"Hmm... How did he even recognize Hercules? All these beetles look the same, don't they?"
Watching Luffy and Hercules' rather bizarre reunion, Usopp began pondering another question.
Luffy might not even clearly remember people's names or appearances. He mostly recognizes people through distinctive features, like Usopp's nose, Zoro's hair and earrings, and Sanji's eyebrows.
Yet, he was able to pick Hercules out from a group of identical Heracross.
"No, the differences are pretty obvious. The big beetle's horn and shell patterns aren't the same—if you look closely, you can tell them apart."
"And their tastes are different too. They're actually pretty picky about oranges."
Usopp's words were met with strong rebuttals from Nami and Nojiko. In their view, identifying individual Heracross wasn't difficult at all.
"That's just because you've spent too much time with them. Right, Zoro, Sanji?"
"I don't care. It's not a big deal, is it?"
"Whatever Nami-swann and Nojiko-swann say is absolutely right~"
One was indifferent, and the other was already in love-struck mode. This made Usopp once again question what he was doing on this ship.
"Heraaacross?"
"What are you saying, Hercules? Aren't we comrades? Your friends are my friends—there's no way I'd miss out on a fight!"
Luffy's thinking was simple. He never worried too much about consequences. If someone was his friend, his comrade, he would help them unconditionally.
As Luffy and Hercules chatted enthusiastically, Nami and Nojiko, on the other hand, were getting scolded harshly by Belle-mère. To Belle-mère, sneaking into enemy territory without saying a word was nothing short of suicidal.
If Nezumi's collusion with pirates to harm civilians was ever exposed, the consequences would be devastating. To keep this secret, Nezumi would stop at nothing.
"We were so close... Just a little more and we would have obtained the evidence of his crimes."
"Don't be an idiot. That kind of evidence doesn't exist. Would you keep proof of your own dealings with pirates? Even if there was any, he would have destroyed it long ago."
"This matter is very difficult to handle. Even if the pirates outside testify against him, it's useless—Marines won't believe a pirate's words."
Genzo didn't try to persuade Belle-mère. Though they weren't related by blood, he had long considered the two sisters his own daughters, and he couldn't understand their reckless actions.
"But earlier you clearly said you have evidence..."
"We just wanted to see if we could find any evidence against him from those pirates..."
Boom!
The sound of an explosion once again interrupted Belle-mère's words as Buggy and his crew launched another attack.
But this time, things were different because Luffy made a very straightforward decision.
"Alright, I get it. As long as I send all these guys flying, there won't be a problem, right?"
Clenching his fists, Luffy took the lead and walked out of the mine, ready to deal with the trouble here for Hercules before continuing his voyage.
...
"Gum-Gum Balloon!"
Using his rubber body, Luffy deflected Buggy's cannonballs back at him, causing heavy casualties among his crew. Meanwhile, Zoro and Sanji took care of the remaining subordinates.
The Chop-Chop Fruit allowed Buggy to dodge many attacks, but after one of his splits, he suddenly realized he was missing a part of his body. Following the sensation, he looked over—only to see that his missing body part was now in Hercules' hands.
"You damn beetle! Give me back my body, you bastard!"
Hercules ignored Buggy's enraged shouts and instead flew off with the stolen body part. Seeing this, the other Heracross immediately understood how to deal with this enemy.
As the battle continued, Buggy's body kept shrinking.
Each time a piece of him was knocked away, another Heracross would take it away, preventing him from putting himself back together. In the end, all that remained was a tiny Buggy, who was then punched flying, disappearing into the sky like a twinkling star, his destination unknown.
However, just before being sent flying, he managed to fire his specially created Buggy Ball, triggering a massive explosion. The impact allowed a few pirates to escape in the chaos, but the majority were captured by the mine defense force.
Although they hadn't managed to gather any crucial evidence, they still decided to again report Nezumi's actions to higher-ups.
Peace temporarily returned to the gold mine. Buggy was considered a top-tier pirate in East Blue, and news of his defeat was enough to intimidate other pirates in the region.
Due to their encounter at the 16th branch, Nami also joined the Going Merry. Her dream was to make a map of the entire world, and that dream destined her to set sail sooner or later—this was merely the opportunity.
At the same time, she had written a new complaint, planning to report Nezumi's despicable actions in Loguetown.
Actually, the one most happy about her joining the crew wasn't Sanji but Hercules. With a proper navigator finally on board, it no longer had to rely on Zoro-compass to guide the way, nor worry about the entire crew accidentally drowning at sea.
Although Belle-mère and Genzo had their complaints, they ultimately respected Nami's decision.
With the Cocoyasi incident resolved, the Going Merry, now with a proper navigator, set off on its journey once again.
As a reward for defeating Buggy, Luffy managed to loot some equipment—he seized a sea chart to the Grand Line from Buggy's ship, finally giving the Straw Hat Pirates a clear direction forward.
However, just before entering the Grand Line, they happened to encounter a girl named Apis and met the Millennial Dragon known as Grandpa Ryu. In the end, they decided to escort Grandpa Ryu to Dragon's Nest.
...
"Ferren, this should be the place, right?"
"Yeah, this is it—the gathering place of the Millennial Dragons. Looks like we arrived pretty early."
Above the clouds, Yamato and the others finally reached their destination, the gathering place of the Millennial Dragons.
After circling a few times in the sky, Ferren couldn't sense the presence of any other Millennial Dragons. But as they descended through the clouds, they were met with a scene completely different from what they had expected.
Instead of the Dragon Island Ferren had described, Yamato saw several warships.
"Did the Marines discover our destination and decide to ambush us?"
Looking down at the warships, Yamato arrived at a rather peculiar conclusion.
"How is that even possible?! There are only three of us—who could've tipped off the Marines… Wait, why are you looking at me like that?"
Seeing the look in Yamato's eyes, Ulti suddenly felt something was off.
"Is it possible that you, Ul-chan, were so bored that you deliberately leaked information to the Marines, making them arrive in advance?"
"Is there a problem with your brain?! Who would do something so pointless?! Out of the three of us, you're the one most likely to pull something like that! And quit calling me by such a disgusting nickname!"
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