The Dead Port
The Going Merry docked slowly against the pier.
The scarred giant crab set us down gently, then vanished into the clouds without a sound—as if it had never existed.
The silence that followed was… deafening.
Before us stretched a port. Well built. Organized.But completely deserted.
Ships were moored—intact, sails neatly folded, ropes carefully tied.As if their crews had simply gone out for an errand and would return any moment.
But no one came back.
"It's… empty," Chopper whispered, his voice trembling.
No one answered.
The crew slowly disembarked from the Merry.
Normally, Luffy would already have jumped overboard, shouting in excitement.Usopp would be telling a made-up story.Chopper would be exploring with curiosity.
But now?
Luffy walked calmly, hands in his pockets, his straw hat casting a shadow over his face.
Zoro kept his hands on the hilts of his swords, his eyes constantly scanning the surroundings.
Sanji smoked nervously, lighting cigarette after cigarette.
Nami gripped her Clima-Tact tightly, her knuckles white.
Usopp, Chopper, and Mr. Fish stayed grouped behind us, trembling slightly.
SCP-999 and SCP-1867 remained inside the Foundation.I had sealed them there before our arrival.
Too dangerous.
And me?
My right hand was in my pocket.
Clutching the box containing SCP-609.
Ready to kill.
[ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS…][TEMPERATURE: 18°C][HUMIDITY: 67%][ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE: ABNORMALLY LOW][SOUNDS DETECTED: NONE][NO SIGNS OF LIFE WITHIN A 500-METER RADIUS]
"System… where is everyone?"
[UNABLE TO DETERMINE][ENVIRONMENTAL ANOMALY CONFIRMED][RECOMMENDATION: EXTREME CAUTION]
We advanced slowly into the streets.
The Barricaded City
All the houses were closed.
Not just closed.
Barricaded.
Wooden planks nailed over windows.Furniture stacked against doors.Chains wrapped around handles.
As if the inhabitants had tried to protect themselves from something.
From the outside.
Or from the inside.
"They were afraid," Nami said softly.
"Very afraid," Sanji added, exhaling a long trail of smoke.
We moved in tight formation. No one strayed. No one spoke loudly.
The weight of the silence was crushing.
At one point, a shutter slammed shut.
BANG!
Everyone jumped.
Usopp let out a small scream and hid behind Zoro.
"It's just the wind…" Chopper murmured, trying to convince himself.
But there was no wind.
"We should search the houses," Nami suggested, her voice barely above a whisper."Maybe there are survivors inside."
"Or corpses," Zoro growled.
"Or worse," I added.
Luffy nodded. "We split up. Search. But stay within shouting distance."
No one objected.
We divided into groups.
Luffy, Zoro, and me on one side.
Sanji, Nami, and Chopper on the other.
Usopp and Mr. Fish stayed in the center, ready to scream if anything happened.
The Broken Houses
Zoro and I forced open the first door.
CRACK.
The wood gave way easily—too easily, as if it had already been weakened.
Inside, it was dark.
I pulled out a Foundation flashlight and turned it on.
The beam swept across the room.
Blood.
Everywhere.
On the walls. On the floor. On the furniture.
But no bodies.
"What happened here…?" Luffy murmured.
Furniture lay overturned. Broken plates. Clothes scattered everywhere.
A fight had taken place.
Violent.
Desperate.
But where were the victims?
"They were taken," I said.
"By what?" Zoro asked.
"I don't know."
We searched more houses.
Always the same thing.
Barricades broken from the inside—as if something had smashed through them.
Blood.
No bodies.
Signs of struggle.
Then nothing.
"Marc," Nami called from another street. "Come look at this."
I ran toward her.
She stood before a house whose door had been literally torn from its hinges.
Inside, the walls were covered in… claw marks.
Deep. Savage.As if someone—or something—had tried to escape by frantically scratching their way out.
"The claw marks go from the inside outward," Sanji observed, his cigarette trembling slightly."Someone was trying to get out."
"Or something was trying to get in," Zoro replied.
[CLAW MARK ANALYSIS…][ORIGIN: HUMAN][BUT ABNORMAL SIZE][NAILS ESTIMATED AT 5–7 CM IN LENGTH]
My stomach twisted.
