The morning sun warmed the grassy deck of the Thousand Sunny.
The ship sat anchored in a large, clear pool of water near the center of the Whale Forest. The minks had opened a floodgate to allow the pirate ship to dock safely on top of the giant elephant.
Below the deck, the main meeting room bustled with noise.
The entire Straw Hat crew gathered around the large, circular wooden table. Luffy sat at the head of the table. He wore his straw hat. He chewed on a piece of meat.
Zoro leaned against the wall, his arms crossed. Sanji stood near the door, smoking a cigarette. Ben sat in a chair, holding a cup of coffee. Nami, Robin, Vivi, Bonney, and Chopper sat at the table. Usopp, Franky, and Brook sat opposite them.
The four Elbaf giants—Dorry, Brogy, Oimo, and Kashii—sat cross-legged on the floor. Carue the duck stood next to Vivi. Merry and Sunny sat on the edge of the table, swinging their legs.
"The plan is set," Ben started. He set his coffee cup down. "We already spoke with Law. He and his crew will wait for us in Wano with the samurai. We are taking a detour."
Luffy swallowed his meat. "We are going to the tea party."
"Yes," Ben nodded. "We are going to Whole Cake Island. We will infiltrate Big Mom's territory, copy her Road Poneglyph, and leave. It is a stealth mission. We do not fight the Emperor. We do not start a war."
Ben looked around the room.
"We cannot take everyone," Ben stated. "A large fleet draws attention. A large crew draws attention. We need a small, fast team. The rest of the crew will head for Wano to prepare for Kaido."
Luffy grinned. He raised his hand high into the air.
"I am going!" Luffy cheered.
"Obviously," Nami sighed. "You are the captain."
"No," Luffy corrected. He pointed at his stomach. "There is a wedding. That means there is a wedding cake. I am going to eat it."
Bonney raised her hand immediately. She wiped grease from her cheek. "I am going too! I heard Big Mom's island is made entirely of sweets. I want to eat the buildings."
Chopper jumped up onto the table. He raised his hooves. His eyes turned into sparkling stars. "Sweets! Cake! Chocolate! I want to go!"
Ben stared at the three of them. He rubbed his temples.
"We are infiltrating the most dangerous pirate stronghold in the world," Ben said flatly. "And our crew only cares about dessert."
Sanji exhaled a cloud of smoke. "I am going. It is my name on the invitation. If I don't show up, they will send assassins to the East Blue. I have to go stop this wedding."
"Good," Ben nodded. "Sanji is the priority."
Zoro pushed himself off the wall. He rested his hand on Sandai Kitetsu.
"I'll go," Zoro grunted. "If the Emperor gets in the way, I will just cut her."
"Absolutely not," Nami and Sanji yelled at the same time.
"Why?!" Zoro barked, glaring at them.
"Because this is a stealth mission!" Sanji yelled, pointing an angry finger at the swordsman. "We have to sneak in! You cannot even walk down a straight hallway without getting lost! You will take a wrong turn and wander directly into Big Mom's bedroom!"
Zoro drew two inches of his sword. "I don't get lost! The hallways move!"
"You are staying," Nami ordered firmly. She looked at Ben. "He stays. If he goes, we fail before we even reach the island."
Ben nodded. "Zoro goes to Wano. He can cut Kaido's men."
Zoro sheathed his sword. He grumbled, leaning back against the wall.
Dorry laughed deeply. The sound rattled the wooden cups on the table.
"Then we shall go!" Dorry offered. "The warriors of Elbaf fear no Emperor!"
"We will smash her castle!" Brogy cheered, raising his fists.
"We will crush her guards!" Oimo agreed.
Ben looked at the four warriors.
"No," Ben said.
The giants stopped cheering. They looked at the magician.
"Why not?" Kashii asked.
"Because you are warriors," Ben explained slowly. "You scream when you fight. You do not know the meaning of the word 'stealth'. You will alert the entire island."
Dorry scratched his beard. "Fair point."
"You four will go to Wano," Ben assigned them.
"Understood!" The four giants bowed their heads respectfully.
Robin smiled. She raised her hand gracefully.
"I can come," Robin offered. "I can sprout eyes and ears inside the castle. I can gather information without being seen."
"No," Ben rejected the offer immediately.
Robin blinked. "My abilities are suited for espionage."
"Your abilities are perfect," Ben agreed. "But your identity is the problem. You are Nico Robin. You are the only person alive who can read the Poneglyphs."
Ben leaned forward. He placed his hands flat on the table.
