I stood at the helm of the Going Merry, watching the island materialize on the horizon like a bad decision taking physical form.
The dark shape grew larger with each passing minute, resolving itself into cliffs and vegetation and what was probably a coastline designed specifically for ambushing stupid pirates who sailed straight into obvious traps.
'So here we are. The moment where most rational people would look at the situation, recognize it as a trap, and sail literally anywhere else. But rationality and this crew have a relationship best described as "distant acquaintances who occasionally nod at each other in passing".'
My mind was already working through the tactical implications, running scenarios and countermeasures with the kind of obsessive attention to detail that had kept me alive for two years in this insane world.
Usually, in situations like these, the first step would be simple: avoid the obvious trap entirely and just keep sailing. Don't engage with the bait, don't give the enemy what they want, maintain course, and force them to waste resources on an ambush that never materializes.
'It's basic tactical thinking. If someone sets a trap for you, the smartest move is not walking into it. Revolutionary concept, I know.'
But even as I thought it, I knew we couldn't do that.
Not this time.
Because as much as I hated to admit it, this obvious trap represented something else entirely—an opportunity. A chance to actually accomplish something useful instead of just reacting to whatever the Grand Line decided to throw at us next.
'And opportunities in this world are like good coffee—rare, valuable, and usually requiring you to do something uncomfortable to obtain them.'
I reached into my cloak, my fingers closing around the familiar weight of Jack Sparrow's compass. The magical tool felt cool against my palm as I pulled it out, flipping it open with practiced ease.
CLICK!
I focused my intent, trying to narrow down exactly what information I needed. Not just vague knowledge of danger—I already knew there was danger. I needed specifics.
I started going through the list of the high-ranking agents of the Baroque Works one by one.
The needle wobbled, then steadied pointing away, then wobbled again, and then pointed toward the island with unmistakable certainty.
"Oi, Hachiman! What're you doing?" Luffy called out, hanging from the mast with that infectious grin plastered across his face.
"Checking something," I muttered, not looking up from the compass. "Give me a minute."
The disk continued its work, and slowly, painstakingly, a picture began to form in my mind.
Mr. 3—the Wax-Wax Fruit user that Vivi had warned us about.
Miss Goldenweek, the mysterious one with abilities nobody quite understood.
Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine, the Bomb-Bomb and Kilo-Kilo Fruit users, respectively.
And underneath it all, the compass indicated numerous other presences. Regular Baroque Works agents, probably positioned throughout the island.
'Wonderful. A whole welcoming committee just for us. They really pulled out all the stops.'
My eyes stared at the island with a new understanding of exactly how bad this situation could become if we weren't careful.
'This could go sideways so fast. One wrong move, one miscalculation, and we're fighting a coordinated ambush by trained agents with supernatural abilities while trying to protect a princess who's literally their primary target.'
I spent several minutes cross-referencing the compass's information, double-checking, triple-checking. The last thing I needed was to miscalculate the enemy's strength and lead everyone into a massacre.
The compass was reliable, but it required interpretation, and interpretation meant room for error.
When I finally looked up, the island had grown significantly closer. It was massive—far larger than I'd initially thought.
Towering prehistoric trees rose from its interior, giving the complete vibe of a wild, no man's land. The whole place looked like something out of a dinosaur movie, which, knowing this world's logic, probably meant there were actually dinosaurs on it.
'Because of course there are dinosaurs. Why wouldn't there be dinosaurs on the island where we're about to be ambushed? That's just perfect. As if we didn't have enough problems.'
"Ne, ne, look at that island!" Luffy was practically vibrating with excitement now. "It's so cool! I bet there are huge monsters on it!"
"Monsters?" Usopp's face had gone pale. "W-what makes you think there are monsters?"
"Because it looks like the kind of place that would have monsters, obviously," Luffy replied with the unassailable logic of someone who'd never met a danger he didn't want to fight.
Zoro was standing at the bow, his hand resting casually on his sword hilts. "How many are we dealing with?"
I closed the compass and slipped it back into my pocket. "Mr. 3, Miss Goldenweek, Mr. 5, Miss Valentine. Plus an indeterminate number of regular agents scattered around the island."
"That many?" Vivi's face was tight with worry. "If the officer agents are working together, this could be very dangerous."
