Cursed Voyage to Little Garden
The Going Merry was sailing peacefully toward Little Garden. The Log Pose pointed the way, the wind was favorable, and the crew was in good spirits after Robin's capture.
Then everything started to go wrong.
CRASH!
"THE KITCHEN IS ON FIRE!" Usopp screamed.
Sanji burst out, covered in soot and coughing."HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?! I JUST TURNED ON THE OVEN!"
Flames poured out of the doorway. Luffy and Zoro rushed in with buckets of water to put out the fire.
"That's the third time this week!" Zoro growled.
"I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENING!" Sanji protested, frustrated.
On the upper deck, Nami was screaming in despair.
"NO NO NO NO!"
I rushed up."What's going on?"
She showed me her sea charts—her precious maps she had been meticulously drawing for days.
They were covered in black ink.
An ink bottle had tipped over. By itself. For no reason.
"MY MAPS!" she sobbed."DAYS OF WORK! RUINED!"
"How did this happen?" I asked.
"I DON'T KNOW! The bottle was CLOSED! And it just… opened on its own!"
SPLASH!
"LUFFY FELL INTO THE SEA!" Vivi shouted.
"AGAIN?!" Zoro ran to the railing.
An inexplicable gust of wind—despite the calm sea—had thrown Luffy overboard.
Mr. Fish immediately dove in to save him.
A few minutes later, they resurfaced, soaked and coughing.
"How… how did the wind push me when there WAS NO WIND?!" Luffy groaned.
I scanned the surroundings. The incidents kept piling up. Too many incidents. Too much bad luck.
Then I noticed something.
SCP-181.
He was sitting calmly on the deck, playing cards with Mr. Fish. Relaxed. Smiling. Happy.
And he was winning. Again. Always.
While everyone around him suffered catastrophic luck.
CLICK.
Everything snapped into place in my mind.
"Shit…"
[ANALYSIS: CORRELATION DETECTED]
[SCP-181 ABSORBS AMBIENT LUCK WHEN NEEDED]
[SIMILAR EFFECT TO: RAKI RAKI NO MI]
[DIFFERENCE: PASSIVE AND INVOLUNTARY]
"That's it…" I murmured."He steals everyone's luck without even realizing it."
I approached SCP-181.
"Hey, can we talk?"
He looked up with his usual smile."Sure! What's going on?"
"Have you noticed that since you arrived, everyone's been having problems?"
He frowned."Now that you mention it… yeah, that's weird."
"It's you."
"What?"
"Your luck. It doesn't come from nowhere. You steal it from the people around you. Passively. Without realizing it."
His eyes widened."I… I do that?"
"Yes. And it puts the crew in danger."
He lowered his head, looking guilty."I… I didn't know. I didn't mean to…"
"I know. It's unintentional. But I have to remove you from the deck. For everyone's safety."
"You're going to lock me up?"
"Temporarily. Until I study your ability. Understand how it works. And maybe find a way to control it."
He hesitated, then nodded."Okay. If it helps…"
I summoned the Foundation gate."Come on. We've got work to do."
Class-D Assembly
Inside the Foundation, I ordered the guards to gather all Class-D personnel in the cafeteria.
ALERT: MANDATORY ASSEMBLY
ALL CLASS-D MUST REPORT TO THE CAFETERIA IMMEDIATELY
In their cells, the prisoners stood up. Arlong. Kuroobi. Chew. Hatchan. Robin.
Guards collected them one by one. This time, extra precautions were taken.
Reinforced restraints for Arlong and his officers.
A metal muzzle for Chew—preventing him from using water as a weapon.
Seastone cuffs for Robin.
They were escorted through white corridors to the cafeteria.
A massive room. Rows of tables. Benches. And at the far end, a raised platform.
I stood there with a microphone in hand. Behind me, a giant screen. Around me, fifty armed guards.
The Class-D personnel were forced to sit at a central table, chained to their seats.
Arlong growled."What is this circus?"
