The morning sun filtered through the enchanted portholes of the Going Merry, but the tranquillity of the ocean was strictly limited to the outside of the ship. Inside, it was a symphony of violence, exhaustion, and very specific regrets.
In Training Room 2, Ben stood in the center of the mat, a thick black cloth tied securely around his eyes. He was breathing steadily, trying to expand his senses, to feel the intent of the universe around him. He was attempting to unlock Observation Haki.
"Focus, Ben," he muttered to himself. "Feel the intent. Feel the..."
THWACK!
A wooden bat slammed into his forehead with the force of a hammer.
"Ow," Ben said, rubbing the spot.
Across the room, Usopp lowered the bat, a grin so wide it threatened to split his face. "Ooh, so close, Ben! You almost dodged that one! By 'almost,' I mean you moved your head into it, but that's progress!"
"Usopp," Ben said, his voice calm but tight. "I asked you to help me train my senses. I didn't ask you to use my forehead as a target for your aggression therapy."
"I'm just helping!" Usopp chirped. This wasn't just training. This was payback. Payback for the Golden Snitch ball that had spent the last twenty-four hours insulting his nose, his aim, and his ancestors. Hitting the all-powerful wizard with bat was the most therapeutic thing Usopp had ever experienced.
He pulled back the elastic. Take this, you magic-freak!
THWACK!
"Ouch," Ben grunted. "Usopp... why do I feel smugness radiating from you? It feels less like 'training intent' and more like 'petty revenge.'"
"I have no idea what you mean!" Usopp lie. "I am a serious instructor! Dodge this!"
As Ben prepared to suffer for science, the door to the training room burst open.
"HELP MEEEEEEEE!"
Sanji sprinted past them. He wasn't running; he was blurring. He was a streak of black suit and blonde hair. But what caught Ben's attention—even through the blindfold, he could sense the sheer desperation—was Sanji's face.
It was covered, from chin to forehead, in bright, garish, red lipstick marks.
"COME BACK, SANJI-BOOOY!" a deep, gravelly voice boomed from the corridor. "DON'T BE SHY! CANDY JUST WANTS A CUDDLE!"
The massive, muscular Okama doll thundered past the door, blowing kisses that manifested as physical hearts.
"NO! NO! I AM A MAN OF THE SEA! I LIKE LADIES! LAAAADIES!" Sanji screamed, his voice dopplering away as he fled down the hall.
Ben lifted one edge of his blindfold. "He's... he's been running since breakfast, hasn't he?"
"Yep," Usopp said, looking at his watch. "That's four hours of cardio. Sanji's gonna have legs of steel by noon. Or he'll have a nervous breakdown."
---
In the next room over, the atmosphere was less chaotic, but equally intense.
Nami and Vivi were sparring. Their opponents were the sleek, pole-wielding automatons Ben had crafted.
Nami spun her Tempest Tact, parrying a strike and countering with a gust of wind that knocked the doll back. She was sweating, her eyes focused. She wasn't screaming about money; she was learning how to protect it.
Vivi, too, moved with a grace she hadn't shown before, her royal training merging with the rougher style of a pirate brawl.
But the most terrifying sight in the room was in the corner.
Nico Robin stood facing a thick wooden post. She wasn't reading. She wasn't smiling mysteriously. She was practicing.
Ben had given her the copy of the Rokushiki manual. She had read it once, memorized it instantly, and chosen her path.
"Shigan."
Her arm moved. It wasn't particularly fast, not compared to Luffy or Sanji. But as she struck, two extra arms sprouted from her elbow, tripling the force, and another arm sprouted from the wooden post itself, striking backwards.
Her finger attempted to pierce the wood.
Robin withdrew her hand, inspecting her fingernail. "Fascinating," she murmured. "The Shigan principle... rigidifying the finger to pierce like a bullet. If I can apply this to Hana Hana no Mi limbs..."
She imagined sprouting a hundred arms on an enemy's back, and having all hundred of them perform a Shigan simultaneously. A literal machine-gun of fingers.
"It has potential," she decided, a small, slightly sadistic smile playing on her lips.
In the heavy-gravity chamber, the air was hot and smelled of burning rubber.
Luffy was pink. His skin gleamed with sweat, and steam hissed from his pores. He was in Gear Second.
"Jet... PISTOL!"
His fist vanished. There was a sonic boom, and the massive, seven-foot wooden Brawler doll was knocked backwards. But the doll, enchanted to learn, didn't fall. It rolled with the impact, spun, and lashed out with a kick.
