SailorStar9: With Chapter 240 uploaded, I present Chapter 241 of this fic. For everyone who put this fic on your favorited and followed lists and/or story alerts, thank you, but remember everyone, a lot of authors (myself included) sustain on readers' reviews.

Pairings: Married!Ace/Sasha, Sibling!Luffy/Sasha, Sibling!Sabo/Sasha, Background Protector!Law/Sasha

Disclaimers: One Piece belongs to Oda Eiichirō-sensei. Me, on the other hand, own absolutely nothing, except my OC, the pairing and the fic idea.

Chapter 241: Arc 15: The Swirly Pirates' Journey to Zou


"Please overlook these cultural differences." Wanda remarked, Zoro was fuming at the close proximity the Minks had around him. "Minkship is a friendly gesture for us."

"So, you call this minkship." Robin noted, a small hamster Mink was cuddled against her.

"You don't have to hold back." Franky laughed as a raccoon Mink nuzzled against him. "Rub yourself against me as much as you want."

"It's delicious." Usopp bit down on a slab of meat. "What kind of meat is this?"

"That's hippo." Carrot replied. "And these are lizard, alligator and frog." she pointed. "We don't eat animals with fur."

"But why would you welcome us like this?" Usopp was confused.

"Because you-tiea are our saviors' friends." Carrot explained.

"Saviors..." Usopp echoed. "What exactly happened?"

"No!" Brook wailed, running up the tree that housed the rest of the Straw Hats. "Everybody!" he sobbed in relief, finally seeing his crew-mates. "What a relief. I read in the newspapers. I'm glad you're all okay. Luffy-san!" he hugged his captain.

"What happened to you?" Luffy blinked.

"I'm worried about Sanji-san." Brook admitted. "I'm too ashamed to face you. But I don't have a facial surface anyway."

"Aren't you with Momo?" Usopp thought to ask.

"Yes, of course." Brook hushed Usopp up. "He's okay, but it seems like... he doesn't really like the Minks. He shuts himself in a room and never comes out. But that's good for us. Luffy-san, could I have a word with you? All of you newcomers to Zou, come here." he called out to the rest. "Where's Kin'emon-san now?" he asked, the group were now huddled together.

"He should be arriving soon." Luffy replied.

"I see." Brook noted. "That's perfect. I actually wanna ask you a favor. I want you to try not to use words like 'samurai' or 'Land of Wano' in this country. Don't use them if you can. If you use these words, you might offend many people and anger them or make them hate you. This country was actually..." he was cut off when the door creaked open and he was greeted by a group of salivating Dog Minks.

"We found you!" the leading Dog Mink grinned. "Baron Corpse!

"Here they come!" Brook stammered.

"Corpse?" Zoro echoed. "The corpse she was talking about was..."

"Brook!" Usopp realized.

"We call him so with affection." Wanda explained.

"That's very confusing." Zoro sighed.

"To be honest, I'm surprised." Wanda noted. "I didn't know there was such a tempting race in this world."

"Stop it!" Brook begged, taken down by the Dog Minks. "Help!"

"We Dog Minks have a things for bones." Wanda admitted.

"He's quite popular." Robin noted.

"Guys, is this really okay?" Sasha wondered, looking back and forth from the uninterested group to the suffering Brook. "Bear with it, Brook." she advised.

"Luffy, what happened to Torao, by the way?" Chopper asked.

"Law went to see his crew-mates of the Heart Pirates in the Whale Forest." Sasha replied.

"More importantly, what do we do about Sanji-kun?" Nami pressed.

"Like I said before, he left a note." Zoro reminded. "So don't you think it's gonna be alright?"

"It's not like he was kidnapped." Luffy mused.

"I'm worried because it doesn't look right!" Nami fumed.

"I'm sorry." Chopper apologized. "We couldn't do anything."

"You know what, guys?" Franky spoke. "Frankly, we're just confused right now. We only have a rough idea of what's going on."

"He's right." Usopp agreed. "The last time we talked, you guys said you were facing Big Mom's ship. Now we finally get to Zou and there are those talking animals on the elephant's back and the city's ruined. We thought the Mink Tribe was our enemy, but instead, they welcomed us so warmly. They even told us we're their saviors' friends."

"Could you tell us everything in detail, Nami?" Robin requested. "What happened to your group after you left Dressrosa 11 days ago?"

"Yeah, I guess I was a little upset." Nami sighed. "Okay, I'll tell you everything as it happened. What we encountered off the coast of Dressrosa was Big Mom's enormous singing ship." she recounted. "Their combatants that we could identify were the duo Sasha and Ace met on the Fish-Man Island. And another one, he's one of the Worst Generation: Capone 'Gang' Bege. Seems like they became Big Mom's subordinates. They came for Caesar, but he was more scared of them. But frankly speaking ,we had no chance to get away from them. And we knew they'd take us down if nothing was done." then, she related how they had escaped using Sanji's attack plan.

"Only you guys can do it." Luffy praised, everyone else applauding.

"Stop it." Nami blushed. "Well, it was a big deal I guess, but..."

"And how many days did it take Zou from there?" Robin asked.

"We arrived here the next day." Nami replied. "Seems like Zou was nearby at that time."

"That was 10 days ago." Chopper supplied.

"As far as I could see, the oldest sign of destruction in the city at the center of Zou was from a little more than two weeks ago." Robin pointed out.

"That's right." Wanda confirmed. "And by 10 days ago, most of the country have been destroyed. But on that day, Nami and the others arrived here. That can only be described as a miracle. If not for their courage and Chopper's medical expertise, every single person in the Mokomo Dukedom would've been helplessly killed."

"Wanda," Sasha started. "I know it still hurt as it happened only recently, but..."

"No, I'll tell you everything." Wanda insisted. "You-tiea people have the right to know everything."

"Hey!" a sloth Mink called out. "Everyone!" he poked his head in from the door. "Duke-sama has... Duke-sama has woken up!"

"That's great." Chopper was relieved. "Okay." he grabbed his medical bag. "Let's go examine his condition now. Sasha, come with me. I'll need a second opinion. Miyagi, Tristan!" he called out to the two Mink medics.

"Wait for me!" Miyagi jumped out from the Mink crowd. "Let me go at it and learn from you."

"Dy Miyagi, you're hopping too much!" Tristan complained.

"Wanda, Duke Dogstorm said he'd like to see the saviors." the sloth Mink added after the four medics hurried off.

"I'll be right up." Wanda nodded. "You-tiea guys, will you come with us?"

"Yeah, but who's Dogstorm?" Luffy asked.

"He's the duke of the Mokomo Dukedom." Wanda replied. "Which means he's the ruler of the country. He's been in a coma ever since the city was wiped out. So has the other one. This country has two rulers: 'King of the Day', Duke Dogstorm and 'King of the Night', Master Cat Viper. The country of Zou has been protected by those two rulers."


SailorStar9: Any OOC-nes is regretted. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Reviews are much appreciated.