Chouchou suddenly being able to talk pretty much blew everyone's minds in the Going Merry's dining room.
Luffy, Sanji, Zoro, Usopp, and the two captives all looked like they'd just seen a ghost.
Luffy's eyes immediately turned into stars.
He jumped over to Chouchou, picked him up, and started examining him from head to toe, poking and prodding, even trying to check out his... private areas.
Naturally, Chouchou bit him on the head, making Luffy howl in pain.
After the initial shock wore off, Zoro looked thoughtful, then turned to Ray.
"Chouchou's change... probably has something to do with you, right?"
The smarter ones in the crew had already guessed the same thing.
Only Luffy couldn't figure out the connection.
Ray just sighed, vaguely mentioning it might be related to his own power-up, but didn't elaborate.
No one pushed him.
As nakama, they trusted each other; they didn't need to know every single secret.
If Ray wanted to tell them someday, he would.
That's just how the Straw Hats rolled.
Seeing this easy trust, Vivi felt deeply moved.
There was something truly unique about this crew.
Based on how they'd acted over the past couple of days, she couldn't connect them at all with the evil pirates described in the newspapers.
'The news said they were monsters who killed old ladies and ate babies,' Vivi remembered.
'But these guys... they're nothing like that. If they're considered evil, then what does that make Baroque Works?'
Overwhelmed by curiosity, and noticing they'd actually been pretty decent to her (aside from the bindings and occasional zapping), Vivi finally asked.
"I'm curious... are you really as evil as the newspapers say?"
"Huh?" Six confused faces stared back at her.
Nami was puzzled.
'Besides fighting the Marines at Loguetown, have we actually done anything bad?' She grabbed the newspaper the dead news coo had brought.
After reading it carefully, she exploded.
"How dare this newspaper slander us like this!"
Hearing that, Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and the others leaned in.
After reading the article, they were all furious too.
The newspaper described them as "committing every evil deed imaginable."
Ray immediately understood.
'That birdman Morgans is getting payback for us eating his delivery bird.'
In Ray's mind, Morgans just signed his own death warrant.
…
"Well... we are pirates," Luffy said with a shrug after a moment.
"Guess we have to accept the bad press."
The others reluctantly agreed.
So, they started reading the rest of the news.
Interestingly, there was no update on their bounties, and the Loguetown incident was only mentioned briefly.
The main headline was:
[Rumor: Straw Hat Pirates Join Buggy?! Buggy Defeats Marines!]
Everyone just stared, completely bewildered.
????
'We're Buggy's underlings? Buggy defeated the Marines?!'
Not just Luffy and the crew, even Ray was extremely annoyed.
Though his expression didn't change much, he was already calculating exactly how powerful an Azure Dragon Break he was going to hit Buggy with next time they met.
After a moment, Ray calmed down.
'It's probably just Buggy's ridiculous luck again. And it seems the Marines haven't told the press the whole story yet. What are they planning?'
…
At Marine Headquarters...
Sengoku was currently glaring at Garp.
"You personally intervened and still let them escape?! Don't joke with me, Garp!"
Garp just casually munched on a rice cracker.
"Dragon showed up," he said helplessly. "What could I do? Besides, they kidnapped Gion, Hina, Smoker, and Tashigi. Are you really going to sacrifice the future of the Marines for two pirate crews?"
Sengoku knew Garp was making excuses, but he couldn't argue with the logic.
"Garp, the Straw Hats are a real threat now! Your grandson fighting Smoker means we have to watch him closely. And Ray might have actually be the one that defeated Gion! How many Warlords could even do that?!"
Garp frowned.
"What are you getting at, Sengoku?"
Sengoku stroked the beard of the goat sleeping next to him.
"Some of the Warlords have gotten too arrogant. We can't move against them without proof... but we can make them fight each other."
"Oh? What's the plan?"
"We announce that the Straw Hats and Buggy are strong enough to threaten the Warlords. We bump up their bounties a bit. Then, we spread the word: if either crew takes down a Warlord, they get their spot. Leave them alone for a while, and they're bound to clash. We just sit back and watch the show."
Garp looked disgusted.
'Sengoku, you sly fox.'
"Are you sure they'll fight?"
Sengoku looked completely confident.
"Hmph. It's human nature. Besides, we don't have the resources to deal with them right now. This is the best way. The Yonko are getting restless."
…
Another day passed. Getting closer to Whisky Peak.
Ray thought about the original story.
Zoro basically wiped out all the bounty hunters there by himself.
With Ray on board now, the crew was way stronger.
'Coincidentally,' he mused, 'we're running low on food. Might as well stop for a meal, grab their supplies and treasure, and then leave.'
Vivi and Mr. 9 were freaking out.
They'd seen how strong the Straw Hats were.
They knew Whisky Peak stood no chance.
But they were watched constantly by Chouchou and couldn't send a warning.
'What do we do?!' Vivi was especially anxious because the leader at Whisky Peak was Igaram, her loyal guard captain.
A few hours later, as the sun began to set, the Going Merry finally arrived at Whisky Peak.
Giant cactus-shaped mountains rose out of the mist.
Luffy was excited. Nami, Zoro, and Sanji were cautious. Usopp was terrified.
Ray was expressionless.
Vivi and Mr. 9 were still tied up, guarded by a fierce-looking Chouchou.
Their first real stop in the Grand Line was about to begin.