Little Garden was basically Jurassic Park, stuck in time.
Because of its weird location, it still had a prehistoric climate, which meant it was crawling with bloodthirsty ancient creatures.
Nami and Usopp were, understandably, terrified and wanted to just stay on the ship.
But Chouchou immediately shot that down.
"Wild beasts have great noses," he pointed out. "Without me and Master around, you two weaklings would definitely get sniffed out, eaten, and turned into poop. Woof~ hahaha."
Hearing that, Nami and Usopp were ready to throttle the dog.
But before they could, a fair hand reached out and thwacked Chouchou, knocking him out cold.
Ray looked down at the little dog with disdain.
'Why did he become so annoying after getting smart?'
For the past three days, besides training, the Going Merry had been pure chaos thanks to this puppy constantly chasing Karoo.
Feathers were everywhere.
'Sigh.' Ray regretted saving Chouchou all over again.
Of course, Chouchou's threat did work.
Nami and Usopp realized they were safer with the group and reluctantly tagged along.
…
Once they were in the rainforest, Luffy noticed Vivi looked down.
He got an idea, grabbed both her and Karoo, and took off running, using a giant dinosaur's neck like a swing and a slide to try and cheer her up.
Vivi just screamed in terror.
Just as she was begging him to put her down, a massive figure appeared.
It was Dorry, a 22-meter-tall giant warrior carrying a huge sword and shield.
He'd just casually slain a giant dinosaur and was now watching Luffy and Vivi with amusement.
Luffy, seeing a real-life giant, was ecstatic.
Soon, the giant and the tiny rubber-man became best buds.
....
Meanwhile, Ray, Nami, and Usopp ran into a T-Rex the size of a building.
But one roar from Chouchou (who was now a respectable 5 meters long and 2.5 meters tall) made the T-Rex instantly cower and drop to its knees.
Behind the dinosaur, another giant, Brogy (21 meters tall, built like a tank, carrying a giant axe), who had been about to hunt the T-Rex himself, stopped in his tracks.
Curious about these humans he hadn't seen in ages, he immediately invited them to share some roasted dinosaur meat.
Ray was about to leave, but seeing Chouchou practically drooling, he reluctantly agreed.
…
Ray remembered the giants' story.
Two captains, Dorry and Brogy, started a hunting contest over a little girl's question.
They couldn't agree whose Sea King catch was bigger, so they started a duel that had now lasted for a hundred years.
Ray respected their warrior code, but man, were they simple-minded.
Easy targets for schemers... especially schemers with the number 3 in their name.
…
After splitting off, Zoro found a Triceratops. Seeing that it also fought with a "three-sword style" (its horns),
Zoro's competitive spirit flared, and he quickly took it down.
Now, hopelessly lost as usual, he was dragging the carcass through the forest when he stumbled upon a weird, white, cube-shaped house.
At the same time, Sanji showed up from the other direction, hauling a T-Rex corpse.
The bickering duo had found the Wax House.
Naturally, they immediately started arguing about whose catch was bigger/longer.
Inside, they found fresh tea, two cups, chairs, and a Den Den Mushi, but no people.
Zoro took a sip.
"Curly-brow, analyze."
Sanji retorted, took a sip himself, and then their brains synced up.
'Weird house in prehistoric jungle... made of wax... not natural... needs a lot of wax...'
"A Devil Fruit user!" they both realized at the same time, got goosebumps, then immediately yelled,
"Stop copying me!" and they started fighting.
…
A few hundred meters away...
A man with a hairstyle shaped like a flaming number 3 was talking to a little girl holding a paintbrush.
"Mr. 3," the girl, Miss Goldenweek, asked, "how are we going to deal with these giants and the Straw Hat Pirates? They seem strong."
Mr. 3 stroked his chin.
"If we can't beat them with brute force, Miss Goldenweek," he schemed, "we'll use strategy."
He and Goldenweek then cooked up a plan: use her innocent appearance and weird painting powers to take out the Straw Hats, while Mr. 3 handled the giants and had backup plans ready.
…
Two hours later...
Dorry and Brogy had finished another inconclusive round of their duel.
The sheer force of their attacks had leveled trees and torn up the ground.
The commotion drew the rest of the Straw Hats to the dueling grounds.
When Vivi learned it would take a year for the Log Pose to set on this island, she despaired.
Luckily, Luffy cheered her up, declaring they'd just leave in three days if they couldn't find another way.
Zoro and Sanji mentioned the Wax House, suggesting they might find another Log Pose there.
With the crew's encouragement, Vivi felt a little better.
Ray just watched, unconcerned.
He knew someone would conveniently deliver a Log Pose eventually.
…
Finally, at Luffy's insistence, the Straw Hats and the two giants gathered for a big daytime feast.
As usual, Ray took his food up to a hilltop to eat alone.
Chouchou was sent back to the ship for more booze (still carrying the tied-up Valentine and Mr. 5 on his back).
Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Nami, Usopp, and the giants were laughing and partying down below.
Just as the fun was getting started...
A young, desperate cry for help echoed through the forest.
"Help me!"
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