After casually strolling through the massive graveyard, Bardock decided it was time to head back. If they lingered any longer, the sun would set. "It usually takes about half a day for a Log Pose to lock onto the magnetic field of the next island. Do you guys want to spend the night at an inn in town or sleep on the ship?"
"I'd much rather sleep on the ship. The people on this island are super creepy," Perona muttered, rubbing her arms.
"I prefer the ship as well. I'd rather sleep in my own bed," Robin agreed.
The rest of the crew quickly echoed the sentiment. They all vastly preferred the comfort and safety of the White Dragon.
"Alright, then let's go buy some fresh ingredients and cook dinner ourselves!" Bardock nodded. "And make sure to buy plenty of wine. I've heard the alcohol here is actually top-tier."
"Wine?" Robin tilted her head. "Is that for the Giant Warriors you mentioned earlier? Giants aren't exactly a common sight in the Grand Line."
Robin held a deep, profound respect for the Giant race. If it hadn't been for Jaguar D. Saul sacrificing his life for her, she would have died twenty years ago, and the legacy of Ohara would have completely vanished from the sea.
"Yes. The very next island on our current route is a prehistoric island trapped in the era of the dinosaurs. Two legendary warriors of the Giant race have been dueling there for a century. Because of their presence, the island is known as 'Little Garden'," Bardock explained.
Thinking about Little Garden gave Bardock a bit of a headache. In the original story, it took an entire year for a Log Pose to record the island's magnetic field. There was absolutely no way he was going to sit in a prehistoric jungle for twelve months waiting for his compass to reset.
He had originally hoped to find an Eternal Pose in Whisky Peak. If that failed, his only other option would be scouring the jungle of Little Garden for the corpses of dead pirates and hoping to loot a fully charged Log Pose off their skeletons.
"Captain Bardock, are Giant Warriors just really, really big humans? How big are they?" Leo asked, his eyes wide with curiosity.
Before setting sail, Leo had thought normal humans were impossibly huge. Now he was learning there was an entire race of people who dwarfed humans? To a Giant, the Tontattas must look like literal specks of dust!
"An average Giant usually grows to be over twenty meters tall. Though there are some ancient, divergent bloodlines that grow significantly larger than that," Bardock replied, thinking of Oars the Continent-Puller.
"Twenty meters?! How many of me stacked on top of each other would that be?" Leo murmured, scrunching up his face in intense concentration as he tried to visualize the math, literally adding his own height over and over again in his head.
"It would be roughly one hundred of you, Leo. I've told you to study your math! How can you not calculate something so simple?" Robin giggled, gently teasing the dwarf. "It seems I'll have to give you some extra tutoring sessions."
"No! I don't want to study math! Captain Bardock, save me!" Leo panicked. He was the future Commander of the Tontatta Royal Guard! He only needed to study combat, not stupid numbers!
"Uh, Leo, you really should at least learn basic multiplication and division," Bardock chuckled, siding with Robin. "Look, instead of adding your height ninety-nine times and risking a mistake, division gives you the answer instantly. It saves so much effort! Mansherry, I'm officially putting you in charge of supervising Leo's study habits."
Bardock's word was final. Leo immediately wilted like a frostbitten eggplant, while Mansherry beamed with delight. "Understood, Captain! Leave it to me!"
Upon returning to the town of Whisky Peak, the crew split up. While the others went to purchase groceries and wine, Bardock headed out alone to hunt down an Eternal Pose.
Unfortunately, Whisky Peak was ultimately just a backwater starting town. While Eternal Poses weren't exactly mythical artifacts, they were highly coveted and incredibly expensive. After scouring every single shop in the local market, Bardock came up empty-handed.
Just as he was considering paying a visit to the Mayor's house to inquire further, a sudden sensation stopped him. On the back of his right hand, a single eye, an ear, and a small mouth sprouted from his skin—looking suspiciously like Migi from the anime Parasyte.
Robin's voice spoke from the tiny mouth. "Bardock. Perona just informed me that a group of men snuck onto our ship. She immediately neutralized them with her Negative Hollows."
Bardock raised an eyebrow. He had told Perona to leave her ghosts on guard duty as a standard precaution, but he hadn't actually expected anyone to be stupid enough to try and rob them in broad daylight.
"Are you guys done shopping? Head back to the ship if you are," Bardock spoke into the hand. "I want to see exactly who had the guts to target us."
"We're already on our way back. I've notified the others as well," Robin replied.
"Understood. I'll be right there."
When Bardock arrived back at the White Dragon, he found Perona in the middle of a rather sadistic 'interrogation'.
To be fair, she wasn't actually interrogating them; she was just using them as toys. Three unfortunate bounty hunters were currently on their hands and knees on the deck. Perona was relentlessly sending Negative Hollows through their bodies in rapid succession. The three men had been completely broken by the repeated emotional devastation; they were paralyzed in poses of absolute despair, too depressed to even whimper, let alone speak.
