Zoro stood at the bow, looking around, and said calmly, "From what I can see, this island doesn't seem to have any dangers, does it?"
Lin Ning smiled slightly and said easily, "Even if there's any danger, it doesn't matter."
But just then—
"Waaah!"
Chopper suddenly shrieked, bouncing up from the ground in shock.
He stared ahead with wide eyes, as if he had seen something incredible.
"What's wrong, Chopper?" Luffy asked, laughing, as he followed Chopper's gaze.
The next second—
"Huh?!"
They saw a strange creature, a Bear walking upright!
But it wasn't just walking upright; this Bear's body was unusually long.
It was several times longer than a normal Bear, looking both comical and eerie.
Chopper covered his mouth in surprise, "Is it a person?!"
Usopp's eyes widened, his mouth slightly ajar.
He said incredulously, "This Bear... is so long!"
Zoro frowned, his hand on the hilt of his sword, warily observing the creature before him.
Lin Ning slowly walked forward, looking at this peculiar Bear.
Suddenly, his gaze was drawn to a very tall apple tree nearby.
He jumped into the air and reached for an apple, but when he held it in his hand, he froze—
"Even the apples are long and strip-shaped?!"
He brought the apple to the others, and everyone gathered around.
Not only was the apple long and slender, but even the arrangement of its core was elongated!
"This island... is so strange!" Nami's eyes widened, her face full of surprise.
"Hahaha! This place is so interesting!"
Luffy laughed excitedly, snatching the long apple from Lin Ning's hand.
He took a bite with a satisfying crunch.
Zoro's brow furrowed, and he said in a deep voice,
"So, everything on this island becomes longer than normal?"
Usopp swallowed, his eyes a little terrified:
"Could it be... this is the legendary 'Island of Stretching'?!"
Chopper nervously tugged on Lin Ning's sleeve and whispered,
"Is it really safe here...? What if we get stretched too...?"
Just as everyone was marveling at the strangeness of the island,
Luffy's gaze was suddenly drawn to a sight not far away.
"Hey, Usopp, look! There are two bamboo stalks over there!"
Usopp looked in the direction Luffy was pointing and immediately showed a surprised expression.
"Wow, those bamboos are so tall! They... don't have a top?!"
He walked closer to the bamboo, looking up, the stalks extending straight into the sky.
Their tops had long disappeared from sight, as if they were trying to pierce the heavens.
"How can they grow so long..."
Usopp murmured to himself, a hint of disbelief in his eyes.
But before he could think too much, Luffy had already clenched his fists, eager to try, a excited curve on his lips.
"Hehe, let's see how long it really is!"
"Hey, Luffy, you're going to mess—"
"Crunch!!"
Before Usopp could finish, Luffy had already thrown a punch, smashing it hard against the bamboo!
The immense force instantly broke the towering bamboo.
The snapping bamboo joint made a crisp "crunch" sound, and then—
"Waaah!"
An old man's scream suddenly fell from the sky!
Luffy's pupils constricted sharply, a red light flashed in his eyes, and his Observation Haki instantly became alert.
"There's someone up there!"
Almost as soon as the words fell, Luffy's arm stretched out like lightning, reaching for the figure rapidly falling from the sky.
"Thwack!"
He firmly caught an old man with ragged clothes and a full beard!
Usopp's eyes instantly widened, his mouth agape, too shocked to speak.
"Huh?! A bamboo spirit?!"
He looked incredulously at the old man who had suddenly fallen from the sky.
His heart pounded, and he quickly ran over, poking the old man's face with his finger.
He patted his shoulder, and even couldn't help but shake him a few times.
"Hey, hey, say something!"
The old man was shaken dizzy, muttering a few indistinct groans.
After a while, he slowly opened his cloudy eyes, looking around in confusion.
"Old man, who are you?" Luffy asked directly.
The old man shook his head, finally seeming to come to his senses.
He said with a dry throat, "This old man... is named Dongjit. I live on Long Chain Island..."
"Long Chain Island?" Nami frowned slightly, murmuring the peculiar name.
Dongjit sighed deeply, then shakily stood up.
He stretched his long-unused limbs and said with emotion,
"These two 'bamboos'... are actually my stilts."
"Huh???!!!"
Everyone stared at the old man in astonishment, their faces full of disbelief.
Dongjit smiled wryly and continued,
"When I was young, I had a dream of becoming the tallest stilt walker in the world.
So I started my training on the island... but who knew, I actually had a fear of heights..."
"What?! A fear of heights?! And you still use stilts?!" Sanji couldn't help but retort.
"Yes, at first I dared to come down, but later I walked higher and higher, and gradually... I no longer dared to look down."
Dongjit recalled, his tone full of helplessness:
"I just stayed up there, and I didn't expect... that I would stay for ten years..."
"Ten years?!"
Chopper's eyes almost popped out in shock.
Usopp shouted in disbelief,
"Hey, hey, how did you survive for ten years without coming down?!"
Dongjit pointed to the trees on the island and said with a smile,
"Fortunately, the trees on Long Chain Island are very tall, so I could pick fruit from the trees to live... Otherwise, I would have long become a wandering ghost in the sky!"
At this point, he looked at Luffy with emotion, his face full of gratitude:
"Young man, thank you very much for saving me!"
Luffy laughed, scratching his head indifferently:
"It's nothing! You fell from the sky, I just happened to catch you!"
Dongjit looked at these energetic young people, his eyes sparkling with long-lost emotion.
Ten years... it had been ten years since he stood on solid ground... He looked down at the grass beneath his feet, slowly squatted down, and gently stroked it with his hand, as if confirming whether all of this was real.
"Finally... finally I can stand properly on the ground..."
He closed his eyes, feeling the warmth of the earth, a relieved smile appearing on his lips.