"Land ho! Land ho!" Miserie shouted from the crow's nest.

Cassandra grunted her acknowledgement, eyes riveted on the work before her. Theo had figured out a way to concentrate the plasma blade weapon on her NYMPH suit and increase its intensity with only a marginal increase in size and weight. She was currently making extremely tiny components with the help of what Cassandra couldn't help but think of as the other two manufacturing pirates. Cain whittled the wood or metal into a piece roughly the size and shape that Theo specified, and Alexander turned it into the right material. Theo would then shape it exactly as she needed, and put it in one of the containers that would protect them from getting scattered about were Dusk Pandion to hit an errant wave. Alexander would wipe away the shavings, and they would start on the next piece.

The entire process was so efficient that it seemed almost mechanical. Granted, in Theo's case, parts of it were. The fact that they were doing it in the men's quarters instead of Theo's workshop was the only factor out of place, as Cain couldn't fit on the floor below. When they were done, Morgan could easily clean it all up with a sweep of his hand.

"Aight, spunkblot, off the 'elm."

"Aww, come on! I can't even see the island yet! Let me go a little more!"

"You get enough when I'm fuckin' 'alf-dead."

"Miserie wants a turn too!"

"This ain' a fuckin' tourist trap. Every fucker don' get a turn."

"Miserie, a tourist trap is somewhere designed for people to visit. And spend all their money."

"Then why do people visit?"

"Because there's usually something cool or historical there. Whatever! The seas are fine, and the sky is clear! Ish. So it's not like you need to be here. Hey, let me go!"

Sensing that some arbitration might be needed, Cassandra ascended to the helm. The wheel was lashed, allowing the three pirates to wrestle each other. Lyn and Miserie were working together to pin Damien to the deck. He obviously had the upper hand, but he was holding back to give the others a chance. They didn't stop when Cassandra cleared her throat. Shrugging, she released the wheel and grabbed it herself. "Raven, can you be lookout for the moment, or is Seamine acting up?"

"I am available. She is currently asleep."

"Cool."

Just as Lyn had predicted, the trip to the island wasn't particularly eventful. There was a pod of porpoises each the size of the ship that jostled them about, and Miserie had to retrieve Lyn when she had grabbed one. Damien replaced Cassandra at the helm, and the final leg of their journey was smooth. Alexander spent the time playing a jaunty tune to boost spirits, and Morgan served lunch.

"We're about to land on Fursathany," Cassandra announced. "Rules are as follows: if anyone, and I mean anyone, starts a fight, I'm going to have Raven sedate you. If you don't check in with me daily, I'll have Raven sedate you. No exceptions. That said, if you get thrown in jail for the night for something not related to fighting, I'll let it slide. Weaker fighters should try to stick with stronger fighters because most of us have bounties now. If necessary, I can have Raven shadow you more, though that will increase the amount of time I'm doing homework and I would rather that not happen. Pirates are pretty common around the coast, so we won't stick out too much."

"Except for Cain!" Theo shouted.

Cassandra briefly tilted her head towards her. "Well said. If you can't see one of us when you're out and about, Theo, scream as loud as you can, preferably with words that indicate it's you and not just 'help help!' or incoherent noise. I'll allow you to go with Lyn or Alexander alone only if you're wearing at least one suit. If anything comes up, leave them behind and get back to the ship, ignoring everything else. I don't care if they're in danger; you are to come right back here. We'll deal with them later. Is there anything you need when we dock?"

"Don't think so."

"Okay. You can go with the boys to resupply, and Lyn will be with me. Damien and Miserie, do whatever you… want…" She trailed off as she stared at the city they were approaching. Her crew looked at her questioningly as she slowly moved to the figurehead. She thought her senses must be wrong, but there was no mistaking the situation. "Miserie, go look at the ships at the dock for me. Look at the anchors."

"What is it?" Cain boomed as she slipped overboard.

"A city that big should have docks bustling with activity, not covered in overgrowth. Something happened here, but nothing looks damaged by battle. Everyone evacuated. If the previous residents didn't want to be here, I sure don't. Damien, take us counterclockwise."

