Several hours passed since they parted ways with Mr. 2, during which they continued sailing toward Alabasta, and suddenly a sea monster emerged.
"SOMETHING APPEARED!" Luffy yelled.
"It's a sea cat!" Vivi exclaimed upon seeing it up close.
"Is that an earring?" Oliver wondered upon seeing the cat. "Who put it on him?"
"It's a sea monster!" Usopp and Chopper yelled in fear while crying.
"But it's just a little kitty!" Elegg said, finding it cute.
"We're on the right track. I hope we arrive soon." Nami said, ignoring them.
"FOOD!" Luffy yelled. "Sanji! We have a lot of food right here!"
"Not eating much really is bad for him" Elegg said.
"And what have we been eating normally?" Oliver said, going straight to Luffy and pushing him into the sea. "You can leave"
The sea cat turned around and began to move away.
"Luffy!! What did you do?!" Usopp yelled while shaking Oliver.
"They killed Luffy!" Chopper yelled.
"Relax, I just made him come to his senses, I'll bring him back now" Oliver said, jumping into the sea.
"Luffy kinda goes crazy over food" Elegg said, looking at the sea.
"It's what he'll always go crazy for, although this time he has been at a level of madness I've never seen" Nami said, looking at the Log Pose.
Oliver came out of the sea holding Luffy to throw him onto the Going Merry,
"Have you calmed down?" Oliver asked Luffy while shaking water out of his ears.
"W-Why did you let the food escape?" Luffy said, recovering.
"Because you simply can't eat everything put in front of you. You have to learn to eat normally. I recently brought out more emergency food and you still tried to eat it all" Oliver scolded him.
While they were talking, Usopp began telling Chopper a story about how he once fought a Sea King.
"I'll tell you the story of when I fought some Sea Kings in the Calm Belt." Usopp lied, but Chopper still believed him.
"Against Sea Kings?!" Chopper said, impressed.
"They were huge! They were this huge!" He told the story, stretching his arms.
"O-Our food got away..." Luffy said, crying while biting the railing.
"Don't worry, Luffy-san. Soon you'll be able to eat until you burst." Vivi said, cheering him up.
"REALLY?! What cat will appear this time?!" Luffy asked excitedly with sparkles around his face.
"Why a cat?" Elegg asked him.
"Vivi, it seems the wind and the climate are stabilizing." Nami informed her.
"Yes. We have already entered the climate zone of Alabasta. The appearance of the sea cat is the proof." Vivi replied.
"And look at what we have behind us... That also proves we are close to Alabasta." Zoro said with a smile, seeing all the Baroque Works ships.
"That's a lot of ships! When did they appear?!" Luffy asked.
"Hey, all those ships have the Baroque Works symbol!" Usopp said, alarmed and nervous.
"How many do you think there are in total?" Oliver asked, somewhat worried about the quantity.
"Their employees have started to arrive... They are surely the Billions, the subordinates of the Officer Agents." Vivi said.
"That means we have at least 200 enemies..." Nami said.
"And besides, they are 200 elite members of Baroque Works. They aren't like the bounty hunters from Whiskey Peak." Vivi said.
"The ones at Whiskey Peak were weak, and I guess these are a bit stronger. They shouldn't be a problem, but being so many..." Oliver said, thinking about the amount. "I hope we don't have to fight them head-on, because not even all of us together could beat them"
"How about we take the chance to shoot now?! Let's finish them off now!" Usopp yelled, scared.
"It'll take less time if we go over there and attack them!" Luffy yelled, but his stomach rumbled with hunger. "No, wait. I have to eat first."
"Idiots, don't worry. They're just nobodies." Zoro said with a smug smile.
"He's right. If we lose sight of our main objective, it'll be the end. There's only 10 of us" Sanji said with a smile.
The crew continued getting closer to Alabasta and were now tying bandages around their left arms.
"We have to tie it well. Our enemy has too many mysteries." Zoro said, biting the bandage.
"I see." Vivi said with a smile, tying the bandage tightly on Nami's arm.
"With this on, we won't have to doubt our companions." Nami said.
"Does the guy with the Clone Clone Fruit become that identical to us when he transforms?" Sanji asked curiously, since he didn't get to see it.
"He doesn't become similar, he becomes identical! It's a shame, you should have seen him. We even danced with him." Usopp told him.
"I'm not interested in a male ballerina." Sanji said while smoking.
"But you would have been interested to see him transformed into Nami and Elegg, or am I wrong?" Oliver said to him.
"He transformed into Nami-san and Elegg-chan?!" Sanji asked him angrily.
"No" Oliver told him while putting the bandage on Elegg. "Only into Nami. He didn't touch Elegg"
"Knowing there is someone like that among the enemy, we can't act so carelessly" Zoro said, finishing putting on his bandage.
"What can I do?" Chopper asked Usopp.
"Do what you can do. You don't have to do anything else. There's nothing wrong with running away from an enemy you can't beat!" Usopp answered him while Sanji looked at him with his eye half-closed.
"Is that your motto, Usopp?" Sanji asked while tying the bandage on the wing of Karoo, who squawked.
"What I can do, huh? Alright!" Chopper said.
"Island in sight!" Luffy yelled, seeing Alabasta.
"We will stop at the city called Nanohana. We have to hide the ship." Vivi explained to them.
"Alright! Now, whatever happens, what we have on our left arm is the proof of our friendship!" Luffy said while they formed a circle with their left arms. "Alright! Let's disembark! TO THE RESTAURANT! And then to Alabasta."
"THAT IS SECONDARY?!" Everyone yelled at him angrily because of his priorities.
"Luffy, the enemy this time is a band of assassins." Nami told him.
"We know how his priorities are, food and then everything else" Oliver said.
"Of course" Luffy said with an ear-to-ear smile, thinking about how many things he will eat.
"I don't think you should accept that so easily" Elegg said.
"Try not to act on instinct, understood?" Nami said, treating him as if she were dealing with a child.
"Yes, understood. Yes, that's it. I got it." Luffy said while Vivi looked at the bandage on her left arm and smiled happily.
[Mission: Help take down Baroque Works]
[Reward: 398,200,000 Berries, Talent Gacha Token, Weapon Gacha Token, Devil Fruit Gacha Token, and Combat Style Gacha Token]
[Remaining: 10/21]
'Mmmm, 11 more and I will complete this mission. Then to strengthen myself a bit'
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