The full moon was still a few days away.
The Eclipse remained anchored at the edge of Zou, high above the forest, making no move to push deeper into the Whale Forest.
Inuarashi had arranged quarters for them. The Musketeers stayed on alert.
Nekomamushi's side hadn't fully relaxed either. By day, Inuarashi's people watched. By night, the Guardians moved through the shadows.
The Minks had tentatively accepted Ace's terms, but the real answer wouldn't come until after the full moon.
The Eclipse Pirates weren't in a hurry. They had spent six months sealed away on Skypiea. A few more days in the New World meant nothing.
The first to blend in with the Minks was Chopper.
The moment he stepped off the Eclipse's medical bay, a pack of young Minks surrounded him.
"A reindeer Mink?"
"So small!"
"His antlers are adorable!"
"Why is his nose blue?"
Chopper stood frozen in the middle of them. "I'm not a Mink! I'm a reindeer!"
The young Minks tilted their heads.
"But you talk."
"And you walk on two legs."
"So you're a Mink, right?"
Chopper stomped his hoof. "I said I'm not!"
Not long after, they were dragging him off to treat injuries. One had twisted an ankle during training. Another had shocked himself unconscious. A little rabbit Mink clutched a carrot and said her stomach hurt.
Chopper grumbled about how reckless they all were while carefully treating every one of them.
By the time he finished, the young Minks were calling him "Little Doctor Mink."
Chopper yelled at them to stop, but his body wouldn't stop wiggling.
Brook didn't fare much differently.
He sat beneath a large tree and had barely taken out his violin before a cluster of Mink children locked onto him.
"Why don't you have fur?"
"Why are you only bones?"
"Can you still eat?"
"Can you die?"
"You smell really good!"
Brook clutched his chest, though he had no chest. "Yohohoho. Such piercing questions."
One young Mink raised a paw. "Do you have underwear?"
Brook paused for a single beat. Then he bent forward with great solemnity. "Young lady, may I see your..."
Thwack.
A wooden ladle flew from somewhere nearby and struck Brook square in the head.
He collapsed to the ground. "Yohohoho... such a familiar sensation of death."
The Mink children burst out laughing.
Buggy quickly became the "strange outsider" in the children's eyes too. The reason was simple. His head detached.
Several young Minks yelped, their fur standing on end.
Buggy saw their reaction and immediately puffed up. "You see that?! This is the divine technique that carried me across the seas!"
His head flew in circles around the Mink children while his hands rested on his hips below. "I have witnessed Skypiea, Fish-Man Island, Zou, and countless wonders of the Grand Line! You brats who've never even left Zou have no idea how vast the real sea is!"
One young Mink blinked. "Did you meet Roger?"
Buggy instantly thrust out his chest. "Of course I did! Back in the day, I was on Roger's ship as a..."
Carina walked past and added flatly, "Cabin boy."
Buggy's head froze in midair.
The young Minks nodded in sudden understanding. "Oh, a cabin boy!"
"Shut up! A cabin boy on Roger's ship is still on Roger's ship!"
Buggy's head flew around in a rage.
Carina ignored him. She walked alone through the royal city, seemingly wandering without purpose.
She studied the houses built into the trees, the wooden bridges connecting them, pausing now and then to examine something more closely.
Passing a stone tablet carved with Mink patterns, she brushed it lightly with her fingertips. No one noticed that in that instant, the tablet had been converted.
Further on, she stopped beside a hollow ancient tree and tapped the trunk. A soft, dull sound. She kept walking.
Stone tablets. Trees. Bridge pillars. Scattered objects. All of them quietly converted in passing.
Not far away, Leona had already fallen into conversation with the Mink cooks. She was deeply interested in Zou's ingredients, especially the wild greens, spices, and meats that grew only on Zunesha's back.
The Mink cooks had been wary at first. But after Leona casually produced a pot of rich stew, a crowd of Minks gathered outside the kitchen.
"That smells incredible!"
"This outsider is amazing!"
"Better than Lord Nekomamushi's midnight snacks!"
One Guardian member had barely finished speaking before his comrades clamped a hand over his mouth.
Leona's eyes narrowed. "So your Ruler of Night isn't much of a cook."
