If you tried to describe the weather on the Grand Line as "ghostly," that would be an outright insult to the very concept of ghostly weather.
Ghostly weather: "How the hell could I be this screwed?!"
The sky had been blazing with sunshine just moments ago, but without any warning, it started snowing goose-feather flakes. Pristine white snow piled up thickly on the Merry's deck.
"Brr~ It's so cold! It was sunny just a second ago. Just like Crocus said—the weather here really is unpredictable."
Nami sat inside the cabin, wrapped in a luxurious black mink coat. She gazed out the window at the snowflakes drifting from the sky while rubbing her hands together. "Good thing I snagged a bunch of winter clothes for free back at the Goldglint Trading Company. Otherwise, I'd freeze to death!"
She glanced outside at Luffy and Usopp—who were wearing nothing but casual clothes yet frolicking happily in the snow—and at a certain green-haired mosshead snoring away in the flurry. Normal people and freaks really are worlds apart.
Just then, Sanji emerged from the kitchen carrying a tray.
"Nami-swan~♡ Here's a hot fruit cordial poured with all my love. Please enjoy!"
"Thanks, Sanji!" Nami accepted the drink and took a gentle sip. Warmth instantly spread through her body. She had to admit—Sanji's ladies-only snacks were always top-tier masterpieces.
Sanji then gallantly handed a cup to Miss Wednesday. He completely ignored the resentful glare from Mr. 9—practically screaming "This is sexism!"—and turned back to Nami. "By the way, where did Sherlock go?"
At that moment, outside the cabin…
"Hey, Sherlock! Come over here and help me teach Luffy a lesson! This jerk's fruit power is way too cheap!" Usopp wiped the snow off his head and shouted at Sherlock, who stood motionless in the blizzard.
Truth be told, Usopp had always felt an inexplicable wariness toward their new crewmate Sherlock—like he instinctively kept his distance from guys who wore glasses. (Definitely not because he hated the glasses-wearing butler at Kaya's house and now projected that onto every young man in glasses!)
But Sherlock, being a merchant, was a master at boosting someone's favorability. First, he discussed long-range weapon techniques with Usopp. Then he became the perfect audience for Usopp's tales—like "Captain Usopp's Great Pirate Crew vs. the Evil Hypnotist,""Captain Usopp Outsmarts the Fish-Man Pirate Cadre," and "General Usopp Goes Toe-to-Toe with a Giant Sea King."
"You might wear glasses, but you're totally my kinda guy!" the long-nosed braggart—who'd boasted so much he forgot his own name—declared to the bespectacled man.
And just like that, Usopp effortlessly accepted Sherlock as a lifelong friend.
"......" Sherlock kept his eyes closed and didn't respond. He stood perfectly still in the heavy snow, yet not a single flake touched him. If you looked closely, you'd see the snowflakes bounce away the moment they neared him, drifting off to the side. Meanwhile, several identical iron shovels were rapidly clearing snow from the deck, as if under a spell—utterly mystical.
In reality, Sherlock was training his fruit ability.
Seeing no response, Usopp exchanged a strange glance with Luffy. The two idiots grinned mischievously, quietly packed massive snowballs, and hurled them straight at Sherlock's head…
Mirror Reflect!
The imagined scene of Sherlock covered in snow and looking pathetic never happened. Instead, the thrown snowballs grew larger and larger in their vision…
Smack! Smack!
The deck shovels finished their work. Sherlock dismissed the mirrored shovels, surveyed the cleared deck, and nodded in satisfaction. He turned to glance at the howling idiot captain and long-nosed sniper, the corner of his mouth curling slightly.
"Two morons." Sherlock calmly pushed up his glasses.
The trio returned to the cabin.
"So, Sherly, what the heck just happened? How did those snowballs bounce back?" Luffy stared at Sherlock with wide-eyed curiosity.
Usopp's expression was even more exaggerated. "And you can make shovels move outta thin air! They call you a sorcerer—could you actually use sorcery?!"
At that, the rubber-brained kid's eyes sparkled like stars. "What?! For real, Sherly? That's awesome! Can you teach me?!"
Sanji and Nami looked on curiously, awaiting his answer. Even the duo in the distance pricked up their ears to listen closely.
Sherlock subtly glanced at the pair, sighed, and said, "It's not sorcery—it's a Devil Fruit ability. I ate the Paramecia-type Mirror-Mirror Fruit." Since we'll be fighting side by side from now on, it's better to let my crewmates understand my powers. With that in mind, Sherlock patiently explained.