"Big Mom has a Road Poneglyph," Ben said. "But she cannot read it. If she sees you on her island, she will not let you leave. She will lock the island down. She will send all her Sweet Commanders to capture you. We will not be able to sneak away. It will trigger an all-out war instantly."
Robin lowered her hand. She understood. "I see. I will become a target."
"You go to Wano," Ben said. "You stay hidden until we arrive."
Nami sighed. She stood up. "Well, someone has to navigate through her territory. The waters around Whole Cake Island are chaotic. I am coming."
"We need the navigator," Ben agreed.
"I am coming," Vivi declared.
Ben nodded. "Vivi and Carue are in."
Usopp stood at the back of the room. He sweated profusely. His knees knocked together. He looked left. He looked right.
Usopp fell to his knees. He grabbed his chest. He gasped for air.
"Oh no!" Usopp wailed, rolling on the floor. "It's acting up! My chronic condition is acting up!"
Chopper panicked. The reindeer jumped off the table and ran to Usopp's side. "Usopp! What is it?! Where does it hurt?!"
"It's my heart, doctor!" Usopp cried, clutching his shirt. "I have caught the dreaded 'If-I-Go-To-An-Emperor's-Island-I-Will-Instantly-Die' disease! It is fatal! The only cure is to stay far away from Big Mom!"
Chopper gasped. "I have never read about that disease in my books! It sounds terrible!"
Nami rolled her eyes. Zoro scoffed. Sanji lit a fresh cigarette.
"Usopp opts out," Ben noted dryly. "He goes to Wano."
Franky struck a pose. "I will head to Wano too! I want to see the weapons Kaido's men use! I will build super defenses for our samurai friends!"
Brook tipped his hat. "I shall accompany them. A samurai rebellion sounds like a wonderful place to sing a few songs! Yohoho!"
"Alright," Ben finalized the list. He pointed to the selected members. "The Whole Cake Island team is Luffy, Sanji, Nami, Chopper, Bonney, Vivi, Carue, and me."
Luffy grinned. "The cake team!"
"The infiltration team," Ben corrected.
Ben looked at the two androids sitting on the table.
"Sunny," Ben said. "You come with the infiltration team. We will take the Thousand Sunny."
Sunny saluted. "Aye aye, Papa! The Sunny is ready to fly!"
Ben turned to Merry. "Merry. You go with the Wano team."
Merry frowned. "But the Sunny is the only ship here. Going Merry will sail it to Wano with Zoro and the others."
Merry had a wide smile on her face. "I get to sail my ship again?!"
"Yes," Ben smiled. "Take care of them."
"I will!" Merry cheered, jumping into the air.
The meeting concluded. The split was decided.
"We have three weeks until the Tea Party," Ben said, standing up. "We leave in a few days. For now, we rest. We finish fixing the city. We let the minks recover."
For the next four days, peace ruled the giant elephant.
Nami, Robin, Vivi, Chopper, and Bonney used their wands. They cleared the remaining rubble. They rebuilt the massive front gates of Kurou. They restored the statues and the bridges.
The minks threw smaller banquets every night. They danced. They sang. They thanked the pirates endlessly.
Sanji cooked massive meals. Luffy ate everything in sight. Zoro drank with the giant warriors. Brook played his violin under the stars. Usopp told wild, fabricated stories to the young dog and cat minks, who believed every single word he said.
On the fourth afternoon, the sun shone brightly. The sky was clear.
Luffy sat on the grass near the edge of the city. He held a massive piece of roasted meat on a bone. He took a huge bite.
Momonosuke sat next to him. The young boy ate a smaller piece of fish.
Suddenly, Luffy stopped chewing.
He dropped the meat. It hit the dirt.
Luffy grabbed his head with both hands. His eyes squeezed shut. He let out a loud, pained groan.
At the same moment, Momonosuke screamed.
The young boy dropped his fish. He fell onto his side. He clutched his temples. He writhed on the grass, screaming in absolute agony.
"Luffy!" Nami yelled, dropping her wand. She ran over to him.
Kin'emon dropped his sword and rushed to his lord. "Momonosuke-sama! What is wrong?!"
The ground shook.
It was not a small tremor. The entire island moved. The trees swayed violently. The repaired buildings groaned. The water in the fountains splashed over the edges.
The earthquake did not stop. It continued, tossing people to the ground.
"What is happening?!" Usopp panicked, holding onto a stone pillar. "Is the island sinking?!"
Luffy did not answer. He squeezed his head tighter.
He heard a voice.
It was not a human voice. It was deep. It was impossibly loud. It echoed directly inside his brain, bypassing his ears entirely. It sounded like grinding mountains and crashing oceans.
Pain. The voice rumbled in Luffy's head. It hurts.
