"No… We can't just abandon the Going Merry! It's our important companion!" Usopp cried out, tightly clutching the mast. The Going Merry meant the world to him. It was a precious partner worth fighting to protect, even with his life.
"Usopp…" Nami and the others fell silent. Although they hadn't been together for long, everyone had come to accept Usopp. The thought of abandoning the ship to escape weighed heavily on them. After all, what's a pirate without their ship?
"Luffy!" Usopp turned to Luffy, the captain. The fate of the Going Merry was in his hands.
Luffy remained silent, clenching his fists tightly as he looked out at the raging sea. For a pirate, a ship was an irreplaceable companion. How could they abandon it? How could he?
Boom!
Just then, the sea roared even louder. The tornado storm was closing in, howling with fury, intent on destroying everything in its path.
"Armament!"
Suddenly, Moonlight leaped to the bow of the ship, his gaze locked onto the raging storm that was threatening to engulf them all. His armament haki wrapped around the Kusanagi sword, turning the blade black.
"Moonlight… Do you intend to… But that's a tornado!" Nami gasped in shock, understanding what Moonlight was about to do.
"I know, but I can't bring myself to give up on the ship without trying. It's not in my nature," Moonlight said calmly, shaking his head as his eyes burned with determination. He couldn't simply abandon the ship without a fight. Moreover, to a swordsman, there was nothing in the world they couldn't cut—tornadoes included. If he couldn't slice through this, it just meant he wasn't strong enough.
"I need to try!"
Moonlight glanced at Usopp, his expression unwavering. "Usopp, if this doesn't work, then there's nothing more we can do. I don't want to abandon the Going Merry, but I cherish all of you more."
"Moonlight…" Usopp gritted his teeth, nodding resolutely. They had done everything they could. If even Moonlight couldn't change the outcome, then it was clear they were too weak to protect the ship. He had no regrets now.
"This is what it means to be a true swordsman," Zoro said with admiration, his eyes burning with the same intensity as Moonlight's. This was the path of the sword he aspired to follow.
"Phantom Sword Dance!" Moonlight shouted, as he faced the massive tornado. He swung his sword fiercely, releasing wave after wave of sword energy. Each strike layered upon the last, forming a powerful surge of energy aimed straight at the tornado. The sword energy tore through the air, striking the sea with incredible force.
Whoosh!
The surrounding whirlpools were sliced open by the relentless sword energy, which charged forward toward the tornado with unstoppable force.
"What an incredible slash! But… can it really work?" All eyes were on the surging sword energy, filled with hope and anticipation. But as they gazed upon the monstrous tornado, doubts began to creep in. That was a tornado. Could even the sharpest blade cut through something like that?
Buzz!
Moonlight's sword energy clashed with the tornado, and for a moment, the force of his attack seemed unyielding. But after three seconds, the tornado roared back to life, swallowing the sword energy whole. The storm continued its rampage, relentless and untamed.
Even Moonlight's strength paled in comparison to the raw fury of nature.
"Did we… fail?" Usopp thought, his resolve hardening. If even Moonlight's attack couldn't succeed, then there was nothing left to be done.
"This is the end. It's a natural disaster after all. Zoro, Sanji, Nami, Usopp, Moonlight—prepare to retreat!" Luffy called out. The storm was closing in fast, and if they didn't escape now, they'd lose the chance. If they got caught in the storm, who knew what might happen?
"I'm sorry, Going Merry…" Moonlight gritted his teeth, acknowledging the bitter truth. A human's strength was insignificant against the power of the ocean. He'd have to train even harder to one day cut through something as powerful as a tornado.
"Let's go!" Usopp, with tears in his eyes, made the difficult decision to leave. Though it pained him, they had no choice.
Boom!
But just as the crew prepared to abandon ship, a sudden, even stronger gust of wind swept over them. This wind wasn't wild like the tornado. Instead, it wrapped tightly around the Going Merry, almost as if it were being controlled by some unseen force. The ship was lifted into the air, soaring past the tornado and vanishing into the sky, safe from the storm's wrath.
The storm raged on, even fiercer now that the Going Merry had disappeared. In no time, the storm consumed the entire sea.
"We're… saved?" Usopp whispered in disbelief.
"What just happened?" Sanji asked, baffled.
"It's like a strange wind just appeared out of nowhere!" Nami murmured.
Far from the tornado, on a calm and sunny stretch of sea, the crew stood in stunned silence, trying to comprehend what had just happened. Had they really escaped? Were they truly saved? If they hadn't experienced it firsthand, they wouldn't have believed it.
"A dragon?" Moonlight's expression shifted as he began to understand. The only one capable of such a feat… could it be Dragon? The leader of the Revolutionary Army, Luffy's father, Monkey D. Dragon—the one who possessed the Wind-Wind Fruit, with the ability to control the wind.
There was no one else who could have lifted them, ship and all, to safety in such a dire moment. It had to be Dragon.
Dragon's strength was beyond comprehension. As the leader of the Revolutionary Army, he had stood against the World Government for years, eluding capture time and time again. His power was immense—possibly even greater than the Navy Admirals.
Moonlight was in awe. He still had a long way to go before reaching such a level.
Luffy and the others, however, were clueless. They had no idea what had just saved them. All they knew was that they had somehow escaped the storm's clutches.
"The sea… It really is full of surprises," Luffy said, grinning before shouting, "Let's eat! I'm starving!" He laughed, prompting Sanji to reluctantly head to the kitchen to prepare food.
Nami, on the other hand, let out a deep sigh of relief. They were safe, for now.
"Going Merry, you're okay!" Usopp cheered, immediately getting to work patching up the damage to the ship.
Zoro leaned back against the cabin wall and closed his eyes. After the intense battles and near-death experience, he needed to rest and recover his strength.
Meanwhile, on the highest point of Loguetown's harbor, a man in a brown cloak gazed out at the horizon, watching as the Going Merry disappeared from sight.
"Pirates, huh? Not a bad choice. If that's the path you've chosen, then I support you," he murmured to himself. "What reason is there to stop a man from setting sail? Go ahead, the world is waiting for our answers. Go change it."
As the wind howled around him, a bolt of lightning illuminated the sky, revealing a face filled with dreams beneath the cloak. If anyone saw that face, they'd recognize him immediately.
It was none other than Monkey D. Dragon, the leader of the Revolutionary Army, the man with a bounty of 5 billion berries—the most wanted man in the world, and an enemy of the World Government.
"Looks like it really was him," Moonlight thought as he turned his gaze away from the horizon. Though the figure had been shrouded in shadows, there was no doubt in his mind that the person who had just saved them was Dragon.