Journey to Raftel Chapter 20 (Patreon)

Hey friends and fans! Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter of Journey to Raftel! The adventure on Little Garden continues! But as the Straw Hats prepare to have a party with Dorry and Broggy, a certain duo from Baroque Works intrudes! What will be the outcome of such a meeting? Will the Straw Hats find a way off of Little Garden without waiting a year for their Log Pose to reset?

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So, without further delay, please enjoy.

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Chapter 20 – Mr. 3 and Miss Goldenweek

Luffy’s copies had no trouble locating and collecting Sanji and Zoro. Neither of the men appreciated a copy of Luffy suddenly landing beside them, grabbing them, and then flying back with them and their individual catches from their hunting contest. After some grumbling at their Captain, both Swordsman and Chef had met Dorry and Broggy. Sanji and Zoro could, without shame, admit to being stunned for a few moments at seeing the gargantuan warriors. Considering both Dorry and Broggy stood at roughly twenty-two meters in height, it was expected to be a little stunned when meeting them for the first time.

“Look, Marimo! My beast is bigger!” Sanji pointed at the large therapod dinosaur that he’d hunted.

“Are you blind, Dartbrow? Mine’s clearly bigger!” Zoro argued while pointing out that his triceratops was heavier and almost the same length as Sanji’s giant lizard.

Nami punched Zoro in the back of the head.

Reiju slapped Sanji upside the head at the same time.

“No one cares! Help with the party preparations!” Nami’s teeth were sharp as she barked at the two hardheaded men.

As there was still meat from the dinosaurs that Dorry and Broggy had killed, all that was left was to gather some of the native fruit on the island to give some variety to their impromptu party. Nami, Vivi, Reiju, and Carina had volunteered to take on the task. Sanji had dashed back to the Going Merry to get his herbs and spices and make a ‘proper meal’ for the two giants. The Chef couldn’t help but feel some camaraderie with the two giant warriors; being stuck on an island with limited food and having to do what they could with what they had. With the two giants help, a large rack of sauropod ribs was slowly roasting over a massive (by human standards) fire while Sanji’s seasoning rub began to emit a wonderful aroma throughout the area. Luffy, to absolutely no one’s surprise, was already drooling.

“Going to be a hell of a meal, eh Dorry?” Broggy chuckled while eyeing the ribs appreciatively.

“Aye, Broggy, we even have booze to go with it!” Dorry grinned at the barrels that the Straw Hats had brought out from the Going Merry’s holds. To the giants each barrel was more like a single glass, but that was more than they’d had in the last year or two. They’d happily savor it with the amazing meat the little chef was cooking.

“Party, party, party~” Luffy was swaying back and forth, smiling widely and his excitement was almost tangible.

“We’re back!” Nami called out as the girls returned with quite the haul of various fruits from the jungle. Carina’s Jara Jara no Mi easily made a chain net that let them haul a huge amount of the native island fruits. There was enough that even Dorry and Broggy could enjoy a handful each and still have some left over.

Just after the two racks of dinosaur ribs were pulled off the fire; Broggy, Dorry, and Luffy all dug in eagerly and their eyes widened.

“DELICIOUS!!!” Luffy, Dorry, and Broggy exclaimed with wide eyes and full mouths.

“Heh.” Sanji grinned as he served plates of freshly cooked meat to the ladies.

Dorry downed half a barrel of booze in one shot after swallowing his first mouthful. “Aah~ It’s a good day to be alive, eh, Broggy? Gegyagyagyagya!”

Broggy gulped down half a barrel himself before turning to Dorry with a huge smile. “Aye, Dorry! Good food, good booze, and new friends! What could be better? Gabababababa!”

“It’s pretty good.” Zoro admitted as he ate some of the seasoned rib meat. “Goes good with the booze.”

Sanji smirked as he leaned in a little. “What was that, Marimo?”

Zoro just stared at Sanji flatly while he continued to eat.

-Forest-

“What should we do, Mr. Three?” Miss Goldenweek asked as they’d found the target, Nefertari Vivi, but she was with an unidentified group and had two giants with them as well.

