"The others are on another train," Baral explained, watching the turbulent skies. "They've already departed—headed out to chase the one that took Robin."
Zino's eyes narrowed, his mind piecing things together. So it's unfolding similarly to the original timeline... Robin was taken aboard the Sea Train, and now the crew's out to rescue her. Just like before.
"Alright," he said firmly. "We'll go after them."
With a flick of his hand, Zino summoned a swirling cyclone that wrapped around the Silent Orca, lifting it with precision and care. Winds gathered beneath the hull, gently raising the ship into the air.
FWOOSH!
In a streak of movement, the ship flew across the stormy skies, carried by the wind and Zino's will. Moments later, they descended rapidly, the ship landing smoothly atop the ocean's surface.
Zino moved to the rear deck, his hands glowing with swirling air currents. With a powerful thrust, he unleashed a cyclone behind the ship.
WHOOOOM!!
The Silent Orca lurched forward, first slow, then gaining speed rapidly. It sliced across the sea like an arrow, matching the rails that guided the Sea Train in the distance.
"We'll catch up," Zino muttered, focusing his senses. "No matter what."
As they pressed on, a thunderous roar filled the air.
GOOOOOOO!!
A towering wall of water loomed ahead—Aqua Laguna in all its devastating power. Its monstrous height blocked the path forward entirely.
"Out of the way."
Zino's arms spread wide. With swift, controlled gestures, he released twin cyclones forward. They twisted into two massive tornadoes, barreling toward the tidal wave.
WHIRL! WHOOSH!!
The air roared as the tornadoes ripped into the towering wave, pulling it apart like curtains. The surging water was forcibly redirected to the sides, creating a narrow channel of safety.
The Silent Orca sailed cleanly through the gap.
"Still holding together back there?" Zino called over his shoulder.
Baral gritted his teeth, gripping the railing. "Just barely! You call this safe?!"
'I don't even know what's happening!' the ship cried internally, trembling with each gust.
Then, in the midst of their sprint across the sea, a prompt appeared before Zino:
[Air Element: Level 100 reached. You can now elementize yourself into Air.]
A grin crept across his face. "Nice. Let's step it up."
His body shimmered and dissolved into swirling wind—he had become one with the air.
Now part of the storm itself, Zino directed the winds to spiral more tightly. The cyclone transformed into a monstrous, horizontal tornado hurtling across the ocean. From a distance, it looked like a storm had taken the form of a beast, charging along the rails.
Inside the core of the tornado, it was eerily calm, the eye of the storm shielding the ship.
"This is insane…" Baral muttered, sweat beading down his face as the winds howled around them.
Another surge of Aqua Laguna tried to rise ahead of them.
BOOOOM!
The tornado didn't even hesitate—it pierced straight through, splitting the wave like paper.
From within the wind tunnel, Zino's voice rang out, carried by the storm.
"Robin… wait for my rescue."
...
On the Puffing Tom.
Atop the front passenger car, Moris sat motionless, cross-legged, with his eyes closed in deep concentration. His hands were stretched out in front of him, tightly gripping two small seeds. From them, greenish veins slithered out like serpents, pulsing with life and energy, snaking their way along the edges of the train car.
Inside his mind, Moris focused on controlling each vine with precision. These weren't ordinary plants—they were extensions of himself, woven from his own life energy. They crept silently through the narrow cracks in the window, dispersing the fine yellow pollen within the car.
A few moments passed.
Moris opened his eyes slowly. "It's time."
He shifted slightly, crawling toward the nearest window. With practiced ease, he cracked it open just enough to peek inside. His eyes scanned the interior of the passenger car. There, on the floor, lay the two occupants—Corgi and Nico Robin—unconscious.
Moris gave a silent nod. The pollen had worked exactly as intended.
It was a subtle formula—made to induce drowsiness, vivid hallucinations, and eventually, a deep sleep. It would cause no alarm, no sudden collapse, just a slow descent into slumber. Robin likely saw something harmless before her eyes shut. Corgi, who had been trying to pry into secrets he had no business knowing, slumped across the floor beside her.
