Our travel continued, putting us right before the New World.
The trip across the Grand Line was already half done. We were finishing up the first half.
Over time, the Spade Pirates had grown to comprise twenty members, one of whom was an animal. Ace and the rest of the crew were viewed differently by other pirates by now, and in accordance with that, our captain’s bounty rose higher and higher.
At this rate I almost expected us to plunge into the New World with great fanfare, but things did not turn out to be quite that simple. The first warning came from Skull, our almanac of information.
“Coating?” Ace said, repeating the unfamiliar word.
We were in the lamplit ship’s cabin. Ace was sitting in a chair, and at his feet was Kotatsu, a large form curled up into a compact ball. The giant cat was sleeping peacefully.
Skull had a sea chart open on the desk to facilitate his explanation. “That’s right. We have to coat the ship in a special natural resin. That will allow us to sail into the water and pass along the ocean floor.”
The next stop, as indicated by the Log Pose we used for navigation, was Fish-Man Island, all the way down at the bottom of the sea. Obviously, we couldn’t get there with our current setup. So we needed to have an expert coat our ship in order to get down there.
And the place we could get that coating done?
“Sabaody Archipelago…” Ace murmured, looking at Skull’s map. It was a gathering of many islands, large and small. On Skull’s suggestion, the Spade Pirates made their way for the Sabaody Archipelago.
“Technically, the ‘islands’ in the archipelago aren’t even islands. Each one of them is a giant tree known as a Yarukiman Mangrove. The land at the base of each tree is just resting on its roots, and the roots are where the resin comes from.”
“Ah, I see. And because they’re not islands, you can stop there and not have to worry about the Log being overwritten by the magnetic signal,” I said, glancing at Skull’s map too. There were seventy-nine islands on the chart, and they were all giant trees with people living on the roots. It was stunning to imagine.
“I’ve got my sights set on a good coater already. But it’s guaranteed he’ll take no less than three full days.”
“A three-day delay?” Ace murmured, looking unhappy. He didn’t usually trouble himself with maps, so seeing him look at this one with such an expression of concern on his face was like seeing a fish out of water. It was very much like Ace to call it a delay rather than just a “stay,” however.
“Is the food good, though?” he then asked, which was also a very Ace-like concern.
“The Sabaody Archipelago is a major tourist spot at the entrance to the New World. I’m sure there are tons of places with great eats.”
“Ahhh, good to know…” Ace murmured, but despite his pretense of careful consideration, I could see that his countenance was brightening. He couldn’t hide his excitement at the prospect of the trip ahead.
“So is this spot with the skull a place we should avoid?” Ace asked, pointing out a large symbol on the sea chart.
Skull was affronted by this question. “What do you mean, Master Ace? That’s my symbol. In other words, that’s the place I want to go. The destination. That’s where we’re heading now.”
“Oh… But… Am I the only one who’s a little uneasy about that symbol?”
“What? Really?! Fine, then…”
Skull pulled out a pen, dipped it in red ink, then drew a large heart around the skull.
Ace gave me a skeptical look. I couldn’t disagree with him.
✦ ✦ ✦
Our ship continued on its way until we approached the Sabaody Archipelago at last. We were nearly to the mark on the map that Skull had identified as our destination. Out on the deck, we looked up at the majestic trees overhead.
“They’re huge…” I murmured, not realizing I had spoken out loud. The size of them was unimaginable.
A special natural resin oozed from the roots of the massive trees, and that was the material that made the coating process possible. As the roots took in air, they exhaled it through the resin to form huge bubbles that floated up into the sky. Such bubbles were constantly floating around the archipelago in countless numbers.
The sunlight reflected off the surface of the bubbles in a rainbow array. It was such a wondrous, fantastical sight that it left me speechless. In the distance was a large Ferris wheel surrounded by floating bubbles.
I felt like I was dreaming. It was painful to admit that I couldn’t even have come up with words to describe the beauty that surrounded me.
“No. Can’t let that stop me now,” I said, snapping back to business. I pulled a notebook from my coat and began to write a description of this fairy-tale sight. Every word I could think of, I wrote down. My pen flew across the small page.
In fact, the words came to me freely and smoothly at that moment. My talent for writing almost frightened me. Maybe this writing thing was going to work out after all.
Then I heard some muttering from people looking over my shoulder.
“What’s this? ‘Crazy trees. Totally stripey’? What is that supposed to mean?”
“ ‘Floating soap-bubbly things. The only word I can come up with is amazing. Where will these bubbles take me?’ You planning on floating off somewhere, man?”
“ ‘Is it right for a man who never puts down roots to live on top of roots? I say it is! Viva Sabaody!’ What the heck is this?”
I screamed, “Aaaaaah! Don’t read it, you guys!”
The deck erupted in laughter.
“H-hey, I thought you—heh heh heh!—you were going to write an adventure journal!”
“I dunno, huh-huh, th-this might be out of your range, man,” the sailors teased, stifling their laughter.
“Th-this is just notes for an outline! I’m jotting down a general plot! It’s going to be way better when I’m done with it. Be patient!”
“Sure, sure. Can’t wait to read it.”
“If you’re gonna go to the trouble, you might as well write something good. Make me the hero while you’re at it,” said one of the sailors as they returned to their positions. I watched them go and swore to myself that if I ever did complete this tale of my adventures, I would never include their names.