"Baroque Works agents are still on this island. I wonder how everyone else on the ship is doing," Vivi said with concern, feeding Tom the last bite from the bento box.
"Why are you so anxious?" Tom asked, the spoon clenched between his teeth. Having eaten something, his spirits had improved considerably, shedding their earlier exhaustion.
"Huh?" Vivi had been about to put the spoon away, surprised that Tom had bitten down on it after finishing his meal. His question caught her off guard.
Since boarding the Going Merry, this was, in Vivi's impression, the first time she'd had such a formal conversation with Tom. In truth, she did feel a burden, mostly guilt, about being on the Merry. If not for her, the Straw Hats wouldn't have been targeted by Baroque Works and hunted by their elite agents.
Luffy had agreed to escort Vivi back to Alabasta. Zoro, when it came down to it, always respected and supported his captain's decisions. Sanji went without saying—having a stunning beauty like her on board made him the happiest guy around.
Usopp just went with the flow. If everyone else agreed, he wouldn't say much, figuring his objections wouldn't change anything anyway, so he might as well save his breath.
As for Nami, while she initially seemed to have objections about Vivi coming aboard, she warmed up quickly.
Only Tom was an enigma to Vivi. She couldn't figure out his attitude toward her. He hadn't clearly expressed support, nor had he offered a warm welcome. He gave off an aloof, detached feeling. After boarding and during the sail to Little Garden, she'd barely spoken to him. Back then, Tom had been obsessively researching how to improve his weapons and paid little attention to anything else. This gave Vivi the mistaken impression that he was difficult to get along with. It was only today she realized he was actually quite approachable, though some of the things he did were hard for her to understand.
"Aren't you worried that Luffy and the others might be in trouble?" Vivi asked, puzzled to see Tom so relaxed and resting.
"Are you mistaken about something?" Tom countered, the spoon still in his mouth. "Do you think they're the kind of weaklings who need you to worry about them?"
"Well..." Vivi was momentarily stumped.
"Is your fist stronger than Luffy's?"
"Do you know swordsmanship?"
"Do you have superb culinary skills?"
"Do you understand sniping?"
Tom fired off several questions in a row, leaving Vivi blinking in confusion. He continued, "Heck, even hunting, I'm better at it than you, right?"
It was true. Vivi's fists were nowhere near as hard as Luffy's. She didn't know swordsmanship. Her cooking was average at best. Sniping? She knew nothing about it. She had a passing knowledge of navigation, but compared to Nami, it was a drop in the ocean. As for hunting, she couldn't hold a candle to a single one of Tom's fingers.
But Vivi didn't understand why Tom was suddenly saying all this. He couldn't be deliberately trying to discourage her, could he?
"What exactly are you trying to say?" Vivi felt it was better to be direct with Tom. Beating around the bush was pointless.
"You still don't get it," Tom said, placing the spoon into the now-empty bento box and looking at the tight-lipped Vivi. "Each of us has things we can do and things we can't."
"You just need to figure out what you should be doing most. Once you do, you won't feel lost or be overthinking things." Tom moved his injured right hand slightly and continued, "What you can do... that's something for when we reach the Alabasta Kingdom, right?"
"In that case, until then, why not try to calm down and enjoy this journey a bit? The troubles you can't solve, we'll handle."
"A person who's always worrying about things far beyond their capabilities... living like that is exhausting."
Seeing that Vivi seemed to have fallen into deep thought, Tom didn't say more. He raised his left hand, which was still bound by the Candle Shackle—Vivi's right hand was locked in the same shackle, so it was lifted along with his.
Vivi still showed no reaction, her head bowed as if pondering something. Tom ignored her, focused his strength into his left hand, and gave a sharp twist. The Candle Shackle, hard as iron, shattered.
Crack! Crack!
The shackle binding Tom's left hand and Vivi's right hand developed more and more cracks, fragments of wax constantly falling to the ground. This damage was actually due to Tom's earlier battle with the giant goldfish. His body had spun through the air at high speed multiple times, and the final blow from the sky that shattered the goldfish's skull carried immense force. Even though his left hand hadn't been holding his spear, the massive recoil had damaged the shackle from the inside out. So, when Tom applied more force, it broke naturally.
