"Aah, there you go," Run says, patting the man on his back. "Yup, spit it up. There's nothing to be ashamed of I used to get seasick, too." Eight days have passed since leaving Dressrosa behind, and they're hot on the heels of the rest of the crew. Bartolomeo has been busy over this time as well, going from each member of the Straw Hat's as asking them how they ended up joining the crew. He records every one of their stories in a small book he keeps close to him at all times. Over the course of the days they've gotten a little time to know a few things about the crew...mainly that not a single one of them seems to do well with rough seas.

"You guys are getting seasick too often!" Zoro shouts at the men sprawled across the deck. "How can you call yourselves pirates if you want to puke every time the sea starts to get a little rough?"

"C-Chewing gum," stutters Bartolomeo. "It's help with the seasickness, grandma told us."

"No wonder there's gum stuck everywhere on the ship!" calls Usopp. Luffy laughs as the man's whole crew struggles with their nausea in the choppy seas. It's strange that a whole crew could be brought to it's knees over something like rough seas...Reverse Mountain must have been quite traumatizing for them.

"C-Captain!" shouts a man from the crows nest. "Up, uggh...up ahead! There's a...a mountain or monster moving!"

"I hope there's no monster that can be mistaken for a mountain! You're just drunk, you...ughhh..."

"If it's a mountain that moves, let's go!" cheers Luffy.

"No!" Usopp shouts quickly. "What we have to do is get outta this foggy maze as soon as possible! If we can't see what's in front of us then we'll end up hitting a reef and capsizing!" Law digs into his pocket and pulls out a small piece of a Vivre Card.

"Look," Law says, holding it flat in his palm. The paper pulls in the direction of the moving mountain in the distance. "It's pulling in that direction. I've heard that Zou blocks out invaders with dense fog and an adverse current." Franky turns towards Bartolomeo's crew quickly.

"Oi!" shouts Franky. "There's strong head-winds! Get the oars, we'll row there!" The man respond as best they can while fighting their seasickness, and quickly go about grabbing several long oars. While battling with their nausea they row as best they can through the rough seas with the fog slowly beginning to thin out. They stand in awe as the fog parts to reveal a massive elephant carrying what seems to be a city on it's back.

"Dahaha~! Wow!" laughs Run, staring up at the massive elephant. "That's a big elephant!"

"Yeah," agrees Law. "'Zou' is the name of the place that flourishes on the back of a massive elephant. It's always moving so it's never in the same place as before. It's a Phantom Island, and not one that you could hope to get to with a Log Pose. I've never been here before, either. Since it's showing it's back to us that means that Black Foot and the others could have gotten here much earlier."

"We've been chasing an elephant that was walking away," Robin concludes.

"So, this is Zou!" exclaims Kin'emon. "There are such unusual things outside of our country!"

"I've heard that there's a tribe here that hates humans!" adds Kanjuro.

"Yes," Law confirms. "The Mink Tribe. They hold off humans, and people say the history of their country goes back a thousand years."

"Does that mean that elephant has been alive a thousand years?!" asks Luffy. They press forward, growing closer and closer to one of the elephant's rear legs and through the thick fog they finally catch sight of the Thousand Sunny, moored to it's leg. "It's the Sunny!" Bartolomeo seems to be beside himself as he lays eyes on the ship.

"There it is!" exclaims Bartolomeo. "It's the grand ship that carries the sacred bodies of the Straw Hats! The Thousand Sunny! I feel so blessed!"

"Looks like they made it to Zou easily enough," Franky says. "There's no major damage to her." Luffy is the first one to cross the gap, stretching an arm out and pulling himself over easily to call out for the rest of the crew. Before the rest of the crew can follow him, however, the elephant starts to move. The Sunny starts to pull away from them, and Bartolomeo quickly reacts by forming a bridge between the two of them through the use of his Devil Fruit. When things finally calm down, they quickly storm across the bridge to the Sunny leaving Bartolomeo behind.

