Morgans's bird beak was open wide enough to fit an egg.
"Princess Vivi? What are you doing here?!" Morgans shrieked.
In that instant—
Morgans's first reaction was that a World Government agent had come for him.
He was so scared he nearly choked.
No one understood the World Government's methods in this regard better than he did.
But having worked with the World Government for so long, Morgans had been dancing around the World Government's red line without incident.
This time, the matter hadn't seemed that serious. If they didn't like that kind of reporting, they could just recall it.
They could talk!
Vivi did not answer immediately. Her gaze was drawn to an urgent news draft scattered on the floor.
She bent down, picked it up, and quickly skimmed it. Her pupils suddenly shrank.
"Fire Fist Ace to be publicly executed at Marineford in one week?!"
She murmured the headline, her face full of disbelief.
Why was Fire Fist Ace being publicly executed?
Everyone knew that, over the years, the only pirate the Navy had publicly executed was the Pirate King, Roger.
Then, she saw several other drafts.
One detailed the Sabaody Archipelago incident, focusing on how Straw Hat Luffy had killed three Celestial Dragons, accompanied by a blurry but highly impactful photo.
Another announcement that the Straw Hat crew had been completely eliminated by the Warlord of the Sea, Bartholomew Kuma.
Morgans watched Vivi's rapidly changing expression. His heart sank.
He tried to grab those unfinished drafts—especially the news about the Celestial Dragons being killed and the Straw Hat crew being eliminated. These were too sensitive. The World Government had exerted tremendous pressure to have them suppressed.
Even if Princess Vivi was one of the protagonist of the news, she couldn't see them.
Otherwise, why call it the charming moment of journalism?
Those who controlled the public opinion controlled the world's truth.
But as he approached, a cold, irresistible whirlwind rolled around Vivi, pushing him stumbling backward.
Wind elements wrap around her fingers, carrying the pressure of a Logia-type Devil Fruit user.
"A Logia-type Fū Fū no Mi?!"
Morgans exclaimed in shock.
Everyone knew that the reason the three Marine Admirals were called the Supreme Fighter was largely because they had eaten powerful Logia-type Devil Fruits.
By that measure, did the princess before him also have the potential to become a supreme combat power?
Gulp.
Morgans's throat moved.
He then realized that Vivi was no weak woman, but a powerful ability user.
So how had that news about Princess Vivi being taken hostage by the Straw Hat crew spread?
What was the story behind that special 500 million Berry bounty?
How could a Logia-type Devil Fruit user be taken hostage?
To his mind, Princess Vivi was clearly a core member of the Straw Hat crew!
But the important thing now was—
"You broke into my office. What do you want? Leave here at once!" Morgans said, bracing himself.
"I'll leave when I'm ready."
Vivi looked up, her gaze sweeping over Morgans. "But before that, I want to see all your information on this incident and on the whereabouts of our crewmates."
She waved the draft about the elimination, her queenly aura on full display.
"You wouldn't want the World Government to know that you just hosted me and that I saw things I shouldn't have, would you?"
Morgans was so angry his feathers trembled. His beak clicked, but he was helpless.
Facing a Logia-type ability user who could elementalize, his newspaper's bodyguards were useless.
Moreover, if the World Government found out that Princess Vivi had caused a disturbance in his office and seen confidential information, he would be in big trouble.
Just then, there was urgent knocking on the office door and a subordinate's panicked report:
"President, this is bad! World Government agents are here! They want to see you reports about the Sabaody Archipelago!"
Morgans felt like his bird's crest was about to explode. Speak of the devil!
He glared at Vivi and lowered his voice. "Just look! Look! Don't cause me any trouble! Leave as soon as you're done!"
He straightened his tie, forced a professional smile, and went out to deal with those troublesome agents.
Only Vivi remained in the office.
She quickly went to Morgans's desk and began looking through more documents and intelligence.
Her heart sank.
The news about Ace's upcoming execution was real.
Earlier, they had all thought that being locked up in Imped Down was not a big deal for Ace—at least, there was no danger to his life.
If Luffy found out about this, he would go to Marineford regardless.
And the news about Luffy killing Celestial Dragons and fighting the Navy's top combatants was being strictly suppressed. Only a few copies of the newspaper had been printed.
The reports about their elimination were the public opinion the World Government wanted to promote.
"Everyone was sent flying. They should be safe for now."
Vivi recalled Kuma's intention at the end.
Had Kuma sent her to this place for a reason as well?
"Luffy, where are you now? Please be safe!"
Holding the newspaper, Vivi thought that perhaps she could use the World Economic Times's intelligence network to quickly pinpoint the specific locations of her crewmates.
Especially Luffy's whereabouts.
And she had to find a way to urgently get the news of Ace's upcoming execution to Luffy and the others, who might still be unaware.
...
[Warning: Time for waking up plan...]
The cold notification sound pulled Luffy from his deep sleep back to reality.
He suddenly opened his eyes. The glaring sunlight made him squint instinctively.
It was already fully light.
