The sea around the Going Merry suddenly began to rise.
Not far away, the water level swelled higher and higher until something massive emerged from beneath the waves — a shape like a mountain.
Everyone froze.
"W-what is that thing?! It's huge!"
"Hey, hey, what do we do now? That can't be a creature, right?"
"This isn't the time to talk! Steady the ship, or we'll be swept away by the current!"
Moments later, the thing fully surfaced — revealing a gigantic turtle, so enormous that the Merry looked like an insect before it.
Sandy tilted his head, completely calm. "Sanji, if we were to stew this turtle into soup, could you handle it?"
Luffy's eyes lit up instantly, drooling. "Can we eat it?!"
Usopp grabbed Sandy's face, horrified. "Are you insane?! Look at that thing! It's bigger than the giant crab we met last time! Shouldn't we be thinking about running away?!"
The so-called Wrecking King Masira, who had been blustering moments ago, now looked pale. Seeing the massive beast before him, he completely lost it. "Run! Run for your lives!"
Nami and Chopper echoed in panic, "Run, run! We're gonna be eaten!"
Sandy sighed. "If it dares eat our ship, I'll cut it down first."
With that, he stepped up to the railing, pointed at the colossal creature, and shouted, "Hey, big guy! There's nothing worth eating up here! Get back where you came from — you're scaring my crew!"
No sooner had he spoken than the sky suddenly darkened.
Luffy blinked. "Huh? Did it just get dark all of a sudden?"
Everyone turned to look — but the pirates on Masira's ship weren't looking at the sky. They were staring past Sandy, trembling in horror.
The Straw Hats followed their gaze — and froze.
Three gigantic black shadows loomed in the distance, so tall they reached into the clouds.
The sight was enough to make anyone's heart stop.
For a moment, even Sandy was startled — but he quickly realized what it was.
The "giants" were most likely just illusions, a projection caused by the sunlight through the upper atmosphere — a phenomenon linked to Skypiea.
But since everyone was seeing it for the first time, they didn't understand what they were looking at.
Panic rippled through both ships. Even the giant turtle seemed frightened, diving back into the sea with a splash.
The Straw Hats immediately sprang into action.
Under Nami's frantic orders, the Merry turned sharply to escape the whirlpool forming beneath the shadows. Masira, forgetting all earlier conflict, joined in to help steer.
The only person who didn't move was Sandy.
He had been in a foul mood ever since being woken from his pleasant dream earlier, but seeing Luffy and Zoro's terrified faces instantly cheered him up.
Heh. I'll make sure to remind them of this later.
By the time the danger had passed, everyone collapsed onto the deck, panting.
"That was way too close..."
"Is this really the Grand Line?!"
"Were those three shadows... people?"
"Don't be stupid. How could people be that big?"
"But they had arms and legs..."
As everyone debated, Sandy climbed back onto the railing, grinning smugly.
"Hahaha! You guys are too timid! I already know what those shadows were!"
Luffy immediately perked up. "Really? What were they?"
Sandy cleared his throat dramatically. "Have you all forgotten about Skypiea?"
Everyone blinked. "Skypiea?"
Masira's eyes widened. "Wait, you believe in Skypiea too?"
Sandy nodded confidently. "Of course it exists. Those shadows were people from Skypiea — their images were projected onto the clouds by sunlight and airborne particles. It's just a natural phenomenon."
Robin's eyes lit with understanding. "If that's the case, then those phantoms make perfect sense."
"Exactly!" Sandy said, smirking. "Look at you guys — claiming you want to become the Pirate King, the World's Greatest Swordsman — and you were terrified by a shadow!"
He burst out laughing. "Hahaha, unbelievable!"
Luffy scowled. "Damn it! It was just someone's shadow?!"
Zoro crossed his arms, his face flushing slightly. He couldn't believe he'd actually been scared of that.
"Hey, hey, hey—!" Sandy was laughing so hard that he lost his footing.
"Splash!"
He toppled backward right into the sea.
Everyone on deck stared blankly for a few seconds. Then Nami sighed, crossing her arms. "Serves him right."
A few hours later, the Going Merry reached the shores of Jaya Island.
The coastline was packed with pirate ships.
Usopp looked around nervously. "Why are there so many pirate ships docked here? Don't tell me this place is like Whiskey Peak again?"
Nami frowned. "No way... This can't be another bounty hunter island, right?"
Luffy grinned. "Don't worry! If anyone tries something, I'll send them flying!"
Nami sighed. "That's exactly why people are worried!"
Once the ship docked, Luffy and Zoro insisted on going into town.
Nami reluctantly gave in but warned, "Listen carefully — Robin's already gone ahead to gather information about Skypiea. While you're buying supplies, do not cause trouble!"
"Why?" Luffy asked, tilting his head.
Zoro added, "If someone starts something, we can't fight back?"
Nami groaned. "Didn't you see all the pirate ships? If you cause a ruckus, we won't be able to stay here — and we'll never find out how to reach Skypiea! Ugh, forget it. I'm going with you two!"
Just as she said that, she noticed Sandy stretching out on the deck, getting comfortable.
"Sandy," Nami said sharply, "what do you think you're doing?"
Sandy waved lazily. "You guys go ahead. I'm gonna see if I can dream of the world's most beautiful woman again..."
Nami's eyebrow twitched. "You're coming with us!"
Sandy groaned, "Nooo, let me dream a little longer... my Hancock..."
Thud!
Nami's fist landed squarely on his head. "Get up, you shameless pervert!"
Meanwhile, Sanji was preparing to follow them into town — but Usopp and Chopper quickly grabbed his arms.
"Sanji! You can't go too!" Usopp pleaded. "If you leave, who's going to watch the ship?"
Sanji sighed, defeated. "Fine, fine... but I'm not happy about it..."
And so, as the Straw Hat crew set foot on Jaya Island in search of clues about the Island in the Sky, Sandy stayed behind — already drifting off into another beautiful dream.
"My Hancock..." he murmured with a smirk.
…
Author's Note:
The fanfic One Piece: My Flirtatious System Adventure is first half completed.
The entire story has been uploaded on Patreon as a dedicated collection:
📚 One Piece (Chapters 1–362)
The second half will be released in 10–15 days, which means the fully completed fanfic will soon be available to read—so join Patreon now!
Carefully organized into multiple posts, with several chapters per post for smooth and easy binge reading.
🔗 patreon.com/Shadow_demon_007
Thank you all for your continuous support and love for this journey 💙
Second half will be soon.