crossed, noticed something wrong, and spoke loudly again.
"What strange patterns. Is this a tree root? How come it's moving?"
"Right? Right? I saw it just now!" Now that one of his companions had finally noticed it, Chopper answered.
"Those aren't the patterns on a branch. I'm afraid it's..."
A cautious look appeared on Robin's face. She watched for a moment, then spoke.
"Right? Right? You saw it too, didn't you?"
Rustle~
Rustle~
Rustle~
Bang!!!
At last, the strange creature finally showed its true form. A giant snake's head emerged from the bushes, its tongue flicking as it sized them up.
"What!!! It's a snake! Such a huge snake!"
Chopper instantly screamed in fright.
"Shishishi! What a huge snake!"
Only Luffy showed no sign of concern as he grinned at it and spoke.
Zoro and Robin, beside him, each prepared to fight and watched the giant snake warily.
Phew! Now that I think about it, I'm perfectly safe with them around. I don't have to worry about anything.
Seeing how confident they looked, Chopper sighed in relief, calmed down, and thought it over.
Whoosh!!!
The giant snake's enormous body suddenly lunged out, biting at Luo Chen and the other two.
"Heave-ho! You can't bite me."
Luffy stretched out his arm, grabbed a branch in the distance, and flew away, dodging its attack.
Zoro jumped to the side and dodged the snake's head as well. Robin used her ability to grow feet on a tree and stepped on them to reach the tree.
Boom!!!
The giant snake's huge jaws bit into the trunk of a large tree. The trunk sizzled as the venom corroded it, leaving only an arm-thick piece of wood supporting the tree before it finally crashed down.
"You're amazing, guys.
"What!!! After all that, I'm still the one in the most danger!!!"
Chopper exclaimed in admiration when he saw them use their respective abilities to escape. A moment later, he saw the giant snake turn its gaze on him and realized he was the one in the most danger. He hurriedly transformed into a reindeer and charged forward.
"Chopper, watch out! Be careful of its mouth. If it bites you, the poison will kill you."
Robin warned him to watch out for the giant snake's fangs.
"Damn it!!!"
Zoro drew his swords, ran up to the giant snake's body, and swung them down hard with both arms.
Clang, clang, clang!!!
The blades scraped across the giant snake's body with a sound like metal striking metal, sending a shower of sparks from the points of impact.
But they still had no effect on the giant snake. They hadn't even cut through its skin.
"Damn it, it's too hard. The blades can't cut through it at all. Uh..."
Crash!!!
The giant snake noticed him and whipped its tail over, sweeping Zoro off his feet and sending him flying.
Then the giant snake's body writhed wildly, sweeping toward everyone in an attempt to crush them all.
"Shishishi! This is so much fun!"
Luffy ran at full speed, still speaking happily.
By now, everyone had been scattered in alarm, unable to find one another.
"Hey! Luffy~ Zoro~ Where did everyone go? How come I can't find you?"
After running for his life, Chopper finally stopped and discovered that his companions were gone. He looked around and called out, but no one answered.
"Honestly, you've gone and gotten lost again. I can't stand them. I'll go wait for them there first. Good thing I remembered the direction. It's this way..."
Meanwhile, Zoro had become separated from the others. Alone in a deserted forest, he scratched his head and spoke helplessly before heading in the direction he believed was right.
"Am I the only one who went the right way? Then I'll go take a look there first!"
Robin, meanwhile, followed the correct direction toward their destination.
The view turned back to Luffy, who was sitting cross-legged on a rotting branch, looking ahead in puzzlement.
"So that's how it is? We got separated. As captain, I'll have to talk to them about it later. They've gotten lost again. I can't stand them.
"Was the destination to the south? South, the warm place. This way!"
Then Luffy held out the branch and headed toward the place that felt warmest.
Whoosh~
Whoosh~
Whoosh~
The Shandia warriors sped along the cloud current on their wavers and soon arrived at the ordeal grounds set up by the priest Shura.
Whoosh~
Whoosh~
Whoosh~
Still unaware of anything, they continued forward. Up ahead, the priest Shura sat cross-legged atop a huge boulder, watching them with a sinister grin at his success.
Twang~~~
At last, everyone suddenly came to a stop without realizing why, and they all spoke in bewilderment.
"What... what's going on?"
"Hahaha! Welcome, warriors of Shandia. This is my Ordeal of String!"
Shura sat there watching them bound by his ability and laughed aloud.
"What's going on? What did you do? Why can't any of us move?"
Braham struggled hard but still couldn't break free. He shouted at Shura.
"I told you, this is my Ordeal of String. The moment you stepped inside, countless thin cloud strings, nearly invisible to the naked eye, wrapped around you. The more that wrap around you, the harder they are to escape.
"It must feel awful not being able to break free now, right? Don't worry, I'll release you soon enough.
"But one of you hasn't been caught in the cloud strings. Come out, warrior Wyper."
Shura explained with a smile, but then quickly changed the subject and looked up, addressing someone above.
"Tch!" In a space above Shura, completely concealed by branches and leaves, the Shandia warrior Wyper grunted in disappointment, then headed over with his Burn Bazooka on his shoulder.
Whoosh!!!
Shura leaped onto his mount, the Three-Jo Bird, and flew up to meet him, thrusting his spear at Wyper with his right hand.