Chapter 11: Chapter 11
While the Baroque Works agents were distracted, Zoro and Sanji hurled themselves against each other. After a series of impacts, their wax restraints had started cracking. It wouldn't be long before they were free.
"Damn, I can't believe I didn't think of this. The wax may be hard as steel, but it's brittle. It's easy to break it this way…"
Zoro grunted. The look on his face wasn't good.
"Shut up and keep going. If we're caught, things won't end well."
With one last collision, the wax shattered, the pieces scattering all over the place. Standing, Zoro rubbed his wrists, drawing two swords from his waist.
"But how did he figure it out?"
"Not everyone's as stupid as you, moss-head!"
"You're one to talk!"
"Bah, I almost had it. I just needed a bit more time…"
Quibbling back and forth, they sprinted toward the giants. Their biggest priority was freeing them. If everyone worked together, the Baroque Works agents wouldn't stand a chance.
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Jack crouched behind a giant wax structure, shaped like a wedding cake. Above him, a candle-stacked layer rotated, raining wax dust on three prisoners. If things continued, Luffy, Nami and Usopp would turn into sculptures, suffocating in their shells.
Rubbing his temples, he let out a long sigh.
"I really have no words. Even after I gave you guys a head start, you still got captured. At this point, I'm seriously considering changing crews."
Hearing his voice, the three whipped their heads around. However, having hidden behind the layer's opposite side, they couldn't spot him.
"That voice… Jack, you bastard! You left us to fight Mr. 5 alone! What did you think would happen?!"
Jack shook his head.
"Wasn't it three against two? How did you still lose?"
"It wasn't! We got ambushed by that 'Ms. Goldenweek' and this captain of ours is so simple-minded, he got fooled immediately!"
"Oi, Jack! I'm gonna beat those guys into a pulp! Just get me out of here!"
Ignoring the two loudmouths, Jack addressed Usopp, who'd been quiet until now.
"Hey, Usopp. You should've figure it out, right? How to deal with this?"
Unlike his usual self, Usopp nodded seriously. Ending up in such a life-threatening situation and seeing the giants tortured, it seemed he'd gotten his head straight.
"Yeah. Since it's wax, fire should do the trick. But during the fight, my backpack got hurled away-…"
Before he could finish his sentence, something flew at him from behind, smacking against his back.
"There. Now you should be able to solve the problem."
Usopp's eyes went wide before bending over, picking up his pack. He rummaged around in it, withdrawing some slingshot ammo.
"Great! With this, we can get out of here. For interrupting Dorry and Brogy's duel and putting them in such a state… I definitely won't forgive them!"
Luffy chuckled, pumping his fist in the air.
"You got that right! Thanks for the help, Jack."
Jack huffed, pushing off the wax layer. He headed for the forest.
"It's more than I should have done, but whatever. At least I'll be getting something out of this…"
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With Jack's assistance, the battle quickly swung in the Straw Hats' favor. Co-ordinating their attacks together with the giants, it wasn't long before the Baroque Works agents were dealt with.
"Gegyagyagya-…! I'd completely forgotten about the bounties on our heads. To think these guys went after us for that reason."
Brogy looked from his gigantic friend to the pirates.
"You little ones really helped us out back there. If there's anything we can do to thank you…"
Sighing, Zoro rubbed the back of his head. He'd been brought up to speed about the previous conversations with Dorry and Brogy.
"Well, we're in serious trouble if we have to wait a full year for the log to record. And you only have an eternal pose to your island, Elbaf…"
Luffy tilted his head this way and that, steam practically rising from his ears.
"No way I'm staying that long! Can't you misters do something about it?"
"Don't speak nonsense. We already told you. Even we can't do anything about the logs."
The conversation lulled, the atmosphere turning pensive as everyone tried to think of a solution to the problem. Eventually, Jack coughed to attract attention, taking something from his pocket.
"I just so happened to stumble across a wax hut in the jungle. This was inside."
Raising his hand, he held up what was clearly an eternal pose. The word 'ALABASTA' was carved into the wood.
There was a moment of stunned silence before an uproar broke out among the gathered Straw Hats.
"Hahaha! We can set sail!"
"No way, how did you even get that?!"
"Full of surprises as always, Jack."
"W-well, I guess you have your moments too…"
The most enthusiastic of the crowd was Vivi. Seated next to him, she threw her arms around Jack's neck, a big grin on her face.
"Thank you so much. I was so worried over what to do! If a year passed, who knew what'd become of my kingdom…?"
Smiling mischievously, Jack brought his lips close to her ear.
"This means I'll get an even better reward, right?"
A blush rose from Vivi's neck to her cheeks. In an attempt to hide it, she buried her face in his neck.
"D-Don't say that…"
Seeing their intimate posture, Luffy, Usopp and the giants hooted and cheered. Zoro was indifferent, while Nami and Sanji were very obviously dissatisfied.
"Damn you, you bastard! It should've been me…"
"Pervert, you won't even keep your hands off an innocent girl!"
Once she'd calmed down, Vivi withdrew, looking apologetically at everyone.
"You guys… I'm so, so sorry. I know it's not worth much, but I really regret dragging you all into this. If it wasn't for me, those agents wouldn't even have come to this island-…"
Before she could finish, Nami, having gotten up at some point, reached out and grabbed her cheek.
"Don't say that! Even though some people are trying to take advantage…"
She looked pointedly at Jack.
