There's a saying: "If you walk by the river often, your shoes will inevitably get wet."
For years, Sugar had imprisoned countless people inside the bodies of toys through her deceptive ability. But today, she encountered her greatest nemesis—Bacardi Maude, a man who knew her secret… a transmigrator.
Blood splattered across the wooden racks as Sugar's severed limbs fell to the ground.
Her agonized screams echoed throughout the room.
"It seems merely cutting off your limbs isn't enough to make you pass out from the pain... In that case..."
Ignoring the stunned expressions of Law and Tatamu, Maude gazed at Sugar, whose face had turned deathly pale as cold sweat poured down her face.
"Let's add a few more cuts."
Raising his blade, Shusui, Maude pointed its tip directly at Sugar's face, his killing intent radiating chillingly.
Overwhelmed by fear, Sugar's eyes rolled back, and she passed out before another blow could land.
Just before losing consciousness, her final thought was that the tens of thousands of toy slaves she had transformed over the past decade would soon return to normal…
As Sugar collapsed, Maude sheathed his sword and turned to face the dozen or so toys in the room.
Shrrrk… Shrrrk…
A series of soft noises filled the air as the toys' bodies began changing at a visible speed.
At the same time, Maude's mind was suddenly flooded with a wave of memories.
More precisely, the memories that had been unknowingly stolen by the Hobby-Hobby Fruit's ability had now returned.
This meant that among Sugar's toy army, there were people Maude knew.
Surprised, he turned his gaze to the room, watching as the toys gradually reverted to their original forms.
Before his eyes, Koala, Morley, Hack, and other Revolutionary Army members, as well as Viola, all returned to their human selves.
Seeing familiar faces among them, Maude couldn't help but feel a little taken aback.
At the doorway, Law and Tatamu, who had been shocked by Maude's ruthless actions toward a little girl, now had peculiar expressions on their faces as they watched the toys revert.
They seemed to realize something.
"Ah! We're saved!"
Koala, who had just regained her original form, collapsed onto the floor, her face full of relief.
Although Maude's methods had been brutal, without him, they had no idea when—or if—they would ever be freed.
Maude glanced at the Revolutionary Army members and sighed. "No wonder I ran into Tatamu outside the Toys House. But tell me, what are you guys doing in Dressrosa?"
"Maude, I'll answer that only because it's you. We came to Dressrosa to cut off the Donquixote Family's arms trade and put an end to wars at their source."
Koala's face was serious, but then, she suddenly grinned mischievously. "Of course, that's only part of the reason."
"..."
Maude fell silent for a moment before guessing, "You Revolutionaries aren't planning to steal the Donquixote Family's arms, are you?"
"Haha, you got us."
Koala laughed shamelessly, completely unfazed by being exposed.
Stealing black-market goods had never been something to feel guilty about.
Maude shook his head with a wry smile. Then, as if something had just occurred to him, he suddenly asked, "By the way, how's Sunny doing lately?"
"Huh?"
Koala was momentarily stunned before replying instinctively, "Sunny's right in front of you. Why don't you ask her yourself?"
"In front of me?"
Now it was Maude's turn to be stunned. His eyes darted around, scanning the faces of the Revolutionary Army members, but he didn't see Sunny anywhere.
Seeing Maude's puzzled expression, Koala suddenly smacked her forehead and stuck out her tongue. "Oh, that's right… you don't know yet."
Saying this, she turned toward a silent young woman standing not far away.
She was slender, dressed in a form-fitting black and red combat suit, and remained expressionless. Her long, pale blonde hair cascaded down her back, her delicate features striking, and her emerald-green eyes gleamed like gemstones.
"Sunny, don't tell me you're feeling shy?"
Koala smirked at Sunny's uncharacteristic silence.
Hearing this, Sunny's face twitched slightly before she hesitantly met Maude's bewildered gaze.
"You're… Sunny?"
Maude was stunned as he took in her drastically changed appearance.
Sunny turned away with a pout and snapped, "I'm not Sunny. You've got the wrong person."
"That voice..."
Maude blinked. There was no mistaking it—it was undeniably Sunny's voice.
But…
His gaze swept over her flawless face, now completely free of the once-prominent scars.
Plastic surgery? Or was it…
A thought struck Maude, and his eyes instinctively drifted downward, landing on a certain unchanged area of Sunny's body.
