If Nana's throat was any dryer, it would turn into dust and sprinkle down on her turned stomach. Her eyes were experiencing the same sensation as her throat but that was only because they had not blinked in a long time. She was completely immobilized by the scene before her.
Rows and rows of glass bottles were stacked on top of each other, encircling large contraptions that were placed around Laboratory 66, stretching all the way up to the ceiling. Each bottle was big enough to hold an adult man. In fact, each of them did.
The men were naked and sealed inside the glass bottles with blue liquid filled right up to the top. Each of the men had black glasses on their faces and breathing tubes coming out of their nose and mouth. Each bottle was numbered and each contraption housed the same looking man in the glass bottles. Nana recognized their faces as the same ones she had seen training outside on the castle grounds.
Behind Nana, three identical men stood free of the bottle and shared a cruel, contemptuous smile at the mechanic's back. They had summoned her here when she had just started to settle back into her lab but any annoyance or rage she felt was wiped away once she saw this. Once they told her what all of this was.
"Behold the power of Germa 66!" Yonji cackled, "Our Clone Soldiers are programmed not to fear death and not to turn on their masters. We have made the perfect army with each soldier easily replaceable. When they die, we can just restock."
"Re...restock?" Nana croaked. She finally blinked. Her head was reeling at Niji's statement and she forced her eyes to stay closed for just a moment longer, "...These...these are lives you're talking about. Human lives!"
"Not quite," Niji sneered as he went over to one of the glass bottles and tapped a finger against it, "These soldiers might look 20 years old but it only takes us 5 years to make them. They don't realize this, of course. They identify themselves as full fledged adults."
Nana crouched down to her knees and put her head between her legs.
Whatever she had planned for destroying the fleet, and boy, did she have a plan, flew out the door along with her confidence and resolve. She had studied tirelessly the blueprints and foundation of this makeshift kingdom so she knew exactly where to hit them where it hurts. She had already mentally prepared herself to fight off the majority, if not all, of the Germa 66 but nowhere in her plan, nowhere in her wildest imagination, would she have imagined that she would have to deal with this.
Yes, she could take out an army without killing anyone but...what was going to happen to these men in the bottle if she destroys the lab? Could she pull the plug on them?
Why didn't Reiju tell her about this? Or...or did Reiju not realize that as brash and aggressive Nana could be, there was still a line she couldn't cross?
Nana felt dizzy and nauseous, like she was still recovering from Caesar's stupid drug but she knew that wasn't the cause. However inhumanely the Vinsmokes have treated Sanji, it was nothing compared to the level of cruelty proven by the existence of this lab. The existence of their army.
"...You're all monsters," Nana said, "You make me sick."
She felt a hand move under her face and then it curled under her chin to lift her head up. She stared into the cold eyes of the eldest Vinsmoke brother.
"Sanji had that same reaction as you earlier," Ichiji said, squatting in front of her. The red in his cowlick styled hair matched the cravat tucked underneath the collar of his black shirt and it, along with his words, made the mechanic see red too.
"Don't touch me, you fucking rooster," she snapped and smacked his hand away but she was too shaken to exude much force. His hand fell away but mostly of his own accord. His narrow glasses were still there so she could see her paled face in their reflection. She didn't need the glasses to know how pitiful she looked, though, because the cold smile on Ichiji's lips showed just how much he was revelling in her distraught state.
"You know..." he said slowly, "There is one way to stop this...To put an end to our use of the Clone Soldiers."
"Yeah," Nana hissed, "To beat the shit out of you so that you heartless monsters feel something."
"You could try," Ichiji laughed, "But that would end not just in your failure, but it will also end in the deaths and demise of everything you ever cared about. Now that you know we have an endless supply of elite soldiers, do you think your precious Water 7 would be able to survive our attacks? No...the way I'm suggesting is something much more beneficial to you...and a lot less painful."
