The dusty safehouse in the abandoned quarter of Nanohana was silent, save for the rhythmic tapping of Koala's boot against the wooden floor and the distant, muffled sounds of the market.
Ben stood across the table from the two revolutionaries.
"I suppose formal introductions are in order," Ben said, his voice calm and steady. "I am Edgar D Benjamin. I serve as the Quartermaster, Inventor, and—for lack of a better term—Wizard of the Straw Hat Pirates."
The blond man tipped his top hat, his expression serious, but his eyes holding a spark of curiosity. "I've heard a lot about you. Dragon's reports were... colorful. I am Sabo. Chief of Staff of the Revolutionary Army."
The woman next to him leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. "And I'm Koala. Assistant instructor of Fishman Karate and an officer in the Army. It's nice to put a face to the name, finally."
Ben pulled out a chair and sat down. He didn't waste time with pleasantries. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small holographic projector—a puck that hummed to life, projecting a 3D map of Alabasta onto the rotting table.
Sabo's eyebrows raised slightly. "Impressive tech."
"It's efficient," Ben replied. He manipulated the map, highlighting several cities: Nanohana, Rainbase, Alubarna, and Katorea.
"Here is the situation," Ben began, his tone shifting to that of a war room general. "Alabasta is bleeding. This isn't just a natural drought. It's a manufactured crisis orchestrated by one man: Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea."
Sabo's grip on his pipe tightened. "We suspected a Warlord's involvement. The destabilization was too precise."
"It's worse than you think," Ben continued. "Crocodile has established a secret criminal syndicate called Baroque Works. Their goal is 'Operation Utopia'—to overthrow the Nefertari monarchy and install Crocodile as the hero-king of a military state. He plans to turn this country into a superpower that threatens the World Government."
Ben zoomed in on the port of Nanohana.
"He's using Dance Powder."
Koala gasped. "That's a forbidden substance! It steals rain from downwind territories!"
"Exactly," Ben nodded. "He smuggles it in, frames the King for using it to keep the capital green, and lets the rest of the country die of thirst. He's inciting a civil war. He wants the people to destroy their own king so he can swoop in and 'save' them."
Sabo's face darkened. The Revolutionary Army existed to overthrow corrupt tyrants, but what Crocodile was doing—manufacturing tyranny to usurp a good king—was vile. "He's playing both sides. Creating the villain so he can be the hero."
"Precisely," Ben said. "For the last two years, Princess Nefertari Vivi has been undercover inside Baroque Works. She's risked everything to find out who was behind her country's suffering. She's currently on our ship, docked in a cove west of here."
Sabo looked at Ben with newfound respect. "You're sheltering the Princess? That puts a massive target on your back."
"We're pirates," Ben smirked. "We like targets."
He swiped the map to the city of Katorea, an oasis town in the middle of the desert.
"The Rebel Army is camped here. They are led by a man named Koza. He is Vivi's childhood friend. He's a good man, but he's being manipulated by Crocodile's agents. He believes the King is guilty."
"So, what is the plan?" Sabo asked, leaning back. "Dragon told us to assist you, but he left the tactical command to your discretion."
"Simple," Ben said. "We stop the war before it starts. We need to get Vivi to Katorea. She needs to speak to Koza. If she can convince him that the King is innocent and that Crocodile is the real enemy, the rebellion stalls."
Ben looked Sabo in the eye.
"Once the rebellion is paused, we take the fight to Rainbase. We take down Crocodile. We expose Baroque Works. And we give this country back to its people."
Sabo stood up, a fierce grin spreading across his face. "Stopping a war and taking down a Warlord? That sounds like a Tuesday for us. We're in."
"Good," Ben said. "My crew is currently gathering supplies. We will head for the desert as soon as we're stocked."
"One question," Koala asked. "The Rebel Leader, Koza... if he's already mobilized, he won't be easy to talk down."
"That's why we're going," Ben said, standing up and pocketing the projector. "Straw Hat Luffy has a way of making people listen. Usually by breaking things."
Sabo laughed. "I look forward to seeing this captain of yours."
"You have no idea," Ben muttered. "Let's go, there is no time to waste."
