The procession of the Straw Hat Alliance trudged through the shimmering waves of heat. It was a bizarre parade that would have made any dehydration-hallucinating traveler question their sanity.
There were two massive Giants, Dorry and Brogy, whose footsteps caused mini-earthquakes, their sweat falling like rain. There was a duck, Karoo, carrying a small reindeer, Chopper, who was currently in Brain Point but looked like a melted puddle of fur. There was a woman riding a camel (Nami), a princess walking with determination (Vivi), and a mysterious trio of travelers in ragged cloaks (Sabo, Koala, Robin).
And then, there was Luffy.
"HOT!" Luffy screamed, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. "IT'S TOO HOT! I'M GONNA DRY OUT! I'M GONNA BECOME JERKY! SANJI, DON'T COOK ME!"
"I'm not going to cook you, you rubber idiot," Sanji sighed, wiping his brow with a handkerchief. He was miraculously still wearing his suit, though he had abandoned the jacket. "Save your energy. Yelling makes you thirstier."
"But I'm bored!" Luffy whined, kicking a cloud of sand. "And hot! Why is sand so hot? Ben, can't you magic the sun away?"
Ben, walking calmly with Merry perched on his shoulder, adjusted his sunglasses. The android was holding a small parasol over Ben's head.
"I can turn off the sun, Captain, but then we'd all freeze to death and the planet would die. The trade-off seems poor."
"Analysis: Ambient temperature 48°C," Merry chirped. "Captain's internal body temperature rising. Suggestion: Hydration."
"I don't want water! I want shade!" Luffy cried.
He squinted his eyes. Far, far in the distance—perhaps a quarter of a mile away—there was a cluster of jagged rock formations. They cast a deep, dark, inviting shadow on the sand.
Luffy's eyes sparkled.
"SHADE!"
His brain, simplified by heatstroke, formulated a plan.
Step 1: Go to shade.
Step 2: Take friends.
Step 3: Happiness.
He stopped walking. He stretched his arms back.
"Gomu Gomu no..."
Usopp, who was trudging along beside him, dragging his feet and moaning about his delicate skin, looked up.
"Luffy? What are you—"
"EHH?!" Usopp shrieked.
"NANI?!" Zoro woke up instantly, his hand going to Wado Ichimonji.
"ROCKET!!" Luffy roared.
The tension in his rubber arms snapped.
With a sound like a giant rubber band breaking the sound barrier, Luffy launched himself toward the rocks.
But because he was holding two human anchors, they went with him.
"GYAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Usopp screamed, his legs flailing in the air as he was dragged at Mach 1 across the desert.
"YOU DAMN RUBBER BASTARD!" Zoro roared, being dragged upside down, his face plowing through the top layer of sand before he was yanked into the air.
They were a blur of screaming limbs and rubber.
ZOOOM.
They flew over the dunes. They flew over scorpions. They flew over a confused desert lizard.
And then—
CRASH.
They slammed into the rock formation. Luffy, being made of rubber, bounced happily and landed perfectly in the cool, dark shade.
Usopp slammed face-first into the stone wall. SPLAT.
Zoro tumbled through the air and landed head-first in a pile of rocks. CRUNCH.
Dust settled.
Luffy sat cross-legged in the shade, wiping sweat from his forehead. He took a deep breath of the cooler air.
"Ahh," Luffy sighed contentedly. "So cool! This is paradise! Hey, guys, isn't this better?"
He turned to look at his friends.
Usopp was peeling himself off the wall, his nose bent at a ninety-degree angle (temporarily).
Zoro was pulling his head out of the rock pile, a vein throbbing on his forehead so hard it looked like a second eyebrow.
"Shishishi!" Luffy laughed. "You guys look funny!"
DOOM.
A dark aura flared up. Two demons stood over the Rubber Captain.
"Luffy..." Zoro growled, drawing the back of his sword.
"You..." Usopp hissed, pulling out a heavy mallet from his bag.
"WARN US BEFORE YOU DO THAT!!!"
WHAM! POW! CRACK!
A cartoonish cloud of violence erupted in the shade. Stars and birds circled the air.
"Ouch! Quit it! I was helping! Ow! Zoro, that hurts! Usopp, not the nose!"
Five minutes later, the rest of the crew arrived at the rocks.
They found a peaceful scene.
Zoro was napping against a cool stone.
Usopp was checking his goggles for cracks.
