Law was finding it hard to relax. Seeing as they were to be going up against Kaidou, one of the four yonko, he felt that any kind of restlessness was justified. He couldn't say the same though, for the rest of his crew or alliance who had been frolicking around since the start of their trip. Even without their obnoxious captain, the remaining half of the Strawhats were as carefree as ever, to the point that Law was almost worried it might become a bad influence to his own crew, if it hadn't been already.

Then again, logic would be on their side for this round. Constantly getting worked up over Kaidou wasn't going to help – they were still days away from actually reaching the Wano Country anyway and he should be getting some much-needed rest after Dressrosa. His arm although mostly functional, hasn't completely healed yet and his mind was still weary from everything that has happened so far.

The dark-haired man forced himself to relax, slouching further into his chair and tried to focus on his book. He barely made it through half a paragraph though before a voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Captain!" he heard an exclamation coming from the entrance of the library and looked over to see a large white polar bear peering out from behind the door.

"What?" Law asked without even putting down his book. Just as he was getting into it.

"Our ship is running low on supplies and food," the white bear reported wearily as he slumped towards the ground. A low grumble sounded across the library, coming from his stomach. Law sighed as he stood up, placing his book back onto the table and walked towards the door. "How long till we reach the next island?" He asked as he stepped out of the small room into the corridor.

They passed by the kitchen and he noticed through the window that the three Wano natives were inside. They had steaming cups of tea in their hand and were tending to curious questions from his own crew members. Most of the questions seemed to be directed at Raizo the ninja though, not that Law blamed them.

"The next island is still quite far off so the Strawhats are attempting to fish for dinner," Bepo replied, bringing his attention back to the white polar bear. He unfurled a map in his paws and checked the log pose. There was a moment of silence before he looked up from his map sharply with realization on his face, "ah, I almost forgot to mention. We'll be running into some fog soon, but it should pass rather quickly."

Law nodded in acknowledgment before pushing open the entrance to the submarine. All of the Strawhats were outside, though only two out of the four were actually fishing. Their dark-haired archaeologist, Nico Robin, was having a cup of tea as she leaned against the railing of the deck. She noticed them almost immediately, greeting them with a warm smile.

A loud yawn caught his attention and he noticed their swordsman, Zoro, taking a nap in the corner without so much of an acknowledgment of their presence. The other two Strawhats, Franky and Usopp were holding fishing rods. The long-nosed man was sitting on the edge of the railing while the other stood against it. Franky's weight was probably too heavy for the railing to support should he sit down completely on it. They were deep in discussion about something, but the larger man broke off the conversation as soon as he noticed Law.

"Ow!" he greeted them rather loudly. "Don't you worry Toraro, we'll have a super dinner caught in a bit!" he then proceeded to pull his arms together in the air and leaned to the side with one of his knees bent. It was one of his signature poses that he did at random, not that Law understood why.

"Woah!" Usopp cried out. As Franky was distracted, the fishing rod right beside him jerked and almost fell off the edge. The younger man made a lunge for it, managing to catch it in time. "Franky you've got one!" His eyes sparkled with excitement as he tugged back on the bending rod. "It seems pretty huge!"

"Super!" the large cyborg man exclaimed again as he took over the fishing rod. "I can almost see it, that fish looks HUGE, it might even last us all the way till Wano! Keep pulling it!" Usopp cheered.

With a loud roar, Franky exerted all his strength to pull up the rod and then…

SNAP

There was a loud noise and followed by gasps around the whole deck. Even Zoro opened his one eye to see what the fuss was about. The fishing rod had snapped into half with all the power that Franky was using. Usopp desperately reached for the second half that had the fish hooked, but it was just a little short and the rod fell into the water with a quiet 'plop'.

Everyone just stared for a moment, before Usopp and Franky lowered their heads in depression. A low growl sounded across the submarine's deck as the smaller man's stomach complained about the lack of food.

"I've failed all of you," Franky wailed as he sobbed into one of his gigantic arms.

"This is it," Usopp moaned as he pounded the deck with his bare fists. "We're gonna starve to death in the middle of the ocean."

"I wonder if the fish will pick our bones clean." Robin wondered out loud in a curious tone.

"Don't say that!" The long-nosed man exclaimed in protest, breaking his pose to look up sharply at his crewmate.

Law sighed as he turned away and tugged the rim of his hat downwards. This seemed like the usual antics of the Strawhats. "We can think about what to do about our shortage inside, a fog is starting to build up." He pointed out, jabbing his thumb towards the horizon where a vast blanket of grey was slowly but surely creeping up towards them.

"Alright." Robin chuckled as she stood up from her leaning position. The rest soon followed suit.

