Just as Usopp was about to ask when Sandy would return, he saw him descending from the rooftop.
Sanji asked curiously, "How did that guy come back from mid-air?"
Naturally—he got lost!
After fighting Blackbeard, Sandy completely forgot the way back to the coast. He could sense the Going Merry with Observation Haki, but there wasn't a proper path ahead.
So, he simply chose to return directly—from high altitude.
The Space Fruit is awesome. It's great—awesomely great!
However, once he landed back on the ship, Sandy couldn't help but frown. He hadn't felt it earlier, but now his shoulder was throbbing with pain.
Luffy noticed Sandy's discomfort and quickly asked, "What's wrong?"
Sandy took off his shirt, revealing a large bruise across his shoulder.
Usopp exclaimed, "You're injured?!"
Sandy laughed, "Can't you tell? I really didn't expect that guy to pack so much strength. That punch really hurt!"
Sanji stepped forward, curious. "What kind of opponent could possibly hit you like this?"
Sandy retorted, "What do you mean hit me like this? He's not doing any better than me!"
Seeing Sandy injured, Usopp turned to Chopper. "Chopper?"
He saw Chopper lying on the deck, breathing heavily. "I thought I was gonna die…"
Zoro, wringing the seawater from his clothes, muttered, "Seriously… always causing trouble."
Chopper said gloomily, "It's all Nami's fault, she—"
Nami exploded, "What is it now?! What did I do? You wanna call me naïve and stupid too?"
"Pfft, hahaha…" Sandy burst into laughter. "What's wrong with them? Who's dumb enough to insult Nami?"
Bonk!
Nami planted her hands on her hips and snapped, "Sandy, it's because of you, that bastard, saying Skypiea exists that I got ridiculed by everyone in town! You think that's funny too?!"
Sandy quickly covered his mouth. Is Nami on her period or something??
To avoid being beaten, he feigned death. "Chopper, I'm injured—come treat me already!"
Luffy poked Sandy's bruise with his finger. "Does it hurt a lot?"
Sandy glared. "You're not getting revenge because I didn't listen to you and went to fight that guy, are you?"
"What are you talking about?" Luffy replied. "At the bar, you stepped in so I wouldn't get beaten. How could I blame you?"
Sandy's expression darkened. "Then why the hell are you still poking it?! It hurts, you bastard!"
Luffy blinked innocently. "Does it really hurt?"
"Well done, well done…" Sandy muttered through gritted teeth.
Just then, as the Going Merry set sail, a massive ship appeared in the distance. Its synchronized whistles immediately reminded everyone of unpleasant encounters from before.
Sandy sighed, "Chopper, stop listening and treat my wound already!!"
"Huh? Oh, oh, right!" Chopper, finally snapping out of it, rushed to Sandy's side to continue treatment.
Meanwhile, Luffy, Sanji, and Usopp stared at the massive ship.
Luffy said, "Why do we always run into weird stuff right after setting sail? But it doesn't look like the same guys as before."
Sanji frowned. "We don't know yet if that's a good thing or a bad thing."
Usopp muttered, "Well, they've seen us too. Maybe they're residents of this island?"
"Hey, hey! What are you guys mumbling about over there?" a voice called out from the giant ship.
The guy—who looked a lot like a monkey—grinned. "Really, I thought you were some big-name crew. You scared me for nothing!"
Luffy blinked. "Your features are really unique. What species are you?"
The monkey-faced man shouted, "A human, you bastard!"
"You're too presumptuous!" one of his crewmates barked.
"That's right! Our boss is the King of Underwater Exploration, leader of the Shojo Pirate Crew!"
"Exactly! Don't you dare disrespect Lord Shojo!"
Sandy, still getting patched up, couldn't help but wonder how Luffy would handle this kind of situation.
If it were him? Well… cough cough—he'd just slice them all down in one swing and be done with it.
At that moment, the self-proclaimed King of Underwater Exploration, Shojo, waved his hand. "Forget it, it's fine, it's fine."
Then he said to the Straw Hats, "Judging by your looks, you're Pirates too, right? Then you should've heard—the Seven Warlords' Crocodile has been captured."
He puffed out his chest. "In terms of strength, I'm not below him! Maybe one day I'll replace him! I'm looking forward to it!"
"Oh?" Luffy tilted his head. "You wanna join the Seven Warlords?"
Shojo grinned. "Anyway, if I have any special talent, it's that I haven't cut my hair once since I was born—twenty-five years! How about that? Shocked?"
Sandy almost choked laughing. "This guy's got flair! Hah, I gotta remember that line."
Luffy replied seriously, "You look like an idiot."
Unexpectedly, Shojo clutched his chest dramatically. "Wow! You startled me!"
"Bastard! How dare you disrespect our great boss!" one of his crew yelled.
Shojo waved his hand. "Forget it, it's fine, it's fine! Really, your answer made my heart pound. Listen up—if you dare force your way through my Angry Sea, it'll be a sea of blood!"
Luffy shrugged. "Doesn't matter. We've got somewhere to go. Move it."
"Too presumptuous!" Shojo roared. "This part of the sea is under my control! You can pass—but first, pay the toll!"
By this point, Chopper had finished bandaging Sandy's wound.
To be honest, Sandy didn't expect this so-called King of Exploration to be such a clown—only to suddenly act like a bandit.
To avoid further trouble—and to keep the Merry Go safe from soundwave damage—Sandy unleashed his Conqueror's Haki, knocking out everyone on the enemy ship except Shojo.
As everyone stared at him, Sandy said helplessly, "You all heard it. That guy said we had to pay to pass. We're Pirates—what, are we supposed to give him money?"
"Well done!" Nami said immediately. "He wanted our treasure? No way! Absolutely not!"
Luffy grinned. "Nami isn't a devil anymore!"
Chopper gasped, "Really?"
Usopp laughed. "She vented long enough just now—her rage finally cooled off."
Sandy looked around at the patched-up Merry Go and sighed.
"Guys, shouldn't we, I dunno, find a shipwright? Look at this thing—it's basically held together with willpower. One big storm and it'll fall apart!"
Everyone turned to examine the Merry Go. He wasn't wrong.
Luffy shouted, "Alright! Let's go to Skypiea—and find a shipwright along the way!"
...
Author's Note:
The fanfic One Piece: My Flirtatious System Adventure is now fully completed.
The entire story has been uploaded on Patreon as a dedicated collection.
📚 Category: One Piece (Chapters 1–657)
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