Since the Straw Hats now had two ships, they sailed close together but would split up on occasion in case they needed to cover more ground. Thankfully, Gottfried would be able to keep everyone in touch with each other.

Ben had taken Penny, the Eds, Rolf, Hilda, Rosa, Mifune, and Fuu to be part of his group on the Black Pearl and divided the jobs between them justly. Penny was his First Mate, Ed was his Helmsman, Double-D was his Navigator, Eddy was his Tactician, Rolf was his Archaeologist, Hilda was his Striker, Rosa was his Lookout, Mifune was his Swordsman, and Fuu was his Doctor.

Currently, Eddy was chuckling perversely from the Black Pearl's crow's nest with a pair of binoculars as he saw the girls on the Going Merry dressed all the girls up in dancer outfits. Apparently, they had been bought by Heart as a means of giving Vivi a taste of home.

"Yeah, shake that thing, baby!" He smirked as he saw Luna in her dancer attire.

Also on the Merry, Usopp was busy fixing up Lassoo, just about finishing up.

"There. That hair trigger seems to have been causing your cold. How does that feel?"

"Ah, my rinuses are finally rear. Ranks, Usopp. Rand rit rill reels rike ri rave ry usual firepower."

"I made some adjustments to your mechanism to compensate for the trigger. Now you can fire ammo other than baseballs." Usopp explained.

-OP-

The crew stopped at various islands along the way both to update the Log Pose and so Nami could update her rapidly growing sea chart. Chopper was also busy working on improving his Rumble Ball.

"How did you come up with this drug in the first place?" Draco wondered.

"It was kind of an accident. The first time I made it I wound up dropping a couple of valuable medicines in a mixing pot all at once. I swallowed the result and it wound up altering my body in ways I didn't realize were possible." Chopper said. "Doctorine really scolded me for that, but since then I've experimented to improve on the formula. Thanks to the reference books we were given in Alabasta, I can increase the effect to five minutes while drastically lowering the cooldown time. And I might be able to gain more special forms as I do further developments."

"Just don't go all mad scientist on us," Luna quipped as she walked by, drinking a soda. "I'd hate to find myself suddenly strapped to an operating table."

"Come to think of it, you never showed your seventh form during the fight at Drum Castle," Kuina noted, having also come in.

"It's calledHorn Point. It boosts the power of my ramming ability." Chopper explained as he finished writing down his notes. "You know, Doctorine never verbally acknowledged me as a doctor. But she did once trust me with her life when she got sick. So for me, that's more than enough."

"It is." Luna assured her little brother. "And I know Nami, Fuu and Mifune agree."

-OP-

Robin was watching the entire crew going about their usual routine.

"You really get to work on this ship."

"We're sailing for the end of the Grand Line. Naturally, we have to get strong enough to reach it." Luffy pointed out.

Robin had been asking the crew all kinds of questions regarding their past, just enjoying the smiles of everyone. Vivi started to get the impression that despite how long she had been traveling, she'd never truly visited the places she'd been. Meanwhile Boss, Axol, and Ruby were doing some fishing so they could keep up food supplies.

"What's wrong, Ruby?" Boss asked the Kraken Fishman when he noticed her struggling with her line.

"We got a whopper!"

Seeing Ruby struggling even with her natural Fishman strength, Boss moved to assist as did Gin, Choi, and Amingo.

"What could this be?" Luffy wondered. "Axol, head down there and check it out."

Axol saluted. "Aye-Aye!"

The Axolotl Fishman dove in and saw something strange. A large sea snail with a shell designed like a submersible. Shrugging, he hauled the sea snail right onto the deck.

"An Escar?" Draco asked.

"It must have caught the line by mistake," Axol suggested.

"Actually, it was a happy accident!"

Everyone jumped when they heard a new voice coming from the Escar. The Black Pearl sailed over and bridged with the Merry so that Ben and his group could come over and see for themselves as well.

The side port soon opened itself up and a fat but jolly-looking man dressed as a merchant of some kind came out. Inside the Escar appeared to be all kinds of supplies for trading.

"I've been waiting for you, esteemed Straw Hats." The man smiled.

"Who are you?" Luffy asked curiously.

"Forgive my manners, call me the Duke." The man introduced himself. "I believe you've met my good friend?"

"What good friend?"

"What are ya buyin'," Duke said in a familiar tone of voice. "Does that ring any bells?"

"You know the Merchant?" Usopp asked in surprise.

Duke chuckled. "I was hoping to run into you. Anyone who is anyone has heard of your exploits on the We Are broadcast. A group of heroic pirates in search of the One Piece."

"Heck yeah!" Sonson beamed. "And we're gonna find it!"

"From what my good friend has told me, there is no doubt in my mind you will!" Duke smiled. "Now to business; weapons, Log Poses, useful items, just about anything you desire, I can provide."