"What the fuck are you-" Nana started to say but then was cut off by the sudden kiss the eldest Vinsmoke planted hard against her lips. Her already shaken mind went completely into shock and she couldn't breathe or even think but her jaws snapped shut out of instinct.
Ichiji jerked back as blood trickled down his lips. However, the mechanic's bite did not ruin his good mood and he continued to smirk as he wiped the blood off with his thumb. Opposite of him, Nana wiped her lips furiously with the back of her mouth.
What the fuck? What the fuck? What the fuck? What the fuck? What the fuck? What the fuck?
"Ah," Ichiji said and he ran his eyes over the mechanic, "With your appearance, your strength, and your intellect, you've proven that your Bloodline Elements are top notch. Marry and bear my children. Together we can create a new future for the-"
She answered him in the form of a hard left hook right across his jaw. He sprawled out to the side but her effort was not enough for him to lose his grin.
"Kiss me again, you fucking rooster, and you'll be losing your cock," Nana snarled.
Ichiji's two brothers roared with laughter at the show.
"Told you that would happen," Niji howled.
"Think about it, Mizu Nana," Ichiji said, undeterred at all by the mechanic's glare, "Stand by my side as my wife and become the head weapon specialist of the Germa 66 army. With your skills and talent, you can arm and ready our men so that they will be undefeatable in battle and eliminate our need to create Clone Soldiers."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Nana got to her feet and then was stunned to find her cheeks doused in something warm and wet. She went up to touch it and she looked down at her fingers, expecting some sort of bleeding but was surprised to find that they were tears. She didn't realize she was even crying.
Suddenly, Ichiji stood before her and he grabbed her by the wrist. His fingers dug into her skin and she winced at the pain.
"Niji," Ichiji grinned, "You were too rough on my bride."
"Sorry, Ichiji," Niji said without any sincerity, "If I had known that's what you and Father had planned, I would've been a bit more lenient."
"Liar," Yonji scoffed, "It wouldn't have stopped you one bit."
"I am not your bride," Nana whispered through gritted teeth and ripped her hand away from his hold, ignoring the firey pain that tore through her body by doing so, "I will never be yours."
She ran out of the laboratory and ploughed right through the guards standing outside the door.
"Ah! Stop right there!" they called out but Ichiji stepped forward.
"No, let her cool her head," the prince ordered, "She'll be back...I mean, where else could she go?"
Nana ran right out of the castle and into the open air. She raced through the castle plaza, out the gates, and ran from snail to snail, ignoring the surprised looks she received from soldiers passing by. She didn't know where she was heading towards or where to go. She just knew that it felt good to move, to be active, and to be able to do something.
She was still crying and she continued to do so even when she arrived towards a ship on the east side of the castle. The sun was setting but the air was as hot as it was at noon, which was just fine with the mechanic since now it was hard to decipher what was her tears and what was her sweat.
There was an open field covered in wildflowers and right at the center of the field was a tall headstone. Nana stopped her running but it wasn't because of the appearance of the grave. It was because of who was kneeling in front of it.
"S...Sanji?," she whispered.
The third prince whirled around and when he saw her, he shot up to his feet. He sprinted towards her but then immediately retracted when the sounds of beeping reminded them of their predicament.
"What happened?! Nana! What's wrong?" he yelled.
A lump formed in her throat. Of course no matter how much she ran, it was not enough cover her distress from the cook's astute scrutiny. She wanted to confide in him but if she told him everything, she knew it would bring him nothing but more pain and he had already suffered enough. She swallowed hard and tried to wipe the tears from her face. "It's...it's nothing."
"Don't tell me it's nothing," Sanji said as he raked his hand through his hair, "Nana...Please. God damn it. Tell me what did the bastards do now?"
"They...they showed me Lab 66," Nana said, settling for the partial truth.
Sanji shakily brought a cigarette to his lips and after three flicks of his lighter, he managed to light the tip. "I...see..." he said slowly and drew in a long, deep smoke. He let it sit in his throat, calming his nerves, before releasing it out into the open air, "I...I don't know what else to say but I'm sorry."