Recalling his dream from last night, the corner of his mouth twitched.
In the dream, he had fought Grandpa Garp again for a whole day!
Though the battles in his dreams helped digest his combat experience, the fear and exhaustion of being dominated by those iron fists still lingered.
"I definitely didn't sleep well."
Luffy grumbled, trying to move his stiff body.
His injuries had mostly healed under the powerful resilience of the Nika fruit. But the Stage Three punishment for his crewmates' separation still remained, like background noise, continuously bringing fine pain.
Though it wouldn't prevent him from moving, in battle or when he needed to concentrate, this pain would undoubtedly be a huge distraction.
"This could be considered training, but I can't always be distracted by resisting the pain in battle."
Luffy frowned and began seriously thinking about how to solve this ongoing punishment.
The electric shocks of Stage One, he had endured with his rubber body and eventually found a way to use them.
The punishment of Stage Two, he had avoided by multitasking and executing the plan, because having that punishment hit too many times at once would consume a lot of energy.
Then there must also be a way to avoid Stage Three's punishment.
The reason for the punishment was the separation of his crewmates.
"Wait!"
Luffy's eyes suddenly lit up. He slapped his thigh, but the action pulled at his pain, making him wince.
That hurt, bastard.
He slowly sat up.
"If I'm being punished because I don't have any crewmates around me, then couldn't I just find a new crewmate to join?!"
He was excited by his own cleverness.
What a brilliant idea!
But reality soon poured cold water on him.
He looked around and found himself still wrapped in that paw-shaped shockwave, flying at high speed through the air, unable to do anything.
He would just have to wait until he reached his destination.
"Ah, but this is so boring."
Luffy groaned and lay back down.
Hunger washed over him like a tide again, even more ferocious than yesterday.
He felt like he could eat a Sea King.
Under the double torture of boredom and hunger, he turned his gaze to Nika, whom he had forcibly pulled out to keep him company.
At this moment, Nika, due to her excessive energy consumption and because Luffy had no sake at all, and was somewhat irritable.
"What are you looking at?! You bastard!"
Nika glared at him, arms crossed, floating nearby.
"Nika, I'm so hungry."
Luffy said weakly, his eyes unconsciously glacing at Nika. His throat moved. "Do you think..."
"No! Absolutely not! So you were thinking that, you bastard!"
Nika screamed in fright, her limbs flailing, nearly actually crying.
Luffy's eyes were clearly looking at her as emergency food!
She was the honored Sun God Nika!
How could she be treated as food?
"Then do a backflip for me." Luffy blinked, changing his request.
"Hah?! What do you think I am? Your pet to entertain you?! Outrageous!" Nika refused righteously.
Luffy said nothing. He just silently looked at her. His gaze was calm, but invisible pressure began to spread.
Nika: "..."
One second later.
"Hmph!"
Nika reluctantly pursed her lips and nimbly performed a perfect backflip on the invisible barrier.
After landing, she turned her head away, looking like "I didn't do this voluntarily."
Luffy sighed in boredom and lay back down.
The two chatted on and off. Mostly Luffy talked, and Nika retorted.
The topic inevitably returned to the battle on the Sabaody Archipelago.
"You couldn't even completely defeat a single Admiral, and you got beaten so badly by your grandfather. How embarrassing!"
Nika pursed her lips, looking disgusted. "This was a major defeat."
"Shut up. Why don't you try it yourself? That's my grandfather. He's also at Admiral level! I had to face two of them at the same time! On this sea, who can defeat two Admiral-level opponents at once?"
"That's because you're too weak!"
"My power is your power. You gave it all to me. And now you're complaining."
"I didn't have a choice back then!"
...
And so, noisily, in agony of hunger and constant pain, nearly two more days passed.
Luffy was beginning to feel like he was losing his mind from hunger. He even started seriously considering the feasibility of using Nika as emergency food.
This scared Nika so much she nearly retracted into the conscious space forever.
Then, he felt the speed of the shock wave wrapping him began to slow down. His altitude was also falling.
Through the barrier, he could see a lush green island below. The vegetation there was unusually tall.
"Finally here?"
BOOM!
With a loud crash, Luffy slammed into the soft grass at the edge of the island like a cannonball. The powerful impact left a clear and huge bear paw print crater on the ground.
"Phew. Still alive."
Luffy shook his slightly dizzy head, holding his stomach as he climbed out of the crater. He immediately righted the straw hat on his head.
He looked around and found himself in what seemed to be a huge valley. The surrounding plants were all ridiculously large. Even a single blade of grass was taller than him.
But what caught his attention even more was that not far from the bear paw print crater he had made, there was another almost identical huge bear paw print!
"Eh?"
Luffy was overjoyed. "Did someone else get sent here with me?"
He immediately thought of the paper listing his crewmates' destinations. No one had been marked as coming here.
"Someone else? Or did Kuma send someone else nearby?"
Before he could figure it out, an even more intense wave of hunger, like a tsunami, swept him, nearly making him lose his balance.
Filling his stomach was the top priority!
