Crossing the Desert
The desert of Alabasta stretched as far as the eye could see. Sand. Everywhere. A suffocating heat that made the horizon tremble.
Luffy walked at the front, full of energy despite the temperature."IT'S SO HOT! BUT IT'S AWESOME!"
"How can you say it's awesome?!" groaned Usopp, dragging his feet. "I'm gonna die…"
Chopper was panting, his fur soaked with sweat."Water… I need water…"
Zoro walked stoically, ignoring the heat through sheer willpower.
Sanji smoked, but even his cigarette seemed to burn faster in this furnace.
Nami and Vivi were suffering too, their faces reddened by the sun.
That's when a silhouette appeared in the distance.
"What's that?" asked Usopp, squinting.
A camel. Tall. Weird. With an arrogant expression.
It approached us and stopped in front of the group.
Luffy tried to climb on it."A CAMEL! I'M GONNA RIDE IT!"
WHAM!
The camel slammed its head into him violently, sending him flying into the sand.
"OW! WHY?!"
Usopp tried too. Same result.
WHAM!
"THIS CAMEL IS MEAN!"
Zoro approached calmly. The camel looked at him with contempt and turned its head away.
"Tch. Stupid animal."
Then Nami gently stepped forward."Hello, handsome camel…"
The camel immediately knelt down, inviting her to climb on.
"Huh?" Nami blinked. "He… he's letting me ride?"
She climbed onto its back. The camel stood up and waited patiently.
Vivi tried as well. Same reaction. The camel accepted her without any trouble.
"It only lets women ride," Sanji realized with a smile."What a gentleman camel!"
"THAT'S NOT FAIR!" Luffy shouted.
Air-Conditioned Solution
I looked at Nami and Vivi on the camel. They were still hot, but at least they weren't walking anymore.
"You know," I said while summoning the door, "we can rest inside the Foundation. There's air conditioning."
Everyone's eyes lit up.
"AIR CONDITIONING?!" Usopp exclaimed.
"Yeah. And food. Cold water. Beds."
Luffy literally dove through the door."I'M IN!"
The others quickly followed.
Inside, the cool air hit them like a divine blessing.
"THIS IS PARADISE!" Usopp cried tears of joy.
We took a one-hour break. Eating. Drinking. Resting in air-conditioned rooms.
Then we hit the road again, refreshed.
The rest of the crossing was manageable thanks to regular breaks inside the Foundation.
Arrival at Rainbase
After several hours of walking, we finally reached Rainbase.
But something was wrong.
Buildings were under reconstruction. Scaffolding everywhere. Workers busy repairing damaged structures.
And most of all…
Stalls. Everywhere. Selling meat.
"FRESH FISH MEAT!" shouted one merchant.
"DISCOUNT GIANT SQUID!" yelled another.
"CUT-UP SEA MONSTER!"
I frowned."We're in the middle of the desert… where is all this fish coming from?"
Vivi looked around, confused."It wasn't like this the last time I came…"
Then I noticed the sky.
Cloudy. Gray. Dense.
Clouds? In the desert?
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
[ALERT: ANOMALY DETECTED][DISTANCE: 500 METERS][ALTITUDE: 2000 METERS][SCP PROBABILITY: 94%]
My heart sped up."There's an SCP here. In the sky."
"What?" Nami looked up.
And at that moment…
It started raining.
Anomalous Rain
Drops fell. Cold. Refreshing.
The people of Rainbase came out of their houses, laughing and dancing under the rain.
"IT'S RAINING! IT'S FINALLY RAINING!"
"AFTER ALL THESE YEARS!"
Luffy opened his mouth wide, trying to catch the drops."THIS IS GOOD!"
But something else was falling with the rain.
SPLASH!
A fish. Alive. Flopping.
It landed on Usopp's head.
"ARGH! A FISH?!"
SPLASH! SPLASH! SPLASH!
More fish fell. Dozens. Then hundreds.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!" Nami shouted, dodging a flying tuna.
