FicWad

The view from the top of the world is stunning. Sapphire blue seas stretch out before the pirate crew as far as the eye can see. The sky, tinged orange from the dawn clashes with the blue in a beautiful contrast. The seas beneath the carvel churn energetically as if anticipating the beginning of an adventure.

The small caravel-class ship floats smoothly down the mountain, riding the currents with ease. Single-masted and sporting a small garden astern, it compensates for its size with pluck and speed. After all, it carried a crew of six up a mountain to the Grand Line.

And no one on the crew is more excited to have an adventure than the boy standing on top of the Ram-shaped figurehead.

'ALLLLLL RIGHT!' He raises his gauntlet-covered arms in the air. 'We made it, guys! We made it to the grand line!'

The captain of the Straw Hat Pirates turns around to face his crew.

The young man stands on the deck sporting a red vest, black pants, and his distinctive straw hat with a red band around it. His body is slim, athletic, and full of energy. He sports powerful muscles under his thin frame. Short black hair rests under his hat, and he sports a distinctive crescent scar under his right eye. On both arms and around both legs, he wears black rubber gauntlets and greaves that are studded with rounded metal studs. He smiles with a wide and authentic grin while looking at his friends, his Nakama.

A green-haired man with bandages covering his right arm and the side of his face lounges casually against the cabin. The three swords strapped to his haramaki belt, as well as his firm grip on them, mark him as a master swordsman.

An orange-haired girl grips the banister on the quarterdeck for dear life. Her hair flutters in the wind as they are propelled down the mountain current. The full-body black catsuit she wears is filled with pouches of gear, and a modified gas mask is wrapped around her throat.

Two bloodshot eyes reflect from the darkness of the cabin porthole, filled with mirth and fear. Other than the eyes, the only other features one could discern are the figure's long nose and its scraggly black hair.

Inside, a blonde-haired man struggles with the rudder, throwing out his smoke as he tries to keep the ship from capsizing. His fine-looking black suit complements his blood red tie, white dress shirt, and worn rubber gloves.

And finally, a feminine-looking shape, strapped into a black leather diving suit, lies on the deck, moaning from behind the foggy glass of the bowl helmet. She twitches intermittently, continually producing a dreary moaning sound.

'This is it, guys! We made it!' Monkey D Luffy, captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, cheers. 'So long, East Blue! Hello sea of dreams!'

'And good riddance.' Zoro Roronoa, swordsman of the Straw Hat Pirates, spares a glance back at the seas behind him. 'Let's hope the Plague isn't as bad here.'

'Luffy!! Pay attention!' Nami Belimere, the navigator, shouts as she frantically scans the horizon. 'We're barreling down a mountain at a hundred knots an hour! This is no time for sightseeing!!'

'Calm down, Nami...' the voice from the porthole says in a strange tone of voice. 'The Merry's a strong girl. She can make it. We have Kaya's blessing after all...'

'Don't mind me!' Sanji Smoke, the cook, smiles as he steers the ship. 'I'll keep you safe, Nami Swan! Nojiko Saaaan!'

'Uuuuuuuuuu?' The figure encased in its suit responds to the man's lyrical voice, turning towards him. 'Uuuuuuuusssss?'

'Nojiko!' Nami lets go of the banaster to grab the woman's hand. 'You're supposed to be tied to the mast! Who untied you!?'

'Oh! I let her out!'

Nami glares at Luffy. 'What!?'

'Yeah!' He says with a grin. 'I wanted her to get a look at the ocean of dreams, too!'

'Luffy!! You id-'

BBBBWWWWWWAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH

The crew freezes as a deep, bellowing sound shakes them to their core. Sadness, loss, and pain were nothing new to this small vessel's crew. But the agony in that bestial sound gives even them pause.

'W-What was that?' Luffy cups his hands

over his ears.

'This sound...' Nami winces in pain.

'UUUUuuuuuggggHHHH!!' Nojiko moans even louder, struggling to free her hand from Nami's grip.

'Nojiko, Stop Squirming!' She reaches out to restrain her sibling in the suit. 'You need...'

BBBBWWWWWWAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH

'...that sounded louder than the first time.' Zoro comments, staring through the heavy mists, and the source of the sound.

'Obviously moss head!' Sanji shouts back. 'But what is it?'

'It's... a mountain...'

'Huh?' Luffy looks at the porthole. 'Usopp? What's up!?'

'It's a giant mountain!' The sniper in the porthole shouts. 'It’s dead ahead! Approaching fast!'

BBBBWWWWWWAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH

'A mountain!?' Zoro scoffs. 'We just crossed a mountain! Are you...'

The mist parts in front of them.

A mountain comes into view.

A mountain of rotting flesh.

Its body is massive. Larger than most islands with black, rubbery skin. Some of it is at least. The majority of its bulbous body, however, is covered with sickly yellow scabs. Its teeth, each one bigger than the Merry, are broken and yellow with gums inflamed from infection. It's one good eye, the one not covered in crusty yellow boils, leaks black bile into the Ocean. The creature resembles a massive slab of moldy meat more than a creature of the sea. The only proof it is alive is its massive roar of pain and agony.

BBBBWWWWWWAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH

Luffy cups his hands over his ears to keep the maddening sound out.

The wind blowing up the mountain fills the crew's lungs with the scent of rot and death. Unable to stop the current, they barrel towards the open mouth of a sea beast.

'S-Sanji...' Usopp's voice cries out. 'Turn... turn the Merry!'

'I'm... BLErgH!' The cook gags from the stink. The Whip Staff, the only thing steering the ship, slips from his sweaty hands.

BBBBWWWWWWAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH

The sound, so close and powerful, literally drives the crew to their knees from the pressure alone.

With her last seconds of time, Nami narrows her eyes at Zoro 'You...Hope the Plague isn't as bad here? Is that what you said!?'

'Hey!' The swordsman shoots back, struggling to rise. 'I'm not responsible for-'

The jaws of the fleshy creature close over their small ship.

And all is darkness.

.....

Nami strikes a red caution flare and immediately regrets her decision.


'Oh... Fishsticks.' She gags, fastening her breathing mask to her face.

'Hey guys! We're alive! Shi shi shi!!' Luffy lies on the deck laughing.

Nami and the rest of the crew look around at their surroundings in the dim light available to them. They find themselves surrounded by fleshy walls and the yellow-tinged seawater below them. The walls stink with the rank smell of rotting flesh, open, leaking sores exposed to the air around them, making the smell almost unbearable.