Luffy vanished, reappearing on the ceiling. "Shishishi! Too slow, Woody!"
He was having the time of his life. The doll was tough. It didn't break. It was the perfect punching bag for a rubber man who didn't know the meaning of 'holding back'.
And in the final room, the Dojo, silence reigned.
Zoro stood facing the six-armed Demon Swordsman doll. Sweat dripped from his nose. He was panting.
The doll moved. Six arms, six wooden swords, moving in a chaotic, swirling vortex. It looked like a spider weaving a web of pain.
Zoro parried. Clack-clack-clack. Three blocks in a second.
He backed off, narrowing his eyes. "I see it now," he grunted. "Ben... you crafty wizard."
He had been fighting it for hours, overwhelmed by the sheer number of attacks. But now, watching the doll's joints, he realised the trick.
"It's not six distinct styles," Zoro whispered, a grin spreading across his face. "It's one blade path, mirrored and delayed. It's an illusion of speed. It's a single sword style which is replicated by six swords."
He gripped Wado Ichimonji.
He stepped forward, ready to test his theory, ready to shatter the illusion.
---
CLANG-CLANG!
The sound cut through the ship. A clear, resonant, double-chime from the main mast.
The Going Merry spoke.
Every crew member froze. They knew the code Ben had set up.
One ring: Time to eat. (Luffy's favourite).
Two rings: Island sighted.
Three rings: Ship sighted.
"LAND!" Luffy yelled, his concentration breaking instantly.
He turned toward the door, his Gear Second steam fading. "Sanji! Adventure! Food!"
He took a step.
However, he had forgotten one crucial, minor detail. He hadn't told the Brawler doll to stop.
The enchanted doll, seeing its opponent's guard drop completely, did exactly what it was programmed to do. It wound up a haymaker that started from the floor.
"MEAT—" Luffy began.
KA-POW!
The wooden fist connected with the side of Luffy's face with a sound like a cannon firing.
Luffy didn't just fly. He launched. He shot across the room, a rubber missile, and slammed into the far wall.
SPLAT.
He didn't bounce off. The force was so great, and his body so rubbery, that he simply stuck there. He looked like a piece of chewed gum pressed onto a school desk. His arms and legs were splayed out, his face flattened into a perfect disc against the wood.
"...Ow..." a muffled voice vibrated through the wall.
The doll raised its fists for a follow-up.
"STOP! PAUSE! TIMEOUT!" Luffy peeled his face off the wood with a wet suction sound. "Merry says we're here! Bad dolly!"
The doll froze, its enchantment recognising the command. Luffy peeled the rest of himself off the wall, shook his head to regain his shape, and grinned. "Okay! Adventure time!"
Meanwhile, in the hallway, Sanji skidded to a halt.
"The bell! Two rings! An island!"
He turned. Candy was thundering toward him, lips puckered.
"SANJI-BOY! ONE KISS FOR THE ROAD!"
"STOP!" Sanji roared, holding up his hand. "THE TRAINING IS OVER! DEACTIVATE! CEASE! DESIST!"
Candy stopped inches from him. The doll pouted. "Awww. You're no fun. See you again, Sanji-boy!"
The doll leaned forward and blew one final, massive, physical flying kiss. A giant, red, spectral set of lips floated through the air.
"I SAID NO!" Sanji screamed. He channeled his frustration, his fear, and his leg strength. He spun. "COLLIER SHOT!"
He kicked the spectral lips. They shattered into golden sparks. The kick carried through, hitting the wall, which dissolved into golden motes of light.
Sanji fell to his knees, panting. He wiped his face. The lipstick marks dissolved into light as the magic faded.
"I... I survived," he whispered. "I'm alive. And I'm still a man."
He stood up, straightened his tie, and lit a cigarette with trembling hands. "Island. Yes. Beautiful ladies. Normal ladies. I need to see a normal lady immediately."
---
The crew gathered on the deck as the Going Merry drifted into a wide, slow-moving river mouth.
Silence fell over them.
This wasn't an island. This was a time capsule.
The trees were impossibly huge—massive, ancient trunks that disappeared into a canopy thousands of feet above. The ferns on the riverbank were the size of houses. The air was thick, humid, and smelled of wet earth and ancient sap.
And the sounds...
GROOOOOAAAAAAAR!
A roar, deep and guttural, shook the leaves. It sounded like a lizard the size of a building.
"Whoa..." Luffy breathed, hanging off the figurehead. "It's... HUGE!"
