The girls moved ahead, following a narrow path flanked by towering rock formations on either side. The high, rugged stones created an almost canyon-like passage.
"Guess it will be a single file through here," Honey said.
Ben nodded and walked behind Honey. He saw her red gym shorts which made her ass look great. He smiled.
Tashigh saw Ben's eyes drawn to Honey`s butt. "You might want to look ahead," Tashigi remarked.
"He can be looking at your butt if you were ahead," Mikita said.
"Sexual harassment," Kalifa said, touching her glasses.
As they reached the other side of the passage, they came upon a pond. The water was crystal clear, reflecting the surrounding greenery, and dotted with lily pads that gently floated on the surface. "It looks beautiful," Vivi remarked.
"Like you," Ben said. Vivi smiled at Ben and Ben smiled back.
"Not now," Hina remarked.
"It's always the time with Ben," Kaya remarked.
Marianne and Saphir approached a large tree and saw several coconuts. "Ben there are coconuts here," Saphir remarked.
"They look... different," Marianne observed, eyeing the five coconuts clustered together.
Robin stepped closer, noticing a unique stripe of color around each coconut. "It might be similar to that blue fruit we found earlier," she suggested thoughtfully.
"Let's grab them, just in case they're useful," Ben decided.
Everyone nodded in agreement. "Good thing we brought several bags," Mikita noted.
Meanwhile, Kaya knelt near the pond, her eyes drawn to some unusual plants growing along the edge. "Find something interesting?" Nojiko asked, joining her.
"These plants seem different from the others," Kaya murmured, gently brushing her fingers over their leaves.
"Do you think they might have special properties?" Nojiko asked.
"Possibly," Kaya replied thoughtfully.
"Let's take a few, just in case," Ben suggested.
Kaya nodded, carefully gathering five of the unique plants. "Got them," she said, slipping them into her bag.
Hina looked over to see a small cave. "Hina thinks we should go there," Hina said, pointing to the cave.
"I don't see any other path so that maybe right," Zala agreed.
"We can carry people across," Ben said.
Nojiko grinned mischievously. "Watch this, Ben," she said with a twinkle in her eye. "Moonwalk!" She launched herself into the air, kicking off the air once, then again, moving higher each time. Soon, she was gliding through the sky, defying gravity with each step.
"Wow, she's really doing it!" Kaya exclaimed in awe.
"Go, Nojiko!" Vivi cheered, watching her friend soar.
Nojiko continued, kicking off each time. She felt confident as she got closer to the other side. But, just as she thought she'd make it, fatigue kicked in. She wobbled mid-air, and in an instant, began to fall.
"Nojiko!" Vivi and Kaya called out. Ben reacted swiftly, dashing forward and catching her just in time. She landed safely against him.
Nojiko looked up, smiling as she caught her breath. "That was a close call," Ben remarked with a gentle sigh.
"I knew you'd catch me," Nojiko replied, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek.
Ben gave a small chuckle, though he looked serious. "Just be careful, okay?" he said.
"That was close," Maya said.
"We could just walk on the lily," Kalifa pointed out.
"That also works," Alvida agreed. They all walked across to the cave and entered it. The cave was modest in size, with a narrow entrance. Inside, cool, damp air drifted through. The walls were rugged, glistening with traces of mineral deposits. Small stalactites hung from the ceiling.
"Let's keep moving," Ben said. They walked through the cave and got to the other side. As they exited the cave, they saw a large sandy beach with a massive set of fossilized remains. Its ribcage arched out of the ground like the frame of a sunken ship. It had an enormous skull.
"That is huge," Marianne remarked.
"It reminds me of the ones we saw back in Little Garden," Nojiko said. She thought back to the two giants and how they caught the large sea creature in the past.
"I wonder how it got there," Maya said. She thought that creature could not live here. It was too big.
"I think this will loop around back to the Miss Love Duck," Robin said, as she looked around.
"Let's go and find out," Ben said. They walked down the path and saw a tree.
"Ben, there's a chest over there!" Conis exclaimed,pointing to a partially hidden spot under a large tree.
"Nice catch, Conis," Ben replied with a grin.
Without hesitation, he and Conis leaped down to a lower ledge, making their way over to the chest by the tree's roots.
"Be careful, Captain. It could be a trap," Kalifa advised with a cautious look.
"Or worse, it could have a monster inside ready to swallow you whole," Robin added with a smirk, causing everyone to exchange uneasy glances.
"Shouldn't we maybe... just leave it alone?" Marianne suggested.
Ben shook his head, smiling. "Let's see what it has in store for us," he responded.
He slowly lifted the chest's lid, the hinges creaking as it opened. Inside was a single piece of parchment. Picking it up, he carefully unfolded it, and a map revealed itself. "It's a map," Ben announced.
"Anything interesting?" Nojiko asked.
"There are a few crosses and it looks like the map is of this place," Ben responded as he gave Nojiko the map.
Nojiko held the map. Mikita and Zala looked at the map as well. "It seems there is something down there," Nojiko remarked.
"Let's go and see it," Ben said. They headed down. Along the way, they collected another two blue fruits.
They walked down and saw an altar with a shiny orb. "What is that?" Tashigi asked.
"I don't know," Ben responded. They walked towards the shiny orb. There were some markings on the floor. The floor around the altar was concrete where everything else was gravel or dirt.
As they stepped onto the concrete, the orb started to glow. Suddenly everyone got a vision of Kaya and her mom talking together and smiling. Then the vision changed to Kaya`s mum dead. Kaya was crying. Then it changed to Kuro serving Kaya with tea with a sinister smile. After that, the vision changed to Kaya and Usopp talking. Finally, it ended with Kaya in Ben`s arms.
Kaya was about to say something when the orb started to glow. There was a bright light. From the bright light a figure started to form. They saw a muscular, tall man with two cigars in his mouth. He had short silvery-white hair and brown eyes. He wore a large thick white and blue marine jacket.
"It is Captain Smoker," Tashigi said.
"Smoker it is me Hina," Hina said.
Smoker approached Hina. He walked slowly towards the group of girls. "I think this is the Phantasm," Zala said.
Smoker lunged forward and threw a fist at Hina. Ben transformed into his hybrid form. "Demon Fist," Ben said as he channelled his energy into his fist. He clashed his fist with Smoker`s fist. Ben thought that was strange.
At that moment, Vivi aimed her Gero Gero Gun and fired it at Smoker. The frog shaped bullet left the barrel and hit Smoker. There was a loud explosion and black smoke cloud. Smoker was sent flying away. He had scratches on his clothes.
Ben had an idea. He thought there were alot of game mechanics so far. "Everyone leave the zone," Ben ordered. They all immediately followed Ben`s order and left the area. They were all outside the concrete area. All of a sudden Smoker turned to light and went back into the orb.
"He is gone," Honey said.
"It seems if we leave the place, he goes away," Robin noted.
Ben took a step back on the zone. The light appeared from the orb and Smoker was back. His clothes were in mint condition.
"And if we hurt them and step out of the zone, they seem to recover," Kalifa added.