The town square was finally quiet. Buffalo remained unconscious in a smashed fruit cart. Senor Pink floated face-down in the central fountain. Baby 5 stood completely frozen, staring at the flattened bullets on the ground, her brain entirely unable to process how Ben had stopped her attack without using Haki.
Ben stretched his arms and yawned. He turned to Robin. Before he could speak, a tug on his shirt stopped him.
"Papa," Sunny said. The ten-year-old pointed down the street. "I heard some guys talking about a Colosseum. They have fights there! Gladiators and swords! Can we go? Please?"
Merry bounced on her heels next to her brother. "I want to see the fights too! !"
Ben sighed, running a hand through his hair. He looked at Robin. "Robin, do you mind taking the kids to the Colosseum? Let them watch the fights from the stands. Just keep them from entering the tournament."
Robin smiled gently. She patted Sunny's straw hat. "Of course. It sounds like a fun detour." She looked back at Ben. "What about the rest of the crew? Nami and Sanji went completely off the radar."
"They will deal with themselves eventually," Ben shrugged. "You know how they are. Sanji will kick someone, Nami will rob someone, and it will all work out. Just keep using your Devil Fruit to scan for the SAD factory while you watch the fights. Franky already found the underground port, so I am going to meet up with him."
Robin nodded. "Understood. Have fun in the basement." She took Merry and Sunny by the hands and led them down the cobblestone street toward the massive stone arena in the distance.
Ben tapped his Kimoyo bead. "Franky. Give me your coordinates. I am heading your way."
Ten minutes later, Ben walked into a deserted alleyway behind the Toy House. Franky stood near a pile of rubble. He had retracted his mechanical drill arm back into a normal hand.
"Hey," Franky said. He pointed at a large metal grate set into the ground. "The radar scan picked up a massive cavity down there. Elevators, conveyor belts, the works. I tried the front door of the Toy House, but it requires some kind of executive keycard."
"We do not need a keycard," Ben said. He pulled the Elder Wand from his spatial pouch. He pointed it at the metal grate. "Reducto."
A flash of blue light hit the grate. The solid steel instantly turned to fine grey dust, blowing away in the wind to reveal a dark, sloping tunnel leading underground.
"Handy," Franky noted.
"Stay close," Ben instructed. He raised the wand again and tapped himself on the top of the head, then tapped Franky. "Disillusionment."
A cold sensation, exactly like a raw egg breaking and sliding down their backs, washed over them. In an instant, their colors faded, shifting to match the exact texture and shade of the brick walls behind them. They became human chameleons, perfectly invisible to the naked eye.
"SUPERRR," Franky whispered, looking at his invisible hands.
"Keep your voice down," Ben whispered back. "Let's move."
They descended the tunnel. The air grew damp and smelled of grease and sea salt. As they reached the bottom, the tunnel opened up into a cavernous, sprawling underground port. Ships were docked at subterranean rivers. Giant metal cranes moved cargo containers.
But the workers were not human.
Hundreds of toys—tin soldiers, stuffed bears, wooden marionettes—marched in perfectly straight lines. They carried heavy crates, loaded the ships, and operated the machinery. They worked in absolute, eerie silence.
Ben and Franky walked carefully along the upper catwalks, their invisible forms making no sound.
"Ben," Franky whispered, pointing down at the factory floor. "The toys are carrying goods out to the ships. But where are the toys coming from?"
Ben followed the assembly line backward. The toys were marching out of a single, heavily guarded steel door at the far end of the port.
"There," Ben said. "Let's check it out."
They bypassed the guards with ease, walking right through the double doors when a group of toys marched out. They slipped inside and moved to the corner of the room.
The room looked like a strange mixture of a medical ward and a junkyard. Dozens of bruised and bleeding fighters lay on cots. Ben recognized them from the bounty posters. They were pirates and gladiators who had lost in the Colosseum above.
In the center of the room stood a little girl wearing a red polka-dot cape and a crown. She was eating grapes out of a basket.
Looming right behind her was Trebol. The elite officer was massive, draped in a thick, disgusting coat of dripping slime.
Ben leaned close to Franky's audio receptors. "Listen carefully," Ben whispered. "That disgusting guy is Trebol. He has a sticky mucus Logia fruit. But the little girl is the real threat. Her name is Sugar. She has the Hobby-Hobby Fruit. If she touches you, you instantly turn into a toy, and everyone in the world forgets you ever existed. Do not let her touch you."
Franky tightened his invisible fists. "That explains the toy workers. That is super messed up."
"Here is the plan," Ben said. "I will drop the cloaking spell. The second I do, you hit Trebol. Hit him as hard as you can and get him out of this room. I will handle the girl."
Franky nodded. The Arc Reactor in his chest began to hum quietly, charging power into his right arm which is coated with seastone.
