In the greenhouse where the Happy Happy Grass was being grown, the woman with pink hair sat on her perch gleefully while the emaciated citizens of the Collective trimmed the flowers off the plants, chains around their necks, and hot, hot lamps beating down on them. One of them spoke up after his stomach rumbled.

"Comrade Musetta…? How much longer until meal time aga-"

He was cut off by the chain around his neck squeezing tighter.

"Uh uh uh! It's time to trim the plants now!" Musetta cheerfully declared. "You can eat after aaaaaaaaaalllllllllll the flowers of the Happy Happy Grass plants are collected."

The facility was absolutely massive; there were easily tens of thousands of plants for the prisoners to trim.

"You guys got a quota to meet! No food until-" Musetta began. Then, her eyes flashed red. "Oop! Here comes another comrade to join you!"

She held up her left hand, which had hundreds of chains attached to it, and another chain shot out of her sleeve and out through the window. Within minutes, an emaciated man was brought flying in, and he landed in front of an empty stool in front of a Happy Happy plant.

"Comrade Zek! You shoulda thought twice before you tried to steal that bread!" Musetta cheerfully said. "My name is Comrade Musetta. This is your home now. Get trimming!"

Among the emaciated citizens were Schwarz, Puerco, Zinnia, and Ren (the latter was in a different part of the greenhouse).

"What is this stuff?" Schwarz asked.

"That voice! Is Schwarz…" Ren thought.

"It's Happy Happy Grass, new comrade!" Musetta replied. "After it's refined by Doctor Feelgood, it makes you Happy Happy when you consume it!"

"Great for keeping potentially unruly populations under control…" she added in her thoughts.

"And if I don't feel like being your drug mule?" Schwarz continued.

"He who doesn't work doesn't eat!" Musetta said. "But more importantly…"

The chain tightened around Schwarz's neck, choking him. Puerco immediately kept trimming the flowers; it took Zinnia a second to realize this would also happen to her.

"Now get to work, comrade!"

—-

Shaska stood on the deck of the food ship, holding her money up out of the reach of the starving citizens of the Collective. Johnson cocked his head to the side.

"Are you… offering me money to join your criminal enterprise?"

"'Criminal enterprise' is a strong term," Shaska responded. "We're just a ragtag bunch of bounty hunters trying to get the world's highest bounty."

"Shaska, you're a mass murderer," Johnson rebutted. "Why on Earth would I join you?"

"Hey! Accused mass murderer! The government is covering up for the PR nightmare that would happen if the truth about that incident got out: that it was a crooked Marine officer who slaughtered that city!"

"And a conspiracy theorist," Johnson said, crossing his arms.

"Really? You're gonna trust the government's word after how they treated you?"

Johnson's eyes shot open. "They… hm. They did give me conflicting orders on how to handle the Panipuri incident… and they took my closest friend and made him a science experiment."

He shook his head. "Look, I-"

"No, you look, kid. They sent you adrift by yourself IN THE GRAND LINE because you decided to run away from the strongest man in the world. Clearly there's something off there."

She blew some smoke and flicked the ash off her cigar, which landed on one of the starving citizens.

"Look, kid, you've got three options here. You can, one, stay here and starve like everyone else. Two, set sail and pray to whoever might be listening that you find land while not getting eaten by sea monsters. Or three, join me. So, what's it gonna be?"

Johnson bowed his head and thought about it.

"C'mon, this shouldn't be hard," Shaska quipped.

He sighed. "Desperate times call for desperate measures, I guess. Fine, I'll help you."

"Excellent choice, bird kid," she said with a smile. "We'll discuss your pay later. Right now, we need to find out where the rest of my crew is; we got separated in a storm."

Johnson opened his mouth to speak, but he was interrupted.

"HEAR ME, PEOPLE! HEAR ME!" called a gravelly voice.

A small, elderly man with a thin, scraggly beard and torn clothes hobbled his way across the deck of the next ship over, much to the apparent consternation of his fellow citizens.

"Ugh… it's old man Gattamelata again…" muttered one of them.

Shaska and Johnson turned toward the disturbance.

"BEWARE THE STORM THAT GATHERS HERE!"

"What's going on?" Shaska asked, looking down at the citizens who surrounded her.

"That's old man Gattamelata… every now and then he runs around screaming about how we're all gonna die if we don't unlink the ships," said one.

"Money!" shouted another. "Please give us money!"

"I don't know why he hasn't been disappeared yet. He's been doing this since the revolution ended," said a third.

"Maybe Dear Leader finds him entertaining," said another.

"DEATH COMES IN A FREEZING WHITE HAZE I TELL YOU! A STORM IS COMING!" Gattamelata shouted. "PLEASE! WE MUST UNLINK THE SHIPS AND TRAVEL TO SAFETY!"

