By the time at Whiskey Peak, the sky was already painted in a crimson sunset.
At that moment, Luffy appeared before Zoro, the rest of the crew standing behind him, holding eight human heads—four in each hand—as he surveyed the bodies scattered around them.
Even though it's never easy to show mercy to those who tried to kill you, Zoro and Sanji managed to knock them out without doing them lasting harm.
They both understood perfectly well that no one is purely black or white, and that you have to discern the true color of the person in front of you.
I keep reminding myself how good-hearted my crew is—any claim that in a group of five there's always one worthless person is absolute nonsense.
"If out of five, no, six people, there were one worthless person, that person would probably be me, right?"
Thinking that, Luffy casually tossed the eight heads he held in each hand to either side.
Zoro looked down at the heads rolling around near the fallen Mr. 9.
"Didn't I tell you not to kill them?"
"They attacked first, so at first I just subdued them."
"But when I looked at the way they eyed Hancock and Nami, it made my skin crawl, so I read their minds."
"You can read minds?"
"It's possible while I'm touching them. It's similar to the feeling when I talked with Laboon last time."
Among the few [Observation Haki] users, there were those whose specialty wasn't sensing movement but feeling a target's emotions.
In the original story, Luffy had that ability too, though he wasn't aware of it himself.
Ever since his recent Awakening of [Observation Haki], he could not only sense the emotions of those he perceived but also read the thoughts of anyone he touched.
That, too, was probably thanks to the power of the Devil Fruit.
After hearing Luffy, Zoro exchanged glances with the rest of the crew behind him and said,
"I'm not even surprised anymore at the abilities Luffy has."
"It makes sense, so I'll just have to get used to seeing him kill people."
"As expected of my husband—versatile through and through. It's only natural."
Usopp and Nami spoke with resigned looks on their faces, and Hancock said it proudly. Zoro then pointed his sword at the Mr. 9 lying on the ground.
"So how did he even get here?"
"I saw him coming off the ship while we were hiding. He must've untied the ropes somehow."
"But since he was weak, we just left him be. Then he came to see you guys."
"Nami-chan! Hancock-chan~!"
"Sanji's coming too."
Sanji ran toward the group, clutching the village chief by the hair.
The chief barely managed not to fall as he was dragged in front of them, and once Zoro and Sanji were together, Hancock turned to Luffy and spoke.
"By the way, once your strength and focus reach a certain level, doesn't your body just instinctively know how to distribute your power?"
"Then why teach it early?"
"Even if you reach that level, mastering it takes time. If you teach it early, you can cut down on that time, so there's no downside."
"And unless someone who's learned them teaches you, it's hard to learn techniques like [Iron Body], [Tempest Kick], or [Moonwalk] on your own."
"Well, other than that, all those things help you survive. If you learn them early, you don't have to worry even if you can't see it."
"You worry about us when you can't see us?"
"Zoro, if you hate what I'm saying so much, then just get stronger quickly."
"Even learning just one of the five techniques I taught would take others far longer—they have to get stronger and then spend more time to learn just one."
"You and Sanji are brimming with talent, so you learned them early. So don't be impatient—just focus on training."
"How much talent are we talking about compared to you?"
"Honestly, compared to me…"
"Over there!"
"Release Mr. 8 and 9!"
As Luffy said that, a dozen or so people appeared beside a building in the distance.
They shouted that with weapons in hand. Seeing this, the village chief looked at the rolling heads and the fallen Mr. 9 and shouted:
"Don't come any closer! You're out of our league!"
"Please, Hancock—I'm not going to kill them."
"Understood, Luffy."
Hancock lifted her stiletto sword, and at its tip, a small hole appeared.
With her sword leveled at the approaching opponents, she closed one eye and winked at them.
"A-a sudden wink...!"
"I didn't see it from far away...she's too beautiful!"
"How can someone be like that...?"
As they blushed and smiled at her, the center of the stiletto sword rapidly bulged in an instant, and…
Mero Mero Mellow!
From the hole at the tip of the sword, pink energy poured out forward at high speed.
At the same time, the attackers rolled on the ground, dropping their guns and swords.
"So happy..."
Watching their bodies wilt as if their joints didn't exist, Luffy looked at Hancock and said:
"Wasn't that ability originally meant to be used without a sword?"
"It felt too slow just using it by itself, so I tried it this way. It turned out to be faster, so I like it."
"It's definitely—"
"Sanji! What's wrong with you?!"
"...?"
Hearing that voice, Luffy turned his head.
There, Sanji was slumped, limp over Usopp's arms.
"Hancock-chan, I love you..."
"Sanji, you were right there behind Hancock—why are you the one acting like you got hit by her ability...?"
"Luffy, it's the first time I've seen something like this happen when her power didn't touch me."
At that moment, the crew felt something running toward them in their direction and turned their heads.
It was Karoo carrying Vivi on his back as he ran. She looked at the fallen Mr. 9 and the chief crawling on the ground and wore a shocked expression.
"Mr. 9! Igaram! Are you both okay?!"
"Princess—no, Miss Wednesday! Run away!"
