After a few hours, night had fallen once again. The Love Pirates had headed back to the Miss Love Duck. They sat around the dining room. There were more plates of food and cups of tea scattered across the table. Kaya, Alvida, Mikita, Honey, Nojiko, Vivi, Marianne, Robin, Saphir, Conis, Raki, Maya, Kalifa, and Ashivra all had gathered around the table. HQ BM, Dorothy and Zala were serving food to all.
"That was a long day," Mikita sighed as she stretched her arms above her head.
"It really was," Kaya agreed as she brushed her hair back. "We haven't slept since last night. It's been one fight after another," she added. "It is not good for our bodies," she said.
"Back to back battles," Zala said as she poured tea into Marianne`s cup. "No wonder everyone looks half-dead," she joked.
"The small zombies were annoying," Honey added.
"But not unbeatable," Raki responded as she leaned back on her chair.
Kalifa adjusted her glasses. "We knew their weaknesses, so we were always at an advantage," she remarked. She looked at Ben. "Captain, I also collected Moria's blood," she said as she held up a vial. The red liquid glinted.
"Good work, Kalifa," Ben said. He thought that may come in handy in the future. "I got distracted and forgot to do it myself," he said.
Robin's eyes narrowed. "So we might have the means to create our own zombie army," Robin said.
Honey shivered. "That's scary," she said. She thought the zombie looked creepy.
"And spooky," Marianne added as she sipped her tea.
"The fruit has more uses than just zombies," Ben said.
Alvida smirked. "Moria stitched his zombies together. Imagine what we could create if we used our imagination," Alvida said. The girls exchanged mischievous looks.
Ben sighed. He thought what things were they thinking of. frowned.
"Anyway," Ben said as he changed the subject. "How is everyone after the fights? Did Kaya check you all?" he asked.
"Yes, my love, we all did," Alvida replied warmly. "Before the party," she added.
Nojiko smiled. "Kaya and Chopper worked hard. Everyone's patched up," she said.
Raki leaned forward. "I still feel drained from the petrification, but I'll recover," Raki remarked.
"You did petrify half his face and arm," Conis said.
"That was seriously impressive," Ben said. He thought that was an incredibly scary power. He thought it rivaled Boa power.
"It was also amazing when Conis burnt his skin off and exposed his bone," Maya said.
"It was nothing," Conis responded as she blushed.
"That made such a big difference to the fight. He could not move after that," Zala said.
Saphir poked her head out from behind a plate of food. "Lexie and Super Tortoise, held up," she remarked.
"They both did," Marianne nodded.
Ben thought Super Tortoise was upside down for the most part but she was doing her best.
Ashivra smiled. "They were incredible, everyone was," Ashivra said.
"Did anything come back to you?" Vivi asked. "Like your memories?" she asked.
Ashivra shook her head. "No, just the times with him in the dream," she teased and gave a wink.
"Sexual harassment," Kalifa said as she touched her glasses.
"We are here for you," Ben said as he smiled at her.
"You will make new memories with us," Alvida said. "Memborable ones," she added.
Ashivra looked at Ben and smiled.
"Also, I want everyone to pay attention, we were using Shave during the fight against Oars," Alvida said. "While it is a good technique, we should not be over reliant on it," Alvida added.
"What do you mean Alvida?" Ben asked. "Did something happen?" he questioned.
"Nothing to worry about my love," Alvida replied. "When we were battling Oars, sometimes when we used Shave, we were still in range of Oars and got hit," Alvida explained.
"He was a big person," Maya said.
"The range of Shave increases as you practise more with it," Kalifa commented.
Ben thought that was true. "Okay, that makes sense to me, it is a useful technique but like Alvida said we should not be too reliant on it," Ben said.
At that moment, Perona walked into the Dining Room. Ben looked up and greeted her. "Hi Perona," Ben said. "Vivi had told me you had joined us," he added. "I was going to check up on you," he said.
"She invited me to your crew," Perona responded. "BM and HQ did show me around," she added.
"I am glad to hear that," Ben replied. He thought they were always looking after the Miss Love Duck and everyone. He thought the A.S.S Models were doing the heavy maintenance of the ship.
He walked over to Perona. "Thank you for joining us," Ben said. He thought he wanted Perona to join. Her ghost abilities could be incredibly powerful.
Perona looked at him. Her heartbeat skipped a beat.
"The Princess is making decisions without the Captain," Robin remarked.
"In other crews there will be punishment for taking decisions without the Captain," Zala teased.
"Punishment?" Marianne asked.
"Like walking the plank," Mikita said with a smile on her face.
"Ben I was," Vivi said.
The girls all laughed.
"They were just playing with you," Nojko said.
Vivi pouted.
Ben thought she looked cute. "I will always respect your decisions Vivi, everyone of yours, I trust you all," Ben said.
Vivi smiled.
He looked at Perona. "Welcome to the crew Perona," Ben said.
"Welcome to the harem," Alvida said.
"We got another sister," Marianne said.
"It keeps growing," Zala said.
"Pervert," Kaya said.
"Does she have to do the new member's nightly ritual?" Robin asked.
"There is no nightly ritual," Ben responded. He thought he was not going to allow that one.
"Thank you for having me," Perona responded as she blushed. She thought she was finally on the crew of the man she dreamed about. She looked at Ben. "Is Moria alive?" she asked.
"Yes," Ben responded. "He was beaten pretty badly; however he was alive. Kuma had taken him away," he added.
"The World Government wont kill him, it seems like they need him for now," Robin said as she recalled the conversation.
"Defeating a Warlord causes an imbalance to the world order, an imbalance which the World Government cannot afford," Kalifa said.
"He should be okay for now," Ben said.
He looked around. "It is getting late, we should all rest up now," Ben said. "I love you all," he said. The girls blushed.
"Should we set sail?" HQ asked.
"Lets do it tomorrow, we can say good-bye to Nami, Luffy and the others," Ben responded
"My sis was the first one in your list," Nojiko teased.
Alvida smiled. "My love, we will leave, go to the Captain`s Room," she said as she looked at Maya.