One Piece: Dream of Immortality

Chapter 255: Flower Hill Hideout



In a secret hideout underneath the flower hill in Dressrosa.

"So what you're saying is..." Usopp spoke with dread.

"Yes, all the toys in Dressrosa were once people, human beings. Some were regular citizens, some were soldiers or marines, some were pirates or other travelers. It matters not who they were, as no one can remember them. It is Doflamingo's way of getting rid of problematic people while leaving no one to come asking difficult questions." Thunder Soldier explained solemnly.

"Wait a minute... then how did Luffy remember you, Sabo?" Franky asked the sock monkey in the room.

"Sabo is our other brother. I thought it would help get the point across since Luffy is an idiot, rather than argue with him about a brother he doesn't remember." Rock'em Sock'em said. Usopp, Franky, and Robin all nodded their heads as they accepted this explanation.

"This Sugar should be the one Cherry speculated about, someone who can make us forget people." Robin said.

"She worked that out before you even arrived in Dressrosa? How did she manage that?" Thunder Soldier asked curiously, but also skeptically.

He was worried that this Cherry might be one of Doflamingo's spies. The man called Vergo had infiltrated the marines to a very high level, so tricking a group of pirates would be easy.

"She got hung up on the word 'ace' out of nowhere, then connected it to Gol D. Roger and the vivre card in Luffy's hat. None of us could remember who the card belonged to, that's how she came to the conclusion that we had forgotten someone." Robin said.

Rock'em Sock'em shot to his feet. "That's me, that's MY vivre card! I'm Ace, that's MY name!" "Remarkable..." Thunder Soldier's doubts vanished. Sugar's devil fruit was indiscriminate in erasing memories, not even Sugar herself remembered who the toys were as human beings. So that meant Cherry actually did possess some sixth sense that led her to the truth, even if her memory was drawing a blank.

"Hehe, I knew I was good looking, but to think that she couldn't forget me even when she forgot me." Sock Ace rubbed his sock chin proudly.

Robin gazed upon the sock puppet coldly and Thunder Soldier decided to continue before something bad could happen.

"Ahem, anyways... we'll be carrying out Operation S.O.P. in order to turn all the toys back to normal, which will inevitably result in chaos. We will then use that chaos to launch our assault on Doflamingo." Thunder Soldier said.

"Operation S.O.P.? Is that an acronym? What does it stand for?" Usopp asked.

"That will all become clear once I've laid out the plan! The first thing you need to know is that Sugar's devil fruit will almost certainly be deactivated if she is forcibly rendered unconscious. Many devil fruits operate this way and frankly it's the only chance we have." Thunder Soldier began.

"Phase One is where Rock'em Sock'em, or Ace I suppose, comes in. He'll go to one of the toy houses outside the colosseum and wreak havoc with his grenades. The explosions will notify your friends inside the colosseum to cause a ruckus as well. This will draw away Doflamingo's forces to increase the chances of Phase Two succeeding." He continued.

"Phase Two will involve you three and the Tontatta tribe warriors. You'll take a secret tunnel to the facility beneath the colosseum, sneak into the officers' quarters, and get THIS into her bowl of grapes." Thunder Soldier motioned at Leo, the Tontatta troops' leader.

Leo held a purple ball that was roughly the size and appearance of a grape aloft. "This is made of Tatababasco, the spiciest hot sauce in the world! Several of our warriors nearly died testing it!"

"Thus the name of the Operation! Operation 'Sugar Out-cold Panic'!" Thunder Soldier said proudly.

"Couldn't you just... choke her out?" Robin suggested.

"Cherry has really rubbed off on you, Robin..." Usopp said, looking at her judgmentally. He stopped when she pinched the tip of his nose painfully.

"We did consider using force, but in addition to the difficulty in a frontal assault on Sugar, there is also the matter that we do not have an individual who is so cold hearted that they are sure not to hesitate to harm someone who looks like a defenseless little girl when the moment comes. Hesitation when Sugar is involved is a good way to get turned into a toy, which our sock monkey friend here knows all too well." Thunder Soldier said.

"Damn right! If she had looked as old as she is then I would have torched her, no problem." Sock Ace proclaimed.

"Torched her?" Robin asked, looking perhaps just a bit TOO intrigued at the idea.

"Yeah, I ate the Flame Flame fruit, I'm a flame human." Sock Ace stated briefly.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"That's so cool. I'd eat a devil fruit like that without a second thought, but the only chance I've been given was to become a slimy lizard. Regrowing limbs isn't worth that." Usopp said

enviously.

"Regrow limbs? I wish I had such an opportunity. I cut off my leg in an attempt to kill Doflamingo when this all started, so I would not mind being a 'slimy lizard' if it meant I'd be that much stronger before I face him again." Thunder Soldier said.

"Well, Cherry still has it, the devil fruit. You'll have to convince her to give it up yourself, though." Franky said, getting the Thunder Soldier's hopes up.

That was something for Thunder Soldier to consider. Unlike those who traveled the seas, he had lived his whole life in Dressrosa and would likely not stray from it, so he would not fear the curse. Also, the physical boost of being a zoan fruit user would help for the Operation even without having the time to master it.

"In any case, the last phase of the plan is my attack on Doflamingo and the rescue of the Tontatta Princess, Mansherry. I'll go to Doflamingo's palace and kill him there, whilst the Tontatta warriors will raid the SMILE factory to save Mansherry." Thunder Soldier finished. After hammering out the specifics of the plan, they got ready for the implementation of it. Sadly, they came to realize that the tunnel they painstakingly dug out over the last year was much too small for Franky to fit inside. Even Robin and Usopp would be a tight squeeze, but thankfully the Tontatta were small and strong enough to carry them both through the tunnel at a decent speed.

"I'll go with the sock monkey to attack the toy house. He'll be vulnerable once he runs out of grenades, while my SUPER body is very durable." Franky said.

Franky and Sock Ace left the hideout to reach their destination in time for the start of Operation S.O.P., during which Sock Ace broke the awkward silence by striking up a

conversation.

"So, you're the one who built Luffy's new ship, right?" Sock Ace asked.

"The Thousand Sunny? Yes, that was moi! She is my masterpiece!" Franky spoke proudly.

"I'd like to see it sometime, as I haven't had the chance yet. The Going Merry was a cozy little ship, but not very remarkable as far as Grand Line vessels go." Ace said, wondering what happened to the ship.

"I beg to differ! Merry is one of the finest ships I've ever had the pleasure to lay eyes on! Despite being an older ship from the weakest Blue, the East Blue, she managed to reach all the way to Water Seven, even after sustaining crippling damage to her keel that would have sunk most other ships!" Franky vehemently disagreed with his assessment.

"Hm, well you're the shipwright, not me. I'll trust your opinion about the matter. What ended up happening to the Going Merry? Was she scrapped or did she sink?" Ace inquired. "Neither, she still travels with us." Franky said, failing to explain that Merry was now animated by a devil fruit.

Ace was a bit confused on how they managed to bring a caravel along with them, moreover one with a broken keel. Ultimately he went with the safe assumption that could be applied to most unexplained phenomena, "probably a devil fruit". Though, he thought it was more along the lines of shrinking the ship into a bottle or something.