The sun had finally retreated, leaving a bruised purple sky that reflected off the whitecaps of the ocean. The Going Merry sailed steady, but the deck was far from quiet. The atmosphere had shifted from the breathless ecstasy of flight to a more scientific, albeit slightly damp, curiosity.
"Wings are one thing," Ben said, leaning against the railing with his arms crossed. "But as Nami often points out, the sea is our constant companion. The Chimera Stims were designed for total environmental dominance."
He looked at Nami and Vivi, who were currently standing on the lower gangplank in their swimwear, looking hesitant.
"The Electric Eel and the Dolphin DNA weren't just for shock or speed on land," Ben explained, his voice taking on that calm, professorial tone the crew had come to associate with his 'lab time.' "You should have a secondary respiratory system. Go ahead. Test the water."
Nami looked at the dark, cold depths of the Grand Line. "If I turn into a fish-person permanently, Ben, I am increasing your interest rate to four-hundred percent."
"No tail, Nami. I promise," Ben chuckled.
Vivi took a deep breath, her Falcon-Cheetah-Dolphin hybrid physiology already buzzing with latent energy. She looked at Nami and nodded. Together, they dove.
SPLASH!
Sanji rushed to the railing, heart-eyes vibrating. "MY BEAUTIFUL MERMAIDS! GLIDING THROUGH THE ABYSS!"
Underwater, the world changed instantly.
For Nami, the initial shock of the cold vanished within seconds. As she held her breath, she felt a sharp, tickling sensation on the sides of her neck. Four thin, silver-rimmed slits—gills—opened rhythmically. She gasped instinctively, and instead of choking on seawater, her lungs received a rush of pure, filtered oxygen.
She looked at her hands. They weren't webbed, but a faint, translucent sheen covered her skin— a barrier that reduced drag. Beside her, Vivi was already a blur.
Vivi was experiencing the Dolphin Sonar. Even in the murky twilight of the ocean, she could "see." Every ripple, every school of fish, even the shape of the Merry's keel a hundred meters away was mapped in her mind with crystalline precision.
Nami tested her Eel discharge. She flexed a specific muscle in her lower back, and a faint yellow glow rippled through her skin. A small, curious shark approached her, only to be hit with a non-lethal but paralyzing static pop that sent it spiraling into the darkness.
"They're moving fast!" Chopper yelled from the deck, watching the two silhouettes dart through the water at speeds that would make a Fishman double-take.
They broke the surface two hundred meters away from the ship, then dove again, racing back to the caravel. They didn't just swim; they sliced through the ocean, leaping out of the water in perfect, synchronized arcs like performing dolphins before grabbing the ropes and hauling themselves back onto the deck.
Nami landed in a crouch, her gills sealing shut and disappearing into her skin as if they had never been there. She shook her hair, spraying water everywhere.
"Okay," Nami panted, her eyes wide with the thrill of the hunt. "That was... terrifyingly awesome. I felt like I owned the water."
"I could hear the heartbeat of the ship," Vivi added, her face flushed with adrenaline. "The sonar... it's like having a map in my head that moves in real-time."
Sanji arrived with fluffy, heated towels. "RECOVERY SERVICE! FOR THE DEEP-SEA GODDESSES!"
---
Ben ushered the crew into the newly reinforced Training Room 1. The floor was reinforced with Vibranium-alloy plates, and the centerpiece was a massive, Mechanical Press. It was a towering machine of hydraulic cylinders and glowing sensors, designed to measure pure, unadulterated lifting force.
"Line up," Ben commanded, cracking his knuckles. "Let's see the numbers. Luffy, you're the benchmark. Push that lever up until the machine groans."
Luffy, now standing at a towering 8'3", walked up to the machine. He didn't look like the wiry boy who left the East Blue. His muscles were like carved mahogany. He placed his massive palms under the press.
"Here I go! Shishishi!"
The hydraulics hissed. The digital readout began to spin wildly.
1 Ton... 5 Tons... 10 Tons...
The Merry tilted slightly under the localized pressure. Luffy's teeth gritted, his new, dense muscles rippling.
20 Tons.
The machine gave a warning beep. Luffy let go, and the floor vibrated as the weights reset.
"BEN! I feel like I could pick up a house!"
Chopper shifted into Heavy Point. His form was massive, hairy, and corded with raw energy.
"I won't let Doctorine down!"
He pushed. The readout stopped at 10 Tons.
"Ten tons," Ben noted. "In your base heavy form. Not bad, Doc. You're officially a one-man emergency crane."
Usopp stepped up, towering at 7 feet. He looked at the machine nervously, his danger-sense tingling. "The Great Captain Usopp usually lifts mountains, but I'll start small for the machine's safety!"
He grunted, his eagle-DNA back muscles bulging through his shirt.
8 Tons.
Usopp stared at the screen. "Eight? I lifted... EIGHT TONS?! I'M A GOD!"
Nami walked up with a predatory stride. She didn't have the bulk of the others, but her leopard-DNA fast-twitch fibers were optimized for torque.
6 Tons.
"Six," Nami smirked, looking at her nails. "That's enough to carry my entire treasure hoard in one go."
Vivi closed the line. She was the leanest of the upgraded group, her Falcon/Cheetah DNA built for velocity, not stationary lifting.
5 Tons.
Ben led them to the deck for the Speed Test. The Giants, Dorry and Brogy, volunteered to be the starting guns.
"ON YOUR MARK!" Brogy roared.
