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Grand Line – Paradise
Alabasta – Port of Nanohana, on the Merry
"GUYS, GUYS! YOU WON'T BELIEVE IT! GATHER EVERYONE ON THE DECK!", running at full speed, Luffy shouts excitedly as he moves toward the deck, his voice reaching all the crew members.
Left behind, Robin follows Luffy's path to the deck at her own pace, unhurried.
A short time later, Luffy arrives on the deck running, everyone arriving at the place more or less along with him.
"Alright, everyone's here!", Luffy says as he sees that everyone has already gathered on the deck.
"Sabo is missing!", Usopp comments, noticing the absence of the Revolutionary.
"He's talking with Luffy's father! Besides, he already knows", sitting on the Merry's side railing, Ace comments, feeling the fresh sea breeze.
"What's so urgent that it needs to gather everyone?", Zoro asks, a little annoyed. He had been about to fall asleep when Luffy started shouting.
"WE HAVE A NEW MEMBER IN THE CREW!!!!", Luffy exclaims excitedly.
"Don't look at me, I'm already part of Whitebeard's crew!", seeing everyone turning their eyes to him, Ace says, taking himself out of the line of fire.
"Alright, let's momentarily ignore that your brother is part of a Yonkou's crew and instead, let's ask, if it's not him, then who is it that joined?", deciding to ignore what Ace said, Nojiko asks, wanting to know who had suddenly joined the crew.
"Did Vivi finally accept the invitation?", Kaya asks, turning to Vivi for an answer.
"No, I'm just as lost as you guys!", Vivi responds, having no idea who had joined.
"The duck then?", Sanji asks, making everyone turn their attention to Karoo.
"Quack quack quack!" "I didn't accept anything!", still with a black eye from the punch he had taken earlier for sleeping instead of watching the ship, Karoo responds, backing a few steps away upon seeing everyone looking at him.
"He said it's not him!", Chopper says, translating what Karoo had said for everyone.
"Everyone, welcome Nico Robin, from now on she's the crew's Archaeologist and Historian!", Luffy says, at the exact moment Robin steps onto the deck, drawing everyone's attention.
"Hello!", Robin says casually, waving lightly at everyone.
"Luffy, are you serious? She's with Crocodile!", incredulous, Vivi complains. It was fine that Robin apparently had a story and wasn't evil, but at the moment she was with the enemy.
"Relax, she betrayed Crocodile!", Luffy responds with a smile. If the problem was her working with Crocodile, then it was all solved.
"And you invited someone with a history of betrayal into your crew?", Vivi asks, surprised. Since when is betrayal a sign of 'this person would be loyal to my crew'?
"Vivi, it may not seem like it, but Luffy is very good at judging people's character! So trust him!", placing a hand on Vivi's shoulder, Nami says, calming her.
"Crocodile sent her to kill you, but she decided not even to try!", Ace suddenly says, drawing Vivi's attention.
"Why?", upon hearing this, Vivi then turns her attention to Robin and asks, confused.
"I read the newspaper from a few days ago. Trying to kill you while everyone's around would be suicide! So I decided not to even try; I have more important things to do than die for a man like Crocodile!" Robin explains, as if 'being a suicide mission' were the only reason she didn't even try to kill Vivi, but the reality is that this was just one of the reasons. [example of reason, she sympathizes with Vivi]
"... Alright, I'll give you a vote of confidence!", after pondering for a few seconds, Vivi says, deciding to believe in Luffy's judgment.
"I'm glad to hear that, princess! I hope we can get along, and that you don't die tragically in the future!", Robin says, making a somewhat morbid joke.
"... Alright, I guess! Ehhh... Karoo, come here! I need you to do something for me! It's of utmost importance", not knowing how to respond to that, Vivi says before looking around, trying to find something she could use as an excuse to get out of this strange conversation. Then, upon spotting Karoo, she calls him, remembering she had an important task for him. Meanwhile, in the background, Nami approaches Robin to talk.
