The jungle of Little Garden slept, a prehistoric slumber filled with the chirping of massive insects and the distant rumble of snoring giants. But deep within the Going Merry, inside a leather suitcase, the laws of nature were being rewritten.
Ben stood in Experiment Room 3. The air was thick with the smell of ozone and the metallic tang of blood. On the table, Mr. 3 and Miss Valentine lay unconscious, their breathing shallow.
"Round two," Ben whispered, his voice devoid of emotion.
He repeated the ritual. The chalk circles, the ancient chants drawn from the darkest corners of the Dumbledore template, and the sacrifice of the vitality-rich Grand Line fish. The magic tore the air, screaming as it ripped the Doru Doru no Mi (Wax-Wax Fruit) from Galdino and the Kilo Kilo no Mi (Kilo-Kilo Fruit) from Mikita.
The essences swirled, black and terrifying, before slamming into the prepared fruits—a pear and a lemon. They mutated instantly, taking on the tell-tale swirls of the Devil.
"Harvest complete," Ben murmured, wiping sweat from his brow.
He didn't stop there. He raised his wand to the unconscious agents' temples.
"Obliviate."
He was surgical. He excised the memories of the Straw Hats. They would wake up confused, powerless, but alive.
He levitated them into the "Guest Quarters" of the suitcase—a comfortable, if locked, apartment stocked with a month's worth of food. They were assets for later. Perhaps for the Marines, perhaps for leverage.
Ben returned to his lab. He placed the two new Devil Fruits onto the scanner of his System Interface.
[Trade Offering Detected: 2 Paramecia Types]
[Exchange for 2 Template Rolls? Y/N]
"Do it."
The wheel spun. Lights flashed. The anticipation was a physical weight in the room.
DING!
[Template 1: Momo Yaoyorozu (My Hero Academia)]
[Ability: Creation (Awakened)]
DING!
[Template 2: Tony Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe)]
[Ability: Super-Genius Intellect / Engineering]
Ben stared at the screen. A slow, incredulous smile spread across his face.
"Jackpot."
He closed his eyes, diving into his Mind Palace. This was the true gift of the Dumbledore template—not just spells, but the organisation of the mind. He could access the memories of his templates like books in a library.
He pulled the Tony Stark volume. It wasn't just knowledge; it was a way of thinking. It was a frantic, restless, unparalleled genius. He saw blueprints for arc reactors, suits of armour, AI algorithms, and chemical formulas.
He pulled the Momo Yaoyorozu volume. He understood the atomic structure of everything. Carbon, tungsten, lipids, proteins.
"Stark's brain... to design it," Ben whispered, his eyes snapping open, glowing with a new, manic intensity. "Momo's power... to build it."
He didn't sleep. Sleep was for people who couldn't rewrite biology.
He accessed a specific file in the Stark memory banks: Project Rebirth. The Super Soldier Serum. Stark hadn't made it, but his father, Howard, had possessed the samples, and Tony had analysed the chemical composition of Captain America's blood a thousand times.
"The Erskine Formula," Ben muttered, pacing the lab. "Beta-Ray stimulation... vita-rays... no, I don't need rays. I can do it like in the series The Falcon and Winter Soldier."
He tweaked the formula. Stark's intellect saw the flaws.
He grabbed a beaker. He didn't search for chemicals. He simply willed them into existence.
"Creation."
Lipids from his arm were converted into pure, medical-grade chemicals. Blue liquid dripped into the beaker.
An hour later, he held a syringe filled with a glowing, neon-blue liquid.
The perfect Super Soldier Serum.
He sat in a chair, rolled up his sleeve, and injected it.
It felt like he had injected liquid sun. His veins bulged, turning blue, then gold. He gritted his teeth, suppressing a scream as his DNA was rewritten, his muscles knitted tighter, his bones densified, his metabolism overclocked to perfection.
The pain faded, replaced by a hum of limitless energy.
Ben stood up. He felt... light. He looked in the mirror. He hadn't turned into a Hulk. He was leaner, his muscles defined like carved marble. His eyes were sharper, processing visual data faster than before.
"Test run," he said.
He entered the training room. He summoned the Brawler Doll—the one Luffy used.
"Command T: Expand."
The doll grew to ten feet.
Ben didn't use magic. He didn't use a wand. He just punched.
CRACK!
His fist shattered the enchanted wood of the doll's chest. The shockwave ruffled his own hair.
"Physical strength increased by... 400%," Ben analysed, his brain running the numbers instantly. "Reflexes enhanced. Fatigue eliminated."
He returned to the lab. He wasn't done.
"I have the software," he tapped his head. "Now I need the hardware."
He began to build. With Creation, he didn't need a forge. He spawned gold filaments, silicon wafers, and cooling systems directly from his hands. He built a supercomputer. Not a blocky 1990s desktop, but a sleek, holographic interface powered by a miniature, magically-sustained Arc Reactor core.
He typed furiously, coding an operating system that blended Stark's JARVIS architecture with the navigational data of the One Piece world.
By dawn, the lab hummed with the blue light of the future.
---
The sun rose over Little Garden, filtering through the prehistoric canopy. At Brogy's camp, Nami and Usopp were waking up, stretching their stiff limbs.
"Man," Usopp yawned. "Sleeping on a giant skull is... surprisingly uncomfortable."
"Morning," a voice said.
They turned. Ben was standing by the fire, cooking... something that smelled like a five-star breakfast. He was wearing a tight black t-shirt that he definitely hadn't been wearing yesterday.
Nami blinked. She rubbed her eyes. "Ben?"
She looked him up and down. His posture was different. He stood taller. His arms, usually hidden by his wizard robes, were... sculpted.
"Did you... grow?" Nami asked, confused. "You look... different. Taller? Stronger?"