Usopp retained his pose on the ground for a moment. He was so hungry he felt like he was definitely going to die on this ship. Getting up slowly, he sighed. Well, Law might think of something later, he figured. He stood up and turned towards the submarine entrance but not before seeing something out of the corner of his eyes. "Oi, isn't that a ship?" He asked out loud, facing back towards the sea and raising a hand over his eyes. He squinted at the silhouette in the nearing fog.

His question caused everyone to pause and turn back for a moment. True enough, there was a hazy shadow of a ship in the fog. It was a little far away but if he squinted hard enough there was a hint of two outstretched lines on the flag. "It looks like a marine sail!" he yelped as he jumped backwards.

"A Marine ship huh." Robin tilted her head thoughtfully as she placed a finger on her chin. "Wouldn't a Marine ship have a lot of provisions on it?"

"You want to raid it?" Usopp asked in disbelief. He already knew the meaning of his crewmate's words, and his brain was already churning out all the worst outcomes possible. It was just a habit of his he couldn't stop.

"Possibly, unless you can guarantee dinner with that." The dark-haired woman smiled as she gestured to the one remaining fishing rod left.

"Screw that," Zoro joined the conversation with a smirk. "I bet the Marines have booze on board."

No wonder they were notorious for attracting trouble, Law thought to himself. He had to admit that this seemed like the most secure way to get a decent stash of food for the remaining days though, it was still at least a three-day trip to get to Wano. They couldn't just rely on a single fishing rod to feed almost thirty people for three days.

"Ooh, did you guys manage to catch anything?" a voice greeted them as they re-entered the submarine. Kin'emon, Kanjuro, and Raizo had left the kitchen and seemed to be on their way to join the rest outside on the deck.

"Almost did but the rod was too weak to handle my super strength!" Franky replied before scratching the back of his head. "Sorry about that."

"Not to worry, a samurai never gets hungry." Kin'emon declared proudly. A loud growl then emerged from his stomach, echoing across the submarine hallway. "That was definitely not my stomach," he added.

"It's alright, there's a marine ship up ahead," Robin chuckled. "We should be able to get some supplies and food without them even noticing."

"If we're going to do this, we'll do it in a small group," Law announced. It didn't seem too much of a hassle to steal some food and go. With his ability, it should be a breeze. They shouldn't even need to take longer than thirty minutes. "I'll go with Bepo, Nico-ya, and Nose-ya," Law decided and the Strawhat swordsman let out a small 'tch' at that which he ignored. They couldn't let Zoro go, it was too risky for him to get lost in a Marine ship, and Franky was a little too huge for a stealth mission.

"Aye aye, Captain!" Bepo enthusiastically replied, seeming excited to get out of the stuffy submarine.

"I'm going?" Usopp pointed to himself in bewilderment before composing himself. "Y- yeah there's no way you guys would be able to do it without the great Usopp-sama." He chuckled with confidence that seemed to be more for reassuring himself rather than anyone else.

They waited near the entrance as the submarine crept closer and closer towards the ship and finally came to a stop beside it. "Ah, before you go, the pantry is most likely underneath the deck," Franky looked upwards as he searched his memories. "I used help build and repair some Marine ships back in the day and their layout is usually more or less the same."

Law nodded in acknowledgment, "thanks, Robo-ya."

The small group of four stepped out onto the deck, a slight chill in the fog around them. "I'll check for people onboard just before we go." Robin smiled before closing her eyes and raising her arms into an 'x' shape. "Ojos Fleur."

Up on the larger ship's deck, a single eye blossomed out of a piece of wood and looked around.

"Seems like the ship is quite deserted, there're a few guards standing by on the left side of the cabins and some are emerging from a room on top… But other than that, the right side of the front cabin should be safe." Robin finally said as she relaxed her pose and turned towards them. "Alright," Law noted as he raised his palm. "Room."

"Shambles."

With that simple phrase, all four of them were up on the larger ship's deck, on the other side of the cabin from where the guards were. "It's quite a huge ship isn't it," Usopp commented in a hushed tone. The sails loomed above them, looking quite ominous in the fog and quiet clinking sounds came from a well-lit room on the second floor of the cabin. The stairs were right below it. They quietly moved towards the edge of the cabin, preparing to make a run for it. Just as they were about to run across the deck, Law stopped them.

"Damn the food was good tonight," a voice announced and a couple of Marines emerged from the room on the second floor of the cabin. The clinking sounds got louder and small chatter could be heard as the door opened. Seemed like that was the dining room and it was dinner time.

"I know right, it's good that Aecus-sama is in a good mood," another Marine replied with a laugh.

