On the Grand Line, at Whiskey Peak, inside the Baroque Works base.
"Yes, I understand."
Igaram, who went by the alias Igarappoi but was actually the Captain of the Alabasta Royal Guard, hung up the phone with a dazed expression, unable to figure out what had happened for a moment.
Beside him, Vivi, who had also infiltrated, asked, "Is it a mission?"
Igaram shook his head and said, "It's not a mission, it's an emergency."
"Mr. 8, who is the highest superior at this base, didn't give us a mission just now but instead ordered us to stand by. It seems something big has happened."
He and the Princess had only recently infiltrated Baroque Works. It seemed they had already encountered an extraordinary situation.
On the phone, Mr. 8's meaning wasn't just that. He even required them to be ready to set sail and pursue an enemy.
But as for what exactly had happened, Mr. 8 seemed unable to say himself.
Igaram could sense a wave of chaos inevitably emerging.
"No matter what it is, as long as something happens, we are closer to the truth."
Vivi, on the contrary, thought this was a good thing.
The Kingdom of Alabasta had been suffering from widespread drought in recent years.
She and Igaram had investigated for a long time before they tracked down this secret organization called Baroque Works. It was constantly inciting civilian riots and was also linked to the contraband Dance Powder.
In order to find out the internal situation, Vivi chose to infiltrate Baroque Works, wanting to do her part for the already unstable situation in the Kingdom of Alabasta. After all, she was Nefertari Vivi, the princess of the Alabasta Royal Family.
The more she investigated, the more she felt that this organization was not simple. Its sphere of influence was massive, it had a strict organizational hierarchy and system, and it followed a mysterious corporate motto.
No matter how you looked at it, there was something wrong.
"That's true. Let's get ready first." Igaram nodded.
Then he and Vivi began to pack their things for the voyage together.
At this moment, in Whiskey Peak, almost all the bounty hunters had received similar instructions.
And the source, the current executive commander Mr. 8, was anxiously reporting the situation to headquarters.
Just now, he had been contacted by the partner of the chief commander Mr. 3 and learned a series of shocking news.
But it was foreseeable that, due to the secret structure of Baroque Works itself, this would take some time.
On Drum Island, under a sky full of drifting snow.
A reindeer hid in the jungle, looking from afar at the ship in the harbor.
Was it the people on that ship who killed Wapol?
The reindeer seemed to want to approach, but then it lowered its hooves, appearing hesitant.
At the edge of its vision, a group of people boarded that ship.
As evening approached, Zoro and the others returned to the Going Merry, where Carina and Nami had prepared a sumptuous dinner. Most of the ingredients were local products of Drum Island.
After Wapol's death, Dalton quickly took over the country, ensuring that no major chaos would occur. At the same time, he and the local residents were also wary of Hiroto and his group.
Of course, they definitely couldn't win a fight, so he just restrained everyone from looking for trouble.
But subtly, Wapol's death actually caused some civilians to one by one bring gifts to the Going Merry.
Clearly, what Wapol had done before was truly inhuman, and many civilians had been forced to swallow their anger out of fear of his authority.
Now that he was dead, there was a sense of deja vu, like when an embassy withdraws and the citizens set off firecrackers in the streets.
After dinner, Hiroto did not stay idle and requested a meeting with Nami.
Inside the Captain's cabin, Nami pulled up a small stool and asked curiously, "What is it?"
Lately, she and Carina had been in a state of mutual competition over Hiroto.
Hiroto, on the other hand, showed an attitude of neither opposing nor refusing, accepting everything. But similarly, he didn't deliberately favor anyone, so Nami understood that he was definitely talking business now.
Perhaps it had something to do with the Devil Fruit Carina brought back?
"You already know about the Devil Fruit."
Sure enough, Hiroto took out a box and opened it to reveal the Devil Fruit inside.
"I have a way to identify it, this Devil Fruit is the Logia: Cloud-Cloud Fruit. What a Logia type is, roughly speaking..."
He explained the advantages and disadvantages of the Logia type, as well as what the Cloud-Cloud Fruit could do, one by one to Nami.
Finally, he asked, "Do you want this Logia fruit?"
"Really?" Nami's eyes widened.
Although she knew that eating a Devil Fruit meant she could basically never touch seawater for the rest of her life, compared to the advantages, this disadvantage was negligible.
Being able to be immune to ordinary physical attacks—that alone held an incomparable attraction for Nami.
Moreover, it was a fruit that could freely create clouds and influence the weather.
She understood very well just how great her talent in meteorology was. If nothing else, Hiroto had said that she was the world's top-tier, number one navigator.
So, there was no need to hesitate.
Nami immediately nodded. "I want it..."
Halfway through, she hesitated. "Are you sure you want to give it to me? A Logia Devil Fruit, from what you've said, is very rare and also very powerful, right?"
Nami remembered that Hiroto hadn't eaten a Devil Fruit himself. Compared to giving it to her, who had little combat ability, wouldn't it be more appropriate for Hiroto to eat it himself?
"I don't need it. Most Devil Fruits don't have much of an effect on me." Hiroto shook his head.