"Here, your sword."
Zoro tossed Rovick's sword back to its owner, then asked, "Your sword is awfully light. Is it a named blade?"
Indeed, although the sword looked plain and unadorned, it had an indescribable feeling of lightness to the touch. With his swordsman's intuition, Zoro was absolutely certain this blade was on the exact same level as his own three sharp weapons.
"That's right. It's called Juexi, one of the 21 Great Grade Swords."
Rovick took his beloved sword, expertly fastened it to his waist, and grinned. "It took me a hell of a lot of effort to get my hands on it."
"Oh? Is that so? That must mean you're a formidable swordsman too, then." Hearing this, Zoro tightened his grip on the three prized swords at his waist, his mouth curling into his trademark wicked grin:
"I'll have to have a proper exchange with you a little later."
"I'd be more than happy to."
Rovick nodded. Then, he turned around, rested his hand on the hilt of his sword, and stared out at the sea ahead with a serious expression. It looked exactly like the starting stance of a draw-slash.
"Oh, right, I forgot to ask. What's the name of this ship?"
"Its name?" Usopp was extremely confused by Rovick's sudden question, but he answered honestly anyway:
"The Going Merry."
"Oh, nice name."
Rovick took a deep breath. Then, with a flash of cold light, Juexi left its sheath! Gripping the precious sword, he swung it forcefully toward the direction of Jaya! Like a great general ordering his soldiers to charge, he roared with intense excitement:
"Charge!! Going Merry!!!"
Whooosh! The sound of whistling air currents filled the air as gale-force winds erupted!
Before the Straw Hat Pirates could even recover from Rovick's overly dramatic display, the previously gentle sea breeze suddenly intensified several times over, as if answering the blue-haired traveler's call.
The broad sails billowed out exaggeratedly under the blasting gale. The entire ship trembled violently before surging forward like an arrow released from its bow string, driven by this massive force and kicking up two towering waves on the once-calm sea.
Riding the wind and breaking the waves, forging ahead unstoppably!
Nami was nearly thrown off her feet by the sudden, massive inertia. She hurriedly steadied herself, watching the scenery blur past on both sides with a look of inexplicable shock on her face.
"Such speed! I never imagined the Merry could sail across the sea this fast!"
"Yes. That must be why his small boat was able to travel at such high speeds earlier. Hehe, what a convenient ability." Robin smiled elegantly. "At this rate, we should reach Jaya in no time."
"Charge!!!! Going Merry!!!" x3
Luffy and Usopp, two full-grown goofballs, along with Chopper, a pint-sized goofball, trailed behind Rovick. They were yelling in excitement and jumping up and down, looking like they were thoroughly enjoying the thrill brought on by this speed.
"But since it's a Devil Fruit ability, why does he need to use his sword? And roar the ship's name?"
The curly-browed cook looked at the blue-haired traveler, who was still striking a pose at the bow of the ship, completely baffled. "And what the hell is with that slightly embarrassing pose?"
The green-haired swordsman narrowed his eyes in thought for a moment before guessing, "Could this be a prerequisite step for activating his ability?"
"No, no, no. Actually, it has absolutely nothing to do with the movements or the sword. He just thinks it looks cooler to do it that way." From inside the cabin came Sherlock's flat, yet slightly embarrassed voice:
"Oh, and Nami, you better double-check the course. We've probably drifted quite a bit off track."
The orange-haired navigator's face changed at his words. She hurriedly looked down at the Log Pose pointing toward Jaya in her hand, horrified to discover that at some point, they had veered off course by more than a hundred degrees—and the angle was continuing to widen...
"Ah, right, I forgot to tell you all."
Rovick suddenly turned back to look at the Straw Hat crew, scratching his head somewhat sheepishly. "Although I can increase the wind speed, the direction of the sea breeze is too difficult to control. Plus, my sense of direction isn't great. So, aside from small boats, I really can't guarantee the sailing direction for larger ships."
