A day passed by when…
Chinn... I picked up the sound wave of human chatter about 70 miles away from me.
In the distance, a silhouette of a large island appeared. I was bustling with joy that I had returned to Conomi Island, which was like a second home to me after Earth.
"Hey Noelle… Get your ass here! We're almost there."
With a slight frown, I walked into the storeroom to look for Noelle.
Noelle was in the storeroom, tinkering with guns and bullets she made herself. She had a twisted smile on her face as she focused on her guns, completely ignoring my presence in the room. She wore her usual light pink dress with a pair of high heels.
'Damn… this girl goes complete psycho when she's left alone with her guns… Wait, now that Zeff isn't here anymore,' I licked my lips as I stared at her tight ass.
Just when I was finally about to give it a feel…
Chiinn… 'What the fuck… A cow?!'
My actions were interrupted by the sound of a cow approaching my boat. I gritted my teeth and ran to the deck to prepare for battle against any possible hostiles.
Soon a magnificent giant sea cow emerged from the water. It had a big round nose with a gold nose ring, cow-esque face and horns, and green spots throughout its body. The monster was drooling heavily from looking at our food, or quite possible me itself.
Noelle walked out to the deck too at the same time.
"Oh wow, what a cute animal! I want it Cross!"
Noelle looked at the cow-esque sea monster with sparkling eyes.
Moooooooo! Suddenly, the sea monster attacked me without any warning.
'Hmmm… what's this manga déjà vu I'm getting?' I closed my eyes as the giant mouth of the monster came closer. Noelle watched the scene with her brows relaxed, not worried for me at all.
I raised my hand and pointed at the cow-like sea monster with one finger…
5 Million Volt Electrical Discharge… ZAPPPPP
Moooo...! The cow-like sea monster screamed in pain.
After punishing the monster for its insolence, I finally remembered it was Momoo from the grand line. I immediately connected its appearance to the Arlong Pirates.
"This beast is Momoo and it belongs to the Arlong Pirates."
I informed Noelle while I tied Momoo to the hull of the ship. I'd already explained Noelle most things I knew about the Arlong pirates and how we weren't here to fight them.
"There're such beautiful things out there in the world! I'm glad I came with you Cross!"
Noelle beamed with enthusiasm. She had really grown up in the last few years, and there wasn't anything like slavers that could stop her from seeing the world anymore.
Of course, I might have heavily supported this transformation because I secretly wanted someone from the three-eyed tribe in my crew. While I didn't know the complete relevance of the "Voice of all things," it wouldn't hurt to have someone who may evolve to use it.
"If you don't want to become our seekh kebabs, head full steed towards the island."
"Moomoo," The cow-like sea monster trembled from fear and it nodded helplessly.
Swoosh… The boat speeded towards the island. A pleasant gust of wind accompanied us throughout the journey as I contemplated my next course of action.
'According to my calculations, there should be a little more than a week left before Luffy arrives here to save East-Blue. If I don't do anything significant in my time at the Canomi Island, everything will turn out fine in Oda's canon.
"Okay stop right there Moomoo, we're close enough to the island."
Momoo didn't understand my command and kept speeding towards the shore.
Zapppp… I electrically shocked the monster's entire body, making it scream in pain again.
"Don't be so mean to such a cute animal Cross!" Noelle yelled, glaring at me now.
"Then what would you have me do Noelle! This stupid cow would have made us crash into to the shore! It's clearly capable of understanding me and yet it's being so stupid!" I glared back at Noelle.
Our fight didn't last that long as we'd arrived next to the shore. We anchored our ship and headed out with all our valuable belongings. There was a good chance that our ship will be toed temporarily by the Arlong pirates during our stay.
Soon we could see the outskirts of a village. At first glance, the village was deserted, and all its houses had been turned upside down. I understood that the village was the remants of Gosa village.
Gosa village was a village near Cocoyasi village in the region of the Conomi Islands. As the village was unable to completely pay the monthly tribute to Arlong, all the buildings in the village were literally flipped over by Momoo on the orders of Arlong pirates.
Noelle's eyes narrowed from witnessing all the destruction in the village. She hadn't seen destruction like this in a long time.
"Mwah ha ha… all this destruction is caused by that cute animal you wanted Noelle."
Noelle pressed her lips together, unable to handle the smug look I was giving her.
"Hmph… ugly people like you won't under-"
Chinnn… Before Noelle could finish arguing her point, I raised my hand to warn her about someone approaching. She took out her flintlock and increased her alertness.
I could hear three different people approaching us from different places.
The first person to arrive running was a small boy, with brown hair and round eyes. I recognized him as Chabo from the manga. His dad had been killed because of the Gosa village disaster, resulting in the kid being out here for revenge.
"Ahhhh, the fishmen have come to bring destruction… I'm going to take revenge!"
The kid charged at us with a weapon.
Swisssh… he was karate chopped in the head from the second source of voice before he could come closer.
"Stop fighting the Fishman!"
A woman started scolding the kid. She was an average size young woman with light blue hair and tanned skin. Her right arm was heavily tattooed, and she wore a beige sleeveless shirt and a bracelet on her right wrist.
'Nojiko has grown up pretty well huh,' I judged her curves with my prying eyes.
"Look closely, they're clearly humans you di-" Nojiko paused after getting a closer look on me.
I was now wearing a luxurious white V-neck shirt under a black coat draped over my shoulders and black trousers instead of my bandit clothes. I still had the same wavy, medium length, blue hair. My face had become more masculine and attractive; however, it still gave of the impression of a wild-beast that Nojiko recognized.
"How's everything going Nojiko?"
I gave her a relaxed smile and walked towards her.
"C-Cross… Is that you? Y-You shouldn't have come. The Arlong pirat-"
Nojiko's eyes became wet from seeing me. I rushed up to her and gave her a tight hug from missing her so much. After a few seconds in my embrace, she rubbed her eyes and calmed down.
"You've really grown up a lot huh Nojiko. Let me evaluate how much this has grown too."
I was about to take the measurements of her chest for scientific reasons, but she pushed me away right then.
"Ha ha ha… why are you still a pervert after 8 years Cross?"
Nojiko giggled with her hands over her mouth.
Noelle was still standing at the back, amused by the entire scene.
"Now I know why Cross wanted this to be our first destination." Noelle murmured to herself.
I explained to everyone that there was an enemy near us and we should leave before he finds us too suspicious. As if to demonstrate my point, a fat sized Fishman, with large lips and light blue skin approached us from the distance.
Nojiko was able to provide the Fishman with a description to avert his suspicion and hold back Chabo from attacking at the same time. The fishman warned us not to roam here and left the scene.
"Woah… I didn't believe you completely Cross when you said Fishmen exist! Their intelligence was just like us… they had combined fish and human limbs. I want you to take me to talk to them Cross!"
Noelle pestered me; she was completely fascinated by being able to see a fishman.
"Chhh… stop bothering me Noelle! The one's here are all our enemies… I promise to introduce some to you when we go to Fishman Island in the future."
I glared at Noelle with irritation and gave in to her demands with a fake promise.
Yayy…! Noelle jumped in joy from having me comply.