"It seems they're not here," Luffy says, looking around.

"Maybe made landfall?" Run wonders, turning his head up towards the back of the elephant. "Or...elephant fall? Back fall? Aah, anyway, should we start climbing, then?"

"I'll take care of it!" announces Kanjuro. The samurai quickly moves to the bow of the Sunny, and begins drawing on the deck. After quickly packing what they believe they need, the crew climbs the steps to the upper-deck of the bow while Kanjuro is sketching.

"What is it?" chirps Luffy.

"It's a snake, obviously," Run asserts with a grin. "Wait. Are those little twig things legs? I apologize, Luffy, it's not a snake it's a salamander." When Kanjuro finally finishes his drawing, the man steps back from it and makes several hand signs in rapid succession.

"Now! Appear, Rising Dragon!" The 'dragon' comes to life, forming a three-dimensional shape before their very eyes.

"Ohhhhh! It's a dragon. I-I mean, of course that's a dragon! Good job, Kanjuro." The red head reaches up to scratch the stubble on his jaw before leaning slightly Robin's direction. "That does not look like any 'dragon' I've ever seen in those books of yours."

"I think it's cute," Robin whispers back, surprising the red head.

"Alright, everyone!" shouts Kanjuro. "Cling to it's back, it's going to climb us up!" The cling to the back of the 'dragon' as he begins it's climb up the elephants massive leg. They say their goodbyes to Bartolomeo and his crew as they slowly scale the leg. To call it 'slow' would be an understatement as well. But on the other hand, it's carrying nine people up a vertical surface so it's also giving it's all.

"I still can't see the top," complains Luffy. "Oh! Now that I think about it, Kin'emon, Kanjuro, who do you two wanna go to Zou?"

"Well, we owe you people a lot," says Kin'emon. "So we want to tell you everything eventually. But first, we need to feel safe."

"Zou was always our destination after leaving Wano," Kanjuro adds. "We want to see if Momonosuke is safe, and if another friend of ours we were separated from, Raizo, a ninja, has arrived here safely." Franky, Luffy, Zoro, Law and Usopp all turn sharply in their seats.

"Ninja?!"

"A ninja! I wanna meet him!"

"I wanna see a shuriken."

"Does he sit under a waterfall?"

"Can he really use supernatural ninja powers?"

"Can he disappear in an instant like they say?"

"Yes, he can!" confirms Kin'emon, adding fuel to the fire. The sound of something crying out reaches their ears and Robin looks in it's direction.

"Luffy, something is falling towards us," Robin says. The sound continues as the creature draws closer, eventually revealing itself to be a small monkey in free fall towards them.

"I got it, I got it, I got it!" calls Run, watching as everyone in front of him dodges out of the way one after another until it reaches him. He reaches out quickly, and completely misses the falling animal. "Eh? I lied! I don't got it! Dodge it!" Shout as he might, however, Kanjuro and Kin'emon are struck by the monkey and knocked from the back of the 'dragon'. "Crap! Tuck and roll, fellas! Aim for the Sunny!"

"What was that?!" Usopp asks. "It came right out of the blue?!"

"It looked like a bloody person with knives stuck all over his body," Robin tells him, looking over the red head's shoulder towards the sea below."Or maybe just a monkey."

"You're scaring me! What made you think of that?!"

"Oi! Kin'emon! Kanjuro!" screams Luffy. "Are you two alright?!"

"Yeah, we're alright!" responds Kin'emon. "Go on ahead! We'll catch up!" They want to double back and collect the two of them...but it doesn't seem like the dragon that the rest of the crew has named 'Ryunosuke' has the energy in him. So, they press on to the top rather uneventfully at least until Luffy nearly falls back down and drags all of them including Ryunosuke back down when he stretches out and grasps on as a hand hold before sling-shotting himself back up. Ryunosuke powers through the rest of the climb to the top, delivering them to the top and a set of gates with the setting sun at their backs. But their victory is short lived as Ryunosuke slowly turns back into a drawing while Usopp, Luffy, Franky and even Robin shed tears and thank the drawing for his help.