When Vivi came back to her senses, she realized the shackle on her hand was gone. Tom was already using his fishing rod, striking the shackle binding their feet again and again. After a short while, he smashed it to pieces, and the two of them were finally free.
"See? A lot of things you think are huge problems are actually just minor troubles," Tom said, stretching his limbs as he spoke to Vivi beside him.
"Hmm, perhaps you're right." Vivi nodded gently. After hearing Tom's words, she felt a sudden clarity. The light in her eyes grew more vivid. Droplets of water hung from her seawater-drenched aqua-blue hair, looking incredibly clear under the reflected sunlight. A relieved smile touched her lovely face, adding an elegant, pristine air.
As Tom said, what she could do, what she should do, all had to wait until she returned to her country. Until then, no matter how anxious or worried she was, nothing would change. Fully understanding this, Vivi's nerves, taut for days, finally relaxed completely. She felt incredibly light, her smile blooming like a quietly unfolding flower, pure and fresh.
"That's more like it, Swirl-Head," Tom said casually as he turned to walk forward. "Before, you were like a granny always fretting about this and that. Whenever you got close, I could feel the aura of impending old age. It was terrifying."
"What nonsense are you spouting?!" Vivi's mood had been excellent, but Tom's evaluation shocked her so much her jaw nearly hit the ground.
"Wait, where are we going?" Vivi hurried to catch up with Tom and asked.
"I've had my fun. I want to go back to the ship and rest," Tom answered truthfully. He'd hunted a Tyrannosaurus, ridden a Pteranodon, and even taken down a goldfish big enough to swallow an island. He'd lost most of his interest in the creatures of this primordial island. Plus, his right hand was injured, so he was thinking of returning to the Going Merry.
"What about the Baroque Works elite agents still on the island?" Vivi reminded him, seeing he really intended to go back.
"Those guys will definitely go looking for Luffy. Then they'll be the unlucky ones." Tom had fought Mr. 3 and didn't think his strength could threaten Luffy.
Given Zoro's personality, that green-haired guy wouldn't stay put on the ship. And if the creepy cook wasn't on board either, the only ones to worry about were Nami and Usopp, who should still be on the ship. That's why Tom decided to head back first to check the situation.
"Where did Karoo run off to?" Vivi looked around but couldn't find Karoo. She whistled, but the duck didn't return, so she asked Tom.
"Dunno. That dumb duck likes running around everywhere."
"He's not dumb! I won't allow you to say that about him!"
Tom and Vivi chatted as they walked, the figures of the young man and woman gradually disappearing into the depths of the forest.
Actually, while Tom and Vivi were talking, Karoo had accidentally seen the giant goldfish floating belly-up on the sea seeming to get closer and closer to shore. Scared out of its wits, its eyes nearly popped out, and it took off in a flash.
Poor Karoo didn't know the belly-up goldfish was drifting toward shore just because of the ocean currents.
Meanwhile, Sanji, on his way to find Tom, thought he heard Nami's voice. Without hesitation, he turned back toward the Going Merry, bringing along a knocked-out Tyrannosaurus.
However, Sanji found it strange that when he returned to the ship, Nami and Usopp were already gone. He waited and waited on the ship, but not a single person returned to the Merry. He started to feel something was off.
If it was just Zoro not coming back, Sanji wouldn't have found it strange at all—that Marimo was hopelessly lost; it'd be a miracle if he found his way back on his own. The problem was, besides himself, no one had returned. Unable to wait any longer on the Merry, Sanji ventured back into the forest.
Zoro had also intended to go find Tom, but he tragically got lost. To make matters worse, he ran into a Triceratops. Looking at the dinosaur with two spear-like horns on its head and a third protruding between its eyes and nostrils, Zoro quickly decided to fight. In his view, the Triceratops, like himself, was a three-sword style user.
After dealing with the Triceratops, Zoro thought it looked sturdy and big enough to provide several tons of meat, so he decided to use it as his quarry for the hunting competition with Sanji.
Unfortunately, Zoro had no sense of direction. After dragging the heavy Triceratops in circles through the forest, he ended up back where he started. Just as he was getting frustrated, he saw Nami leaning against a tree not far away.