"Let's keep moving," I said simply.
Luffy's Discovery
"HEY! I FOUND SOMEONE!"
Luffy's voice echoed through the empty streets.
We all ran toward him.
He stood in front of a small, isolated house, the door smashed in.
"THERE'S A FAMILY IN HERE!"
We rushed inside.
In a dark corner, curled up against the wall, was a young girl.
She looked about seventeen or eighteen.
Blonde hair. Pale face. Torn clothes.
And on her back…
Wings.
White. Small.Like an angel's.
"An… an angel?" Usopp whispered, wide-eyed.
The girl looked up at us.
Her eyes were red from crying. Her face was marked by absolute terror.
She was shaking violently.
"P-please… don't hurt me…" she sobbed.
Luffy approached slowly, hands raised."We're not going to hurt you. I promise."
There was something in Luffy's voice.That protagonist aura. That absolute sincerity that disarmed even the most fearful.
The girl stared at him for a long moment.
Then she relaxed slightly.
"You… you're not with them?"
"With who?" Nami asked gently, stepping closer.
"The… the monsters…"
A collective shiver ran through the group.
"Tell us what happened," Luffy said, sitting down on the floor in front of her."We'll help you."
The girl wiped her tears and began to speak.
The Angel's Account
"A year ago… we lived under the rule of the God of Thunder. Enel."
Her voice trembled with every word.
"He was a tyrant. Cruel. Merciless. He watched us constantly. He punished the slightest mistake. Life was hard… but we survived."
She hugged her knees to her chest.
"Then, three months ago, animals began to disappear. In the forest. In the village. They fled. Terrified. As if they sensed something we couldn't."
The silence in the room was absolute.
"Rumors began to spread. Shadows in the trees. Inhuman silhouettes watching us from the forest. At night, we heard noises… scratching… whispering…"
Her voice broke.
"Some villagers thought it was the Shandia Tribe. You know—the ones who live on the Cursed Land. They thought the Shandia were setting a trap. So… a group went to investigate."
"Did they come back?" Nami asked.
The girl shook her head. "No. Never. So a larger group went. Twenty men. Armed. Trained."
"And?" Zoro pressed.
"They never came back either."
A deathly silence.
"Then… then there was the battle."
"The battle?" Sanji repeated.
"Between our God, Enel, and the Guardian of the Forest. The giant serpent. Nola."
My eyes widened. Nola—the serpent guarding the ruins of Shandora.
"The fight lasted an entire day. Lightning everywhere. The sky was black. The clouds roared. Then… silence."
"Did Enel win?" Luffy asked.
"We… we don't know. Since that day, we haven't heard from him. He disappeared. Completely."
My mind raced. Enel disappeared?In the original story, Luffy was supposed to defeat him. Not a serpent.Something had changed.
"The priests panicked," she continued."Without Enel, they had no power. So they sent the White Berets—Enel's guard—to search for signs of the God near the battlefield."
"And?" Nami asked, though she already knew the answer.
"Some came back. Traumatized. They spoke of a tower. A mysterious tower that had never been there before. And of… monsters."
My heart stopped.
The tower.
"Humanoid monsters," she whispered, tears flowing again."Half human, half animal. Walking on two legs. With claws. Teeth. Eyes… empty."
Everyone in the room froze.
"Then those monsters came here. To the village. At night. They broke through the barricades. Dragged people out of their homes. Entire families. Children. Elderly. They took them away."
She sobbed uncontrollably.
"Yesterday… yesterday they took my father. He tried to protect me. He begged them to leave me alone. But they grabbed him and… and dragged him into the forest. Toward the tower."
Her eyes were empty. Broken.
"I'm the only one left. Everyone else… gone. Or dead."
The silence was suffocating.
Luffy slowly turned toward me.
His expression was different.Not his usual carefree grin.
It was lucid. Serious. Almost cold.
"Marc," he said calmly."Is this one of your anomalies?"
All eyes turned to me.
I nodded slowly.
"Yes."
The Panic Reaction
While we were talking, forming a protective circle around the girl…
She saw something behind us.
Something small. Furry. With antlers.
Chopper.
Her eyes widened.
"MONSTER!"
