Ocean spray drifted over the bow of the Thousand Sunny.
Perched cross-legged on the lion figurehead, the captain was seen talking to someone. The Kimiyo bead pulsed with a faint, warm light, carrying a voice across the vast expanse of the New World.
"Luffy, are you injured?"
Boa Hancock's voice crackled through the bead, thick with worry. "The news arrived this morning. The papers said you fought Big Mom directly in the center of her castle. When I read the headline, my heart nearly stopped."
Staring at the ocean horizon, Luffy picked his nose casually. "Oh, that. Yeah, I'm fine. We just punched each other a few times. Then we left."
A heavy sigh of relief echoed from the bead. "Thank goodness. I was preparing to mobilize the Kuja Pirates and sail into Totto Land myself."
Flicking a booger into the sea, the captain laughed. "No need for that, Hammock. We got what we wanted."
"If you are safe, nothing else matters," the Pirate Empress replied softly. A brief pause followed. The tone of her voice shifted, turning slightly hesitant. "Luffy... are you hungry? Have you eaten anything yet?"
Tilting his head, Luffy rubbed his stomach. "I ate a lot of breakfast thirty minutes ago. But yeah, I am hungry again."
"I thought you might be," Hancock said, her voice brightening immediately. "My warriors hunted in the deep ocean near the Calm Belt yesterday. They captured a very rare, deep-sea Sea King. The meat is incredibly tender. We roasted it over an open fire this morning. Would you like to come and eat?"
The reaction was instantaneous.
Both of the captain's eyes transformed. The dark pupils morphed into the shape of giant, cartoonish meat bones. Drool cascaded from his mouth, pooling on the wooden mane of the figurehead.
Entering a complete trance, Luffy stared blindly into the distance. The word 'meat' echoed in a continuous loop inside his mind, drowning out the sound of the ocean waves.
"Luffy?" the bead called out after a few seconds of silence. "Will you come to the island and eat me? I mean eat it?"
Snapping out of the trance, the captain nodded his head rapidly. "Yes! I am coming right now!"
Disconnecting the call, he jumped down from the figurehead. Landing heavily on the grassy deck, he sprinted past the main mast and scanned the ship.
Sitting in a lawn chair near the kitchen door, Bonney chewed loudly on a large apple.
"Bonney!" Luffy shouted, skidding to a halt in front of her. "Let's go to Amazon Lily! Hammock has rare deep-sea meat!"
Spitting out a mouthful of apple seeds, the pink-haired pirate bolted upright. "Rare meat? Let's go."
This travel arrangement had become a standard routine over the past two years of their voyage.
During the earlier days of their alliance, whenever Hancock called with an invitation for a feast, Luffy always sought out the magician. He would demand a portal to the Kuja island. For a while, Ben obliged, opening spatial tears to drop the captain directly into the Amazon Lily dining hall.
The arrangement ended abruptly following a severe interruption.
Deep inside the lower decks of the ship, Ben had isolated himself in a reinforced laboratory. Standing in front of a lead-lined workbench, the magician manipulated volatile nuclear materials. The highly unstable elements glowed with a dangerous, heavy radiation, requiring focus and precise magical containment to prevent a catastrophic meltdown.
Bursting through the heavy iron door without knocking, Luffy shouted demands for a portal to a meat buffet.
The sudden noise broke the magician's concentration. The containment field wavered. Warning sirens blared through the laboratory as the nuclear material sparked, nearly leveling the entire ship before Ben managed to force the reaction back into a stable state.
Furious, Ben dragged the rubber captain up the stairs by the ear.
Gathering Nami, Vivi, Bonney, Chopper, Usopp, and Robin onto the grassy deck, the magician delivered a strict lesson. Refusing to be treated as a personal food-delivery service, he taught the six crew members the Apparition spell from the Harry Potter world.
After ensuring they could all teleport safely without splinching their limbs, Ben pointed a warning finger at the captain. If Luffy wanted to attend a banquet, he had to ask someone else for a ride.
Initially, the burden fell to Nami. The navigator grudgingly teleported the captain to the Kuja island a few times, demanding a fee for her services.
The dynamic changed completely when Bonney discovered the true nature of these trips. Realizing the Pirate Empress prepared massive, island-wide feasts exclusively for Luffy, the gluttonous girl immediately volunteered for the job. From that day forward, Bonney and Luffy became frequent, eager visitors to Amazon Lily.
Standing on the deck in the present day, Bonney wiped her mouth and tossed the apple core overboard.
Grabbing the captain's forearm tightly, she pictured the grand courtyard of the Kuja castle in her mind. Focusing her magical energy, she twisted sharply on her heel.
Crack.
A loud noise, similar to a snapping whip, echoed across the deck.
The two gluttons vanished into thin air, leaving the Thousand Sunny behind to travel across the world in an instant.
---
A few hours passed.
