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•———•———•———•———•
Chapter Events:
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"Are you absolutely certain about that?"
After a long conversation between Rayleigh and Luffy, Rayleigh understood that Luffy wanted to reach the Sabaody Archipelago as quickly as possible to reunite with his friends.
"I'm sure you remember what happened to all of you on that island," Rayleigh said.
Hearing this, Luffy recalled the tragedy that had befallen him and his friends at that time.
("Everyone!! Getting out of here is all that matters right now!!")
("We can't possibly beat these guys!!")
These were Luffy's words to his friends that day.
"Do you want to meet up with your friends… only to have that happen again?" Rayleigh asked curiously.
"I have a proposal for you."
"Of course, it's entirely up to you whether to accept it or not."
•———•———•———•———•
"It's important to remind the boy of what he and his friends went through that day without having the proper strength," Rayleigh said with a smile, looking at the others.
"You have a point, that's true. It's wise to remind Luffy of his weakness back then," Gaban responded.
"The proposal you're going to make to Luffy is for him to train for a period before reuniting with his friends again, right?" Shanks asked as he placed his hand on the straw hat on his head.
"That's already obvious to you?" Rayleigh marveled as he glanced at Shanks.
"It doesn't make sense for Luffy and his crew to gather again without the ability to protect themselves, especially since the New World is not an easy challenge like the first half of the Grand Line."
"So, it's easy to predict Rayleigh-san's proposal based on that."
Hearing this, Roger nodded with a smile, "It seems like the first part of the Straw Hat crew's story is about to end."
"Most likely," Rayleigh smiled as well.
…
East Blue, Syrup Village:
Inside an art store:
"What's going on with Usopp!?! Why has he gotten so fat!?!"
At that moment, Banshina's eyes widened as the manga shifted focus to the Boin Archipelago, where her son, Usopp, not only remained stuck but had gained so much weight that his appearance had changed.
"Pfft… hahaha!! Ouch! Why are you hitting me!?"
Yasopp, who was laughing at his son's appearance in the manga, was hit hard by his wife, causing him to stop laughing instinctively.
"You're laughing at your own son, you fool!? You didn't defend him from those strangers' laughter, but you're laughing too!"
Banshina's face looked fierce as she scolded her husband.
Seeing this scene, Beckman felt relieved that he hadn't rushed into marriage yet.
"Usopp must have gotten quite comfortable there to gain so much weight… But why does he suddenly seem so hurried to leave the island? Could it be he received news of what happened to Luffy recently?" Beckman wondered aloud.
"As expected…" Yasopp, still rubbing his head from the punch his wife had delivered, focused on what Heracles had just mentioned about the newspaper that had changed Usopp's mood.
•———•———•———•———•
"Usoppun!!"
Heracles caught Usopp, who had fallen into one of the island's plant traps.
"Whatever is the matter, Usoppun?!"
Heracles, in his peculiar manner of speaking, asked what had suddenly happened to Usopp.
"Ever since you read the newspaper that the news coo delivered here, you've been like a different man!!"
A particular newspaper fell from Usopp's fat body, but he didn't care—he was crying then.
"I… I don't have time to waste hanging around this place…!!"
"Luffy just lost his brother in that war…!!!"
"How much pain must he be going through right now?!!"
Usopp cried more and more as he thought about what Luffy must be suffering at that moment.
"If I'm not there for him when he's in pain… How can I call myself his friend?!"
•———•———•———•———•
Tears streamed down Banshina's face as she witnessed this scene.
"At least you remembered you have a friend who's suffering, and you need to be by his side… But what can you possibly do for him in this situation?"
Banshina felt sad for Usopp, too, who seemed to have gained nothing from the time he had been given to train in this place.
"Let's look at it positively, dear. What just happened will motivate him to train and become the best version of himself."
"He's at his worst version right now. Can you imagine the herculean effort he'll need to put in just to get back to where he was, let alone train even more to reach his best possible self?"
"The effort will indeed be immense, but I trust my son. He'll succeed for sure."
"I'm excited to see the result."
Yasopp smiled as he said all this, which somewhat reassured Banshina.
"I'm more intrigued by this mysterious masked warrior named Heracles. Could he be part of the Revolutionary Army?" Beckman asked with curiosity.
…
Ohara:
"What's going on with Usopp? Why has he turned into such a fat person!? Yohohoho!"
Brook laughed as he saw what Usopp had become after spending time on the Boin Archipelago.
"Haha! It seems Usopp gave in to the Luffy inside him and ate so much delicious food in the forest that he's now suffering from obesity," Professor Clover laughed.
"The important thing is that he's learned about the tragic events Luffy went through. Now, we'll see his true mettle."
"Whether he loves and respects his captain or his friend, as he described him, what he does next will reveal everything," Saul commented.
"The scene has shifted to Chopper. He also seems to be in a hurry to reach the Sabaody Archipelago. It seems everyone has already received the news from the newspaper," Vegapunk noted, as the next scenes focused on the Torino Kingdom.
…
Drum Island:
"Wait, what happened with Chopper? I hope he hasn't gotten fat like Usopp…" Hiriluk wondered.
"Don't be foolish. The worst-case scenario is that he was cooked and eaten by the Torino people, or perhaps devoured alive by the giant birds," Kureha's imagination was running wild.
"Hah~ Thankfully, Chopper's luck isn't as bad as you two have imagined."
Dalton, now 14 years old, sighed with relief as he saw that Chopper had done a good job.
"Oh, that's great. It seems he managed to resolve the conflict between the giant birds and the Torino people!"
"But he also learned about what happened to Luffy… He wants to leave immediately…"
"He even left, riding on the back of a giant bird," Kureha and Hiriluk were left speechless.
"It looks like our Chopper will be the first to arrive at the Sabaody Archipelago…"
"But, it seems Luffy will change his mind and accept Rayleigh's offer. What will happen to Chopper when he arrives and finds no one?"
"Wait, don't jump to conclusions. It looks like a new newspaper has already reached him just in time…"
"I wonder what Luffy did to cause such a reaction from Chopper…"
All the readers in the art store on Drum Island fell into complete confusion at that moment.
They were all filled with intense curiosity and immediately flipped to the next page.
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Upcoming chapter titles (spoilers):
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Chapter 809: Zoro and Nami's Reactions.
Chapter 810: Franky and Brook's Reactions.
Chapter 811: Robin and the Revolutionary Army.
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