Chapter 38: Obstinance

After telling everyone else he would take care of it, Thomas spent nearly an hour trying to get Crocus to answer the door while Lucy explored the surrounding cape. When the man finally opened his door, he had the same grim expression as before, stating, "You're starting to get on my nerves..."

"That wasn't my intention," replied Thomas. "But we kind of 'need' a Log Pose if we're going to get out of your hair. Beyond that, there is something I wanted to ask you..."

Instead of responding to Thomas's words, Crocus removed his circular glasses and gave them a length cleaning using a red cloth. While doing so, he started directly into Thomas's eyes with his intense stare, his own becoming progressively more bloodshot as he didn't blink for nearly four minutes.

Once he was finished cleaning his glasses, Crocus placed them into his pocket instead of putting them on his face, questioning, "Well, what are you waiting for? I might be a Lighthouse Keeper, but I have better things to do than stand around waiting for you to ask your question."

"..."

Suppressing the urge to smack the elderly man upside his balding head, Thomas adopted a cramped smile as he questioned, "Has anyone from Baroque Works come around to badger the Island Whale in the last few weeks?"

Narrowing his eyes slightly, Crocus replied, "Not yet. Though I suspect they'll show up within the next month or so. The real question is, how do you know about that? You were foolish enough to enter the Grand Line without a Log Pose, but know about something only a select few passing through the Twin Capes are aware of..."

Maintaining his smile, Thomas replied, "I know many things. However, I'm not here to interrupt your retirement. Once you sell us a Log Pose, we'll be on our way."

Opening his eyes wide, Crocus issued a seemingly startled, "Hmmm!?" as he stared up at the slightly taller Thomas. Then, after another inordinately long and awkward silence, he remarked, "I can't see without my glasses," before removing them from his interior breast pocket and donning them to get a better look at Thomas's face.

"..."

As he was fairly certain Crocus was trying to goad him into attacking or losing his cool, Thomas took a deep breath through his nose, doing his best to remain patient. Fortunately, he didn't have to wait several minutes for the man's reply as Crocus abruptly stated, "100,000 Berries." in a firm, no-nonsense tone.

Nodding his head, Thomas reached into his own pocket to pull out a stack of 10,000 Berry notes. When Crocus saw the thick stack of paper, his eyes briefly widened as he supplanted, "100,000 Berries for each minute of my time you've squandered. The Log Pose, you can have for free."

Instead of trying to reason with the seemingly senile old man, Thomas exhaled a sigh through his nose before handing Crocus all the Berries he had on hand. In response, he pulled out a peculiar compass with a needle suspended in a glass sphere. Unlike a standard compass, it didn't record the cardinal directions. Instead, it synchronized with the magnetic fields produced by the various islands in the Grand Line, allowing the wielder to traverse one of seven routes until they reached the endpoint of 'Paradise,' Sabaody Archipelago.

Seeing the needle of the Log Pose pointing directly to the East, Thomas asked, "Does this lead to Whiskey Peak...?"

Narrowing his eyes, Crocus remarked, "Someone's well informed..." before extending his hand and stating, "If you expect me to answer more of your questions, you'll need to pay..."

Shaking his head, Thomas replied, "Then forget about it. I already gave you all the money I had on me. I'm not going to tap into the crew's funds to sate my curiosity..."

Turning around, Thomas began to walk away, raising his hand in a gesture of farewell as he added, "See you around, old man Crocus..."

"Hmmm...!!"

As he hadn't introduced himself, Crocus's eyes genuinely widened for the first time. However, instead of calling out or attempting to stop Thomas, a thoughtful glimmer reflected across his wisened eyes as he remarked, "I never thought I would encounter yet another person without Haki..." before retreating into the interior of his Lighthouse...

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After using Reinforcement to strengthen the glass housing the Log Pose's needle, Thomas handed it over to Nami, the latter questioning, "This is a Log Pose? It doesn't even show the cardinal directions..."

Shrugging his shoulders, Thomas replied, "As I explained before, ordinary compasses spin randomly within the Grand Line. Trying to navigate based on directional headings is next to impossible. Also, the Log Pose is formed into a bracelet because you need to check it often to avoid getting turned around. There are a bunch of random currents produced by colossal Sea Kings swimming around the seafloor, so you could be traveling toward your destination one moment only to find yourself turned 180 degrees in the opposite direction less than a minute later. Also..."

Looking toward the skies on the horizon, Thomas added, "Nearly every island within the Grand Line possesses a unique climate. One even has a waterfall that produces literal ramen and plants that resemble ice cream shakes. As such, the weather can go from sunny and incredibly humid to completely wintery during a storm..."

Raising her brows, Nami focused on Thomas's mention of an island with a ramen waterfall, questioning, "How can an island have ramen flowing like water? That makes absolutely no sense..."

Recalling one of the theories from his previous world, Thomas explained, "Concerning Devil Fruits, there is a concept known as Awakening. Once Awakened, a Paramecia or Logia Fruit user can affect their environment with the properties of their fruit. A Logia User with the ability to produce Lava could turn a previously ordinary island into a chain of volcanoes. If I had to guess, there is a Devil Fruit out there with the ability to turn regular plants and animals into various food products. As strange as that sounds, it isn't too difficult to believe. One of the Four Emperors, Big Mom, lives on a literal island-sized cake where a lot of the food is capable of singing and dancing..."

Opening her mouth, Nami wanted to call Thomas out for making such a 'ridiculous' claim but couldn't find the words to do so. He sounded even more unbelievable than Usopp, but the expression on his face indicated he was telling the truth.

