Peaceful Departure
When I returned to the Baratie after capturing SCP-1499, an unpleasant truth awaited me.
The Going Merry had disappeared.
"WHAT?!" Luffy shouted. "NAMI STOLE OUR SHIP?!"
"She left for Konomi Archipelago," Johnny explained. "She left us a message. She says she has to settle something alone."
Zoro, lying on a stretcher with his bandages, groaned. "That idiot..."
"We have to follow her!" Luffy declared.
Sanji, who had just said his goodbyes to old Zeff, nodded. "I'm coming with you. That young lady needs help."
"YEAH! WELCOME TO THE CREW!" Luffy shook his hand enthusiastically.
The problem? We no longer had a boat.
"Take one of our emergency rowboats," Zeff proposed. "It's small, but it'll float."
A few minutes later, we were crammed into a pathetic rowboat. Luffy, Zoro (half-dead), Usopp, Sanji, Johnny, Yosaku, Walter, and me.
"It's... really small," Usopp commented.
"We're going to sink," Zoro added.
"STOP COMPLAINING!" Sanji shouted. "We have to save Nami-swan!"
I sighed. "This is going to be a long journey."
Laboratory Experiments
While the others rowed (well, Sanji and Usopp rowed, Luffy slept, Zoro was injured), I discreetly summoned the Foundation door.
"I'll be back," I announced.
"Where are you going?" Luffy asked.
"To run some tests. I have four SCPs now. I want to understand what they do."
"Can we come?" Luffy asked hopefully.
"Later. Let me do experiments first."
I entered the Foundation and headed to the laboratory. The high-tech machines hummed softly, ready to be used.
[WHICH SCP DO YOU WISH TO TEST?]
"Let's start with SCP-005."
I took the key from its containment box. It sparkled under the lab lights, its complex shape almost hypnotic.
I first tested it on physical locks. Result: it opened everything. Padlocks, safes, reinforced doors. Nothing resisted it.
Then I tried something different.
I brought it close to a computer locked with a password.
The key began to glow slightly.
CLICK.
The computer unlocked.
"What... it can hack computer systems?!"
[CONFIRMATION: SCP-005 WORKS ON DIGITAL LOCKS]
[CAPABILITY EXTENDED BEYOND PHYSICAL LOCKS]
"That's... incredibly powerful."
I put away SCP-005 and moved on to SCP-1499.
The gas mask. The one that transported to a parallel dimension.
I held it in my hands, hesitating. "System, if someone with a Logia Devil Fruit enters there, could they explore without being noticed?"
[THEORETICALLY: YES]
[A LOGIA USER CAN BECOME INTANGIBLE]
[THE DIMENSION'S ENTITIES COULDN'T TOUCH THEM]
"Perfect. I'll keep that in mind for later."
I tested the mask briefly – just enough to confirm it worked. The black, misty dimension appeared, filled with dark silhouettes watching me.
I immediately removed the mask.
"Creepy. But useful."
Guided Tour
A few hours later, Luffy knocked on the Foundation door.
"MARC! CAN WE VISIT?!"
I sighed and opened it. "Okay. But don't touch anything."
They all entered – Luffy, Zoro (supported by Johnny and Yosaku), Usopp, and Sanji.
Their eyes widened seeing the white, sterile corridors.
"What is this place?" Sanji asked, cigarette in mouth.
"My Foundation. A place to contain dangerous objects."
"IT'S HUGE!" Usopp exclaimed. "It looks like a military base!"
I first led them to the Class-D quarters.
We entered the dormitory. Aligned beds. Showers. A cafeteria. All empty.
"Is this a prison?" Zoro asked.
"Sort of. It's for prisoners who cooperate. Class-D."
"Class-D?" Usopp repeated.
"People who work for the Foundation. Usually criminals who accepted to serve rather than be executed."
Luffy frowned. "You have prisoners here?"
"Not yet. But if we capture enemies who refuse to cooperate... they'll end up here."
[NOTE: REQUIRES GUARDS TO OPERATE]
"Especially when I have guards," I added.
Sanji whistled. "You've really thought of everything."
Next, I took them to the laboratory.
Usopp and Sanji's jaws dropped at the machines.
"WHAT IS ALL THIS?!" Usopp exclaimed, touching a medical scanner. "It doesn't look like anything I've ever seen!"
Sanji observed molecular chemistry equipment. "These tools... they're decades ahead of what we have in this world."
Luffy found spare parts and started assembling them.
"Luffy, what are you doing?" I asked.
"I'm building a robot!"