Luffy was sitting on the ground, sporting three massive, steaming lumps on his head, his lips swollen.
"I'm sowwy," Luffy mumbled, bowing his head.
"Serves you right," Nami huffed, stepping into the shade and collapsing. "Though, I admit, the shade is nice."
"Lunchtime!" Sanji announced, clapping his hands.
"Food?!" Luffy healed instantly. The lumps vanished. "Sanji! Meat!"
"Where is the food?" Sabo asked, looking around. "We didn't bring many supplies on the trek to keep weight down."
Sanji smirked. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, unassuming leather pouch.
"Courtesy of our resident Wizard," Sanji said.
He opened the pouch.
He reached in. His arm went in... deep. Deeper than the pouch was long. Up to his shoulder.
He pulled out a massive, icy barrel of water.
Then a portable stove.
Then a crate of fresh vegetables.
Then a cooler full of meat.
Then a folding table.
Sabo's eyes popped out. Koala jaw dropped.
"Is that... a Devil Fruit pouch?" Koala asked.
"Extension Charm and Spatial Distortion," Ben explained, sitting down and letting Merry hop off his shoulder. "It holds about a warehouse's worth of goods in a pocket dimension. Keeps the food in stasis, too. Hot stays hot, cold stays cold."
"That is... tactically absurd," Sabo muttered, staring at the pouch. "The logistics of war would change overnight with those."
"I'll make you one later," Ben promised, tossing him a cold bottle of water.
Sanji went to work. Within twenty minutes, the smell of spices overcame the dry scent of the desert. He prepared a cold pasta salad with grilled desert lizard (which tasted like chicken), chilled gazpacho soup, and icy lemonade.
The crew ate voraciously.
Luffy inhaled his food, then tried to inhale Usopp's, resulting in a fork to the hand.
The Giants ate massive portions that Sanji had pre-prepared and shrunk, which Ben enlarged back to giant size with a wave of his wand—another feat that made Sabo shake his head in disbelief.
"This crew," Sabo whispered to Koala as they ate. "They defy every logic of the Grand Line."
"It's charming," Koala admitted, watching Chopper chase a butterfly. "In a chaotic sort of way."
---
By the time lunch was finished and the worst of the midday heat had passed, they resumed their march.
The sun began to dip, painting the sky in violent streaks of orange and purple. The temperature dropped rapidly, shifting from oven to freezer as the desert night took hold.
Ahead of them, rising from the dunes like a mirage, was Katorea.
It was an oasis city, built around a massive lake. But unlike the bustling Nanohana, Katorea was silent. Tents—thousands of them—surrounded the city walls. Fires burned in iron braziers. The air smelled of smoke, unwashed bodies, and tension.
The Rebel Army.
"That's a lot of people," Usopp whispered. "They look... angry. And tired."
"They've been pushed to the brink," Vivi said softly, her heart aching. "They think my father abandoned them. They're desperate."
"We're here to fix that," Nami said, putting a hand on Vivi's shoulder.
They stopped behind a dune overlooking the encampment.
"Alright," Ben said. "Strategy time. We can't just walk in there with Giants and a Pirate crew. They'll shoot first and ask questions never."
"I can knock them all out!" Luffy suggested, cracking his knuckles.
"No," Ben said firmly. "We are here to talk, not dominate. If you attack, they'll think we're attacking. We need diplomacy."
Ben raised his wand. He tapped the top of his head, then gestured to the group.
A shimmer passed over them.
"This charm makes us uninteresting," Ben explained. "People will see us, but their brains will slide off us. Unless we draw attention to ourselves or interact with them directly, we are effectively invisible."
"Cool!" Luffy touched his face. "Am I a ghost?"
"No, you're just ignorable. Which, for you, is the strongest magic I possess," Ben deadpanned.
"Now," Ben continued. "We need a small team to enter the main tent and speak to Koza. The rest stay back."
"I'm going!" Luffy stepped forward.
Then he paused.
He sniffed the air.
A breeze blew from the dunes behind them.
The smell of Sanji starting a campfire. The smell of roasting marshmallows. The smell of... Meat on a Stick.
Luffy froze. He looked at the Rebel Camp (Politics. Talking. Boring).
He looked back at the campfire (Food. Sanji. Marshmallows).
Luffy turned to Nami.
"Nami."
"Yes?"
"You're smart, right?"
"Obviously."
"And Vivi is brave, right?"
"Yes."
