Chapter 100: Celestial Dragon
Chapter 100: Celestial Dragon
Hachi made takoyaki for the crew as a thank you for saving Camie, Pappag, and himself.
Cherry was hesitant to try it, as it conjured images of tentacled horrors she had witnessed in her last life, none of which were even remotely appetizing. Once she relented, she found that it was actually quite nice, though.
Their meal was interrupted when the flying fish riders caught up to them. Cherry seriously considered teaching them a more permanent lesson before they revealed that their intentions were not bad, but rather that Duval wanted to thank Sanji for making him 'handsome', thus turning his life's prospects around for the better.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om
The newly named 'Rosy Life Riders' went on their merry way after promising to repay their debt in some way in the future.
While they were eating, the method by which one would go to Fishman Island was explained to them.
The Sabaody Archipelago apparently produced a unique kind of resin that formed large floating bubbles. This resin could be applied to a ship in a particular way to protect it from the pressure of the water in the ocean's depths, as well as keep in air for its crew to breathe.
"I presume we need to hire someone to do this resin coating method, then?" Cherry asked.
"Right. Not to worry though, I know of someone who is both very good at his craft and very trustworthy." Hachi said.
"Totally not setting us up for a watery grave, right?" Cherry asked.
"N-no! I wouldn't do that to anyone, certainly not people who have saved my life!" Hachi denied adamantly, much to Cherry's amusement.
Soon they arrived at the Sabaody Archipelago, which was in actuality a cluster of enormous mangrove trees. There was no actual land, rather the people here lived on top of the roots of the trees.
After inspecting the soapy bubbles that formed before their very eyes, they formed into groups.
Hachi, Cherry, Luffy, Nami, Chopper, Brook, Robin, Camie, and Pappag were in the group to go find the resin coating expert for the Thousand Sunny.
Zoro tried to go off on his own, saying he couldn't possibly lose his way when the trees were marked with numbers. Cherry still insisted that Cabernet go with him, as she could just directly drag Zoro to Cherry if they got lost.
The remaining people, namely Sanji, Usopp, Serene, Franky, and Merry, stayed on the ship to guard it and the treasure on board.
"Now I need to warn you guys about something important." Hachi explained. "If we see any World Nobles, also called Celestial Dragons, then you mustn't go against them! It's better if you try not to stand out in any way! No matter what!"
"Sure, sure, whatever." Luffy replied nonchalantly, only half paying attention.
Cherry patted Hachi on the shoulder. "You're going to have to be more specific. Those of us with functioning brains can infer the danger you're warning us about, but goofballs like Luffy need it spelled out for them. Otherwise, he might just do whatever he feels in the moment."
"Oh, right." Hachi couldn't say he knew Luffy super well, but he knew what Cherry was saying was absolutely the case just based on what little he knew about him.
"If you were to harm a World Noble in any way, an Admiral from marine headquarters would be sent directly here to deal with you!" Hachi explained.
"Ehhh?! Like Aokiji?!" This time the message got through to Luffy's pea brain properly.
They visited a vender that rented and sold a contraption that combined with the bubbles to form a vehicle of sorts. They rented a couple of personal sized ones and a larger one. Hachi later explained that buying one was a scam, as the bubbles could only exist in the unique atmosphere of the Sabaody Archipelago or Fishman Island.
Nami, Robin, and Cherry split of from the others to go to a shopping mall. Although Cherry had no interest whatsoever in shopping, she wouldn't miss a chance to spend time with Robin. She would soon regret that decision.
"Be careful and stay lowkey, guys. I can sense some really strong people around here, so don't cause any trouble!" Cherry warned.
Inside the shopping mall, Robin and Nami suddenly picked cherry up by the arms and quickly brought her to an expensive looking boutique. A feeling a tremendous dread overcame her.
"I've changed my mind! I want to go have a look at the resin coating guy instead!" Cherry squirmed, but Robin only bloomed a multitude of arms to restrain her further. "Nooooo!"
Half an hour later, Cherry was exhausted. She had been toyed with like a dress up doll, and the worst part? She looked good in everything. Such is the curse of being a world shaking beauty.
Cherry was currently wearing a frilly black dress with pink highlights with a matching fancy hat.
"Thank you, it was very fun dressing you up." Robin embraced her.
"Well... as long as you're happy." Cherry grumbled.
...
Zoro was wandering randomly around the archipelago whilst Cabernet followed him around like a puppy.
Cabernet had found a way to convert her wings into sail fabric so that they looked like a giant scarf wrapped around her and she had turned off her flames. It wouldn't prevent anyone from recognizing her, but it would at least make a bit harder. Mainly it was to limit the possibility that a World Noble would see her unique traits and try to enslave her.
Some sort of commotion was happening up ahead. Cabernet observed with curiousity, whilst Zoro didn't seem to even notice anything was happening.
*Bang*
A gunshot was heard followed by a woman's scream. Cabernet saw that an exceptionally ugly man wearing a glass fish bowl on his head had shot a man.
"You murderer, how could you! Someone please, help him!" The woman cried out, but when the ugly man turned to her, she clapped her hands over her mouth.
'Why is no one doing anything? Is this one of the World Nobles? Hm, he doesn't seem to be very noble though, nor does he look like a dragon...' Cabernet thought with her brow
furrowed.
There were some pirates with 100 million plus bounties present as well.
"Is that 'Pirate Hunter' Zoro and 'Blood Wine' Cabernet? I heard she blew up a whole city in alabasta..." Asked a pirate behind a man with instruments integrated into his body. "They're just casually walking down the street, do they not know anything?" Wondered a gangster looking man.
"Shit, look at her face! She's going to kill the Celestial Dragon!" A pink haired woman muttered with growing horror. Of course, that was just how Cabernet looked most of the time.
As Zoro kept walking towards the World Noble absent mindedly, Cabernet suddenly veered into the crowd of pirate and blended in with them. Racked with indecision, she decided to just let Zoro decide what to do, though she didn't realize how bad that idea was.
The pirates present let out a sigh of relief seeing the woman with a 275 million Beri bounty back out. They still had to do some about Zoro though.
When the World Noble noticed Zoro walking towards him, he panicked and fired his gun at Zoro, which was easily dodged. As Zoro went in for the attack, he was tackled by a pink haired little girl who put on an act that he'd been shot and killed.
The World Noble was as stupid as he was ugly, so he easily believed the act and lost interest. He wandered off with his new 'bride' and everyone finally relaxed.
"Why'd you stop me?!" Zoro complained.
"What do you mean?! You nearly got us all killed! Did you WANT an admiral to come down on top of our heads?!" The pinked haired woman reprimanded him. "And you, Blood Wine Cabernet, why in the world didn't you stop him yourself?!"
Cabernet looked down sheepishly at the rebuke. She spoke softly. "I'm sorry..."
The pirates present felt their hearts quake in their chests. 'How can she seem so cute?!'
Ultimately the worst case scenario was avoided, so the pirates went their separate ways. Zoro and Cabernet went to find a doctor for the man who had been shot.