347 Cacao Island

Pekoms was giving some bullshit excuse to the port authority about why he sailed in on an enemy ship, whilst the rest of them were having a look at the town on the island they docked at.

"This place is just too weird, I can't accept it." Cherry said, looking around at the town made almost entirely of chocolate. Even the parts that weren't chocolate were still made of some sort of candy.

"We've seen a lot of weird stuff, Cherry." Nami said. "Surely this isn't that far-fetched?"

"It's CANDY, all of it!" Cherry half-shouted. "The diverse population is something you can chalk up to being a 'bit odd', not using chocolate as construction materials! Even the damned sea has traded salt for sugar!"

"Er, well…" Nami felt that maybe she'd let her common sense slip a bit too far. So she changed the subject, "Let's go get some new clothes, shall we? We can't be too recognizable."

"You mean that YOU are going clothes shopping. I have an invitation to be here!" Cherry looked rather smug about that. Without Robin here, Nami didn't stand a chance of dragging her off to play dress up.

"We're still a day away from Whole Cake Island, where the wedding is to take place. We should get the supplies that we will need for both that and for the journey to your next generation. You aren't likely to have the time to do that after you've made a fuss about getting your cook back." Pekoms said, walking over from the cheery looking dock worker.

"Pekoms, Pekoms! Why are there so many kinds of people here?! Even Minks!" Carrot asked, wonder filling her eyes.

"That's because Mama has always dreamed of a land where all peoples could live together in harmony, Gao!" Pekoms explained. "It's for that reason that the collective islands in Mama's territory are called 'Totto Land', the total of every land in the world. Each island has its own respective minister to govern. This island, Cacao Island, is normally run by the minister of chocolate, but the position is currently vacant, which is why we stopped here."

"So that's why the place is made of chocolate? That's stupid." Cherry said. "How do you even have the ingredients to make all of this? Surely you have to replace it often or it'll go bad or melt, right?"

"I'm not too sure on the specifics, but Mama has spent much of her career as a pirate seeking out the sources of the ingredients we have today. Like giant cocoa bean trees, or one hundred meter tall sugar cane. What we don't produce ourselves is plundered from elsewhere, especially the ingredients used in the sweets that Mama enjoys." Pekoms informed.

"Can we eat it?!" Carrot asked hurriedly, bouncing on her feet in excitement that she could barely contain.

"Yes, of course you can! Nothing here lasts forever, so much of it is eaten as to not go to waste. Just be mindful not to eat private property that isn't made of chocolate or the shingles on the buildings! The last thing we need right now is attention because you broke the law." Pekoms warned. "Oh, and bring some chocolate back for me too. I can't leave the ship or I'll be the one drawing attention instead."

"Sure thing!" Carrot bounded over to disembark.

"Now, Straw Hat are you going to disguise yourself or… Where'd he go?" Pekoms asked, bewildered.

"He and Chopper already went into town." Nami said.

"What?! Do you have any idea what'll happen to me if it gets out that I brought him here?!" Pekoms shouted.

"You say that as if there was any way to stop him from racing into a town made of candy." Nami deadpanned at him. "We'll find him soon enough."

"STOP HOULIGANS! YOU'RE UNDER ARREST FOR DESTRUCTION OF PRIVATE PROPERTY!" a shout came from the town.

"See? There he is." Nami hopped off the ship and started making her way towards the commotion.

Cherry went along as well but was mostly paying attention to the local devil fruit user in the area. She hoped that she could get a better look at it, because from what she could tell from a distance was that it was a paramecia type related to the mind somehow. Certain similarities between it and the hobby hobby fruit that Sugar had makes her think it involved memory, and she wasn't about to let someone else muck about with her head so soon.

Some sort of officer of the law was listing out things that Luffy and Chopper had eaten that weren't chocolate, and thus not legal to eat, then referred to the crime as "snackalism". The worst of it seemed to be the fact that the two of them had eaten an entire cafe whilst frightened customers watched the devouring of the building around them in horror.

"There's a very good reason why we did this, officer~ *burp*" Luffy spoke with some difficulty.

"Oh yeah?" the officer clearly wasn't buying it, but was apparently willing to listen.

""It was too tasty to stop~"" Luffy and Chopper said in unison, satisfaction written on their fattened faces.

"You're going straight to jail!" the officer was fed up with their antics.

Cherry was planning to just stand by and watch what happened, partly because it amused her and partly because she couldn't be bothered to help in such a low stakes encounter. However, someone else entered the situation and complicated matters in a way she didn't care for.

"Hold on please, Mr. Cho-Cop!" a young woman flew over the crowd on a flying carpet that had a face and was singing a little tune to itself.

She had light brown hair up in pigtails and round, dark brown eyes with plump lips pursed in a pout. Her frilly shirt and poofy pants combined with her appearance gave a 'cute' aesthetic to her person. In addition to the apparently living flying carpet, she had an odd slimy creature wearing a fedora on her shoulder.

Cherry narrowed her eyes at her. She was the one with the devil fruit that possibly meddled with memories or something similar. She'd have to touch her for a proper confirmation, and that carried risks that might be best avoided.

"Ah, the cafe's owner is here! Just look at what they did to your business, Miss!" The Cho-Cop waved his hand at the ruined building flamboyantly to draw attention to its sorry state.

"My goodness!" the cafe owner exclaimed. "Look how much is left over! You promised to take care of it by now!"

"Huh?" the Cho-Cop was confused now.

Chopper and Luffy shared a look as if to ask if either knew who this woman was or what she was talking about. Then Luffy had a bright idea and whispered to Chopper, "Oh, I get it! It's Cherry in disguise, I saw her change into a different person back at Dressrosa! She's bailing us out!"

Cherry overheard it with her sensitive hearing and slapped her forehead when she saw Chopper nodding along to Luffy's guess.

The cafe owner walked over to the remains of a wall and started chattering away about the harmony between certain elements, then started stuffing bits of wall into Luffy's mouth so he could "finish what he started".

"My apologies, ma'am, sirs. I didn't realize that they were hired by you to dismantle the building," the Cho-Cop accepted the situation immediately. "Do be sure to remember to follow code, next time boys! At the least, you need to put a sign up to inform the customers!"