"Hm," Johnson said. "He may be a crazy old man, but he raises an interesting point. This is the Grand Line; random storms are a common occurrence. Why haven't these ships sunk yet if they're just sitting here?"

A middle aged woman turned away from Shaska and explained.

"The ships have been here for so long they've formed their own climate zone… for all intents and purposes, the Mercury Collective is its own island."

"Weird… but this is the Grand Line. Anything can happen here," Johnson replied.

Shaska lowered her arm because it was getting tired, and hastily stuffed the money back in her jacket.

"FLEEEEEEE FOR YOUR LIIIIIIIIIIIFE!"

—-

Roxanne dropped the free weights she was holding and doubled over.

"F-fifty…" she choked out, grabbing her knees.

"Great job, darling!" Lulupo exclaimed. "That was a good warm up!"

"Fifty biceps curls, bench presses, and triceps extensions each was a warm up?!" shouted an exasperated Roxanne, huffing and puffing.

"Indeed! Now, we get to the fun part!" he replied with a wink. Lulupo twirled in place and struck a pose. "The 'Oh Come My Way' in Oh Come My Way Kenpo!"

"I… I… don't know if I can do any more today…" Roxanne said.

"Then I suppose you don't want revenge on that creepy princess girl," Lulupo replied with a sly smile.

Roxanne shot up and threw her fists in the air. "I WILL DESTROY HER!"

She then doubled over to clutch her belly; her wound started to reopen. "Ooooowwwwww…"

"It's alright, darling. I know a little rudimentary medicine. I'll have you fixed right back up!"

"Wow, Lulupo, you can sing, dance, fight, cook, and you even know medicine? Is there anything you can't do?"

"Darling, these are things a traveling mercenary needs to know," he replied as he left the gym to go to the infirmary. "Sit tight, I'll be right back."

Roxanne took his words to heart, and flopped down on her back, clutching her belly while huffing and puffing.

—

As old man Gattamelata ranted and raved about the storm that would destroy the collective, Shaska and Johnson began making their way to the center of the mass of ships. They were followed by quite a few starving people from the food line, desperate for Shaska's money.

"Please, ma'am… we're so hungry…" said one of them, grabbing at her arm.

"I already gave a handout to one of you folks! If you want my money, you're gonna have to earn it!" Shaska replied, jerking her arm back.

She puffed on her cigar, then added. "You people have been living like this too long, thinking you can get everything for free."

"Shaska, I think we should liberate these people from their 'Dear Leader' instead of just trying to get your crew back." Johnson whispered.

The crowd behind them stopped and fell silent. A chain flew out at Johnson's neck, but Shaska grabbed it. She tried pulling on it, but once again, Musetta didn't budge.

"Hold on, I think I can be of assistance here," Johnson said.

One of the hands from his robot backpack popped out and wrapped itself around the chain.

"Whoa, what's that?" Shaska asked.

"An invention of mine. I call it the JHH-42. Johnson's Helping Hands, model 42."

He adjusted his shirt, then said, "I suggest you let go, Shaska."

Shaska did just that, and a hundred thousand volt, ten thousand amp current shot down the chain. This shocked Musetta greatly and caused her to fall off her pedestal in the greenhouse. This also shocked the workers, who all miraculously survived basically being struck by lightning. Zinnia, naturally, took a moment to realize she should be in pain.

Musetta reflexively retracted her chains after the shock, and hastily picked herself up out of the pile of Happy Happy Grass clippings. As she snuffed out the fire in her hair and coughed up smoke, the civilians and Worldwide Smoke members gradually struggled to their feet.

"E-everyone okay…?" Puerco asked, right before another chain wrapped around his neck. "Urk!"

"Chain Gang!" Musetta shouted as countless chains flew out of her sleeves and once again wrapped around everyone's necks. This time, however, Schwarz and Zinnia managed to dodge. They sprung forward and landed right in front of Musetta.

"I humbly request you release these people!" Zinnia declared, preparing Ruth for combat.

Schwarz cracked his knuckles. "Where's my sword?!"

"Please, you think you can actually take me? I'm second in power to Dear Leader herself!" Musetta said smugly. "You seem to forget I have countless hostages right now, to boot!"

This made Zinnia stand down, but Schwarz lunged at her with a punch. Musetta's eyes flashed red as she effortlessly weaved past his attacks.

"I'm a former Marine Vice Admiral! You can't even fathom how powerful I am compared to you!" Musetta shouted cockily.

Schwarz spawned a portal under himself and fell through, appearing right above Musetta. He tried to go for a heel drop, but she dodged. She then bounced off the air with a Moon Walk and tightened the chains' grip on her hostages.

