The scene immediately descended into some chaos. "That guy... is he a Devil Fruit user too?"
It was Mikita who showed a bit of an officer's bearing. "What are you afraid of? They only have one Devil Fruit user and some dime-a-dozen swordsman over there. We have two users here!"
A cheer rose from the crowd of underlings.
Two Devil Fruit users versus one? The advantage is ours!
These days, anyone who picks up a sword can call themselves a swordsman. They had dozens of men here holding swords, and some with guns too.
But the moment those so-called swordsmen charged at Zoro, a flash of sword light streaked past. Blood blossomed on their chests as they screamed and fell.
Luffy was quite confident in Zoro's strength. This was a swordsman who dared to challenge the World's Greatest Swordsman. In other words, Zoro was aiming for the level of their boss, Crocodile.
Now, finally encountering a proper Grand Line pirate—and a Devil Fruit user at that—Luffy pushed down his straw hat, hoping this opponent would let him enjoy himself a bit.
"Hey, Luffy."
Zoro, suppressing his nausea, interrupted Luffy. All three swords were already drawn, a凶惡 look in his eyes. "Don't you dare steal my opponent in the middle of the fight."
That had happened far too many times before.
"Hahaha, if you've got the guts, come and try it, Mr. Swordsman!" Gem sneered, firing off another booger bullet without a care.
Zoro had learned his lesson this time. He agilely sidestepped, the booger exploding into a small puff of smoke behind him. His eyes sharpened as he instantly closed the distance.
At the same time, Luffy faced off against Miss Valentine.
Any Devil Fruit user was troublesome—they were, after all, said to have gained demonic powers. A Gomu Gomu no Pistol shot out, but his opponent dodged it easily.
Mikita leaped lightly, her body becoming as light as a feather as she floated into the air, effortlessly avoiding Luffy's straight punch.
"Hahaha, missed! I'm Miss Valentine, and I can change my weight freely!"
For some reason, hearing that made Luffy think she had a few screws loose. He also reflected on why he always shouted things like "I'm a rubber man who ate the Gum-Gum Fruit!" whenever he fought an enemy.
Wasn't that just telling them all his weaknesses?
Just like this situation right now.
This was something Luffy had learned from Zoro: be ruthless, talk less, just do it. And to take the essence and discard the dross—he hadn't picked up Zoro's habit of reciting poetry.
"Ten-Thousand Kilo Guillotine!"
Mikita suddenly shouted, her body instantly becoming incredibly heavy as she plummeted from the sky like a meteor, crashing down towards Luffy.
The声势 was grand, but it was still far too slow.
Just like a certain other technique—flashy but useless.
"Gomu Gomu no Jet Stamp!"
Luffy flashed into the air, delivering a powerful kick to Mikita, who was rising back up for another attack below.
BAM!
She was sent flying by the kick, stars swirling in her vision.
That was it?
Luffy had thought that being in the Grand Line, an underling of a Seven Warlord, and a Devil Fruit user on top of that—with so many buffs stacked together—she'd be strong. But she was taken out in one exchange.
Seriously? No hand-to-hand combat skills at all?
Just relying on the Devil Fruit ability?
The problem was, you hadn't even developed your Devil Fruit ability that well, even though it sounded pretty powerful.
I should have picked the booger guy after all.
And the booger guy wasn't having an easy time either. Zoro's sword skills were fierce and relentless, forcing Mr. 5 to constantly use explosions from various parts of his body to block and counterattack. The sound of explosions was incessant.
"Now's my chance!"
Zoro seized the momentary opening after Mr. 5 used an explosion. "Santoryu: Tora Gari (Three-Sword Style: Tiger Hunt)!"
A powerful slash tore through the air. Though Mr. 5 quickly covered his arms with explosions to defend, he was still sent flying with a heavy blow, a spray of blood erupting from his body as he fell, unable to get up.
The battle ended swiftly.
It was only then that Vivi arrived at the scene, panting heavily. What she saw were the two defeated Baroque Works Senior Agent and Igaram, severely wounded but still alive.
"Igaram!"
"Princess Vivi, I'm alright..."
Nami, Sanji, and Usopp arrived close behind.
Sanji clearly didn't know what had happened yet. Usopp, looking at the aftermath, began his boasting: "Seems the mighty name of the great Usopp hasn't reached them yet, and the enemies were already taken out by Luffy and Zoro? Lucky them."
Nami, however, keenly captured Igaram's address of Vivi.
Princess?
That wasn't a title one used casually. Doubting Vivi's identity, she directly asked,
"Vivi, just who are you?"
Knowing her identity couldn't be hidden any longer, Vivi revealed everything: her identity and the crisis facing Alabasta.
"That's how it is. I am the princess of Alabasta. Igaram is the captain of my personal guard."
In recent years, revolutionary movements had emerged within Alabasta, with citizens causing riots and throwing the country into chaos. After learning about the organization Baroque Works from Igaram, she infiltrated it as a spy to uncover the truth.
She had only recently discovered that the mastermind behind Baroque Works was Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, who was attempting to overthrow the Kingdom of Alabasta.
"A kingdom's princess?"
Nami's eyes instantly turned into Beri symbols, as if she saw endless treasures waving at her.
Frankly speaking, that title was synonymous with money!
But the next second, she suddenly remembered the "cuckoldry right in front of the wife" incident from earlier. Alarm bells rang in her heart, an inexplicable sense of crisis surging up.
Vivi had made a move on Luffy, that kind of move! Nami once again found herself torn between money and Luffy.
In the past, I would have definitely chosen the money!
Nami immediately pulled Luffy, who was still out of the loop, aside and said:
"Luffy! Did you hear that? The Seven Warlords of the Sea! Those are major pirates recognized by the World Government, completely different from that Arlong back in the East Blue. We just entered the Grand Line; there's no need to get involved in some country's power struggle, it's too dangerous! And the reward... uh, I mean the risk is too great!"
She looked up only to realize no one was listening to her.
Sanji was a lost cause, of course.
Usopp was busy boasting in front of Merry as if he had taken down all the enemies himself. Zoro had a dissatisfied look, but hearing they were going to fight a Seven Warlord had him fully excited.
Wait, what? Nami was starting to question her life. What kind of people are on this ship?
Luffy was the first to speak, posing a question to Nami. "Vivi is our nakama now, right?"
Nami wanted to say no, but the ship's rule was that anyone Luffy brought aboard was a nakama... That's how everyone else had joined.
"Y-yes, I guess so."
Luffy pressed his advantage. "Then there's no problem. Since she's a nakama, helping Vivi knock that Crocodile guy flying is only natural, right?"
"Luffy..."
Vivi looked up at him, eyes brimming with tears.
"And there's one more thing."
Luffy turned his head, his gaze sharp as he looked towards a dimly lit street corner in the distance. "We've already beaten up their so-called Chief Officers. That 'Works' organization definitely won't let us off easily. Right? What do you think?"
Through the misty night, crisp footsteps echoed.
A tall, slender figure slowly stepped out from the shadows.
***
Dive deeper into the story with 30+ advance chapters, available now on Patreon!patreon.com/CNBLUE
If you're enjoying the novel, please consider leaving a review. Your support is crucial and helps the story grow immensely. Thank you!