Vivi heard the roaring from outside and stepped out with Igaram.
She saw Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine and opened her mouth in shock.
"How do you know our identities?! Answer me!"
"Princess, that's not the important thing right now," Mr. 5 replied.
Miss Valentine laughed. "Hahaha! Mr. 5 is right.
The more important fact is that we, the official agents, have come to eliminate you~!"
As Miss Valentine spoke, Vivi's face went pale. Behind her, Mr. 9 and over thirty Whiskey Peak bounty hunters raised their weapons.
"Mr. 9, you guys…!" Vivi cried.
"I don't know all the details, Your Highness, but you've been our partner for over a year," Mr. 9 said. "I'll buy you some time—run off with Mr. 8."
Another hunter snarled, "I knew you and Mr. 8 were hiding a lot!"
"If they find out we got wrecked by those two inspectors and the curly-browed duo, they'll brand us useless and kill us all," a third growled.
"In that case, wouldn't it be a more meaningful death to shield your comrade?!" a fourth shouted.
At that moment, Luffy appeared beside a building behind Vivi. He looked at Igaram and shrugged.
"Why are these guys so nice?"
"In our organization, Frontier Agents naturally manage major bases," Igaram explained.
"At this position—managing Princess Vivi and Mr. 9—they only assigned capable people from the company," he added.
Luffy scratched his head. "But the ones I killed here were pretty terrible, weren't they?"
"Those were the worst of the lot," Igaram admitted.
"Stealing innocent people's money and food—how's that not the worst?" Luffy quipped.
Igaram bowed his head. "…I'm sorry."
Luffy sighed. "Never mind. It's more abnormal for innocents to sail around with a pirate flag on their ship."
(I really should've said I was out to be the King of Adventure, not the Pirate King.)
Luffy walked past Vivi, swung his arm casually, and knocked Mr. 9 and the hunters to the ground.
"After you lot let Zoro and Sanji beat you to a pulp, why are you still posturing?" he said.
A hunter groaned, "Ugh, Straw Hat…"
"If you don't really want to die, stop poking around and just lie down," Luffy added.
Mr. 5 got to his feet and stared at Luffy. "And just what are you? Do you know who we are?"
"Aside from knowing you're Baroque Works employees, I know every guy with a bounty over ten million," Luffy said. "Your real name is Gem, bounty exactly ten million berries… the woman next to you is Mikata, with a bounty of seven and a half million. Since you two run around together, I remember you."
Miss Valentine fiddled with the brim of her round hat. "But is that all you know? Do you even know what a Devil Fruit is? Mr. 5 and I ate one and gained strange abilities, you see."
Gem cleared his throat. "Yes, Miss Valentine. Thanks to that I got stronger, but I can't handle jobs quietly—it's a real inconvenience."
At that point, the distance between Luffy and Gem had closed to less than three meters.
Luffy slowly raised his hand toward the man. "What are you… have you completely lost your fear?"
Paoong!
In an instant, Luffy fired a Haki-imbued projectile.
"…Mr. 5?" someone gasped.
Where the man had stood, his limbs flew off in pieces before sinking to the ground.
Miss Valentine spun around in horror, staring at the hole punched through the building. The round blast mark was rimmed with fresh red fluid, dripping onto the floor.
As Miss Valentine, Mr. 9, Igaram, and the bounty hunters stared in shock, Miss Valentine cried out, "Y-you are… ahhhh! It hurts!"
Luffy reached forward and grabbed her face with his Armament Haki–coated hand.
She tried to pull away, but it was useless. Her skull began to crack under the pressure, and she screamed.
(What the hell! Why isn't my Devil Fruit working?!)
"All right, I was wrong! I'll tell you everything! I'll tell you about the company—please spare me~!" she begged.
Immediately, she felt the crushing pressure on her head ease.
(Good, there's still a chance.)
(I just need to make her spill everything or trick her into talking… then I can let her go—or kill her like I did that guy when she lets her guard down…!)
Luffy sneered. "Thinking like that…"
"W-what are you talking about? I haven't said anything…" she stammered.
"You really think you'll get another chance?" Luffy asked.
Miss Valentine's eyes went wide. "…!"
Luffy looked into her eyes through the gap between his fingers. "I'm surprised I could read your thoughts, and you're probably just as surprised that your Devil Fruit isn't working."
"How did you read my mind…?" she moaned.
"Reading minds is Observation Haki, and disabling your Devil Fruit is thanks to Armament Haki," Luffy explained.