Mr. Three observed the situation for a long moment. “A true villain uses their brain. We’re not here to start a pointless fight. We only have one target and that’s the traitor.” Wax began to pour from Mr. Three’s arms and formed a long spear-like arrow. “It’s a pity that I won’t be able to work my art as much as I’d like, but I have no intention of throwing my life away trying to fight giants.” With the giant wax arrow created, Mr. Three used his Devil Fruit power to harden it further until it had strength comparable to solid steel. “Candle Arrow!” With but a thought the giant arrow was shot forward at blurring speed straight at the unaware Vivi.

-Party-

“Hm?!” Dorry and Broggy both snapped their heads to the side as they sensed the spike of killing intent. Dorry, the one closest to the source, saw the white blur heading towards the humans and reached out to grab it.

He needn’t have worried though.

Crack

Tiny fragments of steel-hard wax scattered across the ground as Luffy had shattered the huge arrow with a single swing of his Ruyi Jingu Bang.

“Eh?!”

“What the?!”

“Who’s there?!”

The Straw Hats were quick to shoot to their feet and get ready for a fight.

Luffy aimed his Ruyi Jingu Bang at where the arrow had come from and the staff extended at ridiculous speed.

Only to hit a tree with a strange red mark on it and snap it in half.

“Huh? That wasn’t where I was aiming.” Luffy blinked at his attack redirecting towards the tree.

A barrage of normal-sized arrows shot from the forest in a wide wave this time, the hidden attacker clearly not caring who they hit.

Zoro deflected the steel-hard arrows headed his way; his fast and fluid movements cracking the arrows as they fell to the ground one after another.

Sanji kicked away any arrow he could while putting himself between the attack and the women.

Carina created a wall of chains between herself and the arrows, the wax chipping and falling to the ground as the arrows hit the sudden barrier.

Nami jumped behind Carina’s barrier, her eyes turning bright yellow and her orange locks gaining a hint of flames in them as she looked at the treeline to try and see the attacker.

Vivi and Reiju both started to dodge, Sanji doing his best to stop every wax arrow from coming towards them. Luffy spun his staff and shattered every arrow that made it past Sanji, only fragments of wax left across the ground while Reiju and Vivi made it behind Carina’s chain shield.

“Show yourself, coward!” Dorry picked up his massive sword and swung it through the air as the blade briefly turned black. A sharp cutting wind cleared out the portion of the forest that the attacks had been coming from.

Broggy was on his feet as well, his titanic axe in hand. “You dare attack our friends and ruin our party?! Show your face!”

“Candle Floor Trap!” Mr. Three let a massive deluge of wax spread across the ground while Miss Goldenweek rapidly painted various red and green symbols all over the wax before it spread.

“What the?!” Sanji hopped over the wax covering the ground.

Zoro slashed at the approaching wax, but his blades only hit the parts colored red. “What?!” He was trapped in the wax and stopped moving when one of the green marks touched him. “This is…fine.” He said, even though his face showed that he was straining, his voice was calm.

“Who are you?!” Luffy leapt at the duo and brought his staff down on the guy with his hair shaped like a ‘3’. “Eh?!” His staff hit one of the red spots on the still spreading wax. “Why do I keep hitting the spots?!”

Vivi alerted everyone to just who was attacking them. “That’s Mr. Three and Miss Goldenweek! Mr. Three is has the power of the Doru Doru no Mi! He’s a Wax Human!”

“This stuff is wax?!” Sanji had landed and his feet had gotten caught in the semiliquid wax before it hardened like metal.

“Hahahaha!” Mr. Three laughed, seeing that he’d caught multiple of the unidentified group. “This is no mere wax! My Doru Doru no Mi powers make wax as hard as steel! And with Miss Goldenweek’s artistry, you can’t escape or even fight back!”

“Colors Trap: Bull Fight Red and Colors Trap: Calming Green.” Miss Goldenweek named her special symbols by their colors and effects.

“Huuaarrgghh!!!” Broggy swung his axe, the edge a dark black, and cut clean through the spreading wax, leaving a small chasm behind in the wake of his slash. The spreading wax fell into the chasm and was unable to spread further.

Miss Goldenweek looked at the giant in shock that he’d been able to attack anything other than her Colors Trap. “H-How?!”

