"Ouch!"
Little Sakura tumbled out of the hole and slammed onto solid ground.
The place looked like a ramshackle village—huts slapped together every which way. A small campfire crackled nearby, barely pushing back the pitch-black darkness.
"You stupid rabbit, what the heck are you trying to pull?!"
This time, before the bunny could bolt, Sakura jumped up and clamped her Armament Haki-coated hand around its skull.
"Let go! Let me go! Is this how you treat the guy who's saved your butt twice?!"
The rabbit flailed its tiny paws and kicked wildly, but its stubby limbs just dangled in the air.
"You little brat—you can talk? Then what was with the whole mysterious silent act earlier?"
Sakura grabbed its cheek with her free hand and yanked hard, stretching the left side of its face like taffy.
"Idiot! It's common knowledge you can't just talk freely in the Colorless Realm!"
"Who the heck knows that kinda 'common knowledge'?!"
Their foreheads bonked together, both baring shark-like teeth and snarling in each other's faces.
"Ahem. Manners, Prince Helmod."
A white cat, carried in by a swarm of tiny animals, cleared its throat. Leaning on a cane with help from the critters, it hobbled over to Sakura and the white rabbit.
"But Teacher, she tried to attack us back in the—!"
The prince-rabbit pouted, ready to tattle.
"Enough, Helmod. You know we can't say their names here!"
The cane thunked into the ground, kicking up a massive gust that cut the rabbit off mid-sentence.
The big white cat panted a few times, then waved a paw. Some critters scurried over with a table and chairs.
"Please, have a seat, Lady Sakura."
It gracefully poured steaming water from the fire into a cup and slid it across the table.
"Sorry the setup's so basic. We don't exactly have fancy hospitality to offer."
Sakura didn't mind. She took the cup, sipped the hot water, and let it melt away the exhaustion from fighting through the upper two layers.
"I've got a million questions. First—what the hell is this island?"
She took a breath to steady herself.
The white cat gazed at its reflection in the water and sighed. "Ever heard of the country Elshahe?"
"Nope. Not a clue." Sakura shook her head.
Made sense—it was on the far western route of the Grand Line, totally different from the path Roger took. She'd never needed to know about it.
"Figures. After what they did to us, of course the World Government erased every trace of our existence." The cat's smirk was bitter.
Its paw clenched on the table. "Three years ago, this place—Sunlight Island, non-member nation Elshahe—was the hunting ground for those unspeakable people's little game."
"What?"
Sakura's eyes went wide; her voice cracked.
"History, language, records… everything about our nation? Gone. Wiped clean."
The cat's face twisted in rage, tears glistening as flames seemed to dance in its eyes—a whole kingdom burning.
"Everyone still sane is holed up here now, barely scraping by in this dream-sandwich layer thanks to the prince's power."
"So… we're inside a dream right now? And it's the—"
"Mmph!"
A rabbit paw and a cat paw slapped over her mouth at the same time.
"You dumb pirate! I told you not to say their names out loud! They'll hear us!"
The rabbit's fur bristled; its triangular eyes were bloodshot with panic.
"Phew… Lady Sakura, please. No naming them here." The cat relaxed once she was silenced.
It took a sip of water to wet its throat, then kept explaining.
"The top layer is their home—the Colorless Realm. The middle is where they hunt us for fun—the Transformation Paradise. The bottom is their trash dump for broken toys—the Demon Heaven Realm."
"These three stacked worlds? That's what's left of our homeland."
With the cat's rundown, the island's bizarre setup finally clicked.
Down on the lowest layer, Sakura craned her neck and could actually see the other two realms overhead.
A silent white wasteland. Illusory streams swirling. Giant walls sealing off the gods' domain. Phantom beasts prowling jungles, radiating bloodlust, guarding a pure-white sanctuary.
Wreckage drifted through thick fog. The void cradled raw desire. Black and white spun in cycles. Angels patrolled. Sunlight above, civilization's ruins below. Hollow voids swallowed every dream. Beneath that eerie calm lurked the malice of the Creator's descendants.
This was the kingdom that lived only in dreams—Elshahe!
"Some Devil Fruit user did this, right? But how do you pull off something this massive—and keep it running?"
Sakura crossed her arms. Some questions were answered, but twice as many popped up.
She shook her head, shoving the thoughts aside, and turned back to the animals.
"Oh yeah—I came in with two crewmates. We were tracking a distress signal from another friend. Any idea where they are?"
The white cat gave a sad little shake of its head.
"Honestly? You're the first soul we've seen who can keep human form in the dream. No outsiders have hit the Demon Heaven Realm lately. If your friends did make it in… they can only be up there."
Sakura frowned. "Up there?"
Ten minutes later, the white rabbit led her to a massive pit.
Below was a mountain of white garbage, stinking so bad it defied description.
"This is the Savage End Station. The upper-world folks dump their trash here."
The rabbit adjusted its monocle and shot Sakura a teasing side-eye.
"Thanks to it, we get scraps of outside news. Feel free to dig around—your buddies might be buried in there."
Sakura stared at the churning garbage sea, waved a hand, and turned to leave. "Nah. I'm good. Think I'll let 'em fend for themselves."
"That was fast! At least pretend to care, you ice queen!"
The rabbit's eyes bulged as it chased after her, shark teeth bared.
"As long as I know they're still breathing, I don't need to find them."
"Once we beat the ability user and fix everything, I'll see 'em anyway, right?"
She pulled her hands from her coat pockets, tugged her cowboy hat lower, and flashed the rabbit a wild, reckless grin.
"Wait—you're planning to take on the heav—?!"
The rabbit nearly slipped and said the forbidden word, then slapped both paws over its mouth.
"What's the problem?"
Sakura stretched, then casually twirled one of the rabbit's ears between her fingers.
"Of course there's a problem, moron! You know who they are? They're the Creator's descendants! Touch them and you're picking a fight with the whole world!"
The rabbit shook her off, veins popping on its forehead, breathing hard.
"And?"
Sakura tilted her head, hands behind her back like she hadn't a care.
"What the heck is wrong with you? You really don't care about making enemies of the world?!"
The rabbit freaked out, grabbing its head with both paws, mouth gaping.
"That's the fun part! Getting to throw down with the jerks who run the whole show!"
The girl grinned wide—pure, untamed ferocity.