Luffy, Nami, Vivi, Chopper, and Usopp crouched.
"GO!"
The sound of the start was lost in a sonic boom.
The deck was scoured by air pressure.
Vivi wasn't running; she was a golden-blue streak of light. The Cheetah DNA took over, her legs moving in a blur that bypassed human physiology. She finished a lap around the room before the others had even finished half the course.
1st Place: Vivi.
Nami came in second, her Leopard DNA giving her an explosive burst of agility that saw her leaping and weaving through obstacles Ben had set up with zero loss in momentum.
2nd Place: Nami.
Luffy thundered in third. He had the raw power, but his mass made him slightly less agile in the short-burst sprint compared to the cats. Still, his speed was enough to leave a trail of smoke on the wood.
3rd Place: Luffy.
Chopper and Usopp rounded out the pack. They were incredibly fast compared to a normal Marine, but in this room of monsters, they were the "slow" ones.
"The results are clear," Ben said, analyzing the data on his tablet. "Vivi is our interceptor. Nami is our mobile weather station. Luffy is the juggernaut. And Usopp? Usopp, with your chameleon camouflage and climbing, you're our tactical nightmare. And the more you work your muscles, the stronger and faster you become."
---
Night fell over the Grand Line, but the Going Merry was lit up like a festival. The calorie requirement for five upgraded humans (and one reindeer) was astronomical. Their metabolisms were now burning at four times the human norm just to sustain their new cellular density.
Sanji was a blur in the kitchen.
"ORDER UP! Three massive dinosaur steaks for the Captain! Sea-bream risotto for the Navigator! A giant bowl of cotton candy for the Doc!"
The crew sat around the dining table.
The sounds of eating were like a construction zone.
Chomp. Slurp. Crunch.
Luffy was a black hole. He was eating entire roast chickens in a single bite, stacking plates until they hit the ceiling. Nami and Vivi were eating amounts that would have terrified them a week ago, devouring entire platters of high-protein seafood.
Sanji worked with a wide, proud grin. "Eat, my beauties! Eat! Your cook will provide for your new bodies! No complaint here!" He glanced at their plates, his hearts for eyes nearly popping. "Seeing Nami-swan eat like a Valkyrie is a religious experience!"
Usopp, sitting between the two Giants, was actually competing with Brogy for a rib-eye steak. "You may be a giant, Brogy, but my appetite is endless!"
Ben sat back, a simple glass of brandy in hand, watching the chaos.
They're ready, he thought. They have the physical stats of New World combatants. Now, they just need the experience.
Once the last plate was cleared and the crew had collapsed into a food coma, Ben excused himself.
"I'm heading back to the Virtual Chamber," Ben said, tapping Chopper on the head. "Sleep, Doctor. You've earned it."
Chopper gave a tired, happy bleat and curled up in his bunk.
Ben entered the Server Room. The blue lights were dim.
"Merry," Ben whispered. "Initialize construct."
ZOOOOOOM.
Ben was back in the white void.
"We need to create more, Merry. And I need to start on the individual suits and weapons for the crew. Let's get to work."
---
While the Going Merry sailed through a night of peace and progress.
The atmosphere was different. In the port city of Nanohana which was drowning in heat and the smell of spice. The moon blazed over the yellow sandstone buildings.
A Marine battleship, bearing the symbol of the East Blue branch but carrying a weight of authority far greater, pulled into the harbor.
The gangplank lowered, hitting the stone pier with a heavy thud.
Two figures stepped out.
One was a woman with short dark hair, wearing a floral shirt and holding a katana with a protective, reverent grip. Tashigi.
The other was a walking storm of tobacco smoke.
Smoker stepped onto the pier, his two cigars glowing like red eyes in the dark. He carried his Seastone jitte across his shoulder, his white marine coat fluttering in the hot desert wind.
He didn't look at the beautiful city. He didn't look at the dancing girls in the square. He looked at the horizon, in the direction of the sea.
"Nanohana," Smoker grunted, his voice a low rumble of gravel. "Tashigi, status of the local patrol."
"Reporting, Captain!" Tashigi barked, nearly tripping over her own scabbard. "The Baroque Works activity has spiked in the region. There are rumors of civil unrest in the kingdom. But... we haven't seen any sign of the 'Pirate Hunter' or the rubber-man."
Smoker pulled the cigars out, flicking ash onto the sand. He looked out toward the horizon where the Grand Line met the Alabastan coast.
"They're coming," Smoker said, his eyes narrowing. "They have to come here. Alabasta is the center of the Log chain for this sector. That wizard brat(according to a report from Marines from the 16th branch) switched my pose. I don't know how, but I have this gut feeling it was him... that cost me four days in the fog."
He clenched his teeth, the smoke from his cigars turning an angry, grey color.
Smoker turned to a group of Marine subordinates who were waiting nervously. "Establish a perimeter at all harbor entrances. I want every ship scrutinized. If you see a caravel with a sheep figurehead... don't engage. Signal me immediately."
"Captain," Tashigi pushed up her glasses. "Do you really think rookies like them would dare enter a Warlord's territory?"
Smoker looked at the sunny sky. He remembered the white-haired boy who stood unmoving while lightning struck the execution platform. He remembered how they all disappeared from the execution platform.
"Those aren't normal rookies," Smoker muttered. "They aren't running from the Warlord. They're looking for him."
He turned and walked toward the town, the smoke trailing behind him like a ghostly shroud. The ambush was set. The White Hunter was waiting in the sand.