After taking the toilet paper and Franpetar's eyebrow pencil, Claire quickly scribbled a few lines on it.
Franpetar and Jacks leaned in curiously to see, but Claire wrote so fast that by the time they got close, she had already put the pencil down and folded the tissue.
"What now?"
Both of them were curious about Claire's plan and what she intended to do next.
Claire held the folded tissue, hesitating for a moment. She peeked through a crack in the crate and, seeing no unusual activity below, she bit her lip and activated her ability.
About ten centimeters off the floor in front of her, blocks of various shapes—some flat, some cubic—materialized out of thin air. The smallest was only the size of a fingertip, while the largest was about the size of a fist.
Then, something magical happened.
The blocks began to assemble themselves automatically, the entire process completely silent. In less than two breaths, a lifelike little mouse constructed from the blocks had taken shape.
Franpetar and Jacks stared, wide-eyed and fascinated. It was the first time they had seen Claire use her ability in this way.
But it wasn't over. The brightly colored blocks that made up the mouse began to darken. In just a few blinks, the entire creature had turned the same blackish-gray as a real mouse.
It looked even more realistic now. If you weren't looking closely, you'd never know it was fake.
Next, Claire tucked the tissue into a small slit she had deliberately left on the mouse's back. She then manipulated her power, and the little mouse began to move.
Strangely, the mouse hovered two or three millimeters above the floor, never actually touching it as it floated silently toward the skeleton and the jaguar in the distance.
In moments, it had successfully crossed the twenty-meter open space between them. The entire time, no one below noticed a thing. Claire let out a sigh of relief. She had been worried that using her ability in this way would be detected by Observation Haki.
Fortunately, Claire and her companions were no amateurs. Their skills in concealment were far beyond those of pirates new to the New World.
Brook and Pedro were crouched behind a wooden crate, holding their breath as they watched the scene below, looking for an opportunity to copy the Road Poneglyph.
They hadn't noticed the activity behind them, until…
A second or two after the little mouse approached, both of them whipped their heads around as if they were startled cats.
"What is this…?" For a moment, Brook and Pedro were stunned as they saw the little mouse that had arrived at their feet.
"There seems to be a note on it," Pedro said, recovering first. His sharp eyes had immediately spotted the tissue tucked into the slit on the mouse's back.
They exchanged a look, momentarily forgetting to wonder what kind of fake mouse this was. Brook reached out, took the note from its back, and unfolded it.
The first thing that caught their eye was a short, eight-word message, written to be the most prominent.
[Look behind you. Don't move. Morass.]
Seeing these words, Brook and Pedro were both startled. They looked up and across the room.
Claire was peeking out from behind her crate, giving them a little wave.
The expressions on their faces were indescribably complex. On one hand, they were cursing themselves for their lack of vigilance—they hadn't even known someone was behind them. On the other, they were puzzled by the woman waving at them from behind the crate.
Brook turned to Pedro, his jaw clacking as he whispered, "Do you know her?"
Pedro shook his head. "But it's safe to say she's not an enemy. Besides… didn't the note say 'Morass'? I see. That mouse must be her creation. Morass… is she saying she's with them?"
Hearing Pedro's self-directed questions, Brook's deep "pupils" lowered to the paper in his hand.
Below the eight bold words was another sentence. Perhaps because the tissue was difficult to write on, the letters were crooked, and some had even torn through the paper.
Even so, you could still make out the elegant handwriting underneath.
Pedro leaned in to look. Below the main message, it read: If your goal is to copy the Road Poneglyph, then perhaps we can cooperate. But I must remind you, we brought a camera. In terms of speed and safety, it would be far more advantageous for us to handle this. I suggest we take the lead on the copying operation. You just need to cooperate. Once we have it, we will give you a copy of the text.
Brook and Pedro were silent after reading it. They looked at each other, and in an instant, they had communicated a wealth of information with just their eyes. Then, they both turned to face Claire and nodded.
Clearly, after some thought, they had agreed to her plan.
"Why were we so stupid? Why didn't we think to bring a camera? Wouldn't that have made this so much easier?" Brook turned his head, his empty eye sockets staring hauntingly at Pedro.
A barely perceptible bead of sweat trickled down Pedro's face, and his whiskers twitched. He ignored the question and said, "Give me the paper."
"Oh." Brook, still staring with his hollow sockets, handed him the tissue.
Pedro took it, pulled a quill from the bandana on his head, and knelt down. He smoothed the tissue on the floor, flipped it to the clean side, and quickly wrote on it. When he was done, he folded it and tucked it back into the slit on the fake mouse's back.
Across the way, Claire, who had been watching them, gave Pedro a mental thumbs-up.
He gets it.
She activated her ability again, and the fake mouse returned to her feet as silently as it had left.
She took out the tissue and unfolded it. Pedro had written only one word and a question mark: Plan?
A small smile played on Claire's lips. She took out the tissue again and wrote out the plan: That skeleton friend of yours should have the ability to pass through walls, right? I need him to go outside the door and create a diversion. The guards in the room will move toward the door. At that moment, I will use my ability to separate them from us. I don't know how long I can maintain it, but it should be enough time to take a couple of pictures. Pedro, what you need to do is, as soon as I activate my ability and divide the room, destroy the wall behind us. Grab your skeleton partner and start running. We will escape through the hole you create.
