The water in the Mermaid Cove was crystal clear, reflecting the sunlight that filtered down from the massive roots of the Sunlight Tree Eve. It was warm, tranquil, and smelled faintly of sea salt and sweet coral.
Luffy sat on a large, flat rock, surrounded by five mermaids who were poking his cheeks, pulling his ears, and stretching his arms.
"It really stretches!" a mermaid with pink hair giggled, pulling Luffy's cheek a full foot away from his face. "Are all humans this soft?"
"I am a rubber man," Luffy explained, his words garbled by the stretching. "And stop poking me. Do you have any meat?"
"Meat?" A blue-tailed mermaid tilted her head. "We have seaweed salad? And clam chowder?"
Luffy frowned, his cheek snapping back into place. "Seaweed is not meat. Seaweed is sadness."
"He is so funny!" The mermaids laughed in unison, the sound like wind chimes.
Suddenly, a groan echoed from the sandy beach behind them. Sanji, Usopp, and Chopper were stirring, coughing up water.
"Ugh," Usopp rubbed his head, sitting up. "I saw a bright light. Did we die? Is this the afterlife?"
Sanji pushed himself up on his hands. His suit was dripping wet, his hair plastered to his face. He opened his one visible eye and looked around. His gaze landed on the mermaids swimming in the cove.
Time seemed to freeze.
Sanji's eye widened. His pupil dilated. His hands began to tremble.
"Usopp," Sanji whispered, his voice shaking with reverence. "You were right."
"I was?" Usopp blinked.
"We died," Sanji declared, tears streaming down his face. "This is the All Blue. This is Heaven. The mermaids! The mermaids are real!"
"We didn't die, you idiot cook," Luffy called out from the rock. "We just fell."
Sanji ignored him. He stood up, his body vibrating with an energy that defied physics. He formed a heart shape with his eyes.
"M-M-Mermaid-chans!" Sanji howled, sprinting toward the water. "I am coming to play with you!"
"Wait!" Chopper screamed, pulling out a stethoscope. "Sanji! Your blood pressure! It is over three hundred! If you get too excited, your heart will explode!"
Sanji didn't listen. He leaped into the water, splashing around like a delighted seal. The mermaids giggled and swam around him, enchanted by his curly eyebrows.
"He is drowning in happiness," Usopp noted dryly. "And literal water."
"Sanji!" Chopper panicked. "Don't look directly at them! The stimulation is too strong for a virgin like you!"
"Shut up, raccoon!" Sanji yelled, hugging a rock while surrounded by beauties. "I have no regrets!"
Luffy watched the scene with a faint smile. He remembered this. He remembered how close Sanji came to death just from a nosebleed.
"Oi, Sanji," Luffy said, his voice cutting through the laughter. "Calm down. If you die from a nosebleed, I will tell Zeff you went out like a loser."
Sanji froze. The mention of the old man snapped him back to reality for a second. He looked at Luffy.
"Captain," Sanji said, wiping a trickle of blood from his nose. "You don't understand. This is my dream."
"Your dream is the All Blue," Luffy corrected. "This is just a swimming pool with girls. Save the blood for the fight."
"Fight?" Sanji blinked. "Who wants to fight in paradise?"
"Luffy-chin!"
A high-pitched voice interrupted them. A mermaid with short green hair and a starfish wearing a rasta hat swam rapidly toward them.
"Camie!" Luffy grinned.
Camie launched herself out of the water, landing on the rock next to Luffy. "I knew it! The news said pirates crashed through the bubble, and I thought it had to be you! You are alive!"
"Yo, Straw Hat!" The starfish, Pappag, struck a pose. "Welcome to my hood! I am a famous designer now, you know! Criminal brand is top tier!"
"Oh, it's the starfish," Luffy poked Pappag. "Are you food yet?"
"I am not food!" Pappag screeched. "I am a celebrity! Show some respect!"
"Luffy!" Usopp ran over. "You know these guys?"
"Yeah," Luffy nodded. "Camie gave me takoyaki once. It was good."
"That is all you remember?" Camie laughed. "But where is Hacchin? And the others?"
"We got separated," Luffy said, looking up at the massive coral structures towering above them. "But they are fine. Zoro is probably fighting someone. Brook is probably singing. Robin is reading."
"You are so calm," Usopp sighed. "We are in enemy territory! This is an illegal entry!"
"Illegal?"
A deep, booming voice resonated through the cove.
The water at the entrance of the cove churned. A massive gondola, pulled by a large sea king, surfaced. Standing on the gondola were three massive mermen. The brothers of the Neptune House.
Fukaboshi, the shark merman. Ryuboshi, the oarfish merman. Manboshi, the moonfish merman.
The mermaids shrieked and hid behind the rocks.
"The Neptune Army!" Camie gasped. "The Princes!"
Fukaboshi stepped forward, his trident gleaming in the sun. He looked down at the Straw Hats with a stern expression.