Usopp squinted. "Yeah. You look like you did 10,000 pushups overnight."
Ben flipped a perfectly cooked omelet. "Oh, you know," he said casually, tapping his temple. "Just tested a few things last night. Alchemy. Biology. The usual mad science. It was a success."
"You're scary," Nami decided, accepting a plate. "But you cook well, so I'll allow it."
After breakfast, Ben wiped his mouth. "Right. Let's go find our idiot Captain. The duel should be starting soon, but I have a feeling the giants might be in a talking mood today."
They packed up and headed toward Dorry's camp.
When they arrived at the clearing near Dorry's camp, they heard laughter.
"GEGYAGYAGYAGYA!"
"SHISHISHISHI!"
Luffy was sitting on top of Dorry's helmet (which was sitting on the ground), laughing hysterically. Dorry, the Blue Ogre, was leaning against a tree, holding his ribs, also laughing.
"Oi! Luffy!" Usopp called out, waving.
"Oh! Guys!" Luffy waved back.
As they gathered, chatting about yesterday's fight.
"OUT OF MY WAY, STUPID BUSH!"
"MOVE IT, LOVE-COOK! YOU'RE BLOCKING THE PATH!"
The underbrush exploded.
Zoro emerged, dragging a massive, unconscious Triceratops by one horn. He was sweating, shirtless, and looked exhausted but triumphant.
"Beat that," he grunted.
A second later, Sanji burst through the trees, dragging a colossal, unconscious T-Rex (a different one) by its tail.
"Ha!" Sanji shouted, cigarette dangling. "Mine is bigger! I win, Moss-Head!"
"Are you blind?!" Zoro roared, pointing at his Triceratops. "Look at his size! Mine is heavier!"
"Length over girth, you idiot!" Sanji yelled back. "Mine is clearly longer!"
"THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID!" Ben chimed in helpfully.
Nami facepalmed. Robin, who had strolled in behind Sanji, just giggled behind her hand.
Dorry and Brogy (who had just arrived from his camp) stared at the two pirates and their massive catches. They listened to the argument.
"Mine is bigger!"
"No, mine is bigger!"
"I caught it first!"
"I caught it better!"
The two giants looked at each other.
The gears in their century-old memories began to turn.
The fog of a hundred years of combat lifted.
"Wait..." Brogy rumbled, his eyes going wide.
"Brother..." Dorry whispered, dropping his sword.
"That..." Brogy pointed at Sanji and Zoro. "That argument..."
"WE WERE FIGHTING OVER WHO CAUGHT THE BIGGER SEA KING!"
The realization hit them like a cannonball.
One hundred years.
Seventy-three thousand duels.
Countless draws.
Volcano eruptions.
All of it. Because of a fishing contest.
Silence descended on the clearing. The Straw Hats watched the giants, expecting rage. Expecting sorrow. Expecting them to crush Sanji and Zoro for mocking their sacred duel.
Instead...
"GABABABABABABA!"
"GEGYAGYAGYAGYA!"
The giants threw their heads back and laughed. They laughed so hard the ground shook. They laughed until tears streamed down their massive faces. They slapped their knees, creating shockwaves.
"WE FORGOT!" Brogy howled. "WE ARE IDIOTS!"
"A HUNDRED YEARS!" Dorry wheezed. "OVER A CATCH! A TASTY HUNT, BUT STILL!"
Everyone started laughing. Luffy was rolling on the ground. Usopp was wiping tears away. Even Robin was chuckling openly.
Only Zoro and Sanji stood there, holding their dinosaurs, looking confused.
"What's so funny?" Zoro grunted.
"Did we win?" Sanji asked.
Ben stepped forward, a gleam in his eye. He looked at Luffy.
"Captain," Ben said, nudging Luffy. "Look at them. Warriors of Elbaf. Strong. Loyal. They have a hundred years of combat experience. And they're currently... unemployed."
Luffy looked at the giants. He looked at Ben.
A lightbulb—a literal, cartoonish, glowing lightbulb—appeared over Luffy's head. Ding!
Luffy's grin stretched impossibly wide. He jumped onto a rock.
"HEY! YOU GUYS!" Luffy shouted.
Dorry and Brogy wiped their eyes, looking down at the tiny rubber man. "Yes, little one?"
"JOIN MY CREW!" Luffy yelled. "BE MY NAKAMA!"
Silence.
Absolute, terrified silence from Nami and Usopp.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Nami shrieked, her eyes popping out. "LUFFY! LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THEM! THEY'RE BIGGER THAN THE SHIP! IF THEY STEP ON THE MERRY, WE'LL SINK TO THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN!"
"WE'LL DIE!" Usopp wailed. "AND I DON'T WANT MERRY DAMAGED!"
"Don't worry about it," a calm voice cut through the panic.
Ben stepped up, adjusting his cuffs. He looked at the giants, then at the Merry.
He looked at Nami. "Logistics will no longer be an issue."
He looked at Luffy and grinned. "Invite them, Captain. I'll handle the physics."
Luffy didn't need to be told twice. He turned back to the giants, his eyes sparkling.
"See? Ben says it's okay! Come on! Let's go to the One Piece together! It'll be an adventure!"
Dorry and Brogy looked at each other.
They looked at the jungle they had been trapped in for a century.
They looked at their worn-out weapons.
They looked at this chaotic, tiny crew that had fed them, befriended them, and reminded them of why they fought.
A slow, massive grin spread across both of their faces.
"GABABABABABA!"
"GEGYAGYAGYA!"
The laughter of the giants echoed across the ocean, a sound of pure freedom.
---
Poll
1. Should they join?
Yes
No
2. Should they fight Luffy before joining (Ben makes them normal size using Brandish's magic)?
Yes
No