The Going Merry glided on the calm sea, its Log Pose steadily pointing into the distance.
After the shock of the Grand Line's weather anomalies yesterday and the subsequent rest, an anticipation for the first destination permeated the ship.
"Oh! The first island! What will it be like?" Luffy stretched his neck, his body almost leaning out of the ship, his eyes sparkling with pure excitement.
Sanji, Nami, Zoro, and Usopp, some were gesticulating wildly, while others stood on the deck, looking ahead with happy smiles for the adventure to come.
Tomioka stood quietly to the side, observing their joyful reactions. The concept of adventuring to a new island was still somewhat vague to him, but the Straw Hat's emotions seemed to slightly dispel the silence around him.
Soon, a black speck appeared on the horizon and gradually grew larger.
The island's outline became clear. Most striking were the dense, varying-height rock formations covering the island; from a distance, they resembled a giant cluster of cactus-like rocks, appearing both strange and magnificent under the sun.
"Wow! What's that! Is it a super-sized cactus?" Luffy yelled, even more excited, as he sprawled on the going merry's figurehead.
At this moment, Mr. 9 and Ms. Wednesday exchanged a glance, their eyes filled only with an urgent desire to escape.
As the going merry slowly approached Whiskey Peak, the two suddenly struggled almost simultaneously, Pounce the ship's railing like loaches, attempting to jump into the sea and flee.
"No, you don't!"
Luffy yelled, his arm suddenly stretching out, swiftly coiling around their waists, and yanking them back. The two struggling escapees tumbled onto the deck.
Then, Luffy grinned, dragging them close, his arm still tightly wrapped around them, "We just got here, where do you two want to go play?"
Zoro, holding his sword, sneered, "Heh, trying to run away when you've reached your own lair?"
Tomioka stood a little further away, silently watching the scene. His gaze swept over the two's panicked faces, then turned towards the distant town on the shore.
As the Going Merry drew closer, a faint clamor began to reach everyone's ears.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
They could even hear the cheerful rhythm of gongs and drums.
The closer the ship got, the more deafening the sound became. By the time they could clearly see the shore, the sight before them made the Straw Hat pause.
The dock was packed with people!
Men, women, and children, dressed in vibrant festive attire, frantically waved bouquets and ribbons, their faces beaming with extreme enthusiasm, almost excessively bright smiles. They beat drums, blew out-of-tune trumpets, and danced cheerfully but somewhat awkwardly. The entire port was immersed in a sea of revelry!
"Heroes! Welcome our heroes!"
"Straw Hat Luffy! We love you!"
"Warriors of the sea! Whiskey Peak welcomes you!"
Their movements were perfectly synchronized, and their eyes gleamed with an almost fanatical light.
"Wow! So many people came to welcome us!" Luffy was instantly drawn to the scene, excitedly waving to the crowd.
Zoro, however, looked at the crowd on shore with a slight wariness, reminding them, "Be a little careful, something's not right."
Hearing Zoro, Usopp immediately became displeased and started shouting, "Zoro, you're just jealous of us, aren't you, hahahahahaha."
Tomioka frowned slightly; the smiles on the faces of these people on shore made him feel a little uncomfortable.
[Interpersonal Communication Manual (Trial Version)]
[Subject: Villagers]
[Status: Overly excited, fanatical]
[Preferences: Unknown?]
[Recommendation: Stay vigilant]
The familiar manual text also appeared in the air on the deck, causing Tomioka's hand on his sword hilt to instinctively tighten.
After being released by Luffy, Ms. Wednesday began to scan the crowd, slowly at first, then faster.
But as her gaze swept over each face, she couldn't find that familiar figure—Igaram, who was always so serious, his hair resembling a combination of many trumpets.
But he didn't appear in the crowd.
A strong sense of unease instantly enveloped her. She immediately turned to a cheering villager, asking urgently, "Where's the mayor? Igar… Mr. Mayor, where is he? Why didn't he come?"
The villager's smile stiffened, and his eyes began to dart around. He stammered, "Ah… the… the mayor… he…"
Another villager nearby immediately squeezed over, a even brighter smile plastered on his face, and quickly interjected, "Mr. Mayor… he suddenly has a fever! Yes, a fever! He's very ill and resting in bed, so he really couldn't come to welcome the heroes, we are truly sorry! Hahahahaha!!"
"A fever?" Ms. Wednesday's brows furrowed tightly. This was too much of a coincidence, suspiciously so.
As the going merry docked, the villagers enthusiastically swarmed forward.
"Alright, alright! No need to worry about so much!" Almost by half-pushing and half-pulling, they welcomed the Straw Hat and the still-confused Mr. 9 and Ms. Wednesday ashore.
"Heroes, you must be tired from your long journey! We have prepared a lavish feast! Please do us the honor, hahahaha!!"
In the town's central square, the scene was even more astonishing.
Long tables were piled high with food: glistening roasted meat skewers, mountains of fruit, and barrels of frothy wheat beer.
The sight before him also made Tomioka even more suspicious; such an abundance of food did not align with the food shortage mentioned by the two people on the ship earlier.
