Part 11 - Sanji 10/21

"How can I put this…" Luffy looked up from his ice cream. "Condoriano embellished a bit and left some things out, but overall, it was more or less like that."

Despite the blunder he'd already made, Sanji wasn't crazy enough to take his non-captain's word without question, so he followed up with a new question:

"And what exactly did he embellish or leave out?"

"Well…" Luffy rubbed his chin thoughtfully. '"For example, he didn't mention that the False Zombie worked as a butler for the Half-zombie, and that he tried to warn her and all the villagers about the undead army, but no one believed him."

"False Zombie? Half-zombie?"

"Condoriano calls them Captain Kuro and the Beautiful Fairy, but I prefer False Zombie and Half-zombie."

"…Okay. I can understand where False Zombie came from, but why is the Beautiful Fairy now the Half-zombie?" Sanji lit a new cigarette.

"The False Zombie didn't make her a full-fledged zombie, so she's a Half-zombie."

"Alright, we've sorted that out… but wait! Why didn't this Beautiful Fairy believe Condoriano?"

"The thing is, the Nasty Necromancer poisoned the Beautiful Fairy's mind with lies for a whole three years," Usopp answered instead of Luffy. "My truthful words couldn't cut through the web of lies in one go, and I didn't have time for another attempt. I had to act alone because all the villagers, like the Beautiful Fairy, were ensnared by Captain Kuro's lies."

"Just to clarify," Sanji exhaled a ring of smoke. "The Beautiful Fairy is a girl? I mean, we're not talking about an actual fairy like in a fairy tale, are we?"

Why not? Since Luffy entered his life, Sanji had a hard time distinguishing between the real and the unreal. From the blonde's perspective, the Beautiful Fairy could be either an ordinary girl or a real fairy, so he decided to clarify.

"Are you completely stupid?" Luffy answered the question with a question.

"Indeed," Condoriano nodded. "No fairy tale fairy can compare to the Beautiful Fairy. Unlike them, she is real!"

"…So what else did he leave out or exaggerate?" Sanji wisely decided to move on from the topic.

"That he had three loyal warriors…" Luffy started to answer grandly but immediately caught himself. "Ugh, I mean, he had three snotty kids who he tricked into leaving him behind when he went to knock on the False Zombie's door. And he didn't fight Zoro for four days, but a bit less… Although I can't blame him if he lost track of time. That battle was pretty intense. Other than that, it seems like everything."

"Got it…"

Sanji's doubts hadn't completely disappeared, but the fact that Condoriano had managed to dodge his grab so easily added more weight to the story than he had expected. After all, Condoriano had begun to lean back before Sanji even tried to grab him. And someone who knew what they were doing could say a lot about that… Though there was still a chance it was all just a coincidence. That possibility couldn't be dismissed either.

"Now that we're done with this," Luffy, having finished all his ice cream, gave Sanji an assessing look. "It's your turn."

"My turn? What do you mean, my turn?"

"Just tell me. You've been staring at my back all day, and not because of the girls… well, not only because of the girls," Luffy corrected himself after a moment of thought.

"Sparring!" Sanji realized immediately what Luffy meant.

"Again?" Luffy immediately lost all interest.

"Today will be different!"

"You always say that."

"No, today everything will be different!"

"It's already so late… let's do it tomorrow? Or better yet, let's wait until Zoro returns. You can fight him as much as you want—this maniac would love that!"

"First of all, I'm interested in you right now, not Zoro. My new technique will be only half as effective against his swords as it is against you. Secondly, it's only nine in the evening, so we still have almost two hours before the sun sets completely!" Sanji stood up, looking determined. " In two hours, we can do a whole dozen sparring matches, and I only need one."

"…Fine, let's do it," Luffy reluctantly got up from the table.

"Then I'll prepare the boat," Sanji hurried inside the restaurant.

"Let's go, Usopp, you're coming with us,"Luffy called to Usopp, who was still sitting at the table.

"We're going somewhere?" the long-nosed guy asked, puzzled.

"What did you think? Whether it's a sparring match or not, if we start fighting on the ship, the Baratie will sink… By the way, good job with Condoriano and the undead army. That's how you lie."

Usopp looked at Luffy, puzzled.

"What do you mean? I always lie like that!"

"…Of course, I believe that."

"It doesn't seem like it."

"By the way, can you remind me how long it's been since we left your island?" Luffy asked, seemingly disinterested in the answer.

"I don't under…"

"Just answer the question."

"Three days ago, why?"

"Nothing, just checking… and how about the little train that could?"

Usopp's face instantly turned pale, and he broke out in a cold sweat.

"I'm feeling… I'm feeling a bit sick," the guy stammered, starting to nervously wipe his cold, damp forehead.

"Don't worry about it," Luffy advised him, patting his shoulder reassuringly. "And get up, Sanji is already on his way," he quickly changed the subject to distract Usopp from the dangerous topic.

"A-aha," Usopp nodded slowly, getting up from the table and following Luffy.

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/ Just a reminder. A lot of power stones = a lot of new chapters /