Chapter 111: Following the Map

Ben, Alvida and Nojiko arrived on the Miss Love Duck. They saw HQ and Kaya on the deck of the ship.

"Welcome back Master," HQ greeted. 

"Hi HQ, Kaya," Ben greeted. 

"Hi Ben, Alvida and Nojiko," Kaya greeted. The girls greeted each other.

"We got the money and we got 600,000,000 Beli," Nojiko excitedly said as she held the briefcases up. 

"Wow, that is so much money," Kaya said. 

"Apparently there was some bet system and they doubled the money." Ben explained. 

"Master I will put the money on 2L2 where the general storage room is," HQ said.

"Sure," Ben said. 

"Here you go HQ," Nojiko said as she handed over the briefcase 

HQ was about to leave. "Kaya HQ, we also found a map." Ben said.

"Map?" Kaya questioned.

"Some pirates attacked us for the money. My love took them all out and protected us," Alvida said as she hugged Ben. 

"Yeah he was impressive," Nojiko added.

"When my love defeated them they dropped a map," Alvida remarked. 

Ben reached into his pocket and pulled the map out. "This is the map. Banazi who attacked us were talking about getting rich. However as you can the Letter D is on the map," Ben explained.

"Another hidden weapon," Kaya said.

"Possibly or another lab," Ben suggested. 

"We should investigate this. Each lab has given us some unique help. With HQ being so closely linked to the Letter D we should follow it," Ben declared.

"Yes Master we should," HQ replied.

"I think we should as well," Kaya said and added, "However Vivi may not be too happy with another detour."

"You are right Kaya but she has already seen what value this Letter has," Ben replied. 

"My love is right, the lab can be very useful," Alvida added.

"Where is Honey?" Ben asked.

"She is on the Bridge keeping an eye there," Kaya said. Ben handed the map to Nojiko. 

At that moment, Marianne and Vivi supporting an injured Mikita came onboard the Miss Love Duck. 

The girls gasped. Ben was angry to see his girl injured. "Mikita, are you alright?" Ben asked.

"I am fine Ben. Just a little roughed up, however I should get through it with some rest," Mikita replied. 

"We encountered some Marines and they reconsigned Mikita and Marianne and attacked us," Vivi said. 

Ben gritted his teeth. "But Mikita defeated him and sent him flying," Marianne said. 

Ben smiled and thought that's his girl. "Good job otherwise I would have gone and given him some pain," Ben said. 

Mikita smiled. Kaya came rushing in," Let's take her to her room now," Kaya said. 

"Yes I will help," Ben volunteered.

"Me, Vivi, Marianne have got this," Kaya said and added, "We need to leave before more Marines come."

"My love, she is right, we are a sitting duck here," Alvida commented. 

"Master the map," HQ said.

"It's on the other side of the island and not too far from the coast, so we should be able to get away from here and there. If everything goes smoothly we should leave before the Marines come here with reinforcements," Nojiko said. 

"That sounds like a plan," Ben said. 

"HQ, Nojiko, let's move now," Ben ordered. 

"Yes Master," HQ said. Nojiko nodded as they both went to the Bridge. 

Marianne, Kaya, Mikita and Vivi headed downstairs to the First Floor where Mikita's room was. 

"My love, we should get a small medical room on this ship," Alvida said. 

"Yes we should," Ben agreed. 

They saw the drawbridge retract and the anchor raised. The sails dropped and the ship started moving out of the dock. 

"We should be more careful, my love," Alvida said. 

"Yes we should as well. We didn't expect the Marines to be here in force," Ben replied. Ben thought that it was strange that a strong Marine and a member of the underworld was here at the same time. There is something going on deeper. 

The Miss Love Duck sailed out of the harbour and into the ocean where it circled the island. The island had a town on one side and a forest on the other. 

"We are far away from the town and it looks like we are in the clear," Ben said. 

"Yes my love," Alvida agreed.

"Let's go to the Bridge," Ben said. Alvida nodded. 

Alvida and Ben headed to the Bridge where they saw HQ in the helm`s seat. Nojiko and Honey were also there. 

"Hey Honey," Ben greeted. 

"Welcome back Ben. It sounds like we have another lead," Honey replied. 

"Yes, we have," Ben said. 

"I hope Mikita is okay," Nojiko said. 

"She will be, she is a strong girl," Ben replied. Ben knew she would be fine however they needed to get stronger. 

The girls nodded. 

"Master, we are approaching the south side of the island," HQ reported.