Just then, there was a thud-thud-thud crashing sound from the nearby dense forest. The ground shook slightly.
Then, a huge wild boar, several meters tall, broke several small trees, its eyes red, charged out. It immediately locked Luffy standing in the clearing as prey.
Good! Excellent!
As the bottom of this island's food chain, it had been a long time since it had encountered prey weaker than itself.
"ROAR!"
The giant boar let out a threatening roar, lowered its head, pointed its sharp tusks at Luffy, and pawed the ground with its hind hooves, preparing to charge.
But Luffy, looking at this fierce wild boar, was not afraid at all. His eyes lit up instead. Drool uncontrollably dripped from the corner of his mouth.
"Meat! It's meat!"
The breath of terror of a top predator unconsciously emanated from Luffy. The originally raging boar suddenly froze. Its charging momentum stopped.
No... no way?
So it was the same as those women—a terrifying upright ape?
Its animal instinctual fear sensed the terrible power contained in this little creature before it.
It was afraid. It even began to slowly back away.
But it was too late.
In Luffy's eyes, this was no longer a wild boar. It was walking food.
"Gomu Gomu no... ah, forget it. Just direct! Don't ruin the meat."
Luffy couldn't even be bothered to use a technique. Relying on his still-strong physical abilities after awakening, he flashed to the side of the wild boar. His fist, wrapped in a faint layer of Busoshoku Haki, punched the wild boar's temple.
THUD!
With a dull impact, the giant boar didn't even grunt. It collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
That kind of hurt.
Luffy shook his arm.
Fighting people now would hurt both sides.
But when it came to pain tolerance, he was very high.
"Start a fire! Start a fire!"
Luffy rubbed his hands together, impatient.
He looked around and quickly gathered some large dry leaves and branches.
Though he didn't have Sanji's superb cooking skills, he had learned from Sanji. His cooking skills were not low.
He knew how to find basic seasoning plants and how to start a fire.
He extended his finger. With a thought, a small electric spark appeared at his fingertip.
This was leftover electricity in his body.
The electricity he had stored in Stage One—using a little bit of it sparingly to start a fire was still enough.
The spark ignited the dry tinder.
Soon, a campfire was burning.
Then, he skillfully processed the wild boar and put it over the fire to roast.
Nearby, he found several types of large plant leaves and roots with salty and fragrant smells. He crushed them and used them as natural seasoning on the meat.
Soon, the tempting aroma of roasting meat began to spread in the air. Fat dripped onto the fire with a sizzle, whetting the appetite.
As they said, with skills, you wouldn't starve to death out there. You could even live well.
Before, Luffy had just randomly started a fire, roasted meat, and gulped it down when it was cooked.
Now he had a bit more pursuit.
Luffy stared unblinkingly at the roasted pork leg, which was gradually turning golden. Drool was all over the ground.
"Almost there, almost there... I can eat soon!"
Not long after, a figure quietly approached, nervously observing this side.
It was the former Ghost Princess of Thriller Bark's Three Freaks, Perona.
She had been sent to this island by Kuma several days ago.
This island was full of giant beasts. Though she was a Horo Horo no Mi user, her ghosts couldn't help her turn those beasts into roasted meat.
Not to mention that those giant creatures were scarier than zombies!
Some could breathe fire. Some had hard shells. Some were extremely fast.
She, who was used to commanding zombies from her gloomy castle and whose own combat ability was not outstanding, had suffered greatly.
Her Kumashi was not with her. She didn't even have anyone to talk to.
These past few days, she had been hiding in relatively safe areas, barely filling her stomach with recognizable wild fruits. She had been living in fear, miserably.
If this continued, she would go crazy!
Earlier, hearing a huge commotion nearby, Perona had nervously hidden, afraid that some terrifying giant beasts were fighting.
But the rich smell of roasting meat that followed made her intestines and stomach, which had been bland from eating only fruit, protest fiercely.
"Meat. That's the smell of meat."
Perona hid in a cave, secretly swallowing saliva. Her face was full of longing and struggle.
"It smells so good. I haven't had hot meat in so long."
Gulp.
In the end, her desire for food overcame her fear of the unknown danger.
She bit her lip, stamped her foot, and decided to take a risky approach and see.
What if, just what if, it was some kind-hearted castaway roasting meat?
Or maybe she would get lucky and two beasts would breathe fire at each other and roast each other?
Impossible? How could you say it's impossible when you haven't even seen it?
She cautiously parted the grass and tiptoed toward the fire.
The first thing that came into view was the huge roasted boar, roasting over the fire, crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, sizzling with oil.
"!!!"
Perona's eyes instantly turned into stars. Saliva nearly flowed out directly.
But there was no one by the fire.
"That's strange. Where's the person roasting the meat?"
Just as she was wondering, someone gently tapped her shoulder from behind.
"Hey."
"KYAAAHHH!!"
Perona screamed in terror, spinning around.
The face that greeted her was one she absolutely did not want to see again.
Monkey D. Luffy, Straw Hat.
***
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