The Straw Hats were leaving the prehistoric island in what was rapidly becoming their traditional fashion—leaving chaos, death, and destruction behind them. Only the proportions of those three ingredients changed from island to island. The family had left Don Krieg's base with a little chaos and destruction and a great many deaths, while Loguetown had gotten off with total chaos but minimal destruction and no deaths at all. Whiskey Peak, in turn, had shared Don Krieg's base's fate, except that there had been considerably more destruction, and now Little Garden had been granted the same treatment. The island was literally strewn with the corpses of Baroque Works agents, half-burned thanks to the pyromaniac Johnny, while hundreds of ships blazed at once in the once-beautiful harbor, threatening to turn yesterday's little corner of paradise into yet another ship graveyard by evening. And, as the cherry on top, beside the island bled the enormous (!) carcass of either an impossibly huge prehistoric goldfish or an equally enormous Sea King that happened to look very much like an overgrown giant goldfish. Though what difference did it really make? What mattered was that a creature large enough to pass for a full-fledged island had been turned into an enormous chunk of bloody meat.
"...Our Zoro-aniki is so screwed."
That was Johnny sharing his sincere opinion. The entire family, with the exception of the aforementioned swordsman and Luffy, had gathered at the stern of the Going Merry and were staring at the now-dead monster that had rashly tried to swallow their ship whole. What could he do? It always did that! It was one of the main reasons only a handful of people survived a visit to Little Garden—the creature simply swallowed most ships that tried to leave the island. Add the dangers lurking in the prehistoric jungle, a pair of giant pirates, and a Log Pose that took an entire year to set, and it was no wonder Little Garden had long and firmly earned the reputation of an 'island from which no one returns.'
But sooner or later, everyone slips up!
The universe was arranged so that the longer some event failed to happen, the greater the chance that it eventually would. It did not matter how many years, decades, or centuries the oversized fish had spent devouring ships leaving Little Garden; one day it was bound to run into someone like a Marine Admiral, Whitebeard, or the Pirate King. In this particular case, the giant fish ran into an EXTREMELY (!!!) irritated Luffy. So irritated that even Nami was tiptoeing around him and practically holding her breath. Everyone else was doing their utmost not to catch his eye at all, but the Going Merry's small size, as always, elevated such a simple task to the level of a legendary quest with almost no chance of successful completion. Fortunately (?), this was far from the first time something like this had happened, so the guys had accumulated a little practical experience, making the difficult task somewhat easier. This time Zoro had truly outdone himself. Or, more accurately, the swordsman had taken advantage of the freedom he had been given to demonstrate the 'true power' of his topographical cretinism.
"Forget Zoro-aniki—for a moment there I thought he was going to kill the giants," Yosaku shared his thoughts.
The aforementioned pair of thoroughly battered giants stood on the shore, watching their ship depart with ambiguous expressions. Despite the fact that the family had, in effect, saved their lives—as Luffy had predicted, they had first been poisoned and then sealed in Mr. Three's wax with only enough space left for them to breathe—their acquaintance had somehow gotten off on the wrong foot immediately. Giants were naturally long-lived, easily reaching three hundred years of age, and so they tended to look down on humans in both the literal and figurative sense. It was not that they deliberately despised or disrespected 'short-lived' humans; giants were simply an extremely proud race. Dorry and Brogy in particular—with their appearance, weapons, and clothes unmistakably resembling a pair of ordinary bearded Vikings, only greatly enlarged—had been fighting one another for roughly a hundred years over a reason they had long since forgotten. And despite tens of thousands of duels, they still had not been able to determine a winner, because every single fight ended in a draw. Usopp had been deeply impressed by such persistence and instantly decided that this was exactly what 'true warriors of the sea' were supposed to be like! Johnny, Yosaku, Sanji, and Tashigi had been unable to form a definite opinion, while Nami and Luffy were united in their contempt:
"What idiots!"
Naturally, the girl had only thought it to herself, while the irritated boy immediately voiced his opinion aloud. His mood could hardly have been worse, and Luffy in a foul mood was equivalent to... a natural disaster? But he qualified as one of those even in his normal state. A walking apocalypse? Again, he already fit that description rather well. So let us settle on this: Luffy in a bad mood was an even more terrifying creature than Luffy in a good mood. And now there were two proud giants on top of everything else.
"If he'd killed them, they would've deserved it," Sanji said without the slightest sympathy. "Personally, I think Luffy was completely right when he called them a pair of weaklings and idiots. I can't imagine fighting for a hundred years and still remaining that weak. Definitely a pair of idiots."