"Aah, it's alright," Run says, gently rubbing Robin's back. "He did what he set out to do."

"This is absurd," Law says.

"It was a shitty drawing," adds Zoro. "We're in unfamiliar territory. We shouldn't look back." Zoro and Law focus their attention on the gate in front of them. "Always pay attention to what lies ahead! Look! That must be the way in. There really is a country on this elephant's back." Run follows after them slowly looking around.

"No guards on the ramparts," observes Run. "Haven't really crossed a lot of boarders in my time but I'd expect at least a few guards at the gate." Luffy stretches his arms out quickly, and then launches himself up onto one of the near-by watch towers with ease. "Dahahaha~! There he goes!"

"Oi! Usopp!" shouts Luffy. "Come up here!" Usopp goes chasing after him quickly, and climbs up the watch tower to stand beside Luffy. However, Luffy only stays up there with him for a few moments before leaping off the tower ahead of them.

"Run! Zoro!" shouts Usopp. "Luffy jumped off!"

"Dahaha~! That surprises you?" Run laughs. "What about casanova? Did you guys happen to spot him?"

"You catch a glimpse of eyebrows?" Zoro asks.

"No!" Usopp calls back. "It's too high up to see anyone!" Run nods and presses forward calmly towards the gates.

"Runelle, shouldn't we wait for Kin'emon and Kanjuro?" Robin questions him.

"Aah, they'll catch up!" Run tells her with a grin. "It may be a country but it's still only as big as this elephant's back. We can't lose them completely." The red head stops at the entrance of the gate and stares down at the heavy metal doors lying mangled and deformed before him. "Well...that's disconcerting. Zoro, Law, come take a look here."

"They look like they were beaten down," Law says, staring at them.

"The trail is strange, too," Zoro adds. "It's too wide to be a game trail. Can you smell anything?"

"Mm, smells like- hold on a damn minute!" Run says quickly. "I keep telling you that I'm not...aah, why do I bother?" The red head crouches down to observe the gates and the trail a bit closer. "Smells like...well, like a game trail. Hmm. Wolves...jaguar- it's a whole blend of different animals. It's difficult to pick them all out. Honestly, it smells like a herd of predators tap-danced their way down the trail." He inhales deeply and exhales slowly. "The rest of the crew came this way, though...and other humans very recently."

"Let's proceed with caution. Be a good boy, and lead the way."

"Aah, is that what we're gonna do now? We're gonna argue, Zoro?" They push forward down the trail ahead of them slowly. There's certainly a lot of destruction along the path but there's no sign of the rest of the crew, and not a single drop of blood to be seen. After following the trail for several minutes, however, Run comes to an abrupt halt.

"What's wrong, red hair?" Franky questions him. "You-" From one of the bushes to their left a streak of white flies out in their direction. Run turns quickly, hand raising.

"Sea King's Bite," Run says, eyes widening when the figure changes it's direction on a dime, jumping over him. "It jumped?" He whirls around quickly, raising his free arm just as it snaps a kick out. It lands with a loud 'smack!' but immediately retreats when the red head doesn't budge an inch. A loud rumbling like something stampeding through the jungle in their direction fills the air. The creature lands across from them, and they're surprised to find that it's, well, a bipedal rabbit. The red head clenches his fist several times. When her kick landed, it felt like a shock was delivered through his whole body...a Devil Fruit eater?

"Wait! Stop, Carrot!" screams a female voice, seconds before a giant alligator breaks through the jungle. "Forget about them!" Their attention is drawn to a dog-woman riding on the alligator's back. "There is an invader in the Whale Forest!"

"The Mink Tribe," Law says.

"Oi, where did you get outfit?" Usopp asks. "What did you do to Nami?!"

