Three days.Three days of relentless storms. Titanic waves. Howling winds threatening to tear the sails apart.
The Going Merry fought against the unleashed elements of the Grand Line, desperately charging toward the Kingdom of Drum.
On deck, Vivi gripped the helm with fierce determination, guiding the ship through treacherous currents.
"WE'RE ALMOST THERE!" she shouted over the roar of the storm.
Luffy clung to the mast, his straw hat soaked. "NAMI… HOLD ON!"
Zoro held the sails steady. Sanji pumped the water flooding the deck. Usopp screamed in terror at every wave.
And me? I stood at the bow, unmoving. The cold didn't affect me. Neither did exhaustion.
My immortal body felt nothing.
But mentally? I was worried.
[NAMI STATUS: STABLE][TEMPERATURE: 39.3°C][SLEEP DURATION: 72 HOURS][NUTRITIONAL RESERVES: 45%]
"She's holding on," I murmured. "But not for much longer."
Ahead of us, at last, an island appeared.
White. Covered in snow. Dominated by massive mountains.
The Kingdom of Drum.
"WE'RE HERE!" Luffy yelled.
The Submarine Attack
The Merry was approaching the port when suddenly—
BANG!
A violent impact shook the ship.
"WHAT THE—?!" Usopp fell onto the deck.
"WE HIT SOMETHING!" Vivi shouted.
Beneath the ship, something moved. Large. Metallic.
A submarine.
PSHHHH!
A hatch opened at the surface. And from it emerged…
A man.
Short. Obese. With an ENORMOUS metallic jaw gleaming under the sun.
He wore a ridiculous crown and a purple cape.
He stepped onto the Merry's deck as if he owned the place, an arrogant grin on his face.
"GYAHAHAHA! PATHETIC WRETCHES! I AM WAPOL, KING OF DRUM! SURRENDER AND HAND OVER ALL YOUR RICHES!"
Everyone stared at him, dumbfounded.
Then Wapol opened his metal jaw. Wide. Inhumanly wide.
And bit into the edge of the Merry.
CRUNCH!
He chewed the wood. ATE the ship.
"HE'S EATING OUR BOAT?!" Usopp screamed in horror.
Wapol laughed, mouth full of debris. His arrogance surpassed even Arlong's.
But before he could swallow—
CLANG!
My door materialized on the deck.
It opened.
A guard stepped out, FAMAS in hand.
BANG!
A gunshot rang out.
Wapol collapsed onto the deck, a non-lethal seastone bullet lodged in his shoulder.
"ARGH!"
Silence.
His two lackeys—Chess and Kuromarimo—stared in shock.
"T-THE KING?!"
Luffy burst out laughing. "GYAHAHAHA! HE GOT SHOT!"
Zoro smirked. "Nice shot."
Sanji lit a cigarette. "A king who eats ships… pathetic."
I stepped out of the door and gave the crew a thumbs-up.
"The Merry is safe."
Vivi rushed toward me, panicked. "MARC! YOU JUST HURT THE KING OF DRUM! THIS WILL BRING US SERIOUS TROUBLE!"
I looked at her calmly. Then I pointed at the flag above the main sail.
The Straw Hat Jolly Roger.
"Vivi. We're pirates. If we were afraid of kings, we'd never have taken to the sea to challenge them. For our FREEDOM."
My voice was strong. Firm. Louder than it had ever been.
Even when Nami was sick, I had never raised my voice. But now? This was different.
Vivi stared at me, stunned. She was born a princess. To her, kings were untouchable. Absolute.
But me?
I was French in my previous life. The French knew revolution. Resistance against a stronger state.
And imprisoning kings? That stroked my French ego.
"Guards," I ordered. "Chain him."
Four guards emerged and dragged Wapol away as he screamed and struggled.
"HOW DARE YOU?! I AM A KING! A GREAT KING! YOU ARE NOTHING BUT LARVAE!"
CLANG.
Seastone cuffs snapped shut around his wrists.
They dragged him through the door.
Toward the Foundation.
Toward a cell.
Chess and Kuromarimo leapt onto the deck to save their king.
BAM! BAM!
Luffy knocked them out with a double punch, energized by my definition of freedom.
"YEAH! FREEDOM!"