“It seems this half of the Grand Line is still mostly unaware of Haki.” Broggy commented on the lack of knowledge.

“Such simple tricks would never hinder a proud warrior of Elbaf!” Dorry agreed with a thundering stomp on the ground as he took a step forward.

Fwoooossshhh

Flames erupted from Nami’s location and scorched the wax near her black, reducing it to a near water-like consistency in an instant. “If it’s wax, that means it’ll melt with heat.” Flames flared from her body as she started to walk forward with a massive heat haze surrounding her.

“What the…?! What are you?!” Mr. Three was clearly not used to being on the losing side of a fight as he nearly screamed as Nami rendered his Devil Fruit powers useless.

“A Goddess of Volcanoes.” Nami smirked as flames erupted from her hands, forming a spear the same length as her staff. With the strongest throw she could manage, backed up by her Hybrid Form’s power and the flame control of her Devil Fruit, the blazing spear rocketed through the air straight at Mr. Three.

“Gah! Candle Wall!” Mr. Three blasted out an immense amount of wax and formed a rampart between himself and the incoming spear of fire.

BOOM

The fire spear exploded against the Candle Wall. The heat melted a hole almost all the way through the vast amount of wax, the side facing Mr. Three bubbling wildly from the heat as the structure quickly collapsed and was set ablaze.

Mr. Three and Miss Goldenweek ran. The Officer Agents booking it as fast as they could in hopes of getting back into the forest and losing the any pursuers so they could get back to their ship and flee.

“Where are you two going?” Luffy asked as he stopped in front of them, standing on a golden cloud.

Mr. Three and Miss Goldenweek stopped in their tracks.

“How are you…?! Gwaaahhh!” Mr. Three tried to speak, only to get smacked across the face by the Ruyi Jingu Bang and slammed into a tree off to the side of the newly mowed down forest.

Clink Clink Clink Clink Clink

“Aaaahhh!” Miss Goldenweek cried out as chains wrapped around her from behind. She managed to look back and see that the field of wax bearing multitudes of her Color Traps was melting away as flames engulfed it all.

“Gotcha!” Carina grinned at Miss Goldenweek as she held the girl upright with her chains.

“Candle Champion!” Mr. Three roared out as he formed a massive suit of armor around himself, only leaving his face visible as he now towered over everyone except for Broggy and Dorry. “This wax armor is harder than steel! It has no weak points!” He threw one of the massive, boxing glove fists at Luffy.

Luffy punched it right back.

Crack

The wax arm shattered under Luffy’s absurd strength in his Half-Beast Form. The tiny flecks of wax flew away from the point of impact as the, now unbalanced, Candle Champion staggered backwards and to the side as Mr. Three tried to keep his creation upright.

“THAT’S ENOUGH OUT OF YOU!!!” Dorry and Broggy bellowed out like thunder as their weapons, both jet-black, slammed down on the Candle Champion.

BAM

The wax, even harder than steel, didn’t stand a chance against the strength and Haki of giants. The armor might as well have been spun sugar for all the protection it offered to Mr. Three. A massive cloud of dirt and dust flew high into the air and obscured everyone’s view. Broggy and Dorry pulled their weapons back and waved their huge arms through the air to help clear out the dust.

A large crater was all that was left behind from the powerful strike made by the two giant warriors. There was no trace of Mr. Three or his Candle Champion. Even the ground was free of any wax, a testament to just how powerful the attack had been.

“Mr. Three…?” Miss Goldenweek stared at the crater and the lack of any remains.

“Damn… I didn’t get to fight that big thing.” Zoro grumbled as he sheathed his three swords. Cutting something harder than steel would’ve been visible proof of his progress as a swordsman.

Sanji was busy checking on all of the women with concern. “Nami-swan, Carina-sweet, Vivi-chwan, are you alright?”

Reiju rolled her eyes at her little brother’s antics as she walked forward and stood beside Carina. Her sharp eyes looked into the now terrified gaze of Miss Goldenweek. “You have some explaining to do.”

Miss Goldenweek nodded frantically, tears of panic and fear escaping her eyes.