"…nobody blames you for anything. Besides, you put yourself in danger too, right? And it wasn't for yourself, but for the sake of your people back in Alabasta."
Glancing at the rest, Vivi saw their guileless expressions.
"Hey, why the long face, Vivi…?"
"Wanna eat some rice crackers?"
"Yeah, let's get this party started!"
"Time for a rice cracker party!"
The girl gave a single nod. She smiled broadly.
She moved closer to the fire, where the giants started grilling Sanji and Zoro's meat—the fruits of their hunting competition.
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Having departed from Little Garden, the Going Merry sailed across the calm ocean. Despite yesterday's party, persisting late into the night, the atmosphere was still boisterous. Luffy and Usopp danced on the ship's railing, singing an off-key song.
"…El ~ baf ~ baf ~ Eeehlbaaaf ~ where everyone's gigantic ~ 'cause they're giants~…"
"Guys, listen! One day, I swear I'll visit Elbaf and the village of warriors!
"That's right, Usopp! We'll go there one day for sure! To the home of the giants!"
The rest of the crew were barely tolerating the noise, hung-over from the rest of the alcohol they'd finished off last night. Though it was already past noon, Jack emerged from the cabin, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"Damn it, I can't handle this. How will I keep this handsome face without getting my beauty sleep?! I just looked in the mirror and guess what I saw—eye-bags, at my age!"
He angrily hurled a pillow, hitting Usopp square in the back and toppling him into the ocean.
Nami glanced at him, her expression somehow looking even worse. She rubbed her forehead tiredly.
"Those two are pretty lively…"
Glancing at Vivi standing next to her, she limply handed their eternal pose.
"…can you keep an eye on this, Vivi? I'm so tired I can barely keep my eyes open."
On queue, Sanji emerged from the kitchen, balancing a tray on one hand.
"It's a good thing I made some coffee. There's tea to, for whoever wants. And petite fours as today's snack."
"You know, sometimes I feel you're not so bad-…"
Jack reached for the tray, but before he could grab a portion, his hand was slapped away.
"Get lost! The rest of your shares are in the kitchen."
"…"
His lip twitching, Jack decided not to argue. He wasn't the type to swallow rudeness, but Sanji's cooking was just too good. He really didn't want to go back to cooking for himself.
However, just as he was about to leave, his eyes suddenly widened. He looked at Nami with worry.
"Shit. With everything going on, I completely forgot about that…!"
Noticing his attention was on her, Nami furrowed her brows.
"What is it now? I have a headache, so don't bother me with nonsense."
Not saying anything, Jack took a step forward. He laid a hand on her forehead.
"…as I thought. You have a fever."
"There's a limit to being handsy, you lecher! Don't casually put your hands on Nami-san-…!"
Before Sanji could finish his rant, Vivi mimicked Jack's action, her expression concerned.
"He's right. No wonder you're face is so red. I thought it was just sunburn, but you're really sick…"
Nami swatted their hands away irritably.
"Don't be ridiculous. I'm perfectly fine-…"
"This isn't the time to act tough. If it was any other time, you could brush it off as a normal illness. However, Little Garden is a tropical island. There's all sorts of bugs crawling around."
Looming over them, Jack looked seriously at Nami and Vivi.
"You two should go to her room right now. Check if there's any bug-bites. Hopefully that isn't the case…"
Exchanging glances, the girls seemed to realize the situation.
"A-Alright. It's probably nothing, but just to be safe…"
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Neither Vivi nor Nami exited the room, even when ten minutes passed. At that point, the ship had grown quiet, with everyone crowding around the cabin. It was obvious something was wrong.
Angry, Sanji turned to Jack, waving his cigarette in his face.
"If you knew there were so many dangerous bugs around, why didn't you tell us sooner? What are we going to do if Nami-san gets really sick? I hope you weren't trying to 'toughen us up' or some other bullshit!"
Jack scratched the back of his head.
"So you heard about that, huh? But no. In this case, I didn't omit anything on purpose. I just forgot."
Sanji seemed like he was two seconds away from violence.
"Is that the type of thing you forget? Aren't you the guy that's supposedly prepared for every situation?!"
Jack sighed.
"…people are gossiping about me, it seems. I'm really sorry."
Usopp came forward, putting a hand on Sanji shoulder.
"She might not even be that sick. Maybe she's just lying down because of the heat-…"
Before he could finish, the cabin door creaked open, immediately attracting everyone's attention. Turning their heads, they saw Vivi exiting. White-faced, she didn't look good at all.
"Does anyone here have medical skills?"
Luffy pointed at the cabin.
"…Nami does."
Silence followed.
Chewing worriedly on her lip, Vivi looked at each of them in turn.
"It was as Jack said. Nami had an insect bite on her abdomen. It's become very red and swollen. And her fever has risen to forty degrees…"
Luffy smiled.
"Oh, that's nothing then. I'm sure she'll be fine after eating some meat-…!"
"It's not fine, you moron! Forty degrees is ridiculously high!"
Rubbing his hand after smacking Luffy, Usopp looked at Vivi.
"There should be doctors in Alabasta, right? How much longer till we get there?"
White faced, Vivi shook her head.
"…I don't know, but it will definitely be more than a week. And Nami definitely can't make it with such a high fever for so long."
Everyone looked at each other, not saying anything. The situation definitely wasn't good.
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