"Identify yourselves," Fukaboshi commanded. "We received reports of intruders breaching the barrier. Are you the Straw Hat Pirates?"
Usopp hid behind Luffy. "No! We are the... uh... The Hat Straw Pirates! Totally different guys!"
"We are the Straw Hats," Luffy said simply, stepping forward.
"Luffy!" Usopp hissed. "Deny it!"
Fukaboshi narrowed his eyes. "Monkey D. Luffy. The man who punched a Celestial Dragon. Do you have any idea the chaos you caused?"
"I heard about it," Luffy picked his nose. "He deserved it."
The Royal Guards behind Fukaboshi gasped.
"Insolence!" one guard shouted. "Arrest them!"
Fukaboshi raised his hand, stopping his men. He looked at Luffy, analyzing him. He expected a chaotic, violent pirate. But the man standing before him was calm. His posture was relaxed, yet there was no opening in his defense.
"We are not here to arrest you yet," Fukaboshi said. "But you entered this country illegally. You must come with us to the palace to explain your intentions."
"The palace?" Sanji's ears perked up. "Does the palace have beautiful mermaid princesses?"
"Sanji, stop," Chopper warned.
Luffy looked at Fukaboshi. He remembered the script perfectly. The invitation to the palace. The feast. The trap. He knew that Hody Jones was already making his moves in the shadows, preparing to tear this island apart.
"I don't want to go to the palace right now," Luffy said.
"Refusal is not an option," Ryuboshi sang, strumming his sword like a guitar. "If you fight, you lose! Mi re do!"
"We have the advantage of numbers and terrain," Fukaboshi stated. "Surrender peacefully."
Luffy smiled. It wasn't a nice smile. It was the smile of a predator being threatened by prey.
"Numbers don't matter," Luffy said.
He took a step forward.
Vwoom.
He didn't unleash the full blast. He just let his Haki brush against the senses of the three princes. It was a heavy, suffocating sensation, like the ocean itself had turned to lead.
Fukaboshi flinched, taking a step back. Cold sweat broke out on his scales. Ryuboshi dropped his sword. Manboshi stopped dancing.
What was that? Fukaboshi thought, his heart racing. For a second... I thought I was dead. Just from him looking at me?
"We are just passing through," Luffy said, the pressure vanishing as quickly as it came. "We need to find our crew. We need to get our ship fixed. And I need meat. If you get in my way, I will beat you up."
The silence in the cove was deafening.
"Luffy!" Camie whispered frantically. "You can't threaten the Princes!"
"Why not?" Luffy asked. "They are annoying."
Fukaboshi gripped his trident tighter. His pride as a prince warred with his survival instinct. "If you resist, we will be forced to use violence."
"Try it," Zoro's voice cut in.
Everyone turned. Zoro walked out from behind a coral reef, dripping wet, his hand on his swords.
"Zoro!" Usopp cheered. "You're here! Wait, how did you get here?"
"I got lost," Zoro shrugged. "And then I heard the Cook saying something stupid about heaven, so I followed the noise."
"Who are you calling stupid, Moss-head?" Sanji snapped, instantly ready to fight Zoro instead of the army.
"You, Dartboard-brow," Zoro retorted.
Luffy laughed. "Shishishi! See? My crew is gathering."
He looked back at Fukaboshi.
"So, Shark-guy. Are we fighting? Or are you going to let us go eat?"
Fukaboshi looked at Zoro, then back at Luffy. He realized that a fight here, in a residential area, would cause massive collateral damage. And looking at the eyes of the Straw Hat Captain, he wasn't sure he could win.
"Fine," Fukaboshi lowered his trident. "But do not think you are free to do as you please. Jinbe has a message for you."
"Jinbe?" Luffy's expression softened. "What did he say?"
"He said: 'Do not fight Hody Jones,'" Fukaboshi recited. "And 'Wait for me at the Sea Forest.'"
Luffy tilted his head. "Don't fight Hody? No promise."
"What?" Fukaboshi blinked.
"If Hody annoys me, I'm going to kick his ass," Luffy stated. "Tell Jinbe I'll see him at the Forest."
He turned to Camie.
"Camie! Take us to the restaurant! I'm starving!"
"Ehh? Right now?" Camie flustered. "But the Princes..."
"Let's go!" Luffy started walking, completely ignoring the royal army.
Sanji floated after him, hearts in his eyes. "Restaurant! Mermaid waitresses!"
Zoro sheathed his sword and followed. "I need sake."
Usopp and Chopper bowed apologetically to the Princes before scurrying after their captain.
Fukaboshi watched them leave, his grip on his trident white-knuckled.
"Brother," Ryuboshi whispered. "Should we have stopped them?"
"We couldn't," Fukaboshi admitted, his voice low. "That man... he is a monster. If we fought him, the island would have been destroyed."
He looked at the retreating back of Monkey D. Luffy.
"Father needs to know about this. The Straw Hat Pirates are not just rookies anymore."