Settling into the ride on the Quetzalcoatlus's back, Vivi glanced down at the forest-covered island from the high vantage point. Her eyes were filled with a vast expanse of green, calming her mind and heart.
Gusts of wind blew against her face. As she gazed at the boundless blue ocean in the distance, Vivi unconsciously slipped into deep thought. In a daze, she felt as if she had returned to the carefree, happy days of her childhood.
Back then, someone had also taken her flying. As a young child, looking down from the high sky, what she saw was an endless stretch of golden-yellow desert—a world belonging to sand. The "ocean" in her heart back then was also formed from yellow sand.
Sand danced in the wind under the scorching sun, shining upon what seemed like barren land. The vast desert, the lifeless sea of sand, always presented itself in an extremely monotonous color before her eyes: yellow, yellow, forever a scorching yellow.
Though Vivi was young then, she never felt the slightest boredom with such seemingly boring land. On the contrary, she loved that place because it was her beloved country, the Alabasta Kingdom.
As a child, Vivi's favorite thing was having the Alabasta Royal Guard's deputy commander transform into his falcon form to carry her through the sky, letting her take in the vast "yellow ocean" below, her eyes absorbing the boundless land. Whenever that happened, she would laugh heartily on the falcon's back, her heart full of joy.
Remembering these past events, Vivi's mood gradually became joyful. The stifling feeling that had been weighing on her heart dissipated completely. The corners of her mouth unconsciously lifted into a beautiful curve. Her delicately beautiful face was full of smiles, like a fragrant lily about to bloom, pleasingly fragrant.
I never thought that after so many years, when I'm no longer that innocent little girl, someone would still want to take me flying. Even though it was his unintentional act, I should still thank him.
Her emotions settled, Vivi had just stood up on the Quetzalcoatlus's back when, before she could open her mouth, she heard Tom excitedly shouting about becoming a dragon rider and such.
She was instantly rendered speechless and slumped down again.
At that very moment, Tom, standing on the Quetzalcoatlus's back and looking around, also spotted people landing on another part of the coast. He thought about going over to investigate.
Meanwhile, Luffy, standing on the Diplodocus's head, looked up and saw Tom riding a giant Pterosaur flying freely in the sky. His eyes immediately shone, and he also wanted to find a dragon to ride.
Zoro, in order to win the hunting competition against Sanji, was wandering through the beast-filled forest when he seemed to hear Tom's shouts. He looked up at the many Pterosaurs flying overhead. "Is that guy in the air right now?"
"Weird. I think I heard that stinking fisherman and Vivi's voices. If he dares to make that beautiful, charming Vivi suffer, I'll definitely kick him to death!"
Sanji, while searching for worthy prey, vaguely heard Tom's voice from the sky, along with Vivi's slightly panicked cry. He took a drag from his cigarette, blew out a perfect smoke ring, and through the dissipating smoke, glanced at the Pterosaurs flapping their wings overhead. "Tch."
By now, Tom and Vivi on the Quetzalcoatlus had gradually drawn closer to the people who had landed elsewhere on the island. Tom had originally considered riding the Pterosaur back to the Going Merry to find Nami.
But now that he'd discovered others had intruded onto the island, he had to temporarily abandon that idea.
"That ship looks weird."
Tom looked down from high altitude and saw a yacht covered in candles docked at the shore. Judging by its appearance, he estimated the yacht used candles as its propulsion.
As soon as Vivi saw the ship docked ashore, her face turned solemn. She was about to speak when she spotted two people advancing along a forest path not far from the shore. She immediately exclaimed, "Mr. 3?!"
"Is Mr. 3 a Baroque Works agent?"
Tom, standing on the Quetzalcoatlus's back, followed Vivi's gaze and saw a man and a little girl carrying a sketchpad. "Such a small child... she wouldn't be Mr. 3's partner, would she?"
After dealing with Baroque Works agents, Tom knew they usually operated in male-female pairs. But the little girl beside Mr. 3 looked no older than ten. If someone like that was also a member, wasn't the organization practically employing child labor? That was just too much.
"You must not be misled by her appearance. I've heard rumors within the organization about her. They say she has a terrifying ability to control others' emotions through her artwork. You have to be very careful if you fight her."
Vivi stared intently at Mr. 3 below and continued to Tom, "I never thought Baroque Works senior agents would chase us here so quickly. And this time it's someone ranked third among the senior agents. Should we go back and inform Luffy and the others first?"
"If it's just one senior agent, I can handle it. Going back and forth is not only troublesome but wastes time. I still want to play on this island some more. I don't want them ruining my mood."
As he said this, Tom, riding the Pterosaur high in the air, pulled on the reins in his hands, guiding the Quetzalcoatlus to gradually descend and approach Mr. 3.
"Mr. 3's strength is much stronger than Mr. 5's. Are the two of us really able to deal with him?"
Vivi said, with a worried expression. Although Tom could easily defeat Mr. 5, Mr. 3's ranking in the organization was higher than Mr. 5's, and he was also a Devil Fruit user. Her worry was not without reason.
"Relax. They also only have two people. We won't lose."
"Besides, the fact they came here is obviously aimed at us. They deliberately landed elsewhere to avoid us, clearly planning to pull some tricks. Wouldn't it be better to solve them before they can put their schemes and plots into play?"
Vivi felt Tom made sense and was about to nod in agreement when Tom continued, "Because I'm least good at dealing with enemies who like to stab people in the back. So it's better to attack them from behind before they notice us, seizing the initiative. I just thought of this idea. Isn't it great? Hahahaha."
Vivi looked at the happily laughing Tom with a dark cloud over her head, momentarily not knowing what to say.
But rarely, this guy wasn't shouting to charge directly at Mr. 3. Vivi thought Tom wanted to ambush them while they were unnoticed. She naturally had no objection—caution was always good.
However, as soon as this thought arose, she saw Tom, standing imposingly on the Quetzalcoatlus's back, full of momentum, shout down at Mr. 3, who was sneakily moving slowly through the woods below:
"I SEE YOU DOWN THERE! PREPARE TO DIE!!!!"
"What are you doing?! Weren't you planning to ambush them?!"
Hearing Tom's words, Vivi was instantly shocked, her delicate chin nearly dropping...
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T/N :
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