Previously,
"OPEN THE GATE, IDIOT!"
"..."
"Cool."
Did their captain really lose his powers?
-----------
Now,
The Going Merry creaked softly as it sailed away from the Marine fortress, the sea calm now that the chaos was behind them. The crew had gathered on the deck—some standing, some sitting.
.
Chopper had just finished wrapping the last of his wounds, stepping back with a worried frown. "You still haven't told us what happened, Luffy."
Luffy blinked up at him, tilting his head. "Huh? What d'you mean?"
Nami crossed her arms, brows furrowed. "Don't play dumb... well, dumber than usual." She pinched her nose and sighed. "You told us you couldn't use your powers before we split up. And I saw glimpses of your fight up there, you didn't stretch, not once. No Gum-Gum moves, nothing." Her voice was firm, but there was a flicker of unease beneath it. "What the hell happened?"
Luffy scratched his cheek, glancing away. "Ah… yeah. I don't know what else to tell you. I just can't use my powers." He shrugged.
Robin looked down at the captain, her arms on the railing. "Do you remember when you stopped being able to use your powers?"
"Hmm..." Luffy folded his legs and placed his fist under his chin in thought, "Well, I remember I was able to stretch myself to safety right after defeating that electricity guy."
The crew was silent, waiting for Luffy to continue.
"I landed and wanted to eat. So I started eating some fruit..." His face turned reflective, "And after eating... I..." He scratched his head before he remembered, "My stomach hurt a lot, and I think I fell asleep for a bit."
The admission hung in the air.
Sanji clicked his teeth as he tried lighting another cigarette. "That explains the scream we heard." He muttered.
Zoro opened a lone eye, seemingly awake from his nap.
"L-Luffy... did you... Eat anything poisonous?" Nami questioned, her voice quieter than usual.
"No poison I'm aware of would cause a loss in devil fruit powers, Navigator." Robin voiced out, her face a small frown as she stared at Luffy.
"Captain. Did you happen to notice anything strange about a fruit you ate? Perhaps it was a different colour, shape, size... or... taste?"
Chopper immediately shouted, "Wha-Robin! That's not possible! If he ate another devil fruit, he'd be dead!" His eyes went teary at just the thought.
Usopp stiffened. "Wait. What?! But—"
"It's not definitive, you'd be right." She replied, her voice as calm as ever. 'Ordinarily.' Her thoughts went awry with theories.
"So... Captain. Did you notice anything different?"
"Now that you mention it... yeah. I had a... blue fruit, tasted awful." He paled recalling it. Sticking his tongue out, he continued, "It was as bad as the Gum-Gum fruit."
Usopp stiffened. "So... does that mean Luffy has two fruits now?"
"No, let's not assume. For all we know, it really could have been poison... we were on an ancient place previously thought to have been 'not real'..." Nami reasoned, trying to make sense of the situation.
Robin walked down to the deck with the others before taking a seat on a stretcher commonly placed for her or Nami. Her fingers laced together. "Did anything else change... Captain?"
"Any different thoughts?" Robin continued.
Suddenly, Zoro got up. Walking to the dining room, "Oi, cook. It's time for dinner."
The crew watched him walk away before Sanji followed, "I'll be making some grilled fish today, figure it'd be a nice change of pace from being in the sky, hmm?"
Nami bit her lip before she sighed and went with them wordlessly.
"Ah! I have the I'll-die-if-I-don't-have-food-instead-of-prying-disease!" Ussop ran to the dining room.
Chopper looked confused before he looked back at Luffy, "Uh... Luffy, please don't move too much for a while. Usually, your rubber body lets you take some damage before the wounds open, but now that you're... normal? I'd recommend going easy. And I'll be taking blood samples to check later! Just in case you really did get some poison! Count on me, Luffy!"
"Of course! You're the best doctor I know! Shishishi~" Luffy laughed at his doctor's enthusiasm.
Chopper flushed a bit before giving a happy dance and leaving.
Before long, everyone left, leaving Robin and Luffy on the deck.
.
"They have a lot of trust in you, Captain."
"You don't."
"..."
She looked away, lying back on the stretcher as she looked to the sea, the moonlight was dim, but somehow as bright as ever, the water looked surreal after being in the sky for as long as they were.
"You still haven't answered my question." She said, her eyes fixed on the starry sea.
"Because I already told you, right? I'm having a lot more thoughts now." He mumbled a bit annoyed from his seated position on the ground in the middle of the deck.
"A new thing for you, I assume?"