Moris moved swiftly.
He extended several thin, flexible vines through the window. They wrapped gently around Robin, lifting her like a feather. He drew her out slowly, careful not to disturb anything inside. As soon as she was safely outside, he pulled a thick cloak off her body.
He wasn't done yet.
From the seed in his other hand, Moris grew a plant body—roughly humanoid, matching Robin's size. He cloaked the figure in Robin's clothing and placed it back in her original seat, slouched slightly to mimic sleep. It wasn't perfect, but in dim light, it would easily fool a passing glance.
Just in case, he planted a small sapling at the corner of the cabin. It would continue to release the same pollen at regular intervals, keeping the effects going. He even took a moment to drag Corgi into a chair, adjusting his posture so it looked like he'd simply dozed off.
"Sleep tight," Moris whispered.
He closed the window softly.
Using the vines, Moris secured Robin to his back. He produced a vine path connecting the top of all the passenger cars. Creeping to the rear edge, he timed the rhythm of the sea below. A silent leap. He plunged into the ocean behind the train.
SPLASH!
The water burst upward, but the sound was swallowed by the roar of the Sea Train moving ahead. No one saw. No one noticed.
Puffing Tom continued its journey, unaware that one of its prisoners had just vanished.
Treading water, Moris glanced back at the shrinking silhouette of the train.
"It's time to disappear."
He summoned more vines from the seeds in his palms. They rapidly twisted together, forming a makeshift raft. Gently, he laid the still-sleeping Robin onto it, ensuring her safety. A moment later, he fashioned a pair of oar-like paddles from hardened vines.
With calm but steady movements, Moris began rowing the raft, veering away from the Sea Train rails. His goal wasn't speed—it was stealth.
They had escaped. Now, he only needed to vanish into the sea.
...
Time flew by.
As the Puffing Tom neared the distant silhouette of Enies Lobby, the ominous fortress of justice rising against the horizon, Rob Lucci sat in the rear passenger car, arms crossed, brow furrowed.
He had been waiting far too long.
"Tch," he clicked his tongue. "What is taking Corgi so long with Robin?"
He stood up silently and walked toward the front car. His heavy steps echoed down the narrow corridor. Behind him, Kaku, Blueno, and Kalifa looked up.
"Something wrong?" Kalifa asked.
Lucci didn't answer. He simply reached the front door and gave a firm knock.
"Hey. Aren't you done talking?" he called out.
Silence.
No response. No movement.
Lucci's eyes narrowed. Something felt wrong. Without hesitation, he raised his foot and slammed it into the door.
*CRACK!*
The lock shattered, and the door swung open violently. Inside, the car was quiet. Robin and Corgi sat opposite each other, their bodies slouched slightly, heads tilted as if asleep.
"They're sleeping?" Lucci muttered.
He stepped inside slowly, the air heavy with a strange sweetness. His instincts twitched. There was an unnatural scent hanging here—faint, floral… almost like pollen.
Behind him, the rest of CP9 followed in silently, spreading out across the car.
Lucci reached Corgi first. The man's eyes were closed, lips slightly parted. He looked peaceful. Too peaceful.
"This is no normal sleep," Lucci growled. "Wake up."
He grabbed Corgi's shoulder and slapped him. No response.
Kalifa bent forward slightly. "I don't sense any injuries."
"Someone did something subtle," Blueno said, sniffing the air.
Kaku knelt beside the seated Robin, examining her posture. He walked forward and tilted his head to see her face. What he saw made his eyes widen.
"…Vines?"
Lucci turned sharply. "What?"
"It's not her," Kaku confirmed. "It's a bundle of plant matter. Shaped like her. Cloaked to mimic her form."
Lucci stormed over, yanking the cloak off. Sure enough, beneath the folds of cloth was not flesh and blood—but vines. Twisted intricately, posed like a decoy.
