Becoming Usopp

Two days went by quickly for the straw hats as they were all engrossed in strengthening themselves up for the problems that they might face in completing their task. Things have been discussed clearly with Vivi and it was decided that after taking supplies of food and water from Nanohana they would soon sail inland and then walk for a day and a half until they reach Yuba.

Not long after they all reached could see the port town of Nanohana from afar and along with that they were also able to see several ships of Baroque works. Seeing the dozens of ships that belonged to the billions Vivi grew worried but was soon calmed down by Usopp’s following words, “Relax, they don’t know about us remember?”

Without bothering about anything else they steered towards the direction which was a bit away from the port town in order to not attract attention from people. Especially now that they had bounties on their captain’s head.

Not long after everyone deboarded the ship and walked towards the town in a jovial mood. The town of Nanohana was not just a place for resupply for the many people who come here. Apart from being famous for its perfumes, it was also a place filled with many shops where one can find many interesting things if they are thorough in their search.

Chopper wanted to refuse to tag along with them to the town but Vivi insisted that they all were in need of new clothes in order to make their journey through the desert to reach Yuba, the oasis town. Seeing this Chopper could only depressingly close his nose with a clip. Seeing the struggle of Chopper Sanji quickly went towards the kitchen and made a garlic paste and placed it in a small cylindrical box.

“Here, it might be of some help,” Sanji passed the box to Chopper who received it totally unsure of what was inside it. His nose twitched a bit which made him quickly open the box cover. The smell of garlic which was way stronger and better than the smell of perfumes entered his nostrils making Chopper take deep breaths to alleviate himself.

“Sanjii you’re a lifesaver…thank you!” Chopper rushed towards Sanji to give him a tight hug. He was clearly very touched by this gesture from Sanji.

Seeing Chopper’s problem getting solved everyone felt much better as they all proceeded towards the clothes store. After getting changed into clothes that covered all of their skin everyone separated to quickly get hold of all the goods they would be needing.

Luffy went in search of food like always. Nami, Vivi and Karoo explored the markets of Nanohana as Vivi played as a guide and told her about all the interesting stories she had heard about the port town of Nanohana.

Zoro and Usopp were tasked with the collection of barrels of water and as for Sanji, he was naturally tasked with procuring food supplies and Chopper readily tagged along with him.

Half an hour after the Strawhats had arrived, a marine ship docked itself in the nearby port. Smoker along with Tashigi soon walked out of the ship through the gangway and observed their surroundings.

“Let’s walk around the town to get an idea of the things that are going on here at the ground level,” Smoker said as he puffed out a cloud of smoke.

“Yes, sir,” Tashigi replied as she along with four to five more marines followed Smoker. While another group of marines soon went out to take supplies of food and water from the town. Thus, it could be said that the ship’s defence at the current moment was at its weakest and not long after the escape plan was swiftly initiated.

On their way towards the shop that sold water, Usopp found a small shop that was selling maps. He passed the shopkeeper a couple of berries and took a map from him. On viewing the map some familiar names like Yuba, Katorea, Alubaran and Rainbase entered his eyes and along with them, a few pieces of memories that he hadn’t paid much attention to.

His aim was to tag along with the group towards Rainbase and then deal with Crocodile as soon as possible.

After dealing with all the required tasks, including enjoying their time, everyone met at the designated points with the good in their hands.

“Everyone’s here, Let’s go then,” Nami said with a clap of her hands but were said to wait by Vivi.

Vivi soon hung a small bottle of water over Karoo’s neck as she placed a letter in his bag. After telling him to deliver it to the king she bid Karoo goodbye as she reminded him not to waste water during his journey.

While everyone’s attention was on this scene they didn’t realize that Chopper had disappeared. Usopp had been too engrossed in planning his fight with the crocodile as he was a very strong foe with devil fruit powers so he wasn’t paying much attention with his observation haki.

“Huh? Where’s Chopper?” Vivi asked as she turned back towards the group after bidding Karoo goodbye. This soon brought everyone’s attention as just like her, nobody had noticed Chopper’s disappearance.

It was true that when it rains, it pours before they could even begin searching for Chopper’s whereabouts they saw a large contingent of marines rushing towards them from afar. Just as Luffy, Zoro and Sanji were getting to fight their way out in order to find Chopper they heard Usopp’s next words.

“Sanji, can I trust you with the task of finding Chopper?” Usopp said in a serious manner.

“Alright, but what’s the matter?” Sanji asked. He was a bit confused but he still agreed to find Chopper as he felt that he was partially responsible for letting him go off his sight.

“We’ll be needing to escape as in that group there’s Smoker, the one we met at Logue town. We are not his match at the moment and since Luffy’s and mine faces are known, it would only bring disaster for us if we stay here any longer. We’ll be escaping towards Yuba and regrouping with you and Chopper at Alubarna. Is that alright?” Usopp explained his plan hurriedly as the contingent of marines who seem to be searching for someone seemed to be getting closer after each passing second.

Sanji agreed to this plan and the rest of them quickly left towards the ship. Sanji too was quick on his feet and hid in some alley as he let the contingent of marines that included Smoker, pass by him.

Sanji finally took a sigh of relief when he saw that they had left but just then he heard a voice nearby him.

Buggy who had been hiding inside a small barrel popped himself out of it one by one as he laughed at the marine’s back from the alley.

“YAAAHAHAHahahaha those bastards can keep trying to look for me but they won’t find me because I, Captain Buggy, have successfully pulled wool over your eyes! Yahahahah-?” Upon feeling that someone was standing behind him Buggy’s laughing stopped abruptly as he slowly turned his head around with a gulp only to be welcomed by the grinning face of Sanji which seemed very similar to a devil at the moment.

“I’ll be needing your help a bit…you won’t mind right?” Sanji who had immediately got hold of one of Buggy’s separated wrists said as he poked a knife on it making Buggy scream in pain.