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As Luffy left, Zoro and the others turned around.
Their eyes locked onto the remaining enemies—faces darkened and tense.
These were the last few high-ranking agents of Baroque Works still standing.
"Hey, you're the one White Night mentioned, right?"
Zoro looked straight at Mr. 1, a grin slowly forming on his face.
"You're the guy who's supposed to help me break through and finally cut steel."
Before they even reached Alabasta, White Night had told him about this perfect opponent—
A top Baroque Works agent with the powers of the Dice-Dice Fruit: Mr. 1.
White Night hadn't shown him a bounty poster, but Zoro could feel it—
That razor-sharp, blade-like presence coming off this man.
Yeah… this was gonna be a good fight.
Hearing Zoro's words, Mr. 1, with his shaved head and stony face, finally spoke in a cold, flat voice:
"So you're the Straw Hat crew… I know who you are."
"I don't know why you're screwing with Crocodile's plans—"
"But at this point, it doesn't really matter."
He stretched his body a bit, and slowly—
His already freakishly long fingers started to morph.
Turning into ten gleaming blades!
"I'm seriously pissed off right now!!!"
"You wanna die, Roronoa Zoro?!"
People forget—before Mr. 1 joined Baroque Works, he was a top-tier assassin from West Blue.
With a bounty of 75 million Berries.
And now, this punk newbie wanted to use him as some kind of sharpening stone?
That was just insulting.
The next moment, Mr. 1 leapt into the air—his ten blade-fingers slicing through the air, sparks flying.
[Precision Slash!]
He came crashing down, aiming to shred Zoro into pieces.
But—
CLANG!
Zoro drew his three swords just in time, blocking the strike.
Feeling the pressure from the clash, he slowly lifted his gaze.
With Wado Ichimonji clenched in his teeth, he smirked.
"You wanna kill me? Bring it on!!!"
[Three-Sword Style — Oni Giri!!!]
"Looks like you're my opponent then?"
Sanji lit a cigarette and stepped up to face Mr. 4.
He glanced over at Zoro and Mr. 1, then over to Miss Merry Christmas and Lassoo the bazooka-dog.
And said casually:
"As a gentleman who follows the code of chivalry, I don't hit women."
"So get ready, big guy."
No sooner had he spoken, the bear-sized, round-bodied man vanished from sight.
The next second—
WHAM!!!
A giant club came crashing down toward Sanji's head.
Mr. 4, born with monstrous strength, was wielding a 4-ton baseball bat with 400 pounds of force behind every swing.
This one blow smashed a massive hole in the ground.
"Ready yourself?"
Mr. 4 finally opened his mouth to speak:
"I don't need to 'ready myself' to deal with a dead man."
He was sure—after that hit, Sanji had to be pulp.
But then—
A voice came from behind him:
"Who're you calling dead?"
Sanji flipped into a handstand, palms on the ground, and launched his right leg downward in a crushing kick:
[Tenderizer — Shoot!]
"When a battle begins,"
Elsewhere, Miss Doublefinger faced off against Nami and said:
"The first priority… is to take out the weakest one first."
"Huh?"
Nami pointed at herself, chuckling.
"From looks and body alone, I'm clearly the best one here."
[Thorn Stomp!]
Suddenly, her right foot sprouted sharp spikes!
Rip!
Nami dodged just in time—the spikes only tearing through her cloak.
"Oh, come on!"
She yanked the torn cloak off, revealing her stunning curves.
"You Devil Fruit users ever think about explaining your powers first, huh?"
Raising her Clima-Tact, Nami smiled and stared right back at her.
"I ate the Zoan-type Mole Mole Fruit."
On the other side, Miss Merry Christmas had finished transforming and was explaining her ability to Usopp.
With her long claws and stretched-out nose, she seemed pretty proud of herself.
Usopp stared at her for a moment… then finally said:
"You look more like a penguin, honestly."
"You jerk!!! I said I'm a mole woman!!!"
That one comment was enough to completely wreck her composure.
[Mole Tunnel Technique!]
In this desert terrain, there was no better place for a mole user.
In a flash, she vanished into a hole in the ground.
A moment later, several tunnels opened up all around Usopp.
Her voice echoed from somewhere underground:
"Guess what, you pig-brain—can you guess how I'm gonna kill you?"
And with that, the Straw Hats vs. Baroque Works…
Officially kicked off!
Meanwhile, elsewhere…
Luffy, starving halfway through his journey, stopped at a restaurant to fill his belly.
"Ahh, I'm stuffed!"
He patted his stomach and turned to the restaurant owner.
"Thanks a bunch, old man!"
He was just about to head out again when—
"Hold on, kid in the straw hat."
The owner stopped him.
"Huh?" Luffy turned around.
"You… are you really going to fight Crocodile?"
The man's voice trembled.
He'd recognized that voice the moment Luffy walked in.
But only now, as Luffy was about to leave, did he gather the courage to ask.
"That's right. I'm gonna send Crocodile flying."
Luffy nodded seriously.
"For Vivi… and for White Night's plan!"
Thud!
Right as Luffy finished, the owner suddenly dropped to his knees.
"Whoa! Old man, what's wrong?!"
"Was it 'cause I ate all your meat?!"
Luffy panicked, totally misunderstanding the moment.
"Please… you have to win!"
The owner's voice choked with emotion as he pulled out a photo.
In it, a younger version of him stood beside a girl with the sweetest, most innocent smile.
"My daughter… she used to admire Crocodile more than anyone."
"She'd say, 'If a pirate protects us, why can't he be a good guy too?'"
"A year ago, to stop the rebellion… she snuck off behind my back to beg Crocodile for help…"
"But... but... damn it!!!"
The restaurant owner couldn't say another word. He slammed his fist hard on the ground, then looked up at Luffy—
His eyes were full of tears.
"My daughter… even when she closed her eyes for the last time, she still believed… that there are pirates out there who protect people!!!"
Bang!
The owner bowed his head to the ground in front of Luffy.
"Please... please defeat that bastard Crocodile and save this country!!"
"Straw Hat Luffy… Monkey D. Luffy!!!"
By then, Luffy was already at the restaurant entrance, his hand resting on his straw hat.
The owner thought Luffy wasn't going to say anything and would just walk away.
But then—
The boy raised both hands in the air, threw his head back, and shouted:
"Of course I will!!!"
Under the blazing sun, the silhouette of the boy in the straw hat—
Was stretched out infinitely by the light.
"....."