His jaw clenched. "She's gone."
Kalifa gasped. "But how?"
"There's someone else on board," Kaku muttered, standing.
"Or someone who was," Lucci corrected, his voice cold and low. "This was well-planned. While we were distracted with Cutty Flam, someone extracted her without a sound."
He stormed toward the window, throwing it open.
"I'm going after her," he said. "You three continue. Escort Cutty Flam to Enies Lobby."
Without another word, Lucci leapt out of the window.
His body dropped for a moment—then snapped back upward as he activated Geppo, launching himself into the air like a bullet. The sea train tracks stretched behind them for miles, and he began bounding along them, scanning with sharp eyes.
Meanwhile, inside the car, the CP9 members stood silently.
Kaku looked at the vines again. "Whoever did this… knew our timing."
Kalifa nodded, pinching a leaf. "There's residue. Definitely biological. Someone with plant-based powers."
"Troublesome."
And all the while, the Puffing Tom charged ahead—carrying its remaining prisoner, Cutty Flam, toward the gates of Enies Lobby.
...
At this moment, the Rocket Man was moving fast along the rails. Inside the car, tension filled the air. The Orcas, the Straw Hats, and the Franky Family all waited as if on tenterhooks. The closer they got to Enies Lobby, the tighter the atmosphere became.
As they continued their high-speed advance, Nojiko's eyes sharpened suddenly.
"Someone is flying overhead," she said calmly, peering through the mist and rain.
Everyone turned, pressing up against the windows in alarm.
Nami squinted out into the distance. "Nojiko, how can you always see something far away? I don't see any—wait… oh, there's a dot."
Indeed, far ahead, a black speck was speeding toward them, bouncing rapidly in the sky as though stepping on air.
"Who is that?" Sanji asked.
Gin narrowed his eyes. "Isn't that Lucci? One of the Galley-La workers?"
"They're not Galley-La anymore," Paulie muttered, jaw clenched. "Those guys tried to assassinate Iceburg. They're government agents now."
"Oh?" Sanji's brow rose. So it *was* them. This is going to be tricky."
"Why?" Paulie asked, confused.
Sanji didn't respond. Instead, he moved.
He leapt out the window with a swift motion. "Geppo!" he called out.
In an instant, he launched himself skyward, his legs kicking off the air itself.
Kruz followed closely behind—but his method was different. He didn't use Geppo. Instead, he stepped onto warped patches of space that flickered into existence beneath his feet—spatial distortions that held him aloft.
He glanced toward Lucci, voice calm. "You won't be able to block us."
"That's right," Sanji added, "We will save Robin."
Lucci raised an eyebrow. Their words caught him off guard. If they were trying to save Robin, then clearly they weren't the ones responsible for her disappearance.
Which means… someone else had interfered.
A small smirk curled on Lucci's lips. "I see. So Robin is not on this train. Interesting."
Still floating calmly in the air, he made no move to block the Rocket Man as it thundered past beneath them.
"You're letting them go?" Sanji asked, surprised.
"It makes no difference," Lucci said. "Robin won't escape."
He turned his gaze directly at them. "I'm more interested in fighting you two."
Kruz narrowed his eyes. "So you're just using this as an excuse to measure strength."
"Exactly." Lucci smiled faintly.
A beat of silence fell.
Then—BOOM!
The three moved at once.
Sanji kicked forward, flames swirling around his leg. Kruz warped space with each step, closing the gap in an instant. Lucci countered with a swift Soru, reappearing between the two with deadly precision.
Their clash erupted in midair, sparks flying. Gusts of wind blasted outward as the three exchanged fierce blows in a blur of movement and speed.
Below them, the Rocket Man surged ahead undeterred, its mission unchanged.
Inside, the crew stared upward, some trying to follow the midair battle.
"You are not going to help them?" Nami asked, glancing at Zoro.
"They are more than enough," Zoro said. "Let's focus on saving Robin."
And in the sky above, the battle had just begun.