Alabasta, the port city of Nanohana.
Inside a resort near the coast.
Mr. 3 and Ms. Goldenweek sat under a parasol, enjoying a leisurely and comfortable time.
Mr. 3 held a cup of black tea, took a sip, and let out a contented sigh.
"Hmm… when drinking black tea, it really has to be Earl Grey…"
Ms. Goldenweek, holding a book beside him, said boredly,
"It's so leisurely, Mr. 3!"
Mr. 3 continued sipping his tea and said somewhat impatiently,
"You keep saying 'leisurely, leisurely,' don't you hate working?"
Ms. Goldenweek lightly hummed in affirmation.
Mr. 3 then continued,
"Then enjoy this rare leisure time!"
"Also, don't call me by my codename in public places like this; it will expose that I am Mr. 3."
Ms. Goldenweek looked up at the '3' shape formed by Mr. 3's hair on top of his head and asked,
"Is that so?"
At this moment, Mr. 3 shifted his gaze to a piece of paper in Ms. Goldenweek's hand and asked in confusion,
"By the way, what is that paper you've been holding for an hour?"
Ms. Goldenweek heard him, held up the paper, and said indifferently,
"This is a report submitted by a Billion Members earlier, saying that Straw Hat has already entered Alabasta waters with Princess Vivi, and they will arrive in Nanohana in an hour."
Mr. 3 was stunned for a moment, then suddenly reacted the next second, baring his teeth and shouting,
"Why didn't you say so earlier?!"
Ms. Goldenweek looked at him innocently, not responding.
Mr. 3 was clearly used to this situation and quickly calmed down, saying,
"The report was submitted an hour ago, which means Straw Hat has already arrived in Nanohana now?"
"Maybe they're already in this city."
After sorting out his thoughts, Mr. 3 said to Ms. Goldenweek,
"We missed the chance to sink them at sea beforehand, so let's take them down in the city!"
"This time, the mission Mr. 0 gave us is that Princess Vivi must not meet Kohza."
"So…"
"Ms. Goldenweek, immediately mobilize all Billion Members and Millionaires in this city to conduct a carpet search for Princess Vivi's whereabouts."
"We will deal with them here before they leave this city."
...
On a street in Nanohana.
A Navy Captain with a slicked-back hairstyle and two cigars in his mouth was walking leisurely.
Beside him was a somewhat clumsy female swordswoman.
"Captain Smoker, will Straw Hat really come to Alabasta?"
"We've been here for days, and we haven't seen any sign of them."
The clumsy female swordswoman, Tashigi, asked in confusion.
And the Navy Captain with the cigars beside her was Smoker, who had pursued them from Loguetown.
Smoker always had his perpetually furrowed brow, and he said in a deep voice,
"They will definitely come."
"We intercepted a communication at the time, and although the signal was incomplete, there's no doubt…"
"It's certain that one of the two people in that communication was… Straw Hat."
Every time he thought of the conversation between those two individuals that they had intercepted, Smoker felt a surge of alarm and confusion.
Because the signal was incomplete, they only heard this much of the conversation at the time:
"…that group also knows the secret of my identity… returning to Alabasta…"
"…absolutely cannot let… bring Princess Vivi back to the country, ruining my plan…"
"…I am Monkey D. Luffy!"
Recalling the intercepted content once more, Smoker's inner confusion was reignited.
Isn't Princess Vivi the princess of Alabasta? How could she be involved with Straw Hat?
And the other person said that Princess Vivi absolutely couldn't be allowed to return to the country, ruining the plan.
Who exactly is it? What plan?
This series of questions left Smoker extremely puzzled.
And he also had a vague feeling in his heart.
A monumental event was about to happen in this country.
Just as Smoker was pondering, he suddenly heard a commotion from ahead.
Looking up, he saw a crowd gathered in front of a restaurant.
"Hey! What's going on here?"
"I heard someone died in the restaurant?"
"What? How did he die?"
"I don't know! The people in the shop said that the person suddenly died while eating. Look, he's still lying there!"
Smoker quickly brought Tashigi to the entrance of the shop and looked inside.
He saw a shirtless man indeed lying motionless on a table, with a piece of meat still on the fork in his hand.
And the surrounding people in the shop were all standing aside, scared and afraid, not daring to approach.
Suddenly, Smoker frowned, his pupils trembled violently, his eyes filled with disbelief, and he murmured,
"That mark…"
Tashigi noticed the change in Smoker's tone and immediately asked in confusion,
"What's wrong, Captain Smoker?"