"Hmm…"
Maude hummed in contemplation before nodding as if reaching a conclusion.
"You really are Sunny."
"..."
Sunny followed Maude's gaze, then glanced down at herself. The moment she realized what he had been looking at, her emerald eyes flared with anger.
"Go to hell!"
BAM!
Seconds later, Maude's head sported several large, swollen lumps.
Of course, this was entirely Sunny's doing.
Naturally, Maude had deliberately disabled his body's defenses in advance—otherwise, no matter how many times Sunny hit him, she wouldn't have been able to leave a scratch.
Still, he hadn't expected that the Smooth-Smooth Fruit, which should have been eaten by the gluttonous Alvida in the original story, had ended up in Sunny's possession instead.
The way she had obtained it was quite amusing.
Wanting to spare Maude the trouble of searching for a Devil Fruit for her, she had leveraged her achievements over the years to request one from the Revolutionary Army's higher-ups.
Her reasoning was simple: she would eat just any Devil Fruit, so Maude wouldn't have to waste time looking for one on her behalf.
Apparently, the Revolutionary Army had seen through her intentions. Given her close relationship with Maude, they had uncharacteristically approved her request and used their resources to locate a Devil Fruit for her.
And the one they found was the Smooth-Smooth Fruit.
Originally, Maude had planned to get her the Door-Door Fruit, which had strong defensive and escape capabilities. But since she had already eaten the Smooth-Smooth Fruit, there was no point dwelling on it.
After all, the Smooth-Smooth Fruit's ability to deflect attacks made it decent for survival.
The onlookers stared in shock at the swollen lumps on Maude's head.
Especially Law—his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets upon seeing Maude allow Sunny to hit him repeatedly.
Good grief…
This was the first time he had ever seen someone beat Maude like this, and even more surprising, Maude was actually apologizing while taking the hits.
"Law, go stop the bleeding. Don't let her die."
Maude rubbed his swollen head, glancing at the unconscious Sugar and reminding Law.
Law, snapping out of his shock, went to treat Sugar's injuries.
Their brief reunion was soon interrupted.
Everyone realized there was still another person in the room—Violet, who had also been turned into a toy by Sugar.
"Who are you?"
Morley bent down, scrutinizing Violet.
Violet ignored her, her gaze locked onto Maude, eyes brimming with an indescribable joy.
"My prayers… have been answered…"
Tears streamed down her face.
The Revolutionary Army exchanged bewildered glances.
"Don't be fooled. This woman is Violet, an officer of the Donquixote Family."
Having just finished stopping Sugar's bleeding, Law directly exposed Violet's identity.
He knew nothing about Sugar's existence or abilities, but the fact that Violet was a high-ranking officer in the Donquixote Family was no secret.
Hearing Law's words, the Revolutionary Army members tensed up, instinctively preparing for battle.
Having just suffered a humiliating setback against Sugar, the mere mention of a Donquixote Family officer put them on high alert.
"She's not an officer of the Donquixote Family."
As tensions reached a boiling point, Maude's timely words defused the situation for Violet.
"Huh?"
The crowd looked doubtful.
Only Violet remained silent, staring at Maude in stunned silence.
...
At the port.
The cold mist surrounding Aokiji receded like a tide.
Before him lay Jack the Drought, his entire body covered in severe frostbite, unconscious.
"That was tougher than expected."
Aokiji sighed as he gazed at the incapacitated Jack.
His strength was already superior to Jack's, and with Maude's assistance, it should have been an easy victory.
Yet Jack had stubbornly endured thanks to his awakened Ancient Zoan resilience, dragging the fight out much longer than expected.
Such was the advantage of an awakened Zoan user.
With his hands in his pockets, Aokiji surveyed the battlefield.
The Donquixote Family's forces had been completely wiped out. Of the Beasts Pirates Jack had brought, only Ulti and Drake from the Tobiroppo remained standing.
As for the nearby Marines, thanks to the support they received, their losses were minimal—fortunate, all things considered.
Sensing Aokiji's gaze, Chaton glanced at the defeated Jack and let out a quiet sigh.
A lieutenant stepped up behind Chaton.
"Vice Admiral Chaton, should we, as Marines, take action against—"
"Enough."
Chaton cut him off sternly.
The lieutenant fell silent immediately.
"How is Smoker?"