In short order Miss Goldenweek was being interrogated by the women of the Straw Hats. Everything from what her orders had been, to how she and Mr. Three had gotten to this island was asked and answered promptly. That had led to the Straw Hats being guided by the still chained up Miss Goldenweek to Mr. Three’s ship.

“The treasure of any enemy vessel is still treasure found on an adventure, right, Luffy?” Nami leaned into him, pressing herself flush against her lover with a sexy grin on her lips and her eyes half-lidded.

“Shishishishi! Yep!” Luffy agreed as he hugged her close and the two shared a kiss.

Purupurupuru

“Hm?” Carina heard the ringing of a Transponder Snail.

Purupurupuru

Picking up a basket from the ship, the thief opened it to find the Transponder snail inside, the creature looking up at her flatly, as was normal for the species.

Purupurupuru

“Someone’s calling.” Carina called out to her friends as she placed the Transponder Snail on a table that was on the deck of Mr. Three’s ship.

Miss Goldenweek’s eyes widened in terror as she stared at the Transponder Snail.

Luffy, being Luffy, picked up the snail. “Hello?”

“You’re late with your report, Mr. Three.” A rough voice said on the other end of the line.

“Report?” Luffy had no idea what the guy was talking about. “Who is this?”

“Stop fooling around, you idiot.” The voice nearly growled. “It’s me, Mr. Zero.”

Vivi’s eyes narrowed as she heard the voice of the man plotting the destruction of her country.

Luffy blinked once before he seemed to realize who he was talking to. “Oh, your that Warlord guy! Yeah, I’m coming to kick your ass!”

Everyone’s eyes widened at Luffy’s words.

“Who the hell is this?!” Crocodile demanded coldly. Unseen by the Straw Hats on the other end of the line, an entire vase of flowers suddenly had all of the moisture drained from them, the water inside the vase vanished rapidly while all of the flowers wilted as Crocodile’s hand continued to touch them. In mere seconds they were reduced to brittle dust that fell onto his desk.

“I’m Monkey D. Luffy, Adventurer!” Luffy declared with a big grin on his face.

Crocodile paused at the name, knowing one other, very famous, person that possessed such a name. “Monkey D. Luffy, you say? I’ll remember that name. What reason do you have to try and interfere with me?”

“You’re wrecking Vivi’s country, she’s my nakama, that’s all the reason I need!” Luffy nearly shouted into the Transponder Snail, unknowingly making Crocodile move the receiver further away from himself.

“So, the princess found herself some allies? No matter. I presume Mr. Three is dead. You’ve saved me some time then.” Corocdile spoke coldly and without an ounce of concern. “I was planning to have him disposed of soon enough.”

Miss Goldenweek would’ve fallen to her knees in shock at those words if she wasn’t chained up. If Mr. Three was going to be disposed of, it meant that she was also going to be disposed of by Baroque Works!

“Don’t do anything else to Vivi’s country, you dumb croc! Just sit there and wait for me to come kick your ass!” Luffy outright ordered the Warlord of the Sea.

Crocodile took the cigar out of his mouth and forcefully smashed it into the ash tray next to him. “You think I’ll let some upstart order me around?! If you set foot in Alabasta, I’ll make sure that it becomes your grave!”

“Just try it, you shitty croc!” Luffy, and Sanji, both yelled into the receiver at the same time before Luffy hung up on Crocodile.

Crocodile looked at the receiver in his hand with a dark glare before hanging it up. He stood up from his desk and nearly stormed over to where Miss All Sunday and Miss Obon were sitting. “This group of…Adventurers…are the group that you reported to me, Miss Obon?”

“Yes, that sounded like their Captain.” Miss Obon nodded as she looked at Crocodile. Left unsaid was how her heart had beat strongly at the end when she’d heard Sanji’s voice again.

“Send out word to all the Officer Agents and any of the roaming Agents as well. Gather in Alabasta. The time has come for us to enact the final part of our plan!” Crocodile ordered before turning away from the two women and nearly slamming the double doors of his office behind him.

“Hah…” Miss All Sunday sighed. “It seems we won’t be able to have tea together just yet, Miss Obon.”

