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"Igaram, stop pacing in front of me."
"Don't worry, with Captain Ikki and Nojiko here, your princess will be fine."
On the Explorer, Nami looked speechlessly at Igaram, who had been walking back and forth in front of her for more than half an hour.
"I know, Miss Nami," Igaram replied. "Both Miss Nojiko and Mr. Ikki are very powerful people. But that Nico Robin is so cunning, I'm worried that she will set some trap to target Princess Vivi—and the others."
Igaram stopped and looked at Nami anxiously.
Nami shook her head and was about to continue persuading him when a familiar figure appeared in the distant sky.
"Don't worry, Nojiko and the others are back," Nami said, walking over to Igaram and pointing skyward.
When Igaram heard this, his face lit up and he quickly turned to look. There, a huge one-eyed manta ray was descending toward the Explorer.
"Princess Vivi and the others are back!" Igaram looked intently and soon spotted Nojiko, Vivi, and others standing on the one-eyed manta ray. He also noticed the senior agents behind them.
"Igaram, Nami, hope you haven't been waiting too long," Nojiko called out as she controlled the one-eyed manta ray formed by her Shikai and landed on the deck of the Explorer.
The group of senior Baroque Works agents tumbled to the ground as the manta ray dissipated.
"Princess Vivi, are you alright?" Igaram hurried toward Vivi, while curiously glancing at the fallen agents.
"How could anything happen? Princess Vivi defeated these senior agents all by herself," Nojiko said, walking up to Igaram and patting his shoulder.
"By herself?!" Igaram exclaimed, staring at Mr. 1 with his broken hands and the huge scar on his chest. "So, Mr. 1's hands were cut off by Princess Vivi?"
Although Nojiko had impressive healing abilities, she had only treated the wound on his chest using her powers, not reattached his severed hands.
Hearing Igaram's words, Vivi smiled and nodded.
"Wow! Princess Vivi has become so powerful!" Igaram raised his arms to cover his eyes, and tears of excitement streamed down his face. "I'm so moved! King Cobra will definitely be pleased to know that Princess Vivi has become so reliable."
"Really, Igaram, you're exaggerating," Vivi said, patting her forehead with one hand and looking at him helplessly.
"It's not exaggeration, Princess Vivi! It's only been a few days since you started training with Captain Ikki!" Igaram spread his arms wide, his face beaming with excitement. "If Princess Vivi has such power, Captain Ikki must be even more powerful. Even Shichibukai Crocodile will be no match for him!"
After learning that Vivi had the power to defeat many senior Baroque Works agents, Igaram became even more confident about resolving the threat of Baroque Works and the civil conflict in Alabasta.
"Okay, don't get too excited yet, Igaram," Vivi said. "Let's head to Katorea as soon as possible. We've separated from Captain Ikki as planned. He and Nico Robin went to Rain Dinners to confront Crocodile, while we're heading to Katorea to find Koza."
"Also, we need to find a place to secure these senior agents," she added, grabbing the legs of two unconscious agents and heading toward the cabin.
Igaram's compliments had made Vivi blush slightly. Seeing her walk toward the cabin, he quickly picked up more agents and followed her.
The Explorer set course for Nanohana across the Sandora River under Nami and Nojiko's guidance.
"Let me go, you jerks! Let me go!"
In an empty storage room aboard the Explorer, Mr. 2 Bon Clay woke up and began twisting wildly, trying to break free from the chains Igaram had used to bind him. But as soon as he started struggling, Vivi placed her foot on his head, knocking him unconscious again.
"Hmph, serves you right!" Vivi glared coldly at Mr. 2 Bon Clay.
After learning from Robin that Bon Clay had transformed into her father's image and caused the nation to doubt their king, Vivi's feelings toward him had turned extremely hostile. She had only restrained herself from further harm because Ikki mentioned that these agents might still be useful.
Seeing what happened to Mr. 2, Miss Valentine, who had regained consciousness relatively quickly due to her lighter injuries, couldn't help but cower in fear. She huddled into a ball, not daring to say a word, afraid of drawing Vivi's attention. Though she didn't know what had happened after she was knocked out, the memory of Vivi easily catching her attack and slamming her to the floor was enough to terrify her.
