The Officer Agents of Baroque Works revealed themselves one after another. Riding on his camel, Allen quickly swept his gaze over them.
Aside from the intercepted Mr. 1 and Miss Doublefinger, there was the old mole woman who had jumped out of the hole earlier, and the large, fat Mr. 4 walking out from the end of the street with a metal baseball bat in hand.
Allen pondered for a moment before calling out behind him, "I'll leave that fat guy to you, Buchi."
"Understood, Boss! Watch me beat him to a pulp!"
Buchi shouted excitedly, then leaped high from his camel, diving straight toward Mr. 4.
With Buchi and Sham's current strength, dealing with Mr. 4 and Miss Doublefinger was more than enough, as long as they didn't let their guard down.
Allen's only concern was Gin, who was facing Mr. 1. The Dice-Dice Fruit, which allowed the user to turn any part of their body into a steel blade, held a massive advantage in close-quarters combat, both offensively and defensively.
Gin's sole advantage lay in his choice of weapons—the pair of tonfas with solid iron balls at the ends.
Against Daz Bonez, who was known as the bane of swordsmen, the impact of such heavy, blunt-force attacks was far more effective than blades.
Cutting through steel required a swordsman to reach a certain level of mastery, but for blunt weapons, sheer brute force could work miracles.
And those heavy tonfa hammers in Gin's hands possessed the exact power needed to shatter steel. Conversely, his defensive capabilities were practically nonexistent against the Dice-Dice Fruit.
However... Allen cast one last glance at Gin.
Whether or not he could grow stronger in the Grand Line ultimately depended on whether Gin could improve himself through repeated challenges.
Since he had already said he would leave it to him, he would let him try.
"Let's go." Allen's eyes shone with resolve as he led the rest of the group straight toward the royal palace.
Ahead on the street, the old mole woman suddenly flew into an inexplicable rage.
"Bastards! How dare you ignore me! This is discrimination against the elderly, you ignorant fools! Fools!"
"I'll show you the consequences of underestimating me!"
Cursing profusely, Miss Merry Christmas spread her large claws, leaped into the air headfirst, and dove straight into a hole in the ground.
The dirt on the ground bulged upward, rapidly extending in a straight line toward them from the starting point of the hole.
Nami furrowed her brows slightly, quickly assessing the situation in her mind. *'She must be a Zoan-type Devil Fruit user with strong digging abilities. Looks like a mole.'*
"This ugly, nagging old hag... even I can't help but want to kick her away," Sanji said, his face full of disgust as he gritted his teeth to suppress his inner urges.
"Leave this one to me. Although my injuries haven't fully healed, it's more than enough to deal with her." Beside them, Chaka the Jackal spoke in a solemn tone. "Pell! Take them to find the king."
"Understood!" Pell nodded and shouted.
Chaka's gaze sharpened. His nose and lips gradually elongated, and black fur began to sprout across his face. In a matter of seconds, he transformed into his human-beast form.
Just as the bulging trench of dirt reached them, Miss Merry Christmas's large claws burst from the ground, grabbing the legs of the camel Allen was riding.
*Schwing!*
Seizing the opportunity, Chaka drew his sword and leaped forward, swiftly thrusting at Miss Merry Christmas.
Allen jumped up at the same time, doing a flip in the air before landing on the back of the camel Chaka had just vacated.
With that, there were no more obstacles ahead.
Allen, Sanji, Nami, Pell, and Koza—the five of them rushed out of the street, bypassing the high walls of the royal palace to arrive at the gates of the East Hall.
"Lord Pell? Wait a moment, camels are not allowed inside..."
"Open the gates! I have urgent business with His Majesty!"
"This... Yes, sir!"
Recognizing the galloping Pell, the guards didn't hesitate for long, hurriedly opening the palace gates to let them through.
The interior of the royal palace was vast, filled with numerous buildings. Under Pell's lead, the group navigated the familiar paths and arrived in front of the main hall.
"Lord Pell?!"
On the steps, four heavily armed, muscular guards greeted them with surprise and excitement upon seeing their arrival.
"Thank goodness! You've finally returned."
"Where is Lord Chaka? Why isn't he with you?"
"It's the Tsumegeri Guards. I need to see His Majesty! Is he in the main hall right now?!" Pell asked loudly and urgently.
Hearing this, the four Tsumegeri Guards instinctively turned to look inside the main hall and replied, "Yes! His Majesty just finished arranging the combat operation to annihilate the rebel army and is preparing to head to the South Gate to mobilize the troops."