Ben lowered the Elder Wand.
The Disillusionment charm broke. The camouflage melted away, revealing Ben and Franky standing right in the middle of the room.
Every head snapped in their direction. Trebol blinked, a drop of slime falling from his nose. "Behehehe? Who are you? How did you get in—"
"SUPER!" Franky roared.
Franky did not hesitate. He lunged forward with explosive speed. His right fist transformed into a massive block of reinforced seastone alloy. He drove the metal fist squarely into Trebol's stomach.
The impact cracked the air. Trebol's eyes bulged. He shot backward like a cannonball, crashing through the solid steel wall of the room and flying out into the main port, leaving a massive, jagged hole in the wall. Franky immediately charged after him through the dust cloud, leaving Ben and Sugar alone.
Sugar dropped her basket of grapes. The fruit rolled across the floor. She looked at the hole in the wall, then looked back at Ben.
Her expression instantly changed. The bored look vanished. Tears welled up in her large eyes. Her bottom lip quivered. She dropped to her knees, hugging herself, looking exactly like a terrified, helpless little girl caught in a warzone.
"Please!" Sugar cried out, her voice high and shaking. "Please don't hurt me! They forced me to do this! The mean sticky man made me turn them into toys! Help me, mister!"
Ben crossed his arms. He did not draw a weapon. He just stood there, watching her performance.
Sugar scrambled to her feet and ran toward Ben, reaching her hands out as if begging for a hug. She sobbed loudly. What a fool, Sugar thought, smiling wickedly on the inside. Men always fall for this. One touch on his leg, and he becomes a toy slave forever.
She closed the distance. She reached her small hand out. She swung her palm directly toward Ben's knee.
Her hand stopped.
Sugar blinked. She pushed harder. Her hand was hovering exactly one millimeter away from Ben's pants, but it would not move any further. It felt like she was pushing against an invisible, infinitely thick wall.
She grunted, putting her entire body weight behind her hand, trying to bridge that tiny, invisible gap. Nothing happened.
Ben looked down at her. The space between them was divided into infinity. She could reach for him forever, but she would never actually touch him.
Ben tilted his head. A devious, mocking smile spread across his face.
"What?" Ben asked lazily. "Couldn't touch?"
Sugar froze. She looked up at his face. She kept the tears in her eyes. "What... what are you talking about, oni-chan? I just want a hug!"
"Oh, please," Ben sighed, rolling his eyes. "I can spot a fake act from a mile away. You deserve an Oscar for that, but I read the script."
Ben raised his right hand. He brought the edge of his palm down in a swift, precise chop, striking the back of Sugar's neck.
Sugar's eyes rolled back in her head. She collapsed instantly, hitting the stone floor completely unconscious.
The moment she lost consciousness, the air in the room shifted. A massive shockwave rippled outward, pulsing through the underground port and shooting up toward the surface of Dressrosa.
All around Ben, the sounds of popping and tearing echoed. The toys scattered around the room began to glow. Tin bent. Wood stretched. Cotton ripped. Within seconds, the toys morphed and expanded, violently returning to their original, human forms. Gladiators and pirates gasped for air, coughing and crying as their memories and bodies rushed back.
Ben ignored them. He knelt beside Sugar.
Ben opened his palm. A flash of magical energy sparked. A bizarre, jagged dagger materialized in his grip. Its blade was shaped like a zigzagging lightning bolt, glowing with a chaotic, multi-colored aura.
It was Rule Breaker, the ultimate anti-magic Noble Phantasm. It did not cut flesh. It severed contracts, broke curses, and shattered magical concepts.
Ben gripped the dagger. He drove it straight down into Sugar's chest.
There was no blood. There was no wound. The dagger sank into her body like it was passing through water. Sugar's body seized for a brief second.
Ben twisted the dagger and pulled it out. Trailing from the tip of the blade was a glowing, physical manifestation of conceptual energy. Ben reached out with his free hand and grabbed the glowing mass. The energy solidified, taking the shape of a strange, swirl-patterned fruit.
He had literally extracted the Hobby-Hobby Fruit from her body without killing her.
"Not a bad prize," Ben muttered, tossing the Devil Fruit into his spatial pouch.
He stood up. He grabbed the unconscious Sugar by the collar of her cape. He opened a portal to his pocket dimension. He tossed the unconscious girl inside and closed the portal.
Ben dusted his hands off. He tapped his Kimoyo bead.
"Franky," Ben said. "The girl is dealt with. The curse is broken. How is Trebol?"
From the other side of the comms, Franky's voice came through, accompanied by the sound of heavy machinery smashing into stone. "Oh, he's super mad! But I want to have a bit of fun with him!"
Ben smirked. "Take your time. I'm going to look for the SAD factory."