'I wonder...' Sanji lights a cigarette and looks around. 'Just how many pieces of sashimi could we make from this baby if it weren't infected? I'm thinking around a trillion pieces or more.'

'Sashimi!? You’re thinking about Sushi at a time like this!? Now that we're...'

SuulRp

A clump of rotting flesh falls from the heavens, landing smack dab in front of Nami.

'Guagh!' She backpedals quickly. 'Zoro! Swab the deck! Now!'

The swordsman shrugs. 'Why should I? You're the one in full protection gear. Do it yourself!'

She places her hands on her hips. 'Because you already have the Plague! It doesn't matter if you get more corpse juice on you!'

He narrows his eyes at her. 'Besides the fact, it'll spread my infection faster?'

Nami glares back. Then she sighs. 'Fine. Sanji kun! Could you...Eeep!'

She dodges another clump of falling flesh. This one, the size of a small child, splatters on the deck, creating a messy orange ring of sick.

'Don't worry, Nami.' A voice echoes from below deck. 'This sea king's nothing compared to the Island eater I killed for Kaya.'

Nami steps away from the mass of still twitching flesh on the deck of their ship.

A mass of flesh, Nojiko is poking and prodding at.

'Uuuuuhhhiiii'

'Nojiko!' She waves her arm. 'Get away from that! I said get away!'

'Hey, chill out, Nami!' Luffy walks the deck, avoiding the piles of rotting flesh raining down on them from above. 'Nojiko's got her suit, so she's fine!'

'We're in the middle of a creature's stomach, Luffy!'

He looks around. 'Actually, I don't think we're in the stomach yet.' The captain says flippiantly. 'Not enough acid.'

'FISHSTICKS!! Fishsticks FISHSTICKS!!' Nami screams, near hyperventilating. 'Are all of you insane!?' She waves her arms around frantically. 'We're inside a rotting, Punk Plague-affected Sea King!! We're going to DIE!!'

'Nami. Calm down, we...'

'No, our fate is worse than death!' The navigator starts to rant. 'We're going to get the Plague and waste away until we're piles of flesh that can only feel pain!! We're going to spend the rest of our natural lives in unending agony!! We're going to rot away to nothing!!'

'Nami.'


'This is all your fault!' She screams at Luffy. 'I knew I shouldn't have joined you! I knew I should have eaten my gun when I had the chance!! Now we're going to slowly rot and...'

'NAMI!'

The firm shout of her captain snaps her out of her spiral.

'You’re panicking. It'll be okay. We'll find our way out. You won't get the plague. I promise.'

Nami looks at Luffy. His confidence, his soft, reassuring voice, shatters her doubts and fears.

'You promise?'

'Pistol!'

Luffy's arm extends. A blob of flesh about to fall on her is knocked away by his fist.

He retracts his arm and shakes the gunk on his gauntlet off the side of the ship. 'Promise. But I need my navigator, think you can help?'

Nami looks at him. Takes several deep breaths and looks at her surroundings. 'Okay. Okay. If this beast is rotting, then its body must have a weak spot where the plague first started spreading.'

'And that helps us how?' Zoro spits over the side. 'The boils of the punk plague are immortal. You pop them, and they grow back a second later.'

'True. But look at this creature's flesh.' She gestures to the rotting cordor around them. 'The cancerous boils of the Punk Plague draw their nutrients from the flesh around them.'

Zoro looks at his bandaged arm with a sneer. 'Don't remind me, witch.'

'I see...' the bandana-covered head of a man pops up from a slim hatch in the deck. A small yellow tumor on the tip of his long nose. 'If we find the spot where the Punk plague is strongest, we'll find where the Sea King's flesh is weakest!'

'Exactly.' Nami snaps at Usopp, sniper of the Straw Hat Pirates. 'Then we'll just blow a hole through the creature's rotting hide and get out of this Abyss hole.'

'I'll load the forward cannons.' The hatch closes.

Nami claps. 'Okay, crew, you've got your orders and...'

'Uuuuugggghhh! Uuuuuhhhhh.' The woman in the diving suit points to the front of the ship.

Nami sighs. 'Nojiko, what is it now?'

'Ughhhhhg!? Uhhhh!'

Nami sighs. 'Sanji, could you please tie her leash to the mast? We need...'


'Hey! I see light ahead of us!'

'What!?'

Following the words of the captain, the crew turns to look ahead of them. Sure enough, they see light coming from the tip of the tube in front of them.

'See, guys! We're going to make it after all!'

'What?' Nami stares her mouth open at the trickle of light their ship is moving towards. 'But... but...'

She flinches as Zoro pats her on the back. 'Nice plan, oh great navigator. Looks like we didn't need it though.'

'But this makes no sense!' Nami shouts. 'If the creature can submerge, then any hole it has should be spewing out water! This makes no sense!'

'Yeah, but if it gets us out, who cares?' Sanji takes a drag on his cigarette. 'It can't get much weirder than this.'

.....

'Well, Sanji!?'

'...I stand corrected.' Sanji stares. 'It can absolutely get weirder.'

The scene they find themselves in is as surreal as it is disturbing. A bright blue sky, floating clouds, a glowing yellow

sun and a picturesque island in the middle of a fearsome beast.

That's what it would look like if the sky weren't filled with rot. Yellow boils, flaky blue paint that is peeling everywhere, a flickering lamp dug into its flesh, and a decrepit old man sitting in a chair are the sights the straw hats see.

The old man looks at them with wise, deep eyes that speak to them of his years and experience. He wears a floral shirt, short brown pants, and has yellow flower petals positioned around his head. A tremor of dread fills the rookie crew with a single glance from his yellow cataract-heavy eyes.

'...well!' Nami turns, pointing at the opening they came out of. 'Back the way we came!'

'Hey, old guy!' Luffy shouts over the ocean between them. 'Do you know a way out of here!?'

'Curse you, Luffy...' Nami turns, forcing a smile on her face. 'Hello, good sir! We seem to have gotten lost!' She flashes her most benevolent smile. 'Could you point us to the nearest Island? We're willing to pay!'

The man stares at them, adjusts his posture, and starts reading a newspaper with a grumble. 'Pirates?' He looks up at the Jolly Roger they are flying, that of a straw hat skull and crossbones, wearing a straw hat, and laughs. 'Kids these days.'

'Hey! Old guy! Heeeeyyyy!!'

'Mmm, go away.' He turns back to the paper in his hands.

'Heeeeeeyyyy!!'

'He's not responding.' Nami groans.

'Maybe he's crazy?' Sanji suggests.

'He's on an island in the middle of a whale's stomach, painted to look like the sky.' Zoro sarcastically remarks. 'I’m sure he’s a model of sanity.'