When Pedro received the tissue and read Claire's plan, he nodded with a serious expression, accepting it.
Although he was shocked that Claire knew about Brook's ability, he didn't dwell on it. He figured Morass must have a vast intelligence network, or perhaps… they had been aware of their landing on Cake Island from the start. It was possible they had been followed by Morass for some time, which would explain why they were here and knew about their plan to copy the Road Poneglyph.
At this thought, Pedro's brow furrowed slightly, but he quickly relaxed. Regardless, this plan was beneficial for both of them right now.
Brook, who had read the plan over his shoulder, also nodded in agreement.
The part of Claire's plan that involved Brook creating a diversion was, strictly speaking, optional. But Claire wasn't sure how long her ability could withstand an attack from a Sweet Commander like Smoothie, nor could she be certain that Smoothie wouldn't detect the activation of her power and launch an immediate counterattack.
Therefore, to be safe, a commotion outside the door would draw Smoothie's attention and distract her. This was the only way to ensure that no one could react the moment she activated her ability.
More importantly, it would draw Smoothie and the others toward the door, which would greatly increase the space and time she had to work with. It would prevent a situation where enemies were still on their side of the room after she created the barrier.
"Let's begin." Brook looked across the room. Seeing Claire give him an "OK" sign, he nodded in response.
He took a deep breath, his expression turning serious. A low, humming sound, inaudible to ordinary people, began to emanate from him.
A wisp of green smoke rose from his body. Then, above his head, a skeletal ghost floated up.
Woooo…
Brook's soul left his body. He became a ghost and drifted down through the floor, disappearing from sight.
Claire, Pedro, and the others held their breath and waited.
The seconds ticked by.
After about a quarter of an hour, a wooo sound came from outside the door, but this time, it was clearly audible to everyone in the room.
"Yohohoho…!" At the same time, a bizarre laugh echoed through the hall.
"Yohohoho! Yohohoho! Yohohoho! Yohohoho! Binks's Brew…"
Suddenly, two screams came from outside the door, lasting only a second before being followed by two muffled thuds.
Evidently, the two soldiers guarding the door had seen something terrifying and fainted from shock.
The commotion outside immediately startled the guards inside the room.
"So, they've come…" Smoothie slowly stood up, her expression impassive, save for a cold smile that touched her lips. She began to walk toward the door, slowly drawing the massive sword from her back.
BOOM!
But at that moment, a tremendous sound erupted from behind her. In the center of the room, a wall of thick, heavy blocks, as long as the room itself, suddenly shot up from the floor!
The violent impact made the ceiling tremble, and small cracks appeared, showering down dust and debris.
The massive block wall had split the room in two, with the Charlotte Family members on the side with the door, and Claire's group of five on the other.
The sudden movement behind them made the hair on the necks of those walking toward the door stand on end. Smoothie froze for less than a second, then whipped her head around, just in time to see the giant block wall slam into the ceiling.
They were… completely sealed off.
"Damn it!" In an instant, Smoothie knew she had been tricked. Her face contorted with rage and a powerful killing intent.
At the same time, on the other side of the wall, Claire and Pedro sprang into action.
Thump, thump, thump!
The moment the wall was formed, Claire didn't waste a single second. She leaped out from behind the crate, her body moving at high speed through the air. Using Moon Walk, she shot toward the front of the Road Poneglyph.
In less than a breath, she landed in front of the giant red stone. She quickly pulled out her camera. Click, click, click! She snapped several shots in a row, not bothering to count how many. The more, the better. The entire process took less than ten seconds.
Meanwhile, Pedro, according to the plan, swung his rapier at the wall behind them. A few flashes of cold light crisscrossed the wall, forming a square shape. With a loud crash, a perfectly square hole was cut into the wall, revealing a wide corridor outside.
With that done, Pedro flashed over to Brook's body, slung the skeleton over his shoulder, and bolted through the hole. Claire, having finished her task, followed close behind with Jacks and Franpetar. They turned left and began sprinting down the long, seemingly endless corridor.
Back in the room, Smoothie's face was dark. She raised her greatsword and swung it down. The blade glowed with a pinkish-purple light, which struck the block wall Claire had created.
A strange scene unfolded.
With a series of loud cracks, the thick, solid block wall began to dry out. A liquid started to flow down from the blocks, and the cracks grew more severe. With a final, deafening crash, the entire wall collapsed like a demolished building.
The blocks had shattered into irregular, gray-white pieces, completely devoid of their former color.
Smoothie stared at the large hole in the far wall, her face as dark as a stormy sea. "Seal all corridors and exits!" she commanded coldly.
"Yes, ma'am!" The soldiers behind her, feeling the icy killing intent radiating from her, answered tremblingly. They fumbled for their communication Den Den Mushi and relayed the order to the guards stationed in the various passageways.
The guards who received the order immediately sprang into action.
The sound of soldiers' hurried footsteps echoed through the corridors.
At the same time, Claire and the others were being pursued by the ministers from behind. The five of them ran without stopping, sprinting for their lives.
Just then, Brook's soul returned to his body. Seeing Claire's beautiful face, he began to run alongside her, leaning in close.