"Those strong enough can resist a Devil Fruit with Armament Haki, but I only just realized you can outright stop their power like this. To test it, I'd need someone whose fruit is definitely weaker than mine—but Devil Fruits aren't common, so I couldn't try until now."
"But you came right to me… thanks for the experiment, I guess?"
She whimpered, "I'll… I'll tell you everything, so please…"
"Anyway, what I was originally going to say is…" Luffy leaned close and whispered so only she could hear, "I already know all the info you're about to vomit out.
I read it in a comic in my past life."
"A comic? What are you talking about—" she began.
"And thinking your big move before death was some seduction…" he said.
"Wait! I swear it was a mistake! Please…!" she cried.
Crack!
"You're too far gone," Luffy said coldly.
Blood and brain matter spilled through the holes in her skull, hidden beneath his hand. His grip tightened, crushing her head smaller until it sank into her hat. When he released her, the tiny mass fell to the side with her body.
(Not a shred of regret in her last words.)
(That's why I couldn't just leave her alive.)
With the two down, Luffy turned at the gazes from behind.
"Ugh… he killed her so brutally," one of the crew groaned.
"Thank goodness the hat covered it, or I'd really puke," another said.
"Sniff… such a beautiful woman had to die so miserably… It's the world that toyed with her in the wrong way that's to blame!" Sanji lamented.
Nami, Usopp, and Sanji spoke in turn as Igaram stepped forward.
"Still as strong as ever, Luffy-san," Igaram said.
"Have we met before… was it Baroque Works about three years ago?" Luffy asked.
"Yes. A small elite unit of Official Agents investigating Baroque Works targeted you back then, Luffy-san," Igaram explained.
"They were all too weak," Luffy muttered.
"At that time, your information wasn't widely known, so my boss misjudged you," Igaram admitted.
"Isn't it strange that hundreds ran at me to kill me? What kind of 'small elite' is that?" Luffy asked.
"Later I heard the Frontier Agents who got reinforcements took everyone from the base just to boost their performance metrics," Igaram said.
"I know why I know about you, Luffy-san. I was moving secretly to swap info with Princess Vivi. When I heard my partner went there, I followed and saw the whole scene," he continued.
"Partner… what was he like?" Luffy asked.
"Honestly, he was a decent person… just unlucky," Igaram replied.
"…That's unfortunate," Luffy said softly.
"What can anyone do? Everyone has their positions and situations," Igaram shrugged.
Igaram then looked at Vivi, who still stood a step ahead of the Straw Hats.
"Princess Vivi, now that the company knows our identities, time is running out.
No matter what, I think Luffy-san is our best option. Please tell him everything."
Vivi hesitated briefly, then resolutely nodded. "All right. I'll tell you everything."
She took a breath. "The president of Baroque Works is… one of the Shichibukai of the World Government: Crocodile."
"What?!" Nami and Usopp exclaimed.
Mr. 9, slumped against a building, sat up in shock. "What, Miss Wens… no, Your Highness! Our boss was one of the Shichibukai too?!"
Usopp raised his chin. "Wait… if he's a Shichibukai, there's one in our crew too!"
"We've got Hancock, a fellow Shichibukai, and Luffy—doesn't that mean he's someone worth a shot~?" Usopp grinned.
Zoro crossed his arms. "Hancock, are all Shichibukai as strong as you?"
Hancock shrugged. "I don't know, Zoro. Besides me, they're all smelly old men. I never cared to find out."
She continued, "I only became a Shichibukai because of my fruit's power, my growth rate, and having a sister even stronger than me."
"A sister?" Zoro blinked.
"In any case, barring someone like me… the odds are any other Shichibukai will be stronger than me," Hancock said.
Usopp piped up, "L-Luffy! You're stronger than Hancock, right?! We checked out on the ship before coming here! So maybe you're even stronger than Crocodile…"
Zoro shrugged. "We'll know once we fight, Usopp."
Usopp shook his head. "Stronger than Luffy… I can't imagine it since I didn't see Mihawk at Baratie!"
Nami sighed. "Princess's plight is tragic, but let's drop it, Luffy! It's too dangerous!"
Vivi met their eyes. "I'm sorry to say it, but Crocodile even messed with Official Agents. For security's sake, he'll track them down relentlessly and never let them go."
Mr. 9 groaned. "We're doomed! Totally doomed! We were planning to squeeze a fortune out of you just for an easy escort! But this won't be profitable~!"
Igaram spoke to Nami. "Nami-san, I've saved about half a million berries so far…"
Zoro turned to Luffy. "So what's the plan? If Vivi's right, he's our enemy now. Let's head to Alabasta together for now."