"But what're we gonna do?" Lyn asked. "We can't go off without a set Pose."

"We'll circle the island. The entire place can't be like this. Miserie?"

The mermaid clung to the railing. "The anchors are covered in life. They have not been moved in a long time."

Cassandra exhaled. "Sink the ships. Theo will make you some bombs. It'll make the docks look less attractive to other people who come here."

"What about the people whose ships they are?" Alexander protested. "They could still be used as living space!"

"And that's why Damien's not incinerating them. The docks aren't too deep. Most of the ship will still be above water. If the owners care, they should be able to salvage enough. If they don't, no harm done."

She continued to watch the city as they turned away. It was possible some natural disaster had forced the citizens to leave, but she still had detected around three people moving about. Why had so few returned? The buildings were still basically intact, so the odds of a violent natural disaster were slim. It could have been an industrial accident that had contaminated the land and water. "Raven, run a full medical diagnostic on Miserie when she returns. Keep her in her room. Check first for toxic chemical compounds."

Lyn hugged her from behind and rested her chin on Cassandra's shoulder. "Brings back memories."

"Our home was razed," Alexander said. "Something else happened here. It was probably something in the air, and we're better off as far away from that as possible."

"What if the entire island's like that?"

Cassandra gently grasped Lyn's arms. "Then I go in to get what we need. Depending on what Raven finds, Damien can join me."

"That's good. You two need some bonding time that isn't when you're half dead."

Alexander stifled a laugh. "Some people bond with their fists, you know."

"So he's bonded with us pretty well," Morgan commented. He smirked when Alexander whirled upon him. "You can't deny it."

"You could put it more tactfully."

"I rather think I did."

Cassandra sighed and leaned on the portside railing, Lyn still hanging off of her. There had been no reports from the previous island that something was the matter. Granted, this wasn't a Janzian island, and nobody on Matarm had any motivation to report on what was happening further along the Line. By and large, they had no business with islands controlled by the World Government. Still, as the next island, it would seem reasonable to at least have some communication between them.

They sailed for most of the day before they spotted a populated city some distance past an enormous fire. It lay beyond a narrow inlet that led to presumably a large bay. As they approached, Cassandra had a feeling that the land that formed the inlet looked a bit unnatural, and Cain helped confirm it. When they drew level with the cliffs, a loud prerecorded message rang out.

"Attention sailors: by entering the Doell Bay, you are agreeing to the terms of admittance. You must remain inside the bay without touching land for seven days. Should you need supplies, create a bright light after your first sundown and a supply barge will be sent to you that you will pay for upon making landfall. Upon the eighth day, you may proceed to the clearly demarcated Dock 01, where your ship will be searched. Those who do not comply with these rules will be sentenced to death. You may leave Doell Bay at any time, but should you reenter, your time until landing will reset to seven days."

Cassandra pursed her lips as she saw the other ships floating in the bay. Dock 01 was indeed clearly demarcated. It was impossible to miss the huge signs and bright lights even during the day. The Furstanthians were clearly scared of something instead of being hostile. No longer feeling slighted, she landed on the simplest explanation. "It's an epidemic. We're in quarantine, and symptoms start showing inside a week. Raven, go find out what it is. Miserie, stay within the bay or way out in the ocean. There's no sense risking you getting sick even if you can't catch it. The rest of us are staying put. Damien, can you please do as I say and not go on land?"

"Th' fuck you talkin' about, tramplet? I don' leave the 'elm til we make landfall."

Glad that he had his own reason to stay on the ship, she continued. "Anyway, send up a fire tonight that won't set the ship aflame. Cain needs to be fed. Don't even think about arguing with me, big boy. You fast when we're at sea because we don't have access to more food. We have access now, so there's no reason for you to continue your fast. Clear?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good. Theo, I'll be checking everything with my ring on before we eat anything from them. Aside from that, pretend we're still at sea with extremely good weather. There's still a nonzero chance we could be attacked, so keep on your toes. If we go down here because we were caught with our pants around our ankles, I reserve the right to kill all of you."