'HEY HEY HEY HEY HEY HEY HEY HEY HEY HEY HEY!!'

'Alright!' He stands up, 'Damn you're...' He coughs a wad of something into his paper and throws it away. 'Loud! Can't you just leave me alone?'

'Hey, old man! Can...'

'I heard you!' The man cleans the wax from his ears. 'Look, you're obviously refugees from the East Blue, trying to escape like the rest. If I show you the way out, will you leave Laboon and me alone?'

'Laboon? What's a Laboon?' Luffy asks.

'Laboon is this whale.' The man points to the ceiling. 'I parked myself in here so I could give him his medicine and do what I can for him.'

'This thing's a whale?!' Zoro shouts.

'Medicine!?' Nami leans over. 'That would make you a doctor!'

The man sighs and looks around the small floating island he is on. 'I'm not going to join your crew. I'm retired!'

'But... why!? With everything going on, doctors are in massive demand!' Nami expresses disbelief. 'Why would you waste your time treating a half-dead whale when...'

Bang

A pistol bullet hits the hull of their ship. The smoking gun in the man's hand aimed at them.

The crew immediately gets on guard. Swords are drawn, guns are aimed.

'Hey!' A voice from below deck shouts. 'Who's taking shots at the Merry!?'

'Steady Usopp.' Luffy then turns to the doctor. 'Hey, old guy! What gives?'

'...I have my reasons for protecting this whale.' The man glares at them. 'Now do you want my help? Or do you want to wait until your ship disolves in the acid?'

'Acid?' Nami looks around at the rotting interior of the whale.

The old man grins maliciously. 'That's right. Acid strong enough to melt wood like cheap wax, and unless your ship's got solid iron for a hull...' he stomps on his hollow island. 'It'll be gone in about ten minutes.'

The crew looks around in a panic.

'He's bluffing, right?' Zoro grips his blades tightly.

A foul, sizzling sound can be heard.

The man chuckles. 'Oops, looks like Laboon's hungry. Better make that five minutes.'

'We'll take your help!' Nami shouts, leaning over the side of the ship to look at the smoke coming from Merry's hull.

'Great!' The man smiles, holstering his weapon on his khaki shorts. 'Now throw over... let's say thirty million and I'll show you the way out.'

'Thirty Million!?!' Sanji roars. 'That's extortion, you bastard!!'

'Done!' Nami turns to the cook. 'Sanji gets thirty million from the savings!'

'But Nami Swan!? That money...'

'Is not worth our lives! Do it!'

'Uuuggghh!'

Nami grabs Nojiko before she can climb overboard and turns to the old man. 'See! We're getting you your money, just don't...'

'Gomu no Pistol!' Luffy throws out a punch.

'Luffy!?' Zoro looks at his captain.

'Luffy no! Not yet!' Nami shouts.

The punch goes flying towards the man who aims his gun.

But the gauntlet-covered fist goes wide.

Instead of the old man, it strikes a cannonball about to hit him from behind, exploding into a cloud of smoke.

'What!?' The man turns around, realizing how close he came to being blown up.

Luffy's fist stretches back to him. 'All right. Come on out, you cowards!!' He shouts out to anyone who can hear him.

'...well. It would appear we've been discovered, Mrs Wednesday.' A voice echoes through the chamber. 'So much for your surprise attack.'

'Shut it, Mr 9.'

All eyes inside the whale's stomach turn towards a large gate that had gone unnoticed before. The gate's iron frame seems to be wedged into the inside of the whale's stomach, with dozens of iron bars preventing easy passage onward. The tumors that surround the steel frame leak blood freely into the waters around the gate.


But rather than the haphazard scraps of metal, the group is far more interested in the two individuals standing on the metal bars.

The first is a male wearing a gaudy gold crown on top of a mop of red hair. His green thread suit and pink ascot clash with the number "9" tattooed across each cheek. In his right hand, he carries a bat, and in his left a portable cannon.

The second is a cruel-looking woman with blue hair, a brown vest that hugs her torso, and a flowing blue turquoise skirt. Her right arm is metal with slender steel fingers clutching a scimitar. Her left arm, made of flesh, throws her rocket launcher off to the side.


'Ha ha ha!' The man points his gun at the old man. 'So at last we meet! The guardian of the demon whale Laboon! I have looked forward to this day ever since...'

'Hey brats.' The old man turns back to the straw hats.

'Hey!' The arrogant man stomps. 'Don't ignore me!'

'I'll...Pheat!' He spits out a wad of thick yellow pus before he addresses the crew. 'I'll show you the way out for free and give you a crate of meds if you take out these clowns.'

The crown-wearing man laughs mockingly. 'Please! As if some wet behind the ears pirates could...'

......

'So where are these meds, old guy?' Luffy asks their guide while hanging upside down from the mast on stretchy legs.

Sanji and Zoro paddle through the clogged intestines, the old man is leading them down. Meanwhile, Nami finishes hog-tying their two captives.

'Yes, old guy.' Nami grunts as she finishes her rope work and gags. 'Where is this medicine you promised us?'

The old man lounges on the deck in his chair, ignoring the verbal prodding of Nami and the physical prodding of Nojiko.

He slaps the hand of the woman in full plague gear. 'The name is Crocius of the lighthouse, and you'll know when you get there. I wouldn't want you to try and kill me before I can guide you to safety.'

'Kill you!?' Nami acts shocked. 'Why would we ever want to kill someone so kind and helpful!?'

'...your sarcasm isn't appreciated.'

Nami pouts 'Well, in our defense, you were going to leave us to die.'

'No, I wouldn't have.' He sighs, driving off Nojiko's attempts to pull at the pedals around his dome. 'If you couldn't have paid me, I would have forced you to give up being pirates. That or pull you out once your ship was busted. The seas are too dangerous these days for kids like you.'

Luffy drops down. 'Well, we're not scared. I'm going to be king of the pirates after all.'

Crocius laughs. 'They all say that. Up till they die that is.'

Luffy sticks out his tongue.

Crocius laughs louder, before a wet cough stops him. 'If you were smart, you'd head back to your East Blue. No matter how bad the plague scare is, there's nothing that could possibly prepare you for the Grand Line. For the Ocean which travels around the world.'

'Yeah, we know what to expect.' Nami reaches into a pouch on her suit, pulling out a worn leather Notebook. 'We read over the captain's log of a pirate who explored the Grand Line. Got a Log pose too.'

'You mean you and Sanji read Zeff's book.' Luffy places his hands behind his head. 'I want to be surprised!'

