Ben and HQ walked to the dining hall. They took the stairs up. Ben saw HQ tail moving around. It looked cute, he thought. They got to the dining hall and entered.
Ben saw everyone was there. Alvida, Mikita, Honey, Nojiko, Vivi, Marianne, Zala, Robin, Saphir, Rubis and Emeraude were sitting around the table making small talk. He could see Saphir getting along well. Rubis was trying to keep her under control. Emeraude smiled and was talking with Robin and Zala.
"Hi All," Ben greeted. They all looked up. The girls greeted back.
Saphir, Rubis and Emeraude got up. They approached Ben. Ben could see how much they resembled each other; however, they all had a unique eye color. They all looked beautiful and had a unique charm to them.
"Thank you for allowing me and my sisters to join the crew," Emeraude said.
"Thank you. I will do my best to protect and serve the crew. However if you mistreat us then you face my wrath," Rubis said. Her eyes had furry to them. Ben smiled.
"Rubis," Emeraude said.
"He is cuter than I thought," Saphir said. She licked her lips.
"Saphir," Emeraude said.
The girls giggled. "Welcome aboard! I want you to know you're part of this crew now, and I'm here to look out for everyone and protect you all. I know you have had a rough time with your old crew, but I want to make it clear, we do not discriminate here or will treat you badly. Let's sail through this journey together, supporting one another every step of the way," Ben explained.
They all nodded. "Alvida did tell us the rules of the crew," Rubis said and added, "I expect for us to be treated the same."
"The harem rules?" Ben asked.
"Yes my love," Alvida replied.
"Two babies each," Emeraude said.
"I want more than two babies," Saphir said.
Ben sighed and looked at Alvida. She was smiling ear to ear.
"I want to say even without those harem rules, I will treat you the same. I will never hurt you and will protect you from the world. I would fight the Celestial Dragons if I need to," Ben declared.
The girls looked shocked at that statement.
"He will," Marianne said.
"That is a bold statement," Robin said.
"A bold statement is needed," Ben replied.
Rubis nodded. She thought about Fisher Tiger and compared him to Ben. They had some similarities.
Emeraude smiled. Whether that was true or not, it sounded nice.
Saphir thought they made the right decision.
"You will miss out on a lot of perks if you are not in the harem," Honey said.
"They are pretty good," Nojiko said. Vivi slowly nodded.
"We will join," Saphir declared. Emeraude and Rubis nodded.
"Okay but only if you are sure," Ben said again. They nodded again.
"Our Captain is getting popular," Robin teased,
"I wonder when it will be my turn," Zala said.
"My love will take care of everyone," Alvida said.
"He will for sure," Mikita added.
"Today is my turn?" Marianne asked.
Ben looked at Marianne. "Sure," Ben replied.
Marianne smiled and looked at Ben eagerly.
Ben thought about how it came to this. A bunch of girls all waiting in line for their turn to be with him. He has truly hit the jackpot.
"He is thinking of something dirty," Vivi said.
"Kaya is a bad influence on you," Nojiko said.
"She is not wrong," Mikita said. The girls giggled.
Emeraude looked at Ben. "Captain, can I ask you something?" Emeraude asked.
"You can call me Ben and anything," Ben replied.
"The labs," Emeraude said.
"The labs which we have been finding?" Ben asked. He was curious about what the question could be.
"Can I go and visit these labs?" Emeraude asked. She looked down.
"Sure, I was thinking HQ may need to go back for her upgrades and devil fruit," Ben replied. Emeraude sighed in relief.
"Why did you look so nervous?" Vivi asked.
"Niphtal had a lab which sis was interested in, however everytime she went they would chase her out," Rubis said.
"No one will chase you out here, you can spend as much time as you like on these labs," Ben said. Emeraude smiled back. Ben thought that name rang a bell. He remembered Emma talking about a scientist.
"I will go as well," Rubis said.
"Do you have interest as well?" Ben asked.
"Sort of but mainly to keep sis in check. She can be stubborn at times," Rubis said.
"Hey," Emeraude said.
The girls smiled.
"Master, I just wanted to inform you BM will go back for her devil fruit upgrade. I will stay," HQ said.
"Are you sure?" Ben asked.
"Yes, Master," HQ replied. Ben thought that was a bit strange however he did not mind.
"Okay. Emeraude, Rubis, once we find a safe ship, you and BM and head back to Partia Island to see the lab there," Ben ordered.
"Thank you Captain I mean Ben," Emeraude replied. Rubis nodded.
"What do you mean by safe ship?" Honey asked.