"It's already dangerous," I said flatly. "The question is how we handle it."
Nami was studying the island with her navigator's eye, but I could see the tension in her shoulders. "Can we avoid it? We have some Eternal Poses, so couldn't we just sail past it?"
'There's the sensible question. Of course, the answer is yes, technically. But...'
"We could," I admitted. "But that might cause more problems than it solves. They know we're coming. If we bypass them here, they'll just report our position and movements to Baroque Works. We'll be fighting at a disadvantage later, probably in a worse location with less favorable terrain."
"So we fight?" Sanji lit a cigarette, his expression calm but focused.
"Maybe. Or maybe we turn this trap into our advantage." I leaned against the railing, my mind already working through possibilities. "They're expecting us to walk into their ambush blindly. What if we don't?"
"Shishishi! I like the sound of that!" Luffy laughed.
'Of course you do. You like the sound of anything that involves punching people.'
We continued to approach, and I was about to suggest we circle the island first to get a better look when Usopp's voice cut through the chatter, pitched high with alarm.
"OI!" Usopp's voice cut through my tactical planning like a saw through wood. "THERE'S A SHIP! THERE'S A SMALL SHIP OVER THERE!"
I turned to see our sniper pointing frantically at something off our starboard bow, his face a mixture of confusion and alarm.
'A ship? Now? Do they want to attack us on the water?'
Following his gesture, I spotted it—a small vessel, maybe a third the size of the Going Merry, floating perhaps a hundred meters from our current position.
It looked weathered, the kind of ship that had seen better days and was currently trying to make the best of its circumstances.
"Should we check it out?" Nami asked, her thieving instincts clearly warring with her survival instincts.
Luffy didn't hesitate. "Yeah! Let's go look!"
'And there's the captain's decision-making process in action. See thing, go toward thing, worry about consequences never.'
I tightened my grip on the Barbossa sword, feeling its power flow through my connection to the Going Merry. The ship responded immediately to my will, turning smoothly toward the smaller vessel.
"Everyone, stay alert," I said, keeping my voice level despite the tension building in my shoulders. "This could be part of the ambush."
As we drew closer, details became clearer. Three figures on the deck, gathered around something I couldn't quite make out. Their posture suggested intense focus, like they were examining something important.
For a moment, they didn't notice us at all, which was actually more suspicious than if they'd been watching and waiting.
'Nobody's that oblivious unless they're either incredibly stupid or incredibly confident. Neither option fills me with warm fuzzy feelings.'
Mentally, I got the cannons ready to blast the smaller ship to pieces if I sensed anything threatening through my Mantra.
'If this is a trap, they're about to learn that approaching suspicious ships is a mutual mistake.'
But then one of the figures looked up, and even from this distance, I could see the exact moment they noticed us.
Their body language shifted from focused to panicked in approximately half a second.
"PIRAAAAATES!!!" The scream carried across the water, high-pitched and genuinely terrified.
The other two figures immediately looked up, their reactions equally panicked.
"RUN!"
"ABANDON THE SHIP!"
SPLASH! SPLASH! SPLASH!
And then, without any further discussion or apparent plan, all three of them dove off the ship and started swimming frantically toward the island shore.
'Okay. That was weird.'
"Hey! Wait!" Luffy called after them, but they were already halfway to the beach, their panicked splashing sending up fountains of water.
We all stood there for a moment, watching three grown men flee like they'd seen a ghost.
"That was... odd," Zoro said, voicing what we were all thinking.
"Suspicious is what it is," I muttered, studying the abandoned vessel. "Why would they run like that? They had to know we'd investigate their ship."
"Maybe they're scared of us that they left treasures!" Luffy suggested brightly.
'Or explosives. Or poisonous gas. Or literally anything that would kill us. But sure, let's go with treasure.'
"Or," I said aloud, "it's part of the trap."
Nami had already made her decision, though. "I'm going to check it out. There might be valuables!"
'Of course. Because treasure is apparently worth risking your life for. I swear, everyone in this crew has a death wish.'
"Be careful," I warned as she grabbed a rope and swung across to the smaller vessel with practiced ease.
She landed gracefully on the deck and immediately started poking around, opening hatches, checking the storage compartment.
I kept my hand on the wheel, ready to pull us away if this turned into the disaster I was expecting. The Hamon Pendulum dangled from my other hand, and I let my awareness expand through it, scanning for threats.
'No explosives. No traps I can detect. Just an abandoned ship and whatever they were so desperate to leave behind.'
"Wait... I found something!" Nami shouted from the deck, holding up a piece of parchment. "It's a map!"
'A map. On an abandoned ship. Right before we reach an island full of enemies. This couldn't possibly be more obviously a trap if it had 'TRAP' written across it in flaming letters.'
Nami swung back to the Going Merry, and the moment she landed, everyone crowded around to look at her find.
The map was old parchment, yellowed with age, with careful ink lines depicting the layout of an island that was clearly Little Garden. And right in the center, marked with a distinctive X, was the classic treasure location.
'A treasure map. How quaint. How perfectly, stereotypically pirate. How absolutely, transparently fake.'
But the moment I looked at it, something stirred in my chest. A feeling of excitement, of possibility, of potential riches just waiting to be claimed. My pulse quickened slightly, and I found myself leaning in closer to study the details.
'Wait. Hold on. Something's wrong here.'
"Whoa! A treasure map!" Luffy's eyes were sparkling. "We have to find it!"
"Look at this!" Usopp was practically salivating. "The X is right here! We could be rich!"
"Finally, something good comes our way," Sanji murmured, studying the map intently.
Even Zoro, who normally couldn't care less about treasure, was looking at it with interest. "Could be worth investigating."
Vivi was nodding along. "If there's treasure on this island, it might help fund our journey..."
'No. No, this is wrong. Very wrong.'
I felt it then—that alarm bell that had kept me alive for years in this insane world. That instinct that told me when something was fundamentally off about a situation. And right now, it was ringing like a fire alarm at maximum volume.
The excitement I felt wasn't natural. The greed that was bubbling up in my chest was foreign, artificial. I'd spent two years with a Stand that could grant me almost anything I wanted in exchange for equivalent value. I'd collected treasures worth kingdoms. I'd obtained magical artifacts that most people couldn't even dream of.
'So why the hell am I feeling greedy about some random treasure on a map that was conveniently left on an abandoned ship by people who ran away the moment they saw us?'
The answer was obvious: I shouldn't be. This feeling was being forced on me somehow, manipulated, created by an external source. And if I was being affected, everyone else definitely was too.
"Give me that," I said, plucking the map from Nami's hands.
"Hey!" she protested, but I was already examining it closely.
I turned it over, held it up to the light, checked the edges, the texture, the ink composition. Nothing seemed unusual about it on a physical level. It was just a map—old parchment, standard ink, normal construction.
'But it's not normal. It's doing something to everyone who looks at it.'
I pulled off my wizard hat with my Stand inside it, and held it in one hand while placing the map inside with the other.
Then I carefully inserted a few blank sheets of paper along with it.
'Make copies of this map.' I focused my will on what I wanted.
The response was immediate and completely wrong.
The Stand's lid, which should have closed to signal the Stand accepting my request, remained stubbornly open.
The map sat there, untouched, rejected.
'The Stand won't copy it. It's refusing. Why would it refuse unless...'
"What are you doing?" Nami asked, watching me with confusion.
I pulled the map back out, staring at it with new understanding. "There's something wrong with this map."
"Wrong?" Luffy tilted his head. "It looks fine to me!"
"That's the problem," I said, keeping my voice level despite the alarm bells still ringing in my head. "Nami, can you draw a copy of this? Just a quick sketch, doesn't have to be perfect."
"What? Why?" She looked at me like I'd grown a second head.
"Just do it. Please." I added the please because I knew she was more likely to comply if I asked nicely, even though every instinct in me was screaming to just throw the damn map overboard and be done with it.
Nami huffed but pulled out a pen. "Fine, but I don't see what the point is."
I watched as she worked, her skilled hands recreating the map's details with the practiced ease of a professional cartographer.
She worked quickly, translating the older map's information into her own cleaner, more precise style.
Within minutes, she had a reproduction that actually looked more professional than the original, despite being done in haste and without proper equipment.
"There," she said, holding up her work. "Happy now?"
I took her version and held it up next to the original. "Everyone, look at both maps. Tell me what you see."
