[75] Next Stop? (2)
Chapter 75: Next Stop? (2)
—
“Looks like she is heartbroken.”
“At least she isn’t mad, just sad.”
Mikita and Hashirama said to one another, sitting side by side and looking far from them where Nami was pretending to feel the wind. There was barely any wind in the Calm Belt; she should have chosen another excuse.
The sun was almost aloft in the tallest sky, and the dots of drifting clouds weren’t doing anything to shield them. The ship soared through the waveless sea, only being driven by Hashirama’s ocean of chakra, though it had no real destination right now. It wasn’t trying to cross the Calm Belt but was moving through it in a straight line.
“I think it’s better this way,”
Nudging closer to him, Mikita wrapped her arm around him and pushed it between her chest, while her head tilted gently to look at him.
“It’s not a fun game if it’s an easy game, is it?”
Hashirama looked down at her with an amused raised eyebrow before scoffing gently.
“There are so many things wrong with what you just said. Do I seem like I see this as a game? Also, why are you assuming I am going after her? What made you think I’m going to try my luck with another girl when you are already acting weird because of Vivi – and also when I haven’t even told Vivi about you?”
“Hmm, I wonder.”
Mikita gave him a stare that contradicted her sweet smile, lighting up gently in a cold light.
‘What a crazy bitch.’
Hashirama recalled why people said, 「Don’t stick your dick in crazy.」
Sadly for those people, Hashirama was an avid believer in another saying. When his master said,「Crazy women? There is no such thing as a crazy woman, as long as you’re crazier.」
Hashirama smiled down at Mikita. He leaned over and sealed her lips to her surprise while Vivi was talking to Robin nearby, causing a caught-off-guard Robin to quickly avert Vivi’s attention away from the near vicinity.
* * *
After tea, breakfast, and a little rest, Hashirama called for a crew meeting as planned. The group, consisting of four girls and one duck, sat in a circle near the front of the deck where the three dragon heads were present. Since there were no enemies nearby and Hashirama wasn’t putting his chakra into them, the heads were still as if they were wooden statues. So he easily sat on top of the middle head, and from there, he looked down at the group to explain things.
“By now, Nami has the gist of it, but to explain further, we are going after one of the three legends – the Emerald City. From what we have gathered, that city is located in the Calm Belt.”
“Question. How are we sure that it’s real?”
“Robin, hand her the pages.”
Upon Nami’s question, Hashirama ordered Robin, who was sitting beside Nami, to show her the pages. Robin didn’t question it and showed Nami, as the ginger’s eyes slowly widened. Of course, it wasn’t anything that confirmed the existence of the city, since it was written by another human who could be lying, but that was the fun of adventures. To follow the diary of a dead pirate crew in search of treasure was piracy at its root.
“Now, there is mainly one problem with this information. There are four areas that are classified as Calm Belts. We are currently in the left Calm Belt of the Paradise side of the Grand Line. There is a right side to this, and then there is another left and right side of the Calm Belt in the New World side of the Grand Line.”
In short, they didn’t have any shortcut but to roam all four of the belts. After all, it could be just about anywhere. However, if Hashirama had to make a guess, he would say that wherever it is, it’s near the red-line, the side where Mariejois is located.
The Emerald City was futuristic. As depicted in the original literature where the name was derived from, the Emerald City of Oz, it was far more advanced than the rest of the world. And from the diary pages Cricket found too, based on the description of its wall where weapons and cannons were littered, it seemed to be a futuristic place compared to the rest of this world.
Hashirama had a wild guess that this was the place where the Giant Robot that attacked Mariejois 200 years ago came from. From as far as Hashirama had read in the manga, its origin wasn’t revealed – and so he had to guess that it had come from that city. Given it attacked Mariejois, odds are that the City was on an island near the Red Line, then far from it.
Obviously, he couldn’t tell this to his crew, but thankfully he had another intuition he could share.
"I personally don’t think it’s on the Paradise side anyway, though the odds aren’t zero. At least, it’s not on the right side of the belt, opposite our current position. Otherwise, the pirates from Amazon Lily would have found it by now. We are going to search that place too, just to be safe, but for now, I believe it’s on either side of the belt in the New World."
"So here is our next course of action. We do a quick scout of this belt we are already in, and after we are done, we then move on to the right side. I believe it will take us two months to finish on this side since the Grandline is so huge, even with my fast movements."