"The Mirror-Mirror Fruit lets me reflect attacks like a mirror reflects light—though it's useless against seastone weapons. The moment seastone touches me, I lose my powers." Even now, his back ached faintly at the memory.
"I can create mirrors of non-living objects and control them freely." The cup in Sherlock's hand split into three. Under his mental command, two mirrored cups floated up—one gradually enlarging, the other shrinking.
Sherlock waved his hand to dispel the cup mirrors. Then, with a thought, over a dozen "Sherlocks" suddenly appeared in the cabin, startling the Straw Hats. They struck different poses, but every face wore the same calm expression.
"Illusions to confuse enemies." The dozen Sherlocks spoke in unison, their overlapping voices eerie and layered.
"Invisibility." Whoosh—all the Sherlocks vanished. Moments later, the real Sherlock's figure slowly materialized behind everyone.
"Oh, right—I can also store things on the other side of the mirror. I call it Mirror Space." Ripples appeared beside Sherlock. He pushed a plate into the void, and it slowly vanished, as if it had never existed.
"Time in Mirror Space is relatively frozen—perfect for storage. The capacity's pretty big, about the size of the Merry."
"Anything I put in Mirror Space can be directly mirrored into reality, like this—"
Infinite Gun Make!
Swish! Swish! Swish!
In an instant, over a hundred long-barreled muskets materialized behind Sherlock, filling nearly the entire cabin. Their dark muzzles pointed straight at Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday nearby, scaring the scheming duo into gulping nervously.
"For now, that's all I've developed with the Mirror-Mirror Fruit." Sherlock pushed up his glasses and spoke coolly to the group as he dismissed the mirrored guns.
"That's… that's insane! What an incredible ability!" Usopp praised in shock. "But no matter how amazing you are, you're still under Captain Usopp now! Ahahahaha… huh?"
Silence…
"What's up with these three?" Usopp turned to see Luffy, Nami, and Sanji hanging their heads in silence, as if brewing something. The atmosphere in the cabin grew oppressively heavy.
After a long pause…
"AAAAHHH! This power is way too strong—it's literally a money printer!" Nami pounced like a cute tiger, hugging Sherlock tightly, her face alight with excitement.
"Quick, quick—copy a thousand—no, ten thousand for me!" The orange-haired navigator's eyes gleamed with greedy Berries, shining green.
"No, copy meat first!" Luffy somehow produced a huge platter of meat, drooling as he roared, "Sherly! Copy meat for me—I'll have endless meat to eat!"
Well, these two always fixate on the weirdest things.
Sherlock's face darkened with exasperation. Just as he opened his mouth to explain, a voice like it crawled from the underworld interrupted him.
"Hey, Sherlock…" Sanji approached slowly, head still bowed, and said softly, "You said you can go invisible??"
Sherlock raised an eyebrow. Sanji's tone was odd, but he couldn't figure out why, so he answered honestly. "Yeah, that's right. By distorting light with mirrors, I can become invisible. What's the problem?"
"What's the problem? Heh—the problem's huge!" Sanji's visible right eye flashed with unnatural fervor.
"I'm so freaking jealous I could die!!!!"
Sanji suddenly dropped to one knee, pounding the floor furiously.
"AAAAHH!! Damn it! All my life, I've dreamed of eating the Clear-Clear Fruit so I could sneak into ladies' baths to my heart's content! Ahhh!! Who knew another fruit could let you go invisible…?!"
"You glasses-wearing bastard!" Sanji shot to his feet, grabbed Sherlock by the collar, and snarled, "Tell me! When Nami-swan was bathing yesterday, did you peep?! Huh?!"
Thud! A dull impact—Sanji was floored by Nami's punch.
"Sherlock, how could you do that~?" Nami's face flushed like a ripe apple as she bashfully scolded him. "Fine, since we're crewmates now, just pay me fifty million Berries. Tch—letting you see this perfect body of mine… what a steal for you…"
Usopp—who had no clue what was going on—along with the distant Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday, all stared at Sherlock like he was scum.
Luffy tilted his head, picked his nose, and said blankly, "Sherly, peeping is wrong."
Sherlock opened his mouth, but the usually silver-tongued merchant's brain short-circuited. He was speechless.
Outside the cabin, the snow kept falling. A certain mosshead continued snoring away, as if nothing in the world could wake him.
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