The atmosphere on the battlefield had grown suffocating.
Mr. 9, battered from head to toe, struggled to straighten the ridiculous crown perched atop his head. His eyes were wide with disbelief as he stared at the blue-haired girl not far away.
"So… you're a princess, Miss Wednesday?" Mr. 9's voice wavered, the shock throwing his tone completely off.
Igaram, collapsed on the ground, ignored the searing pain wracking his body and roared with everything he had left.
"Princess Vivi! Run! Don't worry about this old man!"
"Igaram!" Vivi's eyes were red as she clenched Karoo's reins tightly, her knuckles turning white. "Please escape quickly! For the sake of our country!"
Igaram's voice was hoarse, filled with desperation and resolve.
"If you're gone, the Kingdom of Alabasta will be… completely finished! Go! Now!"
Faced with this heartrending farewell, Mr. 5 merely lifted his little finger with utter indifference and dug it deep into his nostril.
"Run?" He snorted, his tone dripping with the cruel amusement of a cat toying with mice.
"Do you really think you can escape from the palm of our hands?"
Despair spread thickly through the air.
Just then, an unexpected figure stepped in front of Vivi.
"Honestly, I don't really get what's going on…"
Mr. 9 stood with his back to her. The pair of steel batons in his hands were already twisted and bent, yet his grip was tighter than it had ever been.
His silhouette still looked ridiculous—dressed in that bizarre prince cosplay that clashed terribly under the moonlight.
And yet, at this moment, there was something undeniably manly about him.
"But we've been partners for a long time now…"
Mr. 9 turned his head and flashed Vivi a bright grin. Gone were his usual sleaze and scheming—there was only frankness left.
"Miss Wednesday, let me buy you a little time!"
"Mr. 9…" Vivi covered her mouth, tears pooling in her eyes.
Mr. 9 took a deep breath, his gaze hardening with unprecedented resolve.
He knew he was just a small fry. In front of monsters like these, he probably couldn't even survive a single move. But some things… a man simply had to do.
"Go! Hurry up!"
He roared, then lowered his voice, as if speaking to himself—or declaring something to the world.
"Hey… when all's said and done… I wasn't half bad as a man, was I?"
Before the words had fully faded, Mr. 9 moved.
"Take this! Burning Grit Cyclone!"
He leapt high, performing several of his signature backflips midair. Using the centrifugal force of his rotation, the steel batons whistled through the air as he brought them crashing down toward Mr. 5's head.
This was the strongest strike of his life.
And his final one.
Reality, however, was merciless.
Faced with this suicidal attack, Mr. 5 didn't even lift his eyelids.
The gap in power wasn't something grit or passion could bridge.
"How foolish."
Mr. 5 casually rolled what he had just picked from his nose between his fingers, his voice cold as ice.
"What we need is an iron will to complete the mission. That pointless sense of camaraderie only gets you killed faster."
Mr. 9's figure rapidly expanded in his pupils. Mr. 5 didn't dodge—he merely raised his hand in contempt and flicked his finger.
"Let you experience it… being blown to pieces."
That tiny, revolting gray-black object shot forward like a bullet, striking Mr. 9 midair where he had no way to adjust.
"Nose-Fancy Cannon!"
BOOOOM—!!!
A massive explosion swallowed Mr. 9 in an instant.
This wasn't an ordinary blast. The violent shockwave and scorching air tore through the street, ripping everything apart.
The once-solid stone pavement was blown open into a deep crater, shattered fragments spraying outward like shrapnel.
"AAAAAAH—!"
With a piercing scream, Mr. 9 was flung away like a broken kite, hurled mercilessly by the blast.
His body traced a charred arc through the air before crashing heavily into the churning sea below.
Waves surged and closed over him in an instant, his fate unknown.
"Mr. 9!!!"
Vivi let out a heart-rending cry.
At the edge of the battlefield, the Straw Hat crew—who had witnessed everything—wore very different expressions.
"H-Hey…"
Zoro's mouth twitched as he stared at the still-smoking crater, a bead of sweat sliding down his temple.
"What kind of dangerous thing is that? Boogers? How does something like that even explode?"
Sanji, standing nearby, had gone pale. As a chef with an almost obsessive concern for hygiene, the sight dealt catastrophic damage to his psyche.
"Ugh…"
He covered his mouth and took a step back in utter disgust.
"That's vile! Using something that filthy as a weapon… This guy's officially the most tasteless bastard I've ever seen! Don't let me kick him—I don't want to dirty my shoes!"
Nami clutched her head and hid behind Ronan, peeking out in terror.
"That's definitely a Devil Fruit user, right?! That power is terrifying… Just one little… thing, and it hits as hard as a cannon?"
Ronan frowned as well, his face filled with undisguised revulsion.
He knew how the story went, but seeing this fighting style with his own eyes still made his stomach churn.
"He's definitely a Devil Fruit user."
Ronan brushed the dust from his clothes and analyzed the situation calmly.
"If I'm not mistaken, it's a Paramecia-type— the Bomb-Bomb Fruit."
"It's actually a Devil Fruit with tremendous potential. Any part of the user's body can be turned into an explosive…"
He paused, looking at Mr. 5's arrogant expression.
"But developing it into something this disgusting? All that shows is that the user's sense of style sets the upper limit of the fruit. What a complete waste."
"Run, Vivi!"
At that moment, Igaram shouted hoarsely from the ground, snapping Vivi out of her daze.
Her body trembled. At last, her duty as a princess overwhelmed her weakness.
"Karoo!" Vivi clenched her teeth and yanked the reins hard. "Let's go!"
"Quack!"
Big Duck Karoo was terrified, but he knew that if they didn't run now, they truly wouldn't survive.
He burst forward with astonishing speed, carrying Vivi as they became a yellow streak racing toward the edge of town.
"Hmph, trying to run?"
"On this island, no one escapes my explosions."
Mr. 5 turned to his partner floating in the air. "They won't get away. Let's go."
"Hehehe, of course~"
Miss Valentine twirled her parasol lightly, her body drifting upward. "Hunting down a fleeing princess—this is my favorite game~"
Ignoring Zoro, Ronan, and the others entirely, the two moved at once—one striding forward, the other gliding through the air—chasing after Vivi in the direction she fled.
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