"As for the rest, read this before you set out, you can learn how to operate a coated ship in detail" Rayleigh said handing the instructions to Nami.
"Okay, thank you!" the ginger replied taking the instructions.
"I wonder how Luffy has changed in these two years, i can't wait to see him" Usopp said.
"Me too" Robin said.
"I doubt he's changed at all" Nicole said with a bemused smirk.
"Okay, let's go to Grove 42!" Nami declared.
"Oops, i have to call Zoro and Sanji" Franky said walking off to call them on the transponder snail they had on the ship.
"But Luffy, i hope he doesn't get caught up in some trouble" Robin said expressing concern.
"Oh that's right, it is Luffy, we never set out peacefully because of him" Nami said.
"Leave it to me! I'm gonna go pick him up, i have an idea" Chopper said and laughed a bit.
"Mind if i come with? I'm worried about Zoro" Nicole said turning to the tiny doctor.
"Sure" Chopper said.
~
"There you are!" Chopper called as he and Nicole approached the trio flying in on a giant bird.
"NICOLE-CHAN!" Sanji yelled his nose squirting blood like a sprinkler once he spotted her on the bird as it came in closer for a landing.
Nicole looked over at the pink haired girl standing near Zoro, Perona if she remembered correctly, after getting off the bird while Chopper ran over to check on Sanji.
"Perona right? Zoro said you took care of him, i thank you for that however" she trailed off and pinned the ghost girl with a deadly glare "Get too close to my man again and i kill you" she said.
"So harsh, just like your old man, don't worry, not like i'm interested in him in the first place" Perona said waving it off.
Nicole nodded, pleased by this.
"Nicole!" Luffy greeted with a grin "Man you've changed!" he laughed a bit.
Nicole chuckled along "And you haven't changed at all, just as i thought" she said, Luffy laughed again in reply.
"Oi, let's go already" Zoro called from on top the bird, the others climbed on too thankfully Sanji had stopped spurting blood though he still hovered rather close to Nicole as they flew back.
~
"Hey!" Luffy called once they saw the Sunny in the distance.
"Here they come finally" Franky said as the others gathered on the deck.
"Wow, hey! Everybody!" Luffy called.
"I brought them!" Chopper called hanging off of Zoro's shoulder with Nicole sitting next to him and Sanji sitting at the back with his balloon bags full of food stuffs.
"Luffy! Zoro! Sanji!" Usopp greeted them in return.
"Hey!" Nami called while Robin just smiled.
"Luffy-san! I missed you so much!" Brook said somehow crying tears though he was nothing but bones.
"You guys sure do look stronger" Franky said.
"We all got together again" Usopp said with tears in the corner of his eye.
"Finally" Sanji trailed off spotting Nami and Robin, also seeing Nicole at a different angle, and flew off with a jet of nose bleeding.
"Sanji!" Chopper called as the cook landed in the sea beside the Sunny, while the bird had also lowered enough for Luffy, Zoro, Nicole and Chopper to hop on board the ship.
"Well then, thank you, say "hi" to everybody in Birdie Kingdom for me" Chopper told the bird before it flew off.
"Usopp, is Sanji okay?" the reindeer called turning to the long nosed snipper that had fished the cook out of the sea.
"Hey stay with me!" Usopp called to Sanji as he deliriously counted beautiful women while his nose dripped blood like a faucet.
"It's no good Chopper, the bleeding won't stop!" Usopp called as Zoro passed by them with Nicole following.
"F-F-Franky you're" Luffy trailed off with stars in his eyes upon seeing the new robot Franky, just as Zoro and Nicole passed by them.
"What's the matter? Is there something that concerns you -mecha?" Franky asked pressing his nose and making his hair grow out.
"Mecha?! I wanna play!" Luffy exclaimed reaching out but Nami held him back.
"Wait Luffy! I don't know what's so great and besides that it looks like the Navy ships are already here!" Nami said, just as she did a cannonball nearly hit the Sunny.
"Oh no! When did they get here?!" Usopp asked looking over the rail "There's three of them" Nicole said before he had even reached into his bag to look for a telescope.
Just then three more cannonballs landed in the sea nearby "We'll be in range soon" Nicole added.
"Hey, should we fight back? They're gonna get us!" Usopp called turning to Luffy.
"Nah, we're all good" Nicole said glancing to the side just as the Kuja pirates ship pulled in front of one of the warships.
"That's Kuja's Logo" Robin said looking at the ship blocking the marines path.
"Kuja?" Nami asked.
"They're strong amazonian pirates led by a pirate empress, a warlord" Robin said.
