Inside the room.
When it came to sensing emotions, Luffy's Kenbunshoku Haki was quite effective. Right now, Vivi's complex emotions were like a locomotive blocked on all sides, unable to find an exit, liable to crash into something at any moment.
Luffy collected his own thoughts, remembering the previous topic. His expression grew a bit more serious as he asked,
"So... what is it that you were willing to stake your life on? That thing you said you absolutely had to do, even if it meant death... what is it? Tell me."
Mentioning this, Vivi's momentum suddenly weakened, her face showing struggle and worry... Any normal person would be scared off just hearing that name.
Over the past two years of investigation, she had found that the organization's leader might very well be that conjectured existence.
"I... I'm afraid if I say it, you'll think I'm overestimating myself."
Vivi faltered at the crucial moment, her gaze drifting.
What she feared more was that Luffy would hesitate, waver... and then retreat upon hearing the name.
If she hadn't held onto hope from the start, she wouldn't be feeling this way now.
"Overestimating yourself? Must be something really tough then. We'll help you with it."
Luffy answered without hesitation.
"But..."
Vivi looked up, meeting Luffy's eyes. There wasn't a trace of falseness or hesitation in them. She took a deep breath.
"What if... the person we have to deal with is one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea?"
She stared intently at Luffy.
The Seven Warlords of the Sea—those were powerful pirates who had reached an agreement with the World Government and the Marines, granted legal pillaging rights! They were among the seven strongest figures standing at the pinnacle of the sea!
However, Luffy's reaction completely defied her expectations.
"The Seven Warlords of the Sea?"
Luffy thought for a moment, a bit surprised to hear that familiar title here. Was Vivi's enemy really one of the Seven Warlords?
"That's great. I left Hawk-Eyes for Zoro last time. I'll take care of this Seven Warlords myself."
It had been a while since he faced a truly weighty opponent.
"You mean the warlord Hawk-Eyes Mihawk? He's the top among them. But even the other warlords are monstrously powerful. Do you even understand what they represent?"
The pain was now covered by a cooling sensation, allowing her to move a little. Vivi, losing composure, moved closer to Luffy. Luffy stepped back slightly, his back hitting the bed. Vivi placed her hands on the wall on either side of him.
"They aren't pirates playing around at some pirate game. They represent the pinnacle of piracy on this sea. If you face them with that attitude, you'll be killed!"
Before she could finish, Luffy interrupted.
"Who the enemy is doesn't matter. Anyone who messes with my nakama gets knocked flying!"
The distance between them was very close, faces almost touching, the warmth of each other's breath easily felt.
"Hey, how much longer are you two going to dawdle? I told you, we can see the town. Whisky Peak that Vivi mentioned is just ahead..."
The door opened.
The voice abruptly stopped.
Luffy turned his head and saw Nami, who had opened the door to come in. The expression on her face gradually turned cold, as if looking at some piece of trash. "What are you doing?"
Vivi hurriedly withdrew her hands. Losing her balance, she fell backward, only to yelp in pain as her injury was jostled, then sprang forward again, jumping into Luffy's arms.
A case of cuckoldry right in front of the wife?
Nami frowned, feeling even more sour that the idiot instinctively reached out to steady Vivi.
Luffy instinctively sensed the situation had turned bad.
He immediately stood up, his mind racing for a solution, when just then, they noticed the commotion outside.
"There are enemies!"
"Enemies?"
Vivi snapped back to reality. Since she had decided to board Luffy's "pirate ship," the subordinates Igaram had developed in Whisky Peak shouldn't be enemies.
"There are two relatively strong ones who have defeated everyone on the island. I'll go take a look," Luffy said, handing Vivi over to Nami before running out.
"Wait! Don't attack Igaram!" Vivi called out to Luffy as he left, unsure if he heard her before he turned the corner and was gone.
...
At that moment, Whisky Peak was devoid of life.
A man with distinctive curly hair lay seriously injured on the ground, his face pale as he angrily berated a man and woman not far away.
The man wore coffee-colored clothes, sunglasses, and had an afro. The woman was tall and slender with short blonde hair, holding a parasol patterned with yellow and blue stripes.
"Fuhahaha! Mr. 8, to think you were actually a spy within our organization."
"None of that matters anymore. The President has ordered Whisky Peak abandoned."
The curly-haired man gritted his teeth. "You bastards."
The afro man pronounced the death sentence, digging out a booger and flicking it.
"Zoro, save him."
"Troublesome. Why did you follow me here?"
Luffy and Zoro had arrived one after the other. Zoro, itching for a fight, had sensed the commotion and come. Sensing something dangerous in the air, he instinctively slashed at it.
The result...
"A... a booger?!"
Zoro stared at the disgusting objects, split in two by his blade, still smoking faintly on the ground. His face turned green, the hand holding his sword trembling slightly.
He was a man who aimed to be the world's greatest swordsman! His swords were meant to cut steel and split mountains! And now he had just sliced through a booger?!
"I'm going to kill you, you bastard!"
Gem dug in his nose, looking disdainful. "Boogers are only fun when they explode, idiot. Looks like your swordsmanship isn't much good if you can't even dodge a booger."
Beside him, Miss Valentine, Mikita, leaning on her parasol, let out her signature "hahaha" laugh. "So, Igaram, you actually called for backup?"
Luffy roughly sorted out the situation.
It wasn't actually that complicated.
Igaram, whom Vivi mentioned, was an ally. So the ones attacking Igaram were enemies.
So Luffy began discussing with Zoro, choosing their opponents.
"Which one do you want?"
"The booger guy. I'm going to slaughter him!" Zoro declared.
"Hey, do you even know who we are? We're the Chief Officers of Baroque Works!"
Mikita stopped laughing, pointing the tip of her parasol at Luffy. "And you dare act so arrogantly knowing we're Devil Fruit users? Mr. 5's Bomu Bomu no Mi and my Kilo Kilo no Mi aren't powers little nobodies like you can imagine!"
Moreover, Baroque Works was a massive organization. Besides the people here at Whisky Peak, there were several thousand more.
The forty or fifty men they led were now surrounding them.
However, Luffy used sheer strength to show them that numerical superiority was as flimsy as paper before absolute power. Steam began to spread across his body, like a gust of wind blowing past. The people in front had their eyes roll back as they were sent flying.
Using Gear Second against them here was a bit of an overwhelming strike.
***
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