harleyscars Chapter 161, Round 1: Island Raid!
Chapter 161, Round 1: Island Raid!
Picking up where we left off, the Straw Hat crew arrived at Long Chain Island, where Luffy encountered the Foxy Pirates. At the same time, Goten met the girl of his dreams, Yukina. Later, Luffy agreed to the David Challenge proposed by Foxy without any hesitation.
After watching the events of the three competitions and learning about the rule that each person could only participate in a maximum of two matches, the Straw Hat crew, who were preparing, finally decided on the order of battle after some discussion: "In the first round, everyone will participate in the all-out battle, while in the second round, Chopper, Sanji, and Zoro will participate, and finally, the remaining five will participate in the final team battle."
So, once the decision was made, the Straw Hat crew began preparations for their first competition. The first event was a boat race around the island, and the boats they would ride in could only be made from three wooden barrels. Therefore, for safety reasons, the eight members of the Straw Hat crew needed to separate the three Devil Fruit users into teams to ensure that the users would not drown.
After some discussion, the Straw Hat crew was divided into three groups: "Robin and Zoro in one group, Nami, Sanji, and Chopper in another, and Usopp, Goten, and Luffy in the third." Once the group was decided, they began building their ship...
Robin and Zoro, under Robin's direction, disassembled and reassembled the barrels, eventually creating a decent little boat. Meanwhile, Nami, with the combined efforts of Chopper and Sanji, built a pedal-powered boat. However, after completion, the three realized that the work could only be done by one person, leaving the other two helpless…
After leaving Luffy aside, Usopp and Goten, working together, quickly crafted a wooden racing boat that could be ridden on water. However, after finishing, they discovered that one of the three seats was inexplicably missing. Looking to the side, they found Luffy sitting in a wooden barrel. Upon seeing this, Usopp and Goten instantly lost all their strength and abilities, while Luffy was still wondering why…
So, of the Straw Hat crew's three ships, only Robin and Zoro's arrangement looked somewhat normal. Nami and Chopper could only watch helplessly as Sanji was the only one doing the driving. As for Usopp, Goten, and Luffy, because there was one less seat, Goten had to ride on Luffy's shoulders...
Now let's look at the Foxy Pirates. They consist of the Speed Forward, which is made up of Porchi, one of the fishmen Cabotie, and a shark named Munda; the Drunkard, which sells alcohol; the Beauty, which is full of beautiful women; the Crab, which looks like a crab; the King of Pulp 1 and 2; and the Giant Barrel, which is made up of three giant wooden barrels.
Goten looked around and noticed that Setsuna wasn't participating. He asked in bewilderment, "Where's Setsuna? It seems she's not participating!"
At this point, Foxy laughed and explained, "Hahaha, that little girl isn't good at these kinds of water sports, and just to be on the safe side, I only let her participate in the last round. But that doesn't mean she won't interfere with the work..."
Upon hearing this, Goten questioned, "Obstruction? Is it even allowed to obstruct? Why can't we just have a fair and square competition?"
Upon hearing this, Foxy immediately rebuked, "Idiot, wouldn't that be too boring? Besides, how can a pirate tournament proceed without some fun and challenge? So there's no need to say anything more. Blame it on the fact that you have too few people!"
Wutian, unable to refute this, could only silently prepare for the race. As the Foxy Pirates' commentator and starter blew the whistle to begin the race, the first round of the David Championship – the island-wide rowing race – officially commenced…
As soon as the race started, Usopp's trio took the lead and shot off like an arrow released from a bow, leaving the other teams far behind. Seeing this, Porgi hurriedly urged the shark to move forward. While the Speed Forward was chasing after Luffy and the others, Sanji and Zoro's team had just set sail.
However, the next second the giant barrel opened its hatch, and countless small barrels floated out quickly, instantly surrounding Zoro, Robin, Sanji, Nami, and Chopper's small boat. Chopper tentatively touched a barrel, and it exploded on the spot. The violent explosion destroyed the small boat of Sanji, Nami, and Chopper, eliminating them from the race immediately.
Seeing this, Zoro used the two oars as swords, unleashing a dual-sword style attack—"130 Trouble Wind"—that instantly blew all the exploding barrels back to their original positions, causing the giant barrel ship to suffer the consequences of its own actions and be blown to smithereens.
Zoro and Robin continued onward, but the Tavern Ship and the Beauty Ship quickly caught up and began to use their charms and offers of benefits. As a result, Zoro and Robin each took responsibility for half of the operation, destroying the ships and thus continuing their journey.
Upon arriving at Goten's side, just as the three of them were riding off into the distance, Foxy and Setsuna quickly came to their rescue. Foxy was disguised as a beautiful woman, but Goten saw through him and blasted him away with a Ki Punch. Frustrated, Foxy hurriedly rode his companion Hamburger to the next location...
Meanwhile, Yukina was at the second bend, holding energy blasts in her hands. As Goten and his friends passed by, Yukina immediately began throwing energy blasts to hinder them. Countless energy blasts quickly brought Goten and the others to a stop. Usopp exclaimed in shock, "What? Yukina, that little girl, knows this kind of technique too?"
Luffy's eyes lit up as he exclaimed, "Wow, amazing! Could it be that she can transform too?"
Seeing this, Goten quickly erected a protective shield, allowing Luffy and Usopp to continue their advance. However, at this moment, Porchi and the Fishman caught up. Just as they were feeling smug, Yukina's interference was indiscriminate, and the next second, the Fishman Cabote was hit by an energy blast...
Seeing this, Porki scolded Yukina on the shore, "Idiot, watch where you're going! We're on the same side!" Yukina scratched her head, embarrassed, and said, "Ah...sorry, I hit the wrong person..."
The race continued, and just as Zoro and Robin finally caught up with Goten and the others, the King of the Boats No. 1 and No. 2 rushed up from behind. Although Zoro took down one of them, the other side traded one for one and finally deflected the missiles from the bow of the boat, blowing up Zoro and Robin's boat.
Meanwhile, Goten, taking advantage of the fact that Yukina was hesitant to fire her energy blast because of her teammates' presence, urged Usopp and Luffy to seize the opportunity to accelerate. When the three of them sped up again, they found that the finish line was right in front of them. After the three of them crossed the finish line, Goten looked at Porchi's Speedrunner, which was still accelerating, and immediately realized that something was wrong. He hurriedly told Usopp and Luffy to continue.
The three followed the Speedrunner and indeed found that they had just passed a fake finish line. However, just as they were about to accelerate and overtake, Foxy's voice came from the shore again—"Slow Ray!" The three turned their heads and found that they had been illuminated by the ray. Then their bodies became very slow until Porchi's team crossed the finish line. A full thirty seconds later, Luffy, Goten, and Usopp returned to their original forms.
Upon seeing this, Luffy and his two companions all wore incredulous expressions and exclaimed in unison, "What happened...?"
(End of this chapter)