"Well something like the Miss Love Duck. A ship protects its crew. I don't trust any ship for my girls. Only the best," Ben said.
"Do you think one of the rewards will be a ship? Mikita asked.
"Maybe," Ben replied.
"Wow that is cool," Marianne said.
"Very powerful as well," Robin added. She thought that there was much more to that power.
"Speaking of power, when I fought Zabal, he talked about "it" consuming devil fruits," Zala said.
"I heard it from you before," Mikita said, referring to Rubis.
"Yes, they are trying to collect devil fruit users alive," Rubis confirmed.
Robin looked. "Why?" she asked.
"We don't know but it has something to do with the orbs,"Emeraude added.
"They don't tell us anything," Saphir said.
"That sounds familiar," Zala said.
"He was tight lipped," Robin said.
"Ben tells us everything," Marianne said.
"He is open for sure," Saphir said.
"What is their plan?" Vivi asked.
"We don't know but it's something big. Big enough to shift the power dynamic in the world," Emeraude said.
"Like an ancient weapon big?" Nojiko asked.
"We don't know," Saphir replied. Alvida had explained their adventures so everyone was aware of ancient weapons, devil fruits.
"Do they have any orbs?" Ben asked.
"Yes, they have one. We had overheard conversations between Gad and Simon that Din and Niptlal had used their robot soldiers to secure a orb," Emeraude explained.
"However they took many casualties," Rubis added.
"Those robot monster are tough," Vivi said.
"They are but we can take them," Nojiko added. The girls nodded.
"What is Simon power?" Ben asked.
"He has a Paper Paper devil fruit," Saphir replied.
"A logia?" Nojiko asked.
"Yes," Rubis replied.
"Another logia," Vivi sighed.
"Annoying," Mikita said.
"However, it's paper," Ben said.
"Paper is susceptible to fire," Zala said.
"So we just need to burn him," Honey said.
"It's not that simple. He can create markings on the paper which makes him do tricks and protects him from fire," Emeraude said.
Marianne said, "If we change those markings then he loses that protection."
"That would make sense," Ben agreed.
"Who can create fire?" Vivi asked.
Nojiko put her hand up. "I can do it with my lightning," Nojiko said.
"My liquid attacks can soak the paper and I can use my red liquid to create an explosion. I think I might be able to create fire," Honey added.
"We also have the Jitte my love," Alvida added.
"Mine and Kaya`s devil fruit can create explosions so we may be able to help out for sure," Ben said.
"Between us we can beat him," Ben added.
"We always have my love," Alvida said.
"I believe we can do it," Saphir said.
Rubis and Emeraude nodded.
"Anyone else have anything to share?" Ben asked.
"We do," Nojiko said.
"Yes, we fought some strange uniformed men," Vivi added.
"Uniformed men?" Ben asked.
"Yes, they wore a grey helmet and a dark grey shirt and trousers," Nojiko said.
"It gave me a Baroque work-like feeling," Vivi said.
Ben thought. This sounded familiar. Robin thought. "There are many organisations in the Grand Line and New World which are more than your regular pirates. It could be any number of them," Robin said.
"Lets keep our eyes open," Ben said.
They all nodded.
"I also took a cool gun from them," Nojiko said.
"I had put it in the treasure room," HQ said.
"You can use any weapon from that room," Ben said to Sahpir, Rubis and Emeraude.
"Okay," Saphir replied. She smiled. Her heart was beating faster every time he spoke and moved.
"I think we have gone through everything," Ben said.
The girls nodded. "Why don't we take it easy today," Ben suggested.
"We can have a picnic," Marianne said.
"That sounds nice," Honey said.
"I will join," Vivi said.
"Me too," Zala added.
"I like tea so I will as well," Robin said.
The other girls nodded.
"Okay, let's go," Ben said. They all headed to the deck. Ben grabbed Zala and whispered in her ear. "It will be your turn next," Ben whispered.
Zala smiled when she heard that. She looked at Ben and kissed his cheek and ran out.
"Kaya is right, he does have some effect on us girls," Nojiko said as she walked out to the deck. HQ brough blankets. BM had joined in to help out.
They all sat down and started eating. Marianne and Zala gave sandwiches out. HQ and BM gave the tea out. Alvida, Mikita and Rubis sat down and touched their cups. Honey leaned on Ben and tried to feed him. Nojiko, Vivi and Saphir sat down together and started chatting. Robin and Emeraude drank their tea together.
They enjoyed each other's company. Ben pulled Marianne towards him and put her on his lap. He whispered in her ear. "I will make love with my cutie," Ben whispered.