Ben turned and exited the room, vanishing into the shadows of the hallway. Sabo followed him a few steps behind, a thoughtful expression on his face.
"He's sharp," Koala noted.
"He is," Sabo agreed. "And dangerous. Let's get moving, Koala. We have a revolution to save."
---
While the fate of the nation was being decided in a dusty backroom, the fate of a local restaurant's structural integrity was being decided in the center of Nanohana.
The Spice Bean was a popular establishment, known for its strong coffee and savory meats. Currently, however, the atmosphere was thick with tension.
At a center table, a man with no shirt and a tattoo of Whitebeard on his back sat slumped forward, his face buried deep in a plate of spaghetti. He was snoring.
Portgas D. Ace.
Standing over him, radiating menace and cigar smoke, was a Marine Captain with a jitte strapped to his back.
Smoker the White Hunter.
"Hey," Smoker growled, staring at the sleeping pirate. "I know that face. You're Fire Fist Ace. Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates' Second Division."
Ace snored. Zzzzz-pop. A snot bubble inflated and popped.
"Wake up," Smoker barked. "I don't arrest men in their sleep, but I'm making an exception for you."
The patrons of the restaurant cowered against the walls, sensing the clash of titans.
Smoker reached for his jitte. "You're coming with me."
Suddenly, the air pressure in the street outside dropped. A sound like a jet engine roaring to life echoed through the open door.
"MEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAT!"
Smoker turned his head. "What the—?"
He didn't finish the sentence.
A blur of red and black, moving at Mach speed, shot through the open door. It was a human missile. A rubber comet.
CRASH!
Luffy, aiming blindly for the smell of food, didn't see the Marine or his brother. He plowed into them with the force of a runaway freight train. The momentum of his new, 8-foot-tall, 20-ton-lifting body was catastrophic.
Smoker and Ace were lifted off their feet instantly.
They were carried by the rubber juggernaut through the back wall of the restaurant.
BOOM.
Then the next wall.
CRASH.
Then the wall of the neighboring building.
SMASH.
And finally, through the wall of a pottery shop three alleys away.
Dust billowed into the street. The Spice Bean restaurant now had a massive, Looney-Tunes-esque tunnel running straight through its architecture.
In the center of the restaurant, amidst the rubble and confused diners, Luffy sat up. He dusted brick powder off his vest.
He looked left. He looked right. He saw the counter.
"OLD MAN!" Luffy slammed his hands on the table, which cracked under his new strength. "BRING ME MEAT! LOTS OF IT! AND WATER!"
The owner, a trembling man with a mustache, popped up from behind the counter. "Y-You... you..."
"MEAT! MEAT! MEAT!" Luffy began to bang his spoon and fork on the table, chanting his primal rhythm.
Terrified, the owner and his cooks scrambled. Within seconds, they returned with platters of roasted lamb, kebabs, and rice.
Luffy inhaled them. He didn't chew; he shoveled. Bones and all disappeared into his elastic gullet.
"Hey!" the owner shouted, finding a shred of courage. "Aren't you worried?!"
Luffy paused, a turkey leg hanging from his mouth. "Worried about what?"
"THE HOLE!" The owner pointed a shaking finger at the devastation behind Luffy—a perfect tunnel through four buildings. "Look at what you did to my shop!"
Luffy turned around. He chewed thoughtfully. He looked at the wreckage.
"Whoa," Luffy said, eyes wide. "There's a hole. Why is there a hole in your restaurant, old man?"
"YOU MADE IT!" the owner screamed, veins popping in his neck. "YOU ARE THE ONE WHO CRASHED THROUGH THE WALL!"
"Oh," Luffy swallowed the turkey leg whole. "Sorry."
He immediately went back to eating a pile of spaghetti. "This is good! More!"
"DON'T JUST SAY SORRY AND KEEP EATING!"
---
Three alleys away, amidst the ruins of the pottery shop, a pile of rubble shifted.
Ace pushed a heavy wooden beam off his chest. He groaned, sitting up and rubbing his head.
"Ouch... what hit me?" he muttered, blinking dust out of his eyes. "I was dreaming about eating... and then suddenly I was flying..."
He stood up, dusting off his black shorts and adjusting his orange hat. He looked at the tunnel of destruction leading back to the restaurant.