They saw a thick forest with tall towering oak and beech trees. Their branches intertwined and leaves rustled in the gentle breeze. Beneath their canopies, a diverse undergrowth thrived, featuring ferns, bluebells, and wild garlic, which painted the forest floor. They could see streams meandering through the forest, hosting a rich aquatic life of trout and salmon.

Nojiko, who had the map, was looking at it. "It looks like if we follow the stream we should get close to whatever it is we are looking for," Nojiko said. 

"The ship will be too big, my love," Alvida pointed out. 

"But not Lexie," Ben said. "We have a small group in that 5 seater tank and get there quickly," Ben said.

"Yes, that may work," Nojiko said. 

"Okay, me, Nojiko, Honey, HQ will head to this place," Ben said.

"Alvida, you and the rest will protect the ship," Ben added.

"Okay my love," Alvida said. HQ positioned the ship and dropped the anchor. 

"Nojiko, Honey and HQ head to the third floor, I will join in a few minutes," Ben sai

"Yes Master," HQ replied. The other girls nodded.

Ben headed to Mikita's room on the Second Floor through the Bridge`s stairs. He entered the room to see Mikita lying on her head with a few bandages around her head. She was smiling.

Kaya was checking her vitals. Vivi and Marianne were standing in the room. They did not have the concern they initially had. 

"Good to see you are doing well Mikita," Ben said.

"I told you it was a few scratches," Mikita replied. 

"Several hits to the body, head and leg," Kaya said. 

"It was a big hit to her stomach when the Marine who had the ability to turn his body into a round floating ball hit her," Vivi said.

"Vivi, this hit was nothing. I will take more to help you," Mikita said. 

Vivi did not want to reply. "I would let you take hits like that. In fact we are going to do more training after this," Ben said. 

The girls groaned.

"After this?" Marianne said. 

"Yes, we found another map when we ran into some thieves. The last find had Lexie the tank. We could get some equally as good this time. I expect this to be a few hours maximum and then we head to Alabasta," Ben explained.

"Vivi I am sorry. One minor detour and we head straight," Ben said.

"That is fine, those maps and finds may be helpful for our assault against Mr 0," Vivi replied. 

"Nojiko, Honey, HQ and I will take a look and be back soon. The rest will stay here and protect the Miss Love Duck," Ben said.

The girls nodded. Ben then left the room and headed to the Third Floor where he saw the tank was ready to go. He walked to the open door and saw everyone was in. HQ was in the driver seat. Nojiko was sitting in the seat behind and Honey was in the back seat. Ben sat next to Nojiko. 

"Let's go," Ben said. HQ closed the door and pressed a button which started the engine. She then pressed another button which lowered the ramp of the Miss Love Duck. The ramp slowly went down and hit the water. 

HQ moved Lexie into the water. There was a big splash as they hit the water. 

"Lexie sure can move," Ben commented.

"Yes she is fast," Honey said. 

They began travelling up the steam as soon as they turned right from the Miss Love Duck. 

The stream was a narrow, flowing body of water. The flow of water was coming downhill, following the contours of the landscape which was straight. They went up and up the stream. The gradient was increasing steadily.

"Master, look ahead from your screen," HQ said. 

Ben looked at his screen. He saw there was a small block waterfall. Its square-shaped cascade of water descended from a height, consisted of individual columns of water that fell in parallel. 

"It's beautiful," Honey said. 

"The map says it is there," Nojiko commented as she looked at the map. The map showed a waterfall with a cross a bit behind it. 

Ben saw this in other movies before. "I think there is a cave behind it. Typically erosion happens at the waterfall and a hollow structure is behind it," Ben explained.

"Yes, that may be correct Master," HQ responded. 

"Let's take a closer look from the land," Ben said. 

HQ nodded and moved Lexie onto the land. Lexie was easily able to get off the water. 

"This tank is versatile," Honey said. 

"It sure is," Nojiko said. 

Lexie got on the land near the waterfall. HQ opened the gull-wing doors and they all exited the tank. 

"Nice clean air," Ben said. 

"The freshwater enhances the smell," Nojiko said. 

"Let's have a look," Ben said. Nojiko, Honey, HQ and Ben walked to the waterfall and there was indeed a cave behind the waterfall.

"Bingo," Ben said. The cave was a hollow rock structure which extended inwards. It was dark, grey and damp. 

"It's dark," Honey said.

"We should be a bit careful," Nojiko said.

"There is some light during the day but it could get worse at night," Ben said.