Smoker clenched his teeth and said in a deep voice,
"Look at the tattoo on that man's back…"
Tashigi looked towards the man's back upon hearing him, and saw that the tattoo was a skull with a Whitebeard.
Immediately, Tashigi's mouth dropped open into an O-shape in surprise, her expression astonished, and she said,
"That… that's the Whitebeard Pirates' mark!!!"
Just as she was exclaiming, the man lying there suddenly got up from the table.
Then he looked around blankly, suddenly lifted the skirt of a woman next to him, and wiped his face clean of the food stains.
Then, under the astonished and fearful gazes of everyone, he scratched his head and blurted out,
"I fell asleep!"
Boom!
The entire place instantly erupted like a volcano, with every customer baring their teeth and shouting in disbelief,
"Fell asleep?!"
Just then, Smoker entered with Tashigi.
Seeing the powerful Marine suddenly enter the shop, everyone around immediately fell silent.
Then, everyone heard Smoker say in a deep voice,
"Whitebeard Pirates' 2nd Division Commander, what brings you to this country?"
"Portgas D. Ace!"
As soon as these words were spoken, a gasp of surprise echoed throughout the room.
"White… Whitebeard? Is that person from the Whitebeard Pirates?"
"Now that you mention it, I think I've seen the tattoo on that person's back."
"Why… why would someone from the Whitebeard Pirates come to a place like this?"
As the people around discussed, Ace's mouth curved upwards, and he turned around, crossing his legs, resting his elbow on the table behind him, looking at Smoker with a calm expression, and smiling,
"I'm looking for my brother!"
"Brother?"
Smoker muttered a word, then dismissed it, looking at Ace and saying in a deep voice,
"Then… surrender obediently!"
Ace's lips curled into a faint smile upon hearing this, and he lightly floated out a sentence,
"I refuse!"
"Only a lunatic would agree!"
Smoker didn't rush to act, but instead said,
"I'm looking for a pirate; I'm not interested in you."
Ace spread his hands and said carelessly,
"Then let me go!"
Smoker suddenly frowned, gritting his teeth.
"That's still not allowed. I am a Marine, and you are a pirate."
"As long as this identity doesn't change for a day…"
Just as Smoker was halfway through his sentence, a somewhat excited voice suddenly came from behind him.
"Yo! Ace! It really is you!"
Luffy stood at the doorway, looking at Ace inside the shop, calling out in surprise.
While walking, he had been wondering if Ace would come to this country like in the original story, so he had been using Observation Haki to sense the surrounding auras.
As a result, he indeed sensed a familiar aura, which led him to this shop.
Upon hearing this voice, everyone in the entire place was instantly drawn to it.
Smoker, who was about to make a move, suddenly froze, his heart jolting as if startled.
That voice, it was Straw Hat!
Smoker abruptly turned his head and saw Luffy grinning, standing at the doorway, smiling as he looked towards the direction behind him, where Ace was.
Just as Smoker was wondering why Luffy would greet Ace, suddenly… his eyes widened again, filled with disbelief.
His gaze was fixed on the woman beside Luffy.
After careful discernment, Smoker was absolutely certain.
That woman was Princess Vivi of the Alabasta Kingdom.
Just as Smoker was incredibly shocked and puzzled, he heard Ace's surprised voice from behind him.
"Luffy!!!"
Ace and Straw Hat know each other?
Smoker was puzzled.
He had too many questions in his mind right now.
At this moment, Luffy also saw Smoker in front of him and paused.
"Why are you here?"
The next second, he frowned and said,
"Hey! I don't have time to play with you right now, go play by yourself!"
As soon as these words came out, everyone in the entire place was stunned.
They all looked at Luffy with expressions as if they had seen a ghost.
"Th-that… that Straw Hat actually… actually spoke to a Navy Captain like that!"
"Who is that guy? How dare he?"
"Isn't he afraid of death? That's a Navy Captain!"
Just then, someone suddenly exclaimed.
"Th-that Straw Hat, I think I've seen him somewhere!"
"No mistake. This person is… this person is the Worst Generation, Straw Hat Monkey D. Luffy!"
Hearing someone announce Luffy's name, the entire place instantly erupted in gasps of surprise.
"Really or fake?! Is this the Straw Hat Monkey D. Luffy, dubbed the worst rookie pirate in history, with a bounty of 60 million Berries?"
