Bounty Island

After riding their Karros for a few hours, the captain and his comrades saw a slight distortion in front of them.

"We're here."

They continued to ride until they vanished one by one. The Yuda Snake that was following them from below continued to swim until the Karros stopped. It slowly swam to the surface and peeked out of the water. It spotted the Karros stopping on an island. After peeking for a few seconds it submerged itself again and swam in the opposite direction at full speed for a few minutes. It stopped, emerged out of the water, and waited. Sometime later, it could spot the Kuja ship. It swam towards it and jumped on the ship.

"Welcome back."

Hancock pet the snake.

"I don't see an island but I take it we just need to go forward?"

The snake nodded.

"Alright, lead us."

The snake jumped back into the water and the ship followed behind it. It stopped after a bit and so did the ship.

"I don't see anything."

Marguerite mumbled.

"Shoot an arrow, Marguerite."

"Y-Yes, Snake Princess!"

Marguerite quickly fired an arrow and it vanished into space. This surprised a lot of people.

"What's going on?!"

Luffy became excited. He extended his arm and stretched in front of the ship. A part of his arm vanished before his eyes.

"That's so cool!"

Luffy became even more excited.

"Luffy, how do you feel?! Is your hand okay?!"

Hancock was panicking looking back and forth between Luffy's face and his vanishing arm.

"I'm fine, I'm fine."

He pulled his arm back and his arm reappeared. Hancock breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's great. Although I would still love you if you were armless, I don't want to see you hurt."

"It looks like a mirage of sorts."

Elder Nyon commented while looking at Luffy stretching several parts of his body to make them vanish.

"I heard about something like this. I think it was called a Fata Morgana. However, it was supposed to disappear when you get closer…"

Luffy swung his head and stretched his neck. His head vanished causing Hancock to nearly faint. After a few seconds, his head came back.

"I see an island!"

Luffy shouted and pointed in front of him.

"So it is there."

Elder Nyon said as Hancock pulled herself together.

"S-Since we know it's there and we know it's safe to go forward. It's time for the next phase of Operation: Feed Luffy."

Meanwhile, the riders had arrived on the island.

"You guys go see your families. Today must've opened your eyes that every moment with them is special."

The captain spoke while putting on clothes given to him by someone at the port. The others were doing the same.

"What about you, Captain?"

"I'm going to report to the Mayor and the sheriff about what happened. I'll meet my family later."

He said his goodbyes and headed deeper into the island. After leaving the port, he ventured through a town. The town's road was crowded with people wearing jeans, boots, button-up shirts, and occasional cowboy hats. There were bars, inns, salons, and various vintage buildings.

"The town seems a bit noisy today."

The captain mumbled.

"It's a duel!"

A shout drew his attention. He spotted a crowd forming ahead of him.

"A duel, huh?"

He entered the crowd and saw two men facing off with pistols in their hands. Between them was a woman wearing a brown poncho with pink butterflies on it. Her pink ponytail swayed as she looked at both men.

"Lady Caria is the referee today…"

The captain mumbled.

"Alright, you know the rules. No haki-coated bullets. Using armament to block is forbidden. You both get one shot, if you miss that's your problem. Finally, no matter the result of the duel all grudge will be buried right now, so no vendetta."

The woman, Caria looked back and forth at the men again.

"Do you understand?"

The men nodded.

"Good luck men!"

Caria moved out of the way. The crowd opened up and gave the men space. They loaded their guns and brought them to their sides.

"On the count of three. One…Two…Three!"

The men lifted their guns and fired at each other.

"...…."

"...…"

A tense silence covered the area. The two men stared each other down with smoking guns in their hands. After a while, Caria spoke.

"You both missed."

"Whew~!"

The men let out of huge sigh of relief.

"I thought I was dead…"

"I saw my dead grandma…Wait, she's not dead. Then who did I see?"

The men fell to their butts with their legs shaking. The crowd quickly dispersed.

"Well, the duel is over and you two need to accept the results. Put all of your grudges behind you."

Caria approached the men and looked down on them.

"Lady Caria, we can't do that!"

"That's right! What that guy said is unforgivable!"

The men sprung to their feet and started shouting.

"Are you two going to ignore the sacred rules of this island?"

The men quickly closed their mouths. Despite the men towering over her, Caria made them feel small. Their throats dried and tightened up. Their hearts started to race. Breathing became difficult.

"N-No, we would never."

The men faced each other and shook hands.

"See? We're letting bygones be bygones."

"Really?"

Caria's face brightened up.

"That's great. I thought you were still angry with each other. If you were, I would have to cut you both down to prevent future trouble."

She started patting them.

"That's great. That's really great."

The men nervously looked down on the girl that wasn't even 5'2. Her innocent smile was genuine. This girl meant every word she said. This fact made her even more terrifying.

"W-We're going now."

"Alright, I'll see you around."

Caria waved at the men as they went their separate ways.

"Lady Caria."

The captain approached her.

"Hey, Connor. You're back from your recon. Did you see anything strange?"

Connor nodded.

"I want to see the mayor and sheriff to let them know what's going on."

"I see. I saw the sheriff by the orphanage. Tate should still be in his home office."

"Orphanage, huh? Thanks."

"Tell me what happened later."

"Alright."

Connor parted ways with Caria and walked until he exited the town. He was in a residential area based on hills. After walking for a while he stopped in front of the gates leading to a mansion. He pushed the shell of a snail on the gate.

"Sea Guards' Captain Connor here to report something to the Mayor."

"You may enter."

A voice came from the speakers. He opened the gates as small snails watched his every move. After reaching the mansion he lifted his hand to knock.

"Yo, Connor."

Before he could knock the door swung open. Connor found himself looking at a burly chest with pecs twice his head. He looked up and saw a brown-skinned man looking down on him. Connor's face reflected in his green eyes.

"Mayor Tate."

The mayor stepped outside.

"The fact you came all the way here, I take it something happened."

Connor nodded.

"We ran into some pirates."

"Which crew?"

"Kuja Pirates."

"…I figured we'd run into them one day since we're both on the Calm Belt…So, did you take care of them?"

"No. Boa Hancock was too much for us."

"Figures."

"However, I suspect the crew was annihilated by Sea Kings."

Tate smirked.

"Oh, tell me more."

"I will but there's something more important I need to report."

"More important than the possible death of a Warlord?"

Connor nodded.

"Monkey D Luffy was on their ship and he didn't seem to be a captive of theirs. In fact, he looked like an important guest."

Tate's eyes widened. A huge grin quickly appeared on his face.

"Tell me more."

At the same time on the Perfume Yuda.

"Wha! What are you doing?!"

"Calm down, Elder Nyon! We need to disguise everybody!"

"Even if you say that, what the hell are you people making me wear?!"

Loud voices came from the ship's living quarters. The ship itself was undergoing a transformation as the girls removed or modified certain parts.

"Silence, Old woman! Are you trying to interfere with my plans?!"

"Senile woman, what you're doing is madness!"

"I'm madly in love, so of course I'm going to do madness! Sonia, Marie, gag her and finish the transformation!"

"Yes, Elder Sister!"

Marguerite looked in the direction of the noise with a concerned look.

"Will everything really go according to plan?"