Usopp felt his stomach growl at the mention of food and a single Marine glanced over in the general direction of where they were crouching behind the wall.

"Did you hear a growl of some sort?" he asked as he tried to peer over.

Everyone stiffened. A trickle of sweat crept down Usopp's forehead.

"No, you probably had too much booze," the group of Marines laughed. "The last time we checked there weren't any animals on this ship."

"Damn, I didn't even drink that much," the smaller man laughed it off and they moved off in a group. "Can't wait till the fog lifts so we can finally set sail again," their voices trailed off as they disappeared around the corner.

After glaring at a sheepish Usopp, Law gestured for the small group to continue. Quickly and quietly, they ran across the deck towards the entrance of the staircase. However, in the middle of the deck Bepo stopped running, something having caught his attention. "Bepo," Law quietly called, and the polar bear joined them by the side of the stairs. "Capt-" the bear started, but then was quickly hushed by Law. "Sorry…" he mumbled. "So weak!" Usopp whispered under his breath in shock.

They inched down the stairs slowly, hearing more voices coming from the hallway. "Capt-" Bepo tried again, but Law sharply raised his hand in a gesture that made him fall into a soft apology instead. Usopp stared at the polar bear mink in disbelief, such a large animal was so sensitive!

Focusing his attention to the front, Law peered carefully around the corner and saw a young man in a doctor's coat. He was speaking to a lady who was carrying a small tray of medical equipment. "I'm worried that we might not have enough sedatives for the remainder of the trip," the presumably would-be doctor said as he shed his latex gloves unto the medical tray.

"Perhaps we can slightly reduce the amount of sedatives that we're using?" the lady suggested quietly.

"I was thinking of that too, but I'm worried that Aecus-sama might notice," the doctor replied. He looked around warily before leaning in closer to the young woman and lowered his voice. "I have a family back in South Blue… So I can't afford to…" he trailed off before standing up and shaking his head. "We'll see what we can do," he said, ending the conversation. "Pass me the lock."

The young lady handed him a large lock and he stepped aside, revealing a bundle of chains that had been wrapped around the handles of the door. Hooking the lock through the chains, he snapped it shut and then wiped a bead of sweat that was trickling down his face. "Alright, we're done here," he said and the pair walked off down the hallway. They finally disappeared around a corner and the soft chatter died off to a silence.

Once all was clear, Law stood up straight and gestured towards one end of the hall. "Bepo and I will head down this way, Nico-ya and Nose-ya, you go down the other direction." The two Strawhats nodded and the small group split into two.

Now, Law finally turned around to address whatever concern his crewmate had. "What is it Bepo?"

"It's just…" The polar bear trailed off as he wandered into the passageway, with his eyes closed and nose pointed into the air. "I can smell Zou here."

"Zou?" Law repeated, raising his eyebrow as he followed his crewmate.

"Yep," Bepo turned back to look at him. "I smelt it just as we entered this ship, but I thought it was my imagination." The polar bear moved forward towards the chained door. "But then as we entered the staircase I could smell the draft from below, and amongst all the other smells there was a faint scent that really smelt like Zou."

There was a moment as they stood outside the chained door before a loud 'thump' sound came from behind it, followed by a slight scuffling sound.

"I know this isn't on our agenda but I'm worried," the polar bear looked towards his captain, his eyes clearly concerned.

Law sighed, he couldn't refuse Bepo's request.

"Room," he murmured. "Shambles."

And just like that, the heavy lock was gone.

After placing the chains quietly on the floor, Law pushed open the door slowly. He had one hand on the Kikoku just in case whatever that was inside wasn't friendly.

Just as he pushed open the doorway, a slight movement on the ground caught his eye. Something caught hold of his ankle and he glanced down sharply, drawing the Kikoku to his assaulter's neck. There was a pause before his attacker slowly looked up. Disorientated amber eyes darted across his face and body, undecided as to where to focus on. Law withdrew his sword and squatted down to get a better look at the young woman that was sprawled on the floor. He gently lifted up her chin towards him and noticed that her half-closed eyes that had finally settled on him were unnaturally dull.

'Drugged' was the first word that entered his mind and he recalled the short conversation between the doctor and nurse that they had overheard before.

"She smells like Zou, and medicine." Bepo stated as he too bent down to get a closer look at the strange dark-haired woman. Her mouth moved, a sliver of saliva trickling out of the corner of her mouth. She was about to say something. The polar bear leaned in closer.

"C… Clover…" she breathed, her voice cracking into a weak sob at the end. Bepo's ears pricked up at the name.

"I think… I know who she is," he said as he straightened up, but his expression was still as confused as before. "She… Was a mink from Zou."