Ten minutes later, he proudly showed me... something that vaguely resembled a Minecraft doll. Square. Poorly assembled. With arms hanging oddly.
"It's... creative," I commented diplomatically.
Sanji looked at me curiously. "Are you a scientist?"
"I know my way around. But I don't have a specialty. Just basics in everything."
"Basics?" He looked around. "You have a lab that would surpass the world's best, and you say you just have basics?"
"It's complicated."
Walter the Escapee
We then headed to Walter's cell.
Except he wasn't there.
"Again?!" I groaned.
[ALERT: SCP-524 HAS DUG A TUNNEL]
[LOCATION: STAFF CAFETERIA]
I sighed. "Of course."
We followed the tunnel Walter had gnawed through the concrete – yes, through the CONCRETE – to the cafeteria.
And there, we found him.
Walter was sitting in the middle of culinary carnage. Empty wrappers. Opened boxes. Devoured cans.
He looked at us with his big innocent eyes and squeaked joyfully.
"WALTER!" Luffy shouted, running to him. "YOU ATE ALL THAT BY YOURSELF?!"
The rabbit nodded proudly.
"I WANT TO EAT TOO!"
[NO.]
"Too late," I muttered.
Luffy and Walter started devouring what was left. Two bottomless pits unleashed in a cafeteria.
"LUFFY, STOP!" Usopp cried.
"IT'S TOO GOOD!"
Fifteen minutes later, they had emptied the stocks.
"We're really going to starve to death," Sanji murmured.
I had to use the Foundation's sedatives – gentle but effective chemicals – to calm them down.
Luffy and Walter fell asleep instantly, snoring in chorus.
Night at the Foundation
Evening was falling. Outside, on the rowboat, there was no room to sleep comfortably.
"Where do we sleep?" Usopp asked.
"In the Foundation. There are beds in the Class-D quarters."
We returned to the dormitory. Everyone chose a cell – spartan but clean rooms with a bed, a sink, toilets.
"It's... weird to sleep in a prison," Zoro commented, lying down.
"At least it's clean," Sanji added.
Luffy collapsed on his bed, Walter snuggled against him. "It's cool here! Can we come back?"
"We'll see."
I settled into my own cell. The bed was hard, as always, but familiar. The Foundation had become my refuge. My domain.
[SYMBIOSIS: 87%]
[PHYSIOLOGICAL MODIFICATIONS ALMOST COMPLETE]
[SLEEP NEEDS: 1-2 HOURS PER NIGHT]
I closed my eyes, but sleep didn't really come. Just a sort of conscious rest. My body demanded nothing anymore.
Immortal. Almost totally.
"What am I becoming?" I murmured in the dark.
No answer.
The Next Morning
We woke at dawn. Sanji prepared breakfast in the cafeteria with what was left.
"Sorry, it's not much," he said, serving eggs and bread. "Your two bottomless pits ate everything."
Luffy and Walter exchanged guilty looks.
During the meal, I gave a brief briefing on Nami.
"She comes from a village controlled by a fishman named Arlong. He's been terrorizing the inhabitants for years. Nami steals to buy back her village's freedom."
"WHAT?!" Luffy exclaimed. "Why didn't she tell us anything?!"
"Because she thought she had to do it alone."
"THAT'S STUPID!" Luffy jumped up. "We're her friends! We'll help her!"
Zoro smiled despite his injuries. "Obviously."
Sanji lit a cigarette. "For Nami-swan, I'd do anything."
Usopp trembled slightly. "A... a fishman? They're ten times stronger than humans..."
"We don't care," Luffy declared. "We'll crush him."
We left the Foundation and returned to the rowboat.
And there, on the horizon, we saw it.
An island. Green. Peaceful in appearance.
Konomi Archipelago.
"That's it," Johnny said. "Arlong's territory."
Luffy clenched his fists. "Nami, we're coming."
The rowboat slowly glided toward the island.
Somewhere out there, Nami was suffering alone.
But not for much longer.
[END OF CHAPTER 14]
[ANOMALIES CAPTURED: 4/5]
[DESTINATION: KONOMI ARCHIPELAGO]
[CREW: LUFFY, ZORO (INJURED), USOPP, SANJI, MARC, WALTER]
[SYMBIOSIS SCP-006: 87%]
[DISCOVERIES:]
[- SCP-005 CAN HACK COMPUTERS]
[- SCP-1499 USABLE WITH LOGIA FOR EXPLORATION]
[- WALTER CAN DIG THROUGH CONCRETE]
[NEXT STEP: SAVE NAMI, FIGHT ARLONG]
[PROGRESS TOWARD GUARD TEAM: 4/5 (80%)]