Ultimate Fruit

Chapter 23: Water 7

After sealing the promise, Lucas told Nami about the plan. To which, Nami agreed to cooperate.

The two of them went back down to deck just in time for something to occur.

“It’s a frog! A giant frog...is swimming in freestyle!”

Luffy shouted in shock as he looked at the sea beside them.

Usopp was still busy eating and didn’t see the frog so he was dubious to hear about it.

“Dude...Luffy, frogs don’t swim in freestyl-...Ah! It does!?”

Only when he turned around that he saw the frog...was really swinging its arms as if swimming in freestyle!

Lucas also saw it and can’t help but think how weird the frog looked to be swimming like that...it was fine watching it in the anime but to see it for real…well...it was quite a sight indeed…

“Everyone, let’s catch him! Take out the paddles!”

“Full speed ahead! 2 o’clock!”

“Lucas! Go and catch it!”

“Ah?”

Luffy ordered Lucas when he saw his wings and suddenly remembered there was a guy here who can both fly and control water…

Hearing Luffy’s order, Lucas nearly stumbled.

What the heck!? There’s no way I’m touching going anywhere near that...thing!

Usually, Lucas is fine with gore and such stuff...but he’s no good with frogs! Naturally, there was a reason for it.

Back in high school, they used to have a class about dissecting frogs...at first, he was still fine with it. He thought he can handle it.

They were in pairs. And by some weird stroke of luck, he was paired with the beauty transfer student. When the time to actually dissect the frog came...well, it was a hot classroom at the time due to some malfunction in the air conditioners.

Lucas was already dizzy with the heat, coupled by the soon to be dissected frog’s image in his head, and the beauty’s body sticking so close to him...he fainted.

This had caused such a trauma for Lucas regarding frogs...but it wasn’t to the extent that he would faint when seeing one. As long as he doesn’t get near it, it was fine…

At this moment, Lucas was even tempted to just drag that frog down to the depths of the ocean!

Anyway, he had to change the subject fast!

Lucas looked around and saw something in the distance.

“Ah! Look! There’s a lighthouse over there!”

“Hm? That’s true! Why is there a lighthouse in the middle of nowhere...I wonder who lives there?”

Nami took out a pair of binoculars and saw the lighthouse too.

Just as Lucas predicted, Luffy was distracted! Hearing about the lighthouse, Luffy asked.

“Did you find an island!?”

“No, just a lighthouse! But the log pose isn’t pointing to it…”

“What about the frog!? Where is it!?”

...Okay, I forgot Luffy’s attention span is quite small…

Lucas shouted.

“No way!”

“The frog is going in the direction of the lighthouse as well.”

Robin said and saw Lucas glaring at her, she smiled teasingly at him and turned away.

This girl…

Lucas’ face twitched and couldn’t help but thought if he had offended her somehow...

I don’t even remember angering her, why is she going against me!?

Meanwhile, Sanji seemed to be preparing something in the kitchen while muttering.

“First, you wash the frog with white wine. Then you coat it with flour and fry it…”

...There’s no way I am eating that!

This time, Lucas really paled!

No! Even if it’s delicious, I am not eating a frog!!!

Lucas gritted his teeth and felt that he was facing something worse than Aokiji…

Actually, he wished that Aokiji just kept him frozen as an ice sculpture, that way, he won’t be facing this situation now…

Luffy didn’t care about him though.

“Full speed ahead!!!”

“Ooohhhh!!!”

What the hell is wrong with all of you!!!???

Ahh! God! Please do something!

As if hearing his prayer, a familiar sound could be heard from the distance. It was getting louder by the second!

This sound…it was like the sound of a steam engine train?

“Ah? Hey! Hold up everyone! Do you hear a strange noise...?”

Sanji heard it too and quickly asked everyone.

“Eh? What is that?”

“Oh! The frog stopped!”

“Gero geroh”

Suddenly, just when the frog stopped in a certain area on the sea...a huge mass of metal blowing off smoke from a pipe at the front arrived with a fast speed!

This is...really a steam engine train!

“Wow! Something’s up ahead!”

“Back! Back! Turn 180 degrees!”

Lucas knew that they were about to hit the train as well and quickly controlled the water to turn the ship!

Just in time, the steam train blew past behind them!

“Waaaah!!!”

Just like the trains from Lucas’ homeworld, this steam train here moved extremely fast and they could feel the wind brush past them as the train sped off behind!

“What was that!?”

“Geroh!”

“Ah! Hey! Frog, get out of there! What are you doing!?”

Luffy panicked when he saw the frog still not leaving and seemingly wanting to clash head-on with the steam train!

