"Hehehe… even though it's the middle of the night, this place is surprisingly lively."
A frivolous yet chilling female voice rang out abruptly.
Immediately after, a lazy male voice responded:
"This is such a drag. Sending agents of our level to the front line to deal with something this trivial—Boss really is overreacting."
Two figures appeared as if out of thin air, standing atop a tall rock at the edge of the plaza.
The man was tall and lanky, wearing a long trench coat rarely seen in this era. He had an afro, sunglasses, and an air of arrogant swagger, like a self-proclaimed rock star.
The woman wore a lemon-yellow dress, held a parasol, and donned an exaggerated wide-brimmed hat. A sweet yet cruel smile hung on her face.
Igaram's pupils shrank violently. His voice trembled.
"Mr.5… Miss Valentine!!"
These two were high-ranking agents of Baroque Works.
Mr.5 looked down over the battlefield, sweeping his gaze across the wreckage of fallen low-level bounty hunters.
Finally, his eyes landed on the battered Igaram. He disdainfully picked his nose.
"How ugly, Igaram. As the commander stationed here, you actually lost to a bunch of rookie pirate brats. You've completely disgraced the organization."
"You…" Igaram struggled to sit up, but the pain made him suck in a sharp breath. "Did you come just to mock us?"
"Mock you? Hehehe, we don't have time for that."
Miss Valentine twirled her parasol and lightly jumped down from the rock.
Strangely, her body seemed weightless, drifting down like a feather.
"We're here for a mission, of course~"
"A mission?"
Under the grave gazes of Igaram and the newly awakened Vivi, Mr.5 lazily flicked his finger—the one he'd just used to dig his nose.
"The boss said this: 'My secret has been discovered.'"
He shrugged casually.
"Of course, I don't know what that secret is, and I don't care to know."
Miss Valentine picked up the thread, giggling.
"So we started investigating which rat found out the boss's secret."
"And what we found was incredible~ According to intelligence from the Unluckies, a very important figure from a certain country has infiltrated Baroque Works!"
From the nearby rubble, Mr.9—who had been sent flying earlier by Ronan—finally crawled out, covered in dust.
Hearing that, he panicked, thinking they meant him, and waved his hands frantically.
"Wait! Wait! Even though I wear a crown, I'm really not a king!"
"It's just a personal hobby! I'm not a prince either! I'm innocent!"
"Idiot, who's talking about you?"
Miss Valentine rolled her eyes in disgust.
Mr.5 coldly cut off the farce. His gaze locked onto Igaram and Vivi like a venomous snake, his voice turning icy.
"The criminals are—Captain of the Alabasta Royal Guard, Igaram! And…"
He paused, his eyes shifting to the blue-haired girl.
"The princess of the Kingdom of Alabasta—Nefertari Vivi!"
The words struck like thunder in the silent night.
"Princess?!"
At that moment, Nami—who had rushed over after hearing the commotion—heard everything.
She covered her mouth, her eyes filled with terror.
"Killing a princess of a nation?! That's huge news! Is this something we're even allowed to hear? Are we going to get silenced?!"
Ronan, Zoro, and Sanji stepped forward in unison, standing protectively in front of Nami.
"Hmph. Princess or not," Zoro said, hand on his sword, eyes sharp. "If she's an enemy, what difference does her status make?"
"N-no no no!"
Sanji's heart-shaped eyes reappeared as he twisted his body.
"So she really is a princess! I knew it! That noble aura couldn't possibly be hidden!"
Mr.5 looked at the pirates chatting casually in the face of death, a cruel glint flashing behind his sunglasses.
"By order of Baroque Works' boss—eliminate the infiltrators."
He slowly raised his hand, aiming it at everyone present.
"And since you pirates overheard secrets you shouldn't have…"
He glanced at Nami with contempt, a savage grin spreading across his face.
"Everyone here today dies. Not a single one of you is leaving this island alive."
As his words fell, an invisible pressure blanketed the area.
The night was pitch-black, and even the full moon hanging over Whiskey Peak seemed stained with killing intent.
The cactus rocks fell into deathly silence, broken only by the wind brushing against ruins, howling like a lament.
Ronan stood in the shadows, lightly tapping the ground with his ebony staff.
His gaze moved between Mr.5, Igaram, and Vivi—his heart utterly calm.
To be honest, he felt no fondness for this so-called Alabasta princess.
In the original course of fate, the Straw Hats forged deep bonds with Vivi—a passionate story meant for Luffy, the "chosen one."
But in this real world, what Ronan saw was only a fallen princess who, for her country, did not hesitate to use innocent pirates—bordering on moral coercion.
Aside from the earlier farce of attacking them with a seductive dance, there had been no real bond between them.
And earlier, she had even tried to trap and hunt them for a bounty, then attempted to drag them into the fire when things went wrong. Every one of Vivi's choices reeked of helpless selfishness.
"How ironic…" Ronan sighed inwardly.
He had thought that as a butterfly from another world, his fluttering wings would be enough to stir a storm.
Yet seeing the plot still marching along its original track, he couldn't help but feel absurdity.
Mr.5's declaration of slaughtering everyone present fell like a stone into Ronan's calm mind.
"Well… excuse me for interrupting."
Ronan sighed and stepped forward, trying to resolve things as peacefully as possible.
"We don't really want to interfere with your internal cleanup. We're just passing pirates."
"Debts should be settled with the right people. No need to drag us into this, right? We can leave now—how about it?"
The response was silence.
Mr.5 didn't even spare Ronan a glance.
His attention remained fixed on Igaram and Vivi, as if Ronan's group were nothing more than ants by the roadside—crushable at any time.
Not worth even a second of notice.
Ronan's eyebrow twitched slightly. His grip on the ebony staff tightened.
"Getting looked down on again…"
A self-mocking smile curled at the corner of his mouth, a dangerous glint flashing in his eyes.
"That feeling of being ignored… really pisses me off."
Still, they had no reputation yet. Being underestimated was only natural.
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