"Yeah, it's annoying."
"Still. My question stands: what are they revolving around?"
"If I tell you, will you tell me why you keep checking for birds every time we're near a tree?" He gave a cheeky smile as he stared at her turned head.
She froze, barely noticeable before she turned back to him, the frown from earlier back. "Captain. You're playing with things far above your capabilities... especially now that you're... not you."
-----------
Sanji was cooking in the kitchen as the rest of the Straw Hats sat at the table.
"Uh, what do you think about Luffy, guys?" Ussop voiced out, a bit nervous at the palpable tension in the room.
"Nothing. He's still him." Nami said, looking at the empty plate in front of her.
"Is he?" Ussop replied.
"Uh... why are you asking? He's Luffy, our Captain, right?" Chopper's voice conveyed his confusion.
As Sanji was moving the pan, he said, "Yes, he is. That's why there could be an issue we need to address."
Zoro cut in, "There's no problem, for now."
"But there is! He can't stretch!" Ussop yelled before shying away, nervous at the sudden attention.
"He still won. That's enough." Zoro said, Sanji's sigh could be heard as he cooked.
"Zoro is right, regardless of what happened to our captain... it doesn't seem to be life-threatening. He can still fight and win." Nami said resolutely, even if her voice was quiet, her eyes flickering up to Zoro from the plate. "But... do you think it's possible?"
"That he ate another fruit?" Sanji said as he finished cooking, walking over to serve the cooked meal.
"I-I guess? This is the Grand Line after all... miracles and improbable things can happen..." Ussop mumbled.
They decided to close the topic and eat their food, uneasy about recent events.
None of them missed how their captain didn't come to eat.
-----------
"And why are they above me?" Luffy questioned. Still on the deck with his leg folded.
"You're young and dumb. You don't think before doing things, you almost died thrice in the short time I saw you, just at Alabasta." Her voice was flat as she listed off reasons, her eyes on the sea.
"I still won." The pout could almost be audibly heard.
"After I patched you up." She rested her head on her hand as she finally turned to look at him, her eyes piercing and flat. "Twice."
Luffy's mouth opened to speak before closing, seemingly not having anything to say.
"See? What if someone like me isn't there next time? What if you lose your crew instead, unable to do anything? You're a rookie on these seas, fresh blood. Fresh blood doesn't survive long by sticking out."
"That's a lot of ifs."
"Things you need to think about when you're alone." She mumbled before catching herself, her face betraying a flicker of emotion before she turned away, back to the sea.
"Y'know, I think about a lot of things now. But keeping my crew safe is one of the most... promi-...-nant? Is that the word?"
"Prominent." She corrected.
"Yeah, that." He got up, dusting off his knees as he lightly stretched, "But I'll tell you this too."
She turned back, curious. Before flinching at how close he suddenly was.
"You're someone I will protect, too." His eyes locked onto hers. "No matter who I need to fight. No matter who I need to overcome. I'll keep my crew safe. You included." He stuck his tongue out playfully. "You're my archologist." He said cheekily, his face mere inches from hers.
Then she felt it. Her chest beat just a bit faster, her cheeks warming almost a shade darker as she stared back at his onyx eyes, her blue eyes lost as if searching for the truth. Her mouth opened just a tad. It felt like an eternity as she stared at his face.
"Archaeologist." She ultimately said, her face settling into a small smile.
"Yeah." He then grinned, "That." He laughed.
While he chuckled, she got up from her stretcher, looking down at him due to their height difference. "You're naive."
"Maybe."
"No, you are."
He looked up at her, "Then-"
He put his hat on his head as he went to the merry's figurehead.
"-Call me naive again after I save you."
She watched him go, "..."
"Good night. Luffy."
"G'night."
-----------
Far away, a tall man lazily pedalled on his bike as he rode on water. "She's been on quite the adventure..." He drawled as he took in the view of the night sky.
-----------
"Oiii! Nami! Where are we going?" Luffy yelled as he came upon the deck. The bright morning sun was unobstructed by clouds.
"Well, there's a map I found back at that marine base. Looked important considering it was locked up."
"Ooooo~" Luffy jumped up to the helm to take a look at what Nami held in her hands.
Instinctively, Nami recoiled and swatted her captain with the map before realising she could have damaged it; unfortunately for Luffy, that just angered her further.
"Damn it Luffy! Don't scare me like that!"
"Sorry... but still, tell me what it says!" He sat on the railing as he eagerly waited.
