One Piece: It's always been you

Chapter 72, maybe it'll be through his nose...

The small island not far from the whirlpool saw an increase in the number of ships coming and going due to its sudden appearance. These included not only pirate ships, but also naval vessels and some cruise ships.

It seems that this vortex is being used as a tourist attraction for the wealthy or powerful, including the Celestial Dragons who live in the Holy Land of Mary Geoise.

This is why, aside from the Marines investigating the whirlpool, most of the people on the island are there to protect the Celestial Dragons. The Celestial Dragons have their own luxury cruise ships and only occasionally visit the island, which allows the island's original inhabitants to venture out.

"Yu, wake up."

"...How long did I sleep?"

Wherever Katakuri went, he would hold Yu in his arms to protect her from any sudden danger. After scouting and replenishing supplies in the small town on the island, Katakuri woke Yu up on the way back to the ship.

"It's been seven hours since I went to bed this morning."

Seven hours... Yu herself realized that she was sleeping for longer and longer periods. Falling asleep had become a source of fear for her; she was truly unconscious and showed no intention of waking up. Otherwise, Katakuri wouldn't have needed to wake her.

"Don't worry, we'll enter the vortex first thing tomorrow morning to find Samojiu. We'll make sure he hands over the solution, and I won't let anything happen to you."

"Is there no navy guard over there?"

The Uzumaki Navy also sent people to investigate; there's only one entrance, so it's impossible that no one was guarding it.

"The navy is stationed on this small island, so there is no problem entering the whirlpool."

"Where's Praline? Why didn't she get off the ship and go to town with us? She seemed quite curious the whole way, but she's become much more reserved here." Yu glanced at Katakuri and saw that he was only followed by a few chess pieces; there were no other people.

"She is a mermaid, making her easy to sell; moreover, there are Celestial Dragons on the island."

So that's why Yu found there were more navy personnel here than she had imagined.

But that's not what she should be thinking about now. What she should be thinking about is Sakazuki, codenamed "Akainu," who suddenly appeared alone in front of her.

"When the Admiral issued your bounty, I couldn't believe it. Someone who grew up in the Navy actually became a pirate." Sakazuki crossed his arms and looked at Yu coldly. "Charlotte Katakuri, the second son of the Big Mom Pirates family. You certainly know how to pick a pirate crew. But how did you end up like this?"

How did you know I was here?

"Hey, hey, hey, answer my question first." Sakazuki said, a cigarette dangling from his lips, his tone unfriendly towards Yu's lack of response.

Yu sensed Katakuri's discomfort and gently patted his shoulder to indicate that he was alright. "You were ambushed and that's how you ended up like this. That person told me to come to the West Blue to find him. Now you can answer my question."

“With your skills, you still need to resort to underhanded tactics. It seems Kuzan was right when he said you’ve improved.” Sakazuki paused before answering Yu’s question. “Do I need to ask you to find me? Think about how you were found before.”

Observation Haki... the Observation Haki that allows one to perceive things... Yuu really wants to beat up Sakazuki...

Of all the people at Marine Headquarters, Sakazuki was the one who had the biggest problem with her. Every time she tried to hide and avoid being found for forced training, Sakazuki would always use his Observation Haki to find her. This forced her to specifically train her speed so that Sakazuki couldn't sense her.

Grandpa doesn't care whether she trains or not, but this guy always has to interfere. There are plenty of people in the entire navy who can use Observation Haki, but he's the only one coming to bother her.

But Yu wouldn't rush over and beat him up now, nor could she. "How about we make a deal? You let us go, and in exchange, I'll tell you what I know about the vortex."

"No. I'm taking you back to Marine Headquarters."

Very well, you're starting to disregard my feelings again, aren't you? "I've had a friendship with your navy for over ten years, so please give me some face. It's better for both of us. You can't possibly injure me again like this and take me back, can you? You'll be the one who suffers then."

Sakazuki didn't give him any face, so Yu resorted to his old trick—threats. It doesn't matter why it works, as long as it's effective.

