Gold Island – Morning, at the beach.
"Leaving already?" Ganzo asked.
"Yeah," Ling replied.
"What about you, old man? Wanna come aboard and be my cook?"
"Hahaha! I'm too old for that!" Ganzo shook his head with a smile.
Ling crouched down to Tobio's level.
"Well? How about you? Still wanna be a pirate?" he asked.
"Or sell oden?"
Tobio grinned.
"I'll think about it next time I run away."
"If I take life seriously like Grandpa, I'll figure it out someday. And if I do… I'll join your crew!"
"Heh."
Tobio scratched his nose with a little laugh.
The three brothers walked over, each carrying a large sack of treasure slung over their backs.
"Ling, we got our treasure," Branzo said.
"Thank you for saving me," Branxo added.
"And thank you for the food!" Branso grinned.
Then, in perfect unison, the three of them bowed.
"Thank you!"
"A deal's a deal. No problem," Ling said, shaking his head.
"By the way, we didn't take Eldraggo's gold from his ship. We only took what he stole from us." Branso added.
"You can have the rest of Eldraggo's gold!" Branzo offered.
Ling thought for a moment, then turned.
"Golass, get the gold."
Golass nodded silently and climbed up to the deck of his former captain's ship, retrieving the stolen treasure.
"Whoa… that's a lot of gold," Ling muttered, eyes wide.
"Looks like… maybe it's around twenty million berries worth of gold."
"With the fifteen million I already have, this should be enough to buy a ship!"
Golass began transferring the gold to their small boat, but the moment he loaded the last sack, the vessel began to sink.
"Guess we'll have to use Eldraggo's ship after all," Ling sighed, scratching his head.
"At least until I find a proper ship that will carry us throughout the Grand Line."
He turned to Ganzo with a grin.
"Old man, this is for the guy who ate and didn't pay a few months ago."
"Huh?" Ganzo blinked in confusion.
"You said he had an orange hat, right? Ate a ten bowls of oden? Sounds just like my brother who set sail not long ago."
Ganzo's eyes widened.
"Oh…"
But then he shook his head.
"No. I can't accept this money."
"Huh?"
"I've decided? your brother owes me instead. Interest-free."
Ganzo smiled.
"You're strong. That means your brother's strong too. So we'll settle it the next time we meet."
Ling stared, a little stunned.
"…Hah! What a cheeky old man!" he laughed.
Ganzo waved him off.
"So, why are you still lingering here? Get going while the weather's good!"
Ling stepped onto his new ship and waved.
"Tobio! Old man! See you someday!"
The three brothers remained standing on the shore.
"You're not coming?" Ling called out.
"You don't have a boat, so get in already!"
But they didn't move.
Ling narrowed his eyes.
"Ever since yesterday… I could tell you three wanted something from me."
The brothers stiffened.
"You kept trying to give me your treasure. That wasn't just gratitude, right?"
Branzo stepped forward, meeting Ling's gaze.
"Tell me," Ling said.
"What's your problem?"
"Can you help save our island?"
Branso's voice trembled.
"I know this might sound shameless… we just met yesterday, but please! Please help us!"
He dropped to his knees.
Branzo and Branxo followed, all three brothers bowing, their foreheads pressed to the ground.
"Please save our island!" they cried in unison.
"Two years ago, a pirate came and took it over," Branso began, his voice shaking.
"We couldn't fight back," Branxo added.
"We're just ordinary islanders."
"We tried…" Branzo said quietly.
"But it was hopeless. In a single day, we were enslaved."
"They took children, women, and elders as a hostage. They used them to force the younger, stronger men into hard labor."
"We don't even know what they're trying to build. We escaped before we could find out, our father helped us get away."
"We became treasure hunters, hoping to gather enough money to hire someone strong. Someone who could save our people." Branso explained.
He looked up, his eyes full of desperation.
"Please, Ling… kill the pirate named Ganzack. Free our island from his clutches."
Tears welled in all their eyes, rolling down their cheeks as they kept their heads low.
Ling looked over at Golass.
"You know this Ganzack guy?"
Golass nodded.
"Yeah. He was Eldraggo's rival around these part of East Blue. They have the same bounty, 10 million berries."
"Though they were rivals, their goals were totally different. Eldraggo just wanted gold. Ganzack… he wants to conquer and be the Pirate King."