I raised the microphone. My voice echoed throughout the hall.
"My dear Class-D. You've been enjoying a rather comfortable stay here."
"COMFORTABLE?!" Arlong roared."YOU LOCKED US IN CAGES!"
"Silence."
A guard struck him with an electric baton.
ZAP!
Arlong growled in pain but fell silent.
"I'm here to explain your purpose in this Foundation. As you've realized, this is a laboratory. But you are NOT the lab subjects."
Arlong sneered."LIAR! Hatchan spent his first day on an operating table!"
The memory was still fresh. Scalpels. Scanners. Samples. Hatchan had been analyzed thoroughly to study his octopus physiology.
"That was an exception," I replied calmly."A simple analysis. Not experimentation."
"BULLSHIT!"
A guard silently approached Arlong from behind. Before anyone could react—
PSHHHT!
A syringe pierced his neck. Powerful sedative.
Arlong's eyes rolled back. He collapsed unconscious, his head hitting the table.
THUD.
Kuroobi and Chew froze in terror. Robin observed without blinking, her expression perfectly neutral.
"As I was saying," I continued calmly,"The Foundation is accumulating more and more anomalies. And we need you to test them."
Silence. Heavy. Terrifying.
"Your role is simple: obey us. In exchange, you'll gain more freedom here. And even…" I smiled."I'm open to discussing your requests if you perform well."
Kuroobi dared to speak, his voice trembling."R-requests?"
"Yes. For the Fish-Men, for example—more free time. Weights for exercise in the yard. Or even…" I paused."Access to a swimming pool."
Kuroobi's eyes lit up slightly. A pool. For a Fish-Man locked in concrete for days, it was a dream.
"And now, something that will shock you."
I leaned closer to the microphone, my voice dropping.
"Cooperate honestly with the Foundation, and we can offer you things that NO ONE in the world can give you."
Total silence.
"Like eternal life."
Kuroobi blinked in disbelief.
"Or even…" I smiled."Speaking with deceased loved ones."
The shock on their faces was unmistakable. They didn't know whether to believe me or think I was insane.
But deep down… they knew I had no reason to lie to death-row prisoners.
Then a hand rose.
Robin.
Calm. Elegant. Even in chains, her dignity was striking.
"Yes, Miss All Sunday?" I said, granting her the floor.
"Will we have access to a library during free time?"
I smiled. Exactly the question I was waiting for.
"Once you reach limited security clearance, yes. And be aware—our library contains as many, if not MORE books than the island of Ohara."
For the first time, real emotion crossed Robin's face.
Her eyes widened. Her lips trembled slightly.
Ohara. Her homeland. Destroyed by a Buster Call. Its legendary library reduced to ashes.
And now I was claiming to possess an equal—or greater—collection.
She smiled. A genuine smile. Not her usual mask.
"I see…" she murmured."Then I will cooperate."
"Perfect."
I gestured to the guards."Take Arlong and Robin to Research Room Number Two. We have experiments to conduct."
Research Room No. 2
Research Room No. 2 was spacious. White walls. Tiled floor. High-tech equipment everywhere.
At the center, two reinforced metal chairs with restraints.
Arlong was dragged in—still unconscious—and strapped to the first chair.
Robin walked calmly to the second and sat without resistance.
"You're not going to struggle?" I asked, surprised.
"Why bother? You have dozens of armed guards. And I'm wearing seastone. Resistance would be illogical."
"Pragmatic."
"Realistic."
The guards secured her arms, legs, and torso.
SCP-181 was brought in and seated in a third chair, positioned exactly five meters from the other two.
"What are you going to do?" he asked nervously.
"Tests. To understand your luck. How it works. Its limits."
I turned to a screen and began taking notes.
EXPERIMENT #001: ANOMALY RANGE
SUBJECT: SCP-181OBJECTIVE: DETERMINE MAXIMUM LUCK ABSORPTION RANGE
"We'll start simple," I announced."SCP-181, you will flip a coin. Fifty times. And we'll measure the results."
