"I was wondering why this place seemed so strange, with seas everywhere!"
"But if it's another world, then it makes sense."
Natsu tilted his head and spoke thoughtfully.
"By the way... Natsu, how exactly did you end up in the sea?"
"And how did you end up being saved by Kuro?" Happy asked curiously.
Knowing Natsu's strength, he shouldn't have drowned easily just from swimming.
"Happy, you know, ever since the battle with Acnologia on Tenrou Island, I completely lost consciousness..."
"When I woke up, I found myself separated from you all, stranded alone on a deserted island!"
"To find you guys, I stocked up a bit of food from the island and jumped straight into the sea..."
"Unfortunately, I underestimated the distance between islands in this world!"
"After swimming nonstop for almost a day and night, I collapsed from exhaustion and sank into the sea..."
"I drifted near this village yesterday and was rescued by Kuro from the shore."
Natsu recalled his journey briefly.
"Well..."
"Your story is so ridiculous, I don't even know where to start."
"Right now, I really wish Lucy were here with us."
Natsu's experience was too fantastical...
Yet it was entirely something Natsu would do.
This left Eden and the others speechless.
Eden genuinely wished Lucy, Fairy Tail's number-one commentator, was here to say a thing or two.
"Anyway, now that we've eaten, I feel my strength returning!"
"We can't waste any more time. Let's set out immediately to find our friends scattered throughout this world!"
Reinvigorated, Natsu transformed back into the energetic, passionate youth, eager to reunite with all the Fairy Tail members spread around the world.
He turned to Eden and asked, "Eden, do you have any info about other guild members?"
"We currently have intel on Erza and Gray."
"Erza is serving as an officer in the Navy, attempting to use their resources to gather our scattered companions."
"As for Gray... you should see for yourself."
Eden handed the newspaper featuring Gray's imprisonment to Natsu.
"..."
Natsu stared at the naked Gray in the newspaper, with sensitive parts blurred, and fell silent. Then he burst into uncontrollable laughter, "Hahaha! That naked pervert Gray finally got caught? Serves him right! I always thought he should've been arrested!"
Gray (somewhere): "Though this was the best solution to let everyone know my location, Natsu was the last person I wanted seeing this!"
Initially, Gray had chosen this scandalous method to signal his location to Fairy Tail, assuming Natsu, being Natsu, had a 99% chance of not seeing the newspaper.
But Gray overlooked the fact that someone like Eden, always enjoying a good joke, would deliberately hand the newspaper to Natsu.
"It's decided! Let's go rescue Gray from the South Sea!"
"This hilarious event—I need to mock him face-to-face!"
After some thought, Natsu made his decision.
"Juvia agrees wholeheartedly!"
"We must rescue Gray-sama quickly!"
Juvia nodded repeatedly, echoing Natsu's sentiment.
"Rescue Gray, huh?"
"Speaking of which, we're currently in the East Sea, and Gray is in the South Sea!"
"To reach the South Sea from here, we'll have to pass through the first half of the Grand Line, known as Paradise..."
"Given that, we probably have a few stops to make along the way."
After reviewing Nami's sea charts, Eden quickly made his plans.
"Great! Let's set sail!"
Surprisingly, the first to cheer wasn't Natsu but Luffy.
"You're not even part of our crew; why are you so excited?" Nami couldn't help but retort.
"Oh, right..." Luffy realized belatedly he wasn't in Eden's crew.
At this, Kaya, who had been quietly listening and enjoying everyone's stories, chuckled and addressed Luffy, "I recall you needed a ship to set sail, right? I've decided to give one to you."
"Really?!" Luffy and Zoro were stunned.
"Yes, indeed." Kaya nodded and requested, "But I also have a favor. I hope you'll help Usopp become the brave sea warrior he dreams of becoming."
"It's a promise!" Luffy agreed without hesitation.
"Wait, hold on..." Usopp hesitated slightly, reconsidering his decision to set sail after witnessing Natsu's incredible power.
"Usopp, I'm grateful for everything you've done for me. Please let me do something for you in return," Kaya spoke sincerely.
"Kaya, I..." Usopp was touched, his eyes slightly moist.
"Let's go!"
Before Usopp could finish, Luffy grabbed him and Zoro by their collars and rushed outside, shouting, "I can't wait to see my ship!"
"Your ship? That ship was sponsored by Kaya for me!" Usopp retorted.
When the Going Merry appeared before them, the trio was utterly amazed.
On the other side, Eden, Nami, Natsu, Juvia, Happy, and Buggy, along with the tied-up Kuro, set sail first aboard the Shark Supreme.
There are no endless banquets.
With Luffy's group now possessing a proper pirate ship, it was time to part ways.
"Luffy, I hope you find ONE PIECE soon and become the Pirate King! I'll be waiting at Fairy Tail!" Eden called out from his departing ship.
"Yeah! I hope you find your companions soon, Eden!" Luffy waved vigorously. "And remember, Eden, if you ever need help, just ask!"
As Eden's ship nearly vanished over the horizon, Usopp suddenly realized, "Wait, who's our navigator?"
Luffy and Zoro fell silent.
Seeing Eden's ship disappearing, Zoro yelled anxiously, "Enough talk! Hurry and follow them!"
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~# Every 20 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter