The Grand Line sea was a flat, grey expanse of freezing water, the air biting with the chill of the coming winter island. Snow fluttered down softly, coating the deck of the Going Merry in a thin white layer.
Inside the women's quarters, the mood was somber.
Nami lay in bed, her face flushed with a dangerous fever, beads of sweat standing out on her forehead. Vivi dabbed her brow with a damp cloth, worry etched into her features. Sanji was there, too, preparing a light, nutrient-rich broth, his usual swooning replaced by quiet, focused concern.
Outside, however, the routine of the Going Merry continued. Zoro was training in the sub-zero temperatures shirtless, lifting weights that would crush a normal man. Luffy was fishing, ignoring the cold entirely. Usopp was tinkering with his new pellets Ben had provided. Dorry and Brogy were arm-wrestling on a barrel, their laughter shaking the icicles off the rigging.
CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!
The ship's bell rang three times. Sharp. Urgent.
The Merry had spotted a ship.
"Ship ahoy!" Usopp yelled, scrambling up the mast to the crow's nest.
Luffy dropped his fishing rod. "Pirates?! Or Marines?! Is it a food ship?!"
Zoro dropped his weights with a heavy thud, grabbing his shirt and swords. "In this weather? Who else is out here?"
He walked to the bow, grabbing the binoculars Usopp had left on the railing. He scanned the horizon, peering through the swirling snow.
"I see... something," Zoro muttered. He adjusted the focus. Then, he froze. He lowered the binoculars, rubbed his eyes, and looked again.
"Oi," Zoro called out, his voice flat. "Has anyone... ever seen a man standing on top of the water before?"
Luffy and Usopp (who had slid down the mast) looked at him.
"Zoro, the cold froze your brain," Usopp said, shivering. "People don't walk on water. Unless it's Ben. Is Ben walking on the water?"
"No," Zoro said, pointing a finger into the mist. "Look for yourself."
Luffy and Usopp squinted. Dorry and Brogy loomed behind them, shielding their eyes.
There, in the middle of the freezing ocean, standing perfectly still on the surface of the water, was a round, strangely-dressed man. He wasn't on a boat. He wasn't on a raft. He was just... standing there.
"Are we dreaming?" Dorry asked, scratching his helmet. "Is this a snow-mirage?"
"I don't think so, brother," Brogy rumbled. "My eyes are sharp. That is a man."
Ben, leaning against the main mast, let out a low chuckle. He didn't need binoculars. He knew exactly who that was.
"Merry," Ben whispered, placing a hand on the wood. "Take us closer. Let's see what this is about."
The ship turned, cutting through the waves toward the solitary figure.
As they got closer, the water beneath the man began to bubble. It churned and frothed, turning white.
RUMBLE... RUMBLE...
"Something's coming up!" Usopp shrieked, hiding behind Brogy. "It's a Sea King! He's bait!"
The ocean erupted. A massive, metallic shape burst from the depths, lifting the man into the air. It wasn't a creature. It was a machine. A colossal submarine, painted in garish colors, breached the surface with a deafening roar of displacement.
But it didn't stop there. As the water cascaded off its steel hull, gears ground and plates shifted. The submarine unfolded. Masts shot up, sails unfurled mechanically, and wooden decks locked into place.
In seconds, the submarine had transformed into a massive, heavily armed pirate ship.
"Crap!" Usopp yelled. "A pirate ship! And a transforming one!"
"Surprised?!" a voice boomed from the opposing ship's speaker system. "It is our Jumbo Submersible Raid Ship—the Bliking!"
A chorus of raucous, annoying laughter echoed over the water. "MAHAHAHA!"
On the Merry, the crew tensed.
"Ben!" Zoro shouted, hand on his hilt. "Do we sink them?"
Ben's eyes narrowed. He looked at the ship, then at the man standing on the prow—Wapol. The user of the Baku Baku no Mi. A living factory. A man who could eat anything and fuse it to his body.
If we sink them now, he sinks, Ben thought. I need that fruit.
"Merry," Ben projected his thought directly to the ship's soul. Stand down. Let them board. Do not attack until I say the word. We're playing the spider today.
The Merry gave a low, sub-audible creak of acknowledgement.
"Hold your fire!" Ben ordered the crew. "Let them come. I want to see what they want."
---
The Bliking pulled alongside the Merry. Gangplanks were thrown across with aggressive thuds.
Before the Straw Hats could even draw weapons, dozens of soldiers in strange, puffy winter gear swarmed the deck. They levelled rifles and swords at the crew.
Sanji, hearing the commotion from the galley, wiped his hands on a towel.
"Vivi-chan," he said softly to the anxious princess. "Keep Nami-san warm. I'll handle the noise."
He stepped out onto the deck, the cold wind whipping his suit jacket. He lit a cigarette, his eyes scanning the scene.
"What a mess," Sanji muttered, exhaling a cloud of smoke.
The deck of the Going Merry was crowded.
In the center stood the Straw Hats: Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji.
Flanking them were the Giants, Dorry and Brogy, who—even at eight feet tall—looked intimidatingly broad.
Robin sat calmly on a crate, reading a book, ignoring the three guns pointed at her head.
Karoo the duck was shivering, trying to blend in with the snow.
And Ben stood at the helm, looking bored.
Surrounding them were at least fifty of Wapol's men, weapons trained on the pirates.
"The ship is under attack, Sanji," Luffy said, his tone unusually calm.
"I figured that much out, Captain," Sanji replied, eyeing the intruders. "They have no manners. Boarding without permission while a lady is sick."
The soldiers parted. Walking through their ranks was the man from the water. Wapol.
He was a bizarre figure. His jaw was encased in a tin plate. He wore a hippo-hood made of fur. He looked like a walking trash can that had decided to become a king.
In his hand, he held a roasted chicken leg. He took a massive bite.
CRUNCH.
The crew watched, horrified.
He hadn't just bitten the meat. He had bitten through the bone. And the knife. He was chewing the steel knife blade as if it were a cracker.
CRUNCH-CRUNCH-GULP.
He swallowed the jagged metal shards without flinching.
Usopp's face went green. "He... he ate the knife."
Zoro looked disgusted. "What is he? A goat?"
Sanji looked offended on a professional level. "That is not how you appreciate cutlery!"
Luffy, however, tilted his head, his eyes wide with genuine curiosity.
"Whoa," Luffy said. "How does it taste?"
Usopp slapped the back of Luffy's head. "THAT IS NOT THE MAIN POINT HERE!"
Wapol burped, a sound like grinding gears. He looked around the Merry, his eyes greedy.
"Mahaaha! A weird crew. With so few members." He pointed at them.
"We are looking for something," Wapol demanded, stepping closer. "Do you have an Eternal Pose to Drum Kingdom? Or a Log Pose set for it?"
Sanji stepped forward, shielding the door to the women's quarters. "Never heard of it," he lied smoothly. "We don't know that island, and we don't have an eternal pose."
"Now that you got what you want," Luffy said, stepping up, his voice hard. "Will you leave already? We're in a hurry. My navigator is sick."
Wapol laughed. It was a wet, unpleasant sound. "Leave? Oh, no. I don't think so. You see, I am a very hungry man."
He looked at the Going Merry. He looked at the figurehead. He looked at the polished railing.
"This ship... it looks delicious."
"What?" Luffy asked.
"I'll take your ship," Wapol declared. "And your treasures. And your supplies. But first..."
He walked over to the starboard railing. He opened his mouth. His jaw unhinged, stretching impossibly wide, like a snake.
"...an appetizer!"
He lunged, his massive metal teeth aiming for the Merry's enchanted wood.
Ben's eyes flashed.
The spider had waited long enough.
"That's enough."
Ben didn't raise his wand. He didn't shout. He simply spoke to the wood beneath his feet.
"Merry. Capture."
The ship... snarled.
It wasn't a sound of wood creaking. It was the sound of an angry beast waking up.
Before Wapol's teeth could graze the railing, the railing moved. The wood warped, turning liquid, and dodged his bite.
"WHAT?!" Wapol yelled, stumbling forward.
Suddenly, the rigging—the dozens of ropes hanging from the masts—shot downward. They didn't fall; they struck like vipers.
Two thick ropes wrapped around Wapol's ankles and yanked him into the air, leaving him dangling upside down.
"GWAAAAH!"
At the same time, the deck planks shifted.
"NOW!" Ben ordered.
The Straw Hats moved as one.
Zoro drew Yubashiri. He didn't cut; he used the back of the blade. He moved through the crowd of soldiers like a green whirlwind.
WHACK. THUD. CRACK.
Soldiers flew overboard or collapsed in heaps.
Sanji didn't even take his hands out of his pockets. He spun on his heel.
"Party Table... Kick Course!"
He did a handstand and spun, his legs becoming a helicopter rotor of pain. Every soldier within ten feet was launched into the air.
Dorry and Brogy grabbed two soldiers each—by the head—and simply bonked them together like cymbals.
"GABABABA! Too soft!"
"GEGYAGYAGYA! Like mosquitos!"
Luffy just stretched his arms, grabbed two guys, and used them as flails to hit four other guys. "Gomu Gomu no... Human Nunchucks!"
Within ten seconds, the deck was cleared of threats.
Merry wasn't done. As the soldiers tried to stand, the ropes on the deck slithered around their wrists and ankles, hoisting them into the air alongside their leader.
Soon, fifty of Wapol's elite guard were dangling from the yardarms like bizarre, groaning Christmas ornaments.
Wapol swung back and forth, his face purple with rage. He tried to chew through the rope, but the rope simply moved out of the way of his teeth every time he snapped.
"UNHAND ME!" Wapol screamed, flailing his stubby arms. "DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?! I AM THE KING OF DRUM KINGDOM! I AM ROYALTY! RELEASE ME IMMEDIATELY, YOU FILTHY PIRATES!"
"King?" Luffy asked, picking his nose. "You don't look like a King. You look like a hippo-trash-can."
"INSOLENCE!" Wapol roared. "I WILL EAT YOU! I WILL EAT THIS SHIP! I WILL—"
"Stupefy."
A jet of red light hit Wapol square in the forehead.
His eyes rolled back. He went limp, swinging gently in the snowy breeze.
Ben lowered his wand, stepping out from the helm.
"He was getting noisy," Ben said casually.
He walked over to the unconscious "King." He looked at the strange metal jaw, the unnatural physiology.
He pulled out his shrunken leather suitcase.
"I think," Ben smiled, "you're going to help me in the future."
Zoro sheathed his sword. "So... do we toss the others overboard? The water's freezing. They'll die."
Sanji shrugged. "They attacked a ship with a sick lady. They deserve it."
Ben tapped his chin, looking thoughtful.
"No," Ben said slowly. "Don't toss them."
He turned to Luffy. "Captain. Think about it. He claims to be the King of Drum Kingdom. That's where we're going, right?"
Luffy nodded. "Yeah! To find a doctor!"
"Exactly," Ben said, a strategic glint in his eye. "If we show up at Drum Island as pirates, they might shoot at us. But... if we show up carrying their King? If we hold the King and his entire army as prisoners?"
Ben grinned. "That's leverage. That's a bargaining chip. We can trade them for a doctor. Or, at the very least, we can use them to ensure we don't get attacked when we dock. They might be... useful."
Luffy's eyes lit up. The logic was simple enough for him to grasp.
"Oh! I get it! Like live bait! But for doctors!"
"Precisely," Ben nodded. "Live bait. Hostages. Whatever you want to call it."
Luffy slammed his fist into his palm.
"OKAY! PUT 'EM IN THE PRISON!"
"Merry? Load the cargo."
The ropes holding the soldiers responded instantly. One by one, the soldiers were lowered, dragged across the deck, and unceremoniously dumped down the hatch into the magical prison which Ben created when he made modifications to the ship.
THUD. THUD. CLANG.
The hatch slammed shut.
"Noice, now shall we attack the ship?" Ben smiled.