"I never thought I'd actually see him in person!"
"A pirate with a bounty as high as 60 million Berries, how terrifying!"
"Hey! Did you guys see? That Straw Hat seems to know Ace of the Whitebeard Pirates!"
"Two extremely evil pirates… know each other… Are… are they going to attack our country?"
As these people were shocked by Luffy and Ace's identities, someone suddenly exclaimed again…
"Hey! Look! Isn't that Princess Vivi?"
"It's true! Why is Princess Vivi with Straw Hat?"
"No way! Could it be… Princess Vivi was kidnapped by Straw Hat?"
"This is absolutely terrible, we need to save Princess Vivi quickly!"
"Who dares to make a move against those two pirates?"
…
Seeing that the crowd was already in chaos, Vivi wanted to explain.
But Luffy stopped her with a look.
Vivi was now a princess of a country, and he was a pirate.
If the citizens knew that the princess was allied with a pirate, it would be difficult to explain then.
It was best to let them assume she was kidnapped.
He could also use the commotion of these people to spread the news to Baroque Works, drawing their pursuit to gather information.
After stopping Vivi, Luffy pulled Vivi into the restaurant and sat down next to Ace.
He looked up at the stunned boss and said,
"Boss, bring me one of every dish you have here. No, make it ten of each!"
The boss's forehead was covered in cold sweat, his eyes filled with terror.
Facing a notorious and vicious pirate, how could he dare to disobey?
He immediately nodded and ran off to prepare Luffy's meal.
At this moment, Ace suddenly put an arm around Luffy and burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha… Luffy, you're still such a big eater!"
Luffy glanced at the two one-meter-high stacks of plates in front of Ace and retorted,
"Aren't you the same?!"
"Wahahahahaha…"
Ace laughed again, patting Luffy's back hard.
Then, the two of them seemed to ignore everyone around them, chatting and laughing arm in arm.
This scene left the onlookers in awe.
Vivi also sat aside, watching Luffy chatting and laughing with Ace, wondering to herself who this Ace was to Luffy.
Just as the two were laughing and chatting, catching up after a long separation, an incredibly low and angry voice from behind interrupted them.
"Straw Hat…"
"What exactly do you… want to do?"
"What exactly are you going to do to this country?"
"Why did you kidnap the princess of this country?"
"What… exactly is your goal?"
Hearing the voice from behind, Luffy and Ace stopped their reunion.
The two of them and Vivi turned to look.
They saw Smoker's face as dark as water, his facial muscles twitching constantly due to anger.
His gaze at Luffy was as if he wanted to devour him whole.
Luffy looked at Smoker and said lightly,
"If you want to know, then stay in this country and watch!"
"If you want to stop me, I'm ready anytime!"
Luffy shrugged, showing his attitude.
Smoker became even angrier upon hearing this, his cigar almost bitten through.
The surrounding crowd all looked on in horror.
They could already feel that this Navy Captain was ready to erupt at any moment.
However, to everyone's surprise…
They saw Smoker suddenly turn around and say to Tashigi beside him,
"Tashigi, let's go!"
Then, the two of them left the place amidst everyone's shocked and puzzled gazes.
This scene once again left everyone present dumbfounded.
They looked at Luffy in disbelief, exclaiming in shock,
"Th-that Navy Captain was scared away by Straw Hat?!"
"Really or fake?! Is this Straw Hat really that powerful?"
"I know that Navy Captain. I heard he's the Logia Devil Fruit user, Smoker the White Smoke! He's a very strong monster. Does such a person actually dare not confront Straw Hat directly?"
"Straw Hat… too terrifying!!!"
After Smoker left, Luffy and Ace continued to eat and drink, chatting as if no one else was around.
…
Meanwhile, on the street outside the restaurant.
Smoker walked briskly towards the coast.
Tashigi could barely keep up by jogging.
Looking at Smoker's back, Tashigi asked in confusion,
"Captain Smoker, why didn't you capture Straw Hat in the shop just now?"
"Weren't we here for them?"
Last time in Loguetown, when Luffy made a move against Smoker, Tashigi was not present, so she had no idea of Luffy's strength.
Smoker, still walking very fast, said without turning his head,
"We are not their opponents."
"That guy must be planning something big in this country."
"I absolutely cannot watch him destroy this country."
"Let's go back to the ship, call Marineford for reinforcements. We must stop the Straw Hat here."