"Maybe they're a cannibal tribe," Robin offers. The rabbit girl flexes her legs and leaps skyward, surprising all of them with the very height of it.

"I see them on the other side of Kurau City!" Carrot calls. "There's a disturbance in the Whale Forest!" She drops down, landing on the back of the giant alligator with ease.

"I don't have time to transport you," the dog woman says. "Do as I say! Go through the Rightrump Forest to your right, turn left at a deep dark swamp! Then you'll reach Rightflank Forest! You'll find the corpse of your friend there!" They go charging off through the forest. "Wait at Rightflank Forest! We'll be there shortly!" As they disappear from sight Usopp falls to his knees, crying about the fate of their friends.

"She said 'corpse'," mutters Robin. "Which means they were cannibalized."

"Would you calm down?" Zoro huffs. "Spiral eyebrows is with them. There's no way he'd let someone be killed."

"How can I calm down?!" bawls Usopp. "She said 'corpse', ok?! They must've killed Nami and the others and ripped their clothes off!" Law digs into his pocket and pulls out a small piece of Vivre Card, which points forward rather than the direction indicated.

"If we wanna get some reliable information," begins Law. "Then let's head this way."

"That's right, I remember seeing a city from up on the tower! But we don't know who's there!"

"The cannibal tribe might be there," offers Robin. They press forward through the jungle surrounding them, eventually reaching the city Usopp spotted. But the whole thing is completely abandoned. In fact, it looks like there was fighting in the city very recently. "I guess there's no doubt that the city was attacked now. This city could have as many as several hundred thousand residents but not a single person is here. Run, do you smell anything?"

"Aah, back to 'Run' now, huh?" Run questions her with a grin. "Well...lots of blood. Something else, too. It's...I dunno, it reminds me of Punk Hazard."

"It's dangerous!" cries Usopp. "This country's dangerous! Let's get out of here as soon as we find Sanji and the others! This place is really dangerous!" They slowly spread out through the town, keeping an eye out for the rest of their crew, and Law's as well. Every where that the red head looks he can find signs of fighting but not a single body among any of the wreckage.

"Oi, come look at that!" calls Law, attracting the attention of Zoro, Franky and Run. They approach a large crater in the middle of the city. "Look. It's a giant foot-print." Usopp sprints up to the four of them, coming to a stop in front of the hole.

"This city is dangerous!" cries Usopp. "We'd better get- what the hell is that?!"

"Did some monsters and beasts attack the Minks' country? But looking at those claws marks it might be internal discord."

"One thing is certain," says Robin, approaching them. "This country was suddenly ruined only one or two weeks ago." The ground beneath their feet begins to shake violently, causing all of them to look around quickly. "What's going on?" In front of them, a huge sheet of water suddenly flies skyward, falling in their direction quickly. "Get to high ground! It'll cause floods!" They scramble quickly, climbing the nearest set of stairs they can find to higher ground, and barely beating the rushing water. "This must happen quiet often. The town seems to have adapted to this water level."

"Seeing the sheer amount of water...I guess you're right," agrees Franky. Run approaches the edge of the roof they're standing on and crouches down to watch the water surging past. "Careful, red hair. If you fall in you'll be swept away, especially after eating that Devil Fruit."

"Relax, relax," Run tells him. "I'm not gonna dive in."

"Oi!" shouts Usopp. "I see Luffy at the edge of town! He's with the Nami-dog girl and the jump rabbit from before! He's getting fooled and being taken to their lair-" He suddenly screams loudly. "Luffy is being eaten little by little!"

"Relax! Luffy's not gonna sit there and let himself be eaten. I'm sure there's a misunderstanding."

"Let's go," Law says, watching the water level begin to receed slowly. "Room! Shambles!" Law teleports all of them with his Devil Fruit, following after Luffy and the two Minks with him. They tail them through the jungle carefully, until they finally over-take them, appearing in their path.