Momonosuke screamed louder. His small body shook violently. He heard the voice too, but he saw more. Images flashed behind his closed eyelids.
Momonosuke saw the ocean. He saw the massive, grey leg of the elephant.
He saw ships.
A fleet of pirate ships sailed near the elephant's front left leg. The ships flew black flags with a mammoth skull symbol.
Mammoth ships. Jack the Drought had returned.
The ships fired their cannons. Heavy, explosive cannonballs struck the elephant's flesh. The iron tore through the thick grey skin. Blood, hot and red, poured into the ocean.
They attack my leg, the voice groaned in Momonosuke's mind. I will fall. The island will fall.
"Momo!" Luffy yelled, forcing his eyes open. He looked at the boy. "Do you hear it too?!"
"I hear it!" Momonosuke cried, rolling on the grass. "I see it! It is Zunesha! The elephant is talking to us!"
The crew gathered around them. They struggled to keep their balance as the ground heaved.
"The elephant is talking?!" Chopper gasped.
"It is the Voice of All Things," Ben stated. He stood firm, keeping his balance. He looked at Luffy. "What is it saying?"
"Someone is hurting it!" Luffy shouted over the rumbling earth. "Someone is shooting its leg!"
Inuarashi and Nekomamushi ran into the clearing. They drew their weapons.
"Jack!" Inuarashi barked. "He came back! He brought his fleet!"
"We must go down there!" Nekomamushi roared. "We must fight them on the ships!"
I cannot fight back, the massive voice echoed in Luffy's head again. The pain grew sharper. I was ordered to walk. Only to walk. I committed a crime. I must walk for eternity.
Luffy gritted his teeth. "It says it can't fight! It says it was ordered to just walk!"
Momonosuke saw the cannonballs tear deeper into the flesh. He saw the bone splintering. He felt the crushing weight of the elephant's agony.
If the leg broke, Zunesha would fall. The city of Kurou would plunge into the ocean. Everyone would die.
Command me, the voice pleaded directly to Momonosuke. You carry the blood. Command me to fight.
Momonosuke opened his eyes. Tears streamed down his face. He remembered his father. He remembered his duty as the Shogun. He remembered the people he had to protect.
Momonosuke pushed himself up. He forced himself to his knees. He ignored the blinding pain in his head.
He looked at the ground. He looked through the island, focusing his mind on the giant creature beneath them.
Momonosuke took a deep breath. He filled his small lungs.
"ZUNESHA!" Momonosuke screamed at the top of his lungs.
His voice carried authority.
"YOU MUST NOT FALL!" Momonosuke commanded. "I ORDER YOU TO FIGHT! DRIVE THEM AWAY!"
Deep beneath the ocean surface, the giant elephant opened its eyes.
The eyes were ancient. They held centuries of sorrow. But now, they held permission.
The thousand-year order broke.
Zunesha moved.
The elephant stopped walking. It shifted its massive weight.
The island on its back tilted sharply. Buildings groaned. The pirates and minks grabbed onto trees and rocks to stop themselves from sliding.
Zunesha raised its trunk.
The trunk was massive. It was the size of a mountain range. It lifted out of the ocean, pulling millions of gallons of seawater with it. The water cascaded down from the sky like a torrential rainstorm.
The mammoth ships below looked up. The pirates stopped firing their cannons. They stared at the sky. They saw the mountain of grey flesh blocking out the sun.
Jack the Drought stood on the deck of his flagship. The massive pirate looked up. He did not speak.
Zunesha swung the trunk.
It was a simple, horizontal sweep.
The trunk struck the ocean surface. The force evaporated the water instantly.
The trunk hit the pirate fleet.
There was no battle. There was no resistance.
The heavy oak ships shattered like dry twigs. The iron cannons flattened into coins. The masts snapped into splinters. Jack's flagship disintegrated entirely under the sheer, incomprehensible mass of the ancient creature.
The impact created a massive shockwave. The ocean parted, creating a deep trench that exposed the sea floor for miles.
The pirate fleet vanished.
Zunesha lowered its trunk back into the water.
The island leveled out. The violent shaking stopped. The water from the sky stopped falling.
The sudden silence felt heavy.
Luffy let go of his head. He exhaled a long breath.
Momonosuke collapsed onto the grass. He breathed heavily, sweat soaking his clothes. The pain in his head vanished. The visions stopped.
"It stopped," Momonosuke whispered. "The ships are gone."
Kin'emon picked the boy up, hugging him tightly. "You did well, Momonosuke-sama! You saved us all!"
The crew stood up slowly. They brushed the dirt off their clothes. They looked around. The city survived the tilting. The repairs held firm.
