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Grand Line – Paradise
Whisky Peak
"You really don't know Alabasta, do you? What did you think? That just because it's a kingdom, we'd have all this money to give as a reward just like that? No, Alabasta is practically in the middle of a civil war full of conspiracies. I can't promise you or give you that money, but still, I thank you for saving us", Vivi comments, letting out an amused snort, realizing that Nami knew nothing about Alabasta and its situation.
At that moment, Igaram wakes up looking scared and disoriented, and when he sees Vivi holding him in her arms, he begins to speak with concern and urgency, "Milady, what are you still doing here? You need to run before those two find you. You need to survive, if anything happens to you, our kingdom will be finished, you know that."
"Relax, we've already dealt with those two. But what's this whole thing about Baroque Works, the Kingdom of Alabasta, the civil war, and where do you two fit into all of this, and why were they hunting you? I'm curious, I want to understand", Nami says, growing curious about what was going on, even though it wasn't exactly her business.
"Are we okay for now?", Igaram asks, relaxing and feeling relieved as he finally sees Miss Valentine unconscious and severely injured nearby, and in the distance, Mr. 5's bleeding body on the ground.
"Yes, Igaram, we're fine for now… Well, what do you guys know about Baroque Works?", After reassuring Igaram, Vivi asks the Straw Hats after a brief pause in her speech.
"The same thing I said before, a criminal terrorist organization disguised as a bounty hunting group, I'm not sure exactly what jobs they're involved in. None of the members know each other's identities and the same goes for the mysterious boss no one knows but still follows. Now, why they do that, I don't know, and that's what I know. Luffy's brother must know more", Zoro says, conveying what he knew.
"So, with that, you know the basics, more than what they want people to know, but it's still just the basics. The thing is, the ultimate goal of Baroque Works is to 'found' the ideal nation. Everyone follows the leader without question because those who successfully carry out his orders will get an elevated status in this nation after it's 'created.' The leader's codename is Mr. 0. And the closer your codename is to 0, the more prestige you have, and the stronger you are", Igaram says, joining the conversation.
"And where does your kingdom fit into this?", Nami asks, confused.
"It's because, instead of starting a nation from scratch, the goal of the Baroque Works leader is to usurp Alabasta and build his ideal nation on top of the skeleton of our kingdom. This civil war is being caused by Baroque Works manipulating things behind the scenes. Alabasta is one of the oldest civilizations in the Grand Line; it was a peaceful kingdom until a few years ago when strange things started happening. This led to rebellions and uprisings among the people, plunging the country into chaos. But one day, I heard rumors, and with Igaram's help, we infiltrated Baroque Works to find out who was behind all of this and why", Vivi says, providing context for the events.
"A little reckless on your part, huh? The princess herself infiltrates the organization that wants to destroy her kingdom, without any espionage training or anything. The chances of this going wrong are really high, and apparently, I'm right, things have already gone wrong. They found out about you two", Zoro comments, pointing at Vivi and Igaram with a bottle of drink in his hand.
"I had no choice; I couldn't entrust this task to just anyone. And yes, we were discovered, but not before we got the information we needed. Now we know who's behind all of this and why. We just need to get back to Alabasta and use this information to stop a potential coup d'état or rebellion", Vivi says, slightly hopeful, even though she knows the journey will be difficult.
"I see. If you don't have the money, then there's not much we can do about that. Well, good luck on your journey. We're leaving now", Nami says, not wanting to get involved in all of this.
"Hold on, Nami, I'm recruiting these two. I promised her that if the duck joined the crew, she could join too", Luffy says, stopping Nami in her tracks while still looking at Karoo with stars in his eyes.
"You've got to be kidding me! Luffy, you can't just go around recruiting anyone into the crew, especially just because he's a duck!", Nami says, with eyes closed, holding the nasal bridge between her thumb and index finger.
"What's wrong with that? Chouchou is a dog, and I don't see anyone complaining. Besides, I've made up my mind. The duck and the girl who isn't a princess are part of the crew", Luffy says, puffing out his cheeks and sticking out his tongue at Nami, only to receive a punch from her to the head shortly afterward.
Nearby, watching the two argue, is Vivi, who then asks Zoro, "Are they always like this?"
"No, only when the Captain acts like an idiot, which happens often. By the way, welcome to the crew", Zoro says, welcoming her to the crew.
"I... didn't agree to join your crew or anything. I'm a princess, and I have responsibilities to my people. I can't just join a pirate crew", Vivi says, promptly rejecting the invitation.
"But will join, they always join", Zoro states as if declaring a fact, leaving Vivi, Igaram, and Karoo confused.
"So, who's the leader of Baroque Works?", Zoro asks, a little curious, changing the subject.
"No, no, no, I can't tell you that. I don't want to get you guys into trouble. The less you guys know, the better. You might be really strong, but there's no way you guys face someone like him. After all, the Croco-", Vivi starts to say, almost accidentally revealing the name of the leader of Baroque Works, only to be interrupted by Luffy who jumps into the conversation, "Oh, you guys are talking about Crocodile?"
A silence follows as everyone's brain tries to process what just happened.
"What? Why are you all frozen suddenly? Was this supposed to be a secret? Well, they didn't keep it very well, then. A lot of people know. The World Government knows, my dad knows, and now you all know", Luffy says, shrugging.
"What... wait, did you say the World Government knows? They know that Crocodile is trying to take over Alabasta and still did nothing?", Vivi asks angrily, raising her voice.
"Well, yeah, they don't care as long as they keep receiving the Heavenly Tribute. Now, I'm sure those mothers fuckers would act on their own immediately if they knew that one of Crocodile's goals is to read Alabasta's Poneglyph because he thinks the warship Pluton is there", Luffy says while laughing internally, imagining the face Crocodile would make if he found out Pluton isn't in Alabasta.
"Fuck, they know and still did nothing, let the people of Alabasta suffer with this pointless rebellion when they could have done something", Vivi screams, furious.
"Calm down, milady. Our people still count on us. If we don't do anything, no one will. So calm down yourself and focus on the objective", Igaram says, calming Vivi down.
"…Sigh… how do you know all these things?", Vivi asks, calming down.
"I'll tell you what I told the rest of the crew. Before I can share secrets, we need to be stronger", Luffy says, embarrassed.
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(AN: 1,289 Words)
Hey guys, help me out with a doubt, which Hakis should Aramaki have? What I want to know with that is whether I should give him Conqueror's Haki or not, and which Hakis he would have in their advanced forms.
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Hey everyone, just dropping by to let you know that for every 100 Power Stones you manage to gather before the ranking resets on Sunday, I will post a bonus chapter immediately.
Thank you for reading another chapter! If you enjoy this story, leave comments on the chapters, rate the story, and add it to your library.
Leave your Power Stones on this fic, it helps a lot to this story get more visibility.
And if you don't want to wait for public releases and are interested in reading more advanced chapters of this fic, you can always check out my Patreon page. There, you'll find over twenty advanced chapters of this fic and another Bully fic I recently started: patreon.com/_Luizinho_
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