The crew gathered around, studying the two pieces of parchment. For a moment, there was silence as they compared them.
Then Usopp's eyes went wide. "Wait... why doesn't the new one feel..."
"Exciting?" Zoro finished, his hand moving away from his swords. "Yeah. I'm noticing that too."
Sanji took a drag from his cigarette, his expression darkening. "The original makes me want to find that treasure. The copy... doesn't."
"Exactly," I said, folding the original map carefully to hide its surface. The moment I did, I felt the artificial excitement drain away, leaving only my natural suspicion and analytical mindset.
"This map is doing something to everyone who looks at it. Making you feel things that aren't real. Making you want to follow it."
'Which means it's exactly what I thought it was: the trap. A strange trap designed to lure us exactly where they want us.'
"That's..." Usopp's face had gone pale again, his voice shaking slightly. "That's terrifying! What kind of ability can do that?"
Everyone turned to look at Vivi, who had been silent during the exchange. She was staring at the folded map with wide eyes, her expression troubled.
"I think," she said slowly, "it might be Miss Goldenweek's ability."
'Miss Goldenweek. The mysterious one. The one whose powers nobody seems to understand fully.'
"You mentioned her before," I said, keeping the map folded and away from everyone's direct line of sight. "What do you know about her abilities?"
Vivi shook her head. "Not much. She's one of the more enigmatic agents in Baroque Works. Her partner is Mr. 3, but unlike most Devil Fruit users, nobody's quite sure what her power is or even if it is a Devil Fruit power."
"What do you mean?" Nami asked, her mind clearly working through the implications.
"I mean that her abilities are... different. Strange. They don't follow the normal patterns of Devil Fruit powers. Some people think she's a user, others think it's something else entirely. Some kind of hypnosis or psychological manipulation."
'Great. So we're dealing with an enemy whose abilities are a complete unknown. That's just fantastic. How am I supposed to plan around someone when I don't even know what they can do?'
The crew had gone quiet, and I realized they were all looking at me. Wonderful. Somehow, I'd become the guy they looked to for explanations about weird supernatural phenomena. Probably because of my "mysterious sorcerer" reputation.
'This is what I get for being flashy with my abilities. Now everyone expects me to be the expert on all things magical and mysterious.'
"Is it like your magic, Hachiman?" Luffy asked, his head tilted with curiosity.
I considered how to answer that.
The truth was complicated—my abilities came from my Stand, which technically was sort of magical but also not really, and my Hamon, which was basically controlled life energy that I used to do various superhuman things, and the magical artifacts I'd obtained through my Stand's power.
But explaining all of that would raise more questions than it answered.
"I don't know," I said honestly. "I'm sure it has nothing to do with my abilities, and this is clearly affecting the mind, not the body."
'The Stand's refusal to copy it suggests it's either a Devil Fruit ability or something equally powerful and unique. But what kind of Devil Fruit lets you create emotionally manipulative maps? Is it tied to art? Emotions? Perception? Too many variables.'
"But you stopped it," Sanji pointed out, lighting another cigarette. "You recognized it was affecting us."
"Because I'm naturally suspicious of everything and everyone," I replied dryly. "It's not a special power, it's just chronic trust issues developed through years of bitter experience."
'And also, because the Stand's rejection of the map was a massive red flag that even I couldn't ignore. But let's not mention that part.'
"So what do we do?" Zoro asked, getting straight to the practical concerns. "They're trying to lure us into a trap. Do we avoid it or spring it on our terms?"
I looked at the folded map in my hands, then at the island looming ahead of us, then back at my crewmates. They were all watching me, waiting for my assessment.
'This is the problem with being competent. People start expecting you to be competent all the time. Can't I just go back to being the cynical loner who everyone ignored?'
"We can't just ignore it," I said, organizing my thoughts out loud.
"We know their plan now. They want to lure us inland with this fake treasure map, probably into a prepared ambush site where they have all the advantages."
"If we just sail past, they'll know we spotted the trap, which tells them we have someone on board who can counter Miss Goldenweek's ability. That's tactical intelligence, they'll report back to Baroque Works."
"Then, what do you suggest?" Vivi asked.
