NOVEL NEXT Chapter 24 – The Island of Nothing
The year spent on "Little Garden" felt like it passed in the blink of an eye, looking back.
Though there were enough events to fill their ship's log, the most noteworthy was how the entire crew had grown stronger over that year.
At the very least, Kanata and the others judged that they wouldn't be immediately wiped out by the Navy anymore.
However, those who had been tempered could clearly see Kanata and the others' overwhelming strength from a completely different world, slightly demoralizing them.
Kanata believed that "never doubting one's own power" was the core of Haki, so at this rate, mastering it would be difficult, she worried.
"GABABABA!! So you're setting sail already! I'll miss you lot!"
"GEGYAGYAGYAGYA!! Why not just stay another year or so?"
"We're not in a rush, but I've frankly grown tired of this island. I want to see other islands too," responded Kanata to Dorry and Brogy’s inquiry.
"I see! The sea is vast, after all. Feel free to come back if you feel like it! By then, we may have settled things and returned to our village on Elbaf!"
"No doubt! Next time you come to this island, we might not be here!"
The two, neither doubting their own victory, exchanged banter that would only reignite their duel if acknowledged. Kanata avoided mentioning it, instead drawing her weapon as a final farewell before departure.
Not created from her own abilities, but carved from the rare fangs of Sea Kings that occasionally appeared - a custom white spear over two meters long that turned blackish-red when imbued with Armament Haki.
"Then I'll go first - with all my power!"
"Ah, come at me with lethal intent."
Dorry raised his sword high, further amplifying his Haki around it, then swung it down forcefully.
Boom!
The instant their weapons clashed, a thunderous boom resonated as if the very air exploded, sending tremendous shockwaves rippling out from just that one exchange.
Not minding their difference in stature, Kanata didn't even budge from that tremendous strike.
"--Alright, my turn next."
Dorry and Kanata took a step back, exchanging a salute before Kanata turned to face Brogy.
Like Dorry, Brogy raised his battle-axe high, putting tremendous force behind the swing aimed to split the earth towards Kanata.
Boom!
Once again, her Haki-imbued spear clashed with Brogy's axe, another explosion of impact shaking the ground.
The explosive shockwaves unnaturally scattered in all directions, and after the impacts subsided, the two warriors took a step back, saluting each other.
"--GABABABA!! I never imagined you'd reach this level just a year ago!"
"GEGYAGYAGYAGYA!! Who'd have thought tiny humans could trade blows with us! Life is full of surprises!"
Plopping down to sit, the two giants roared with laughter.
A year ago when they first arrived on this island, they never imagined the young girl who challenged them "to become stronger" would be able to actually clash weapons with them just one year later. It was an unimaginable outcome back then.
Meanwhile, Kanata, having deflected one strike each from the two, exhaled deeply and checked her arms.
"...I can still barely deflect them, but they outmatch me."
"The real question is how many others could even do that much."
"True. You should be proud. We are Elbaf's mightiest warriors, and you can deflect our full force strikes."
Just clashing their weapons created tremendous shockwaves. Kanata deflected them with her "Ryou" technique, but one misstep meant being minced - a precarious tightrope.
There were times she was blown to the edge of the island from failing to deflect properly, or unable to fully dissipate the impact, cracking the island itself.
Thanks to that, Junshi and Zen's all-out attacks didn't even register anymore, but she had brushed against death more times than she could count.
"I'll come back again. Next time I'll bring some good booze."
"Oh, I would appreciate that."
"Indeed, our duel hasn't been settled yet. I imagine we'll be here a while longer."
Hitching a ride on Dorry's shoulder, the trio returned to the ship, raising their hands to the crew waiting with preparations to disembark.
Hopping off his shoulder onto the deck, Kanata turned back towards Dorry and Brogy.
Of those waiting on board, Feiyun stepped forward. "U-Um, Master Dorry! Master Brogy!"
"Oh, Feiyun!"
"Stay well yourself! If we head back to Elbaf before you, don't worry about us!"
"Yes...yes! You two take care too!" Wiping tears from her eyes, Feiyun waved farewell.
The others also offered parting words to Dorry and Brogy, which the giants answered with hearty laughs.
Their farewells were complete. All that was left was to proceed forward.
"Setting sail! Raise the sails!"
The large sails unfurled with a rustle, catching the wind to propel them towards the next island.
Watching from the shore, Dorry and Brogy raised their weapons high, calling out:
"May your journey be a blessed one!!"
"May the grace of Elbaf follow wherever you go!!"
"Farewell! Stay strong! GABABABABABA!!"
"I look forward to our next meeting! GEGYAGYAGYAGYAGYA!!"
Feiyun continued waving until the laughing giants were out of sight, finally lowering her hand with a wistful look.