The man gives the girl a strange grin. 'And you still wanted to go to the Grand Line!? I saw a few refugees fleeing from plague in the East Blue, but surely it can't be that bad!?'

......


Pillars of flame consume buildings that have lasted for decades. Men and women scream for mercy that isn't offered. Blood flows like water down cobblestone streets.

'FOR PURITY!! FOR JUUUSSSTICE!!'

.....

'...you kids okay?' Crocius watches the crew visibly pale.

'... let's just say...' Nami feels her mouth dry out from fear. 'You won't be getting many more refugees from the east blue...'

'So this cannal thing?' Luffy redirects the conversation. 'Does it lead out of the but?'

'What do you think?' Crocius levels a glare at him.

'Great!' Nami exclaims, keeping Nojiko from touching their gagged captives. 'As if this day could get any worse! Now we have this s-'

'It doesn't.'

'Old man!'

'Egh!' Zoro grunts as he paddles. 'So if this tunnel doesn't lead us out, then where are we going?'

The old man of the lighthouse points. 'There.' He begins to cough. 'That gate there. Bring her up alongside it.'

The crew looks to see a large bulkhead door dug into the fleshy wall. Its surface looks stained with blood, bile, and foul-smelling sludge.

Crocius stands up. 'Seventy percent of Laboon's digestive tract was blocked off by growths, so to allow him to... relieve himself, I built a hatch into his small intestine that leads out to sea.' He limps over to a small contraption on the gate. ‘And according to the pressure gauge we’re still above sea level, so we just have to open the gate and leave.’

Nami looks over the edge into the sludge around her and gags. 'So all this stuff is...'

'It's a natural process, little miss.' He operates a rotary gear on the wall pressing several numbered buttons. 'If I'm not mistaken, you do it too.'

'Luffy.' A voice echoes from below deck. 'Please tell me we're cleaning Merry after this.'

'Aft to stern Usopp.' Luffy confirms. 'Nami would kill us otherwise.'

Crocius punches in several digits. 'Your hidden friend is pretty shy.'

'He's going through a... phase.' Nami says politely.

Punching the last digit and pulls a lever. With an unnatural crunch sound, like the smashing of several bones the gate slowly slides open with a metallic hiss. 'Damn. The auto close hydroelectrics are caked over again. I'll have to fix it next time.' He grabs the mast. 'You kids might want to hold on.'


'Hold on for whaaaaAAAAAA!!!'

The door suddenly explodes outwards, and the intestinal wall spasms violently. Hundreds of tons of half-digested sewage spill out through a small opening, pushing them outside like a cork from a bottle of champagne. Projected by a vile concoction, the ship flies through the air and crashes into the sea, covered in substances too vile to describe.

BBBBWWWWWWAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH

The whale, feeling the discharge from its body, lets out another cruel bellow and dives beneath the sea. The sea itself shakes with its departure, causing the Merry to dance for several seconds before the sea can calm itself.

Crocius, having safely clung to the mast, lets go mostly unsullied thanks to his choice of cover. 'You kids okay? Or is the Grand Line too much for you now?'

'That...' Luffy shakes gunk off his hat. 'Was not cool, old guy.'

'Uggg!' Zoro groans on the deck. 'It got on my bandages...'

'It's in the Merry!!' Usopp shouts. 'Now the smell's never getting out!'

'Uuuuuuuuuuppppp.' Nojiko's groans sound more disgusted than normal.


'Yuck!' Sanji groans. 'So much for my good suit. Nami, Nojiko, are you two okay?

'EMERGENCY DECONTAMINATION NOW!!' Nami screams, running over to a large red ripcord next to the Cabin.

'Oh great...'

'Hold on, guys!'

'Uggggg!'

'Not again!'

Crocius looks around. 'Now what are you ki-'

An insane Nami pulls the chord, and the going Merry is engulfed in an explosion of military-grade soap suds.

.....

'It's not like you could have opened the gate on your own.' The Crocius says while mopping the deck. He cleans the suds from the pedals around his bald head. 'Not without the numeric code. You should be offering thanks. Without me, you'd still be...'

Nami glares so hatefully at him that he feels his tongue seize up. 'Clean. Now. Medicine. Later.'

The angry sea beast glares at the rest of her slaves. 'And did I give the rest of you

permission to stop scrubbing!?'

The straw hats (Save Nojiko) and their new guests scrub the deck even harder.

'W-Why are we cleaning?!' The man in the crown weeps as he polishes off the mast.

'Be grateful they took off the bindings, Mr 9.' The blue-haired woman cleans the walls with a rag. 'Remember, the plague is an enemy to everyone. So preventing infection is everyone's duty.'

Nami actually offers a smile at this. 'Well, it looks like someone else on this boat has a good head on her shoulders. Unlike SOME PEOPLE!'

Crocius throws a pail of sick, infested water overboard. 'I told you to hold on.'

'You. Nearly. Gave. Us. The. Plague.'

'And I told you the Grand Line is dangerous.' Crocius pops his back. 'If you're not prepared to risk your lives on this sea, then you should swallow your pride and go home.'

'...I don't have a home to go back to.' Nami says, sadly watching Nojiko as she walks around on her leash. 'Most of us don't.'

'Then find a new one. If you keep going on these seas, all that awaits you is death.' He then walks down the Merry's gang plank to the shore.

Compared to the interior of a sea beast, the rocky coast looks almost homely. Sharp jagged rocks covered in the debris of shattered ships line the opening to the Grand Line. The fierce current leading down the mountain throws shattered masts and debris higher up the cliff face. A large lighthouse made of white stone sits inactive on the top of a cliff with a narrow rope ladder leading upwards.

'Now if you're done working me to the bone i'll get you your reward.' Crocius climbs up a ladder on the side of a cliff towards a pristine lighthouse on the top of the cliff.

Nami sighs. 'All right, guys. Take five.'

The crew falls to the deck exhausted. 'Usopp? How's below decks?'

'Everything's great down here, Nami! Kaya would be proud! I even organized the supplies that got tossed around.'

'Thank you, Usopp. And as for you two.' The navigator levels a pistol from one of her pouches at their two captives. 'Don't even think about running. On your knees.'

The man scoffs, rising to his feet. 'Do you have any Idea who it is you're protecting? Do you have any idea of the organization to which-'

Bang

A bullet passes by his head.


The orange-haired woman cocks the gun again. 'I know he's paying us. So on your knees before I give you a new hole to speak out of.'

Mr 9. On your knees.' The blue-haired woman kneels.

'Wednesday!'

The two women stare at each other.

