Two days later... Marine Headquarters.
Gion was lounging dramatically on Garp's office sofa.
"Garp-chan," she whined, "I got seriously hurt back at Loguetown. You owe me compensation."
Garp just crunched loudly on a rice cracker, looking baffled.
"You got beaten 'cause you're weak. Why blame me?"
The angry rabbit instantly reappeared. "Old man... You want me to go to Alabasta and arrest your grandson right now?"
Garp ignored her.
He knew her too well; she shared his sense of justice and would never target Luffy personally.
Her real issue was with Ray.
"Kid," Garp said, switching topics, "take some advice from an old man. You're way too old for that brat Ray. Have some self-awareness."
Gion: (💢Ò_Ó╬) "Say that again, you fossil! I'll—"
Just then, another unwelcome voice chimed in.
"Pretty lady~ I overheard~ You like that Ray guy?"
A middle-aged man in a tea-colored cowboy hat, belly shirt, and wooden sandals sauntered in, hands in his pockets.
It was Vice Admiral Chaton Tokikake.
"Tokikake," Gion sighed, "what do you want?"
Tokikake floated over to her like Sanji in love mode.
"I missed you, Pretty lady~! You wouldn't believe the undercover mission I just survived! Almost ran into Garp's son!" He shuddered dramatically.
"Luckily, I'm smart—retreated fast. Could've been ugly!"
Garp just scoffed. "Tokikake, no offense, but my idiot son would wreck you without breaking a sweat."
"Hey! Garp! She's right here! Give me some face!"
Garp wiped cracker crumbs off his mouth and got serious.
"Why are you really here? New mission?"
Tokikake pulled his hands out of his pockets.
"Yeah. About Alabasta..." He paused for dramatic effect. "...The King of Drum Kingdom, Wapol, has gone missing."
Hearing that, Gion's eyes widened slightly. "National unrest?"
Tokikake took a sip of water. "Maybe. But guess whose ship he was last seen on before disappearing?"
Garp couldn't be bothered to guess.
But Gion immediately thought of a possibility. "Judging by Drum Kingdom's location and the recent news... Garp-chan, this is related to your grandson again, isn't it?"
"Pfft—" Garp spat out his tea. "My grandson again?! Tokikake, is that true?!"
Tokikake nodded. "Wapol was a scumbag anyway, and right now he's just 'missing'. Officially, Sengoku wants me to 'investigate'. Unofficially... he wants me to go to Alabasta. The main target, of course," he said, looking pointedly at Garp, "is your grandson's crew. Especially," he added, his voice dropping, "that Ray guy."
When Gion heard Ray's name, her expression shifted – a weird mix of hatred, longing, obsession, and resentment.
This infuriated Tokikake.
"Gion-swan!" he declared, puffing out his chest. "I'll definitely keep a close eye on Ray and get revenge for you!"
With that, he swaggered out the door.
"Be careful!" Gion called after him. "Don't—"
Tokikake, thinking she was asking him to go easy on Ray, interrupted her.
"...Hmph! Don't worry, I'll go easy on him, as long as he hasn't done anything too evil." He slammed the door shut.
"...I was telling you to be careful," Gion finished, sighing helplessly.
Her body hadn't recovered enough to go help.
"That bastard Ray! He hits so hard! No, it's that vicious Nami's fault! All that electricity... my legs still go numb sometimes!"
…
Neither Ray nor Nami heard her complaints.
At this moment, the Going Merry was getting very close to Alabasta.
"According to the Log Pose," Vivi explained, "our first stop is Nanohana. We can restock food and water there."
As she said this, she shot Luffy a slightly disgusted look.
Everyone else did too, including Mikita and Gem.
"You ate a week's worth of food in less than two days!" Nami scolded. "Luffy, your appetite is insane lately! Control yourself!"
"Hahahaha!" Luffy just laughed. "I was hungry! Anyway, we'll be there this afternoon!"
"But we have no breakfast or lunch today, you damn captain!" Sanji yelled.
"We didn't even have dinner last night!" Usopp and Chopper added, spraying spit.
Just then, Ray told everyone to be quiet.
He had Chouchou relay his message: "Master says the sea ahead smells weird. Better cover your noses and mouths."
Everyone looked.
Sure enough, about 5 kilometers ahead, strange gases were bubbling up from the water.
Ray and Chouchou had smelled it ages ago and were already holding their breath.
The stench was pure torture for their super-noses.
Chopper caught the scent too, astonished. 'Ray and Chouchou's noses are amazing!'
"Hold your breath," Ray told him curtly.
Meanwhile, Luffy and Zoro seemed completely unaffected.
They even took advantage of Vivi's distraction to tie up Karoo and use him as fishing bait.
Unfortunately, nothing bit.
It wasn't until they passed through the steamy, foggy patch of sea that the three fishermen realized someone was clinging onto Karoo.
Ray immediately recognized him: Mr. 2, Bon Clay.
…
Bon Clay's last few days had been weird.
He got orders to kill Mr. 3, traveled for three days, then immediately got recalled back to Alabasta.
On the way back, he fell overboard in this foggy sea and ended up grabbing onto Karoo.
And now, here he was.
Ray decided not to expose him.
'Part of the adventure,' he figured. 'Besides, this okama isn't a real threat. Maybe Sanji can practice on him.'
So, Bon Clay chatted and laughed with Luffy's group, even showing off his Mane-mane Fruit powers, transforming into each of them.
(Vivi freaked out when he turned into her father.)
It wasn't until he left and his subordinates called him "Mr. 2" that the crew realized they'd just let a high-ranking enemy agent go.
After he left, Zoro had an idea.
Since Mr. 2 could imitate any of them, they needed a secret sign to tell friend from foe.
So, everyone except Ray drew an X on their left hand and wrapped it in bandages.
Nami and Vivi looked towards Ray.
He hesitated.
He wasn't used to this kind of camaraderie.
But after a long pause, he sighed and held out his left hand.
"Hurry up," he grumbled.
Seeing him join in, everyone, including Vivi, broke into huge smiles.
'Maybe this is what acceptance feels like.'
Ray even had Nami mark Mikita and Gem, though they used black bandages.
Still, the two captives were delighted.
'Ray-sama didn't ignore us! We still have a chance!'
…
3:00 PM.
A massive desert kingdom appeared on the horizon.
Vivi gazed solemnly into the distance.
"Alabasta... we've arrived."