Hashirama looked at Nami, Mikita, and Robin.
"However, searching isn’t the only thing we do. As of right now, two of us are super weak, and another of us is strong but doesn’t know how to use her power properly. Tell you what, I have a fix for both."
Hashirama snapped his fingers and pointed two fingers at Robin.
"Your training is simple. I can help you with it since I can imitate your powers quite easily. Your power is very versatile, and since you’re not really much of a physical fighter, we will focus on your Devil Fruit instead of Haki for now. Well, I will teach you Observation regardless. Our goal is to awaken your fruit."
While Robin looked taken aback and frowned, asking why the crew’s archeologist must learn to fight, Hashirama ignored her and moved to the other two girls.
"Then, Nami and Mikita. I…"
Hashirama was just about to speak, but he paused. His eyes focused on Nami first, and then on Mikita. He chewed on his lip as he questioned something.
"You two… are weird as hell. Lemon, Tangerine." Secondly, both were short-haired stubborn girls with bratty personalities, but he didn’t mention that. "Thirdly, both are obsessed with money and gold. Then, you two have fruits that have a previous relationship – due to Mikita’s co-worker having used the fruit before. Lastly… one is a lemon fanatic, and another is a tangerine fanatic. Nah, it’s weird no matter how I look at it, almost as if you guys are twins?"
"What?"
"Are you crazy?"
"…!!"
While Lemon and Tangerine spat out the same words at the same time, twice even, they both flinched and frowned. On the side, Vivi tilted her head and asked innocently.
"But hey, Hashirama, you said thirdly? What’s the second point?"
Hashirama ignored them all and gently slammed his hand on the head of the wooden dragon to call for their attention.
"Anyhow, that’s not the point here. I will train Nami and Mikita together. Ugh, it would have been better if I knew the Marine Six Powers; both of your powers would get a tremendous usage boost if you could use those. Especially Mikita… Anyway, I will train both of you, and Mikita will help by helping Nami how to use her powers, since she is the one who knows the most about it currently."
Mikita crossed her arms with a frown. “Why should I? What do I get by helping her train? I don’t wanna train, but if I really have to, I want to be trained by you personally, like Robin. Also, why are you keeping Vivi out of this? Doesn’t she need training too?”
"…."
Hashirama sighed while Vivi shrugged her shoulders.
“Vivi doesn’t really need training at this point. I will train her when I am done with you three, meaning when you’re nearing her level. She can take all three of you down all under a minute if she puts her mind into it. She is not a spoiled princess, mind you.”
Nami blinked on the side, feeling as if the last line was directed at her, even though he wasn’t looking at her while saying it. Mikita growled at the words but couldn’t say anything to refute him – recalling how Vivi nearly killed her back in Jaya. In the meantime, Vivi smiled and looked away from the group, a small blush coming on her face as she enjoyed him protecting her image.
Hashirama then smiled down at Mikita, “I have this urge to scold you, but it’s supposed to be a special day – thanks to what I said in the kitchen. Be grateful.”
“Tsk, tsk, sure.”
Mikita looked away too, not finding it in herself to talk back to him today. While Vivi narrowed her eyes, Robin sighed from the side.
“Alright then,” Hashirama put a hand on the dragon’s head and channeled his chakra into it, just as two clones grew out of the wood and jumped down. One stood beside Robin and another beside the two thief girls. Hashirama the Main jumped too and landed beside Karoo.
“Your training begins now. While I go out with Karoo to check out the nearby area. Ah, consider it training for Karoo to survive in a water filled with sea kings that can eat ships.”
While the happy Karoo’s mood went alarmed when she realized the dangers, Hashirama grabbed her and jumped from the ship, landing in the water on top of Karoo, until two maws came under to eat them and forced Karoo to get moving at the speed of a bullet.
Vivi reacted loudly with her hand stretched at the distancing Karoo, while an argument started between Mikita and Nami when their shoulders brushed. At the same time, Robin talked to one of the clones to try and convince him why training wasn’t important for her, while the clones moved them all towards the open space on the other side of the deck, where they could all train together.
In no time, two months came and went, like the emergence and disappearance of spring.
**
**
**
If you wish to read [the next 20] chapters right away, visit my Patreøn.
Link: Patreøn.cøm/Master4thWall