Three days. That's all it had taken.
The Kingdom of Arabasta, no, the newly renamed Republic of Arabasta, had transformed so completely that Marcus could barely recognize it as the same wasteland they'd liberated less than a week ago.
The desert kingdom was now filled with green life. Sure, the weather was still hot as hell, but now there was relief from the heat.
Floating in the sky above the city, the hollow pyramids he had constructed served as massive water reservoirs. Square streams of water flowed down in irrigation systems that nourished the thirsty earth below.
People had adapted to the bizarre aesthetic quickly. Kids would jump directly into the falling water columns, laughing and splashing around without a care in the world. Others would simply walk up with bowls or buckets and scoop water straight from the streams.
Meanwhile, farmers emerged from the underground farms Marcus had helped establish, their arms loaded with freshly harvested wheat. They made their way to the threshing machines, and began processing the grain.
Plump, white rice kernels fell one by one into collection trays below.
An iron golem lumbered past the crowds. The villagers greeted it with warm smiles and waves, and the golem responded by handing out poppies.
It was a scene of peace and harmony that would've seemed impossible during Crocodile's reign.
At that exact moment, the ground suddenly split open with a soft grinding sound. A perfect one-cubic-meter block of earth lifted up and out, and Marcus hauled himself through the opening, covered in rock dust and looking exhausted.
He held an Eternal Pose in his hand, checking its direction for what felt like the millionth time.
He was in the middle of demagnetizing the entire island, and the job was turning out to be way more complicated than he'd initially estimated.
Arabasta was massive. He'd already mined out all the iron ore under Alubarna, thinking that would be the end of it.
Then the Eternal Pose had shifted direction, pointing toward a completely different area.
Following its guidance, he had tunneled through solid rock for hours, only to discover another iron ore vein.
So he'd kept digging.
He'd been at it for an entire day now, working through the night without stopping. He'd broken three diamond pickaxes in the process, which was saying something about how much material he'd processed.
And he still hadn't finished mining out all the iron ore deposits under Arabasta.
Looking at where the Eternal Pose was pointing now, he trudged forward, his inventory nearly full of iron blocks. But when he saw the open ocean stretching out before him, he couldn't help but groan.
"This project is gonna take forever..."
The pointer was leading him toward ore deposits that extended under the seafloor. Of course they did. Why wouldn't they?
Silently, he began digging down from the coastline, creating a shaft that angled beneath the waves. The Minecraft physics meant he didn't have to worry about water flooding his tunnels, which was the only silver lining in this situation.
Sure enough, he found another iron vein, and this one was even wider than the previous deposits.
He had to admit, if he ever needed iron in the future, the Eternal Pose really was perfect for pinpointing iron deposits with ridiculous precision. Every vein he'd discovered was abnormally large and concentrated.
Checking his inventory, he saw he already had ten full stacks of iron ore blocks, and that was just from this current vein. He'd already sold off everything from the previous deposits to the new Republic's infrastructure fund.
"If it weren't for Vein Mining, I'd probably be dead from exhaustion by now," he muttered, using stone blocks to fill in the hollow tunnels behind him as he worked.
He pulled out the Eternal Pose again to check his progress.
This time, the needle inside the compass began spinning in a complete 360-degree rotation, unable to find magnetic north.
That made it obvious, Arabasta had been completely demagnetized.
He let out a massive sigh. His crazy plan had actually worked.
Marcus wasn't the only one who'd been anxiously monitoring this experiment. Vivi and Nami had both been watching closely. Vivi was the one who'd first suggested the demagnetization idea, worried about the Republic becoming isolated if ships couldn't navigate away from it. Nami had been equally concerned about whether removing the island's magnetic field would screw up navigation for ships trying to leave. But as it turned out, her worries had been completely unnecessary.
The Log Pose on her wrist pointed steadily toward the next island in the chain.
"Looks like he really pulled it off," she said, examining her Log Pose. Seeing that the navigation system was still working normally, she stopped worrying and dove into the swimming pool. "Ahhhh... nothing beats a swim on a hot day like this."
At that moment, the entire Straw Hat crew was gathered around the pool, which Marcus had constructed on the Going Merry's deck using his abilities.
Even the Devil Fruit users were swimming normally, which should've been impossible.
This was a pool Marcus had built using Minecraft blocks, and the water inside was also "Minecraft water." That's why even Luffy, Chopper, and the other Devil Fruit users could swim here without any problems.