"Quack quack quack?" "What do you need, Princess?", Karoo asks, promptly presenting himself in front of Vivi with a military salute.
"I wrote this letter as soon as we got back from the city; everything is explained here clearly and directly! I need you to deliver it to my father in Alubarna!", taking a letter out of her pocket, Vivi shows it to Karoo and explains what he should do.
"Quack quack!" "Leave it to me!", Karoo quacks determinedly.
"Alright, before you go! Let's prepare supplies for you to take with you! Wait here," nodding with a smile, Vivi says before turning and heading toward Luffy.
"Quack, quack!" "Yes, ma'am!", Karoo shouts with another military salute.
"Hey, Luffy, is it alright if I grab supplies for a few days' journey?", approaching Luffy, Vivi asks, touching his arm to get his attention.
"Of course, but what for?", Luffy responds with a nod before asking what the supplies would be for.
"I'm sending Karoo to the capital to deliver a letter to my father!", Vivi responds, sharing her plan.
"Right, uh... hey, Usopp! Separate supplies for a one-day trip for four people, and while you're at it, call Sabo, Kaya, and Nojiko over here!", nodding his head, Luffy then turns and calls to Usopp, who was passing by them, asking him for a favor.
"Are you going to send them along with Karoo?", while Usopp gives a thumbs-up with his hand and goes to do what he was asked, Vivi raises an eyebrow and asks.
"Yes, to protect him along the way and prevent anything from happening to your father in case there's some kind of attack on him!", Luffy responds; it was more of a precaution than anything else.
A few moments pass, and Usopp returns with the supplies already gathered. Not long after, Kaya, Nojiko, and Sabo gather to find out why they were called.
And after disembarking from the ship, with Luffy explaining what they should do, Sabo grabs Karoo in his arms and, together with Kaya and Nojiko, who carried the supplies, they disappear from where they were using Soru, heading toward Alabasta's capital, Alubarna. Their mission was clear, to deliver Vivi's letter to her father, the king, and then protect the man until everything was over.
"Considering the breaks, they should get there in a few hours!", having stayed behind to say goodbye to Kaya, Usopp comments before returning to the Merry.
"Hey, Luffy! Look, I'm sorry for doubting you, it's just that... I don't want you to be disappointed in the future for inviting the wrong person to the crew!", upon returning to the Merry, Vivi calls Luffy's attention and apologizes, embarrassed.
"Shishishishi! No need to apologize! If you talk to her, you'll realize she hides behind a façade! And I bet there's an amazing person behind that façade!", Luffy says with a cheerful smile, his words making Vivi's heart melt even more for him. Meanwhile, Robin, who was nearby talking with Nami, ends up overhearing the interaction between the two, which causes the cracks in her façade to grow larger.
=Scene Break=
With Nami and Robin, after talking a little more with the newest addition to the crew, the navigator briefly looks at the sea and then excuses herself before saying out loud for everyone to hear, "The sea has calmed down, so let's set sail! Everyone, take your positions."
Upon hearing this, everyone starts working and, in a few minutes, the Merry is already a few dozen meters away from the port of Nanohana, sailing smoothly.
"Ehhh, guys! There's a fleet of ships blocking our way!", looking at the horizon, Usopp alerts everyone out loud.
"They're from Baroque Works, Crocodile must have sent a mission, probably to delay us!", analyzing the fleet ahead, Robin comments, making a quick deduction.
"I'll handle this!", finishing checking if his raft, Striker, was properly tied to the side of the Merry, Ace turns and says casually after a brief glance at the fleet of ships.
=Scene Break=
Meanwhile, in the fleet of about twenty ships, a voice echoes across the deck of each vessel through Den Den Mushis "Our orders were given a day ago, coming directly from the Boss! We traveled to Nanohana with a clear objective, so aim at the ship, we want to hinder, delay them, not kill them..."
This speech, however, is interrupted midway when everyone sees a giant fire whip sprout from the small enemy ship and head toward them at the speed of light, slicing all the ships horizontally in a matter of microseconds. The crew, in the meantime, can barely register what was happening before they had already been defeated, left adrift.