Miss All Sunday was a beautiful, dark-haired woman with clear blue eyes. She had long limbs and even sitting down, it was clear that she was tall. She wore a purple corset which exposed her cleavage since it was only held together at the front by strings, and had a matching skirt with white tassels along the bottom. On her left arm was a white-and-black armband with the letter 'N' on the golden medallion at the center. It also had white tassels surrounding the bottom. She wore a pair of matching, low-heeled boots on her feet. Completing her outfit was a matching, purple cowgirl hat. She had a thin, well-defined nose, and currently wore an expression of resignation at Crocodile’s sudden orders.

“I guess not.” Miss Obon agreed with her own sigh. The two women were about as close to friends as anyone could get in Baroque Works. They enjoyed having tea with each other whenever they got the chance, but it was becoming harder to do so as Crocodile’s plans slowly came to fruition.

-Little Garden-

“Eternal Poses!” Nami beamed at seeing so many on Mr. Three’s ship. “We can leave Little Garden safely now!”

Carina was looking at the small stack of cash that Mr. Three and Miss Goldenweek had on the ship. “Not much money though.”

Nami, looking through the various Eternal Poses, found one that made her smile softly. “Hey, Vivi! Look at this.”

Vivi came over, curious as to what Nami wanted to show her. “What is it, Nami?” Only to have an Eternal Pose put into her hands. Seeing the name on top of the Pose, Vivi’s eyes widened. “A-Alabasta?! An Eternal Pose to Alabasta!” She carefully held the Pose as if it was the most precious treasure in all the world.

“Looks like we know where we’re going next.” Reiju smiled at how happy Vivi was.

Off the small ship, Luffy was chatting with Broggy and Dorry while Sanji and Zoro watched on. Sanji smoking a cigarette as he listened, while Zoro reclined against a tree.

“What’s that weird thing you two do where your weapons turn black? My grandpa used to do something like it when we sparred and he got through my Devil Fruit powers with it.” Luffy was curious about the ‘mystery power’ that both his grandpa and the giants seemed to use.

“That’s known as Haki.” Broggy answered easily. “Many on this side of the Grand Line don’t know about it, but it’s essential if you want to sail past the Red Line and survive.”

“What’s Haki?” Sanji asked the question all three men were thinking.

Dorry spoke up this time. “Haki is the force of your will and spirit. It can empower the body or a weapon, with proper training. It is one of the only ways to effectively battle Devil Fruit users, even Logia Devil Fruits!" He explained with a grin.

“Oh! I think grandpa said something about Logia before…maybe?” Luffy said, though it looked like he didn’t recall for certain.

“Furthermore, Haki can be divided into three types: Armament Haki, Observation Haki, and Conqueror’s Haki.” Broggy told the three humans.

“But the Conqueror’s Haki can’t be learned.” Dorry said with a shake of his head. “It only occurs in about one in every one million people or so. But anybody can train and master Observation or Armament. Once you’ve got the basics down the only thing that will let you get any better with Haki is experience.”

Zoro looked between the two giants. “Okay, but how do you actually learn this Haki stuff?”

Dorry and Broggy suddenly burst into laughter.

“When we were young, they used to sit us down, blindfold us, and then swing a wooden club at us from behind! If you didn’t want to be clubbed over the head, you eventually learned to sense the attack and where it was coming from, that gave you time to shift aside and dodge the blow.” Broggy laughed at the memories. “That’s how we learned Observation!”

Dorry was chuckling still, even as he tried to talk. “Armament was easier for us. We were given the task of cutting through a mountain! Even a giant can’t do that with any regular strike! But by understanding yourself, your weapon, and focusing your willpower, progress was made over time! Haki is willpower and spirit made manifest, after all. Once you understand the concept of directing your spirit and willpower, you develop your Armament Haki.”

“This Haki stuff sounds like fun!” Luffy laughed brightly at the idea of learning his grandpa’s ‘mystery power’ for himself.

“If you two say it’s necessary to sail beyond the Red Line, we should probably figure it out before we get there.” Sanji exhaled a cloud of smoke from his cigarette.

Zoro chuckled as he looked at Sanji. “I’ll club you over the head as many ties as you want, Dartbrow!”

“What’d you say, Marimo?!” Sanji was quickly getting in Zoro’s face.

Luffy, Broggy, and Dorry all laughed loudly at the fight that broke out between Zoro and Sanji a second later.

