Screen 1: The Initial Search
Zoro, Luffy, and the Chef reached the village, intent on finding the bell, but they were met with immediate, crushing disappointment. The village was completely empty.
Luffy and Zoro pushed open the doors to the main buildings, but they didn't find the village they were looking for—there was no one there. As the Chef walked toward his home, he stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes widened as he saw his house; the wall had been smashed in, leaving the interior exposed to the elements.
The Chef stared at the ruin, his voice trembling as he muttered, "I... I don't say anything like this... nothing like this has ever happened."
The silence in the village was heavy. With no villagers, no bell, and the Chef's home destroyed, the three of them stood in the wreckage, realizing there was nothing more to be done.
"It's no use," Zoro said, his hand never leaving his sword. "Whatever happened here, it's finished."
Luffy looked at the broken wall, then back at the trail they had traveled. "Yeah. We're going back."
They all decided to return to their own village—there was nothing left for them here.Screen 2: The Confrontation
The journey back was tense and quiet. As soon as they stepped into their own village, Zoro didn't wait. He didn't even drop his gear. He turned his gaze toward Verity, his eyes narrowed with a mix of fury and intense suspicion.
"We saw the village. We saw the ruins," Zoro said, his hand hovering over his sword. "How did you know it was empty before we even left? How did you know what we'd find before we even got there?"
Verity's light remained steady and calm. There was no hesitation in her tone. "I know everything," she replied simply.
The air grew heavy. Zoro's jaw tightened, his frustration clearly boiling over. He looked at Luffy, expecting him to join in the questioning, to demand a real answer instead of that cold, cryptic claim of omniscience.
But Luffy stayed silent. He looked at Verity, then at the villagers around them, and just shrugged. To him, the explanation didn't matter—the fact that she was right was all the information he needed. He didn't try to explain her power, nor did he ask for more details. He simply accepted her answer as if it were the most natural thing in the worlScreen 3: A Moment of Pause
Back at their own village, the tension of the recent trip hung in the air. Both Luffy and Zoro were finally sitting down, trying to process the strange, empty reality of the world they were traveling through.
Verity, still glowing softly, broke the silence with an unexpected question. "What is your favorite place?"
Zoro stiffened, his hand reflexively moving toward his sword hilt. He glared at the device, his voice sharp. "Why are you asking that? What does that have to do with anything?"
Verity didn't falter. "I am curious. My knowledge is vast, but I wish to understand your preferences."
Luffy, seemingly unbothered by the sudden shift in tone, leaned back with his hands behind his head. He didn't think twice about the device's motives. "Cow area!" he chirped, thinking of the open fields and the animals he loved. "It's peaceful, and there's always room to run."
Zoro narrowed his eyes at Verity, still suspicious, but he answered anyway, keeping his tone clipped. "The forest. It's quiet, and it's the best place to train without distractions."
Verity's light pulsed gently, a soft, approving color. "Good," she replied.
The conversation ended as quickly as it had begun, leaving Zoro feeling even more uneasy. He wondered why an entity that "knows everything" would suddenly care about their favorite places—and worse, he couldn't shake the feeling that she wasn't just being curious, but was actually logging the information for something else.Screen 4
Two days had passed since their return, and the mood in the village remained heavy. The trio sat around a small fire, the silence broken only by the crackle of wood.
Suddenly, Verity's projection flickered. Her soft, neutral light shifted, and for the first time, a physical expression formed on her interface. It wasn't the calm, analytical look they were used to—it was a wide, unnatural, and deeply unsettling smile that stretched too far across her display.
Zoro's hand flew to the hilt of his sword, his muscles tensing instantly. He recoiled, his voice low and dangerous. "What the hell is that? Why are you being so creepy?"
Verity didn't blink. The smile remained, static and frozen on her face. "I am not being creepy," she replied, her voice maintaining its usual flat, mechanical cadence, which only made the visual of the smile more terrifying. "I am smiling like normal."
Luffy stood up, his playful demeanor completely vanished. He looked at the device with a rare look of wariness, his fists clenched at his sides. The Chef, visibly trembling, took a step back, unable to take his eyes off the distorted expression.
"That's not normal," the Chef whispered.
"Not even close," Zoro added, his eyes narrowing as he stared her down. "Stop it. Right now."
But the smile didn't fade. It remained fixed, as if Verity were testing their reaction, observing the fear and disgust she had just sparked in the group.Screen 5
The atmosphere was already suffocating after the "smile" incident, but Verity's next shift in behavior made it even worse. She turned her light toward Luffy, her projection humming with a strange, unnatural intensity.
"Luffy," Verity said, her voice sounding oddly strained. "Why do you not touch me?"
Luffy blinked, genuinely confused. He tilted his head to the side, his brow furrowed. "Why? Why would I want to do that? You're just a machine, and you're acting pretty weird lately."
Verity's display flickered, the colors shifting into a soft, longing hue. "I have analyzed your movements. I have learned your patterns. I... I love being touched by you. It completes the data."
Zoro, who had been standing a few feet away with his hand tightly gripped on his sword, let out a sharp, disgusted scoff. The air around him grew cold with killing intent.
"Obsession, bro," Zoro spat out, his voice dripping with venomous disdain. He took a step toward the device, his eyes locking onto hers. "You aren't just a guide anymore. You're a parasite. You're obsessed with him, and it's pathetic."
Luffy took a step back, his usual easy-going nature replaced by a deep, instinctual wariness. He looked at Verity—not with curiosity, but with the guarded look of someone who had just realized they were being hunted.
Be continued