'You seem like a reasonable person.' The stranger says. 'We can discuss this like civilized people.'

'...Zoro, Sanji.'

'Ugh. Slave driver.' The green-haired swordsman stands behind the man, forcing him to his knees.

'Sanji, watch the girl.' Nami doesn't take her gun's aim off of her as a heart-eyed Sanji skips behind her. 'We'll see what our employer has to say before we talk. Usopp?' She stamps on the deck. 'Is he making any suspicious moves?'

'...no. He's just packing up a crate with vials of... something.' The sniper spies on Crocius inside the lighthouse. The small reflection in a window offering him sight into his actions. 'The stuff itself could be poisoned, but I doubt it. Going through all the trouble to drug guys who will be long gone doesn't seem like something he'd do.'

'I agree... with Usopp.' Luffy pants from exhaustion, his body still recovering from the vigorous cleaning. 'The old guy's grumpy, but he seems like a good person.'

'We'll see how good he is.' Zoro casually glances upwards. 'He's coming back now.'

The crew watches as the guardian of the lighthouse climbs down the ladder, a large box of supplies over his shoulder. After a minute or so of climbing and a few wet coughs, Crocius makes it back to the Merry's deck.

'Here you are.' He carefully places the box on the deck. 'A few bottles of high-class sedatives, some anti-bacterials, and a few compounds I designed to

slow down plague growth by dilating blood vessels.'

Nami practically falls on the crate, opening it and perusing its contents with glee. 'This is... this is worth... this is priceless! Thank you!'

Crocius smiles. 'You're welcome. Just consider it a thanks for helping Laboon.'

He draws his pistol.

Bang!

Brains splatter over Zoro's black hakama pants. The man in a green suit falls to the deck, bleeding from a hole in his head. His bloody crown rolls on the deck.

'MR 9!' His partner yells.

Crocius aims his gun at her.

'Wa-'

Bang!

Blood hits the deck. The blue-haired girl falls, crimson stains her hair. She screams, knowing she is dead.

'What!?' Luffy shouts.

The crew looks at Crocius, the lighthouse keeper, who is staring at one person in particular.

'...why did you do that? You got your payment.' Crocius looks at the man whose foot is pushing his gun out of the way.

'That's my line, jackass!' Sanji growls, his foot pushing the old man's gun away from the girl. 'What in the Abyss do you think you're doing!?'

The woman with blue hair, her right ear half gone, stares up at the man protecting her. Realizing how close she came to death.

'I'm discouraging these no-good whalers from coming back.' The old man throws off Sanji with surprising strength. 'If I let them go, they'd just send more no-good whalers. They'll keep coming, coming after Laboon's...pHetch... meat.'

'The only way to make sure they don't send more...' He points his gun at the mystery woman in front of him. 'Is to make sure they don't report back.'

Sanji prepares to charge him again, but Luffy's firm hand stops him. 'Luffy!? You can't expect me to...'

Luffy walks past Sanji and stands between Crocius and the woman. The entire crew watches him with a mixture of awe and concern.

'This is my ship, old man.' Luffy stands resolute and firm. 'On a captain's ship, his word is law. And I didn't give you permission to kill anyone.'

'...even if that someone is a pirate killing

bounty hunter?' Crocius scoffs. 'She probably was waiting for you to drop your guard so she could kill you herself.'

The crew flinches as one, looking between the bleeding woman and the old man.

'I thought Mr 9 and Miss Wednesday sounded like code names.' Zoro draws one of his swords. 'And if I've got it right, that makes you a member of-'

'There's a bounty on the whale!' The woman shouts. 'Thirty million! For mass murder and destruction of property! I'll split it with you! Help me!' She rambles as fast as she can, knowing her life depends on it.

Luffy looks behind him, his eye shrouded in the dark brim of his hat. 'So you are a bounty hunter?'

'He's crazy! He's protecting a mad animal that's sinking countless ships!' She points to the rocky shores covered in rotten wood beams. 'Look around! Do you think you're the only ship it has tried to sink!? It's killing people and infecting the local sea life with the Plague! That's why it has a bounty!'

The crew spares a glance at the wreckage on the shore. Suddenly, the wooden chaff they had dismissed before takes on new sinister connotations.

Nami looks back at the woman. 'And you had no intention of collecting our heads? I find it hard to believe a money-hungry cutthroat wouldn't stab us in the back.'

'I didn't know you pirates were here!' The woman staunches her bleeding ear with her metal right hand. 'And I don't care! I just want to kill the whale and...'

'No one HAck!' The aura around Crocius grows even more intimidating. 'No one is killing Laboon. I have an obligation... to protect him.'

'Even if the whale is killing innocent people!?' The woman glares at Crocius from behind Luffy. 'Even if it is a danger to itself and others!?'

The man stares back. 'Yes.' He lowers his gun, looking back at his lighthouse with a sigh. 'I've known Laboon for coming on fifty years now. Ever since, ever since the Rumbar pirates left him with me.'

'Fifty years?' Nami questions.

'Pirates?' Luffy adjusts his hat. 'I thought you hated pirates, old man.'

'What I hate...pletch,' he spits a wad of orange gunk over the side of the ship. 'Are impulsive kids like you who are trying to get killed. These pirates were different.'

He looks wistfully at his lighthouse.

'They came here fifty years ago. Before the plague. Before Rodger. When the seas were filled with possibilities and not nightmares. Their ship had been damaged, so they stopped to repair it for around two months.'

Crocius leans on the banister, gun still in hand. 'They came from the West Blue with big dreams and big hearts. Them and their little whale. A whale that was too small to survive the horrors of the Grand Line.'

He looks at the sea. 'So I promised I'd take care of them. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing, taking him in. They said they'd be back in two years or so, but as the years dragged on, Laboon got more and more worried.'


'I... hECk! Left my lighthouse for a while to look for them, and what I found confirmed my suspicions.' Crocius frowns. 'The Plague got them.'

He chuckles darkly. 'Ironic. The plague only started popping up fifty years ago, and they were some of the first people to get it. So with a heavy heart, and after my job on that ship was done, I came back and told Laboon the truth.'

'...and I take it that the whale didn't take it well.' Zoro comments.

Crocius shakes his head. 'No. I told him... the whole sordid story, but he wouldn't listen. The idea that the same illness that gave him such pain had

taken his friends. It refused to believe.'

'And he's been waiting ever since...' a voice echoes from below deck.

'Sometimes he cries at the red line. Other times, he bashes his head against it, hoping to break his way to the other side.' He gestures to the box of meds on the deck. 'When I have enough supplies, I dose him with sedatives to keep him from hurting himself too badly. But he's a large creature, and supplies are hard to come by when most are afraid to travel.'