“What’s that big metallic thing!?”

“A ship!?”

“No...with its shape...it shouldn’t be able to sail on the sea!”

Nami and the others paled at the sight of the fast and heavy-looking steam train. This must be the first time they even see a train...

“Geroh!”

The frog croaked and readied itself to clash with the train.

And then...okay, in fact, everyone knows what will happen. The frog obviously lost and was blown away…

“Waah! He got hit!”

As if it was nothing at all, the train just continued to move forward without minding what just happened…

“...”

“...”

“That ship was blowing smoke…”

Chopper’s mouth was still open from his shock!

Lucas looked back at the lighthouse and spoke.

“There’s someone here.”

“Granny! Granny! Pirates!”

“What!? Really, Chimnie!? Alright, hold on!”

Hearing the noise from the lighthouse, everyone started to become cautious.

However, they only saw a little kid, a bunny, and a drunken old woman…

“Ah...what were you yelling about? I forgot. Hic-”

“You’re too damn drunk!”

Zoro and Usopp retorted.

Zoro sighed and removed his hand from his sword.

After everyone was settled, Sanji handed some more of his paille to the kid and drunk old woman.

The little kid was called Chimnie, while the drunk old woman was Kokoro. Oh, and the bunny...which they called was a cat...is named Gonbe.

Luffy, being the way he was, introduced himself.

“I’m Luffy. I’m going to be the Pirate King.”

Lucas brought his palm to his face when he heard that. What kind of pirate introduces themselves like that!?

Oh wait, he also introduced himself as someone from another world before…

Lucas froze, then decided that there was nothing wrong with Luffy or him…

Nami asked the two.

“Um...Chimnie, that was a steam-powered boat, right? But with its shape, how was it able to float…?”

“You’ve never seen it before? I guess you don’t see that anywhere else in the world! That’s a sea train. Its name is Puffing Tom.”

“Puffing Tom?”

The little girl grinned as she explained.

“It’s a steam-powered car that moves on the railroad in the sea!”

Lucas raised a brow when he heard her explain.

Judging from what she said...there are cars in this world?

Lucas tried to remember if he ever saw a car in the One Piece manga but can’t remember any...oh wait, does Franky General count?

After thinking about it, Lucas decided that there are indeed cars in this world. At least, it’s possible to have one with their level of technology. It’s probably just not popularized as the Grand Line is mostly ocean.

“A railroad!?”

“Yeah! It’s just beneath the surface of the water. The train moves from island to island every day, transporting between islands. Sometimes it transports mails and packages too.”

Everyone looked at the water and indeed saw a track just a bit beneath it.

Lucas looked at it as well and thought what would happen if a sea king were to bite it off…

“Wow! There really is a railroad!”

“Yes! And you sailed right onto the railroad! That was dangerous!”

“But no matter how you warn, the frog wouldn't understand! Then you ram it flying! That was rude!...Plus, he was our prey…”

Lucas sweated.

Damn Luffy! I’m not eating a frog!

Chimnie saw the frog too and sighed.

“Ah...his name is Yokojina. He has been a nuisance for a long time! He likes to compete his strength with others, and he has been trying to beat the train...he wouldn't die from a crash like that. He will come back again!”

Lucas feels a bit dizzy hearing about frogs again so he decided to go back to the ship. Anyway, he already knows what they would do next...might as well train some more.

After a while, Luffy went back on board as well and announced their destination.

Water 7, the City of Water!

After Kokoro handed a simple map and a letter of recommendation, the crew started to set off.

“Let’s go!”

“Thanks for the info, Kokoro and Chimnie!”

“Get ready to set sail, crew!”

Lucas also moved to help set sail...this might be the last time he would be able to be with them, after all.

Luffy was still without a care though.

“Let’s go to the City of Meat!

“Were you listening at all…?”

Sanji grinned.

“Luffy, leave the carpenter search to me. I’ll definitely find us the hottest babe around!”

“Stupid! We need a super big man to be our mechanic! He has to be at least 5 meters tall!”

“That’s too much, Luffy. He wouldn't fit into our little ship.

Lucas can’t help but wonder if this was a foreshadowing of General Franky...that thing is huge.

Zoro shook his head.

“None of that matters. As long as he or she is a good carpenter, the main concern should be whether or not anyone will want to join a group of pirates.”

As for Chopper, he was still as optimistic as ever.

“It’s so exciting! We’re going to meet new friends!?”

“Yup. We were lucky too. We got a map to start us off. She said to go to the marked location to find someone called Iceberg.”

Nami opened the map that Kokoro gave her and nodded.

“Oh, I see...It’s a completely useless sketch!”