She screamed and threw herself backward, grabbing a broken piece of wood like a weapon.
"NO! STAY BACK! DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!"
Chopper froze, shocked. "But… I…"
"A MONSTER! ANOTHER MONSTER!"
She rushed toward him, wood raised, ready to strike.
Chopper backed away, terrified."WAIT! I'M NOT—"
I reacted instantly.
CLACK.
My fist struck the back of her skull with surgical precision.
Just hard enough to knock her out.
She collapsed into my arms, unconscious.
Silence fell.
Chopper stared at me, tears in his eyes."I… I really am a monster…?"
"NO!" Nami rushed to him and pulled him into her arms."You are NOT a monster! She was just terrified! She didn't know!"
But the damage was done.
Chopper trembled violently in Nami's embrace.
"I JUST WANTED TO HELP…"
Sanji glared at me.
"YOU HIT HER?! A DISTRESSED LADY?!"
"She was about to hurt Chopper," I replied calmly.
"SHE WAS AFRAID!"
"And so was Chopper. His psychological state was deteriorating by the second. If I hadn't stopped her, she would have injured herself."
"YOU COULD HAVE RESTRAINED HER!"
"Not fast enough. And not without risking her struggling and hitting her head against a wall."
Sanji clenched his fists, furious.
But Zoro intervened.
"He's right. That was the safest way to stop her without serious injury."
"But—"
"Shut it, curly-brows. Marc did what had to be done."
Sanji shot me one last dark look, then turned away.
I gently laid the girl on an improvised bed made of blankets.
"She'll sleep for a few hours. When she wakes up, we'll explain about Chopper."
Nami continued to rock the small reindeer, who sobbed softly.
"I don't want to be a monster…"
"You're not a monster," she whispered."You're our doctor. Our friend. Our family."
Luffy stepped forward and placed his hand on Chopper's head.
"You're my nakama. Nothing else."
Chopper cried even harder.
But this time, they were tears of relief.
The Decision
Once Chopper had calmed down, we gathered outside.
Far from the sleeping girl.
Luffy looked me straight in the eyes.
"Marc. Explain."
It wasn't a request.
It was an order.
I sighed.
"The tower. It's an SCP. An architectural anomaly that… transforms people."
"Transforms how?" Zoro asked.
"Into monsters. Hybrids. Half human, half animal. Just like she described."
"And her father?" Nami asked.
"If he was taken yesterday… he's probably already transformed."
Silence.
"Can we save him?" Luffy asked.
"I… I don't know. If the transformation is recent, maybe. But I don't know this specific SCP. I don't know how it works."
"Then we'll find out," Luffy said with determination."We go to that tower. We save her father. And we destroy that thing."
"Luffy—"
"IT'S DECIDED!"
His gaze was unyielding.
I looked at the others.
Zoro nodded. "If the captain says so, we go."
Sanji lit a cigarette. "For a lady in distress, I'd fight a thousand monsters."
Nami tightened her grip on her staff. "We can't leave them like this."
Usopp trembled but raised his fist anyway. "W-we'll win…"
Mr. Fish adjusted his nonexistent hat."An adventure worthy of a gentleman."
I sighed.
"Alright. But we prepare. We don't rush in blindly. That tower is dangerous. Deadly."
"We know," Luffy said with a grin. "That's why we have you."
I touched the box containing SCP-609 in my pocket.
Yes.
You have me.
And I will kill everything that moves inside that tower.
Night fell over Angel Island.
And with it…
The hunt began.
[END OF CHAPTER ][CONFIRMED ANOMALY: TRANSFORMATION TOWER][VICTIMS: HUNDREDS (ANGEL ISLAND VILLAGERS)][ENEL: MISSING (PRESUMED DEAD OR TRANSFORMED)][SURVIVOR: WINGED GIRL (TRAUMATIZED)][CHOPPER: TRAUMATIZED (CALLED A MONSTER)][DECISION: RAID ON THE TOWER][OBJECTIVE: SAVE THE FATHER, DESTROY THE ANOMALY][DANGER LEVEL: EXTREME][ATMOSPHERE: OPPRESSIVE, TERRIFYING][NEXT STEP: PREPARATION FOR ASSAULT]