With the women, Miss Goldenweek was standing on the deck of the raided ship that used to belong to Mr. Three.

“So, if we let you go, you agree to sail away and never bother us again, right?” Carina questioned the teenager.

“Yes.” Miss Goldenweek agreed instantly. She never wanted to see any of these people again!

Reiju’s cool eyes locked with Miss Goldenweek’s. “And if we ever see you again, no quarter will be given, understood?”

Miss Goldenweek nodded frantically with sweat nearly running down her face in fear.

“You can pick one Eternal Pose to sail away with.” Nami grudgingly offered from the several that she’d taken from the ship.

“Th-Thank you…” Miss Goldenweek shakily stepped forward and looked at the choices. She slowly reached out and took one that had the name ‘Cukor’ engraved on the top. It was the name of the resort island that she and Mr. Three had been staying at before receiving what had turned out to be their final orders from Mr. Zero…or Sir Crocodile as she now knew. Given that the Warlord believed that she and Mr. three were dead, it would be safe to stay there for a while until she figured out where she could lay low and hide for a good long while.

Vivi looked at Miss Goldenweek with sympathetic eyes. “Live a better life, Miss Goldenweek. You’re a talented artist. Surely you have other options than Baroque Works.”

“I’ll…try.” Miss Goldenweek said quietly, knowing that it was only Vivi’s kindness that had seen her spared in the first place. She gave the four women a short bow before setting sail back the way she had come to Little Garden, hoping to never have to see the terrible island ever again.

Nami, Carina, Reiju, and Vivi watched the small ship sail further and further away until it was only a dot on the horizon. It was best to make sure, especially after they’d seen how Miss Goldenweek’s strange painting skill worked. It was almost hard to believe that it wasn’t a Devil Fruit, but Vivi had explained that it was just Miss Goldenweek’s talent to perfectly portray emotions as colors through her painting.

“Hey!” Luffy landed from one of his absurdly long jumps behind the four women. “We’re going to restart the party with the giants! Come on!” He had a wide smile on his face as he urged them along back towards the food and fun.

“Alright, alright.” Nami playfully rolled her eyes and took Luffy’s hand in hers.

Reiju giggled softly and took Luffy’s other hand for herself. “It would be nice to put this incident behind us.”

“Since we have the Eternal Pose to Alabasta, I suppose we can at least finish the party.” Vivi smiled, just happy to know that they could head straight for Alabasta as soon as they were done.

“Sounds good to me!” Carina laughed before lightly scratching her leg. “Huh, I think I got a bug bite.”

“We have some aloe vera on the ship that should help with that.” Nami said to her fellow thief with a small smile.

“I’ll have one of my copies bring it over!” Luffy pulled a single hair from his head and blew on it. In a small cloud of smoke, a new copy of Luffy appeared. With a grin a golden cloud formed beneath the copy’s feet and he flew off towards the Going Merry.

Carina wrapped her arms around Luffy’s shoulders from behind, making sure to press her soft curves into his back with a grin. “Thank you, Luffy~”

“Back off, Hell Cat!” Nami snapped at Carina.

“Nyeh!” Carina stuck her tongue out at Nami instead.

Both Reiju and Vivi giggled at the back and forth between the two thieves as they walked back towards the area where the party would take place.

None of them knew just what leaving Little Garden would entail, nor what would happen after they’d left.

-End Chapter-

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Well… That went about as one would expect for Baroque Works.

Mr. Three thought he was smart, but if he was really intelligent, he would’ve just ‘Noped’ right off of Little Garden immediately.

Miss Goldenweek wasn’t killed or captured, but sent on her way after Mr. three bit the dust. She, much like Miss Valentine, won’t be making any trouble for the Straw Hats again! Vivi’s kindness played a BIG role in that though, and it just shows how much of a good person she really is.

Luffy, in his own simple way, asks a question that may be about to radically change how the Straw Hats go forward on their voyage!

Dorry and Broggy tell the Straw Hats about Haki!

Even though they’ll be starting from nothing, the Adventurers now know how to work towards Armament and Observation!

Will that make a difference in the next arc of the story? Maybe the one after that?

Keep reading to find out!

Until next time, later!