"You don't carry the cure!?" Chopper exclaimed. "Oh no . . ." he started crying.
"It's okay, little boy," Dr. Mayi said soothingly, patting Chopper in a comforting manner. "We can keep him stable for now, at least. But, listen . . ." he glanced around. "Are you sure you want to be associating with this man?"
"Excuse me?" Nami said huffily. "We'll associate with who we want, thanks."
"It's just . . ." he glanced back at Zoro. "You must be aware that this man is a wanted criminal . . ."
"Wanted criminal?" Robin repeated. "I wasn't aware that he has a bounty."
"Well, he doesn't . . . as far as we know . . ." Nami said.
"He doesn't, actually," Dr. Mayi said, "I only meant that the government is after him. Did none of you know?"
"Well, we knew that the Government is after him," Nami said, sighing. "But we just want him to get back to his normal idiotic self."
"There might be a way to get the cure," he said slowly. "Now, my services cost 500 beris per day, so—"
"Drop it down to 100 and you've got a deal," Nami said sweetly.
"That's far too low!"
"50?"
"That's even lower!" he protested.
Nami eventually got it down to 100 beris. Dr. Mayi sighed.
"As I was saying, there might be a way to get the cure," he said. "Here's my idea . . ."
"I see," Sanji said, blowing out smoke. "I think I've got the situation down: A tyrannical monarchy, repressed citizens trapped behind high walls, and three beautiful ladies set out to rebel . . . Abeille-chan, Peperuda-chan, Ampiainen-chan, may I just say that you three are AMAZING~!" His eyes became hearts.
Usopp smacked him. "Girls, didn't you say that you had a man working with you? Where is he?"
Sanji made an irritated noise. "Another man, moving in on my girls . . . ?"
"Right," Abeille said. "His name is Mijat. He's our most powerful ally—no, he's really our only ally, aside from us. He's been openly defying the monarchy by spray-painting the Wall in broad daylight, when we're not even supposed to get close to it. He's been writing messages that speak out against the monarchy and the Wall. Not only that, but . . . he's found a way to the other side."
"Where is it?" Luffy asked.
"We don't know," said Peperuda. "He said that if anyone gets caught, it should be him, and so he hasn't told us anything. But he said that he sprays messages there as well, saying things about how the Wall should come down with our monarchy. He's a wanted criminal on that side, too."
"He sounds really brave . . ." Usopp said admiringly. "Where is he?"
The girls shared a three-way glance. "We haven't heard from him for a couple of days," Ampiainen admitted. "We're actually really worried about him."
"You poor dears," Sanji cooed. "You must be so scared!"
"Come this way," Abeille said, standing up. "I'd like to show you something."
She started walking down the hallway of the gray house, her younger sisters following. A second later she poked her head back in the living room. "You three coming?"
"What if it's a trap?" Usopp whispered to Luffy and Sanji.
"It's not a trap," Luffy said with a tone which indicated that he was stating a fact.
"How do you know?"
"Because," Luffy said. "I just do."
"He's right," Sanji agreed. "Beautiful ladies such as these wouldn't set a trap for us!"
The two stood up and followed the girls out of the room.
"W-Wait!" Usopp called after them. When they didn't come back, he whimpered and ran after them, saying "Don't leave me alone!"
The girls led them to a kitchen with a gray tiled floor. Abeille knelt down by one that had a dent in it. She carefully stuck her finger into the dent and pulled up. The tile swung up on a hinge, bringing eight tiles up with it—two on each side and two rows above—to reveal a previously hidden staircase. The girls descended the stairs and the Strawhats followed.
Eventually they reached the bottom. In the darkness, they could make out Abeille reaching her hand out towards the wall. She grabbed something small. There was a chhk noise just before a tiny flame sprang to life on the match in her hand. She used it to light several oil lamps around the room.
Now illuminated, everyone could see that the room they were in was very large. It must have expanded all underneath the house. The walls were painted with bright, ludicrous colors splashed haphazardly on. Written on one wall in bright red were the words 'COLOR ALLIANCE'.
"Here it is," Abeille said with a touch of pride. "Our meeting room."
"It's so . . . bright," Usopp said, gazing at the spectrum.
"Wow!" Luffy exclaimed.
"Surrounded by a rainbow and three beautiful girls . . . this is my lucky day~!" Sanji said happily.
"There's another entrance for Mijat to use," Peperuda said, nodding towards a second set of stairs that led up a dark and long passageway. "It's not in our house, since it would look suspicious for him to constantly be entering our place."
"We meet here every so often to discuss plans for the overthrow of the monarchy," Ampiainen said. "To be honest, though, we haven't come up with much."
"But why are you telling us all this?" Usopp asked, bemused. "We barely know each other! Me, Luffy, and Sanji literally flew into this place!"
"You'll be wanted criminals anyway," Peperuda said matter-of-factly. "You're clearly outsiders, and outsiders aren't allowed in without the express permission of the monarchy."
"We don't want you to be caught," Ampiainen explained. "The best way to avoid capture is to stay with us, and in here."
"And since no one knows just how long you'll be in the Gray Kingdom . . ." Abeille extended her hand. "How would you three like to join the Color Alliance?"