"Sounds fair," Alexander said. Various noises of agreement followed.

Cassandra considered going back to the men's quarters, but decided to head below instead. Morgan had to deal with his decision to let Lyn help with food preparation, and his calming breaths were audible from anywhere on the ship. She descended to Miserie's medical room below the usual medical room, where the mermaid was staring anxiously at the door to Raven's lab. "Will Miserie be okay?"

"I'm sure you'll be fine," Cassandra said. "C'mere; let me sit against you."

She boosted herself onto the table and nestled her back against Miserie's stomach, throwing her arms over Miserie's body. "Is Captain comfortable?"

"Yes, thanks. How've you been doing? I'm sorry we haven't gotten to talk recently what with the person I really didn't want on board being on board."

"Then why-"

"I already went through this with Raven. What do you think I should have done?"

"Left her." Cassandra angled her head to look at her. "They have no reason to take her aboard."

"I had no reason to take you aboard."

"She definitely did. She took Miserie aboard because she could be useful and saved Alexander. This woman does not contribute anything."

"She might be able to in the future."

Miserie giggled. "Silly Captain. Miserie has seen people like her. Miserie knows how long it would be before she could actually contribute. She is nothing but a burden. Captain does not have the time or energy to defend somebody that cannot do anything. She has a hard enough time worrying about Lyn and Alexander when they are fighting. She would not spare anybody to defend her room if they fight at sea. Miserie thinks it's a good thing they are leaving her on this island."

"Do you think it's a bad thing that we rescued her given that we're dropping her off?"

"She does not take many resources because she cannot really have food and does nothing but sleep and eat. Miserie doesn't care."

"But you said she was a burden."

Miserie lightly tapped the side of Cassandra's head in what she suspected was the equivalent of a light-hearted smack. "She is a burden if she stays. Taking care of her for a few days is okay."

Cassandra couldn't help but agree. "I really like talking to you. You think pretty similarly to me-"

"Miserie is definitely not as smart. She isn't stupid, but Captain is smarter."

Cassandra smirked. "Anyway, you think similarly to me, which is why we need the others to remind us how to be people. And, unlike Damien and Raven, you can actually hold a conversation. It's nice that I can do that with at least one person on this ship."

Miserie squirmed with joy. "Thanks. She likes talking with Captain too."

"So! Do you have anything you want to talk about?"

"Yes!"

\\'/.\\'/.\\'/.\\'/.\\

The following week was, against all expectations, unremarkable. Damien was true to his word and stayed at the helm the entire time with the usual breaks to sleep, eat, exercise, or goof off. It was unclear whether Lyn had grasped the magnitude of the situation or was having fun pretending they were back in West Blue sailing for days with normal weather, but she never complained about being in the bay once. The rest of the crew had not been a concern. They knew nothing could be done and made the most of an uncomfortable situation. Raven had not returned to the ship, but made brief periodic contact to keep Cassandra from worrying, never saying more than a word.

On the eighth day, they had been guided Dock 01. Cassandra extended the gangplank and stood at the top with crossed arms. "You don't touch my ship without listening to me first."

The inspector frowned. "Are you delaying for something that you couldn't do in the bay?"

"I'm a pirate." His eyebrows shot up. "Specifically, Cassandra Libera, captain of the Black Glove Pirates. I'll allow you to look in my ship, but you are not allowed to touch anything. Morgan with be with you to make sure you don't. Theodora Alram-Mah IX is on my crew, and everything she makes is hers and therefore mine. Damien is easily angered, so don't wake him up. Don't look at Miserie for more than a few seconds; she's the mermaid. All seven crewmembers of mine has bounties except for Lyn, my girlfriend. She's the hyperactive one that's going to pounce on me when she's done playing at the helm. Aside from that, feel free to look around as much as you want. We're not going to hide any contraband either since you're only looking for one thing, right? We're not hiding any infected."

He was completely taken aback."You're allowing a mandatory inspection?"