"Luffy! Where were you bitten?! Do you still have your limbs?!" Usopp points at the two of them while standing behind Zoro and Run. "Hey, you Nami-dog, he's our captain! You wanna eat him, don't you?! I won't let you do that, you predatory tramp!" Both Run and Zoro suddenly find a hand resting on the hilt of their swords, guided by Usopp's grip on their wrists. "Oi, if you don't give him back, you're gonna regret it!"

"Dahaha~! You move pretty quick when you want to!" Run laughs, grinning at Usopp over his shoulder for a moment. "Hey, Luffy! Seeing as you're still in one piece, I guess Usopp must have jumped to conclusions!"

"Yes, I think your friend may have the wrong idea," the dog woman says, dismounting from the back of the alligator. "But that's alright. We're here now. Look." They all look behind them at a gate guarded by two Minks, both of whom are covered in bandages. "They're with me! The Welcoming Bell didn't ring by mistake and one of them got lost in the Whale Forest! Open the gate and let everyone know that the Straw Hats are here!" The gates are thrown wide open and they're all treated to a booming welcome from countless Minks gathered before them. It's the warmest welcome that they've had upon arriving anywhere...even the trap laid for them at Whiskey Peak wasn't this welcoming.

"I thought the people of your race hate humans?" Zoro asks the dog-mink they've learned is named Wanda.

"Race? That's probably what those who don't know other Minks think and get scared of. To us you guys are just Monkey Minks who have less hair. You're the same Mink Tribe, just a different type."

"So, we're Monkey Minks?"

"That's right. We judge someone by their character, not their race." Wander steps closer to Luffy. "We take pride in the mink covering our bodies but you guys have those beautiful..." She surprises Luffy by actually licking him on the cheek. "...'lesser mink coats' and quite a lot of us admire it."

"Lesser Mink?" echos Franky.

"It's what we call Minks with fewer hairs." Ahead of them they spot Nami and Chopper sprinting in their direction. However, Nami is quickly swarmed by several of the Minks who rub against her affectionately like...well, like pets. After a few moments, Chopper squeezes through the crowd and Nami manages to break free before continuing in their direction.

"I'm so glad to see you guys!" laughs Luffy. "Sanji, Brook and Momo are alright, too, huh!" Nami hugs Luffy tightly.

"I'm sorry," Nami whispers. "Sanji..."

"They're adorable!" shouts Run, scratching several Minks behind the ears and under the chin. It's a party! The Minks quickly organize a banquet for the Straw Hats, bring them platter after platter of food to the room they've prepared for them. Not just food but alcohol as well, made from the abundant amount of fruit that grows across Zou. Robin giggles while watching the Minks flood to surround the red head.

"Mm, I see you're enjoying yourself," Robin says.

"I may never leave. I think I've found the place I'm destined to be." Robin giggles again, watching him scratch, pat or rub as many heads and chins as he can. In fact, the whole crew has at least one or two of the Mink's pressed against them affectionately. While most of the crew seems to enjoy it or at least tolerate it, Zoro is quick to shove them away while he's trying to drink.

"Would you fools go away?!" complains Zoro. "Don't press yourselves against me!"

"Would you relax, Zoro? It's just like cuddling."

"I can't drink like this!"

"Please overlook these cultural differences," Wanda says. "Minkship is a friendly gesture for us." Screaming from outside gives all of them pause, and the door to the room is very suddenly thrown open and someone comes sliding in. When the dust settles, a very ragged looking Brook slowly pushes himself up from the floor.

"Brook!"

"Everyone!" Brook shouts, charging over to Luffy and hugging him tightly. "I'm so glad that you're all alright! I'm so sorry about Sanji! I'm too ashamed to face you! Although, I don't have a facial surface anyway. Oh! Come with me! Everyone, I need to talk with the new arrivals!" Brook gathers all of them up into a small huddle away from the Minks. "Listen. Momo has locked himself in his room, and he won't come out. Where is Kin'emon?"