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Interrupting Thomas's and Nami's conversation, Lucy returned from her brief exploration of the surrounding cape, groaning, "There's nothing to do here. The ground and cliffs are hard and super jagged, and all the plants are the same kind of prickly bush."

Nodding his head, Thomas replied, "I'm not surprised. There is evidence to suggest that the Red Line was 'created' several hundred years ago by an ancient race of winged beings. They likely constructed it to make living along the periphery and climbing it impossible. The only person known to do so was the Great Fishman Adventurer, Fisher Tiger. Several years ago, he ascended the Red Line and entered Mary Geoise with his bare hands, freeing countless slaves before forming the Sun Pirates."

Opening her eyes wide, Lucy remarked, "Wow, this Fisher Tiger sounds pretty cool. I hope we'll be able to meet him in the future."

While Nami had a thoughtful look on her face, Thomas shook his head, revealing, "The original Sun Pirates disbanded ten years ago, following the death of Fisher Tiger. Jinbe, one of the Seven Warlords, inherited the position of Captain but had the group become the protectors of Fishman Island while he, alone, became a 'dog' of the World Government..."

Scrunching her face into a frown, Lucy remarked, "The way you speak of the World Government makes them seem like the bad guys..."

Nodding again, Thomas asserted, "If you believe in the notions of good and evil, the Celestial Dragons and the World Government are probably the most intrinsically evil beings this world has to offer. They look down on anyone who isn't a Celestial Dragon, kill people on a whim, and enslave those they take an interest in. Even worse, any country that isn't a part of the World Government is considered to have no rights, an excuse that lets them justify all kinds of inhumane treatments..."

Looking up at the Red Line, Thomas was tempted to inform Lucy that she would probably need to destroy it if she wanted to become the 'free-est' person in the world. He didn't mind telling her about the atrociousness of the World Government and the Celestial Dragons, but he wanted her to be able to make her own decision about whether or not to oppose them.

Following Thomas's gaze, Lucy appeared to fall into deep thought before asking, "Want to try climbing it...?" a few moments later.

"Huh...?"

Returning his gaze to the petite Pirate, Thomas adopted a wry smile as he replied, "I actually considered climbing it as a form of 'special training' in the past. Now, I'm more interested in experiencing this journey we're on. I don't mind training, especially knowing what dangers await us in the New World, but it gets pretty mundane repeating the same actions every single day. Besides, unlike you, I would die if I fell from such an extreme height. I'm not made of rubber..."

Scratching the back of her head, Lucy gave her characteristic "Shishishi~" laugh before responding, "Your Magical Energy is pretty useful, though. If I could fire off beams, I would never get bored."

Emulating Thomas's actions, Lucy squared her feet, lowered her hips, and brought her hands near her waist in the iconic stance of a Kamehameha. Instead of firing out a beam, however, she launched her hands forward a good twenty meters before snapping them back and stating, "It just isn't the same..." with a melancholic smile on her face.

Resisting the urge to point out that her Devil Fruit could likely fire off beams if she 'really' wanted to, Thomas earned a disproving look from Nami as he ruffled Lucy's hair, saying, "If we could swap Devil Fruits, I would happily accept your Gomu-Gomu-no-Mi. When combined with an active imagination and Haki, it's probably one of the most versatile Devil Fruits in the entire world."

As no one had ruffled her hair since the day Shanks sacrificed his arm to save her, Lucy's mind momentarily blanked. Nami, however, was quick to swat his hand away, warning, "Keep your hands to yourself, or I'm going to tell Caenis. I know how 'close' the two of you are. If she learns you're playing around with other women, she'll beat the crap out of you..."

Though he retracted his hand from Lucy's head, Thomas raised his brows, issuing a confused, "Huh?" before furrowing his brows as he remarked, "I think you have a severe lack of understanding about Caenis and myself..."

Crossing her arms, Nami's expression and tone became defiant as she asked, "Oh? Care to elaborate...?"

Nodding his head, Thomas explained, "First of all, Caenis doesn't care if I have relationships with other women. She has even asked me if I wanted help with 'wooing' the two of you, but I refused. Not because I don't think the two of you are beautiful women, but because I'm not as perverted as you seem to think I am. I'm fairly content with spending time with Caenis, but her nature as a Spirit means our paths will eventually diverge at some point. I'll eventually have to find someone else if I ever want to have kids, so our relationship is intimate but unrestrictive..."

Blinking in surprise, Nami asked, "Spirits can't have children...?" as if it was the only part of Thomas's statement that carried any value.

"Not without some kind of miracle," replied Thomas before inhaling a deep breath and exhaling it as a sigh, admitting, "I won't lie, Nami. There was a time when I considered you as a potential partner. You're a beautiful and capable woman, and I thought we would make a good pair exploring and mapping the world together. However, with my height steadily increasing, I've already given up on pursuing you. As for Lucy...she is too innocent for me to view her with such intentions..."

Tilting her head to the side, Lucy questioned, "What do you mean? Aren't we already partners...?"

Realizing they shouldn't be having this discussion in front of Lucy, Nami pulled the obsidian-haired girl to her side, asserting, "I'll tell you about it later." before giving Thomas a thoughtful yet 'warning' look. In response, he just smiled wryly, resisting the urge to point out she was the one that broached the subject. After all, even in a world based on anime/manga, attempting to reason with a stubborn woman was harder than reaching the absolute pinnacle of the world...

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(A/N: Thomas just unintentionally whipped out his Chad card o_o...)

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