As one might easily guess, under Luffy's influence, the uncertain opinions of the guys and Tashigi quickly became very certain indeed. After he had explained in an extremely accessible way exactly why he considered Dorry and Brogy a pair of idiots, it became difficult not to agree with him. A hundred years of fighting could turn even the most talentless person into a killing machine capable of competing with some of the strongest people in the world. Yet the two giants, in terms of personal strength, were somewhere around Johnny and Yosaku's level. Their greatest advantage was their size—an ordinary person standing in the middle of a giant's palm looked like a one-centimeter toy figurine in an adult man's hand. Take away their size, and what remained was merely good skill with a sword and an axe, somewhere right on the edge of the strong tier, plus physical strength that could not even be called exceptional.
So from Luffy's point of view, Dorry and Brogy were simply two weaklings who had spent a good hundred years unable to decide which of the two was weaker. Considering Luffy's own strength, arguing with that opinion would have been foolish. The problem was that this was exactly what the giants had tried to do. And the irritated Luffy, unlike his usual self, had not wasted time on empty chatter. He had simply demonstrated, very clearly, why he had every right to call Dorry and Brogy weaklings. As a result, the giants had gotten the beating of their lives and nearly died in the process.
"Do you think they'll listen to Nami and leave the island?" a dejected Usopp asked.
The long-nosed boy was the only one genuinely upset by the whole situation with the giants—he had truly believed he had found two living embodiments of his dream of becoming a 'brave warrior of the sea.' And although Luffy had done everything possible to change his opinion, deep down Usopp still admired Dorry and Brogy. They might not be particularly strong, but in his view, such unwavering devotion to their convictions still deserved respect and even admiration. Luffy could have said that this was partly true—but not in a world where a person's personal strength was the most important criterion by which everyone else judged them.
One could be worthy, respected, and capable of inspiring admiration, but all of that meant little if one lacked significant strength. For example, during a pirate attack—and pirate attacks happened constantly in every corner of the world—such a respected person without personal strength could do little more than die with dignity. That, however, would do nothing to save all the other people who respected and admired them. At most, it might inspire someone to accomplish something, perhaps even something great. But a worthy life was far better than a worthy death. And while alive, it was considerably easier to inspire others toward great deeds, and one could do it far more often—certainly more than once. Did someone disagree? Then it was enough to remember Ohara, once full of worthy and respected people who were later slaughtered by the Government in a matter of hours. Had each of them possessed Whitebeard's strength, no one would have dared say a word against them, and they could have pursued whatever research they wanted without having to glance over their shoulders at the World Government. That was reality.
"I seriously doubt they'll listen to Nami-swan's warning," Sanji said, shaking his head. "They're far too proud."
"Yeah," Johnny nodded. "The beating Luffy-aniki gave them obviously didn't help."
"There's no guarantee they even have anything they can sail away on," Tashigi added a note of rationality.
"That's true!" Yosaku immediately agreed. "If they've really been living on this island for a hundred years, their original ship must've rotted away ages ago. And I doubt they built another one."
Usopp drooped even more at those words. Out of the kindness of her heart, as was often the case with her, Nami had warned Dorry and Brogy before leaving the island that substantial Marine forces would soon be arriving. Even though the giants had been stuck on the island for a full century, they were still wanted pirates, and it was doubtful the Marines would simply let them go in peace. Especially Smoker. Every member of the family could roughly imagine just how much that particular Marine captain must hate pirates after everything they knew had happened in Loguetown. Nami, who knew the details of Luffy's latest 'joke,' knew for certain. That was precisely why she had warned Dorry and Brogy about the Marines' imminent arrival. Pride, even pride reaching the heavens, would do nothing to help them against the power of Smoker's Devil Fruit. Despite their size, before him they would be like helpless children.
"They'll sit in prison until they die. Maybe then they'll finally understand what's actually important in this world," Johnny put in.
It would probably not have been an exaggeration to say that a 'Cult of Strength' existed within the Straw Hat family. Not quite 'might makes right' or 'if you're weak, you're worthless,' but rather the principle that had already been mentioned more than once: 'only the strong have the right to decide their own fate.' And even Usopp did not consider the two giants strong enough by that standard. If he had, they would not have lost to Luffy.
"That's enough, boys. Forget about the giants," Nami said. "They have nothing to do with us anymore, and we've already done far too much for them. Whatever problems they have from now on are their problems. We'd better focus on our own problems."
"...Like where we're going to find a new first mate after Luffy-aniki kills the old one?" Johnny suggested.
"First of all, we need a good doctor, and urgently!" the girl objected.
"I completely agree," Yosaku nodded wisely. "If someone like Law takes the case, he might be able to resuscitate Zoro-aniki after Luffy-aniki kills him."
The blood rapidly drained from Tashigi's face. She had been among the Straw Hats long enough to understand that there was considerably less joking than truth in Yosaku's words. And although she did not believe things would truly go as far as murder, her heart still gave a treacherous ache. Feelings were like that.
"It's... it's not really that serious, right?" she squeaked.
"Maybe we should contact Law in advance?" Johnny immediately supported his friend, completely ignoring the girl's 'mouse squeak.' "What if Zoro-aniki, like Vivi back then, needs spare body parts too? If we contact Law now, he'll have enough time to find suitable donors."