She huffed, "Fine. It's just a map to an island with a title smudged out, the only thing I can really read is a word called 'Ohara'." Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked at it some more, "In fact, it's odd that it's a map for an island in the first place, considering how log poses work..."
An ear unknown to the two of them appeared nearby, a certain someone having an interest in their conversation. Or more accurately, the map.
Nami frowned, tracing the faded ink with her finger. "But seriously... this doesn't make any sense. Log poses lock onto an island's magnetic field, This map should have quite literally no use... it just… points to a location surrounded by landmarks. No coordinates... nothing else."
Luffy tilted his head. "So? I'm sure you'll figure it out."
Nami groaned, rubbing her temples. "It's not that simple, idiot! The Grand Line doesn't work like that! Islands move, currents shift—without an eternal pose, we could sail right past it and never even know!"
Robin, who had been listening silently, finally came to stand next to them, having been in the library earlier. "Unless... The landmarks show up on the way to the next island, and you'd need to interact with them."
Nami blinked. "What do you mean?"
Robin stepped closer, her fingers brushing the map in Nami's hands, her eyes staring at the title. "Some islands don't rely on magnetic fields for you to reach them. They exist outside the usual rules of navigation—places like Sky Island, or…" She hesitated, her voice lowering. "Our mystery island."
Nami's eyes widened as she picked up on where Robin was looking. "Wait, you know this place?"
Robin's expression darkened slightly. "No. But I know what the only legible word on the map is, it's an island. And it's not the same place that the map is trying to lead us to."
"Oh... do you think it has something to do with the island, though?" Nami questioned.
"It's... very unlikely. It shouldn't be on any map to begin with, not anymore..." Robin's face was visibly troubled, whether she noticed it or not was anyone's guess.
Luffy grinned. "Then it's perfect! A mystery island!"
Nami shot him a glare. "Luffy, this isn't just some adventure—if what Robin is saying is true, then the island is—"
"Gone," Robin finished softly. "At least... everything associated with it should have been destroyed as well. That's what the World Government would want everyone to believe."
A heavy silence settled over the deck.
Usopp, who had been eavesdropping from the mast, gulped. "Uh… so we're talking about an island that doesn't exist?"
Robin's lips curled downward into a visible frown. "Or one they tried very hard to erase... either thinking it was gone for good... or that nobody would find it. Say... Navigator." She turned to look at Nami.
"Where did you find this?"
"In a locked chest at the base..." Nami replied, sweating a bit from the idea of what could be ahead.
Luffy crossed his arms, his grin unwavering. "Then we definitely have to go."
Nami groaned, clutching the map tighter. "But how? Even if what's on the island is still there, we can't just sail blindly! Why would the government even want it gone? What if there's something very dangerous on it?"
"It might not even be there. A Buster Call might have destroyed the island itself..." Robin corrected, her voice solemn.
"What... an entire island can be... destroyed?" Saying Nami was shocked would be an understatement; the rest of the crew, silently listening, had varying levels of surprise.
"Yes... It's not a sight one should see. The Marine's strongest weapon..."
.
"Well. We can take it, so let's go!" Luffy insisted.
Nami sighed, rubbing her forehead. "This is insane… but... fine. Captain's orders... I'll see if I can cross-reference this map with any known currents or historical records. Maybe we can at least narrow it down."
Usopp whimpered. "Guys, are we sure we want to go to a place the World Government might have destroyed off the planet?"
Zoro, who had been napping nearby, cracked an eye open. "Sounds like fun."
Sanji exhaled a stream of smoke. "As long as my dear Robin is happy~"
Chopper was excited, "Oo! Maybe they have some cool robots!"
Nami groaned. "I'm surrounded by idiots…"
Luffy just laughed, stretching his arms wide. "Shishishi! Adventure!"
-----------
The Merry sailed through calm waters, the log pose on Nami's wrist pointing steadily toward their next island. But her eyes kept flicking back to the strange map in her hands—the one that apparently shouldn't exist.
Robin stood beside her, arms crossed. "Despite what I said, the landmarks themselves could have been hidden, or removed somehow... rendering it completely impossible to find."
Nami chewed the inside of her cheek. "But if it was destroyed, why would they bother hiding the map to it?"
Luffy, perched on the figurehead, suddenly pointed ahead. "Hey! Something is sticking out of the water!"
Nami squinted. Sure enough, a lone, jagged rock formation jutted from the sea like a broken tooth. It didn't match any charts—no island, no reef, just a single, unnatural spike of stone.
Her fingers tightened around the map. This was one of the landmarks, possibly the only one remaining.