"He's catching up," Luffy tells him.

"Good. For now...please avoid using works like 'samurai' or 'Wano' while we're here. If you use those words, you might offend people or worse make them hate you."

"Why?"

"Well, this country was-" The doors to the room creak open to reveal a pack of dog-minks all drooling as they stare at Brook. They charge forward and latch onto Brook quickly, while Wanda explains that Canine Minks have a thing for bones...which makes this country a living hell for someone like Brook. They leave the man to the dogs, walking away from the whole thing entirely.

"What happened to Tra-guy?" Chopper asks.

"He went to the Bear Forest," Luffy tells him.

"More importantly," begins Nami. "What should we do about Sanji? We- would you quit screwing around over there?!" All heads turn to the red head who has a massive bear-mink lifted over his head in a gigantic hug with a grin on his face. He sets the bear-mink down and approaches the group now.

"Ahem, my apologies," Run says. "As for casanova, if he left a note then what do you want to do? He's obviously got something he needs to do."

"Are you an idiot?! The whole thing feels wrong!"

"Relax," Franky tells her. "We're just confused because we only have a rough idea of what's going on."

"He's right," agrees Usopp. "The last time we spoke, you guys said that you were facing Big Mom's ship! Now we finally get to Zou and there are these talking animals on an elephant's back and their city is ruined! We thought the Mink Tribe was our enemy but instead they welcomed us so warmly! They even told us we're their saviors' friends!"

"Could you tell us everything in detail?" Robin asks her. "What happened after you left Dressrosa?" Nami launches into an explanation quickly. They bumped into a ship of Big Moms, and on it were the subordinates they encountered on Fishman Island; Pekoms and Tamago. With them there was another man they recognized, a member of the Worst Generation, Capone 'Gang' Bege. They seemed to be after Caesar and intended to sink the Sunny to get the man. So, they counter attacked against Big Mom's ship, and made their escape after dealing heavy damage to it. After that, it took them only a day to reach Zou.

"Oi! Everyone!" shouts a voice, drawing their attention to the doors. A monkey Mink peers into the room. "The Duke...the Duke is awake!" Chopper grabs his bag and goes sprinting out the door with two Minks hot on his heels. "Wanda! Duke Inuarashi said he'd like to see the saviors!"

"You guys, will you all come with me?" Wanda asks them.

"Sure, but who's Inuarashi?" Luffy asks.

"He's the duke of the Mokomo Dukedom. He's the leader of the country. He's been in a coma ever since the city was wiped out. So has the other one."

"Other one?" echos Franky.

"Yes. This country has two rulers. 'King of the Day' Inuarashi and 'King of the Night' Nekomamushi. The country of Zou has been protected by these two rulers." With that Wanda leads them out of the room and through a passage to Inuarashi's sanatorium. Along the way Wanda explains exactly what happened to the city. Exactly seventeen days ago, the country was attacked by the Beast Pirates led by 'Jack'. It seems they were looking for a warrior from Wano Country named 'Raizo'. When they couldn't produce the man in question, it naturally turned into a fight. As they draw close to the sanatorium, a large hut on a wooden platform and surrounded with guards, one of the Minks is very suddenly thrown from the platform.

"Shishilian is raging out of control!" screams one of the Minks as more knocked away from the sanatorium. A Mink covered in bandages stops at the entrance of the sanatorium, panting and huffing.

"Shishilian! What's going on?!"

"Oh, Wanda. They kept saying sweet things so I just pushed them off! Don't ever talk about sweet stuff in my presence, or I'll bite out your wind-pipe! Now, climb back up here without help!"

"Shishilian, these are the Straw Hats." The man expresses his gratitude in an...over the top way. It seems that he does everything full tilt according to Wanda. After a few moments of being thanked profusely, the man throws open the doors to the sanatorium, and they walk inside. They're treated to the sight of one of the biggest Minks they've seen so far. Inuarashi turns to look at them as they stop several feet away from his bedside.

