"Waaah... where is everyone???"
Chopper was huddling in the bushes along the shore, watching the Marine warships cruising across the water not far away. The blue-nosed reindeer was so terrified he was on the verge of tears.
In terms of sheer courage, the little reindeer was actually on par with a certain long-nosed companion in certain situations. Especially in a dark, strange, and dangerous environment like this, Chopper was completely distraught, having no idea what to do.
(Luffy... Sherlock... No! I have to go find everyone!)
At that thought, Chopper immediately began to utilize his greatest strength. He quietly poked his head out and took a deep sniff, attempting to track his companions through their scent.
Unfortunately, the air in this Marine fortress was a chaotic blend of all sorts of smells. One pungent, highly specific odor was particularly overwhelming. Masked by these scents, the little reindeer couldn't distinguish the individual smells of his friends at all.
(Dammit, what is that weird smell? It smells like... like... petroleum?)
Shaking his head, Chopper stopped dwelling on where the smell of oil in a Marine base was coming from. He carefully shrank his body back into the depths of the bushes, took a deep breath, and began to contemplate his next move.
Suddenly, a rustle came from the bushes behind him. Though the sound was incredibly faint, to the little reindeer's ears, it was like a bolt from the blue!
(What... what is that??!!)
Chopper's instinct was to transform into his Reindeer Form and bolt, but when he saw the tiny figure emerging from the brush, he froze.
It was a cute little cat, roughly the size of two palms. A golden pendant shaped like a crescent moon hung from its collar, and its sleek, jet-black fur clearly indicated it had lived a life of luxury.
What stood out most, however, were the cat's eyes. They were a pair of wine-red eyes that shimmered with a ghostly light in the dark of night, possessed of an indescribable, bewitching beauty.
(What beautiful eyes...)
Chopper had seen many cats during their time in Alabasta, but this was the first time he had seen a kitten with such a unique and striking eye color.
The kitten also seemed caught off guard, not expecting to encounter a mysterious creature walking on two legs with antlers in a place like this. It stood frozen in place as well.
For a moment, the reindeer and the cat stared at each other, eyes wide, locked in a silent gaze. The atmosphere was incredibly bizarre.
"Meow?" (A tanuki?)
"I'm a reindeer! I'm a reindeer! Look! I have antlers!" Chopper, who apparently had his 'Feline Translation' skill maxed out, immediately bristled. He pointed at his antlers and shouted back at the little black cat, completely forgetting his previous terror.
"Meow? Meow-uuu~~~~" (Reindeer? You look so strange~~~~~~)
Ignoring the blue-nosed reindeer's worsening expression, the little black cat began nonchalantly licking the fur on the back of its front paw.
"Meow?~~~~~~~~"
"Eh? You're asking me where the Commander's office is?"
Chopper blinked, then waved his little hooves with an embarrassed, awkward smile. "Uh, actually, I just got here myself. I'm not familiar with the layout of this place either."
Hearing this, the kitten narrowed its wine-red eyes and gave Chopper a look of utter disdain. Then, the little thing turned its head away and began walking leisurely into the distance with a haughty, high-cold gait.
(I... I was actually looked down upon by a cat???)
Watching the black cat's retreating figure, the little reindeer was left in a daze. Just as the cat was about to vanish into the night, Chopper snapped out of it.
"Hey, wait! Wait a second..."
After a moment of hesitation, not knowing where else to go, Chopper gritted his teeth and hurried after the little black cat.
"Fortunately, the Waver works normally in the Blue Sea, too."
After driving the Waver to a spot she deemed sufficiently hidden, the orange-haired navigator wiped the sweat from her forehead and let out a long sigh of relief. "If I hide the Waver here, the Marines shouldn't be able to find it."
However, just as Nami finally let her guard down—
"So, this is where you were." A clear, magnetic male voice suddenly rang out from behind her.
!!!
Nami's heart nearly skipped a beat. She whirled around frantically, but when she saw the familiar figure wearing glasses, her tensed nerves instantly relaxed.
"Phew~~~~ It's just you, Sherlock. You're like a ghost, you scared me to death!"
Patting her ample chest with lingering fear, the "Cat Burglar" calmed her breathing. She looked at the man in glasses—who looked as calm and composed as ever—and asked curiously, "How did you find me? Where is everyone else?"
The Magician pushed up his glasses slightly and shook his head. "I only sensed you just now. As for the others, I have no idea."
With Observation Haki paired with his "Mirror-Mirror" ability to transmit images, Sherlock was essentially a living radar capable of full holographic imaging.
However, since his Observation Haki was only at a mediocre level, his sensing range was only about two hundred meters—unless he took the forbidden drug Insomnia to overstrain his mental energy. He was in no way comparable to Aisa or a certain former God of Lightning who was currently learning the fine art of dairy farming.
"I see... but now that I've run into you, at least my personal safety is guaranteed. Hee-hee."
The orange-haired navigator grinned, but as she surveyed the heavily guarded, massive Marine fortress, Nami realized just how perilous their situation was. The smile gradually faded from her face.
"This is so unlucky! I mean, how can we be this misfortunate? To drop right into the middle of a Marine base!"
Nami made a miserable face, looking like she had lost all hope.
"And that idiot Luffy! I really don't know what he was thinking. If he hadn't been jumping around like a moron on that octopus balloon, we wouldn't have been forced to land in such a godforsaken place!!!"
"It makes me so mad! How did I end up with a captain who loves screwing over his crew like this??? If I see him later, I'm going to give him a piece of my mind!"
Sherlock was indeed a perfect listener; standing beside him, one couldn't help but pour out their inner thoughts. After venting her frustrations to the Magician, Nami's mood gradually stabilized.
"Phew~~~ I feel much better now that I've said it. Alright, Sherlock, can you tell me what we should do next?"
Having finished her rant, the orange-haired navigator looked at the Straw Hat Pirates' strategist with hopeful eyes.
"What should we do?"
Sherlock wasn't in a hurry to answer. First, he stored Nami's Waver into his Mirror Space. Then, the man in glasses turned to look the "Cat Burglar" in the eye and offered a slight smile.
"First, I need to correct a misconception of yours, Nami."
Gently pushing up his glasses, Sherlock surveyed the surroundings. In the night, the entire Marine fortress resembled a slumbering beast; the atmosphere was so oppressive that one hardly dared to breathe.
"We accidentally wandered into this Marine fortress. While it may seem like a misfortune, in reality, this might actually be a very [lucky] thing."
"Huh???? Lucky? Sherlock, you've got to be joking. What's lucky about this?" Nami was completely bewildered.
"After all, this isn't exactly a place we could just enter whenever we wanted."
The corners of his mouth curled into an elegant, slight upward tilt, Sherlock's expression a mix of calm and mystery. He offered no further explanation. Instead, he turned decisively and began walking slowly toward the entrance of the fortress.
The navigator suddenly felt that she was completely unable to keep up with the Magician's train of thought—much like how she couldn't understand what her dimwitted captain was thinking all day.
The only difference was that one of them had an IQ so high it was out of reach for ordinary people.
The other simply had a mental circuit so bizarre that ordinary people couldn't descend to his level...
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