The Thousand Sunny sailed steadily through the New World, encountering changing weather patterns and rough currents. Approaching their final destination, the sky above turned gray and overcast.
Standing at the bow, Nami raised her spyglass.
The ocean did not end at a beach. It ended at a massive, vertical wall of rushing water. A colossal waterfall cascaded downward from an elevated landmass, creating treacherous whirlpools and violent rapids at its base. Giant, colorful carp swam against the heavy current, fighting their way up the falling water.
"Wano," the navigator announced, lowering the glass. "The natural defenses are insane. Ships are supposed to sail up the waterfall to get there."
Walking to the railing, Ben looked up at the sheer drop.
Ben stated calmly. Turning his head toward the control room, he gave the order. "Sunny. Start the thrusters."
Standing at the helm, Sunny nodded enthusiastically. "Aye, aye, Papa! Thrusters engaging!"
Pulling a heavy lever on the console, Sunny activated the flight mechanisms.
Wooden panels along the sides of the hull slid open rapidly. Four massive metallic engines extended outward over the water. Deep within the ship, energy reserves ignited.
Bright blue flames erupted from the thrusters.
The Thousand Sunny lifted completely out of the violent whirlpools. Hovering in the air for a brief second, the ship shot straight upward.
Bypassing the swimming carp and the crushing weight of the falling water entirely, the galleon flew alongside the waterfall. Clearing the edge of the cliff in a matter of seconds, the ship leveled out in the air before dropping smoothly into the calm inland sea of the Wano Country.
Cutting the engines, Sunny let the ship settle into the water. The metallic thrusters retracted, sliding back behind the wooden panels.
"Safe landing," Sunny cheered, spinning the steering wheel to navigate the inner currents.
"Find a spot to hide the ship," Ben instructed, walking toward the center of the deck.
Leaning against the railing, Vivi looked around the new environment. "Should we wait for Luffy and Bonney to return before heading inland?"
"They will not return today," Nami sighed, shaking her head. "You know how Hancock gets. She treats him like a king. She will keep feeding him until he falls asleep, and Bonney won't leave a buffet until the plates are empty. They will be gone until tomorrow at the earliest."
"Which means we need to secure the Sunny," Ben agreed. "Wano is hostile territory. Kaido's men patrol these waters."
Steering the ship away from the main river channels, Sunny navigated toward a dense, rocky coastline. A small, secluded inlet surrounded by high stone walls offered a perfect natural harbor. Dropping the anchor, the ship rested quietly in the hidden cove.
Stepping up to the main mast, Ben pressed a hand against the wood.
Tapping into the ship's defensive systems, Sunny activated the cloaking technology.
A faint shimmer rippled across the hull. The visual displacement field expanded outward, bending the light around the galleon. In a matter of seconds, the Thousand Sunny vanished from sight. Looking from the outside, the inlet appeared completely empty, displaying nothing but the rocky walls and the gently lapping water.
"Cloak engaged," Sunny confirmed.
Walking onto the deck with a small wooden box in her hands, Nami used the kimyo beads to call Robin.
"Hello," Robin's calm voice echoed from the speaker.
"Robin, it's us," Nami said into the receiver. "We just arrived in Wano. The ship is hidden in an inlet near the top of the waterfall. Where are you guys?"
A soft chuckle came through the line. "Welcome to the closed country. We are currently staying at the ruins of Oden Castle, located at the top of a mountain in the Kuri region. Kin'emon insisted we use it as our base of operations."
"Oden Castle," the navigator repeated, pulling a blank piece of parchment from her pocket to start drafting a rough map. "How do we get there from the borders?"
"Travel west," the archaeologist instructed. "You will pass through a wasteland area. Avoid the factories if possible. The smoke is very thick. Keep the mountain in your sights, and you will eventually reach the base. The climb is steep, but manageable."
"Understood," Nami nodded, sketching the directions quickly. "We will make our way there by foot. See you soon."
"Stay safe," Robin replied.
Gathering near the railing, the landing party prepared to disembark. Ben, Nami, Vivi, Sanji, Chopper, Sunny, Carrot, and Caroo stood together, ready to explore the isolated nation.
Lowering a small rope ladder down the side of the invisible ship, the group climbed down to the rocky shore.
Stepping onto the dirt of Wano, they looked out at the landscape before them. The sky above carried a strange, unnatural tint of gray and purple. In the distance, massive smokestacks pumped thick black pollution into the air.
"It does not look very welcoming," Vivi noted, tightening the grip on her silver purse containing her collapsed spear.
"It is an industrial wasteland," Ben observed, adjusting his coat. "Kaido turned this country into a weapons factory. Let's move. We have a long walk ahead of us."
Leaving the hidden inlet behind, the group began their trek inland. They walked through the desolate, rocky terrain, heading west toward the towering mountain in the distance, ready to reunite with their crew and begin the war for Wano.