I looked at the map again, then at the island looming ahead. The pieces were falling into place, and while I still hated the situation, at least I could see a path forward.
'The thing about traps is that they only work if the prey behaves predictably. If we change the parameters, change how we approach this, we might be able to turn their own trap against them.'
"First," I said, "we don't follow this map. Not directly. We use Nami's copy for navigation, but we assume the 'treasure location' on the original is actually an ambush point."
"That makes sense," Sanji nodded. "If they knew we were following the map, they'd set up their ambush on where we were heading."
"Second," I continued, warming to the plan, "we split their attention. They're expecting all of us to go treasure hunting together. If we do something unexpected, it might throw off their coordination."
"What kind of unexpected thing?" Luffy asked, grinning. He loved unexpected things.
'Of course you do. Your entire existence is an unexpected thing.'
I reached into my cloak again, pulling out Jack Sparrow's compass. I flipped it open.
'Where is their base. Where the communication equipment would be set up.'
The disk wobbled, then pointed firmly toward the island at an angle that was distinctly different from where the treasure map indicated.
'Perfect.'
I marked the location on Nami's clean copy of the map with careful precision, adding a small X to indicate what the compass was telling me.
"This," I said, tapping the new marking, "is where their actual base in the island is. Their luggage, storage, and communication equipment set up to report back to Crocodile should be there."
My crewmates leaned in, studying the marked position with varying degrees of understanding.
"So we're not going to the treasure location?" Luffy asked, sounding slightly disappointed.
"Oh, we're going to the treasure location," I replied, already seeing how the pieces could fit together. "But not the way they expect. Because if we play this right, we can turn their trap into an opportunity."
'Well, time to explain the plan.'
"We're being hunted," I said, keeping my voice level and analytical. "Right now, Baroque Works knows we're heading to Arabasta. They know we have the princess. They know we're a threat to their plans."
I could see Nami and Usopp tensing at the reminder, their survival instincts clearly screaming warnings.
"Even if we avoid this trap," I continued, "even if we just sail past this island and head straight for Arabasta, they're going to keep coming, chase us across the ocean, set up more ambushes, maybe even accelerate their plans in the kingdom to account for our interference."
Vivi's face went pale. "You're right. If they feel threatened, Crocodile might move up his timeline..."
'Yes, Crocodile is too smart to let us just waltz into Arabasta. He'll want to move fast, strike before we can organize a proper counter.'
"But," I said, and let the word hang in the air for emphasis, "if we take over their communication channel and falsely report that we're dead, that changes everything."
I could see the understanding dawning on their faces—some faster than others, but all of them getting there eventually.
"They'll think the threat is eliminated," Zoro said, his tone carrying approval. "They'll think they've won."
"Positive," I confirmed. "Which means they won't be chasing us across the ocean, won't be adjusting their timeline in Arabasta, and will most likely proceed with their original plans."
"That's..." Nami's eyes had gone wide with understanding. "That's actually good. We get to sail freely to Arabasta without constantly looking over our shoulders."
'And more importantly, we get information. Whatever intelligence they have here, whatever operational details exist in their base—all of it becomes ours if we can pull this off.'
"So what's the plan?" Luffy asked, his earlier disappointment about the treasure completely forgotten now that he understood we were going to trick our enemies. "How do we do this?"
I gestured at the map, tracing out the geography with my finger.
"We split into two teams," I said, already visualizing how this would work. "The divergent approach."
'Classic special operations thinking. Multiple objectives, coordinated timing, divide the enemy's attention while you accomplish your real goals.'
"Team one goes to the treasure location," I continued, pointing at the X on the original map. "They make noise, get spotted, let the enemy think their trap is working. Ideally, we defeat everyone there and extract information through interrogation. At minimum, we create enough distraction that team two can work undisturbed."
"And team two?" Sanji asked, already ahead of me.
"Team two infiltrates their actual base," I said, tapping the location I'd marked. "Hijacks their communication system, sends a false report to Crocodile that the job's done and we're all dead. While they're at it, they collect any intelligence they can find—operational plans, agent rosters, information about Arabasta, anything useful."
I looked around at my crewmates, gauging their reactions.