"A warlord?!" Usopp asked.
"They say she's the most beautiful woman on the seas, her name is Boa Hancock" Nicole said, just as Brook was using the telescope to get a closer look.
"Oh too bright! She's dazzling!" the skeletal man said dropping to the floor in shock "There is no end to her beauty!" he said.
Usopp looked through the telescope next "Wow! She must be a goddess!" he said, at that Sanji woke up immiditiatly.
"Goddess?!" the cook asked before rushing over and looking through another telescope "Where is she? Goddess? Goddess?" he kept repeating the word while looking and then once he saw Hancock he turned to stone.
"He turned to stone!" Usopp said in surprise.
Luffy came over to the railing "Oh, that's Hancock and the others" he said drawing the attention of Brook, Usopp and Sanji.
"She helped us, let's set sail now" Luffy said ignoring the three.
"You know that warlord?" Nami asked.
"Yeah, i was sent to the Maiden Island and i became friends with them" Luffy told her.
"That's the legendary female only island right? I didn't know they were real" Usopp said.
"Friends with the pirate empress? Hey were you really training hard?!" Sanji asked while shaking Luffy with all sorts of fluids leaking out of his face.
"Yeah, i'm so ready" Luffy said.
"Damn, it's not fair! It's not fair!" Sanji said crying as he banged on the Sunny's deck.
"What's the matter Sanji?" Luffy asked.
"Okay, let's get ready to set sail now" Nami said while someone was already pulling the anchors in.
"What's the matter Usopp?" Chopper asked the long nosed sniper noticing he was looking inland with a thoughtful look.
"I was just thinking, did you guys beat all those Navy soldiers?" he asked.
"No, we heard them shouting while were flying" Chopper replied.
"Then why aren't they coming after us from inland?" Usopp asked.
"Don't worry about it Usopp, they're being held up by giant bugs from the sound of it" Nicole said.
"That's some haki if you're able to tell that from here, did you train that too or have you just stopped hiding it?" Usopp asked turning to her.
"A bit of both" Nicole winked.
"Nami, lead the way" Franky said before jumping overboard to inflate the bubble.
"Leave it to me" Nami said checking on the log pose that still pointed down "Alright" she nodded to herself.
"Oh, it's inflating" Luffy noted as the coating started lifting up around the Sunny.
"What this Jelly inflates?" Usopp wondered outloud as the bubble rose while filling up more and more.
"Oh, we got a bubble roof!" Chopper exclaimed.
"Listen guys, a coated ship has the ability to reduce any kind of pressure, so once the floating bag at the bottom of the ship, which keeps it on the surface, has been removed it'll be less buoyant and start to sink, that's how it works" Nami explained.
"I see" Luffy and Zoro said in synch, not getting it at all.
Nicole giggled a bit "Silly man" she said teasing Zoro.
"Too complicated huh? anyway spread the sail now" Nami said.
"Sail?" Chopper and Brook asked.
"A coated sailing ship is driven by the sea current instead of the wind" Robin explained.
"I thought it just submerged and travelled" Usopp said.
"Alright, we better hurry before the Navy comes again" Nami said and the others set to work.
"Navy reinforcements, we were just about to leave, everybody!" Chopper called spotting two ships closing in on them but his giant bird friend flew out to intercept them.
"More ships from behind!" Nicole called, as the lookout it was really her job to call these things out.
"Leave it to me!" Sanji said jumping up and kicking a cannonball back hoping to impress Nami but she wasn't looking and he just ended up spurting blood again.
"Sanji!" Chopper called, Sanji snapped out of it pretty quickly though squirming around as Usopp was looking after him.
"Hey, hey, what's wrong Sanji?" Usopp asked.
"I-i don't know, suddenly it felt like someone was squeezing my heart" Sanji muttered.
"The floating bag is removed!" Franky called as he climbed back on board.
"Okay! What about the sails?" Nami asked calling up to Zoro, Brook, Chopper and Nicole who had untied the sails.
"We're ready!" Zoro called back.
"Is it time to go Nami?" Luffy asked walking over to her.
"Yes, at your command captain" she said.
"Alright, you guys! I've got a lot of things that i want to share with you but in any case, thank you for going along with my selfish decision for two years" Luffy said.
"That wasn't the first time" Sanji said.
"He's right, you've always been selfish" Usopp said.
"Spread the sails!" Luffy called as the Sunny started submerging.
The sail crew confirmed with various yeahs and yeses and loosed the sails as they jumped down.
"Set sail!" Luffy called and the whole crew echoed "Yeah!" as the Sunny fully submerged.