"Once we arrive, we'll decide what to do based on the situation. How's that, Princess?" Zoro asked.
"Th-thank you, Luffy-san!" Vivi said, tears in her eyes.
(Crocodile… after recalling memories from my past life, I wondered if I'd have to fight him like in the original story.)
(But living by my own heart, here we are—guess it's a destined clash.)
Hancock smiled. "Luffy… as long as my husband is with me, I fear no powerful foe."
"Thanks, Hancock," Luffy replied.
"We're doomed~!" Nami and Usopp cried out together, tears streaming down their faces.
(If we must face him, better to fight than run.)
*****
An hour passed with Nami and Usopp still shrieking in shock at Luffy's decision.
Igaram stood at the edge of the island with Mr. 9 and looked up at the Going Merry.
The Straw Hat crew were preparing to set sail, and Vivi stood on deck beside Karoo.
Igaram bowed. "Princess, I'm truly sorry we have to see you off like this."
"When our identities were exposed, my plan was to use an [Eternal Pose] set for Alabasta to take another ship first and draw the company's attention," he explained.
The [Eternal Pose], unlike a regular Log Pose, permanently records an island's magnetic field and only points toward that recorded island. With an [Eternal Pose] set for your destination, each time you stop at an island, you don't have to wait for it to record before it will guide you toward the next—you can set sail immediately to the next nearest island until you reach your target.
"But the [Eternal Pose] for Alabasta I kept on me got smashed during the fight…" Igaram said.
Mr. 9 asked, "How did something so precious get broken, Mr… Igaram-san?"
Igaram and Mr. 9 looked in the direction Sanji was moving luggage. Vivi also turned to watch.
"Oh… given everyone's positions, it makes sense… but where's Luffy?" Mr. 9 asked.
At that moment Sanji leaped onto the deck and landed gracefully. "Did someone call me?"
Luffy answered from a few steps away. "Where have you been playing around, damn captain!"
"I found the backup ship you prepared, Igaram-san," Sanji said.
"I figured the agents might have planted bombs on it, so I checked it out," Luffy explained.
Sanji rolled his eyes. "Quit the chatter and help me get ready to depart!"
"Got it," Sanji said, and they went to work.
(In the original, the [Eternal Pose] to Alabasta didn't break, so Igaram launched the ship and the bombs went off. Here, the bombs Robin would have set as Crocodile's partner weren't on that ship.)
(Also, unlike the original where Sanji beating down Igaram smashed the [Eternal Pose] and injured him so he left later, here he got hurt and just ended up leaving after us.)
(In the original he survived the explosion and still made it to Alabasta somehow.)
(I wonder why Robin didn't plant any bombs… but it's good no one got hurt.)
As Luffy went to help Sanji, Vivi watched Igaram and Mr. 9 from the deck.
"Mr. 9—and the Official Agents sent here—are dead. If Crocodile investigates, you and everyone here could be in danger."
Vivi's voice was resolute. "A princess who must save her country can't worry about us. We'll handle it—do your best."
Mr. 9 bowed. "Princess, as soon as I recover, I'll head to Alabasta."
"I haven't been there personally, but by map it's two or three islands from here," he added. "It'll be a tough journey. Please be careful."
As the Going Merry sailed away, Vivi watched Igaram and Mr. 9 grow smaller on deck.
Far off by a reef, a large turtle floated on the sea. On its back, a woman stood in shadow, watching Luffy on the Merry.
"Ha… this really turned into a problem," she murmured.
Meanwhile, on the bow of the Going Merry, Luffy flipped through a notebook in his hand.
(In the original, you could resist a Devil Fruit power with Armament Haki, but there was never a depiction of completely negating it. Is this thanks to the fruit I ate…? My Devil Fruit abilities are really diverse.)
(Haki-imbued attack, flight, total negation of Devil Fruits, Observation Haki for mind reading and lie detection… was there more?)
Luffy stopped on a page and read. '(Right, Trafalgar Law… the guy who appears later in the original ate the Ope Ope Fruit.)'
'(I don't remember the details, but that fruit gave him a variety of surgery-like abilities.)'
'(When I read the manga, I used to hate how those powers weren't connected well… now I'm in no position to complain.)'
Unlike other fruits that grant entirely new powers, the Gum-Gum Fruit gave Luffy the ability to enhance Haki that all humans could potentially awaken.
Granting new powers consumes a fruit's energy like creating something from nothing. Since I only used the power to strengthen what I already had—my Haki—I could develop a wider variety of abilities based on that strength.
And Luffy wouldn't realize this truth until far in the future.