Wrote off One Piece for 6 years, then my buddy bet me $20 I couldn't get through Arlong Park without caring

Man, your story reminds me of my cousin who swore up and down he would never watch Breaking Bad because everyone kept bugging him about it. Then one rainy weekend he texted me at 3am asking if I knew where he could stream the rest of season 2, and he finished the whole show in like nine days. There is just something about a bet that gets people to finally sit down and pay attention. As for your question, I would say just keep going straight through, the time skip stuff flows better when you don't skip around, and the pacing picks up a lot after that point anyway. Jumping ahead just makes the later reveals hit weird because you miss the setup. So yeah, hold onto your $20 lesson and enjoy the ride.