Sea turtles fell too. Then giant squids.
CRASH!
A three-meter squid smashed onto a roof, destroying it instantly.
"ARE WE BEING ATTACKED BY SEAFOOD?!" Usopp screamed.
Then something massive darkened the sky.
A sea monster. Thirty meters long. With black scales and glowing yellow eyes.
It was falling from the sky.
Screaming.
"GROOOOAAAAAR!"
BOOOOOM!
It crashed into the center of the city, destroying several buildings in a cloud of dust and debris.
The ground shook violently.
"A SEA MONSTER?!" Chopper cried. "IN THE DESERT?!"
The monster got back up, disoriented but furious. It began rampaging, destroying everything in its path.
People screamed and ran in all directions.
"WE HAVE TO STOP IT!" Vivi shouted.
But before anyone could react…
SLASH!
A massive blade of sand split the air.
It cut the sea monster in half.
Cleanly. Instantly.
The two halves collapsed with a dull thud.
THUD. THUD.
A man appeared.
Tall. Fur coat. Cigar. Golden hook on his left hand.
Crocodile.
Imminent Confrontation
"Crocodile…" Vivi whispered, trembling.
The Warlord looked at the dead monster indifferently."What a nuisance."
Then his eyes fell on us.
On Vivi.
A cold smile stretched across his lips."Princess Vivi. What a surprise."
"You BAST—" Vivi began.
Luffy stepped forward, clenching his fists."YOU! YOU'RE THE GUY WHO WANTS TO DESTROY THIS COUNTRY!"
Crocodile looked at him with amusement."And you are…?"
"MONKEY D. LUFFY! AND I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS!"
Before Luffy could recklessly charge to his death, I grabbed his shoulder.
"Wait."
"WHAT?!" he snapped, frustrated.
I pulled a pair of gloves from my pocket. Thick black gloves, with metal plates on the knuckles.
And inside the palms…
Seastone. Embedded. Invisible from the outside.
"Put these on."
"What are they?"
"Gloves with integrated seastone. Without them, you can't touch Crocodile. He's made of sand. Your normal punches will pass right through him."
Luffy hesitated."But—"
"PUT THEM ON!" I shouted. "OR YOU'LL DIE!"
He growled but put the gloves on. They fit perfectly.
"Fine… okay."
I turned toward the sky."You, your target is Mr. 0. Mine is the SCP in the sky."
"Got it!"
Crocodile watched with interest.
He raised his hand. Sand swirled around him.
"Try it, kid."
Luffy charged.
"GOMU GOMU NO… PISTOL!"
The fight began.
The SCP Dilemma
I looked up at the sky, ignoring the battle raging behind me.
[SCP-1686 CONFIRMED][CLASS: EUCLID][ABILITY: GENERATES ANOMALOUS PRECIPITATION CONTAINING LIVING MARINE CREATURES][DANGER: MODERATE TO HIGH][CONTAINMENT: IMPOSSIBLE WITHOUT MASSIVE INFRASTRUCTURE]
I thought quickly.
Normally, faced with an SCP like this, the Foundation would buy the land. Build a secure facility. Install guards. Prevent civilians from witnessing the anomaly or asking questions.
But this is the Grand Line.
Here, anomalies like this are NORMAL to the inhabitants. They've seen so much weird stuff that fish falling from the sky doesn't even shock them.
And the Foundation can't buy land here. We'll stay five days at most. Maintaining a permanent facility is impossible.
Three options were available to me:
Leave it as is. Ignore the SCP. Let it rain fish. After all, the locals benefit from it.
Docking operation. Temporarily seal off the area. But that would draw attention, and we lack resources.
Guard post. Install a small Foundation team. Monitor. Document.
I'll ask the king after Luffy defeats Crocodile. If I can set up a surveillance building here, at least we'll get data.
I nodded."Option 3, then."
Crocodile's Escape
The fight between Luffy and Crocodile raged.
BAM! CRASH! WHOOSH!