"I was quite clear. Come in. Tell your friend behind you to report us to any authority that would care. They'd probably be upset if they didn't know as soon as possible."

"Awfully brazen, aren't you?"

Cassandra braced herself as Lyn pounced on her. "Yup, she is! When can we get off the ship?"

"After this gentleman's inspection. This is Lyn, in case you were wondering. Off you go now. Out of curiosity, does whatever disease you're protecting against affect merfolk?"

He waved his hand dismissively. "They can become carriers, but they can't transmit the virus. If she gets infected, it'll die inside her." He glanced about the decks before going inside.

"Are we gonna have to do this greeting on every island?" Lyn asked.

Cassandra shrugged. "Who knows. On this island, I totally get it. It would really suck to spend so much time containing a virus and have some prick slip by and ruin everything. It's not even frustrating at this point. They won't find anything, and since all of us have bounties, who cares what they see. The only unusual room is Theo's workshop, and even with a photographic memory, seeing every corner of that won't help anyone build anything. Everything of any importance is inside her head."

They both knew better than to talk about the lowest level of the ship aloud. Lyn hummed to herself. "I guess. Plus, like this, we don't have to hide Damien at all. That's a huge thing we don't have to do anymore. We're not going to disguise the whole crew, so somebody will recognize them and guess who the rest of us are anyway."

"Exactly. Best to let everyone know who we are from the get go."

"And you can only do it with flair," Lyn teased.

"Hey, I could hold back if I wanted to."

"Nuh-uh. Cici could hold back. Cee needs to do it like she needs to breathe. She can hold her breath for a while, but not for long."

Cassandra grinned and snaked her arm behind Lyn's back. "You know me too well. What about you, Alexander? Thoughts on inspections?"

He got off the top of the ladder and joined them at the railing. "As long as the Marines aren't doing the inspecting. We're not merely rookies; we're rookies to watch. We've had a very eventful six months. It's time we throw our weight around a little."

"Six months?" Lyn exclaimed. "It seems so much shorter than that!"

Alexander and Cassandra glanced at each other. "Right," he said slowly. "Shorter. Anyway, it seems like we're quite the spectacle."

Cassandra's eyes had indeed been focused on the people gathering a healthy distance away from the dock. "They're just curious civilians. Probably don't get a lot of pirates around here who identify as pirates."

"Ooh! Ooh! Can I scare them when we can leave? Pleeeeease?"

Alexander sighed, but Cassandra just knew he was grinning. "What did you have in mind?" he asked.

"Cain throws me over!"

"Well…" Alexander thought about it. "If he did an easy lob, I guess you have a pretty good chance of sticking the landing and not hurt yourself."

Lyn stuck her tongue out at him. "I wasn't asking you, stupid."

Cassandra still couldn't see any weapons among the crowd. "What he said. Just be careful, okay? We don't have our usual protection, so Cain will follow you after a few seconds."

"We might as well do a shopping run," Alexander said. "Morgan and I will come too. And Theo, she'll definitely want to stretch her legs. Is that okay with you, Captain?"

"Absolutely. I need to stay here where I can be easily found and work."

Alexander nodded, understanding what she meant. "Sounds good. Guess we just wait then."

They chatted idly until the inspector came back out. "What's the verdict?" Cassandra asked.

"No infected, so I can fill you in. We're dealing with the zoometamorphic virus, ZMM for short, pronounced zim."

Cassandra frowned. "Wait, how literal is that name? You can't mean it turns people into animals."

He looked a bit surprised. "It does. It has a five day incubation period, then you turn into an animal over 40 days."

All three pirates were speechless. "Do you change back?" Cassandra asked at last.

"So far, no. It's been horrible."

"What do they turn into?"

He shrugged. "Any mammal, and it seems random."

"So you're all vegetarians?" Alexander and Lyn both looked at her. "No. You're all vegans. Fuck, Damien's really gonna hate that. Not even fish or birds? Honey?"

"Honey's the God-sent exception. Nobody's turning into human-sized bees. We don't risk the others, though. We don't know if the disease mutated. Fish are extremely unlikely, but would you take that risk?"