"Usopp!" she called. "Fire a cannon at that thing!"
Usopp blinked. "W-WHAT?! Why?!"
"Just do it!"
With a gulp, Usopp loaded a cannonball and took aim. The blast echoed across the waves—
BOOM!
The cannonball struck the rock—
And for a moment, nothing happened.
Then, the sea rippled.
The water around the rock swirled violently, forming a sudden whirlpool that yanked the Merry off course. The log pose spun wildly, its needle jerking in a completely new direction, in an apparent fight with its previous waypoint.
"WHOA—WHAT'S HAPPENING?!" Usopp shrieked, clinging to the mast.
Nami's eyes widened. "The current—it's pulling us somewhere else!"
Robin's lips curled into a knowing smile. "If this still works... then the island must still have something."
Luffy whooped, gripping his hat as the ship lurched. "THIS IS AWESOME!"
The whirlpool twisted, dragging them deeper into uncharted waters toward an island that wasn't supposed to exist.
The sea then calmed as suddenly as it had raged, the unnatural current vanishing as if it had never been. The Merry drifted forward on fast yet gentle waves, the crew still catching their breath from the whirlpool's pull.
Then—
"Land!" Chopper shouted, pointing ahead.
A dark silhouette rose on the horizon—an island, jagged and uneven, as if something had torn it apart and left only fragments behind. A tall metal rod reached into the heavens themselves as the sky above the island was unnaturally still, the clouds hanging low with heavy rumbling which could be heard even from the distance they were at.
Nami's grip tightened on the railing. "That's… it?"
Robin stood motionless beside her, her expression unreadable.
"Robin," Nami said carefully, "you recognised the name on the map. Ohara. Is it something important to you?"
A beat of silence.
Robin's fingers curled slightly against the wood. "…Nothing important now."
Luffy, who had been grinning at the sight of land, turned his head. His eyes locked onto Robin—really looked at her, in that way he sometimes did when he sensed something deeper.
"Robin," he said, voice uncharacteristically quiet. "You don't wanna talk about it?"
She didn't answer.
The crew exchanged glances. Even Zoro, usually indifferent, watched her with narrowed eyes.
Luffy stretched his arms, cracking his knuckles. "Then we don't need to know." He stretched as he went to sit on Merry's figurehead. "If it's something we need to find out, I'm sure you'll tell us when you're ready." He then grinned, wide and bright. "Shishishi! Now let's go see what made them want to hide this island!"
Robin's lips pressed into a thin line. But as the Merry sailed closer, her fingers twitched—just once—like she was bracing herself.
The ruins of Ohara... or, something related to it.
-----------
The Merry's hull scraped against blackened, vine-choked docks—wood so old it groaned under their footsteps as they tied the ship securely to what remained of the pier. The air hung stale here, thick with the scent of salt and something else—charcoal lingering in the earth as if the ground itself remembered fire.
Luffy on the deck laughed, "Shishishi! This place looks awesome!" He moved his hand to grab a tree instinctively—only to remember halfway that his arms wouldn't extend like they used to. He scowled, shaking out his wrists. "Still not used to it..." Thus, he was the first to leap onto the dock, his sandals sending up puffs of ashen dust.
Nami stepped down next, her sandals sinking slightly into the soggy wood. "These planks are rotted, that's for sure... but someone's been here more recently than it would otherwise suggest." She nudged a rusted nail with her sandal—fresh scratches marred the metal. "See? This isn't as weathered as the rest."
Usopp gulped, coming onto the dock next, clutching his slingshot. "O-Okay, so not completely abandoned. Cool. Coolcoolcool-wait, NOT COOL!"
Robin followed but stood frozen at the edge of the dock, staring up at the towering wreckage beyond. Crumbled stone arches, buildings eaten by vines, and—there, in the distance—the silhouette of a massive metal rod, its surface etched with symbols even from afar. It looked to be connected to a building on the surface. But the trees blocking the view made it hard to say.
Zoro eyed her as he stepped onto the dock. "Oi. You good?"
She blinked, her face smoothing into neutrality. "Yes."
Sanji lit a cigarette, eyeing the dense jungle creeping over the ruins. "Place just reeks of danger." He exhaled smoke sharply. "I'll protect you! My beautiful Nami and Robin!" He twirled.
Luffy tilted his straw hat back, squinting at the overgrown path ahead. "Well, we won't know anything by standing around here! Let's go find out!"
He took a step forward—
CRACK.
The dock splintered underfoot.
"WHOA-!"