Tashigi became seriously dizzy at those words, while Nami could no longer tolerate it.
"What does that topographical cretin have to do with anything?!" Unable to restrain herself, the girl practically exploded. She genuinely could not stand it any longer, but not because of their casual attitude toward Zoro's safety. "Who even cares about that thickheaded idiot?!" Tashigi clearly cared about 'that thickheaded idiot,' but her opinion was just as clearly not being taken into account. "Something is wrong with my Robin! That's much more important right now! Her fever is too high and I can't bring it down with anything! She needs a doctor! Urgently! And Law is much too far away!"
She truly was not worried about Zoro in the slightest. He might be a hopeless topographical cretin, but what could realistically threaten him in the first half of the Grand Line? He had not eaten a Devil Fruit, so falling into the water did not rob him of mobility, and combined with his personal strength, that guaranteed him at least some measure of safety even in the worst storm. On top of that, the guy was famous all over the world, meaning that sooner or later his location would appear in the newspapers. In the end, if there was any real danger to Zoro, it came only from Luffy. This time the guy had gone off the rails more than usual. But no one could help the swordsman with that, so what was the point of worrying? Nami therefore did not worry... and the others, Tashigi aside, were not particularly worried either. Mostly, they saw it as a perfect excuse to make jokes.
Unlike Luffy, the rest of the family had long since come to terms with Zoro's ability to get lost in a straight corridor, and so they treated his disappearance with understanding. Back in East Blue he had repeatedly sailed off to another island, forcing everyone else to chase after him. The Grand Line was not East Blue; finding him here would be a hundred times harder, and not only because of the navigation problems, but it would have been strange to expect anything different from Zoro. Sooner or later this was bound to happen, and if it was inevitable, there was no point getting angry either. One could not spend time around Luffy without becoming at least a little fatalistic. Considering that the boy simultaneously taught everyone in the family to change fate with their own hands, it created yet another paradox. Or could that be written off as another double standard? Whatever the case, Robin's health was the only thing Nami was truly worried about right now.
"Do you really think it's something serious?" Sanji asked seriously, catching the very real concern in the girl's voice.
"If I don't give her fever-reducing medicine, her temperature immediately jumps to forty degrees Celsius," Nami replied grimly. "This definitely isn't an ordinary cold."
Finally realizing that the girl was genuinely worried about Robin, all the guys quickly became serious.
"Out of all of us, you and Luffy-aniki are the only ones who know much about medicine," Yosaku said.
He was almost directly saying what needed to be done, but Johnny would not have been Johnny if he had kept quiet and failed to explain what was already obvious to everyone.
"If you don't understand what's happening to Robin, then you need Luffy-aniki's help."
"I think our captain needs somebody's help himself right now," Usopp muttered under his breath.
The boy was not far from the truth. Perhaps nothing drove Luffy crazier than Zoro's complete inability to orient himself in space. Although no—what infuriated him even more were the swordsman's independent attempts to find his way instead of sensibly sitting in one place and waiting for help to arrive. Maybe it was karma. For someone who had long been accustomed to reshaping the surrounding reality to suit himself, encountering something he could not change no matter how much effort he put in was unbearable. Zoro's topographical cretinism calmly withstood everything that the rest of the world could not.
"...Fine. For my Robin's sake, I'll try talking to him," Nami sighed heavily.
"Well then, good luck!" Johnny wished her sincerely.
The guy clearly doubted her chances of success and made no attempt to hide it. To be fair, everyone else had similar doubts. They themselves were currently afraid even to approach Luffy, let alone try talking to him. At the same time, however, everyone agreed that Nami had the best chance of succeeding. Almost from the very beginning she had held a special status within their family, and over time that status had only become more obvious. There was a reason she was the 'Queen of Monsters.'
"Seriously, boys, you often cause far more problems than you're worth," the girl sighed again as she headed toward the bow.
All of the aforementioned 'boys' wisely kept quiet and merely watched her go with sympathetic looks. None of them wanted to deal with Luffy in his current state. In some ways his condition resembled Vivi's from the previous evening. Perhaps it was the appearance and posture? Like the girl the day before, he was covered from head to toe in dried blood and sat directly on the deck with his back against the ship's railing. That, however, was where the similarities ended. Vivi had resembled a broken, lifeless doll; Luffy looked like an escaped mental patient. With his forehead pressed against his knees and his body rocking slightly from side to side, he was furiously rubbing his own head. In truth, he had been more or less sane that morning, but when the oversized fish had decided to eat their ship, Luffy had habitually ordered Zoro to cut it to pieces... only the swordsman had not been on the ship—or even on the island—since the previous evening. In the end Luffy had been forced to deal with the idiotic fish himself, which had done nothing to improve his state of mind. Again, it would not have been quite so bad if not for his favorite habit of exaggerating his own emotions. He had successfully cultivated ordinary irritation into full-blown insanity. A talent of its own, really.