One Piece (Love Story) [Part Two]

Chapter Two Hundred and Ninety Eight [Rewritten]

-Chapter Two Hundred and Ninety-Eight-

"So then it's not actually a real island?" Franky questioned.

"Right" Hachi nodded. "Are you guys familiar with Mangrove Trees?" he asked.

"Mangroves?" Sanji questioned. "Trees with roots above or under the water depending on the tides, right?" he asked.

"Yep, you got it" Hachi nodded. "But the tide never rises high enough here for the roots to be submerged—the Sabaody Archipelago is home to the largest Mangrove Trees in the world," he explained, "these colossal giants are the Hustle Muscle Mangroves."

"The largest Mangroves in the world?" Luffy blinked. "Those are some manly Mangroves! This place is great!" he grinned.

"There's a total of seventy-nine trees, and each of them serves as its own little island" Hachi explained. "Complete with tiny towns and facilities, the cluster of all these trees is known as the Sabaody Archipelago."

"So they basically just built a civilization on the roots of some trees?" I questioned with a raised brow.

"That's right" Hachi nodded.

"Huh? Look, they got numbers on them!" Chopper pointed.

"Look at that, you're right" I nodded once I also noticed the blocky numbers that were neatly painted onto the trunks of the trees.

"Yeah—all the trees are designated by numbers, so it's pretty easy to find your way around" Hachi explained. "Grove 44 right here is the private residents, so before we land, we'll need to go a little further in" he said, motioning for us to keep sailing.

"Wow! When you see them up close, these roots are huge!" Luffy excitedly remarked as we passed by a cluster of massive roots.

"Look how dark it is beneath them" Chopper pointed.

"It is quite fascinating" Brook said. "Ah! Is that a man-made bridge?" he asked as spotted a stone bridge up ahead in the distance.

"It is—bridges connect each one of the islands" Hachi explained.

"I see, that makes sense" Brook nodded.

"Yeah, the people who live here have to have some way of getting around" I agreed.

"Alright, we're here" Hachi said as we finally came to a stop. "This is a good spot to drop anchor—welcome to Grove 41."

"First one off the ship!" Luffy childishly laughed as he jumped down from the ship once it was properly anchored and took off ahead.

"Hey, make sure you all remember the Grove number, okay?" Hachi asked. "Like I said earlier, the whole Archipelago is connected by a series of bridges, so you won't get lost if you remember the number you're docked at" he informed us as soon as we disembarked.

"There's one guy that will still get lost" I heard Usopp whisper in front of Zoro and me.

"Yep" Chopper whispered back as he and the sharpshooter peered back at the two of us—mainly Zoro—with knowing looks.

"Huh? What's going on?" the swordsman asked, causing me to sweat dropped. "Hey, what was that for?!" he snapped when Usopp, Chopper, and I all heaved a heavy sigh before I smiled as I linked my arm with his.

"Just a precaution" I told him the moment I saw the questioning look he was giving me.

"A bubble popped out of the ground! How weird is that?" Luffy grinned as a bubble suddenly morphed out of the ground and floated up into the air.

"Awesome!" Usopp and Chopper exclaimed as they excitedly rushed over to the captain.

"I'm riding it!" Luffy cheered, quick to hop onto one of the bubbles as it came floating out of the ground.