"Oh!" Lyn exclaimed. "Because any animal might have been a person!"

Cassandra ground her teeth. "Why is it that every time I think I have Damien in a good position, something happens and makes him impossible again?" She was struck by a thought. "Heat destroys ZMM though, doesn't it? That's why there's a wall of fire. I can work with that. How does it spread? Contact? Air? From a reservoir?"

"It's only airborne, but it hangs around for a while. It shouldn't matter unless someone comes over from the other side."

"And reentry to the bay resets the week," Cassandra recalled. "Got it. Last question, during what period of time are you infectious?"

"Roughly 25 days. Is that all? Okay. Good luck, pirates."

Lyn and Alexander waited, not wanting to interrupt Cassandra's thought processes. She shook her head and ran her fingers through her hair. "Lyn, grab Cain so you can do your thing. The plan doesn't change." She waited until Lyn was out of earshot. "Infectious until half human, huh. You know what's gonna happen."

"He won't stay over there," Alexander said. "Even he'll feel lonely after a while. If someone sees him coming back to this side, they're going to flip. They won't know he's not infected."

Cain climbed out of the hatch with the first mate in his hands and took extremely careful aim. Nobody had really expected him to bungle the throw, but they all still exhaled when Lyn popped up unharmed. Cassandra's heart melted when Lyn started terrifying the more fearful members of the crowd with her best monster impression. She allowed herself a moment to think only of her girlfriend while Cain leapt away. Morgan was going to grab Alexander, but he was waved away. "I need to finish this conversation. Don't wait for me."

Cassandra turned to him as Morgan hopped to the dock. "Well, what do you want me to do?"

"Go over there once in a while. You can track him."

"So? He can move faster than I can. I'm not chasing him all over half an island. The thing I can think of that has the lowest chance of confrontation is having him identified beforehand. Obviously, that requires his cooperation, and I think we want to risk as little time with his cooperation as possible. We also have to get it in the first place, and there's no knowing how difficult that will be."

Alexander put his hand on his mouth in thought. "Okay, leave that part to me. From whom are we going to get this identification?"

"The mayor. They can reach higher people and likely won't be too far from town hall. Go convince him."

Alexander nodded and went to the men's quarters. Cassandra couldn't help but smile as the sounds of him kicking Damien awake reached her ears. "Oi, Hothead. We've run into a problem that is extremely relevant to you."

"Hmm?" was the sleepy reply.

"There's no meat available to the public on this island."

Damien went from lounging to looming in much less than a second. "Th' fuck you mean?"

"What I said. Now, we all can survive as vegans, but they'll tell us where the meat is if we do some specific things. Unless you really want to run all over the island searching for something that could be underground for all we know, it looks like we have no other choice."

There was nothing but the sounds of heavy breathing from barely restrained rage for a few moments. "Only fuckin' vegan?"

"There's a virus on this island. If you transmit it to animals, they could quickly rot and die, and they can't risk that. When I say rot and die, I'm not talking slowly over days or weeks. This virus kills and decomposes them in under a minute. Obviously, heat destroys the virus, so you're obviously immune. All you have to do to gain access to the animals is prove that to them, and everything will be fine."

Damien snarled, but followed Alexander up to the main deck. He glowered at Cassandra. "You too?"

"Would you really believe it if some random person told you they can't be infected because they magically destroy all diseases? That's gonna be harder to convince that simple heat."

He sniggered, and Cassandra was glad his mood was better than she could have achieved alone. She kissed Alexander's cheek and accepted the bounty posters handed to her. She and Damien went into the city to try and locate city hall. They elicited the expected range of looks and continued unperturbed. Damien would occasionally stop to glare at the menus posted on the fronts of restaurants like he was trying to intimidate them into changing. He seemed more surprised rather than suspicious about Alexander having possibly lied.

As focused as she was on Damien, she immediately snatched Chief's receiver when it started burbling. Raven had finally finished her assignment and would be returning later. Cassandra felt like she had reattached a limb. After picking up a small police retinue that remained a very precise five meters away, they made it to city hall. She waved to the cops as she and Damien went inside and up to the reception desk. She rested her forearms on the desk and smiled sweetly at the receptionist until he was finished with his call. "Can I help you?"