Luffy struck with fists coated in seastone. Each hit slowed Crocodile, preventing him from fully turning into sand.
"HOW?!" Crocodile roared, frustrated. "SEASTONE?!"
"I GOT YOU!" Luffy shouted.
But Crocodile was an experienced Warlord. He dodged, countered, retaliated with razor-sharp sand blades.
Then—
BOOM!
A column of smoke exploded in a nearby street.
Smoker.
The White Hunter appeared, furious."STRAW HAT! YOU'RE GOING NOWHERE!"
He charged at Luffy, completely ignoring Crocodile.
Crocodile saw the opportunity.
"Tch. Later, Straw Hat."
He turned into sand and flew toward the capital, disappearing into the desert sky.
"HEY! COME BACK!" Luffy shouted.
But Smoker was already on him.
"I'M ARRESTING YOU!"
Smoker's Capture
The fight was brief.
Smoker turned his body into smoke and wrapped around Luffy, immobilizing him.
"You're finished, Straw Hat."
But Luffy was still wearing the gloves.
With seastone.
SNAP!
He grabbed Smoker's arm.
"ARGH!" Smoker collapsed immediately, his body turning solid again. The seastone neutralized his Devil Fruit.
"What the—?!"
He tried to get up, but his strength faded. The seastone drained his energy.
"I… can't… move…"
That's when I arrived.
I pulled out handcuffs. Not normal ones.
Seastone handcuffs.
The ones I had made in the Foundation using samples from Smoker's weapon that I stole in Loguetown.
CLACK.
I snapped them shut around Smoker's wrists.
He collapsed completely, drained of all strength.
"You…" he muttered, looking at me. "The thief… from Loguetown…"
"Hey, Smoker. Nice to see you again."
"What are you… doing…?"
"I'm arresting you. Officially."
I summoned the Foundation door.
Guards came out and lifted Smoker.
"Take him. Class-D cell. High-security containment."
"YES, DIRECTOR."
They dragged him inside.
Smoker struggled weakly."No… I'm… a Marine… you can't…"
"Yes, we can."
The door closed.
[NEW CLASS-D CAPTURED][SMOKER "THE WHITE HUNTER"][DEVIL FRUIT: MOKU MOKU NO MI (LOGIA – SMOKE)][STATUS: CONTAINED]
Consequences
Luffy looked at me, confused."Marc… you captured a Marine?"
"Yeah."
"But… he's gonna go missing. His superior will come after us."
"I know."
The admiral in question—Kuzan, probably—will have his eye on us. But we'll cross his path after the Sky Islands. Until then, we'll have time to prepare.
And if things go bad, we'll use him as a hostage in a critical situation.
I looked toward the capital where Crocodile had fled.
"Alright. Crocodile headed toward Alubarna. We need to follow him."
"YEAH!" Luffy clenched his fists. "I'M GONNA BEAT HIM FOR GOOD!"
Nami sighed."We just captured a Marine… we're in massive trouble…"
"Welcome to my life," I replied simply.
Vivi looked toward the capital, determined."Let's go. My father is in danger."
We set off.
Behind us, fish kept falling from the sky.
SCP-1686 was still raining.
And somewhere in the Foundation's cells, Smoker was realizing the horror of his situation.
[END OF CHAPTER 37]
[ANOMALIES DETECTED: 15][SCP-1686: KETER RAIN CLOUD (UNCONTAINED)][DECISION: SURVEILLANCE POST TO BE INSTALLED][NEW CLASS-D: SMOKER (MARINE, LOGIA)][SEASTONE HANDCUFFS: MANUFACTURED][CROCODILE: FLEEING TOWARD ALUBARNA][LUFFY: EQUIPPED WITH SEASTONE GLOVES][CONSEQUENCE: HINA WILL SEARCH FOR SMOKER][POTENTIAL USE: HOSTAGE IN CRITICAL SCENARIO][DESTINATION: ALUBARNA – FINAL CONFRONTATION][CLASS-D TOTAL: 11]