'Uuuuuuuuhhhh...' Nojiko's finger points to her bubble helm.

'Yes, Nojiko, the damage to his head must be what's spreading the infection.

into the seas.' Nami grips her chin. 'The tumors can't survive long without a host body to feed on. But if they find their way into the water, say from bashing a tumor-encrusted head against a mountain...'

'Then scavenger species will eat it.' Sanji grimly finishes her thoughts. 'It's how the plague affects the entire food chain. You eat one fish that hasn't been properly cleaned or checked, and you've just signed your death warrant.'

The blue-haired woman nods. 'Nearly ninety percent of the seafood we depended on to live was tainted! Which is why...'

'That isn't Laboon's fault!' The old man turns to face her.

The seas behind the ship explode upwards as Laboon explodes up into the open air. A shower of seawater rains down on their rocking boat.

BBBBWWWWWWAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH

His pained cries echo against the small ship.

'Look at him!' Crocius gestures as the blighted whale slams into the mountain. The seas and earth shake from the impact. 'After fifty years, he still has faith!' He coughs up another yellow clump. 'He believes in them, still believes in his friends! He is fighting to see them!'

'It's a mad beast!' The blue-haired woman says. 'It needs to be put down!'

'I won't just stand by and watch him die! He deserves more than to be eaten by heCPt! gluttonous whalers like you!'

'For the last time, it is tainted meat! We don't want to eat it, you insane old man! It needs to die!'

Crocius aims his gun at her. 'You're the one who needs to die! Laboon deserves to live! Not you!'

'Its already dead! the whale is practically a floating corpse now!'

'Laboon is a living being in pain! I've watched him for fifty years, I won't let him die now!'

'It doesn't deserve to live!' The woman shoots back with venom. 'Its infecting and killing everyone around it. At this point, killing it is a merc-'

A metal staff strikes her in the face, sending her back to the ground.

The woman looks up to see Nami glaring coldly down at her. A three-section staff is in her hand. '...I've changed my mind. Let's ice the bounty hunter trash.'

'Nami Swan?' Sanji looks at his crewmate with a conflicted expression.

'She's a bounty hunter, Sanji. A grubby, money-hungry murderer who is worse than the Marines. You're with me, right, Luffy?' She looks behind her.

But their captain is gone.

'Luffy?' Nami and the rest of the crew look about. Ignoring the terrified woman on the deck.

'Luffy?' Zoro looks around. 'Where did he go?'

'Usopp?' Sanji stomps on the deck. 'Did you see where he went?'

'Uh... I was kinda engrossed in the story...'

Nami groans. 'Just great! We lost him again. Let's hope he doesn't get in too much...'

'WaAaaaaaaaaGGGHHHHHH!!'

The Strawhat pirates, Crocius of the lighthouse, and their mysterious guest look in the direction of the whale Laboon. Running up the creature's hide carrying a massive half-rotten mast three times as large as the Merry's.

'...does your captain really like mountain climbing?' Crocius watches with pure confusion. 'Why is he running up Laboon?'

Nami groans, rubbing her head. 'No, this is just more of our captain's stupidity.'

Zoro groans. 'You take your eyes off him for one minute, and he does something stupid.'

'At least I stopped him from taking the Merry's mast.' Usopp grumbles.

'So you did know where he was!' Nami yells at the deck.

'N-No!' Usopp's eye peeks through a drainage hole in the deck. 'He just said he needed a big piece of wood to help Laboon, and I told him to pick out some of the scrap lying on the rocks if he needed it. I have no idea what he's up to!'

'A piece of wood?' The mystery girl asks, managing to inch away from the man waving a gun at her. 'How's a piece of wood going to help that beast?'

'Gomu nooooooo BOUQUET!!'

They watch with increasing levels of disbelief as Luffy jams the huge piece of wood in the Whale's disgusting hide.

Everything is quiet.

'...did he just...'

'Yes, Usopp, he just attacked a massive whale a thousand times his size.'

'...Nami?'

'Yes, Usopp?'

'We should move the ship.'

A spurt of blackish blood drips down the wound on the Whale's skull. After a full ten seconds, the pain finally reaches the brain of the creature.

BbbBWWwwWwAaaAaAAaHhHHhHhHHh

The creature thrashes about; every sweep of its tail is a tsunami, every splash becomes a typhoon of salty rain. The small caravel shakes against the force of its fury.

'Luffy! You IDIOT!' The crew shouts as one as the Merry is thrown about on the sea.

'Laboon!' Crocius shouts, clinging onto the ship for dear life. 'LABOON, calm down!!'

BBBbWwWwWwAAaAAAAaHHhHHHhHhh

The whale's one good eye narrows in anger and, with its full strength, throws its body into the air. It hangs in the air for a moment, its head tilted downward.

And with the force of an earthquake, Luffy and the wooden stake are smashed against the rocky shore. The white lighthouse is reduced to rubble, the earth cracks, and the shockwave throws the Merry away from the shore. Mr 9's body flies off the side, and the rest of the crew holds on for dear life as their craft.

is shaken by the turbulence.

BbbBWWwwWwAaaAaAAaHhHHhHhHHh

The whale moans, sliding off the mountainside. The wooden stake is half-buried in its skull.

'LABOON!'

'Luffy!!'

A small figure crawls from the rubble of the tower. His red vest is torn, his gauntlets covered in blood. He rises to his feet with a massive grin on his face.

'Gomu no...' his arms shoot backwards. 'Bazooka!'


His arms shoot forward, smashing into Laboon's one good eye. Blood and bile splatter out as his fists punch through the soft tissue. Fear and anger fill the creature's eye.

BBBBWWwWwWAAAaAAaHhHHhHhHH

Propelling itself through the water, its massive head smashes into Luffy's body. The earth cracks again, yellow-tinged blood and torn scabs from the whale stain the rocks.

'LABOOOON!! Stop!' Crocius grabs Nami. 'Girl! Bring us closer! We have to protect Laboon from your mad captain!'

'Sanji! Rudder to port now or we'll be on the rocks!' Nami struggles with the sail unfurled by the force of the shockwave. 'Forget it! No blunt damage can hurt Luffy. Protecting the ship comes first!'

He points his gun at her. 'Turn this...' he coughs again. 'Turn this cursed ship around or I'll...'

A projectile slams into the ship, throwing the crew on deck around like rag dolls.

Nami finds herself caught in Sanji's arms. 'Nami Swan!? Are you okay!'

