Baroque Works.
It is a criminal syndicate formed by the Warlord Crocodile to destabilize and conquer the Arabasta Kingdom, with the ultimate goal of acquiring the ancient superweapon Pluton. For this sole purpose, it conducted countless acts of espionage, sabotage, and murder over a span of years, ultimately manipulating Arabasta into civil war.
All of them, especially those with the executive positions, or one of the highest, had known each other, and they also had worked together to achieve their ambition, the Utopia Plan.
Still, even so, while the executives had known each other, it was their first time to be invited and called to gather together for a meeting with the real leader or the boss behind their organization.
For his own goal, Crocodile had been secretive, using even aliases for himself and his members, and even hiding his real identity from everyone, as well as the real goal off his Utopia Plan since the World Government knew that he planned to acquire the ancient superweapon Pluton, he knew well that his life wouldn't be easy and in the worst case, he might be silenced.
It was also because of that that he had hidden himself, without exposing himself, and even packaged himself as a hero of the people, the hope for the people of the Arabasta Kingdom.
Yet, Robin's betrayal changed everything. He had to catch or even kill this woman as soon as possible, or else, even he wasn't sure whether he could deal with all the consequences that would come after him.
Yes, he was powerful, and in the desert, no one could be his opponent, especially when he was the user of the Suna Suna no Mi, the Logia type, the strongest type of the Devil Fruit that controlled sand.
No, he was the sand itself.
Regardless, he knew that he wasn't omnipotent, and facing the World Government was too dangerous for him, so before Robin made a move, he had to make a move first!
Naturally, when all the executives of the Baroque Works were gathered at the place where their boss asked them, all of them were confused, and even felt an anticipation since they knew that it would be their first time to meet their boss, the one who had been hiding behind the scenes, leading them to almost conquer one of the largest countries in the world, but—
"Where is Mr. 1, Miss Doublefinger?"
Mr. 2, Bon Clay, a tall male cross-dresser in funny makeup and outfit like a ballerina with a swan-like head accessory on his crotch area, looked at Miss Doublefinger, who was alone with a doubt.
The executives, officers, or higher-ups of the members of the Baraque Works consisted of a pair of teams, each comprising a male and a female, from Mr. 1 to Mr. 5.
Except for Mr. 2, who had his own transvestite (Okama) team, everyone was in a pair, whether it was Mr. 1, Mr. 3, Mr. 4, or even Mr. 5, who had their own duo, called Miss Doublefinger, Miss Goldenweek, Miss Christmas, and Miss Valentine.
Miss Doublefinger was the partner of Mr. 1, and they had always been together as they were famous for being efficient and silent assassins who did the job cleanly and perfectly.
While everyone who was invited to this place had their own arrogance, they all knew that Mr. 1 was the strongest just below their boss, so when Miss Doublefinger came alone, all of them were confused, but as the prestige and reputation of this woman caused everyone to be unable to ask that question openly, only Mr. 2, who was just below the position of the Mr. 1 could ask that question.
Or rather, with Mr. 2's character, he probably dared to talk back to his own boss, especially since his power was just so tricky.
When this question fell, everyone who was invited perked their ears, waiting for Miss Doublefinger's answer, the beautiful woman with a voluptuous and sexy body, especially her waist and hips, which had a perfect ratio that made any man crazy.
However, before Miss Doublefinger or Zala gave an answer, an unfamiliar voice gave an answer. "There is no need to wait for Mr. 1."
"Why? Also..."
As this voice fell, everyone subconsciously followed before they all widened their eyes!
"C-Crocodile?!"
"The Desert King?!"
"Why is he here?!"
They were all nervous and even frightened as they knew well how strong Crocodile was, and those pirates who came to fight him, all of them died as if they had become mummies, buried deep inside the sand!
In the eyes of the public, Crocodile might be a pirate, but in the eyes of the criminals, like them, this guy was a horror-like existence.
However, Mr. 3, Galdino, a man with a unique hairstyle, who was probably the smartest among all of them, was in confusion for a moment until he asked, "...are you the boss behind the Baraque Works?"