The dock shook as a part of it collapsed into the sea. The crew scrambled—Chopper barely grabbing onto Zoro's arm, Usopp shrieking as he clung to a loose rope, from the merry. Nami held onto Sanji as he steadied himself—
And Luffy? He fell into the water below.
Robin immediately acted, her arms crossing as she used her powers to try fishing him out.
-----------
Luffy was coughing up water as the rest of his crew waited around him, now on the island's soil.
"Ah, I still can't swim." He frowned.
"Well, despite the fact you can't stretch, you still ate the Devil Fruit... at least we know you still have an ability... I guess..." Nami reasoned.
The dense jungle swallowed them whole as soon as they left the rotting docks behind. The air was stifling—thick with humidity and the scent of ozone, as though a storm had been brewing overhead for years without ever breaking. The crew moved cautiously, pushing aside vines as broad as their arms while their footsteps sank into the damp, moss-choked earth beneath them. The sky was filled with clouds, barely visible from the canopy of trees, only adding to the darkness.
Nami wiped the sweat from her brow, eyes scanning the rusted metal scraps half-buried in the undergrowth. "These definitely aren't natural." She commented as they walked. Seeing some broken glass orbs resting on body-length pillars as well, now and again.
The scraps under the dirt only became more prominent the deeper they went, so finally, she knelt, brushing away caked mud from a corroded cylinder etched with numerals. "Metal... maybe tubes under the ground?"
Usopp gulped, nudging a broken glass panel with his boot. "You guys ever get the feeling we're being watched? Like, by... I dunno, robot ghosts?"
"There are no such things as ghosts. For that matter, zombies and walking skeletons aren't a thing either, before you bring it up." Zoro muttered, though his hand rested on Wado Ichimonji's hilt. Even he could feel it—the unnatural weight of this place, like the island itself was holding its breath.
Sanji exhaled smoke, kicking aside a vine snaking too close to Robin's ankle. "It was definitely some sort of tech used by someone, probably the Marines..." He pointed to a series of shattered glass orbs wired to steel poles, half-swallowed by the jungle. "See those? Look a lot like lanterns, probably trying to light them up for some reason, they have some horizontal lines on them too... maybe a form of measurement for something."
"Woah, how do you know that, Sanji?" Chopper asked beside him, curious.
"A hunch," Sanji said a tad bit too quickly, as he huffed his cigarette.
Robin paused, fingers brushing the markings on a moss-covered stone slab as she stepped closer to them. "Something regarding light... and looking at that immeasurable rod sticking out into the sky... something to do with lightning as well. Perhaps to generate energy?"
Ussop tilted his head. "Eh? A research facility, then?"
"Maybe a testing ground?" Luffy butted in as he looked at Robin.
"What gives you that idea, Captain?" Robin asked.
"An empty island... just a big rod pointing to the sky, not many buildings... if any..." He looked around as he puffed his cheeks, seemingly remembering something.
"It's like the place I used to train at~" He laughed before adding, "At least, that's what makes sense to me."
"...You might be right... Apart from the cables under the ground, there's nothing obstructing someone from just roaming and testing their strength... apart from these... orbs." She mused. Her subconscious made her let out a small, faint smile from her captain's puffed cheeks.
Sanji spoke next, "If it were someone's testing ground, what would they be testing?"
Robin didn't answer immediately. Instead, she stepped forward, pressing her palm against the grooves in the slab before murmuring, "Light."
Luffy, who had been poking a pile of rusted gears, perked up. "Huh? Like, Sunlight?"
"You might have been right if the clouds weren't obstructing that very sunlight." Robin straightened, her gaze drifting toward the unnatural darkness of the canopy above. Even now, the sky beyond the trees was choked with sluggish, leaden clouds that hadn't shifted in hours. "But no, artificial light, generated by electricity."
Nami rested her head on her hand as she thought. "So... that metal rod is a lightning rod? Studying... how to—"
"Harness electricity," Robin finished.
A beat of silence.
"Like Eneru?" Chopper squeaked.
Robin's lips thinned. "Not for combat purposes. At least, not initially. There would have been evidence of weapons somewhere on the shore to ward off intruders if that were the case. That or they've been destroyed or well hidden..." She gestured to the shattered glass orbs. "These could reflect light, no doubt… maybe even some type of refraction? The tubes under would also just mean they could simply glow after being powered..." Her hand lowered to remove some mud, revealing that it was connected to the cables. "The rod likely conducted storms to generate energy, but whatever they were powering aside from these orbs, most likely wasn't left behind when this place was abandoned."
