The Jackal Guardian's Ascent

Chapter 28

"It's terrible!! Granny! Granny!! Pirates!!" a small girl called out to her grandmother.

"What?! Really, Chimney?!" the old woman asked as she stumbled outside, bottle of rum in hand. "Alright! Hold on!!"

"Someone came out of the building!!" Zoro pointed out, getting ready to draw his swords. "I think she's calling for reinforcements!"

"Ah...hey?!" the old woman yelled out to the girl. "What were you yelling about? I forgot *burp*"

"You're too damn drunk!!" Zoro and Usopp yelled at the old woman.

Both parties eventually introduced the other and cleared up any misconceptions between them. The small girl introduced herself as Chimney, her cat (that's actually a rabbit) as Gonbe, and her grandmother as Kokoro, the station master.

"I'm Luffy. I'm going to be the King of the Pirates!" Luffy said, introducing himself as usual.

"Really?!" Kokoro asked.

"Yup." Luffy answered with a wide smile on his face.

"Ngagaga...you're funny." she replied, obviously amused by the kid.

"That was a sea train, right?" Nami asked Kokoro.

"Yup." Chimney answered. "It's name is the Puffing Tom."

"Puffing Tom?" Nami asked.

"It's a steam-powered car that moves on the railroad in the sea!" Chimney explained.

"A railroad?!" Nami asked.

"Yeah! It's just beneath the surface of the water." Kokoro explained. "The train moves from island to island every day, transporting passengers between islands. Sometimes it transports mail and packages, too."

"Wow! There really is a railroad!" Luffy observed, looking over the edge of the platform.

"Yes! And you sailed right onto it! That was dangerous!!" Kokoro added.

"But no matter how much you warn, the frog won't understand!" Luffy said, talking about the frog for some reason. "Then you ram it and send it flying! That was rude!! Plus, he was our prey."

"Ah, that's Yokozuna." Chimney explained. "He has been a nuisance for a long time! He likes to compete his strength with others, and he has been trying to beat the train. He won't die from a crash like that. He will come back and try again!"

"What an odd frog." Anu commented.

"Compete?!" Luffy asked. "Oh, so that's why he didn't run away!! That's some cool fighting spirit!!"

"What?! He causes nothing but headaches!" Chimney told him. "He broke the front of the train so many times already! Every time he tries it, he frightens the passengers!!"

"Is that so...okay! I won't eat him!" Luffy declared. "I don't eat hardworking animals!"

"You shouldn't be eating frogs in the first place!" Nami said, scolding Luffy.

"So, where do you want to go?" Kokoro asked. "If you take the next train you can go to the "City of the Queen of Spring," Sento Popura, "City of Cuisine," Poochi, then the "City of the Carnivore," Sun Faruto. All of them are very interesting places. If you are a government official, you can take a special train, too."

"Eeehhh?! A city of cuisine?!" Luffy asked, shocked by the fact that there was an entire town dedicated to food.

"Don't even think about it." Nami told him as she slapped upside his head. "We have a ship so we can't take the train. We have to follow the log pose."