"What happened?" Bardock asked, turning to Robin, who was leaning against the railing.
"They had incredibly foul mouths and tried to threaten us when we caught them," Robin replied, her tone laced with genuine annoyance. "Perona simply ensured they learned some manners."
"Ah. Well, did they have any other accomplices?" Bardock mentally lit a candle for the three idiots. Offending Perona and Robin simultaneously was a guaranteed ticket to a miserable existence.
"This is all of them. Apparently, two of them snuck aboard to steal our valuables while the third stood watch on the pier. When the two thieves didn't come back down, the lookout got impatient and climbed aboard to find them, only to get instantly ghosted by Perona," Robin explained.
"At least they have some sense of loyalty, not abandoning their comrades," Bardock noted with mild amusement. "Do we know who they are?"
"They're just local bounty hunters. According to some of the chatter I overheard in town, these three are notorious for having sticky fingers and a massive gambling debt. They're habitual thieves," Robin supplied.
Hearing that they were just petty crooks completely killed Bardock's interest. "Well, we can't just let them go unpunished, but killing them feels a bit too lenient. Here's what we'll do: Leo, I want you to use your brightest, most visible thread to stitch the words 'I AM A THIEF' directly onto their faces. Then, stitch all three of them securely to the wooden pillars on the pier. Since nobody in this town knows Haki, they won't be able to cut your strings to free them. Let's see if this town of bounty hunters is willing to manually feed and water three paralyzed thieves for the rest of their lives."
"Understood." Robin's anger had already cooled; she genuinely didn't care what happened to them as long as they suffered a bit.
That evening, Bardock and his crew enjoyed a massive, home-cooked feast on the deck of their ship before retiring to their cabins. The night passed completely peacefully.
Early the next morning, the townsfolk discovered the three paralyzed, heavily stitched bounty hunters bound to the pier. Panic quickly spread, and someone rushed to inform the Mayor. By the time the Mayor arrived at the docks, nearly the entire population of Whisky Peak had gathered to witness the spectacle.
When questioned, the three thieves didn't dare confess to their crimes. Instead, they loudly slandered Bardock's crew, claiming the outsiders had maliciously attacked them for no reason.
The Mayor wasn't an idiot. He knew exactly what kind of scum these three men were, and he knew they were lying through their teeth.
However, Whisky Peak operated under a strict, unwritten code. In a town comprised entirely of cutthroat bounty hunters, internal unity against outsiders was paramount. They had to put on a united front and demand an explanation from the pirate crew.
Led by the Mayor, a massive mob of heavily armed bounty hunters marched aggressively down the beach toward where the White Dragon was docked.
Bardock was currently doing his morning exercises on the beach. Seeing a small army marching toward him, he stopped and looked at them in mild confusion.
"Excuse me, sir!" The Mayor stepped forward, puffing his chest out. "I am the Mayor of Whisky Peak! I have come here today to—"
"To what?"
Bardock didn't even pause his routine. Gripping White Iron and Shusui, he smoothly executed a dual-slash.
SHING!
Two massive, compressed air blades erupted from his swords. The flying slashes tore across the beach, effortlessly splitting the ocean waves in half as they shot deep into the horizon, leaving a terrifying, churning trench in the sea before finally dissipating.
The entire mob of bounty hunters instantly froze. The color drained completely from their faces.
"—to formally apologize to you!" The Mayor pivoted instantly, his voice cracking slightly. He bowed so low his nose nearly touched the sand. "We deeply apologize for failing to provide you with the hospitable service you deserve! Furthermore, we are utterly ashamed that several of our delinquent residents attempted to steal your valuable property! We beg for your forgiveness!"
The Mayor's survival instincts were truly top-tier. The rest of the bounty hunters quickly snapped out of their shock and frantically bowed along with him, murmuring hasty apologies.
"Oh, it's fine," Bardock replied casually, sheathing his swords. "By the way, do you happen to own an Eternal Pose? I tried looking for one in the market yesterday but couldn't find any."
"I am terribly sorry, sir, but I do not possess an Eternal Pose," the Mayor answered nervously, desperately trying to placate the monster in front of him. "However! I do have a piece of a Vivre Card belonging to a close friend of mine! He lives on Drum Island! I would be more than happy to tear off a piece for you!"
The Mayor quickly fished the Vivre Card out of his coat, tore it in half, and respectfully offered it to Bardock.
Bardock took the paper, pleasantly surprised. A Vivre Card worked just as well, and Drum Island was definitely a location he wanted to visit.
"Perfect. You can all go back to town now. Consider yesterday's incident forgotten," Bardock waved them off, turning back to resume his stretches.
"Thank you very much, sir! Have a wonderful voyage!"
The Mayor and his mob of bounty hunters immediately turned tail and sprinted back toward the town, eager to put as much distance between themselves and the terrifying swordsman as humanly possible.