"Eh??!!" x3 The previously overly excited trio of goofballs froze instantly.
"Oh, so that's how it is..." Nami stared blankly for a moment, then, with a face full of smiles, slowly walked toward Rovick.
"In that case, why did you even bother asking me for the direction earlier?"
Seeing this, Robin, Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp all turned their faces away, as if unable to bear watching the scene that was about to unfold.
"Well, actually, I just asked casually. I just wanted to show off my Devil Fruit ability to you guys."
Rovick, still completely oblivious to the fact that he was actively courting death, revealed a warm, gentle smile. He was even thinking to himself about how cute this navigator miss looked when she smiled, and how lucky Sherlock was with the ladies, and so on...
However, what happened next...
"Then hurry up and stop the damn ship, you bastard!!!!" A furious, exasperated roar.
Bang!!! A heavy, muffled thud echoed out as a fist struck a head. It sounded painful just listening to it.
Clatter. The sound of a human body collapsing onto the deck. At the same time, the previously lightning-fast Going Merry instantly slowed down.
"Gah! Nami, how could you hit Sherlock's friend so hard?"
"A doctor! Where's a doctor?! Eh? I'm the doctor?!"
Listening to the familiarly noisy racket outside the cabin, Sherlock sat calmly in his chair. Gazing at the clear, deep red liquid in his teacup, he let out a soft sigh.
"What an absolute idiot..."
After a bout of chaotic scrambling, the Straw Hat crew ultimately chose to sail the ship toward Jaya the normal way. After all, a certain blue-haired guy was simply far too unreliable.
The temperature gradually warmed up. According to the orange-haired navigator, Jaya was very likely a warm Spring Island.
Once Rovick woke up, Zoro pulled him aside and began asking for advice on how to launch flying slashes. Rovick, being quite generous, shared everything he knew, greatly benefiting the green-haired swordsman.
Perhaps because they were both swordsmen and equally terrible with directions, the two hit it off perfectly. They chatted merrily, acting like old friends who regretted not meeting sooner. It prompted Sanji to silently complain: Sure enough, there really is a mutual attraction between a moss-head and an algae-head...
Robin was reading a book, and Usopp was repairing the massive hole Sherlock had smashed earlier. Meanwhile, Nami, Luffy, and Chopper had resumed their card game on the deck—or, to be more precise, they were continuing to teach Luffy how to play cards.
"Luffy, it's your turn to play a card now," Chopper whispered a gentle reminder.
"....." The clueless captain, clutching a massive handful of cards, looked as grim as still water.
Nami took a sip of juice. "Honestly, you've watched so many rounds already. Just do exactly what we did earlier."
Hearing this, Luffy looked up, half-understanding. Suddenly, a look of sheer astonishment washed over his face. He pointed a finger at the sky and cried out:
"Hey, look quickly! So amazing! A dog is actually flying in the sky!"
"Eh? Where?" A certain naive blue-nosed reindeer fell for it hook, line, and sinker once again.
"Luffy, you idiot, that's not what I meant for you to copy!" The orange-haired navigator nearly spat out her juice, pressing a hand to her forehead in exasperation.
"Oh my, what a cute dog." Robin, who had walked over to the trio at some point, looked up at the sky, her beautiful eyes curving into two crescents.
"Why?! Why is this dog flying in the sky???" Chopper waved his little hooves around in extreme excitement.
??!!
(No way, what kind of crazy plot twist is this? Last time Usopp said something like that, a ship fell from the sky. This time, Luffy says it...)
As she thought this, Nami turned around and looked up at the sky, instantly freezing in shock.
Up above, a large dog with black-and-white fur, looking exactly like a gray wolf, was sprinting through the sky with all its might, as if running on an invisible path beneath its paws.
Or rather, it was stepping on "air."
Although Nami had never raised a dog before, the flying dog's iconic appearance allowed her to recognize its breed at a single glance.
This type of dog was a kind of sled dog, very common on Winter Islands.
Its name was: a Husky...
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