Sanji scowled, grinding his cigarette underfoot. "So the Marines—or someone—tried to weaponise lightning here?"
'But if that were true... the map would or at least should, not be mentioning Ohara... I've not known any researcher there to be in affiliation with the marines... much less to be focused on science in their research... Robin looked at the ground as she thought.
Just then, a crackle of lightning could be heard as the island itself seemed to shake, the rod in the sky glowing as a low hum vibrated through the ground. The air prickled with static, raising the hairs on their arms.
Robin's eyes flashed. "That's not natural."
The jungle ahead abruptly thinned, the once present trees seemingly diverging as if being pushed apart, revealing a clearing dominated by a massive, dome-like structure, the base of the sky rod—its metal doors rusted but still intact, sealed tight with chains and a warning stencilled in peeling red paint:
"HIGH-VOLTAGE TESTING SECTOR UNAUTHORISED ENTRY = DEATH"
"Well," Zoro drawled, fingers tightening around his swords. "Guess we found the fun part."
Luffy from his spot near the orb noticed something else as well, "Hey! Look! Those aren't the only trees that moved!" He pointed to two other orbs now visible as if the line of sight toward these was important to someone.
"Wha-?" Ussop gaped.
"So... the trees move. There are cables under the ground, these orbs have a clear line of sight to each other... probably true for all the orbs on the island. There's a big ass metal rod in the sky, and this was most definitely a research facility or testing ground." Sanji recapped.
"All of that sounds like things we shouldn't mess with! Luffy! Let's leave!" Ussop begged as his face paled.
-----------
The man on the bicycle finally stopped pedalling after reaching an island, "Oho? What a funny ship..." He stared at the figurehead. "It's definitely eccentric... suits their captain from what I've heard..." He yawned as he walked onto land. "Eh... I'm a bit tired... I can go search for her later... she's here anyway."
With that, he lay on the sand with his hands under his head, drifting off to take a nap.
-----------
The crew moved toward the building cautiously. Luffy moved to open the doors before Nami stopped him, "Wait, you idiot! You're not rubber anymore, remember? What if it's electrified!"
"Ah... right! Thanks, Nami." He gave a carefree grin.
Nami handed her Clima-Tact to him, "Break it open with that. Be careful! It's an insulator to lightning, but it can still break, so don't overdo it!"
"Okay!" Luffy cheerfully nodded as he slammed it into the entrance, the metal doors falling.
An eerie sound of the whirring of machines could be heard from inside.
Everyone headed inside one by one, Luffy at the front.
"Go on, curlybrows, I'll take care of the back. To keep everyone safe." Zoro nudged Sanji forward.
"What? No, you go first. Mosshead, you wouldn't be able to handle an ambush with that sword stuck up your mouth." Sanji argued.
"I'm stronger than you. No Bounty." Zoro smugly said.
"Wanna go right now?!" Sanji yelled.
The two were about to fight before Nami broke them up, murmuring about how stupid men could be.
-----------
Another tall man dressed in a fancy yellow suit lounged in his office chair, his feet propped on his desk as he idly flicked through a stack of reports. Beside him, a cup of tea steamed—untouched—as he sighed through his nose.
"Boringgg~… Nobody causes trouble anymore these days, that leopard fellow has been quite annoying as well..." he drawled, tilting his head back to stare at the ceiling. "How intriguing... Aokiji seems to be interested in the same person too, must be a biggg secret~" His lips stretched almost in a smug smile before settling.
"Ah~ Speaking of secrets~ I wonder what that old man is doing..." He closed his eyes as he lay back in his seat.
The dull background noise of the ceiling fan adding to the laziness of the room. The window next to him open, as sunlight leaked in. The faint sound of birds cawing could be heard before-
Bzzzt.
His eyebrow twitched.
His lazy gaze slid down to the inside pocket of his yellow-checked suit. Slowly, he reached in and pulled out a small, silver transponder snail—its shell dotted with yellow markings. It vibrated faintly in his palm, its antennae twitching with weak, erratic pulses of static.
"…Oh?" Lips curled into a small smile. "I forgot I even had this... this old thing still works~? Ahh... what memories... I don't think it'll take too long..."
The snail's eyes blinked sluggishly, its shell crackling with fading energy before going silent again.
Then, with a blinding flash of golden light, the man dissolved into streaks of radiance, vanishing from his office without another word. The chair spinning seemingly at
.
the speed
.
of
.
light.
-To Be Continued-