"We want to see the mayor as soon as possible. These papers may be helpful."

The receptionist's retort died in his throat as he looked at the two bounty posters, then back up to them. Cassandra's smile widened to show all of her teeth. There was no reason to do such an annoying yet necessary task without having some fun. The receptionist shakily dialed someone who said they'd get back to him. Cassandra thanked him and gently pulled Damien to the side, remembering to take their bounty posters. She continued to face the receptionist, her smile never fading in the slightest and her forearms on the desk. Damien was bored almost instantly and began doing three-finger vertical push ups, changing fingers and hands with every rep. Cassandra relished the looks they got from citizens passing through the lobby.

"The mayor will see you now. This is Corey. She will take you to him."

Cassandra's smile returned to normal, and she still appeared completely carefree as they followed the woman through the building. She hummed and glanced around, absorbing any sensory information she could with putting in effort. Corey opened a large pair of double doors and bowed with her hand extended. Cassandra thanked her as the two pirates went inside. The mayor was flanked by a dozen guards, all staring intently at the pair with their hands on their weapons. "I am Mayor Edward Chisk. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"As you know, this is Damien. He's Untamed, including by me, and has a habit of going wherever he wants. Now, you have a virus on this island that is contained by a wall of fire because heat destroys it. That deters most people, but not those who are fireproof. Damien here, wants to demonstrate that he cannot contract the virus because his body temperature is too high. And when I say too high, I don't mean fever temperatures. I'm talking high enough to burn." He smirked proudly. "His resting temperature is higher than ours, and he can increase it if his resting temperature isn't enough to kill the virus. If he can demonstrate that here, all I ask is that you spread this knowledge as far as you can and not try to arrest him if he is seen coming out of the fire. Is that possible?"

Chisk stared at her over crossed fingers. "What's stopping me from reporting you to the military?"

"It is, of course, your prerogative to do whatever it is you need to do for the safety of your people, but I'd rather we and the military leave each other alone until our Log Pose sets. We don't want to cause any trouble. I promise that if you do inform them, there won't be any hard feelings between us. We are wanted criminals, after all. Trusting us can't be very easy. That said, you have the most to lose if you want to fight us, what with your civilians and all, so bear that in mind. Getting back on track, do you or do you not have the ability to spread the news about Damien far and wide saying whatever you want?"

She could almost read his thoughts as he internally debated. "It is possible. Can we see this demonstration?"

"Of course. Will one of your bodyguards please volunteer to put their hand on his skin? He will gradually," she emphasized, making sure to get eye contact with Damien, "raise his body temperature until it is too hot to bear. Afterwards, he will light a candle just by touching it. Would that be enough proof to declare him immune to the disease?"

"If you'll allow one of our disease experts to sit in, yes."

"Of course. We can wait."

Damien showed an unprecedented level of self-restraint and merely leered at the guards. While Cassandra was extremely annoyed that he was evidently capable of not acting out if he tried, his growing impatience was palpable. A harried woman identified as Doctor Soh by her nameplate, eventually rushed in and stared at Damien with unadulterated excitement. "Can you really be hot enough to destroy the virus?"

Cassandra's grin was beginning to show some teeth again. "Now, which of you will volunteer to touch Damien as he gradually," she emphasized again, "raises his temperature?"

She was in no way surprised by the scientist instantly stepped forward. "Is it all right if I do it?"

Cassandra glanced at Chisk. "Well?"

After some internal debate, the mayor nodded.

"Can I touch you now?" Soh asked instantly.

Damien was unresponsive, so Cassandra had to answer. "Of course. Don't grab him; you want to be able to pull back as quickly as possible."

Soh nodded energetically and placed her entire hand on Damien's chest. Sure that the scientist was overexcited and safety was the last thing on her mind, Cassandra lifted her chin at him. "Heat up. Gradually."