Golass rubbed his chin.
"I remember Eldraggo mentioning something, Ganzack was planning to build a weapon. That's all I know."
Ling nodded thoughtfully.
"And in terms of strength? Who's stronger?"
"Hard to say. I only joined Eldraggo a year ago. But from what I heard, Ganzack relies heavily on his tech. Mechanical weapons and stuff."
"Eldraggo had his Devil Fruit. Ganzack's edge is that sea monster he controls, a Plesiosaur."
Ling didn't seem concerned.
"Doesn't matter. I need to build my reputation before heading to the Grand Line anyway. Might as well beat this guy to boost it."
He turned to Ganzo, who had been listening quietly.
"Old man! Spread the word that I defeated Eldraggo."
"I need a bounty on my head!"
"Leave it to us!" Tobio chimed in enthusiastically.
Ling looked down at the three brothers still kneeling.
"You guys. Get up. We've got people to save!"
Their eyes lit up instantly.
"Thank you, Ling!" they shouted.
Scrambling into the boat and throwing their arms around him.
"Hey, stop drooling on me!" Ling tried to squirm away.
Ling turned to Golass.
"By the way, since your old sword's gone, what'll you fight with?"
Golass hesitated.
"After Ganzack… can we head to my hometown?"
He looked away.
"I buried my sword there. I left it behind when I lost my pride as a swordsman."
"Sure. We've got time in the East Blue before headinh into the Grand Line. Besides, we need to find a navigator or we're fucked as soon as we arrived."
He looked at Golass.
"You know how to navigate?"
"Nope."
"Well, let's go!"
"How long will it take to reach your island?" Ling asked the brothers.
"Half a day. We'll get there by afternoon," Branso answered.
Ling nodded.
A few hours later…
Ling's eyes narrowed.
"We're under attack."
He stood up, waking the three brothers.
Golass grabbed a sword from the boat, readying himself.
A rocket-like projectile streaked toward them from the distance.
The brothers ducked, shielding themselves.
"A cannon? From that far?" Ling muttered.
"I can barely see the island… How did it even reach us?"
He raised his hand.
"Pause."
The missile froze midair.
Everyone stared, stunned.
"H-how… is that possible?" Golass whispered.
The brothers were speechless.
Ling's arm hardened with Haki as he grabbed the massive missile.
It was five times the size of a normal cannonball.
He paused the timer too.
"I guess this is the weapon Ganzack was building…" Ling said.
He turned to the others.
"If it can reach this far, they must've made a massive mortar. Probably just a test shot."
"Test shot?" Branzo repeated.
"What if they use it on the village?" Branxo said, horrified.
"We need to move faster!" Branso panicked.
Ling's senses picked up something.
"There's something in the water."
He hurled the frozen missile far away. It detonated in the sea with a thunderous explosion.
"Whoa… That could've destroyed our ship." Ling's eyes widened.
"Let's handle this sea monster first."
The others looked around, confused.
A giant shadow loomed beneath them.
"Hiihh!" the three squealed in unison.
Golass broke out in a cold sweat.
"Give me ten seconds!" Ling shouted, touching each of them, and the boat.
He sent them ten seconds into the future.
The Plesiosaur lunged out of the water, jaws wide, ready to snap the boat in two.
Ling leapt into the air.
Moonwalk.
"So you're the Plesiosaur Golass mentioned."
It roared, soaring toward him midair.
"I'll tame you… and we'll ride you straight to the island."
Ling released a wave of Haki, flooding the air with pressure.
The beast froze mid-lunge, eyes trembling. Then it dropped back into the sea with a splash.
Seconds later, the boat and crew reappeared.
"Huh? What just happened?" the brothers blinked.
Golass stayed quiet, sensing something unexplainable had happened.
"This guy's helping us get to Heduka Island faster!" Ling said, pointing below.
They looked down.
A massive shadow swam beneath them, circling protectively.
"Don't worry," Ling grinned.
"He's our new friend, Plesiosaur."
The brothers were too shocked to respond.
Golass turned to Ling.
"Unbelievable…"
Ling laughed.
"Hey! Take us to the island!" he shouted.
The Plesiosaur gently bit the boat's anchor and began swimming forward, towing them across the sea at high speed.