"What?" Nana breathed, "Why are you apologizing? This wasn't your doing. It's them!"
"Even if I don't recognize those shits as my family, their blood still runs in my veins," Sanji said.
"This has nothing to do with you!" Nana yelled, "Why do you feel the need to answer for them? To speak on their behalf?! I thought you wanted to sever your ties with them once and for all!"
"I do! I do but...but it's not that easy!" Sanji said. He crouched to his knees and hung his head, "Shit! I don't know what to do, Nana. I feel so weak and powerless right now. I know you have a plan and I should just be patient but it's killing me that I can't do anything. I can't...I can't even hold you right now. I...I can't do anything."
Nana sat down on the grass so that they could at least speak eye to eye. "The feeling is very mutual right now, Prince Charming..."
"What? I thought you said-"
"I know what I said," Nana grunted, "But Lab 66 has thrown a monkey wrench in my plan. I can't just destroy the labs like I originally thought and shut it all down by tomorrow. What's going to happen to those guys in those vials when that happens? I can't just let them die. I'll need to figure out a way to do it safely without affecting Lab 66...but I'm going to need more time."
"How much more time?" Sanji asked.
"I...I don't know," Nana said, "I need to study Lab 66 but I don't know if I can get any blueprints or even be able to go back into that room without any Vinshits breathing down my neck."
Sanji ashed his cigarette and then brought it back to his lips. The smoke rolled around on his tongue as he mulled over the facts.
Nana was true to her epithet. She was a cannonball that hurtled down a straight path once she set her target, breaking any obstacles in her path. However, a cannonball only moved forward and does not realize the destruction it leaves in its wake, even when it leads to its own demise...But that's what he was here for. He was the one who could see the consequences and risks of her actions...but he didn't like what he saw currently.
No matter how he looked at it, there were only two options and both of them were going to hurt the mechanic in some way so he chose the lesser pain of the two. Unfortunately, he would have to be the cause of it and he would have to do something horrendous. He would have to lie to the woman he loved.
"I can give you more time," Sanji said, "I can delay the engagement."
"You can?" Nana asked, "How?"
"Just trust me," Sanji replied, "Let me handle this. You just stay here and find out more about Lab 66. When you've figured it out, just send a message to Reiju. When she lets me know, I'll call the whole thing off, you destroy this place, and we'll go find Luffy and the others together. Okay?"
Nana nodded. "Okay."
The blind faith from the mechanic shattered Sanji's heart but he kept his face as expressionless as he could. He stuffed his hands in his pockets with one hand gripping tightly to the lighter and the other clutching the rings. "Leave...leave it to me, Nana. Everything will be fine."
The mechanic left after a few more minutes of silence of just the two of them together. If time was of the essence, she had to make the most out of every second in order to figure out a workaround to this new development.
Sanji sat by himself in front of his mother's grave and he stared at the cross shaped headstone in a daze. He had come here initially to pay his respects but also to tell his mother about the important woman in his life. It was stunning how so much could change in so little time.
Whatever glimmer of hope he saw earlier that day had been stomped out by this sick and twisted family. He had no choice now. He would need to marry Charlotte Pudding. It wasn't just to ensure the safety of Old Man Zeff and his nakama but also to protect the mechanic.
Once they were married, he and his wife could persuade Big Mom to let Nana go. After all, no matter how powerful Vinsmoke Judge was, it was clear the Yonko was the one that called the shots. Whatever his father had planned could be usurped by the demands of Big Mom.
Right now he might be powerless but once he became part of the Big Mom family, he would have some sort of authority and that was better than nothing. This was a shot in the dark but it was a lot less riskier than just calling off the engagement. That would be the nail on the mechanic's coffin...and that was something Sanji could absolutely not allow.
Yes, it was surely going to break Nana's heart when she realized that Sanji had no intention, or even a real way, of postponing the engagement and that they could no longer be together...Even if it meant she would hate him for the rest of her life, it didn't matter as long as she had a long life to live.
