"Wealth, fame, power. The man, who once owned everything, the Pirate King, Gold Roger. The words he said before his death sent all the people of the world out to the seas."

"My treasure? If you want it, I'll give it to you! Find it! I left everything in that place."

"Men, searching for romance, pushed forward towards the Grand Line. The world is now in the Grand Age of Pirates!"

Chapter 04: Bon Bon Island, The Source of All Candy

"Don Krieg?" Nami's eyes widened in surprise as the old man mentioned the name to the entire Straw Hat crew after they had assembled.

"Shit..." Sanji pulled out a fresh cigarette, lighting it and sticking it between his lips as he narrowed his eyes. "What's that bastard doing here? I thought Luffy put him in his place."

Nami's eyes flicked about as she mulled things over before looking at Luffy. "Luffy, Don Krieg was on the Grand Line even before we were, it would make sense that he would want to return to conquer it. He was strong before, but now we're in much more dangerous territory. Does that mean... ?"

Usopp started to shake out of fear as he listened to Nami. "D-D-Does that mean Don K-Krieg got a lot stronger too? L-Like Luffy did?"

"It doesn't matter." Luffy clenched his fists as he looked at the hole in the wall that he had accidentally caused. "I'm gonna kick his ass no matter what for making people his slaves!" Luffy took a few steps out onto the other side of the wall before looking back inside. "Hey, gramps, how do we get to the west coast from here?"

"Well..." The old man started stroking his chin as he thought. "You could go along the coast, but that may take a long time. It might be better to venture through the middle of the island, straight through the Chocolate Volcano." At the mention of a chocolate volcano, half of the crew perked up excitedly.

"CHOCOLATE VOLCANO?" Chopper, Luffy and Usopp all shouted in unison before Luffy piped up on his own. "YOSH! WE'RE GONNA GO THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF THE ISLAND!"

Nami hastily slapped Luffy, prompting a laugh from Robin. "Idiot! You only want to go through the middle because of the chocolate volcano!"

Robin turned her attention from Nami and Luffy, her eyes meeting the old couple. "This is a peculiar island, isn't it? Why is everything made out of candy, and how is there a chocolate volcano? That cannot be a natural phenomenon."

The old woman laughed and shook her head. "It's not, my dear! You're in Candytown, the largest port town of Bon Bon Island! Our island's eastern half is the world's largest producer of sweet treats! We've fashioned our towns out of candy to commemorate this feat! Our chocolate volcano is also an old inactive volcano that we turned into a chocolate factory!"

Zoro crossed his arms, absently looking around at the broken gingerbread walls before back glancing towards the old couple. "What about the other coasts?"

The old man raised a finger and spoke very matter-of-factly to the group. "Oh, they're all very different! This is our east coast, which is where we produce our candy. The north coast is where we harvest sugar from Sugarcane Fjord, but a lot of dangerous animals like the sugarcane which makes it very dangerous to go there at times! The south coast is uninhabited and is mostly jungle and swamp. It was the site of many battles during our civil war with the west coast, which is where Spicetown is. The people of Spicetown traditionally hated candies and sweet treats, and they wanted the island to produce only spices! One hundred years ago, we fought a horrible war with each other over the island's supply of cinnamon, but level heads eventually prevailed and we learned to share. We've been living in peace ever since, but then the Krieg pirates came a few days ago and..."

Gulping, the old woman continued. "That is when we lost direct contact with Spicetown. Our syrup scouts discovered that the Krieg pirates landed on the island and put everyone in shackles, forcing them to start building ships for them. We heard rumours of a growing pirate fleet that ventured from island to island, lording over citizens and ordering them to unwillingly expand the size of pirate fleet through forced slave labour. We... never thought that the rumours were true because they don't strike powerful islands."

"Until now, eh?" Franky readjusted his shades. "I think this Don Krieg guy was encountered long before I joined, but if we beat 'em once then we can beat 'em again! It will be a SUUUPER defeat!"

"Perhaps the man who left the pirate crew could help? The old man tapped his chin in thought. "He said that he wants to find a way to stop the pirates from using slave labour. I think he went to... oh, dear, where did he go?"

"Marshmallow Marsh, you old codger!" The old woman smacked her husband on the head before looking back to the Straw Hats. "He was a nice man, and he had a lovely young woman with him. She played beautiful music on a harp that we gave her."

"A guy from Krieg's crew and a girl playing a harp, huh?" Zoro rested his chin against his index finger. "Don't think we know them, do we?"

Usopp shook his head quickly. "I don't think there were any women on Don Krieg's ship, but maybe they'll want our help?"

"Marshmallow Marsh... ?" Nami tilted her head as she mulled the name over. "How do we get there? And why is it named that?"

"Well..." The old man smiled. "It's town surrounded by a swamp full of marshmallows! And instead of marsh water, it's hot chocolate! You might get very sticky if you try to go on foot. You should go on our syrup scouts. They'll get you to Marshmallow Marsh quickly! And you'll be dry, too!"

"Syrup scouts?" Robin looked perplexed at the name that had been spoken a few times, but nobody had bothered to questionw hat they were until now. "What are they?"

"Oh, I'm glad you asked!" The old woman looked delighted to be explaining what they were. "Syrup scouts are a type of giant syrup snail that lives only on our island's west coast! They're very interesting creatures, and they secrete syrup from their syrup glands!" Several of the crew members expressed disgust, except for Luffy who looked enthralled. "Don't fret, it is very delicious syrup! We use it in everything! Our syrup snails make syrup like bees make honey! They're also big enough to ride, a lot like a horse only the ride is comfier and smoother!"

"Cooooooool!" Luffy jumped up and adjusted his hat. "Let's go get some snails to ride on!"

As Luffy started to dart out of the room, Nami glared at him before smiling warmly to the old man. "Where can we find these snails?"

"Oh, you can rent them right at the town gate! Just travel down the main road, you'll be there in no time!" And then, as the Straw Hats expressed their gratitude and began to depart, the old man and his wife waved farewell to them. "Best of luck, pirate crew!"

After that, there was merely silence until, finally, the old man turned his attention towards his wife. "You had better better start baking our dining room a new wall, dear."

TO BE CONTINUED