Suddenly seeing the person among them with the best sense of direction, Zoro was delighted. He happily dragged the heavy Triceratops toward Nami and asked, "What are you doing here?"
Seeing that Nami, leaning against the tree, didn't respond, Zoro thought it was odd. Just as he was about to go take a closer look, he was ambushed by Mr. 3, hiding in the shadows.
Only after his hands were bound behind his back by Mr. 3's Candle Shackles did Zoro realize the Nami before him was a wax statue. The statue was so lifelike, it looked exactly like a real person. It was no wonder he'd been fooled.
As for Nami and Usopp, they had earlier seen a giant wearing a horned helmet walking toward their ship on the shore. They also witnessed a Tyrannosaurus sneak up and bite the giant hard on the back while he was squatting down to talk to them. The giant was completely unfazed and, with a backhand swing of his axe, lopped off the T-Rex's head.
Seeing the giant's ferocity, Nami and Usopp were so scared they immediately collapsed on the deck, playing dead to try and fool him.
The giant's name was Brogy, and he called himself the strongest warrior of Elbaf. After slaughtering the Tyrannosaurus, as thanks for Nami and Usopp giving him alcohol, he kindly wanted to treat them to some meat. Seeing the two had "passed out," he carried the unconscious pair back to the cave where he lived.
Therefore, when Sanji returned to the Going Merry, he couldn't find Nami and Usopp at all.
Luffy, trying to catch a Pteranodon flying around in the sky, was accidentally thrown off and then swallowed whole by a long-necked Diplodocus below.
But Luffy got lucky. Just after being eaten, another giant on the island, Dorry, happened to walk over. With a swing of his greatsword, he severed the Diplodocus's long neck. Luffy slid out through the severed neck and, while still in the air before landing, saw the enormous Dorry.
Dorry wore a helmet, carried a greatsword on his right shoulder, and held a large shield on his left hand, which had caught the falling Luffy. He was clearly a warrior who used both sword and shield.
Standing on Dorry's left palm, Luffy still had plenty of room. He genuinely thought Dorry was huge and even asked him if he was human.
Dorry laughed heartily. With his bushy eyebrows, large eyes, and a long beard covering his chin, he also called himself the strongest warrior of Elbaf. He said Luffy was full of vitality, that it had been a long time since guests had landed on the island, and he invited Luffy to come sit at his place.
Some time later, as Tom and Vivi were walking toward the Going Merry's location, the ground suddenly shook violently. In the distance, a volcano erupted, spewing a plume of ash that shot straight into the sky, turning everything gray.
"Vol... volcanic eruption?" Vivi had just steadied herself when Tom spoke.
"Seems like more than that. Look over there."
"That's... two giants fighting!?" Vivi followed Tom's pointing finger and, from afar, saw two towering figures exchanging blows with sword and axe.
"Rather than a fight, it looks more like a duel. And it's about to be decided," Tom observed, watching the distant battle closely. Although both sides seemed to be going all out, the giant with the greatsword was slowing down, clearly about to reach his limit.
Watching a battle between giants for the first time in his life, Tom had only one impression: sheer brutality. The clashing of sword and axe, the pounding of fist on shield—all were filled with savagery and raw power.
"Why are they fighting like this?" Vivi asked, seeing the giants attack each other without mercy. Her words had just left her mouth when she saw the giant with the greatsword fall to the ground, struck head-on by the axe-wielding giant's blow. The outcome was decided.
Just as Tom was about to answer Vivi's question, he heard Usopp's shout. "It's terrible! Something awful has happened!"
"What's going on? Weren't you supposed to be on the ship?" Tom saw Usopp's panicked, distraught expression. His heart sank. Something must have gone wrong. Otherwise, with Usopp's personality, he wouldn't have come all the way here alone.
"I... I'm sorry, everyone... Nami..." Usopp said, his eyes reddening.
Hearing Usopp mention Nami and speak in fragments made Tom even more uneasy. "What exactly happened?"
"NAMI'S DEAD!!!!!"
Usopp wore a look of utter devastation, his expression as if Nami had truly died.
"WHAT!?!?!?"
Tom's mouth fell open at Usopp's words. He was so shocked he nearly turned to stone on the spot.
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T/N :
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