I tossed him a coin. He caught it.
"Heads."
He flipped.
Heads.
"Heads."
Heads.
"Tails."
Tails.
Fifty flips. Fifty correct predictions.
RESULT: 100% SUCCESS RATECONCLUSION: ANOMALOUS LUCK CONFIRMED
"Now, Robin. You'll do the same."
I tossed her a coin. With seastone cuffs, it was difficult, but she managed.
"Heads."
Tails.
"Heads."
Tails.
"Tails."
Heads.
Fifty flips. Zero correct.
RESULT: 0% SUCCESS RATECONCLUSION: INVERTED LUCK – ABSORPTION CONFIRMED
Robin stared at me, shocked."My luck… was stolen?"
"Exactly. SCP-181 passively absorbs the luck of people within roughly a five-meter radius."
"That's… terrifying."
"Now we test Arlong."
A guard revived him with smelling salts. Arlong jerked awake.
"What… where…?"
"Arlong. Flip this coin. Fifty times."
He growled but obeyed, too weak to resist.
Fifty flips. Only three correct.
RESULT: 6% SUCCESS RATECONCLUSION: LUCK SEVERELY REDUCED – BUT NOT COMPLETELY NULLIFIED
HYPOTHESIS: MENTAL STRENGTH AFFECTS RESISTANCE TO ABSORPTION
"Fascinating…" I murmured, writing everything down.
Robin looked at me."You're going to use him as a weapon, aren't you? SCP-181. You'll send him against your enemies to steal their luck."
I smiled."Maybe. Or maybe I'll just understand how it works. Knowledge is the true power, Robin."
She stared at me."You're dangerous."
"I know."
EXPERIMENT #002: LIMITS OF THE ANOMALY
"SCP-181. We're testing something else. You'll be completely isolated. No one within a hundred-meter radius. Then you'll flip a coin."
"Why?"
"To see if your luck works without anyone nearby—or if you NEED to steal it from others."
His face went pale."And if… if it doesn't work?"
"Then we'll know."
He was taken to an isolation cell. Empty. No windows. No human cameras—only automated sensors.
"Flip the coin fifty times. The system will record the results."
The door closed.
I watched the screen.
FLIP 1: TAILS (PREDICTED: HEADS) – FAILUREFLIP 2: HEADS (PREDICTED: TAILS) – FAILUREFLIP 3: TAILS (PREDICTED: TAILS) – SUCCESS
Results displayed.
Fifty flips. Twenty-six correct.
RESULT: 52% SUCCESS RATECONCLUSION: WITHOUT ABSORPTION, SCP-181 POSSESSES SLIGHTLY ABOVE-AVERAGE LUCKBUT NOT ANOMALOUS
"So that's it…" I murmured."His luck isn't generated. It's STOLEN."
Robin, observing from her chair, spoke."That's horrible. He parasitizes others without even realizing it."
"It's an anomaly. It's his nature."
"And you'll keep him locked up?"
"As long as he poses a danger to the crew, yes."
She studied me."You're not an ordinary pirate."
"I'm not a pirate at all."
"Then what are you?"
I smiled."A scientist. A collector. A director."
"Of what?"
"Of something beyond you, Robin. But if you cooperate… you'll learn. Everything."
Her eyes gleamed with interest. Curiosity. Fascination.
Exactly what I wanted.
[END OF CHAPTER 24]
[EXPERIMENTS CONDUCTED: 2]
[SCP-181: PROPERTIES CONFIRMED]
[- PASSIVE LUCK ABSORPTION (RADIUS: ~5M)][- WITHOUT ABSORPTION: NORMAL LUCK (52%)][- STRONGER EFFECT ON WEAKER MINDS]
[CLASS-D: ROBIN SHOWS SCIENTIFIC INTEREST]
[OBJECTIVE: ONGOING…]
[NEXT STEP: LITTLE GARDEN]