"Everyone's misunderstanding! Mr. Luffy and his crew are not evil pirates!"
"Luffy...?"
Hearing that name, the chief recalled memories from the past.
It was the same time of crimson sunset, and he had docked at a small island's port, watching the scene unfold.
The center of the island was covered with corpses piled up into a small slope.
At the top of that corpse hill, someone wearing a Marine coat held a human body by both hands and tore it apart from side to side.
With a straw hat on his head, he shone with golden anger in the red sunset.
"Monkey D. Luffy?"
Just like the man in front of him now.
"Gyaaaaaaa!!!"
"...!"
Despite his hair being torn out, the chief quickly crawled backward to put distance between them.
Though not quite as shocked, those who had regained consciousness after being knocked out by Zoro and Sanji also wore surprised looks.
"A pirate slayer...!"
"He's the grandson of the Navy hero Garp! Why is he on a ship flying a pirate flag?!"
"He single-handedly made a mountain out of bodies...!"
"All those killed back then were Baroque Works agents, just like us!"
Amidst the amazement of so many people, Nami, who stood behind Luffy, spoke:
"Luffy, what in the world have you done before...?"
"I didn't do anything wrong. I just did my duty as a Marine."
"L-Luffy!"
Vivi jumped down from Karoo's back and shouted at Luffy:
"I want to request... your help!"
*****
In a room inside the town's central building, at a long desk sat Vivi and the chief, who trembled as he held his hands clasped on top of the desk.
Opposite them sat Luffy in the center, flanked by his crewmates, and Nami spoke to Vivi:
"So, you're the princess of a country called Alabasta, and this gentleman next to you is the captain of that country's royal guards?"
"That's right, Nami-san. And let me reintroduce myself to everyone."
"I am Nefertari Vivi, princess of the Alabasta Kingdom."
"Normally, Alabasta was a peaceful country, but over the past few years, major incidents have occurred, and a rebellion by the citizens has plunged the country into chaos."
"At that time, I discovered evidence that the group orchestrating the situation was Baroque Works, but I couldn't get more information."
"That's why, together with Igaram, an adult I've trusted since I was young, I infiltrated Baroque Works."
"...Let me properly reintroduce myself: I am Igaram, captain of the royal guard of Alabasta Palace."
"Allow me to explain Baroque Works again."
"Employees, including the boss, never know the true identity of anyone above them; they call each other by code names and follow the orders given by the company."
"Why do they obey orders from a boss whose identity they don't know?"
"Usopp-san, the company ensures that payment is reliably given when orders are completed, to build trust among the employees."
"Once trust is established, the company tells them that their ultimate goal is to found an ideal nation independent of the World Government."
"Those with code names that include numbers are called Frontier Agents."
"The stronger you are, the higher the number you receive and the greater the status promised in the ideal country—that's the role Igaram and I hold in the company."
"Then there are those starting with Mr. 5 called Official Agents—they are known to be in a different dimension of strength compared to Frontier Agents."
"It's rumored that every one of them is a Devil Fruit user, and by the way, the boss's code name is Mr. 0."
"But what does founding an ideal nation have to do with taking over Alabasta...?"
As Nami spoke, having apparently realized something, Vivi said:
"Just as you suspected, Baroque Works's true goal is to seize control of the Alabasta Kingdom."
"If I can't return and warn the people so they can quell the rebellion, everything will go according to Baroque Works's plans."
"But Alabasta is... a member nation of the World Government?"
"That's right, Nami-san."
"Lately, I've been learning about how the world works from our captain."
"From what I've heard, the World Government cannot ignore a rebellion in one of its member nations—they would immediately send admirals and warships."
"So why is the princess risking herself like this? What's the World Government doing?"
"They're trying to seize an entire country, Nami—they must be extremely dangerous!"
"I know they must be dangerous, but I can't understand—Usopp! Who exactly is the boss of Baroque Works?!"
"Th-the boss of the company is..."
Boom!
At that moment, a loud explosion rang out outside the building.
Startled, those inside the building jumped to their feet, and outside, a now-conscious Mr. 9, standing before his fallen comrades, saw two figures emerge from the dust and spoke:
"Who are you?! Why are you attacking us all of a sudden?!"
"We're here to prove our strength so you'll believe us."
As the dust cleared, there stood a man with dreadlocks, sunglasses, and a long coat.
Beside him was a woman with short blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing a short yellow dress. The man continued:
"I am Official Agent Mr. 5 of Baroque Works."
"And I am his partner, Miss Valentine."
"We came on orders from the boss—to deal with those who infiltrated the company in order to discover its true leadership."
"The boss said the culprit is royalty from some kingdom~!"
"Th-the crown on my head is just fashion, not because I'm royalty!"
"I know that without you saying it!"
In response to Mr. 9's words, Valentine spoke, and Mr. 5 resumed:
"The culprit, as a Frontier Agent, held the rank of Mr. 8 and is the captain of Alabasta's royal guard, Igaram."
"And your partner, holding the title Miss Wednesday, is Princess Nefertari Vivi of Alabasta."
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