In the clearing at the center of Small Garden, a giant white candle cake stood abruptly, out of place among the surrounding ancient giant trees.
The unique scent of wax, mixed with the smell of burning, permeated the air.
Beside the base of the cake, the two giants, Dorry and Brogy, lay collapsed on the ground, their century-long duel temporarily concluding in such an unexpected manner.
And on that wax cake, five figures were firmly fixed: Baroque Works' Mr. 1 and Ms. Doublefinger, as well as Straw Hat's Giyu Tomioka, Nami, and Vivi.
The solidified wax perfectly captured their poses before they were imprisoned, leaving only their heads uncovered, like a cruel work of art.
In front of the cake, Ms. Goldenweek and Ms. Valentine were painting and holding an umbrella for sun protection, respectively, while the mastermind behind it all—Mr. 3—leisurely sat on a chair made of wax, pushed up his glasses, and admired his masterpiece.
A fine mist of wax drifted down from the top of the cake, slowly settling on the five wax figures.
"Cough... cough cough!" Ms. Doublefinger suddenly coughed out the inhaled wax dust; she had regained consciousness.
She immediately realized her predicament was not right; her limbs were tightly encased in wax as hard as iron, rendering her unable to move. Her gaze swept over Mr. 1 and the other three members of the Straw Hat, who were similarly fixed beside her, and she finally glared at the triumphant Mr. 3 below the platform.
"What are you doing, you bastard?!" Ms. Doublefinger shrieked, questioning him. She tried to struggle, but the wax layer did not budge.
Mr. 3 let out a low chuckle, his fingertips elegantly intertwined:
"Oh yo yo, isn't this Ms. Doublefinger? As you can see, I am creating... an eternal work of art." His tone rose, carrying obvious mockery.
"A work of art?"
Hearing this, Ms. Doublefinger exclaimed, "Thorn Hair!!" and then showed an angry expression, her hair instantly hardening like thorns, fiercely stabbing at the wax layer that imprisoned her.
Clang!
Thorns collided with the wax layer, producing a metallic sound, but Ms. Doublefinger's thorns only left a few slight scratches on the wax layer.
"It's useless."
Mr. 3 calmly pushed up his glasses and continued:
"Once my wax solidifies, its hardness can rival steel. Your attacks, you fellow, are just futile. Of course, you can continue to try your wasted efforts, oh~"
Seeing her attacks were ineffective, Ms. Doublefinger panted, forcing herself to calm down.
Steel-like hardness? If that's the case... she laboriously rolled her eyeballs, looking at the silent, motionless Mr. 1 to her right.
If it were him, then his Dice-Dice Fruit ability should be able to break through this situation!
"He he he..." Mr. 3 keenly caught her gaze, then laughed mockingly, as if Ms. Doublefinger's every move was within his expectations.
"Did you think I hadn't thought of that, Ms. Doublefinger? How low do you think my intelligence is?"
He stood up, used his Devil Fruit ability to create a staircase leading to the cake, then walked up the cake step by step, stopping beside Mr. 1.
He tapped Mr. 1's wax figure shell, which was as hard as steel, with his finger.
"While you two were unconscious, our esteemed Mr. 1 was thoughtfully given a sedative, a specialty of Whiskey Peak."
Mr. 3's voice was full of malice as he turned to Ms. Doublefinger and said, "The dosage is enough to make him sleep until my masterpiece is completely finished. Hoping for him? Save your breath."
"You..." Ms. Doublefinger's face instantly turned somewhat pale, but she stubbornly threatened, "Do you really think that by doing this... the Boss will let you off?!"
"Let me off?" Mr. 3 acted as if he had heard the biggest joke.
He exaggeratedly waved his fingers, then began to daydream, pretending to report, "No, no, no, this is how things will be: due to the presence of an exceptionally powerful swordsman in the Straw Hat Pirates, Mr. 1 and Ms. Doublefinger, after a fierce and tragic battle, successfully subdued the opponent, but both unfortunately suffered severe injuries and ultimately... died heroically."
As he spoke, he paced to Tomioka's wax figure, his fingers almost admiringly stroking the cold, hard wax shell.
"What a perfect story, isn't it?" He looked back at Ms. Doublefinger, his eyes behind the lenses gleaming with a mad light.
"And this one, who in the recent battle indeed severely wounded you two great contributors... naturally, it's him."
Ms. Doublefinger followed his gaze to the black-haired, blue-eyed swordsman on her left, who still remained expressionless.
She recalled the two-on-one battle not long ago, remembering the opponent's sword skills that flowed like water yet remained incredibly sharp, and that astonishing final blow that defeated Mr. 1... a cold despair. The current situation, for her, seemed to have become a dead end, irreversible.
"Pervert..." A very faint curse came from beside her.
Mr. 3 raised an eyebrow and looked over; it was Nami of the Straw Hat, who was trying to lift her chin, the anger in her eyes clearly visible.
"Making your own comrades into wax figures and being so smug about it... Is there something wrong with you, you bastard?!"
Beside her, Vivi also cursed, "You lunatic! If you have the guts, let us down and let's have a duel! If Tomioka wakes up, would you still be so arrogant?"
Hearing their angry curses, Mr. 3 seemed pleased, smiling and saying, "Thank you for the appraisal, two future wax figures. Your current vitality will make your expressions before you completely turn into wax figures appear even more desperate."
Then Mr. 3 secretly murmured, "Wake up... oh~ I understand."
His gaze returned to Tomioka's unperturbed face.
"Thanks to our traitor princess for the reminder, now I know."
"The most perfect collectible still needs a little final activation..." Mr. 3 seemed to have thought of something interesting and turned to Ms. Valentine below the platform, "Hey, do you still have the antidote? Give it to me."
Ms. Valentine, below, although somewhat confused, saw that the current situation was entirely directed by Mr. 3. Thinking that in a few days, they would all be successfully promoted, she pulled out a small bottle from her bosom and threw it up.
Mr. 3 on the cake caught the medicine bottle. He pried open Tomioka's mouth and poured the antidote in.
"I'm really looking forward to it."
Looking at Tomioka in front of him, he recalled his heroic demeanor in the jungle just now, how he could casually block all of Ms. Doublefinger's thorn attacks and then shatter Mr. 1's absolute defense with a single strike.
Mr. 3's voice trembled slightly due to an inexplicable excitement; he almost pressed his face close to Tomioka's.
"When an invincible swordsman wakes up only to find himself unable to move even a single finger, his most prized swordsmanship utterly useless at that moment... what kind of expression will he have?"
He spread his arms, intoxicated by his fantasy, and then declared:
"This will be the most valuable artistic moment to collect!!"