Inside the castle, the mechanic worked like a maniac through the night and straight into the morning, ravaging through any boxes of data and reports that she could access in the lab and any other lab she was allowed to go into.
I knew I should've brought Franky with me, Nana growled to herself with Pygmy's head resting on her lap. She sat in front of a computer and glared at the screen with her tired eyes while her fingers tapped furiously on the down arrow of the key pad. He's better at computers than me. How can a machine be this complicated?!
"Er...Nana-san?" Serhan asked cautiously from his desk, "Do you need some help?"
"Yes," Nana said as she pressed the enter key and a big red X appeared on the screen, "Okay. What's this about?!"
Serhan rolled his chair over to the computer and he gaped at the text on the screen. "Nana-san! Why are you researching Lab 66?! Those are restricted files. We don't have clearance for that."
"Who does?" Nana demanded.
"Only those who work in that lab, of course," Serhan said, "And members of the royal family."
"Alright then," Nana said and shouted right at the door, "Oy! Guards out there! Make yourself useful and get me Reiju-sama!"
"What?!" they blustered back.
Nana grabbed a wrench sitting on the desk and was about to fling it right at the door but then she stopped and stared at it. The gears in her head started to move. After a few seconds, she lowered it back down to the desk.
"Oh. I'm such a fucking idiot," she whispered to herself, "Oh fuck. I'm an idiot."
"What was that, Nana-san?" Serhan asked, "Do you still need someone to get Reiju-sama?"
"Ah! NO! Nevermind!" she shouted to the door, "I don't need her anymore! At ease, soldiers!"
She went back to looking at the computer screen but she wasn't reading it's contents any more. Nor was she typing, she was looking just at the screen itself.
Yes...A computer is just a machine...And I need to think of it as such. I...I know what to do now.
"Er...Nana-san," Brinner said as he looked at the time, "The royal family is about to leave for the engagement party. We'll need to go to the plaza for a send off."
"Hard pass," Nana replied.
"But Nana-san, we don't have a-"
The door swung open and Ichiji stepped in. "If she doesn't want to, she doesn't have to," he said with a grin.
The wrench returned into Nana's hand and she glared at the prince from her seat. "The fuck are you doing here?"
"I just wanted to say goodbye to my bride before I left," Ichiji said, "I'll be back in a few days with our new sister-in-law and then we can start planning our own wedding."
"I'm not your bride," Nana snapped, "Get it through your thick metal encased head."
"Do you know why Father agreed to give you to me instead of my other brothers?"
"Give me to you?! What am I? A box of chocolates?"
"It's because I am the most level headed of the three..." he said and he walked over to her. He grabbed her by the chin and forced her head up to meet his gaze, "But do not take that to mean I am the most passive."
She swung her wrench but he caught her by the wrist with his free hand and then slammed his mouth down on hers. However, the mechanic was not to fall for the same trick twice and she met him head on. Literally.
Thwack!
"Gah!" they both groaned as their foreheads clanged together and then snapped back from the impact.
The prince released the mechanic and stumbled back while Nana clutched the throbbing pain at the front of her head.
"Go to the engagement party, you fucking roster, and leave me alone," Nana snarled, "I don't care if you are the most level headed. I don't care if you are the most aggressive piece of shit in the world. I belong to Sanji and Sanji only."
"Give up on that loser," Ichiji said, "He can't do anything for you. Hell! He can't even do anything for your pathetic pirate crew. He's just a- GAK!"
Suddenly, the prince found himself sprawled on his back with the mechanic's foot on his neck.
"Listen hard and listen good," Nana said, "Luffy's going to be the King of Pirates and Sanji is going to be instrumental of getting him to the top. More than me. Believe that. He is stronger than all you Vinshits combined and the only reason why you don't know that is because of your own stupidity."
She moved her foot to the back of Ichiji's neck and then flung him clear across the room and out the door. "So now like I said....LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!"