"That's right." Crocodile nodded, feeling satisfied with Mr. 3's question.
Yet, this also made everyone stunned as they had never expected their boss, the one who had been leading them behind the scenes, was one of the Warlords of the Sea, Crocodile!
Still, Mr. 2 asked with a note of doubt, "Why didn't Mr. 1 come?"
"Because he was killed."
"....." Everyone.
"WHAAAAAAAAAATTTTT?!"
Everyone was clear how strong Mr. 1 was, and no matter how they tried to boast themselves, they still had to lower their heads in front of Mr. 1, who had always focused on improving himself to grow stronger, and more importantly, he was really that strong man that could defeat any of them in this place except for their boss!
"W-Who killed him?" Mr. 2 asked quickly with a nervous expression.
"It's Miss All Sunday."
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTT?!"
This time, the magnitude of the news wasn't far or even higher than the news of the death of Mr. 1!
All of them were clear about Miss All Sunday, the secretary of Mr. 0, also known as Crocodile, their boss, and she was the one who managed their missions and assigned them various tasks. But could she really have killed Mr. 1?
While they had to admit that Miss All-Sunday might not be weak, they felt that her power was still far from Mr. 1!
"There is a high chance that she isn't alone. What is important is..." As Crocodile sucked deep the cigar and let the nicotine sink deep into his lungs, his face became gloomy and filled with a killing intent that made all of them tremble. "She betrayed me."
Gulp!
As everyone gulped, Crocodile blew smoke out of his mouth as he said, "There is only one task that I ask of you.
"Kill her and the one that she has decided to be with.
"Understand?"
"Yes!"
No one refused this task, and all of them agreed since no one loved a betrayer.
If Miss All-Sunday could even kill Mr. 1, then wouldn't she be able to kill them, too?
So, before she killed them, they would kill her first!
The punishment for those who betrayed their organization was death.
Crocodile was also ready to move by himself to execute this mission, so his plan, the Utopian Plan, wouldn't end in failure. He had been working on this plan for so many years, so of course, he wouldn't let anyone destroy this dream of his!
'The One Piece is mine!'
As his eyes filled with a morbid emotion, Crocodile saw that Miss Doublefinger didn't leave with everyone, but walked toward him.
"What's wrong, Miss Doublefinger?
"No, I just wonder what kind of arrangement you will give me, boss."
"You are right." Crocodile nodded, thinking that as Miss Doublefinger was alone, she needed a partner. "You will work with Mr. 2 for now."
"Eh? With me?" Mr. 2 was surprised, but then he gave a thumbs-up with a bright smile that showed his white, shiny teeth. "Okay, please take care of me, Miss Doublefinger!"
"....." Everyone.
While they wanted to say something, in the end, they all remained silent, knowing this was Mr. 2. This guy was weird, but he was a good person.
Still, watching Miss Doublefinger, Zala, who was quiet, Crocodile thought that she was unhappy, and he thought to say something since he also understood her feelings, but—
Stab!
"...."
Zala stabbed a dagger into Crocodile's heart, but what made everyone confused was that blood poured out from his chest as if he were hurt.
No, Crocodile was hurt!
His heart was stabbed all of a sudden, and it was effective as he couldn't turn the part of his body that was stabbed into the sand.
Why?
While Crocodile was confused, he saw Zala's hands, which were covered in crimson liquid, realizing that she had used her own blood to make her attack effective!
Yes, the Suna Suna no mi was powerful, but when sand was exposed to liquid, whether it was water or blood, it would make the sand heavier and harder to manipulate, which then prevented the sand from dispersing and thus temporarily nullified Crocodile's intangibility!
No one reacted, yet Crocodile knew that this wasn't Zala!
This person, who appeared like Zala was the truth, should be the one who killed Mr. 1, or Bonez!
Why was Crocodile sure?
It was because Zala started to make strange hand signs before clapping her hands, her chest swelled up as she shouted, "Water Release: Water Colliding Wave!"
A massive vortex of water emerged and swallowed everyone!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM!!!!