Luffy, who hadn't been able to swim since eating his Devil Fruit years ago, was gleefully splashing around like a kid who'd just discovered water for the first time.
"This is amazing! I can swim again! Look, look! I'm doing it!"
Meanwhile, Usopp was conducting experiments with his abilities, curious about how they'd function underwater.
When he triggered a small explosion beneath the surface, it created a weird bubble effect but didn't splash or disturb anyone around him. The Minecraft water apparently dampened the physical impact while still allowing the visual effect.
"Fascinating..." he muttered.
"Ga-hahaha! Watch my beautiful ballet butterfly stroke!"
Bon Kurei was now wearing a one-piece swimsuit and showing off his ballet moves in the water, jumping and twirling with exaggerated grace.
Sanji rolled his eyes so hard it probably hurt. "This is when you should transform into Nami! That would be way more aesthetically pleasing to watch!"
"Ga-hahaha! I refuse! Only my true form can perform such beautiful dance art!" Bon Kurei declared proudly.
"You're just saying that because you can't pull it off."
Bon Kurei immediately fired back, "Who says I can't?! I'm the strongest okama in all the seas!"
Then he used his Clone-Clone Fruit powers to transform into Nami's appearance and began performing an underwater ballet routine.
Sanji's lips curled into a smile. "Just as planned."
He immediately melted into the sight of the "beautiful performance," hearts floating out of his eyes. "Ohhhh~ my gorgeous ballerina! This calls for faster spins and more dramatic poses!"
"Ga-hahaha, calling me a ballerina won't make me happy at all!" Bon Kurei laughed, but then started spinning even faster anyway, his swimsuit threatening to fly off from the centrifugal force.
"STOP IT RIGHT NOW!"
BONK!
As the real Nami, she didn't particularly mind being mimicked under normal circumstances. She might even enjoy watching a good performance. But when someone was clearly doing it to enable Sanji's perverted fantasies, that was crossing a line.
A massive bump appeared on both Sanji's and Bon Kurei's heads, courtesy of Nami's fists.
"Ah~ sorry. I just wanted to dance," Bon Kurei said sheepishly, rubbing the growing lump.
"Ah~ Nami's iron fist of love," Sanji sighed dreamily, somehow finding joy even in getting punched.
Watching the two of them act in perfect dysfunctional harmony, Nami could only facepalm helplessly.
Ever since Bon Kurei had joined the crew, temporarily, she kept reminding herself, Sanji had been like this. And Bon Kurei had figured out exactly how to manipulate him: first challenge his artistic sensibilities, then accept the "compliment," transform into a beautiful woman, and watch Sanji completely lose his mind.
"That was great!" Luffy clapped enthusiastically, clearly entertained by the whole performance.
"Do it again!" Chopper added.
"Bon!" Nami cracked her knuckles threateningly. "From now on, you need explicit permission from the women on this ship before you can transform into any of us! If we catch you doing it without asking..."
"Got it! Absolutely understood!" Bon Kurei nodded so rapidly his head looked like it might fall off.
Sanji looked absolutely horrified. "Wait! Doesn't that mean he'll just be a regular okama then?! What's even the point?!"
"What are you even upset about?!"
THUD!
Another punch landed square on his head, and Sanji drifted off into peaceful unconsciousness with a blissful smile on his face.
But that didn't stop Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper. The three troublemakers immediately started egging Bon Kurei on to keep performing, but this time they wanted him to transform into Zoro.
Just the mental image of Zoro doing ballet in a swimsuit was enough to make them want to burst out laughing.
"Boring," Zoro muttered from the corner where he was lifting weights and sipping sake, not bothering to stop them. "Do whatever you want. I don't care."
But then he heard the three idiots' unrestrained laughter echoing across the pool.
"Hahahaha! Zoro doing ballet is the weirdest thing I've ever seen!"
"That splits move! It's... it's so wrong but I can't look away!" Usopp howled, pounding the deck and clutching his stomach.
Chopper clapped his hooves together happily, encouraging Bon Kurei to continue.
Zoro turned his head slowly.
He saw someone who looked exactly like him balanced in a one-legged pose on tiptoe, arms extended gracefully, executing a perfect ballet stance.
Then came Bon Kurei's voice. "This is a dance I've kept hidden for a long time! Most people aren't cultured enough to appreciate its beauty!"
That was it. That was the last straw.
"That's filth. Pure filth."
BONK!
A massive lump grew on Bon Kurei's head as Zoro's fist connected.