"This way, we accomplish multiple objectives simultaneously. We deceive Baroque Works into thinking we're eliminated, giving us freedom to operate. We extract valuable intelligence that could help Arabasta's resistance. And we potentially thin out their agent roster if the first team can capture or eliminate the ambush force."
'What I'm not saying is that this is basically a miniature spy war. And in spy wars, whoever maintains their deception longest wins. But explaining that level of operational complexity to people who think "strategy" means "punch harder" probably isn't worth the effort.'
Silence fell over the deck as everyone processed the plan. I could see the wheels turning in their heads, each of them evaluating their role in this operation.
Then Luffy punched his fist into his palm, his grin returning with full force.
"Alright! Let's go kick some Baroque Works butt and trick their boss!"
'And there's the captain's strategic analysis. "Kick butt, trick boss." Truly, we're operating at the highest levels of tactical sophistication here.'
"I want to fight too," Zoro declared immediately. "Taking down their ambush force sounds way more interesting than sneaking around a base."
"I..." Nami's voice was careful, calculated. "I would prefer not to fight if possible. The sneaking team sounds much safer."
"YEAH!" Usopp agreed immediately. "I'm definitely better suited for stealth operations! Not fighting! Definitely not fighting!"
'At least they're honest about their preferences. Makes team assignment easier when people self-select based on their respective levels of cowardice and bloodlust.'
"Then the teams are decided," I said, already organizing the tactical breakdown in my head.
"Team One—the assault and decoy team—will be Luffy, Zoro, Nefertari with Karoo, and me."
"Wait, you're going with the fighting team?" Sanji asked, surprise evident in his voice.
"Someone needs to keep those two from dying stupidly," I replied, jerking my thumb at Luffy and Zoro.
"Plus, Nefertari's presence is crucial for drawing their attention. They're after her specifically, so having her visible makes the bait more convincing."
'And I need to be there because I'm apparently the only person on this crew who thinks about things like 'tactics' and 'not dying' while in combat. Plus, someone needs to handle the interrogation if we capture anyone.'
"Luffy and Zoro provide raw combat power," I continued, laying out the logic. "I provide tactical coordination and specialized abilities. Vivi's knowledge of Baroque Works and her status as their target make her essential for the deception to work. And honestly, her Devil Fruit duck is surprisingly effective in a fight."
"Quack!" Karoo agreed, puffing out his chest proudly.
I turned to the others.
"Team Two will be Nami, Usopp, and Sanji." I looked at the cook, who immediately opened his mouth to protest.
"Before you complain, Nami and Usopp have the technical skills needed for infiltration and communication."
'Plus, they're both cowards who will prioritize staying alive over heroic last stands, which is exactly what I need for the team that shouldn't be fighting.'
"And Sanji provides enough combat capability to extract them if things go wrong," I finished. "You're their insurance policy. If someone discovers them, you kick the problem until it goes away and get them out safely."
Sanji's protest died on his lips. Being cast as Nami's protector was apparently enough to satisfy his chivalrous instincts. "I see. I'll guard Nami-swan with my life!"
'And there's the predictable response. At least his obsession makes him easy to motivate.'
"Everyone understands their roles?" I asked, looking around.
Luffy and Zoro were grinning like kids on Christmas morning—the prospect of a good fight always did that to them.
Luffy was practically bouncing with excitement now, his rubber body literally vibrating with anticipation. "This is gonna be so cool! We get to fight AND hoax them!"
Zoro just grinned, his hand resting on his sword hilts with obvious satisfaction. "Haven't had a good fight in a while. This should be interesting."
Vivi looked nervous but determined. "If this will help my kingdom, then I'll do whatever I need to do."
Nami looked calculating, probably already planning how to efficiently loot the enemy base while completing the mission.
Usopp was pale but nodding, his survival instincts warring with his loyalty.
Sanji was practically vibrating with determination to protect his precious navigator.
'Good. Everyone's on board with the plan. Or at least, they're all willing to go along with it despite varying levels of understanding about what we're actually attempting here.'
Then Usopp raised his hand, his expression showing the kind of practical concern that usually got overlooked in all the excitement.
"Um, Hachiman? What about the Going Merry? If we're all going to the island, who's going to watch the ship?"
'Excellent question. One I've been thinking about since I started planning this operation.'