She shoves him. 'Just steer the ship! If we're gonna survive Luffy's stupidity, we need you at the wheel!'

'Ugggh!' The splinters and wood dust on the deck clear up as Monkey D Luffy pulls himself from the wooden hole in the ship. 'That actually hurt.'

'Luffy!? What the Abyss!?' A dark, shrouded eye shouts through the crack.

Luffy looks back. 'Oh, Usopp. Sorry about the Merry. I just needed to fight Laboon for a while.'

'And WHY!?' Zoro grips his throat with his one good arm. 'Why did you decide to fight an insane sea beast!?'

'Oh, to give him a reason to keep living!' He says with a smile.

'Give it a what!?' The blue-haired woman shouts, clutching her half-missing right ear. 'I thought you were trying to kill it!?'

Crocius glares at him. 'How is trying to murder Laboon going to give him a reason to keep living!?'

Luffy thinks of the best way to put it. 'Well, his friends are dead, so he keeps hurting himself looking for them. Once we have a draw, he'll have to stop hitting his head so he can save his strength and fight me once I become king of the pirates!'

'...WHAT!?'

'Luffy, you numbskull!' Zoro punches him in the head. 'You nearly got us killed picking a fight with a giant whale. Because you felt bad for it!?'


Luffy stands up. 'Well, it worked, didn't it?' He points to Laboon lying on the shore. 'See, he's all tuckered out. So once I explain that, now he can't hurt himself anymore...'

The whale slides slowly off the cliff face, deep rivulets of blood and bile staining the waters around it.

'Huh?' Luffy looks over to the shore in dumbfounded shock.

The crew stares at a mountain of pus and muscle bigger than a small island. They watch as its massive weight drags it into the sea.

'Luffy.' Acting first mate Zoro looks on. 'I

think the whale is dead.'

'What!?' Luffy looks at his crewmate. 'No way! Laboon's as big as a mountain! He's probably just tired.'

'Sometimes it doesn't matter how big someone is, Luffy.' Nami watches the whale slowly slide into the sea. 'One good blow can kill anyone.'

'N-No way! You're wrong, Nami!' The straw hat-wearing boy shouts in defiance. 'Old man, you're a doctor! Tell them! Tell them they're wrong!'

'...Laboon...' Crocius falls to his knees.

'Oy! Old man! Tell them they're... wrong?'

Laboon's eye catches their sight. A crusty orb with growths of yellow slowly sinking beneath the waves. Its pupil is white and dead, not a trace of anger, rage, or pain to be found.

'Laboon!' the old man of the lighthouse cries louder.

With a resounding crash, the last of the whale slips beneath the waves, and all is quiet as the water is stained with blood. The people on board the merry can only stare at the somber sight for several minutes. Watching the water for some sign of life, some proof that the giant that could crack the continent was alive.

But nothing emerges from the water save blood and bubbles of trapped air.


Emotions on board vary.

But no emotions are more tumultuous than those of their captain.

'I...' Luffy looks at the cloud of blood, at all the gore on the shore with a look of horror. 'I didn't want to... I just wanted to help...'

'...just wanted to help?'

Luffy looks at Crocius staring at the same scene. 'O-Old guy, you belie-

'Just trying to HELP!?' The old man's fists clench.

'I just wanted to help Laboon! I-I didn't want...’

He shoots to his feet and glares at Luffy with such naked hatred it momentarily stuns the boy. 'You wanted to help him!? Well, you failed.'

'It was an accident!'

'You drove a wooden stake into his skull.' Crocius says as coldly as the Arctic wind. 'You aimed for his skull, hit a vital artery on a sick creature who was already weak.'

'I didn't mean to!'

'You murdered Laboon.'

'N-No!' Luffy looks between the sinking carcass and the old man. 'I was trying to...'

'You MURDERED Laboon!!' The old man's fist connects with Luffy's face. Sending him crashing into the mast.

A burst of energy cracks his skull, and pain causes his vision to swim.

That punch hurt! The sensation of a blunt object hurting a rubber man rattles him on a physical and mental level.

'Luffy!'

'You killed him! You bastard!! You kill...' The lighthouse keeper coughs up blood over the deck. 'You killed him!!'

'I..'

Crocius grips his throat; Luffy feels his bones strain. His rubber body is unable to protect him from the enraged man's blows.

'He was innocent!' Crocius screams in his face. 'He was a sweet, beautiful creature who never hurt anyone, and YOU KILLED HIM!'

The grieved man finds a sword under his throat. 'You had better calm down and take your meds, old man.' Zoro glares at him. 'He was only trying to...'

A backwards kick sends Zoro over the edge of the deck, shattering the railing into cheap kindling.

'Zoro!' Sanji leaps into the air, spinning head over foot. 'Take this Concasser!'


The old man who raises his arm. Sanji's leg slams into him. The deck cracks beneath his feet.

'What?' Sanji hangs in the air, Crocius holding his leg like a piece of trash. 'How is this guy so strong?'

The old man coughs up a little blood. 'And you... You just sat and watched. You're guilty too!'

Crocius swings Sanji like an axe, shearing off the mast and sending Luffy flying into the cabin.

'Its all you're fa-' he coughs uncontrollably for a few seconds. 'Fault! We were happy! Laboon was happy!

Then you arrived and messed everything up!'

He tries to walk towards the cabin where Luffy is, only to find a pair of weak hands grabbing him.

'Uuuuuh. Uhhhhh!'

Crocius offers Nojiko a glance before slapping her back and resuming his heavy steps towards the Cabin.

'Nojiko!' Nami fires several bullets, which bounce off the man's skin. 'Luffy! Get up! We need you! Get up!'

Luffy pulls himself from the planks on top of him, only to see Crocius above him. Luffy looks up at the livid man standing in a hole in the dusty commons room.

'Old guy! Stop Laboon wouldn't...'

A punch drives him to the ground, breaking his jaw.

He raises his fist to strike again.

'Sure hit Cannon!'

Crocius explodes as a ball of force hits him. Dust flies. The deck catches on fire.

Crocius waves his hand. The dust and fire vanish from the force of his swing.

He looks over to a crawling shape near the corner of the room.

'Uh... sorry?'

'Monsters.' Crocius draws his pistol and aims it at the thing carrying the cannon. 'Monsters all... of you.'

'Stop!' Luffy jumps in between them. 'Old guy! Stop! You're a good guy, don't be a murderer! Laboon wouldn't want this!'

'...'

'I'll,' he bows his head. 'I'll take responsibility for what I did to Laboon. But don't hurt my friends! It’s my fault, not theirs!'