"It's... a jungle," Nami whispered, clutching her Tempest Tact. "A really, really big jungle."
"I have a disease," Usopp said, his legs doing a high-speed rattle. "It's called 'If-I-Go-On-That-Island-I-Will-Die'."
The ship docked against a massive tree root that served as a natural pier.
"Sanji!" Luffy shouted, bouncing on his heels. "Bento! Adventure Bento! I'm going in!"
"Hai, hai," Sanji said, walking out of the galley with a stack of lunch boxes he had seemingly prepared in seconds. "Here. Meat for the idiot, lighter fare for the ladies... just in case."
Luffy grabbed his pack. "Thanks! I'm gonna find the guy who made that roar and ask if he tastes good!"
"Wait!" Vivi stepped forward. She was dressed in a new outfit Nami had lent her, looking less like a baroque agent and more like an adventurer. "Luffy-san... I'll come with you."
"EHHHHHH?!" Nami and Usopp screamed.
"Vivi!" Nami grabbed her arm. "Are you crazy? Did you hear that roar? That sounded like a monster! A big monster!"
Vivi smiled, adjusting her boots. "I know. But... honestly, Nami? After the last few days... fighting assassins, nearly getting blown up, training with that terrifying doll... I just need to walk. I need to see something... real. Besides," she winked, "I survived infiltrating a Warlord's organisation. I think I can handle a jungle walk with the Captain."
Nami sighed, releasing her. "You're brave. Stupid, but brave. Just... don't let Luffy feed you anything weird."
"Got it."
Luffy and Vivi jumped off the ship, landing on the mossy root. "Let's go!" Luffy cheered, sprinting into the forest. Vivi ran after him, Karoo the duck following with a nervous quack.
Zoro stretched, his joints cracking. "Well," he grunted. "I'm going for a walk, too."
"A walk?" Sanji sneered, leaning on the rail. "You mean you're going to get lost five feet from the ship? Try not to cry when you can't find your way back, moss-head."
Zoro stopped. A vein throbbed in his forehead. He turned slowly.
"What was that, dart-brow? I'm not getting lost. I'm going to... hunt."
"Hunt?" Sanji laughed. "You? You couldn't hunt a mushroom in a salad. I bet I could find something bigger and tastier than you in five minutes."
Zoro's eyes narrowed. "Oh? Is that a challenge, Mr. Lipstick?"
Sanji flared up. "DON'T MENTION THE LIPSTICK! FINE! IT'S A BET! A hunting competition! Whoever brings back the biggest game wins! The loser has to... do the winner's laundry for a week!"
"Deal," Zoro growled. "Prepare to scrub my clothes, ero-cook."
"In your dreams, marimo!"
The two of them leapt off the ship in opposite directions, vanishing into the jungle with equal amounts of speed and aggression.
---
Silence returned to the Going Merry.
The heavy hitters were gone. Luffy, Zoro, Sanji. Even the brave Vivi was gone.
Left on the deck were:
Nami (The Navigator who loved money and hated dying).
Usopp (The Sniper who had a masters degree in cowardice).
Ben (The Wizard who was currently checking his suitcase).
(And Robin, who was quietly reading on the upper deck, ignoring everyone).
Ben snapped his sample case shut. "Well," he said cheerfully. "This island feels ancient. There might be plants here that have been extinct for millions of years! Potions ingredients! Rare woods! I'm going exploring."
He walked toward the gangplank.
Nami and Usopp looked at the empty ship. They forgot Robin was there as they didn't think of her as a crewmate just yet.
They looked at the massive, dark jungle.
They looked at each other.
They realised that if Ben left, they would be alone. Alone on a boat, defenceless against whatever monster made that roar.
"WAAAAAIIT!" they screamed in unison.
They tackled Ben. Nami grabbed his left arm, Usopp grabbed his right. They clung to him like koalas.
"We're coming with you!" Nami declared, her voice shaking but firm.
"You can't leave us here!" Usopp wailed. "What if the monster comes to the ship?! What if a giant bug eats us?! You're the wizard! You have the boom-stick! We're sticking with you!"
Ben looked at the two terrified pirates hanging off his arms. He sighed, but a small smile played on his lips.
"Alright, alright. Safety in numbers. But try not to scream at every leaf, okay? It startles the flora."
"No promises!" Usopp yelled.
"Let's go," Ben said.
And so, they descended the gangplank, stepping into the prehistoric shadows of Little Garden, ready to face horrors they couldn't even imagine.