"We do have some gold to unload. The weight on our ship would be better put to resources." Draco noted.

"Very good! I have a fine selection of items that I believe you'll find most useful." Duke then reached into his Escar and pulled out a double-weighted staff. "This here is the Buru Buru Blade. I know, ironic name, considering it's a staff but it comes with variable weight ends for use by a large variety of body sizes."

Boss took the weapon and started swinging it around to test it.

"Hmm... Good flexibility... Decent range... Excellent durability... Speed is almost perfect... I'll take it!"

"We might as well start up a tab sheet for this. Once we have the base price I can start haggling." Vivi said to Draco and Ben.

By the end of it, the crew had started unloading exercise equipment, quality kitchenware, cleaning materials, several sets of binoculars, and an encyclopedia set for both ships.

"And you simply cannot leave without this special Millenium Paper. Specially crafted from the Thousand-Year Trees from Eight-Nine Island." Duke said.

"I've heard of that island. Completely unsettled, but the trees there are older than known history." Amingo noted. "An old friend of mine and I longed to see that place."

"Yes, the paper made from them is especially durable. Guaranteed no rips, can stand out in the sun without fading, completely waterproof and weatherproof, and won't attract bugs while stored in your hold." Duke said. "Perfect for drawing up family trees, and better still for cartography."

"We'll take the lot!" Nami called out.

Duke laughed. "Settle down, dear girl! There's still one more thing I have to show you and consider it a free gift for your excellent purchasing."

"Sweet! Free loot!" Eddy grinned. "Give us what you got!"

Duke smirked and then pulled out something that shocked the entire crew; a Devil Fruit.

"It can't be..." Vivi whispered.

It wasn't just any Devil Fruit either, it resembled a spherical tan barrel cactus with two stubby arms pointing upwards. The fruit had the typical swirl pattern on it and also had a green T-shaped stem protruding out the fruit's top. The right side of the stem was longer and curled slightly.

"Indeed, my dear. The Sand-Sand Fruit."

"Crocodile's Devil Fruit..." Mifune growled out before calming down.

"And it is yours, free of charge." Duke smiled. "After all, who better to put it to good use now that it's previous owner has shifted off the mortal coil?"

"I already have the Mist-Mist fruit." Mifune explained. "Heck, most of us already have Devil fruits. And last I checked? Zoro, Sanji, Axol and Ruby at least have no interest in them."

"Well, Sanji's waiting for ONE particular Devil fruit…" Noire teased, delighting in Sanji's tensing and blush.

"I TOLD YOU THAT IN CONFIDENCE!"

"Still, be might rude to refuse." Ben said, taking the fruit. "But yeah, you raise a good point…..This fruit is too dangerous to leave in circulation."

"But anyone who uses it will be compared to and reminded of Crocodile." Axol noted.

"Give it to me."

The crew all turned to see Vivi, her hand oustreched for the Sand-Sand fruit.

"V-Vivi?" Draco asked. "You're sure?"

The former princess nodded.

"As former princess of the country he threatened, a country of Sand?" she explained. "I'll make sure to redeem it. Besides…I have a few fellow Logias to help me use it. Besides, even if I can't swim anymore? I can still tan and bathe."

"Let her have it." Robin suggested. "Every point she makes in valid. And I do so likle the irony."

And so, without any hesitation Vivi bit into the fruit and gagged, as it tasted exactly like dry sand. Duke nodded in approval before rubbing his hands together.

"Now then, onto the last order of business; method of payment!"

Vivi proved to be good at negotiating a decent price for the goods, and Duke even had a system in place for converting gold to Berris that involved a series of seabirds. Heart pulled out the gold from her treasure gate to pay for everything.

"Pleasure doing business with you, my friends. Good luck on your journey!" Duke smiled as he closed his Escar and dropped back into the sea. "We shall meet again! And do be sure to say hi to my good friend, will you?"

"We will!" Penny said, waving Duke goodbye along with Ed, Rosa, Luffy, Sonson, Chopper, Kirby, Usopp, and Kaya.

"Alright! Now I can get some real cartography done with all this new paper." Nami said as she took a bundle and headed into the cabin to start working.

"And I can get started on mastering my new weapon." Boss noted. "Anyone wish to spar?"

Gin, Zoro, Kuina, and Mifune all smirked as they stood up to take the Kung-Fu Dugong's offer.

Knightmare Lord A/N:

This was a much easier chapter to write since we're finished with all the Alabasta nonsense. But on that note, we now have the Duke from Resident Evil Village as a new ally of the Straw Hats and yes, he and the Merchant are canonically best buddies.

Also, Vivi now has the power of Crocodile's Sand-Sand Fruit, which has been done before in a few other One Piece retelling works. Hope you look forward to how she uses it!

Mrotrax A/N:

Nothing much on my end; but loving how the crew is progressing!