Slapping her cheeks to recompose herself, she turned towards the front of the ship. Though it tugged at her heartstrings, they had to keep moving forward.
It was something they knew from the start - that journeys are stories of meetings and partings.
***
No one knew how many days it would take to reach the next island, but Dorry and Brogy said it wouldn't be too long.
Based on a giant's sense of "not too long" possibly meaning weeks, they secretly felt relieved when it seemed the distance was actually quite short.
Perhaps due to finally being back at sea after so long, their sailing felt clumsy at first before regaining their sea legs.
Gradually finding their rhythm again, they made smooth progress through the treacherous waters of the Grand Line.
Kanata had set up a beach chair on deck, occasionally checking their course while reading a newspaper brought by News Coo under a parasol's shade.
"I wonder what the next island will be like?" The idle Kuro spoke up, and Kanata glanced over from the paper to give a succinct reply.
"Goldfish droppings."
"...Sorry, run that by me again?"
"Goldfish droppings."
"I didn't mishear that, did I? Goldfish droppings? What's that supposed to mean?"
Kuro was thoroughly puzzled by Kanata's overly terse answer. As she folded the newspaper in thought on how to explain, the newcomer David - the "Bomb Human" they recruited on Little Garden - approached.
Overwhelmed by his defeat to Kanata and his crew's annihilation, the aging man spoke respectfully despite his brusque nature.
"Its nickname is 'the Island of Nothing' is it not? Literally an island of 'nothing', hence the name. However, according to Master Dorry and Master Brogy... It's goldfish droppings."
"No, I got that part."
"Apparently before we arrived, the Captain froze a massive goldfish, and well...that's it."
"The...droppings of that goldfish?"
David nodded solemnly.
“Kuhahaha!” Kuro burst into raucous laughter, clutching his stomach.
Kanata and David had heard the full story from the two giants - the next island they were headed to, the so-called "Island of Nothing", was apparently the excrement left behind after the massive "Island Eater" goldfish consumed nearby islands.
Kanata had flash frozen the "Island Eater" itself effortlessly, but the food it had eaten in the past, remained.
"I won't be disembarking on the next island. The rest of you shouldn't either - there's nothing there anyway."
"Ah, I'm getting hungry. So that's the kind of island, huh...pfft!" Kuro couldn't seem to stop snickering intermittently at the absurdity.
David wore a wry smile, but there was another issue at hand. "That's...not quite the problem, though."
"What, there's an issue besides it being a goldfish's crap island?"
"The. Problem. Is. That. It. Ate. Multiple. Islands."
The islands of the perilous Grand Line each possess their own magnetic fields, which are imprinted onto a Log Pose to record and allow navigation to the next island.
On the "Island of Nothing", with the intermixed magnetic fields of multiple consumed islands, the next destination was not fixed upon arrival.
"Due to the mixed magnetic fields from who knows how many islands, the next. Island. Indicated. Keeps. Changing. Based on how long we stay, constantly overwriting the recorded log."
"Oh, so the next island's a gamble every time? Interesting quirk."
"So it would seem, according to the two who have actually traveled there. Their account is likely credible."
Apparently the droppings were on such a massive scale that some had mistaken it for a small continent upon initially disembarking - they found the story highly amusing.
However, Kanata and Sukura wore rather unpleasant expressions, put off not just by the unsavory lunch topic, but the biological and hygienic aspects as well.
Still, the stories from the duo's long lives proved quite fascinating.
Of islands where lightning struck incessantly, where solid footing materialized from nothing, where trees larger than entire giants grew.
They also shared tales of the Fishman Island they passed through on their way to the first half of the Grand Line, and legends of a Sky Island.
The breadth of experiences from their long lives was astonishing. But back to the matter at hand:
"A Log Pose for the New World can record the magnetic fields from multiple islands simultaneously. You all can decide where we go from the options recorded."
"Well if you're fine with anywhere, I've got no objections to wherever you choose, Miss." Kuro was laid back.
David also. "I defer to your judgment as well, Captain."
Furrowing her brow, Kanata pondered their responses. As Captain, it made sense for her to decide their destination for this ship.
But they didn't seem to have any strong preferences either way, so Kanata choosing might be best to avoid any conflict as their navigator as well.
"...Well, I suppose we should depart this accursed place as soon as possible. We'll set sail once any island's log gets recorded."
"Heheh, the Grand Line really is an interestingly crazy sea, ain't it?" Kuro snickered in amusement.
They never imagined a goldfish large enough to devour entire islands existed, let alone that its droppings would intermingle multiple islands' magnetic signatures.
Outlandish occurrences like this were what made adventure so endlessly entertaining.
Kuro fisted his palm. "I can't wait to see what kind of island we end up on."
…
A few days later, the crew arrived at the "Island of Nothing" and fell speechless.
It was quite literally, an "Island of Nothing".