As she bounced off the air back to her perch at the top of the greenhouse, she shouted at Schwarz and Zinnia. "Keep playing this game, my new comrades! I'll squeeze their heads clean off!"

"Mr. Schwarz? You should really stand down," Zinnia said as Ruth coiled back around her.

"Tizona is a family heirloom! It's worth billions!"

Zinnia stared at him blankly until Ruth hissed in her ear. "Wait, is the sword all you care about?"

Schwarz teleported up to Musetta's location, but she saw this coming and already had her leg pulled back.

"TEMPEST KICK!" Musetta called as a razor sharp blast of air came out of her leg and flew at him.

Schwarz took the attack head on, right in his already-healing slash wound from his fight with Sirhan Princip. He coughed up blood and started falling to the ground, but Zinnia managed to catch him.

"Do not say I did not warn you, Mr. Schwarz," she said bluntly.

Schwarz wiped the blood from his mouth and asked "how…? How does she keep dodging?!"

"She has Observation Haki," Zinnia said. "That is the most likely reason for why she is able to keep track of everyone in the Collective so easily."

She then dropped Schwarz, who let out a meek "ow."

"Very good, comrade!" Musetta exclaimed. "Indeed, I have some of the strongest Observation Haki the Marines ever saw!"

She tried to lock eyes with Zinnia, but Zinnia reflexively averted her gaze. Musetta was incensed by this, and hopped down from her perch. She walked right up to Zinnia and stared her directly in the eye.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you, girl."

Zinnia again reflexively averted her gaze.

"Ohoho… I'll break your spirit, yet, comrade. Soon you will see the glory of Dear Leader Mandy, true equality, and the glorious dream of Minus World," Musetta said with a crooked smile.

A chain slithered out of Musetta's sleeve and wrapped itself around the base of Ruth's head.

"Maybe you'll be more compliant if your snake friend here joins us…"

Zinnia immediately locked eyes with Musetta and growled "hurt a single scale on Ruth's head and I will break you in half."

Musetta's face lit up with a somehow even more crooked smile. "Take that fire in your heart and direct it at your newfound love for Dear Leader, comrade!"

Another chain worked its way around Zinnia's neck, but she grabbed it with both hands and snapped it. She broke the chain around Ruth's neck, too. While this was happening, Schwarz struggled to his feet.

"Adorable," said Musetta. "You say you'll break me in half if I hurt your precious snake. But, you seem to forget…"

Musetta tightened the chain around the neck of the closest civilian, snapping it and killing him instantly.

"Not only do I have the fates of thousands dangling by a thread, you'll have to deal with Dear Leader Mandy, and after her, Comrade Balthasar von Esens himself if you dare challenge me!"

Faster than Musetta could react, Zinnia had grabbed her by the collar, staring death into her eyes.

"That was always the plan," Zinnia said coldly.

Musetta was unimpressed, and snapped two more necks. Ruth hissed in Zinnia's ear, and she came to her senses.

"Oh, right… you have hostages…" she muttered, averting her gaze again.

"That's right. Remember this, comrade: one death is a tragedy, a million is a statistic. I can kill all of these people right now and Dear Leader wouldn't bat an eye."

Zinnia and Schwarz both backed up; Ren and Puerco began sweating.

"Choose your next actions carefully," Musetta hissed.

—

"The STOOOOOOOOOOORM!" Gattamelata shouted as he hobbled as fast as he could across the decks.

Shaska and Johnson kept walking, small crowd close behind them.

"Part of me wants to go see what that guy's on about…" Shaska said, blowing smoke. "But we've got other business to attend to."

She cocked her head backward at the small crowd following them.

"You guys go back to waiting in line. I'm not giving you jack until I put the smackdown on Dear Leader. You'll just get in the way."

The crowd slowly stopped, and a young, emaciated man stepped forward.

"Most of us have friends and family stuck in the center ship, where the chains are coming from. We don't even know if they're still alive…"

He got down on his hands and knees and began to grovel before Shaska and Johnson.

"Please… new comrades… this place is a Hell on Earth like no other. We're starving… if we say-"

"Freddie, no!" shouted a young woman.

"It's okay… I've accepted my fate if the chains come for me. I'll get to join my parents."

Freddie looked up, tears pouring down his face. "We all hate it here… this is not the utopia that was promised to us… we killed our beloved president… for nothing. PLEASE! COMRADE! SAVE US!"

A chain flew out from the center ship toward Freddie's neck, but Shaska caught it.

"Hm. You'd think whoever's sending these chains out woulda learned by now," she said. She handed the chain over to Johnson. "Do the honors, bird kid."

Johnson nodded, and with his robot hand, sent another shock down the chain.

"And just an FYI, there are worse Hells on this Earth," Shaska added. Johnson nodded in agreement.

TO BE CONTINUED