The paper only had a simple hill, and an arrow at the left side...

Lucas immediately retreated away from her, lest he is pummeled again for no reason…

At the side, Luffy was still trying to convince everyone to get a 5-meter tall carpenter.

Lucas saw Robin watching them silently as well and sighed.

It seems...things will still go as what happened in the original story…

The day passed by with Luffy and the rest goofing about normally.

Only Zoro and Sanji seemed to be training themselves as they knew Lucas would soon be leaving them...they can’t keep relying on his powers, they need to get stronger as well.

Nighttime, Lucas volunteered to be the night watch to make sure they were still headed in the right direction.

He was looking at the distance, seemingly lost in his thoughts.

Suddenly, the door to the cabin opened up and he saw Luffy leaving drowsily.

“Luffy? What’s up?”

“Hmm, I don’t know...I just woke up and can’t fall asleep.”

Luffy tilted his head as he was also confused. Normally, he would be able to sleep so easily, but this time, there seems to be something bothering him but he doesn’t know what.

Lucas showed a wry smile and looked back at the sea.

Since he can’t fall asleep, Luffy joined him as well.

The two just stood there quietly for a long time. Eventually, Lucas spoke up.

“Luffy.”

“Hm?”

“When I look at how big the ocean is...it makes me wonder how lucky I am that you were able to pull me out back then.”

“Shishishi, that sure was a surprise, huh?”

“...Yeah.”

Seeing Luffy grin, Lucas also laughed and smiled.

The two watched as the sun rose from the sea and marked the start of a new day.

When all the crew woke up, everyone started to busy themselves as they should be arriving soon.

As expected, they are now able to see the island from a distance.

“Hey, is that Water 7?”

“Land ho! Land hoooo!”

“Everyone, start rowing!”

“No, that’s a waste of energy…”

Lucas smiled and controlled the water instead to make them sail faster.

“Shishishishi! Nice one Lucas!”

When they were close, everyone looked up with excited gazes.

“Wow!”

“Fascinating…”

“Wooooow!”

“Pretty.”

“Hoho…”

Lucas also took a picture as the island truly looked beautiful.

When one looks at the island as a whole, it looks like a huge fountain! There was even water coming out from the top and falling down like a real fountain!

“That’s so cool!”

“A giant fountain!”

“Man! That looks like a metropolis!”

“No wonder the sea train goes here…”

Nami then noticed they were already near but can’t see the dock.

“Look, it says Blue Station over there...so where’s the dock?”

“Maybe it’s on the other side?”

Then, a fisherman at the side called out.

“Hey! You there!”

“Yah?”

“Pirates can’t go in from the front like that. Go from the back!”

...The citizens don’t even fear pirates...heck, he even advised them to go from the back!

“...Ok! Thanks!”

Then, another person called out.

“Hey! You can’t anchor your ship there! What are you here for? Robbery?”

“No, we just want to find a carpenter.”

...Did he just ask if they want to rob him?

“Head that way until you see a small peninsula. You can anchor there!”

“...Ok! Thanks!”

…

Soon, they reached the small peninsula mentioned and dropped the anchor.

While they were preparing to head out, Nami asked.

“Why aren’t the people here afraid of the pirates?”

“That’s probably because pirates only come here for repairs.”

“Maybe they have very strong guys to fight any pirates if necessary…”

“No doubt about that. There must be strong guys everywhere in a big city like this.”

Usopp was instantly frightened when he heard Sanji.

“For real!? Then isn’t it dangerous here!?”

“It should be fine since we’re all customers.”

“R...really?”

“Okay! Let’s go!”

Hearing that there should be no danger, Usopp and Luffy started to run off when Nami quickly stopped them.

“Hold on! Luffy! Usopp! You're going to follow me!”

“Where to?”

Being stopped, Luffy and Usopp pouted and asked.

“First, we’ll take Kokoro’s letter...and find the man named Iceberg. We’ll ask him and see if we can have the new ship to be built. We also need to find a place to exchange our gold for money.”

“Ok!”

“Alright! Enough talking! Let’s go to Water 7!”

With Luffy on the lead, the three of them walked towards the city.

Nami turned around and looked at Lucas one last time...knowing that this may really be the last time…

Lucas saw her look and smiled as he nodded in her direction.

Nami sighed but also smiled back before hurriedly following Luffy.

Soon after, Robin and Chopper also left to look around the city.

Lucas’ eyes narrowed and followed behind them.

Before Lucas leaves the crew...he would see if he can resolve Robin’s issue first...otherwise, he would be too worried when he leaves.

The crew may not need Lucas...but they definitely need Robin.