"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 09: Sinkhole Jungle, Watch Your Step!

"Shit! Where did that spider go!?" Sanji growled angrily as he carefully stepped around the various puddles on the floor of the jungle that he, Chopper, Franky, Luffy and Nami had somehow found themselves in. There had still been no sign of Marshmallow Marsh in sight.

"When I find it, I'm gonna kick it's ass!" Luffy stormed along with little regard and, as a result, his feet were half getting sucked into the ground with every step on the wet ground. "And then after I beat up that spider, we're gonna find Brook, Robin and Uso-"

CRASH!

Everyone paused suddenly as a sinkhole opened up in front of the group, which immediately caused a loose tree to fall down and crash its way down the hole. Franky carefully inched towards the hole and lifted his shades as he peered down. "Huh! This hole's deep. I don't even see the tree."

Nami bit her lip, looking around nervously. "Come to think of it, I did see some holes elsewhere in the jungle so far. Is... this something that happens often in this jungle?" Her voice was laced with concern, prompting Sanji to leap over excitedly.

"DON'T WORRY, NAAAAMI-SAAAAN! I WILL BE YOUR KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR AND PROTECT YOOOOU!"

Nami instead just sighed as she glanced towards Chopper, Franky and Luffy. "This jungle may not be very safe, so you three idiots be careful! Especially you, Luffy!"

Chopper smiled back to Nami before he started tip-toeing around. "I'll be okay, Nami! I'm really light and can jus- UWAAAAH!" A miniature sinkhole promptly opened only a few steps behind Chopper, prompting him to freak out mid-sentence. Luffy, instinctively, shot an arm towards Chopper, grabbing him and pulling him out of harm's way. Chopper could only pant in shock after being put down. "T-That was scary! I don't wanna be in this jungle anymore!"

Nami thumbed forward, pointing towards the dry spots that they had been trying to walk on up until then. "It'll be fine as we're careful, just don't step in the puddles of on the wet ground!"

The group vowed to be more careful and continued on and, other than for the occasional stunt performed by Luffy, they were relatively worry-free for several minutes until they reached a sign that had been stuck into the ground. Sanji curiously inched towards the sign, reading it out loud. "Warning, risk of sinkholes increases dramatically past this point."

"W-WHAT!? I DON'T WANNA GO, LET'S TURN BACK!" Chopper immediately freaked out and desperately grabbed hold of Luffy's leg, prompting Luffy to simply laugh heartily at Chopper's fear.

"C'mon, Chopper!" Luffy grinned down to Chopper. "It'll be easy, watch!"

As Chopper detached himself from Luffy's leg, the group watched as he took a few needlessly-slow steps before looking ahead curiously. All of a sudden, a light bulb went off in his head as he grabbed onto a tree for support. "Ah! I got it! Gomu gomu no rocket!"

"LUFFY!" Nami reached out in shock as Luffy went flying ahead. However, she calmed herself once Luffy appeared to land without incident nearly a hundred feet ahead. Everyone watched as Luffy stood firmly on the wet, mossy ground and started waving his arms and shouting to them.

"WE DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THOSE MYSTERY HOLES ANYMORE IF I JU- WHOOOOA!" Luffy staggered for a moment before, without warning, the ground gave way beneath him. Everyone gasped in surprise as they immediately ran full speed ahead, dodging any potentially dangerous spots on the ground. Franky was the first to arrive at the hole, glancing down and spotting Luffy's hands clenched onto rocks in the hole's wall, hanging on for dear life as he tried to stop himself from being torn away by an underground river that laid underneath the sinkhole. "F-Franky! Help!"

"Yosh! I'll get you outta there, Luffy!" Franky then promptly dove into the hole, splashing beside Luffy. His torso emerged from the water, smirking at Luffy as he reached for him, but then the nature of the river's pull took in and Franky was swiftly ripped away. "I'M TOO HEEEEAAAAVVVVYYYYYY!"

"Shit, that idiot!" Sanji removed his cigarette and looked to Nami. "I don't know where Franky's going, but I can rescue Luffy. I don't weight a ton."

Nami, understandably, still looked concerned. "Sanji, be careful!"

Just as Sanji prepared to dive, the ground he stood on gave way, increasing the size of the sink hole and causing him to plummet into the hole, landing directly on Luffy. "S-SANJI! WHAT'RE YOU DOING!?"

Luffy lost his grip on the rocks as a result of being fallen on, and he and Sanji were both swiftly pulled away. Standing at the top of the sinkhole, Chopper stared down in shock as Nami suddenly erupted. "YOU IDIOTS! I SAID BE CAREFUL!"

Not far off the coast of Bon-Bon Island, a Marine vessel slowly inched towards the island. The ship gently swayed as it slowly broke wave after wave. Within the ship's cabin, these movements caused a cigarette tray on the table to slide ever so slightly and, as a result, a cigarette to be accidentally put out on the table itself. Through gritted teeth, the lone occupant sitting within the cabin groaned to herself as she smushed the cigarette into the tray. "Hina annoying."

"Major Hina!" The door cabin door flung open and a marine officer poked his head in, promptly saluting his superior officer. "The island that the pirate fleet is said to be at is in sight, but... er..." The officer looked apprehensive, almost nervous.

Hina stared back at him rather flatly, her cold expression piercing him much like a spear. "Tell me."

"U-Uh... we spotted something docked at the coast. It's a pirate ship."

Hina quirked an eyebrow as she continued to stare coldly. "That is not of the fleet we are following?"

"N-No, Major Hina! It's the ship belonging to the Straw Hat Pirates!"

Hina's eyes almost widened but, instead, an eyebrow merely twitched as she stood up and stepped outside of the cabin, ghosting the officer who had delivered the news to her. As other officers ran around the deck of the ship performing their duties, Hina merely glanced off into the distance at the island, staring at the lollipop forest and gingerbread town for a moment before her eyes focused on the pirate ship that was docked at the shore. What the officer told her proved to be correct.

Hina had been tasked with tracking down whatever pirate crew it was that had been amassing a fleet and stopping them from continuing their expansion, and now she had found the island that there were anchored at... but this was quite the surprise to see the Straw Hat Pirates' ship as well. As she realized that she could possibly kill two birds with one stone, a slighty smile appeared on her face for a mere second before she donned a more serious expression once more. She reached into her coat to withdraw a cigarette, sticking it in her mouth and lighting it as she stared on ahead.

"Hina excited."

TO BE CONTINUED