Cassandra grudgingly accepted that the speed at which he raised his temperature was gradual enough, but it was still pretty fast. She was especially glad that Damien hadn't manifested any flames. Soh remained longer than she should have before yanking her hand away and wringing it out. "Spectacular! How hot can you get? There's no need to do some candle trick; I brought an infrared thermometer gun."

Without warning, Damien's temperature skyrocketed. The very air of the office was barely not hot enough to burn. Everyone recoiled in surprise but Cassandra, who felt a lot better now that Damien had let out at least some of his irritation. He just as swiftly cooled down to normal and collapsed with laughter. Cassandra straightened her jacket and asked, "Is he hot enough?"

"Is he hot enough?" Soh repeated breathlessly. "That goes without saying! That's amazing! What Devil Fruit did you eat?"

"None," Cassandra said. "Thanks, Damien, I can take it from here. Go do whatever you want, but be nice, okay? I'll meet you back at the ship. I promise you we'll get this done."

There was only a rush of wind, claw marks on the floor, and the echo of laughter to indicate he had been standing there a split second before. While nowhere near as fast as Raven, there was no doubt that he was gaining on her. Soh clutched her papers until the air stopped moving and looked at the door. "No Devil Fruit, you say?" she asked with manic eyes.

"I will be more than happy to talk with you after we get this matter resolved," Cassandra said. "Now, for public record, is he hot enough to be immune to the virus?"

"I should say so! He can't even be a carrier! It wouldn't even have time to get into his cells before it's denatured! If it's not a Devil Fruit, what is it? Is it a martial art technique? Is he part machine?"

"After," Cassandra assured her. "Well?"

Chisk released the breath he had been holding. "That's good enough for me. The next pressing question is why would he want to cross the wall in the first place?"

"As you saw by that last bit, he can be a bit juvenile, and he's enormously contrary. Tell him he can't cross the big wall of fire, and that's the only thing he'll want to do. Nobody, including me, can stop him at that point. He will do anything he can to cross it. With this, he might cross it once in a while, but won't be terribly interested. What you're hopefully about to do will make things a lot easier for everyone."

"Which is why you wanted him to leave the room," he observed. "Very well. I'll make sure he gets to the right people. Only him, though. You and the rest of your crew can't cross."

"Wouldn't dream of it. Thank you for your time."

His eyebrows shot up. "That's it? That's all you're demanding of us?"

"One, I think 'demanding' is a little harsh. I've been nothing but civil this whole time. Two, we aren't the pillage and plunder type of pirates. Sure, there might be some boisterousness, but nothing seriously dangerous. Hell, if they get too rowdy, chuck 'em in jail for the night. They deserve it. We're pirates because we bend the rules, not break them. Three, you're right. There is one more thing: do you know where I can find an educator that deals with young delinquent children? I would like to talk to one. Nothing coercive, of course. Just Theodora's missed a bit of school and I'd like some pointers about getting her up to speed."

He continued to watch her suspiciously. "I'm afraid I can't help you there. You might have to ask around."

"Remember, no hard feelings if you throw us to the dogs instead." Cassandra bowed deeply and sauntered out of the office. This might truly be an island of relaxation after all. All she was worried about now were the proper authorities and how they would deal with a bunch of wanted pirates suddenly turning up at the door, but that was a minor worry. She knew how to deal with that situation.

She had barely taken one step outside the office before Soh grabbed her arm. "If it's not a Devil Fruit, what is it?"

"I hadn't forgotten about you, Doctor Soh. Do you have a first name, by any chance?"

She glanced down at her nameplate then jumped back a step. "Oh my god! I'm so sorry; I completely forgot to introduce myself! I'm Myung-Hwa Soh."

"Captain Cassandra Libera, at your service," she replied, bowing her head as she shook Soh's offered hand. "Cassandra is fine. I didn't want to say it in front of all the men, but you look fantastic. Might we be able to discuss this over coffee? Being in this building so long has been pretty draining."

"Of course! Of course! Now, what's Damien's secret?"

Cassandra smiled. She really was going to have fun.