"You people are the Straw Hats?" Inuarashi asks them. "You saved us in every way. Thank you very much."

"I heard my crew saved your people," Luffy says. "But I haven't gotten to hear the whole story yet."

"You, that straw hat looks quiet good on you. I was once...oh, I can't remember who it was! That cat...anyway, I was once traveling across the seas with that one. Shanks who is one of the Yonko now was wearing that kind of hat then. You." He turns his attention to Run. "You're his boy, aren't you? You look just like him."

"You know Shanks, old man?! I got this hat from him and-" Inuarashi suddenly falls back into his bed. "-He's asleep?!"

"It's already six," Wanda tells him.

"I guess if you're trying to recover you need at the rest you can get," Run mutters. "Still, that seems a little early."

"Like I said, the Mokomo Dukedom is governed by two rulers all the time. Duke Inuarashi is the offical ruler...but Master Nekomamushi who guards the old scared Whale Forest possesses the same right."

"So, why did he fall asleep?"

"They really don't like each other. When they come face to face, they might try to kill each other. They've had so many fights that they don't even wanna see each other right now. So, one of them rules from six in the morning to six in the evening, and the other rules from six in the evening to six in the morning."

"That's an awful lot of hate," Franky says.

"All of the people in the fortress should be sleeping right now. We've always lived with the custom of having two rulers, even during the recent battle. The fight between Jack's group and us in Karau City was intensifying." Wanda continues her explanation from before, telling them about the battle between Inuarashi and Jack, and how Nekomamushi joined in the battle. However, they were evenly matched, and the battle raged for several days before Jack deployed a chemical weapon across the island...something that was undoubtedly created by Caesar. The gas paralyzed the Minks, and Jack set about torturing the strongest for information about Raizo. Finding no answers, Jack left a few dozen men behind and left the island.

"I believe that's what saved us," Inuarashi says, surprising all of them. He reaches out to pick up a newspaper from an end table beside his bed and holds it out to them. Apparently the man departed to attack several Navy Ships that were transporting Doflamingo. Unfortunately for him, it seems he bit off more than he could chew, as Fujitora and Sengoku were on-board the ship actually holding Doflamingo, and Jack was presumed dead when his ship was sunk.

"'Fools rush in where angels fear to tread," Run says, skimming the article about Jack before folding the paper. He notices Robin staring in his direction and he offers a grin. "What? I read your books occasionally." The rest of the crew arrived shortly after that. They found the city in ruins and covered by the poison gas. After clearing it out with Caesar's help, and then forcing the man to help make an antidote for the chemical agent they had more or less successfully saved as many Minks as they could. Sanji even cooked all of them a meal, and Brook played music for them while they were recovering. They did everything they could to help the Minks out.

"I really wanna kick that guys ass!" shouts Luffy. "Him and Kaido both!"

"Dahaha~! I'd say that ship has already sailed...or rather sank, as it were." Chopper hops down from Inuarashi's bedside quickly.

"I'm going to go check on Nekomamushi," Chopper says. "He should be awake now."

"That's right," Wanda says. "I'll give you a ride on my Warny. I need to let him know that Duke Inuarashi is alright. He'll probably say it's unnecessary."

"I'll come with you!" Luffy adds. "I wanna meet Nekomamushi!" Everyone is quick to join in as well, eager to meet the second ruler of the country. So, they depart from Inuarashi's sanatorium, and head for the main gate where they hop a ride on two Warny's towards the Whale Forest. They settle on top of the giant alligators before they start moving through the jungle.

"So," begins Run. "There's something I don't quite understand. So far, casanova was with you guys the whole time...when did he leave?"

"Well, that's the thing," Brook responds. "We didn't tell many people about it because we didn't want to worry them. It was a big event that happened secretly two days ago. Please be prepared for what you're about hear but...Sanji may not come back."

"What?!" demands Luffy. "He said he'd be back in his note! He'll be back! I believe in Sanji!"