"Annihilate the rebel army? Hey, what's going on here?!"
Hearing this, Koza anxiously grabbed Pell by the collar and roared.
"Bastard! Didn't you say he wanted to negotiate? Why is Cobra deploying troops to wipe out the rebels the moment I arrive?!"
"I...!"
Pell was somewhat at a loss from being yelled at, even doubting if he had misheard.
"I don't know... but that's impossible! The night before last, His Majesty personally ordered us to go rescue you. There's absolutely no way he would actively provoke a war!"
Pell shouted unwillingly, forcefully shaking off Koza's hand. "Let go of me! I'm going to see His Majesty. I believe that once he knows the truth, he will definitely call off the operation!"
"It better be exactly as you say...!"
Koza glared at Pell furiously through gritted teeth.
Right now, he was hundreds of kilometers away from the rebel army. If he wanted to stop the war from breaking out, there was no other way but to start with Cobra.
Behind them, Allen couldn't help but frown in deep thought.
Cobra ordering the annihilation of the rebel army sounded truly bizarre, and it was completely different from Crocodile's plan that Robin had revealed.
"Could they have already made a move on Cobra?"
"What do you mean? Are you saying His Majesty is being threatened?!" Pell sharply turned his head to look at him.
Biting down on his cigarette, Sanji said in a deep voice, "I think it's highly likely. If that Mr. 2 can impersonate Koza to manipulate the rebel army, then he should also be able to disguise himself as the king to control the Royal Army."
"Koza is with us now. Since the enemy sent assassins to intercept us in Alubarna, they probably guessed we would come to the royal palace. So, they changed their plan, preparing to have the fake king meet with Koza."
"Besides, kidnapping the king also allows them to seize the Poneglyph guarded by the royal family along the way. Doing it this way is indeed safer and saves more time," Sanji analyzed, stroking his chin.
Nami said indignantly, "Scheming this and plotting that, this guy is too infuriating."
"Regardless of whether this deduction is correct, let's go inside and take a look first."
"Understood. Follow me."
Pell nodded, leading Allen and the others past the Tsumegeri Guards and stepping into the hall.
...
Meanwhile, outside the palace, in the East District Commercial Street.
"Miss... Merry Christmas...!"
Mr. 4's eyes were filled with panic as he slowly forced the words out of his mouth, pausing between syllables as if unable to speak coherently.
And where his gaze was fixed, on the pothole-riddled ground, his partner Miss Merry Christmas had been struck down by a single sword slash from Chaka.
*Thud!*
A splash of blood splattered against the corner of the wall as Miss Merry Christmas's bloated body crashed heavily to the ground.
*Clack!*
Chaka sheathed his sword, using the end of the scabbard against the ground to support his body. Blood continuously seeped through the bandages on his body.
"As expected, fighting with these injuries is pushing it too far."
Chaka gritted his teeth to hold himself up, leaning his back against the wall as he slowly sat down.
Although Miss Merry Christmas had tangled with him for a while by digging tunnels, he had still accurately predicted the timing of her appearance relying on his keen sense of smell, unleashing his fastest strike to defeat her.
However, the injuries he sustained yesterday flared up from that single strike, making it difficult for him to even stand up now.
"Sorry, it's up to you from here on out," Chaka said weakly to Buchi.
Buchi flashed a wide, toothy grin and turned back to give him an 'OK' gesture.
"Just rest easy, Dog Bro. As a fellow fat guy, there's no way I'll lose to him, whether it's in appetite or strength."
"Is that so..."
Chaka broke out in a cold sweat from the pain, a dry smile forming on his lips.
Turning back around, Buchi's expression shifted to anger as he glared at Mr. 4... or rather, the dog beside him, and shouted, "You bastard dog! How dare you blow me up with bombs! Watch me beat you to a pulp and stew you into dog meat soup!"
"Ah, I'm not talking about you, Dog Bro."
Buchi awkwardly waved his hand over his shoulder.
Chaka rolled his eyes and glared at him angrily. "I know! Hurry up and fight!!"
"Ahem..."
"You bastard fat... ah, no, you bastard fat guy with the baseball bat, I'll let you witness my power now!"
*Bang!*
Buchi stomped his foot furiously on the ground, assuming a fighting stance. The muscles all over his body began to bulge, and orange fur with black stripes gradually grew across his skin.
Under Mr. 4's astonished and somewhat dull gaze, Buchi's body expanded to over three meters tall, transforming into a humanoid tiger with a ferocious visage as he let out a deafening roar!
"ROAR!!!"
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