"My, how violent you've become, Miss Wednesday... Or should I say, Her Royal Highness Princess Vivi?" Miss Doublefinger, who was chained and leaning against the wall, looked up at Vivi. "As Mr. 9's former partner, you shouldn't possess such power. If my guess is correct, your strength must be related to the Captain Ikki you mentioned."
When Miss Doublefinger spoke, her eyes locked directly with Vivi's. In her opinion, the man who could make a princess call him captain and persuade Miss All Sunday to betray Mr. 0 must also be the one responsible for Miss Wednesday's dramatic transformation in such a short time.
"What does it matter to you whether it is or isn't?" Vivi turned to face Miss Doublefinger with cold eyes. "These things are no longer your concern as a prisoner, right, Miss Doublefinger?"
"You're so cold now. I've made coffee for you before, and you said it was delicious," Miss Doublefinger replied.
"Hmph, if I had known then that you, the owner of the Spider's Café, were Miss Doublefinger, I would never have said that," Vivi retorted.
"Anyway... what are you going to do to us, or rather, what does Captain Ikki plan to do with us all?"
Before losing consciousness, Miss Doublefinger had heard Ikki say he wanted to keep the senior agents alive. Perhaps due to the worry in her heart, she wanted to know her fate as soon as possible.
Beside her, Miss Valentine looked over with the same curiosity.
"You'll find out later," Vivi said coldly, turning to walk out the door toward the deck.
"Just stay here. You can't escape anyway," Igaram added before quickly following Vivi.
Only Miss Valentine and Miss Doublefinger remained, confused about their future.
About half an hour later, the Explorer docked at the port of Nanohana.
Leaving Igaram to watch the ship, Vivi, Nami, and Nojiko jumped ashore and headed to a clothing store in Nanohana.
"Vivi, what are we doing here?" Nami asked as they entered the store, looking curiously at the clothes around them.
"Nami, Nojiko, this is Alabasta, after all," Vivi whispered, leaning close to them. "The clothes we're wearing now are too eye-catching. Robin said there are many Baroque Works agents in this country, including some who report directly to Mr. 0 that even she doesn't know about. To avoid being recognized, we should dress more like the people of Alabasta."
"I see!" Nami nodded slightly, walked to a corner, picked up a gorgeous outfit and handed it to Vivi. "What do you think of this dress?"
"Huh? Isn't this a dancer's outfit, Nami?" Vivi's eyes widened when she saw the sexy desert dancer costume Nami was holding.
"Hehe, it's beautiful, isn't it?" Nami smiled. "And this style fits perfectly with Alabasta's fashion."
"It is indeed a very beautiful dress. Captain Ikki would probably like this style very much," Nojiko added, picking up a dancer's outfit with blue as its main color. "Perhaps he would use his drawing board to sketch us wearing such clothes."
"Really, although dancer's clothes are traditional Alabasta attire, they're too revealing," Vivi said, pursing her lips and holding her forehead helplessly.
"We should—huh? You both changed already? So fast!"
Vivi opened her eyes to find that both Nami and Nojiko had already changed into dancer's outfits and were admiring themselves in the mirror.
"Wait a minute," Vivi said suspiciously. "Nami, Nojiko, are you dressing like this on purpose so Captain Ikki can sketch your appearance later?"
During their days aboard the Explorer, Vivi had clearly noticed Nojiko's closeness to Ikki. And Nami, while usually acting normal, often found excuses to be near Ikki when he was in the bath area. At first, Vivi thought Nami was genuinely trying to extort Berries from him, but over time, she began to suspect there was more to it.
'Could it be that asking for Berries is just Nami's excuse to show off her charm to Captain Ikki, trying to make his heart flutter?' Vivi thought. 'Could these two women actually have feelings for Captain Ikki? But they're worried about each other as sisters and dare not confess?'
Vivi held her chin with one hand, deep in thought, unaware that behind her, the female store owner was watching her with intense focus. On the woman's arm, hidden beneath her sleeve, the logo of Baroque Works was faintly visible.