With the small problem solved quickly, the Merry continues its way smoothly, sailing toward its next destination in Alabasta, Erumalu.
=Scene Break=
Meanwhile, back to the night of the previous day, in Rainbase, in a private dining room under the Rain Dinners casino, sitting in front of a large table full of food, were Mr. 2, a handcuffed Mr. 3 by his side, Miss Doublefinger, Mr. 1, Miss Merry Christmas, Mr. 4, Mr. 6, Miss Mother's Day, Mr. 7 and Miss Father's Day, all waiting for the arrival of the so mysterious Mr. 0, their boss.
"We all agree that I'll probably die as soon as the boss arrives, right? Well then, how about taking these handcuffs off so I can have a decent last meal before my end?", Mr. 3 suddenly comments, his eyes fixed on the banquet in front of him.
"Shut up, or the one who's going to kill you will be me, not the boss!", Mr. 1 mutters, without looking at the useless one who uttered these words, focused on cutting the rare steak on his plate.
"Speaking of the little boss, he's taking too long, isn't he? They said we would finally meet him", taking advantage of the moment, Mr. 2 asks, wanting to know if he was the only one bothered by this.
"Probably on purpose, what really intrigues me is Miss All Sunday not being here, after all, she's the boss's spokeswoman!", Miss Doublefinger replies before changing the subject to something she noticed.
"Miss All Sunday is on a mission right now", as soon as she finishes saying that, a deep male voice echoes through the room before a bunch of sand accumulates on the only empty chair at the head of the table, forming a seated body.
"You all, in the meantime, will begin 'Operation Utopia', your last orders from Baroque Works", Crocodile says, returning to his human form and shocking everyone present.
"What?"
"You..."
"Croco..."
"Shit!"
"Crocodile!"
"!!!?"
"What the hell...?"
"This..."
"???"
"Is this serious?"
Everyone reacts surprised and shocked by the fact that their boss is actually a pirate.
"This is unbelievable!", Miss Merry Christmas comments out loud, with no social tact.
"You're telling us that all this time we were working for a pirate?", Mr. 2 asks, frowning.
"Any problem with that?", frowning, Crocodile asks, his tone exuding threat.
"No sir, no problem on our part! Just one question, why would a pirate sponsored by the World Government do all this?", stepping in so Mr. 2 wouldn't end up screwing himself, Miss Doublefinger says, shifting the subject of the conversation in another direction.
"It all comes down to military power, that's what I want!", Crocodile replies, looking her directly in the eyes.
"Military power? So that's the reason you want to create a nation?", upon hearing this, Mr. 1 asks directly.
"Yeah, and if you follow me, everyone here will have a place in this nation, just as promised! Now let's get to the point, let's talk about business!", reminding them that their futures would be bright if they followed him, Crocodile changes the subject to business.
=Scene Break=
Time then passes as the meeting flows naturally. Later, with all the topics of the meeting already addressed, Mr. 1 asks his last question, "If the Straw Hats are such a big problem, shouldn't we deal with them first instead of going ahead with this plan?"
"Yes, they are a very annoying unforeseen problem, but as I've said, contingency plans are in action! So focus on your missions! And remember, the operation will begin the day after tomorrow, at seven in the morning! But for now, you are dismissed! This kingdom will soon be in our hands, pray for victory!", Crocodile replies before reminding them one last time about the date and time when Baroque Works' final operation will be put into practice. And with everything said, he dismisses them, staying alone in the dining room, thoughtful. His guest is expected to arrive tomorrow.
An interesting thing to note is that while everyone was leaving the room, Mr. 3 was among them, still alive and unhandcuffed.
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The setting for this arc is already almost completely formed. What is Crocodile planning? Who is this special guest, and what is their role in the middle of all this?
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If you guys decide to give ideas or suggestions about things I should pay attention to in the story, remember that, on Patreon, the fic is currently at the end of the Alabasta Arc, more specifically, they are setting sail from the island.
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31 Advanced Chapters on Patreon!
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