Chapter 388: Shadow Over Little Garden

Ajin on the shore caught the sounds coming from the center of the island. His expression shifted and he hurried to pull up the anchor, ready to set sail at a moment’s notice.

If Luffy and the others ran into real trouble out there, what he was doing now was the best he could do. After all, if even Luffy, Zoro and Sanji couldn’t handle it, he’d be useless out there too.

It made more sense to get everything ready here, staying prepared to leave at any time.

“What’s going on in the center of the island?”

Vivi, who had been sunk in guilt and sadness, snapped to attention at the distant booming. She rushed to the railing and strained her eyes, trying to see what was happening deep in the forest.

She wished her eyes could pierce those thick, tangled trees to find out what was going on at the island’s heart.

“No idea, but it can’t be anything good.”

After hauling up the anchor, Ajin steered the ship toward the open sea, keeping the bow pointed outward, ready to depart. He waited by the sails, watching for Luffy and the others, planning to let the sails drop the instant they appeared.

“I just hope everyone’s okay.”

As Ajin spoke, something clicked in his mind. He dashed below deck and grabbed some of the maps Nami had collected, laying them across the deck to study. Seeing this, Vivi hurried over, picking up a paper and quietly reading.

“Little Garden got its name because two giants fought each other here for ages, and for them, this place seemed like a garden. That’s how it became known as Little Garden.”

“But decades ago, those two giants suddenly vanished. No one knows where they went, and since then, the place became deserted.”

“Every passing ship and trading company failed to resupply here. Over time, fewer and fewer people came. Now it’s a true deserted island, even though it’s in the middle of the seven routes.”

The two of them finished reading everything about the island. “It looks like this isn’t just some coincidence. Either it was fate, or someone set things up for us.”

Ajin wasn’t exactly slow on the uptake. If this place really was deserted and there were no supplies to be had—

Then neither merchant ships nor pirate crews would stick around for long. No one sane would.

Yet right when they landed, a group was already here. Or better said, a whole force. That meant someone was waiting for them.

Otherwise, how could anyone survive on an island with nothing for so long?

“So, what should we do? Should we go help them?”

Ajin gave Vivi a long look, sizing her up.

Vivi felt the shift in his gaze and quickly crossed her arms over her chest, cheeks flushing. “What are you doing? Why are you looking at me like that?”

But Ajin’s next words sent a chill through her heart.

“Don’t be silly. If Luffy and the others can’t handle it, what are you going to do up there? Just throw yourself into the meat grinder?”

“More practice, more food, more booze!”

Ajin eyed Vivi, drawing out each word with heavy sarcasm on his face.

He wasn’t wrong. If Luffy and the others couldn’t make it, the two of them would just be offering themselves up for nothing.

Vivi: “…”

“What is that?” Ajin’s voice trembled slightly with doubt and fear, caught mid-taunt of Vivi but suddenly locked onto the anomaly in the sky.

His eyes darted to a spot on the island where something black and massive was swelling larger and larger—a gigantic fist, impossible to ignore.

Above that fist was a tiny, barely visible figure. Too far away for Ajin to make out at first, but his heart started to pound.

He scrambled up to the lookout on the mast where the telescope waited. Snatching it up, he focused on that distant form.

“Ah!” Ajin’s shout was thick with shock. He recognized the figure: Luffy.

“Gum-Gum—King Kong Gun!”

Luffy’s voice echoed in the air as he unleashed his ultimate move. That colossal fist was his attack.

Moments later, the pitch-black fist finished expanding, now nearly a tenth the size of Little Garden itself. Even the sun overhead was blotted out. A huge swath of the island plunged into shadow.

Zoro and Sanji found themselves lost in that deep shadow. For the first time, they genuinely felt endangered.

“Isn’t this a little much?” Ajin muttered with a frown, realizing that if that fist fell, the island might disappear entirely. His nerves were stretched tight.

“Luffy, that idiot…” Zoro growled, immediately drawing his swords as he sprinted toward the coast, faster than ever.

He knew if that fist landed, the island could be wiped out. Top priority was to make it back to the ship.

The so-called duel meant nothing anymore.

Nalan Yanran apparently had the same thought, though her main worry was just getting her clothes dirty. Watching Zoro run, she shouted after him: “Our fight isn’t over yet!”

Zoro just waved back over his shoulder, then quickened his pace. He had no interest in getting buried under this island.

“W-What is that?” Sanji’s eyes were full of disbelief as he stared upward.

Just as he kicked open Pang Bo’s coffin lid, he saw the monster fist looming above, shadowing everything.

Just seeing that fist sent a chill down your spine. It felt like even time itself stopped in its presence.

Sanji had never seen anything like this in his life.

Damn it. Luffy again? Doesn’t he ever think about Zoro or me?

“Looks like your captain’s the source of all this, so let’s call it a day and meet again another time.” Pang Bo’s voice was almost gleeful.

Even he hadn’t expected Luffy and Ye Fan’s fight would blow up the whole island.

Pang Bo valued his own life above everything. He wouldn’t risk himself on a ten-percent chance. He wanted a hundred percent guarantee.

With the coffin lid slung behind him, Pang Bo leaped through the forest, putting more distance between himself and danger with every jump. That snapped Sanji out of it, too.

He needed to get to the shore fast or he’d be in real danger.

The bet with Zoro was the last thing on his mind. All that mattered now was a mad dash for the ship.

Meanwhile, as soon as Joseph saw that giant fist appear in the sky, he started running. Johnny and Nami had already noticed too, and the three of them raced for the sea in a panic. Along the way, Nami muttered with a sigh, “Luffy, all my sea charts for nothing.”

Karl’s double—Ye Fan—quietly reached Usopp where he’d fallen and helped him up. Without missing a beat, he flickered toward the waiting ship at lightning speed.

With battle shockwaves still roiling, there was no way Usopp would have survived long in his condition.

By the time Ye Fan flashed back aboard, attacks from far off were clashing head-on in another round.