'...'

Luffy looks up. 'Crocius?' he asked, stunned by the yellow-eyed man’s sudden restraint.

He looks up just in time to see Crocius fall face down, a simple dagger sticking out of his back. And standing over him, her metal right arm covered in blood, is the mysterious woman.

'That...' she shakes the blood off her hand. 'That was for Mr 9. You crazy bastard.'

.....


'You sure you want to do this?' Zoro says, holding a torch. 'He tried to kill us, you know.'

Luffy takes a long look at the small boat and the man inside it. Crocius' face is a mask of peace and tranquility. 'He and Laboon... they were together for fifty years.' He looks out at the cold sea, feeling the breeze on his skin. 'They belong together.'

Zoro shrugs and, with a flick of his wrist, throws the torch into the small boat. The kindling catches on fire, and with a shove of his foot, he sends Crocius's remains out to sea.

'I still say you should have just thrown him overboard.' The blue-haired woman says. 'You have no idea how many people he killed protecting that walking vector of infection.'

Sanji smokes his cigarette. 'The old guy was crazy, but everything he did he did for love.' He drops the but on the ground and stamps it out. 'I can respect that, even if it drove him to attack Nami Swan and Nojiko Swan.'

'Uuuuuhhhhh?' Nojiko throws whale-blood-stained dirt into the sea, towards the burning rowboat.

'Nojiko, don't play with that.' Nami pulls on her leash, getting her to stop. 'Well, I for one am grateful for our new friend not stabbing us in the back.'


'Yeah.' Luffy tries to perk himself up, turning to the cold-eyed woman. 'Thank you for helping us... uh, I didn't get your name.'

'Vivi.'

'H-Huh?'

'My name is Vivi.' The blue-haired woman offers a curt bow. 'And in turn, I thank you for saving my life and helping me avenge my partner.'

'Oh, it was nothing.' Luffy waves his hands. 'I may have knocked you out for Crocius, but I didn't want you or your Nakama dead. I'm just sorry I couldn't save him...' his depression hits him.

again. 'Or Laboon."

The woman stares at the straw hat for a moment before giving him an earnest smile. 'Even so, you did save my life, and as such, you should be rewarded with more than a stranger's name. And I could think of no better reward than splitting Laboon's thirty million bounty.'

'We accept.' Nami pushes Luffy aside. 'So, since our captain did all the work, how's a ten ninety split sound? Ten percent is more than enough for doing nothing.'

The blue-haired woman blinks several times. 'In case I am mistaken, you are pirates and thus cannot claim the bounty.' Vivi says graciously. 'Consider the fifty percent my fee.'

'Only one of us has a bounty, so the rest of us can cash it in. Ten and ninety.'

'And I suppose you know a nearby bounty office that is willing to accept your confirmation of kill? Fifty-fifty.'

'I'm very good at talking and conning. I could easily get them to cough up. Ten and ninety.'

'No amount of pretty words will compensate for proof of kill. So, unless you wanted to dive into plague-infested waters for a picture of the dead whale, I'm your best bet. Fifty-fifty.'

'Then I could just steal whatever picture you took and use that. Ten and ninety.

'Even if it did, you'd have to pay fifty percent out of pocket for not having a Bounty Hunting License. Fifty-fifty.'

'...twenty eighty?'

Luffy and Zoro whistle in admiration.

'Wow.' The swordsman marvels. 'You got Mrs. money-obsessed germaphobe to haggle. I like you.'

Nami flashes a death glare at Zoro, who only laughs loudly.

'...twenty five seventy five. But that's my final offer.'

Vivi rolls her eyes 'How about you get a hundred percent.' The mysterious woman says with a smirk. 'And in exchange, you give me passage to the Island of my choice?'

'Deal!' Nami extends her hand, and they shake on it. 'Usopp!?!' She shouts off to the ship in the distance.

Their ship, the Merry, has definitely seen better days. The cabin is shattered, the mast has been torn off, and several parts of the deck look to be cracked.

A long hand sticks out of the Merry's cabin. 'Yes, Nami?'

'How long till the Merry's repaired!?'

She hears a grunt from off in the distance. 'The old fossil did a number on Kaya's ship! It'll take me at least three days to fix the broken mast and the Cabin!'

Nami looks towards the boat. 'And you won't let us help you?! It'd go faster if we worked together on it!'

She watches as a piece of salvaged lumber rises up and vanishes below deck. 'No way! Kaya gave me this ship to take care of! Merry's my baby! You just keep the lumber coming!'

Nami sighs at Usopp's stubbornness. 'Fine!' She looks to the group. 'We'll camp out here till Usopp is done with repairs. Zoro dice up usable lumber for Usopp from the driftwood on shore. Sanji, see if you can scrounge any food from these rocky cliffs. Luffy?'

The captain swells with expectations.

Nami hands him a leash attached to Nojiko's suit. 'Watch Nojiko. See to it she doesn't wander off. I'll see if Crocius left the formula for his medicine behind in that lighthouse.'

'I'll find untainted food for Nami swannnn!' Sanji jumps into his task with passion burning in his blood.

Vivi looks around. 'I guess I'll find somewhere to set up camp. Maybe there's a cave or something in the cliffs.'

Luffy watches most of his crew (and their guest) wander off before he feels a prodding in his ribs. He turns to see Nojiko, her gloved hand is holding up a human femur bone.

'Uuuuuuhhhh?' She offers the human remains to the captain.

Despite everything, he accepts the gift. 'Thanks, Nojiko.'

'Uuuuhhhh!'

The captain of the straw hats looks out to sea as his crew sets to work behind him. He watches Crocius' funeral pyre burn off in the distance. They had just started their journey. Everything had looked so bright from the top of the reverse mountain. He remembers Laboon and Crocius. Was every one of their stops going to be like this?

'That old guy was strong.' Luffy looks out to sea; the embers of Crocius' pyre are now sinking beneath the waves. 'Are all our enemies going to be that strong?'

Zoro yawns. 'Probably.' He smirks and lies down to take a nap. 'All I know is I won't stop. Not until I meet Dracule Mihawk and become the world's greatest swordsman.'

Nami appears from out of nowhere and gives him a lump on his head with her staff. 'You won't get half that far if you don't do your job!'

The swordsman reluctantly gets up. 'Slave driver.'


The navigator watches the swordsman cut the stronger-looking pieces of wood into manageable planks.

'So Nami? What do you think?' Luffy asks. 'Do you think every stop is going to be like this?'

The woman sighs. 'I don't know captain. All i can tell you is that things are going to get harder from here.'