"Without that annoying cook, I feel better," Zoro says simply. "I don't mind at all."

"Hmm...'prickly'," Run says, attracting the attention of the swordsman. "Aah, sorry! Just figuring out new words to describe you lately!"

"Oh, would you-"

"Maybe 'irascible'? Am I using that word correctly, Robin?" Robin giggles a bit in response.

"If you two are finished," begins Brook, strumming his guitar. "I'll explain what happened from the beginning." Brook tells them that they were tailed to Zou because their destination was shouted over the transponder snail, and they knew how to find the island because Pekoms is a Mink as well. When Pekoms turned up at the fortress with Capone in tow, Sanji took Brook and the two of them out into the forest away from the rest of the Minks. They had come to Zou to capture Caesar, and with a second objective that Pekoms wanted to ignore because they had saved his people. However, Capone shot him in the back for choosing to ignore their second task.

Capone had eaten the Castle-Castle Fruit, and become a castle-human. He quickly deployed his own men from within his own body to surround them, and even surprised them by using a captured Nami and Chopper as hostages. Caesar had tailed them as well, and was captured in the stand off before they were forced to enter the man's body through the use of his Devil Fruit. While inside, Sanji was given an invitation to a tea party, and a wedding...a wedding between Vinsmoke Sanji and Charlotte Pudding.

Naturally, Sanji refuses the invitation...but when it becomes clear that Capone won't hesitate to harm the others, and after a few whispered words from one of Capone's men, he relents and writes a letter to Luffy which he gives to Nami. He gives Nami, Chopper and Brook a tight hug...before throwing all of them out of Capone's body. Before the man can do anything to pursue them, however, the arrival of Nekomamushi frightens him into beating a hasty retreat

"Sanji is getting married?" asks Luffy. "Ohh! Maybe when he's done he'll come back with his new wife! We'll get a new crew member!"

"Luffy, marrying her would make us Big Mom's subordinates," Run tells him.

"No way!" Luffy turns to look at Run quickly. "Oi, Run, is that kind of thing common with children of Yonko?"

"It's not in my family at least. I mean, I think dad would die before he'd agree to marrying one of us off to one of Big Mom's children." The red head grin's and scoots a bit closer to Robin on the Warny they're riding. A hand suddenly slides around her waist, and pulls her closer before resting his chin on her shoulder. "Even if he did, it's not like I'd listen. I'm a one woman man, after all."

"Sweet talk will get you nowhere, Runelle," Robin says, turning her head and kissing him on the cheek.

"He'll be back," Zoro says, ignoring the whole situation. "If he were really leaving forever, he should have said 'thank you for everything', and 'I'm sorry for causing so much trouble'." Run raises his free hand, and holds up his index finger.

"'Crotchety'."

"Enough! Enough reading with reading Robin's books, you idiot red hair!"

"That's not the point!" screams Chopper.

"Yes, it is. We're on an unstoppable train now. We pissed off Doflamingo by destroying all of his SMILE Factories, and the person who's next in line is the Yonko Kaido. He's not some distant threat now. We had a fight with his underlings. Jack and the others will come after us in a matter of time. We're allying with Tra-guy for now, and it seems like Kin'emon and the others are being targeted by Kaido, too. We'll come face to face with a Yonko soon. Now, that idiot is getting involved with another Yonko! He's a twirly-eyebrowed fool!"

"Don't say it like that!" barks Nami. "Those things are unrelated!"

"We don't know what's on his mind, so let's go ask!" Luffy shouts.

"Don't tell me you wanna go looking for Big Mom?!" screams Usopp.

"We don't have a choice."

"Luffy, she's a Yonko," Robin reminds him. "She's on a completely different level from enemies we've faced in the past."

"So, we'll go in quietly." Luffy motions to the red head. "Run and I can sneak in and talk to him, and find out what he wants!"

"Aah, I guess we really should spring casanova," mutters Run...