"That was terrifying," Nami breathed, clutching her chest. "An island-sized attack."
"Jack is finished," Zoro grunted, sheathing his sword. "You don't survive a hit like that."
Ben did not celebrate. He looked toward the front of the island. He looked at the spot where the elephant's left leg joined the body.
"The ships are gone," Ben said. "But the damage remains. They fired cannons into its flesh. Zunesha is bleeding."
Chopper panicked again. "We need bandages! A lot of bandages! Giant bandages!"
"You cannot bandage an island, doctor," Law stated flatly.
"I will handle it," Ben said.
Ben stepped forward. He did not run. He opened a blue portal in front of him. He stepped through it.
Ben fell through the portal. He emerged in the open air, halfway down the elephant's massive front leg.
The wind roared around him. He hovered in the air using levitation magic.
He looked at the leg.
The damage was severe. The cannon fire had ripped huge chunks of grey flesh away. Deep, jagged craters exposed the red muscle beneath. A river of dark blood poured from the wounds, cascading down the leg and turning the ocean below red.
The elephant let out a low, rumbling groan. The sound vibrated in Ben's chest.
Ben flew closer to the wounds. He hovered a few feet away from the exposed muscle.
He raised both hands. He aimed his palms at the massive injuries.
Ben let the negative energy flow into his hands. Then, he multiplied it against itself.
Positive energy flared.
Reverse Cursed Technique.
A blinding, pure white light erupted from Ben's palms.
He pushed the light forward. He forced it into the massive, bleeding wounds.
He didn't heal a single cut. He poured his energy into an area the size of a city block. The positive energy acted aggressively. It did not stitch; it regenerated.
The dark blood stopped flowing. It reversed direction, pulling back into the veins.
The exposed red muscle bubbled and grew. The fibers wove themselves together rapidly. Bone fragments fused. Tendons reconnected. The thick, grey skin grew over the fresh muscle, sealing the wounds perfectly.
Ben moved along the leg. He flew to the next crater. He unleashed another burst of white light. He healed that wound. He moved to the next.
He worked for an hour. He healed every single cannon blast. He sealed every cut. He replaced every torn piece of flesh.
When he finished, the leg looked flawless. The grey skin folded naturally. The bleeding stopped completely.
Ben lowered his hands. He floated in the air, breathing steadily. The RCT output required focus, but his reserves easily handled the strain.
He patted the thick grey skin of the elephant.
"Keep walking, old timer," Ben said softly.
Ben opened another portal and stepped back onto the grassy deck of the Thousand Sunny.
The crew waited for him.
"Is it fixed?" Chopper asked anxiously.
Ben nodded. "The leg is fully healed. Zunesha is fine."
The minks cheered. The pirates relaxed. The crisis averted.
"Good," Ben said. He looked at Luffy. He looked at the infiltration team. "Pack your bags. We leave in two days."
The next two days passed in a blur of preparation.
Sanji cooked massive supplies of travel rations. Nami checked the maps and the Log Poses. Chopper packed medical kits.
Ben opened a portal on the grass near the city center. He pulled the Going Merry out of his spatial dimension. The smaller caravel ship rested gently on the grass. Zoro, Robin, Usopp, Brook, Franky, and the four giants loaded their supplies onto the Merry. Kin'emon, Raizo, and Momonosuke joined them.
The two teams stood facing each other on the stone path.
"Do not get lost, Marimo," Sanji taunted, adjusting his tie.
"Do not die, Ero-cook," Zoro grunted back.
Luffy grinned. He stretched his arms and wrapped them around his entire crew, pulling the Wano team and the Whole Cake team into a massive, tangled hug.
"See you in Wano!" Luffy laughed, letting them go. "Be ready to kick Kaido!"
The Wano team boarded the Going Merry. The minks promised to lower the floodgates and help the ship sail down the elephant's leg safely later that afternoon.
Ben, Luffy, Sanji, Nami, Chopper, Bonney, Vivi, and Carue walked back to the Thousand Sunny.
They boarded the ship. Sunny stood at the helm.
"Everyone hold on!" Sunny announced.
The wooden panels on the sides of the ship slid open. The four massive metallic thrusters extended outward.
"Thrusters engaged!" Sunny yelled.
Blue flames erupted from the engines.
The Thousand Sunny lifted off the water. It hovered for a second. Then, it shot straight forward.
The ship flew over the edge of the elephant's back. It launched into the open sky, leaving the ruined city and the giant animal behind.
The infiltration team was airborne. They sailed through the clouds, heading straight toward the territory of Big Mom, straight toward the Tea Party, and straight into the heart of an Emperor's domain.