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"Hahahahaha!!!" x a bunch
It was probably the first time anyone had seen Bai Ye looking this ridiculous, and everyone burst out laughing.
Bai Ye just stood there, speechless.
Honestly, he didn't dislike Goldenweek at all.
In the original story, she even turned a bunch of Baroque Works members into good people.
She ended up working at a café, for crying out loud...
Besides, she was just a kid. Bai Ye really couldn't bring himself to hurt a little girl.
Goldenweek, meanwhile, looked totally confused.
This was the first time she'd ever met someone who wasn't affected by her colors.
Betrayal Black, Crazy Yellow, Rage Red, even her original move Hat Green—none of them made him flinch.
Goldenweek stared at Bai Ye. Is this guy even human? Does he have emotions?
If Bai Ye had known what she was thinking, he probably would've smiled and said:
"Sorry, I trained in cultivation first—my mind is like a fortress. Your paints can't mess with me."
Bai Ye had been in this world a while now.
He'd trained in a space where time flowed differently, for who knows how long. His heart was as solid as steel.
A few paint colors trying to break him? Please.
After taking away all her paint, Bai Ye turned to Mr. 3, who Sanji was still pinning down.
Mr. 3 had never been strong in the original story—he mostly relied on cheap tricks and the properties of wax.
Luffy beat him in just a few moves.
And now, with Sanji striking first and using Armament Haki, taking him down was easy.
This time, Nami didn't even need to use her puppet talisman—Mr. 3, full of false pride, had already spilled his whole plan in a fit of rage.
And when they heard he'd tried to put explosives in the liquor to make the giants turn on the Straw Hats—and then sit back and benefit from the chaos...
Luffy and Usopp lost it.
It didn't take a genius to realize: if either of the giants drank that explosive booze, it'd totally mess up their duel.
That was more than enough to piss off Luffy and Usopp.
Even Dorry and Brogy were furious.
Not only would their battle be tainted, but if the plan had worked, they might've ended up attacking their friends from the Straw Hats.
That kind of scheme was beyond dirty.
So after that... let's just say Mr. 3 got the full beatdown.
From both giants, and from Luffy and Usopp. No mercy.
Brutal Beating.
If Mr. 3 didn't have the Candle-Candle Fruit powers, he would've met his maker ages ago.
In the end, Bai Ye even landed the final, devastating blow.
Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine? They'd already switched sides and were working for him now.
With his anger and panic boiling over, Mr. 3 passed out cold.
And that's when Nami suddenly brought up something everyone had totally forgotten—
"Hey, where did that idiot Zoro go?"
Deep in the jungle, a weird white wax house stood quietly, while a Den Den Mushi kept ringing inside.
Bururururu~
Zoro had gotten himself lost again, carrying a triceratops over his shoulder like it was no big deal, and ended up at the strange building.
"Huh? What the heck is a place like this doing here?"
With his usual Zoro-style logic (or lack of it), he didn't bother thinking too hard—he just pushed the door open and walked in, heading straight for the source of the ringing.
He picked up the receiver. "Yo. Who's this?"
A cold voice came from the other end of the line.
"Cut the crap, Mr. 3. It's me—Mr. 0."
"I gave you that mission days ago. Why haven't you reported in yet?"
Zoro's eyes narrowed. In an instant, he pieced it all together.
This place… it had to be a Baroque Works base.
And that meant their mission here was obvious—
"You and Miss Golden Week finished the job, right? You killed Princess Vivi."
So that was their goal. Zoro smirked and casually replied, "Yeah. Mission went perfectly."
Crocodile gave a satisfied nod and went on,"Good. I've already sent the Unluckies your way with an Eternal Pose that leads straight to Alabasta."
"You should've seen them by now."
At that, Zoro glanced over at the two nearby windows. Perched on one of them was a strange animal.
The Unluckies had just arrived.
And the moment they laid eyes on Zoro, they froze in terror.
After all, they remembered the last time they crossed this guy—he held a blade to their throats.
What's more, Bai Ye had already hit them with Puppet Talismans. There was no way they'd disobey now.
So the sea otter didn't hesitate. It handed over the Eternal Pose with both hands.
Zoro grinned and said into the Den Den Mushi, "Yup, I see 'em. Got the pointer too."
Crocodile chuckled lightly and paused before adding,"Alright then. Get back here. It's time for the final phase of the plan."
Zoro kept up the act. "Cool. We'll head over ASAP."
Click.
As soon as the call ended, the wax house around him started to melt.
Zoro grabbed the Eternal Pose and the Den Den Mushi and walked out.
Meanwhile, back at Rainbase, Crocodile turned to Robin after hanging up the call.
"Send Mr. 2. Have him intercept the route between Little Garden and Alabasta. Kill Mr. 3 and the rest."
Robin nodded. "Understood, boss."
Then she turned and left, though she was clearly amused.
Because she'd already recognized the voice on the call just now—it was Zoro.
Looks like the Straw Hats had already taken out Mr. 3, she thought to herself.
"Zoro!!! You're amazing!!!"
Back with the crew, Zoro finally rejoined the group and handed over the Eternal Pose. Vivi was so happy she nearly hugged him on the spot.
Zoro dodged it fast.
That little move definitely made Sanji burn with jealousy.
Next thing you know, Zoro and Sanji were bickering over whose dinosaur catch was bigger.
The two giants nearby blinked in confusion as they watched the argument.
They could feel it—something very important had just been totally forgotten by these two idiots.
Then Bai Ye showed up and made them an offer.
In exchange for a generous stash of spirit wine, he asked Dorry and Brogy to test the Straw Hats' strength and give them some honest feedback.
The giants agreed right away.
If it weren't for the Straw Hats, their duel might've been ruined by Mr. 3's trickery.
So in their eyes, they owed the crew a debt.
Helping them out a bit was the least they could do.
Over the next few days, while Vivi and Nami prepped the ship for the next leg of their journey, Luffy, Sanji, and Zoro each sparred with the giants.
Even though the fights were mostly light sparring, the giants were super impressed with the crew's Armament Haki.
When they heard how little time the three had actually trained, the giants couldn't help but feel their age.
Brogy gave advice to Luffy and Sanji, especially focusing on Luffy.
After hearing about Luffy's Devil Fruit powers, he encouraged him to work on expanding his Armament Haki further.
Meanwhile, Dorry—wielding a massive sword—chatted with Zoro about swordsmanship.
He could tell Zoro had hit a bottleneck.
All he needed was one more step, and he'd be able to cut steel—and become a true sword master.
"....."