Chapter 410: Arrival at Jaya Island: Rivalries and New Goals

“Ah, so that means after one or two more drinks, this serum won’t work anymore.”

“Man, I’m really going to miss this stuff!”

Compared to those grueling daily workouts, Luffy still preferred this fast way of getting stronger.

Ye Fan had told him that in the New World, people at their level of strength were everywhere.

If he couldn’t keep getting stronger, once they reached the New World, he wouldn’t even be able to protect his own crew.

So Luffy often trained in secret. Even with the boost from the serum, he never slacked off, and it was through this relentless practice that he grasped Gear Fourth and even started to get a sense for developing Gear Fifth.

Once Ye Fan confirmed it, everyone instantly moved on, leaving the topic behind.

After lunch, most of the crew headed to the training room to work out. With the serum’s effects fading, they wanted that surge of progress again.

That meant their only option was non-stop training. None of them wanted to face a powerful enemy one day and realize they were too weak to fight back.

Time flew by, and just like that, two days had passed.

“Hey, is that Jaya Island?” Usopp stood atop the lookout, raising his telescope as he muttered, eyeing the shape of an island just visible in the distance.

He turned the telescope to max zoom and looked again. What filled his view was a bustling island, cities and towns full of life.

“Guys, Jaya Island ahead!”

Once Usopp realized the land ahead was a normal island, he shouted down to the others.

After all, unless he doubted Nami’s navigation skills, that island ahead had to be Jaya.

“Hmm, your ship’s actually pretty fast,” Robin said lightly, raising her coffee for a sip.

She’d joined Baroque Works under Crocodile and traveled to nearly every island in the first half of the Grand Line—so Jaya was nothing new to her.

What piqued her curiosity was how their ship, clearly just a regular wooden schooner, was sailing faster than some heavily modified vessels.

“Of course! This ship got my special upgrades,” Ye Fan was first out of the cabin, grinning as he playfully rubbed his nose in pride.

Since landing in the One Piece World, no one had ever praised him like that. Life in the Rocks Pirates had been all battle, and the longer he stayed with the Straw Hats, the more he rediscovered his old innocence.

“So, is Sky Island for real?”

Nami emerged from the captain’s cabin on the second floor, three Eternal Poses strapped to her wrist.

Along the way, Ye Fan had briefed them on their next destination: above Jaya lay Sky Island!

Only on the Sky Island could they get enough gold to upgrade their current ship.

With more and more crew joining, the Golden Merry’s rooms were running out fast, and since more members might come aboard in the future, swapping ships was something Ye Fan had discussed with Luffy long ago.

Since they’d be upgrading from this original ship, Usopp didn’t object either.

“Alright, time for everyone’s favorite part—who’s staying to watch the ship?” I said,

Seeing everyone gathered, I held out a fistful of wooden sticks in front of them.

This time, Ye Fan didn’t cheat. Zoro drew the short stick and would be staying behind.

“Moss Head, I’m off first!”

As the ship docked on the shore, Sanji took some Berries from Nami for grocery shopping, then teased Zoro on his way out.

No one knew why, but the two always argued the moment they crossed paths—even if, deep down, their trust ran deep.

“Tch!”

Zoro shot him a look of disdain. But having heard from Ye Fan that there’d be no fighting on the island, he didn’t care to go ashore.

If he had that much time, he’d rather stay on the ship and meditate.

At every moment, his goal was to get stronger, to surpass Hawk Eyes as soon as possible.

Sanji leaving the ship seemed to signal the others—it wasn’t long before everyone had packed their things, groups of two or three scattering in different directions to ask around about the Knock Up Stream.

Ye Fan had said you could get to Sky Island from here, but he wasn’t a miracle worker—he didn’t know exactly which sea area held the Knock Up Stream or when it would appear.

As everyone vanished into the nearby town, Zoro sat on the deck, closed his eyes, and began to meditate.

After the last intense battle, he could feel that the realm of the great swordmaster was just within reach—he just couldn’t quite step over that final threshold.

He knew all too well that progress was built on steady steps, so even now he refused to give up.

Instead, he threw himself into constant training, determined to break through as quickly as possible and reach the highest level of the sword.

Since Luffy always seemed to get into trouble, Usopp trailed after him this time.

“Hey, Luffy, where are you even going?” Usopp called from behind, watching as Luffy darted around the marketplace like a headless chicken. Who knew what he was searching for?

“We’re supposed to be looking for clues to reach Sky Island!”

The words were barely out of his mouth before Luffy barreled straight into a tavern.

“Seriously, Luffy? Only you!” Usopp slapped a hand to his forehead, exasperated.

He knew Luffy was like this, but it never stopped being a bit much.

Still, letting Luffy look for food was way better than having him start trouble.

When Usopp stepped inside, he saw Luffy neck and neck with a burly giant of a man, racing to eat cherry pies.

“Nom! Nom!”

Luffy: “Yuck! This tastes awful!”

Blackbeard: “Delicious! I’m loving this!”

Both of them froze, glanced at each other, then at the same moment lifted glasses of juice to their mouths.

Blackbeard: “Now this drink is amazing!”

Luffy: “Now this drink is disgusting!”

“Ah!” they both cried out!

Blackbeard turned to Luffy. “What’s wrong with your tongue?”

Luffy shot back, “What’s wrong with your brain?”

Seeing tempers rising, the barkeep hurried over. “Well, it’s not like I’m the chef here. Complain all you want, it doesn’t bother me.”

That cut the tension. Luffy shoved the cherry pie aside, collapsed face-first onto the table, and grinned at the owner. “Hey, old man, I’ll take fifty servings of meat to go!”

Before the words finished echoing, Blackbeard gave a thumbs-up, pointing at Luffy. “Boss, make mine fifty-one cherry pies!”

Luffy’s eyes narrowed, then he grinned wide and corrected himself. “Wait! Make that fifty-two servings of meat!”

“Sorry, change my order to fifty-three pies,” Blackbeard said calmly, not even glancing away.

Luffy immediately stretched out four fingers. “No, make the meat fifty-four!”

“Fifty-five pies!”

Blackbeard opened his left hand to show five fingers.