Yu told Sakazuki her theory about the vortex: it's basically a Sande Illusion Island, where there should be some sunken treasure, but she didn't know what it was. Also, there's a person named Samojiu on the island who's very familiar with it. And it's possible to get out of the vortex; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to sneak into Tottolan and ambush her.

Yu spoke the truth, saying whatever she knew without trying to frame him.

"So, how did he find you?"

Yu thought Katakuri would suddenly ask her something, but this was all? "I don't know, maybe it's because of his nose... Code names aren't chosen randomly."

"Pfft!" Katakuri couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"What are you laughing at?" To be honest, although Katakuri knew about her relationship with the Navy, he was still worried that she might mind.

Katakuri was simply amused by what Yu said; he didn't mean anything by it.

"Kaki 2 wasn't chosen randomly."

Yu wondered if she had really become stupid, since she couldn't keep up with Katakuri's pace. "Akainu wasn't a name I gave him..."

"Ah."

Katakuri seemed to be in a good mood. But Yu was completely confused; what was going on?

The ship began to rock violently, and items on board, such as chairs and tables, showed signs of slightly lifting off the surface. It seemed they had entered a whirlpool, and they had no idea what would happen next or whether Samojiu had prepared a trap.

Katakuri was still worried about this, so he had Yuu stay in the cabin until they landed after leaving the whirlpool. Outside the cabin, Katakuri faced the seemingly bottomless whirlpool. It had been a while, but he still hadn't seen a glimpse of the island. Had their judgment been wrong?

Yu was in her cabin, staring at Praline. To be precise, Yu watched Praline bobbing excitedly around, until finally giving up on looking at her. She was dizzy, really dizzy. The ship was moving along the whirlpool's path, and she was already feeling a bit nauseous. With Praline on the other end, she felt like throwing up.

Yu wanted to open the window to let in some fresh air, but remembering Katakuri's words, she withdrew her hand that had just touched the edge of the window. It's always better to be cautious when facing the unknown.

But shortly after she returned to her original position, the ship began to rock even more violently. Sensing that this rocking was unusual, Katakuri stood outside the cabin, ready to react at any moment.

Yu didn't dare to be careless, but at that moment, the window that was originally closed was opened by an external force, followed by the vines of the trees.

"Katarina 2!"

"Let go of Yu! Katakuri-nii-san!"

The sounds came from Yu's cabin, but by the time Katakuri turned around, the two had already been pulled out. Exposed between the ship and the whirlpool, Yu's waist was entangled in vines, while Praline held onto the edge of the ship with one hand and Yu with the other. But the difference in their strength was significant, and Praline could no longer hold on.

"You two, don't move!" Katakuri immediately summoned his Earth Dragon upon seeing this, and with a "Shave" he teleported to the two of them, wielding the Earth Dragon to cut the vines.

The pulling force disappeared, and Yuu fell into Katakuri's arms. Praline was fortunate to be on Bubble's back, preventing her from falling onto the deck. But the crisis was not over.

Countless vines appeared, heading straight for Yu. Katakuri wielded his Earth Dragon to separate them, while also keeping an eye on Yu to prevent her from being taken away. Praline didn't just stand by; she helped Katakuri watch the direction of the vines and tried to find where they were coming from.

But there is no trace of its origin.

The back-and-forth maneuvering led to a stalemate between the two sides, and the vines seemed to possess a kind of sentience, having grasped Katakuri's attack patterns.

While Katakuri's attention was focused on the vines surrounding Yu, he overlooked the ones heading straight for him. Katakuri was trapped by the vines, and he tried to use his ability to escape with Yu.

"Karry, what's wrong?!"

An unexpected event occurred; he was unable to use his abilities. In that moment of distraction, the vines bound him and took Yu with them.

"Yu!"

Yu was taken away, and Praline pulled Yu back at the last moment, and they were taken away together. They disappeared into the bottomless vortex.