The Mink cooks managed only dry laughs.
Shack didn't join the commotion. He stood at the edge of the training grounds, watching several Mink warriors spar. Electricity coiled around their claws and weapons. Their speed, explosive power, and team coordination were all solid.
Shachi and Penguin watched beside him.
Penguin muttered, "Their whole species can generate electricity?"
Shachi clicked his tongue. "A coordinated charge from them would be terrifying."
Shack spoke evenly. "Individually, not overwhelming. But as a fighting population, exceptional."
His gaze shifted toward Bepo in the distance, who was teaching a few young Minks underwater combat techniques. "Especially if they have the right battlefield."
Evening came.
Pedro finally called Bepo aside. The two of them walked to the edge of the Whale Forest.
Shachi and Penguin started to follow, but Bepo shook his head. "I'll go alone."
Pedro stood beneath a tree, his back turned. The sunset fell through the branches and caught his single eye.
Bepo stopped behind him, his claws clenched tight. "Pedro. My brother..."
Pedro didn't answer right away. A long silence passed before he spoke.
"Zepo was a member of the Nox Expedition Team. And my comrade."
Bepo lowered his head. "Is he... still alive?"
Pedro said nothing. The silence was the answer.
Bepo's ears drooped, inch by inch.
Pedro continued. "A year ago, we infiltrated Totto Land. We were trying to obtain a lead on the Road Poneglyph. We failed. Charlotte Linlin took Zepo's lifespan. He didn't make it back."
A small tremor ran through Bepo's body. "I'm sorry..." The words came out on reflex. "I couldn't find him."
Pedro turned and gripped his shoulder. "You don't need to apologize."
Bepo looked up, his eyes already red.
Pedro's voice was low. "Zepo going to sea was his own choice. Not bringing him back was my failure."
Bepo shook his head. "I just... I just always wanted to know where he went."
Pedro looked at him, a flicker of old pain in his eye. "He went somewhere far away. But he never forgot you."
Bepo froze.
Pedro said, "Until the very end, he was still talking about you."
Bepo couldn't speak anymore. He lowered his head, and tears fell one after another onto the grass.
Pedro didn't offer much comfort. He simply stood beside him, waiting for this white bear Mink who had been away from home too long to finally receive the answer that had been years overdue.
In the distance, Shachi and Penguin didn't approach. They only stood there in silence.
Night fell.
Most of the Eclipse Pirates returned to the Eclipse to rest. Inuarashi had arranged quarters for them, but their own ship was still more comfortable.
Carrot snuck aboard the Eclipse. She moved quietly, certain she hadn't been detected.
In truth, the moment she climbed over the railing, Carina had already glanced up. Macaw perched on her shoulder, beak opening to screech. Carina pinched it shut. "Shh."
Carrot crept across the deck, eyes shining as she took in the black hull, the side compartments, the gun ports, and the distant sky. "So amazing... it really can fly..."
She was about to press further when someone grabbed her by the scruff of the neck.
Pedro had appeared behind her without a sound. "Carrot."
Carrot's body went rigid. "P-Pedro..."
He lifted her up. "I believe I told you not to board this ship without permission."
Carrot flailed her paws. "I was only looking! I want to go to sea too!"
Ace was sitting at the edge of the deck, watching Zou in the moonlight. He turned at the sound.
Carrot immediately looked at him. "Ace! Is your ship really going to fight Kaido? Will you go even further after that? Can you take me with you?"
Pedro frowned. "You're still too young."
Carrot refused to back down. "I'm already strong!"
Ace looked at her, his expression gentler than usual. "You're still too young right now."
Carrot's ears drooped.
Ace smiled. "When you're a little older, come find me."
Carrot looked up. "Really?"
"Yeah." Ace pointed at the moon overhead. "When you can stand under the moonlight without losing control. When you can decide for yourself where you want to go. Come find me then."
Carrot stared at him for a long moment. Then she nodded hard. "You promised!"
Ace nodded. "Promised."
Pedro carried her off the ship. Even as she was taken away, Carrot kept twisting back to look at the Eclipse.
The black warship rested silently in the night. Like a door to the open sea.
The full moon hadn't arrived yet.
But Zou was already beginning to change.
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