"Someone has a lot of force," Ace mused, impressed. "That felt like a cannonball. No... heavier."
Curiosity piqued, Ace began to walk back through the holes in the walls. He stepped over broken pottery, apologized to the family in the living room, and climbed over the bricks until he stepped back into the Spice Bean.
He saw the back of a massive figure sitting at the center table.
The person was huge—over eight feet tall, with broad shoulders and thick, powerful arms that rippled with muscle. He was wearing a red vest and... a straw hat.
Ace froze. He blinked.
That hat...
He took a step forward. The figure turned slightly to grab another platter, revealing his profile.
Ace's eyes went wide.
Luffy?!
He stared at the giant eating machine. It was definitely his little brother, but... evolved. The scrawny kid from the windmill village was gone, replaced by this titan.
Ace opened his mouth. He raised a hand. He was about to call out, "Luffy!"
"MUGIWARA!"
A roar came from the pile of rubble behind Ace.
Before Ace could get the word out, a white blur slammed into him from behind.
Smoker.
The Marine Captain, furious and humiliated, exploded out of the debris. He didn't care about Ace right now. He only had eyes for the rubber brat who had tackled him.
Smoker shoved Ace hard, sending the Fire Logia stumbling sideways into a pile of broken chairs.
"Out of my way, Pirate!" Smoker roared.
Ace caught his balance, looking annoyed. "Hey!"
Smoker ignored him. He stomped toward Luffy, his jitte raised, smoke billowing from his body like a chimney.
"Straw Hat Luffy!"
Luffy stopped eating. His cheeks were stuffed like a chipmunk, holding at least three steaks. He turned around.
He saw the smoke. He saw the jitte tipped with Seastone. He saw the angry Marine.
Luffy swallowed the food in one hard gulp.
"Smokey!" Luffy mumbled, spraying crumbs.
"Stop eating!" Smoker yelled, swinging the jitte down. "Your luck runs out here!"
Luffy looked at Smoker. His instincts screamed fight, but his brain replayed Nami's voice.
("No trouble! If you cause a scene, I will triple your debt! And no fighting Marines until necessary!")
And Ben's warning.
("Smoker is a Logia. Until your Haki is fully active, fighting him is a waste of time. If you see him, relocate.")
Luffy grabbed the last piece of meat off the table.
"I can't hit you right now!" Luffy shouted, stuffing the meat in his mouth. "Nami will kill me if I fight! So I'm running!"
"Get back here!" Smoker launched his arms forward, turning them into swirling vines of white smoke to snare Luffy. "White Blow!"
"NIGERUNDAYO!" (Run Away!)
Luffy vanished.
He used Soru—the superhuman speed Ben had trained him in, now amplified by the serum and his massive leg muscles.
WHOOSH.
He didn't just run; he exploded into motion. He ricocheted off the remaining walls of the restaurant, moving so fast he was barely a blur of red and black. He shot out of the front door, kicking up a cloud of dust that blinded the entire street.
"STOP HIM!" Smoker roared to his Marines who were waiting outside, completely ignoring Ace who was standing near the hole in the wall.
"IT'S STRAW HAT!" the Marines outside screamed in panic.
"OPEN FIRE!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The bullets hit Luffy's back as he sprinted down the street, but they bounced off his rubber skin harmlessly.
"Shishishi! Takes more than that!" Luffy laughed, leaping over a camel and three merchants in a single bound, disappearing around a corner.
Back in the restaurant, Ace picked himself up, dusting off his hat again. He watched the chaos unfolding outside. He watched his little brother sprinting away at a speed that shouldn't be possible, trailed by a battalion of Marines and an angry cloud of smoke.
A slow grin spread across Ace's face.
"Well," Ace chuckled to himself. "He certainly knows how to make an exit. And he's gotten big. Really big."
He looked at the tunnel of destruction Luffy had left behind.
"I guess I better catch up," Ace murmured, igniting a small flame on his thumb. "Before he wrecks the whole city... or before Smoker actually catches him."
Ace walked to the door, watching the retreating cloud of dust. He didn't say a word to Luffy yet, but the reunion was inevitable. The Fire Fist was ready to join the party.