Over the following days, everyone wandered around Loguetown.
Now that they had Pure Gold, time no longer felt urgent.
White Ghost said it himself: being happy mattered most.
When White Ghost wasn't training, he sometimes gave pointers to Tashigi—who would later suffer endlessly under Smoker's brutal lifestyle.
Smoker, desperate to awaken Haki, challenged White Ghost repeatedly.
The crew happily sat aside and watched Smoker get beaten down again and again.
After several days, Smoker finally awakened Haki.
It wasn't stable yet—sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't—but that was only a matter of practice.
At the time, White Ghost even thought:
If Straw Hat Luffy arrives in Loguetown later… and Smoker lands an Armament punch—won't that be brutal?
About two weeks later, White Ghost set sail again, saying goodbye to the long-suffering Smoker.
During that time, Franky successfully replaced his mechanical arm.
After firing a single laser blast, he immediately went limp.
Every man on the ship stared at him with shining eyes.
What man could resist a laser beam?
Now Franky and Ashie were using the new materials to upgrade more of his body—possibly inspired by Enel's "Zero Unit."
White Ghost had a feeling Franky was heading down a very specific path.
As for the longevity medicine Naqin and the squirrel doctor were researching, it had entered its final stage.
The squirrel doctor was exhausted daily, so White Ghost didn't disturb her.
Everyone handled their own work. Kuro steered the ship.
Long voyages were boring—if you weren't training, you were fishing.
White Ghost himself had been "banned" from entering certain cabins for a few days.
Not because of scandal—more because the crew collectively decided he needed to learn boundaries and stop being reckless when people were exhausted.
So for a few days, White Ghost slept alone.
"Captain!" Kuro called. "Pirates spotted ahead!"
White Ghost looked up.
A pirate ship—roughly the same size—was approaching.
He frowned.
"I leave the East Blue and suddenly everyone's this bold? That old man Garp really is slipping…"
"Uta, Bai Hezi, A-Da, A-Er, Arthur—this time, you move."
"Got it."
The Eldorago Pirates
Captain: Eldorago
Dark-skinned, wearing golden armor, over two meters tall, red-haired, massive and muscular.
Personality: Obsessed with gold to madness. For years he'd searched for the legendary golden great pirate Uunan, rumored to have hidden vast treasures somewhere—fate unknown.
Eldorago rolled gold coins in his hand and grinned.
He fell in love with the majestic ship instantly.
Kill them. Take the ship. Take the treasure.
A swordsman beside him muttered nervously:
"Captain… I've never heard of this ship. Something feels wrong."
Eldorago sneered.
"Probably nobles on a pleasure trip."
The crew's eyes lit up.
Gold.
White Ghost watched and clicked his tongue.
"What a waste… such a good Devil Fruit eaten by trash."
Uta and Bai Hezi launched first.
A-Da and A-Er followed.
Arthur drew his sword.
Eldorago barked:
"Capture the women if you can. Kill the rest!"
Uta swept her sword.
Pirates collapsed—sleeping, bleeding, dying.
"The captain is mine," she said calmly.
Eldorago panicked.
"Sword Song!"
Thud.
He fell.
Bai Hezi cut down the enemy swordsman moments later.
The remaining pirates fled into the sea.
They finally understood:
They had kicked steel.
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