Looting and Doctors
We searched Wapol's submarine.
Gold. Weapons. Supplies. Everything was transferred onto the Merry.
I took their pirate flag—a skull with a metallic jaw.
"Trophy," I said simply, folding it carefully.
Inside the submarine, we also found something unexpected.
A group of doctors. Twenty men and women in white coats. Chained. Forced to serve Wapol.
Luffy freed them immediately. "YOU'RE FREE!"
They boarded the Merry, trembling but relieved.
"DOCTORS!" Luffy exclaimed with hope. "CAN YOU SAVE NAMI?!"
But I already knew the truth.
The Kestia parasite had disappeared a hundred years ago. No one knew the cure anymore—except the very old who had lived in that era.
Like Doctor Kureha.
Still, under Luffy's pleading gaze, I relented.
"Alright. Run a medical check."
I escorted everyone into the Foundation.
[POV: A DOCTOR FROM DRUM]
The Discovery
I was… happy.
Happy to see that tyrant king finally imprisoned.
But worried. Had we simply been captured by even stronger pirates?
Listening to their conversation, my team and I learned they had a patient in critical condition.
This was our chance. To show these savage pirates the professionalism of the Kingdom of Drum.
Then the captain—a boy wearing a straw hat—led us to a door.
A door FLOATING in midair.
"What the…?"
We stepped through.
And discovered—
My eyes widened. My jaw literally dropped.
"BY ALL THE GODS…"
A futuristic complex. High-tech medical machines. Surgical robots. Holographic scanners. Equipment I had NEVER seen before.
Even at the height of our kingdom, we had nothing like this.
"This… this is impossible…" one of my colleagues whispered.
The Straw Hat crew watched our reactions curiously.
For most of them—aside from Sanji and Usopp—having so many machines seemed… normal?
Where did they come from? What were they?
Usopp sighed at our shock. "I was the same the first time."
Sanji snapped at us. "Stop staring at the machines and EXAMINE Nami."
We snapped back to reality.
We approached the glass tube where a young orange-haired woman slept.
We didn't even need a physical exam. All her vitals were displayed on the panels.
Temperature. Heart rate. Blood pressure. Blood analysis. Parasite detection.
After several minutes of discussion, I turned back to them sadly.
"I'm sorry… we don't have the knowledge to cure your friend."
The captain lowered his head.
"BUT," I added quickly, "on Drum Island, there is an old witch. Immortal. She can save her."
"A WITCH?!" Luffy's eyes lit up. "WHERE?!"
"At the top of the mountain. In Drum Castle."
Back on the Island
We exited the Foundation.
The doctors insisted on staying to study the equipment.
"These machines… if we could study them—"
"We could revolutionize medicine!"
I looked at them calmly. "We'll take you back to your island. And if you want to work for me, I'll accept you. I'm short on staff."
Most of the group wanted to return home to heal those in need.
The few who wanted to keep the machines for themselves—and not to help—were silently noted.
I would recruit Chopper's mentor. Doctor Kureha. She and Chopper were both immortal in their own ways. With technology and anomalies, I hoped to convince her to move into the Foundation.
The Merry docked at the Kingdom of Drum.
And was immediately greeted by rifles.
CLICK. CLICK. CLICK.
Dozens of armed villagers aimed at us.
"LEAVE! YOU ARE NOT WELCOME HERE!"
A tall, muscular man stepped forward. Dalton. Former royal guard turned protector of the people.
"Leave this island. Now."
Luffy shouted from the deck. "WE NEED TO SEE THE WITCH! OUR FRIEND IS DYING!"
The air grew tense. You could smell gunpowder.
Then the doctors we had rescued stepped off the ship.
"DALTON! THEY DEFEATED WAPOL!"
"THEY IMPRISONED HIM!"
"THEY FREED US!"
Dalton slowly lowered his weapon. "Wapol… imprisoned?"
"Yes! These pirates are different!"
He hesitated, then nodded. "Very well. I'll take you to the summit."
Anomaly Detection
The moment my foot touched the island—
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
[ALERT: ANOMALIES DETECTED][COUNT: 2][DISTANCE: VARIABLE][ANOMALY #1: 500 METERS – CRITICAL – DYING][ANOMALY #2: MOUNTAIN SUMMIT – STABLE]
I froze.
