Gojo suddenly paused mid-step, as if a stray thought had surfaced in his mind. He turned his head toward Vivi and asked casually,
"By the way… you do have the eternal pose to Alabasta, right?"
Vivi blinked once, then shook her head.
"No. We don't have an eternal pose to Alabasta."
The moment those words left her mouth, Gojo froze. A second later, his expression twisted into something between disbelief and irritation.
"…What the hell?" he said flatly. "You're from Alabasta, aren't you? A spy for the Alabasta Kingdom—no, scratch that, you're the princess. And you're telling me you don't have an eternal pose to your own country?" He looked her up and down, clicking his tongue. "What kind of idiots are being made princesses these days?"
Vivi's eyes widened, and her patience snapped instantly. Anger flared across her face as she shot back,
"What do you know?! I worked undercover as a spy! Whenever we needed to go back to Alabasta, we were always escorted by someone else. We never travelled on our own!"
Gojo listened without much interest. When she finished, he simply shrugged and waved a hand dismissively.
"Whatever."
Then, as if another piece of the puzzle fell into place, Gojo's gaze shifted away from Vivi. His eyes locked onto a familiar figure nearby.
"Hey," he said calmly, yet unmistakably sharp, "you—the woman who jumped on me."
Miss Valentine, who had been struggling to limp away while clutching her injured thigh, stiffened instantly. Her body froze mid-step, every muscle locking up as if she had been caught by an invisible force. Slowly—mechanically—she turned around, her movements stiff and unnatural, like a puppet being pulled by strings.
"Y-Yes?" she asked, her voice tight. "What… what do you need?"
Inside, panic churned violently. All she wanted was to escape—to get as far away from this man as possible. She never wanted to cross paths with Gojo Satoru again. Not now. Not ever.
Gojo spoke again, his tone calm but carrying an unmistakable pressure.
"You two came from Alabasta, didn't you? If that's the case, then one of you must have an eternal pose to Alabasta."
Miss Valentine swallowed hard. After a brief hesitation, she nodded and replied honestly,
"Yes… but I don't have it." She tilted her head slightly toward the corpse of Mr. 5 on the ground. "He did."
Gojo gave a short nod, already expecting that answer. He turned his gaze toward Igaram and said,
"Go. Search his body and bring me the eternal pose. We're leaving for the Alabasta Kingdom right now."
Igaram stiffened and instinctively looked toward Vivi, silently seeking her approval. Vivi met his eyes for a brief moment before nodding. At this point, they had no real choice. Refusing Gojo wasn't an option—not when his strength was so overwhelming. If they resisted, there was a very real possibility that he would kill them both, and that was something neither of them could afford.
(A/N: In the last chapter, I mistakenly spelled Igaram as Igram. This has been corrected in the current chapter.)
Without another word, Igaram moved. He quickly searched Mr. 5's lifeless body and soon found what he was looking for. Walking back, he handed it over to Gojo.
"Here," Igaram said. "The eternal pose to Alabasta."
Gojo took it and examined it closely. His eyes lingered on the needle and its structure.
"…This really is different," he muttered. "Not like a normal log pose."
Satisfied, he closed his hand around it and straightened up.
"Alright then," he said simply. "Let's move."
Igaram hesitated before speaking again.
"But… won't it be dangerous to sail right now? It's already night. Wouldn't it be better to wait until morning?"
Gojo shook his head without even thinking about it.
"Nope. Not happening. My sleep's already ruined thanks to all this fighting." He exhaled slowly, annoyance faintly creeping into his voice. "There's no way I'm falling asleep anytime soon. Sitting around in Whiskey Peak doing nothing would just be a waste of time."
Then he added, almost as an afterthought,
"And besides… I'd like to get my money as soon as possible."
With that, the decision was final.
Igaram and Vivi fell in beside Gojo and began moving. As they passed by, both of them gave a brief nod toward Mr. 9 and Miss Monday. Even though their true identities had been exposed, the two didn't show any hostility. No sudden attacks. No betrayal.
That simple restraint spoke volumes.
Despite everything, it was clear that Mr. 9 and Miss Monday still valued their friendship—and for Vivi and Igaram, that small gesture carried more weight than words.
…
Soon after, Gojo boarded his ship without another word. The faint creaking of wood echoed as he stepped onto the deck, the vessel gently rocking against the dark waters of the harbour. Vivi and Igaram followed him soon after, climbing aboard in silence, the tension from earlier still lingering heavily in the air.
Gojo walked straight to his usual seat, dropped himself onto it with practiced ease, and leaned back comfortably. After settling in, he glanced toward the two of them and spoke in a clear, matter-of-fact tone.
"You two will handle the ship until we reach the Kingdom of Alabasta. One of you steers, the other assists. As for me—" he paused briefly, tapping the side of his head, "—I'll only deal with navigation. I'll tell you if there's any weather change or danger ahead. That's it. Got it?"
Igaram stiffened slightly at those words. Without hesitation, he stepped forward and said,
"I'm willing to act as the helmsman. But why are you making Princess Vivi work as well? I can handle her part too."
The moment Igaram finished speaking, Gojo shifted. He leaned back further into his seat, casually crossing one leg over the other. Through the dark lenses of his sunglasses, his gaze settled squarely on Igaram, calm yet unmistakably sharp.
"Do you really think I care?" Gojo replied flatly.
The air around him seemed to grow heavier as he continued, his tone lazy but oppressive.
"I'm the one carrying both of you right now. I'm the one going out of my way to head to your kingdom—purely for the money, by the way. So for the trouble I'm taking, the price you pay is work."
He tilted his head slightly, a faint smirk forming at the corner of his lips.
"And that's exactly what I'm asking you both to do. Nothing more, nothing less."
His voice hardened just a little at the end.
"You will do it. Got it?"
As soon as Igaram heard this, anger flashed across his face. His jaw tightened, and it was clear that he was just about to lash out at Gojo. However, before he could say anything reckless, Vivi quickly reached out and placed a hand on his arm, stopping him.
"Yes," Vivi said firmly, her voice calm but resolute. "What he's saying is absolutely right. He's going through all this trouble because of us, so it's only fair that I work as well."
Igaram froze. After a brief pause, he slowly exhaled and forced himself to calm down.
Gojo glanced at Vivi, then gave a small nod.
"Good," he said. "At least you understand."
With the matter settled, Igaram and Vivi moved into action. They began adjusting the sails and taking control of the helm, guiding the ship away from the shore. The vessel itself was well-designed—so well, in fact, that even Gojo could sail it alone if he wanted to. Because of that, it wasn't particularly difficult for either Igaram or Vivi to manage its movement.
Before long, the ship slipped quietly away from Whiskey Peak. The lights of the town gradually faded into the distance, swallowed by the darkness of the night sea. Minutes later, the outline of Cactus Island itself disappeared behind them.
Using the eternal pose as their guide, Vivi and Igaram carefully aligned the ship in the indicated direction. Once the course was set, the vessel continued forward smoothly on its own, the two of them remaining alert on deck to monitor its trajectory.
Elsewhere, back on Cactus Island, the Straw Hats finally began to wake up after all the chaos that had unfolded. Those who hadn't regained consciousness on their own were promptly shaken awake by Nami and told to get moving. Soon after, their ship also departed from the island, sailing toward the next destination indicated by their log pose.
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