"Not in great shape, but the ship's doctor says his life isn't in danger."
"That's a relief..."
Chaton exhaled, then turned his attention back to Aokiji—or more precisely, to the Maude Pirates' movements.
Right now, they were in no condition to confront the Maude Pirates.
The battle that began at the port had dwindled down to just two ongoing duels: Gaya versus Ulti, and Lafitte versus Drake.
Everyone else had chosen not to interfere, watching the fights unfold as spectators.
In her hybrid form, Ulti launched an unrelenting barrage of attacks at Gaya.
Yet no matter how ferocious her assault, Gaya effortlessly parried each strike with a single-handed axe.
Between deflections, she found openings to counter, each time leaving a fresh wound on Ulti.
"Damn it!"
Repeatedly attacking without success and accumulating injuries only made Ulti more enraged.
"That bastard Jack..."
Even in the heat of battle, Ulti had noticed the grim reality—her fallen crewmates, including Jack himself.
Under these circumstances, even if she defeated Gaya, there was no chance of escaping from the remaining Maude Pirates.
The inevitable outcome filled her with a rare sense of despair.
"At the very least, I'll kill this woman!"
With that thought, Ulti's attacks became even more savage.
Gaya met her headbutt with a firm swing of her axe, splitting the attack apart with ease.
"You damn woman! Can you do nothing but defend?!"
Unable to break through Gaya's guard, Ulti snapped in frustration between strikes.
"Alright, then."
Gaya smiled as she cleaved through Ulti's oncoming headbutt.
Clang! Sparks flew.
Ulti was once again forced backward.
"You—!"
Ulti seethed with rage.
Unfazed, Gaya stepped forward, raising her axe once more.
She could feel Ulti's intense killing intent in every strike.
A formidable opponent indeed.
Gaya stole a glance at her watching crewmates and spoke earnestly, "Everyone's finished up, and it's almost noon. I need to hurry and prepare lunch."
"What the hell does that mean?!"
Ulti scowled.
Gaya simply smiled faintly, then suddenly launched a flying slash.
Ulti sidestepped.
In a flash, Gaya appeared at her side, axe raised high, ready to strike.
A red gleam flickered in Ulti's eyes as she anticipated the attack, sensing something amiss.
After all this time fighting, her opponent should know that her head was the hardest part of her body—so why target it?
Her mind raced, but there was no time to second-guess. She coated her head in Armament Haki, preparing to tank the blow.
Just then, the stone beneath her feet suddenly surged forward like a wave.
"What?!"
Ulti's eyes widened in shock. The unexpected shift threw her off balance, causing her to topple backward.
The axe, originally aimed at her head, instead sank deep into her chest.
Splurt!
Blood sprayed from the wound.
Gaya calmly remarked, "Oh right, I have a Devil Fruit ability too."
Ulti's pupils trembled violently.
...
Within the town.
Drake's body streaked through the air, crashing hard into a building.
Boom! The walls cracked and crumbled, debris scattering everywhere.
From within the dust cloud, a pair of frightened children shrieked in terror.
"Huh?"
Drake quickly rose, turning toward the source of the cries.
Near a collapsing wall, a young brother and sister, no older than ten, were huddled together in fear.
Seeing the wall about to collapse on them, Drake's eyes narrowed. He tensed his legs, ready to dash forward and rescue them.
But Lafitte moved faster.
In a blur, he swept past Drake, effortlessly grabbing the children and carrying them to safety outside the building.
Drake watched in astonishment as the infamous pirate saved the civilians instead of attacking him from behind.
Moments later, the structure crumbled, burying him under the debris.
Seconds passed.
Emerging from the wreckage, Drake pushed aside a slab of wall, glancing at the children now safely running down the street, then at Lafitte, who had saved them.
"Unbelievable..."
Drake muttered, his voice laced with disbelief.
This ruthless pirate, known for his violent tendencies, had chosen to save innocent lives instead of striking a defenseless opponent.
It made no sense.
"Hoho, no need to be so surprised."
Lafitte pointed his sword at Drake, his tone indifferent. "I simply follow my captain's principles. So don't go changing your opinion of me over something so trivial."
"Your captain's... principles? What do you mean?"
Drake frowned.
Lafitte's eyes narrowed, his lips curling into a dangerous smile.
With a voice laced with intent, he replied, "I have no interest in explaining anything to a dead man."
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