Chapter 95: The "Gift" Ralph Prepared for Miss Lufia!
Warship Island is just ahead.
Going Merry cut through the waves, its bow splitting the azure sea and sending white spray flying.
"I see it! I see it!"
Lufia sat on the sheep figurehead at the bow, one hand holding down her straw hat that was being tossed by the wind, the other pointing at the increasingly clear island in the distance. Her voice was full of excitement.
"Warship Island really does look like a giant ship! We'll get to see Ralph soon, that's great!"
Usopp leaned against the railing, his hand trembling slightly as he held up a telescope.
"Though... though I also really want to see Ralph..."
He swallowed hard, his voice shaking.
"But Lufia, don't you see the warships surrounding Warship Island?! One, two, three... Oh my god, a full twelve of them! That must be the entire Navy's 8th Branch fleet, right?! They're all here to capture Ralph!"
He put down the telescope, his face pale:
"Is it really okay for us to charge straight in like this? Shouldn't... we observe the situation first? Make a plan? Maybe approach from the side? Or wait until dark—"
"Wow!"
Lufia suddenly exclaimed, interrupting Usopp's muttering.
She looked up, her eyes wide as she stared at the sky.
There, a group of enormous creatures were circling and flying.
Green bodies, broad wings.
They soared high and dove low, emitting distant, clear cries.
"Such beautiful big birds!"
Lufia's eyes sparkled, "I wonder if they taste good!"
Nami walked over to her and also looked up at those "big birds."
"Those aren't ordinary big birds."
Nami said, "According to newspaper reports and legends circulating in the East Blue... those should be the 'Sennenryu.'"
As she spoke, she looked toward Warship Island:
"That little girl Ralph took from the Navy is said to know the whereabouts of the Sennenryu. It seems now that he not only found the Sennenryu, but also... found the Lost Island."
Sanji lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and watched the flying Sennenryu with a slight frown.
"Legend says that the bones of the Sennenryu can be used to make an elixir of immortality."
Sanji's voice was somewhat low, "Harming an entire species just for your own immortality... Ralph, you bastard, now that you've left Miss Lufia, are you finally showing your true colors?"
Zoro leaned against the mast with his arms crossed, "Given Ralph's personality, if he really made an immortality elixir, aside from taking it himself, he'd definitely save a portion for Lufia too."
Sanji was taken aback, then his eyes suddenly lit up.
"In that case..."
He nodded vigorously,
"I agree! Miss Lufia should remain forever young and immortal! Always maintaining her beautiful appearance and lively personality! Of course, Miss Nami too!"
"I don't want it."
A clear voice rang out.
Lufia jumped down from the bow and landed on the deck, hands on her hips, her mouth pouting.
"Immortality or whatever sounds so boring!"
She wrinkled her nose in distaste, "If you could live for a thousand years, ten thousand years, what would be the point of adventure?"
She raised her head, looking toward the distant horizon, "Using our limited lives to challenge infinite adventures. Whether we fall along the way or reach the other shore, we'll have no regrets. That's what a—"
She paused, as if searching for the right word.
"—A man's romance!"
The deck fell silent for a few seconds.
Usopp timidly raised his hand. "Um… Lufia, you're not even a man."
"Then it's all of humanity's romance!"
Lufia corrected herself without missing a beat.
Zoro's lips curved upward in a barely noticeable smile.
Sanji gazed at Lufia's profile, his eyes gentle.
Nami let out a soft sigh, but a smile lingered on her face.
Who among those Lufia had recruited wasn't a "weirdo" with a dream in their heart?
She wanted to map the entire world, Zoro aimed to become the world's greatest swordsman, Sanji sought the All Blue, Usopp dreamed of becoming a brave warrior of the sea…
And Lufia—she wanted to become the Pirate King.
To chase boundless dreams with a finite life.
That truly was… romance.
"So," Zoro spoke up, a hint of teasing in his voice, "looks like our vice-captain messed up. Seems he prepared a big gift, but the captain didn't like it."
"Not necessarily."
Nami raised her telescope again, carefully observing Warship Island and the surrounding sea.
"Look at the changes on Warship Island," she said. "The seawater around the island is receding, revealing large stretches of new land. That land isn't sandy beach—it's… ancient rock, and there seem to be carvings on it."
She shifted the telescope toward the flock of Sennenryu circling in the sky.
"Combine that with the sight of these Sennenryu flying in from afar…" Nami lowered the telescope and took a deep breath. "I have a theory."
Everyone turned to look at her.
"The part of Warship Island that has risen might be the legendary 'Lost Island'—the dragon's lair of the Sennenryu." Nami's voice brimmed with excitement. "Once every thousand years, tectonic shifts cause the lair to emerge from the sea. The Sennenryu return from all over the world to breed and rest here… then wait another thousand years."
She glanced toward Warship Island.
"What if Ralph's goal wasn't the elixir of immortality at all, but…" Nami voiced her speculation, "…to verify the truth of this thousand-year-old legend? Or even… to protect this once-in-a-millennium return?"
Usopp listened, his breathing growing rapid, his fists clenched, his eyes sparkling with longing.
"O-only once every thousand years do they meet humans…" he murmured. "What an exhilarating adventure! An encounter destined to be recorded in history!"
But he soon scratched his head again. "Still… this doesn't sound like something Ralph would do. There's no benefit in it at all!"
"Does that mean we shouldn't do it?"
Lufia's voice rang out.
She had climbed back to the bow of the ship at some point, her arms spread wide as if to embrace the entire sky and sea breeze.
"Dragons that live a thousand years, appearing in the human world only once every millennium…" Lufia's eyes reflected the flying dragons. "I want to see them too!"
The cigarette in Sanji's hand fell onto the deck.
He extinguished the butt, then suddenly laughed—a bitter yet relieved laugh.
"Damn it…" Sanji muttered under his breath. "I've really lost."
He lit another cigarette.
"So this is the 'gift' Ralph prepared for Miss Lufia?"
Sanji exhaled a puff of smoke, his voice as light as a sigh.
"A magnificent adventure, a thousand-year encounter, an unforgettable reunion..."
He gazed toward Warship Island with a complicated expression.
"You really... are something else."
Just then, Nami suddenly let out a gasp.
"Wait! Behind us—"
She whirled around, looking toward the stern of the Merry.
On the sea surface, a naval vessel was speeding toward them at full throttle.
----------
For advance chapters join my Patreon.
[email protected]/Aarvan