Chapter 16: Secret Den
Yeah! A new chapter only two days after the last one! Unfortunately, I'm going to Georgia for four days, so I can't update during that time.
Disclaimer: I disclaim One Piece, not that I ever owned it in the first place. Please review.

Usopp lifted the tile, and realized that it wasn't just one tile, but actually several tiles pasted together into a square panel. By lifting the panel up, he uncovered a large hole. Then he realized something else. A person could fit through that hole. This is a trapdoor! Usopp looked into the hole with caution. Did he have any reason to go down there? Not really. But then the idea hit him. A trapdoor usually leads to a room. And when the trapdoor is hidden, that means it's supposed to be secret, and the room it leads to is a secret as well! Exactly what I needed for my plan!

With new vigor, Usopp was about to start crawling down, when he remembered. Wait, that sound I heard was coming from here, so there's probably someone in there. He peered into the hole. It was dark in the cabinet, and it was even darker in the tunnel. "Is there anyone in there?" he asked. No one answered. Slowly, Usopp started crawling through the tunnel. Then suddenly, a light came on.

"Usopp?"

Usopp looked at the speaker. "Sooze! What the heck are you doing here!"

"What are you doing here!" Sooze replied. The light was coming from a lantern he had with him.

"I asked first!"

Fortunately, they were both whispering so nobody could hear them, even though they were the only ones in the kitchen.

"Well," Sooze started. "I always come here."

"What for?" asked Usopp.

Sooze hesitated, then said, "All right, if you want to know, come in here and close the trapdoor behind you."

Usopp followed him, closing the door as he was told.

The tunnel was somewhat steep, and it went about five meters down into the ground. When they got to the bottom, Sooze adjusted the lantern to get brighter. Usopp looked around and was shocked to find that they were in a wide room, sort of like a cave, with the walls and ceiling made of bedrock. Standing up,(Yes, there was enough space to stand) Usopp spotted several debris scattered around the room.

"Did you make this room?" Usopp asked.

"No" replied Sooze. "I found it while fixing the sink plumbing one day. But don't tell anyone about this place. It's a secret."

Usopp picked up an object that he found at his feet. It seemed to be some kind of pipe about ten inches long.

"What's this?" asked Usopp.

Sooze answered, "That's my latest invention. I was testing it right before you showed up. It's supposed to scare away unwanted bugs."

"So that's why that cockroach popped out of the trapdoor," Usopp mused. "Wait, did you say 'invention'?"

"Yeah," Sooze answered. "I used to be a technician for one of the warehouses in this camp, and it was a fun job too, until one of my creations messed up and I got moved to the farm, as well as being part of the kitchen crew during lunch. But then I found this place, and one of my friends who is still a technician would bring me some pieces of unused material that he hides in his clothes, and I like to come here when nobody's in the kitchen and make stuff out of them, like I did before."

Usopp scanned the room again. "So, you made all the stuff lieing around here? What kind of things did you make?"

Sooze answered, "Basically the same stuff I made before, with many new ones."

"The same stuff?" spoke Usopp. "Like, you make weapons here as well?"

"Well, I do make weapons when I'm really bored" Sooze answered.

Usopp was astounded at his luck. Not only did he find a secret storage place, but it was already loaded. "Sooze, have you planned to do anything with all these?"

"Not really," he answered. "I just come to this hidden room because my job at the farm sucks, and I like to invent things to releive myself. I don't plan on doing anything with it in the future."

"Bullshit!" said Usopp. "If you don't like your job, you and the rest of the slaves could have started a revolt against Kraken and his soldiers! Then you would all be free to do whatever you want!"

"A revolt?" spoke Sooze. "You mean a battle of all the slaves against Kraken's guards?"

"Yeah," replied Usopp. "I mean, there are enough weapons here, right?"

"Well, there are some weapons, and I could tweak more of them, and then there would be enough."

"Then-"

"Hold on, even with enough weapons, we and the rest of the slaves don't have any fighting experience. We couldn't beat the overseers, let alone Kraken's other soldiers, like the security pirates."

"But I have friends who could defeat them, they can even clobber Kraken himself."

"What? Really?"

"Sure. I don't know where they are, since I got separated from them when we were captured and taken here, but I know that they can free us all."

Usopp spoke with such hope, but he could tell that Sooze still had doubts in his mind.

"Well, do you think it might help if I got more material and put them here?"

Sooze answered, "It might, but can you do any technicians' work?"

"Sure," Usopp replied.

"Well then- hold on," said Sooze. He pulled a watch out of his pocket and looked at it. "Holy shit!" If we spend any more time here, we're gonna be late for our duties!"

Sooze crawled up the tunnel and out the trapdoor, followed by Usopp, who closed it. As Usopp stood up, back in the kitchen, Sooze stayed in the cabinet and tweaked with several valves.

"What are you doing?" asked Usopp.

Sooze answered. "Okay, look at this valve I'm holding."

Usopp kneeled down and looked.

Sooze turned the valve. "Now, turn this valve clockwise until the needle in this gauge reaches the red area, then give this other valve a 270-degree turn. That'll open the trapdoor. When you come out, reverse it and the door will be locked, so it won't open. I don't see how that works, but it might have something to do with surface pressure, or the guy who created the room made it work like that."

"Gosh," spoke Usopp. "That really makes it a safe room."

As Sooze stood up, he said, "Well, we'd better go. I'll reconsider your revolt plan if you get more people to support it. By the way, if you really want to put more stuff in there, you should ask the clerk to get the technicians' job."

Author's note: That chapter wasn't too bad, was it? I kind of rushed it. Truth be told, I don't know anything about plumbing or the effects of surface pressure on underground rooms.