I reached into my coat, pulling out an empty bottle—one of the ones I'd been saving for exactly this kind of situation. The glass gleamed in the afternoon light as I held it up.
"Don't worry about the ship," I said, already moving toward the railing. "I have a solution. But everyone needs to get off first."
The confusion on their faces was immediate and unanimous.
"Get off?" Zoro repeated slowly. "What do you mean, get off? How are we supposed to—"
"Just trust me," I interrupted, gesturing toward the smaller abandoned ship still floating nearby. "Everyone moves to that vessel for a moment. This will only take a minute."
'Or it'll take longer if they keep asking questions instead of just doing what I say. Though I suppose healthy skepticism is better than blind obedience. Marginally.'
They exchanged glances, clearly uncertain, but eventually began moving. Luffy jumped to the other ship with his usual lack of concern for safety, followed by the others with varying degrees of grace and caution.
Once they were all safely aboard the smaller vessel, I stood on the rail of the small vessel facing the Going Merry.
I unsheathed the Barbossa sword fully, feeling its power surge through my arm. The mystical weapon hummed with power, responding to my will even before I properly formed the intent.
I raised the bottle in my other hand, channeling my will through the Barbossa sword to establish the deepest connection I'd ever attempted with the vessel.
[Hello!]
The Going Merry's presence became fully clear as I half summoned it—warm, curious, trusting.
"Hello. I need you to do something unusual. Something that might feel strange. But I promise it's to keep you safe." I whispered faintly at the ship.
For a moment, there was hesitation.
Confusion. The concept was foreign to her, something she'd never experienced or imagined.
But then—
[Okay!]
—acceptance.
WHOOOOSH!
The Going Merry began to change. Not physically at first, but in that strange space where ship spirits and mystical abilities intersected with reality.
The wood started to shimmer, taking on a liquid quality that should have been impossible. The sails rippled like water, the hull flexed like silk, and the entire vessel began flowing toward the bottle in my hand.
'Alright, it's actually working.'
It was like watching water being poured in reverse—the ship streaming upward and inward, compressing and flowing into the small glass container with movements that defied every law of physics I'd ever learned.
The process was mesmerizing, almost beautiful in its impossibility. The Going Merry's distinctive features—her lamb figurehead, her sturdy deck, her proud masts—all flow like liquid gold into a container that should never have been able to contain them.
Within seconds, the entire ship had disappeared from the ocean's surface, leaving only gentle ripples where she'd been floating.
I looked down at the bottle in my hand. Inside, miniaturized but clearly visible, was the Going Merry. Perfect in every detail, just... smaller. Much smaller. Small enough to fit in my palm.
[I am Small!]
The ship spirit's presence still radiated through the bottle, pleased rather than distressed by this new form.
'Well. That's one way to solve the "guarding the ship" problem. Just take the ship with us.'
I raised my eyes to look at where my crewmates stood frozen in various states of shock.
Luffy's mouth had dropped open so far that his jaw was practically on the deck. His eyes were the size of dinner plates, staring at the bottle with the kind of amazement usually reserved for discovering meat grows on trees.
Zoro had actually stumbled backward, his hand still on his sword hilts but his expression showing genuine disbelief for possibly the first time since I'd met him.
Nami's face had gone completely blank, her brain apparently short-circuiting from trying to process what she'd just witnessed.
Usopp had collapsed onto the deck entirely, his legs giving out as he stared at the bottle with mounting horror mixed with fascination.
Sanji's cigarette had fallen from his mouth—actually fallen, hitting the deck and rolling away unnoticed because the cook was too busy gaping at me to care about his tobacco.
Even Vivi and Karoo looked shocked, though the duck's expression of "QUACK?!" was particularly eloquent.
The silence stretched for several seconds, broken only by the gentle sound of waves and Usopp's whimpering.
Then—
"EHHHHHHHHH?!?!?!" The collective scream was probably audible on the next island over.
'Yeah. That's about the reaction I expected.'
…
A\N: Well, That's it for now. The next Chapter is almost ready, too.
Anyway, Thank you all for reading! Hope you enjoyed this one!
Feel free to leave a Comment guys! And Powerstones are much much welcomed!
Have a good day!
You also can check my Patre0n for extra Chapters.
https://www.patre0n.com/ColdColt
There are +14 Chapters there.