"Meat—!!!" Luffy's eyes completely turned into stars, and he immediately rushed to the table, grabbing food and stuffing it into his mouth.
"Wahahaha! Knowing that the brave Usopp, the warrior of the sea, was coming, you prepared quite well!" Usopp also threw himself into the battle of frantically chewing food.
Sanji looked at the abundance of roasted meat and fruit, but then felt something strange and muttered to himself in a low voice:
"So many fresh ingredients… it doesn't look like something a town with a food shortage could produce…"
However, this thought was quickly interrupted by the laughter of the townswomen.
"Heroes, you've worked hard~~~ These meats and fruits~~~ were specially prepared for you~~~ Let us feed you~~~"
"Okay~~~~~"
Nami and Zoro, however, said they had eaten on the ship and were already full, but they accepted every toast offered to them. Both Nami and Zoro took a large wooden mug and drank heartily.
"Wait, are we supposed to eat with them too? We're not heroes, are we, hahahahaha?"
"No, no~~~ You worked hard bringing the heroes here too~~~ Eat with us~~~"
For some reason, Mr. 9 and Ms. Wednesday were also pushed by the residents to stand next to the Straw Hat and could only reluctantly join in the feasting and toasting.
Tomioka sat in a corner of the dining table, with only a small plate of fruit in front of him. The villagers' enthusiasm around him almost overwhelmed him; people constantly came over to offer Tomioka food and praised their heroic deeds.
[Subject: Villagers]
[Status: Overly enthusiastic]
[Preferences: Persuading to eat]
[Recommendation: Observe carefully]
He silently picked up a slice of apple, but only held it in his hand without chewing, his gaze calmly observing his surroundings.
Behind the villagers' enthusiasm, there was always an indescribable urgency.
There was even an old man, wiping his eyes with a dirty sleeve, passionately telling the Straw Hat, who were eating and drinking wildly:
"Oh, heroes! You don't know, to prepare this banquet, we almost emptied all our savings… Last year's harvest wasn't good here, and those hateful pirates always came to rob us. We've been hungry for several months… But to welcome you, it's worth it! Everything is worth it!"
The atmosphere of the banquet was so lively it was almost frenzied.
The sun grew increasingly harsh, and time quietly reached noon.
Suddenly, a discordant note intruded into the clamor.
"Uh… how do I feel…" Usopp was holding a chicken leg, boasting about his adventure stories, but mid-sentence, his eyelids immediately drooped. "A little… sleepy…"
Before he finished speaking, the chicken leg in his hand dropped, he swayed twice, then thumped onto the table, snoring.
Almost simultaneously, Sanji, who was about to light a cigarette nearby, paused, and his lighter slipped from his suddenly powerless fingers.
He shook his head, trying to make out the somewhat blurry revelry before him: "Strange… my body… I can't exert any strength…" Then he softly slumped down.
"Meat… so good…"
Luffy's stomach was incredibly huge, like a balloon. He mumbled a sentence, then plunged headfirst into the giant roasted meat platter in front of him, letting out a huge snore.
And Mr. 9, who was supposed to be a resident of the town, was also force-fed a few bites during the meat-eating revelry, then collapsed.
The lively banquet instantly fell into a dead silence.
The smiles on all the villagers' faces vanished at the same time, replaced by cold numbness.
Nami's smile also immediately disappeared. The wine glass in her hand clattered to the ground, shattering into pieces. Then she pretended to be asleep, leaning back in her chair, half-opening her eyes to observe the reactions of Zoro and Tomioka, who had not yet fallen asleep.
Zoro still held his wine glass, his expression unchanged. He laughed as he drank, then looked at the villagers who had suddenly stopped their actions.
"What's wrong? Is that all you've got? Not drinking anymore?"
Tomioka, too, when Luffy collapsed into the pile of meat, began to place his hand steadily on his sword hilt. Although he was sitting in his chair, he had already entered a state of absolute readiness for battle. There was no longer any ripple in his sea-blue eyes, only cold vigilance.
Looking at Mr. 9 collapsed beside him, Igaram, who was not in the crowd, and the residents' gazes directed at her, Ms. Wednesday's face turned pale, and her voice began to ring with extreme caution: "What's wrong, everyone?!"
"Fufufufu…"
A low, strange laugh came from the rooftop beside the square, breaking the suffocating silence.
"What's wrong? Don't you understand yet, Ms. Wednesday?"
From the shadows, two figures slowly emerged, standing in the dazzling sunlight.
One of them had spiky hair, was tall and thin, wore sunglasses, a reddish-brown trench coat, and… a booger hanging from his nostril… His lips curled into a contemptuous arc.
The other was a tall woman with short blonde hair, holding a yellow and blue striped parasol, dressed in a naive and romantic style, but her eyes were full of a cat-and-mouse playfulness.
"Of course, it's because…"
The tall, thin man named Mr. 5 poked his nose, playing with the booger between his fingers, his tone full of mockery, "They added sleeping pills to the roasted meat, enough to give our heroes a good rest."
"Honestly, you made us wait so long." The other blonde woman, nicknamed Ms. Valentine, complained in a syrupy voice, her parasol gently twirling.
"But, finally, we can begin… the purge."