"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 18: Juzo Appears! The Secret of the Sucrobees!

Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle.

"Nnnggghh!" Chopper groaned as he quickened his pace, walking up beside Nami as he gazed up towards her. "Nami, I'm so hungry... and we don't know where we are! Do you think everyone's okay?"

Nami's concerned eyes scanned their immediate scenery, thoughts of the rest of the crew being taken away before her very eyes. Well... except for Zoro, she figured that idiot had probably gotten himself lost and found his way back to Candytown. She sighed, looking down at Chopper with a mild frown on her face as she crossed her arms. "I hope so, Chopper. They can all take care of themselves. I'm more worried about us."

Chopper blinked a few times before looking around, trembling a bit as he took in Nami's words and reflected on their immediate surroundings. They had managed to get past the sinkhole jungle which had been harrowing enough, but where they were now was something completely different. Chopper's eyes moved from one quivering entity to the next. Dozens upon dozens of bee-shaped living jellies hovered all around them. These bee creatures, which were all roughly the size of Chopper himself, appeared to be covered in a honey-like syrup and just hovered up and down lethargically as their beady white eyes stared off at nothing in particular. They emitted a quiet sound that Chopper noticed was almost like a vibrational hum. "N-Nami... do they even see us?"

Biting her lip as she looked all around while maintaining her brisk yet quiet pace, Nami analyzed the creatures and their zombie-like hypnotic bobbing. "I don't know, Chopper. I can't even tell if they're alive?"

It was at that moment that the pair heard a excited squeaking. Both Chopper and Nami glanced ahead to see a snow white squirrel bounding down the forest path. Chopper's eyes widened in surprise. "Nami! The squirrel! It's so white! It looks like it's covered in sugar!"

Nami smiled beckoned the squirrel forward. "It's so cute! Come here, squirrel!"

As the squirrel bounded forward and started to enter their vicinity, every single one of the bee creatures turned in the direction of the squirrel and suddenly started humming aggressively. Chopper and Nami both looked on in confusion and surprise as the eyes of the bee creatures went from white to bright yellow. Without warning, they all began to converge on the squirrel's location.

"H-Hey!" Nami waved her arms frantically at the squirrel. "Hey, little squirrel! Look out!"

The squirrel also seemed well aware of the threat. It skidded to a stop, spun one hundred and eighty degrees, and swiftly started off the way it came. All of the bee creatures were in hot pursuit, almost appearing to have been driven mad by the presence of the squirrel. When the squirrel and the bee creatures departed the area, Chopper and Nami both looked at one another with dumbfounded expressions.

"Nami?" Chopper looked back down the path that the squirrel had been on. "What just happened?"

Nami furrowed her brow in confusion before shaking her head. "I don't know Chopper, but I don't want to find out. Let's get out of here before they come back."

The pair began pressing on at a hurried pace, fearful of whatever may have just triggered the bees to race towards the squirrel so aggressively. Chopper and Nami marched on for several more minutes through the forest without catching sight of any further bees, but something else soon caught their eye. Up ahead on the path, a circular black hole appeared ten feet above the path. A startled Chopper pointed towards the hole. "Nami! Look at that! What is it!?"

Before Nami could respond, a large, bald, muscular man wearing white spandax with black bear paw prints dropped out of the hole and landed on the dusty forest trail. He glanced up towards the hole with an enormous smile and gave it a casual wave. "Yo, Sabrina, thanks for the lift."

As the hole in air closed in on itself, the large man looked ahead towards Chopper and Nami with the same gigantic grin plastered on his face. His eyes, however, had the look of menacing intent in them. "Hello, Straw Hat Pirates! Or, well... there's only two of you. Sabrina didn't say that there were only two! Hmph!" The man crossed his arms and stared off to his side with frustrated eyes, his beaming smile never leaving his face.

Nami regarded the man cautiously, feeling midlly uneasy by the appearance of the unusual stranger. "U-Um... who are you?"

The smiling grin looked back towards Chopper and Nami as the man pointed at himself. "Me? Oh, yes, I am very sorry. My name is Juzo, and I am a member of the Krieg Pirates. I'm here to capture you."

"Krieg Pirates!" Nami glared at the man, tensing up at the mention of the Krieg name and clenching her fists nervously. "We're not afraid of you! Luffy beat your boss fair and square long ago, and he's gotten a lot stronger since then. You're not a threat to us!"

Chopper suddenly placed his hands at his hips, seemingly spurred on by Nami's words. "Yeah, you can't take both of us by yourself!"

"Oh?" Juzo's grin widened as he tilted his head slowly. "Ohoho, I am terribly sorry if I gave you the wrong impression! I did not mean to give you the idea that I am here alone."

Both Chopper and Nami watched as Juzo raised both of his arms, which he appeared to clench violently in the process. Juzo appeared to be straining for a moment, but then a white discharge began to emerge from all over the skin of his arms. Nami's eyes widened. "What the? What's happening!?"

"Oho, you're surprised!" Juzo glanced at his arms and then back at the pair. "I ate the Shuga Shuga No Mi fruit. As a result, my body can produce sugar." As he spoke, the sound of humming could be heard in the distance. "I am from this very island, where I once worked as a foreman for the Happy Cake Company, producing sweets for Big... oh, nevermind, my history is not important!"

Bzzzzzzzzzzz...

The humming grew louder and louder until the bee creatures began to emerge down the path behind Juzo. When they finally reached him, they stopped and simply hovered around him, buzzing loudly. Juzo looked up at them with his huge grin before looking back towards Chopper and Nami. "Look at them! These are sucrobees! They were once normal bees, but they became addicted to the sweet sugars of Bon Bon Island and could not help themselves! Ohoho, ever hear the silly myth that you will become something if you eat too much of it? The sucrobees actually became what they love, and now they can never have enough!"

Chopper looked perplexed at this as he eyed the sucrobees. "B-But there's sugar coming out of your arms! Why aren't they bothering you if they love sugar so much?"

"Because..." Juzo reached up and gently pet one of the bees on the head. "Prior to leaving this island, I was the Happy Cake Company's head beekeeper! I raised and trained the island's entire generation of sucrobees. Because of this, they see me as their parent! Ohoho, they love me! Like any good subservient creature, they are also trained to protect their master."

Nami's eyes snapped back and forth between Juzo and the sucrobees, clenching her jaw as she began to realize the gravity of the situation as Juzo continued talking. "One sting is not so bad, they will only inject a little hot, liquid sugar into your body... but how much can you endure before you... ohoho... die?"

"N-Nami..." Chopper glanced up at Nami, noticing her nervously shaking fists. There was little opportunity for Nami to respond however, as Juzo suddenly raised a hand and pointed it towards Chopper and Nami.

"Attack, my children!"

The sucrobees began to buzz angrily as they darted forward, with Juzo looking on and smiling from ear to ear.

TO BE CONTINUED