Dying?
"Luffy," I said quickly. "I'll meet you at the top. Don't worry about Nami."
"Huh? Where are you going?"
"Something important."
Sanji stepped in. "Marc, Nami's health comes FIRST!"
"I know. But trust me."
Luffy stared at me for a long moment. Then he smiled. "Alright. I trust you."
"LUFFY!" Sanji protested.
"Marc knows what he's doing."
I nodded and ran.
Toward the signal.
SCP-999: The Tickle Monster
I followed the system's guidance through the thick snow.
500 meters. 400. 300.
Finally, I found a hollow tree. Ancient. Half-frozen.
[ANOMALY: 5 METERS][STATUS: CRITICAL]
I approached carefully.
SCPs were dangerous by nature—especially when mortally wounded.
But my instinct told me I'd regret losing this one.
I looked inside.
And I saw…
A mass. Large. Amorphous. Gelatinous. Translucent orange slime.
It trembled weakly, emitting high-pitched distress sounds.
"Squiii… squiii…"
My heart tightened.
"SCP-999…"
The Tickle Monster. One of the most harmless and loving anomalies in the Foundation. A creature that existed only to spread joy.
But now… it was dying.
More liquid than solid. Its orange body fading into gray.
"Hold on."
I removed my jacket and gently wrapped the slime in it. Warm. Protective.
"Squiii…"
It barely had strength left.
I summoned the Foundation door and sprinted through the corridors.
Straight to the emergency medical ward.
I gently placed SCP-999 on a medical bed.
But how do you heal slime?
I knew only one thing: it loved sweets.
"GUARDS!" I shouted. "BRING ME A MOUNTAIN OF CANDY! NOW!"
Five guards rushed off.
Minutes later, they returned with entire bags—candy, chocolate, lollipops, cakes.
I poured them around SCP-999.
Slowly, very slowly, it began absorbing the sweets.
Its orange color gradually returned.
"Squiii…"
Stronger. More alive.
[SCP-999 STATUS: STABLE][RECOVERY IN PROGRESS]
I exhaled in relief. "Good. Rest."
[ANOMALY #2: MOUNTAIN SUMMIT][WHERE LUFFY AND THE OTHERS ARE WAITING]
"I'll be back," I whispered to SCP-999.
I exited the Foundation.
The Ascent
I stood at the foot of the mountain.
Above me rose Drum Castle. At the summit. Thousands of meters high.
Normally, Luffy would climb with Sanji and Nami on his back—an inhuman feat of will and endurance.
But me?
I feared neither cold nor exhaustion.
My immortal body could climb endlessly.
"Let's go."
I began the ascent.
My hands gripped frozen rock. My feet found holds in compacted snow.
The wind howled. The cold bit. But I felt nothing.
I climbed. Again and again. Without pause. Without rest.
Hours passed.
The sun dipped low.
And finally, the castle appeared before me.
Bathed in the last light of day.
[ANOMALY #2: 100 METERS][SUMMIT REACHED]
I pulled myself over the cliff's edge and collapsed into the snow.
No physical fatigue.
But mentally? I was exhausted.
"Finally…"
I stood and walked toward the castle.
Somewhere inside, Luffy and the others were probably fighting Wapol.
Wait.
Wapol was in a cell.
[CORRECTION: WAPOL IS NO LONGER A THREAT][THE ORIGINAL FIGHT WILL NOT OCCUR]
I smiled. "Another canon divergence."
I pushed open the massive castle doors.
[END OF CHAPTER 30]
[WAPOL: CAPTURED – CLASS-D][CHESS & KUROMARIMO: NEUTRALIZED][DRUM DOCTORS: 20 POTENTIAL RECRUITS][SCP-999: SAVED – STABLE][ANOMALY #2: AT DRUM CASTLE][TOTAL CLASS-D: 10 (+ WAPOL)][CAPTURED ANOMALIES: 11 (+ SCP-999)][MARC: AT THE CASTLE][LUFFY & CREW: INSIDE][NAMI: STILL IN ARTIFICIAL SLEEP][NEXT STEP: MEETING KUREHA AND CHOPPER]