Trafalgar Law was not one who was surprised easily. He had a plan for almost every situation and was as calm and collected as cool could get. He didn't think his crewmates were stupid either, they may be wild and playful at times, but definitely not stupid. In this situation however, he had just recovered from a mildly surprised expression and was currently surveying the younger polar bear mink beside him. He quietly wondered if perhaps the Strawhats' idiocy had finally rubbed off on his own crew, when Bepo caught him staring.
"Sorry," he mumbled as he dropped his head without a fight, feeling his captain judge him silently.
Law sighed as he dropped the woman's chin and shook his head, "Bepo, she's human."
He glanced back at the young woman who had finally passed out at his feet, her fingers loosely curled around his ankle. Though he had to admit that her attire – a laced up cream dress with a torn and tattered olive-green cape draped around her neck – looked extremely similar to the style of the female guardians back on Zou. He didn't think Bepo would lie for no reason either, but it didn't seem to make sense that she was a Mink back on Zou when he could see with his own eyes that she was clearly human.
"I'm so sorry…" Bepo apologized again, looking towards the ground with his ears down. His captain had a point, she was clearly human. He sniffed the air again just in case his nose had made a mistake. There was definitely a faint scent of lush greenery and rich soils combined with a heavy muskiness. That musky smell was from Zunisha's skin, a scent unique to Zou. The polar bear sighed wondering if perhaps he might've confused it with the heavy stench within the ship.
Law glanced at the pair of handcuffs on her wrists, before rolling her unto her back carefully. He placed two fingers on her neck, checking her pulse. Her breathing was a little calmer now that she had passed out, but her heartbeat was dangerously slow. He deftly pulled back one of her eyelids and studied it for a moment, before moving on to thumb open her mouth.
Bepo still had a strange feeling that he somehow knew her. It wasn't about the fact that she knew Clover anymore or that she smelt like Zou, he felt like he had personally met her before but couldn't quite put a finger on it. His first thought was to save her and ask questions later, he didn't want to leave a fellow Zou native to die here regardless, but he had no idea how to bring it up to his captain. The white polar bear glanced at the young man beside him who was still in the middle of studying the strange woman.
"Capt-" Bepo started before Law suddenly spoke, cutting him off midway.
"We can figure it out later after we've treated her," he said decisively as he stood up. Law already knew what his crewmate was thinking without needing the other to sound it out. Minks were extremely loyal to their friends, to the point that they'll even die and let their city be wrecked just for their friends' sake. It would make sense that Bepo felt an obligation to save this fellow Zou native. Law continued, "there's something strange about the drugs she's been given anyway, I want to have a closer look."
"Captain!" the polar bear mink exclaimed with tears in his eyes. His Captain may not look the part, but the polar bear knew that he had a warm heart when it comes down to it.
"First, we need to find the keys to her handcuffs," Law said as he gestured towards her wrists. "It's made out of kairouseki, so my powers won't work on it."
"Kairouseki?" Bepo repeated as he tilted his head. "Could she be a devil fruit user?"
"Most likely," Law replied as he carried the woman to a single bed that was provided within the small bare room. "We'll come back for her later, carrying her around would be too much of a hassle to stay stealthy with."
Back outside, he easily replaced back the chains and lock with his ability before surveying his surroundings. Nothing seemed out of place and it looked like the Marines still hadn't noticed anything wrong. "Let's go Bepo."
Meanwhile, at the other end of the ship, Robin and Usopp were hiding out behind a wall. They had managed to find the pantry quite easily, but they didn't expect there would be someone stationed to guard it. The two Strawhats ducked further behind the wall as a couple of chefs walked past and were granted access after some friendly chatter.
"What should we do now Robin?" Usopp whispered urgently. "There's no way we can get in as it is!"
When the other didn't reply, he glanced back to check on her and saw her opening another room door nearby.
"We could use these, possibly," the dark-haired lady gestured towards something inside the room as she stepped aside for Usopp to look in.
Usopp quietly walked over and peered inside, his eyes lighting up as he saw what Robin had found. "Nice find, Robin!" he exclaimed in a hushed voice while giving her a thumbs up.
A few moments later, two Marines walked over to the guy that was situated outside the pantry. Giving him a casual, polite nod as they passed by, the guard gave them a short glance but didn't say anything as they walked right in.
"Woah, that was super easy!" Usopp whispered excitedly as soon as the guard was out of earshot. Thank goodness the laundry area was situated so closely to the food, it was pretty easy to snag a couple of Marine uniforms to pass off as them. "This place is absolutely packed with food!"
All around them were shelves and shelves of food that could easily last any able-bodied crew for a week or so, perhaps even longer if they rationed. It was so abundant that it was borderline luxurious for a simple Marine ship. Meat, vegetables, seafood, grains… You name it.
Usopp grabbed two sacks from the side of the pantry and nodded to Robin who brought her hands up in her signature 'x' pose.
"Veinte Fleur," she quietly said, and multiple hands started to sprout from the shelves. One by one they started to pick up food from the shelves and pass it downwards towards the two sacks. Usopp stood by the door, keeping watch in case the guard decided to pay them a visit.