"And Zoro is... strong?"
"Hey!" Zoro grunted.
"I think you guys can handle the talking," Luffy said solemnly, placing a hand on Nami's shoulder. "I have a very important mission back at the campfire. Call me when it's time to beat up Crocodile. Or if there's a dragon. Or a robot."
Nami rolled her eyes. "You just want to eat."
"Shishishi! Bye!"
Luffy bolted back to where Sanji was setting up the field kitchen, leaving a dust cloud in his wake.
"Unbelievable," Usopp sighed. "He's the Captain."
"He trusts us," Zoro said, checking his swords. "Let's get this over with."
The Infiltration Team: Ben, Zoro, Vivi, Nami, Sabo, and Koala.
---
The group moved down the dune and into the encampment.
Ben's magic worked perfectly.
They walked past guards who were sharpening spears. The guards looked right at them, their eyes glazed over, and then looked away, their minds filling in the blank with "just some refugees" or "nothing important."
They walked through the maze of tents. They heard the murmurs of the rebels.
"No water again today."
"My son is sick."
"We attack Alubarna at dawn. King Cobra must die."
Vivi bit her lip, tears pricking her eyes. I'm sorry. Just wait a little longer.
They reached the center of the camp. A massive command tent stood there, guarded by four elite soldiers.
Ben didn't slow down. He walked right between the guards.
The guards didn't even blink.
They slipped inside the tent flap.
Inside, the air was thick with tobacco smoke and stress. Maps were strewn across tables.
A man with bleached hair, wearing sunglasses even at night, stood over a map of the capital. He had a scar running down his cheek. He looked exhausted, ragged, and dangerous.
Koza. Leader of the Rebel Army.
Around him were his top lieutenants.
"We don't have enough water for a siege," one lieutenant argued.
"We don't need a siege," Koza rasped. "We storm the gates. We take the palace. We end this."
Ben stepped into the center of the room.
The Infiltration Team fanned out behind him.
Ben raised his wand. He swept it in a wide arc around the perimeter of the tent.
"Muffliato Maxima."
A faint buzzing sound filled the air for a microsecond, then vanished. The tent was now soundproofed from the outside world.
Ben lowered his hand.
Like a veil being lifted, the Disillusionment evaporated.
Suddenly, six people appeared in the middle of the room where there was previously nothing.
The reaction was instantaneous.
"INTRUDERS!"
"ASSASSINS!"
Schwing! Click-clack!
Koza drew a saber. His lieutenants pulled pistols and swords.
Ten weapons were pointed directly at Ben's chest.
"Who are you?!" Koza roared, his voice rough with lack of sleep. "How did you get in here?! Royal Guards?!"
Zoro stepped forward, his hand resting casually on Wado Ichimonji. He didn't draw, but his killing intent flooded the room, cold and sharp. The rebels flinched.
"Put the toys away," Zoro said lazily. "If we wanted you dead, you'd be dead."
"We are not enemies," Ben said calmly, raising his hands to show they were empty (except for the wand). "We are here to give you the truth."
"Truth?" Koza scoffed, sweat dripping down his face. "The only truth is that the King is stealing our rain! Speak, or I'll cut you down!"
Sabo stepped forward, his disguise ring shimmering. He decided to stay incognito for a moment longer. "You're marching into a trap, Koza. The King isn't stealing the rain."
"Lies!" Koza lunged forward.
"KOZA! STOP!"
The voice was desperate, shrill, and familiar.
It cut through Koza's rage like a knife.
He froze.
He looked past Ben. He looked past the swordsman.
He looked at the woman with the blue hair, standing near the back.
She stepped into the light of the oil lamp. She lowered her hood.
Her eyes were wet with tears, but her gaze was steady.
Koza's sword lowered an inch. His sunglasses slipped down his nose.
He blinked. He shook his head, thinking it was a hallucination brought on by heat and guilt.
"Vivi...?" Koza whispered. The anger drained out of him, replaced by shock.
"It's me, Koza," Vivi said, her voice trembling. "It's been a long time."
"Princess... Vivi?" One of the lieutenants gasped. "The missing princess?"
"What is this?" Koza looked from her to Ben to the others. "You... you're supposed to be missing. Dead! Why are you here? With these... outsiders?"
"I'm here to stop you from making the biggest mistake of your life," Vivi said, walking past Zoro, ignoring the guns pointed at her. She walked right up to her childhood friend.