Once they had packed as much as they could carry without being too inconspicuous, the two tried to leave the pantry as discreetly and casually as two huge sacks on their backs would allow them to. They passed by the guard who immediately took notice of the amount of food they were carrying out.
"Where are you going with that?" he suddenly spoke out before they could even take ten steps down the hallway.
The two "marines" froze.
"We were requested by the captain to throw out any spoilt food," Usopp turned around and reported confidently. The guard eyed them up and down suspiciously.
"The captain did?" he asked as he stood up slowly and started walking towards them.
"S-Some Marines had fallen ill due to food poisoning, so he suspects that some food may have gone bad over our trip," Usopp continued, trying not to lose his cool as the guard loomed over them intimidatingly. Now that he wasn't sitting down anymore, Usopp could see that he was a large man easily twice his size, with muscles bulging out of his arms.
"A-Ah," Usopp stammered, avoiding eye contact as he tried to think up another excuse to escape this precarious situation.
"And are you going to take responsibility should Aecus-sama fall ill?" Robin cut in coolly without batting her eyelids.
The guard looked taken aback at the mention of the name before his expression changed to one of uncertainty. There was a moment of silence as he contemplated what to do but eventually, it seemed like he decided not to pursue the matter. Giving them a dismissive wave, he turned back around and started walking back to his seat.
Usopp let out a breath he had been holding in and looked at his crewmate in delight. "Robin!" he exclaimed in a hushed tone of delight as they quickly made their way out of there, in case the guard changed his mind. Then his expression changed into one of confusion, "but how did you find out…?" he trailed off.
"Back on deck when we were hiding, the Marine soldiers mentioned the name, 'Aecus-sama' did they not?" Robin smiled. "And when we went under deck, it was pretty clear that the doctor and nurse were having a dilemma as to whether to go against orders or not, it was quite easy to come to a conclusion that whoever is in charge is quite scary."
"Oh, that's true," Usopp rubbed his chin as he remembered the conversation that the young doctor and his nurse was having earlier. "Anyway, if this 'Aecus' is as scary as they make him out to be, we should find Law and quickly get out of here."
Robin nodded, and they hurriedly made their way back to where the group had split.
Back on the Polar Tang, Franky, Zoro, a couple of Heart Pirates as well as the Wano natives were waiting onboard the deck to help out if needed when the group of four returned.
"It's been almost 20 minutes," Franky commented as he scratched the back of his head. "I wonder if they might be having any trouble."
"Trouble might be fun," Zoro yawned as he slumped further down into his sitting position. "Though they better get back soon though if they want to be discreet, the fog is clearing up," he opened one eye to glance at their surroundings. The thick fog was still present but noticeably clearing up slowly.
Franky hummed thoughtfully as he gazed up at the large ship that was looming over them, looking out for any signs of the small group. His focus trailed off a little as he started to examine the larger ship from where he was standing. It was just his natural inclination as a shipwright. It was pretty huge for a Marine ship, though there was something about it that seemed a little off. Even through the fog, he could tell that the ship's design seemed a little too flashy for a Marine ship. Peering over the railings, he could see the silhouette of some kind of figurehead mounted on a silver plaque at the head of the ship. Franky studied it closely. The muzzle of an animal poked out from the side and if he squinted enough through the clearing fog, he could make out some hints of gold and blue décor around it.
"Oi oi, this isn't funny," the cyborg announced as he came to a chilling realization.
Zoro immediately opened his eye at his crewmate's alarmed voice, "what's going on Franky?"
"This ain't a Marine ship," Franky turned towards the rest slowly, his face solemn, "it's the ship of a Tenryuubito."
The Strawhat swordsman sat up instantly, "are you sure Franky?"
Franky paused for a moment, before replying, "see that silver plaque at the front of the ship? Tenryuubitos always travel with their family mark mounted on it, and I'd recognize the blue and gold décor around it anywhere. It might be possible we saw the wrong symbol due to the fog."
"That can't be good," Zoro stood up as he eyed the ship next to them, sliding his katanas into his sword holder. "I'll go check on them," he said, and without waiting for a response, he deftly leaped unto the next ship and disappeared from sight.
"Zo-" Franky tried to call him back, but then trailed off as soon as the other was out of sight. There was a moment before he exclaimed in horror, "Zoro is the super worst person that can attempt to find them!"
At the other end of the ship, Law and Bepo were almost done scouting the remainder of the rooms that haven't been searched.
"Seems like most of these are just sleeping areas," Bepo commented as he closed the door to another dormitory. "Maybe we should head back, Usopp and Robin might have already gotten the food."
Law didn't respond, peering inside another room from the door window. As soon as he deemed it empty, he pushed open the room door to take a look inside. Glancing around, there were multiple shelves of books and a large table with a map on it inside. No food. This was probably the maps room. He made a 'tsk' sound and was just about to exit the room when something shiny on the table caught his eye. Pushing the door further open again, he stepped into the room cautiously and picked up the object. It was an eternal pose, glinting in the candlelight.
"An eternal pose!" Bepo commented from outside the room as he peered in to see what his captain was doing. "Where does it lead to?"
There was silence before Law finally replied, "Mariejois."