Contend

"So you are a part of the group that destroyed this town huh? Why are you all protecting the princess of Alabasta? " Mr Five asked.

" We have our own reasons. But our Captain's words are the ones we all follow. " Zoro muttered back.

" Nevermind. You all are just another worthless obstacle." Mr Five grumbled. Miss Valentine stepped up and took off her hat.

" That's right, so this obstacle shall be crushed on the ground by my power. " Miss Valentine declared with a grin. She jumped up to the air.

"You all must die with my special ability from the Kiro Kiro no Mi!! Kyahahaha!! Now, my weight is only 1kg(2.2lbs)! So I can jump very high!! " She shouted while floating in the air with her umbrella out. Like some Mary Poppins shit.

"Mr. Swordsman!! Get out of there! That woman will—

" Shut up, old man! This is not a time to worry about that!" Zoro answered seriously. Suddenly, the building in front of her exploded.

*BOOOOOM!!!!*

Out came Sanji holding an unconscious and heavily bleeding Mr Five. Zoro looked at him, annoying Sanji immediately.

"Oi! Moss Head! What are you standing and staring at me for?! I know I'm handsome and all, but we're fighting here!!" Sanji shouted at Zoro, making the swordsman irritated just for hearing Sanji's voice.

"Tch, shitty cook. That's why you get no girls." Zoro grumbled and looked up at Miss Valentine.

"My skill is to control my weight from 1 to 10,000 kilograms!!! Eat this! 10,000 Kilograms!!!" Miss Valentine shouted before she dove down to Zoro at superhuman speeds.

"That's what I lift to warm up." He grumbled before nonchalantly stepping out of the way, letting a 10,000 kilogram Miss Valentine slam deep into the ground where he stood previously.

Vivi who was still riding on Karoo, was deeply in shock, witnessing what happened. "This is so impossible. I never thought I would meet people so powerful at the entrance of the Grand Line." She whispered while looking at Sanji and Zoro who went from fighting their enemies to fighting each other in the middle of the street.

" Oi! You idiots! Stop embarrassing yourselves!! " Nami scolded while bonking their heads, making them fakl onto the ground. Zoro and Sanji huffed and looked away, but not before glaring at each other one last time.

Luffy went up towards the unconscious Mr Five and Miss Valentine and grabbed them. He felt the weight on Miss Valentine and shrugged, 10,000 kilos is lightweight.

He nonchalantly threw them away from the town and gathered up with his crew.

"Why are you helping me?" Vivi suddenly asked them. Nami smiled at her.

" Ah, that's right. We have to talk, how about some negotiations?"

"Negotiations?"

.

.

" That's impossible."

" Why? Aren't you a princess? It's just 1 Billion Belly. " Nami looked at Vivi with a confused face.

"Do you know of Alabasta?" Vivi asked them.

" Never heard of it. " Nami replied while crossing her arms.

" It used to be the most peaceful and the most civilized nation in the Grand Line." Vivi explained. Luffy was interested.

" Used to? " Zoro pointed out.

"During these past 2 to 3 years, there was a civil war, the citizens started to create turmoil and disturb the nation. Until one day, I heard about an organization called Baroque Works." Vivi looked down, everyone was listening to her words carefully.

"I learned that they were persuaded by this organization. Besides that, I don't know anything. So we can't do anything about them. I asked Igaram, that person who took care of me since I was a kid to help me. "

" We can't do anything with a little rumor. So we decided to join Baroque Works to dig up some secrets so that we know who's behind this and also his purpose. "

"You're pretty brave. " Zoro commented with a smile on his face. Vivi smiled back at him, making Sanji growl in jealousy.

" The main purpose of Baroque Works is to build a dream country right? Isn't this just propaganda? " Nami asked Vivi who nodded.

" Yes, the boss used the words 'Dream Country' to control everyone. The actual goal of Baroque Works is to conquer Alabasta. I have to hurry up and warn everyone. If I can't, we'll all fall for the Baroque Works' plan." Vivi replied seriously.

" So who's the boss? " Luffy asked her.

" Ah! The boss? You'd better not know that! This information will cost you your life! " Vivi shook her head repeatedly while waving her hands.

"No matter how good you are, you can't compare to Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of The Sea. " She added, but then she gasped and covered her mouth in shock.

"Didn't you just say the name?" Zoro deadpanned at her.

Kaya hummed as she took out the newly updated version of the book of bounties and flipped through the pages.

"Ah Here it is. 'Desert King' Sir Crocodile, he is one of the Seven Warlords of The Sea and has a frozen bounty of 81,000,000 Belly. It has been reported that he had eaten the Suna Suna no Mi which is a Logia-type Devil Fruit that allows the user to create, control, and transform into sand at will, turning him into a Sand Human. " Kaya explained. Luffy grinned and punched his palm.

"What do you say guys? Should we kick a Warlord's ass as our first act in the Grand Line?" Luffy asked his friends who were also his crew.

" You mean, you will kick a Warlord's ass while we kick his subordinate's ass. " Zoro smirked at him, making Luffy laugh.

"Eh, I don't see why not. " Sanji replied while breathing out smoke from his cigarette.

"Igaram! Why are you dressed like that?!" Vivi shouted while pointing at Igaram who was dressed exactly like Vivi was.

"D-don't worries about it! I have a plan!" Igaram answered. The Straw Hat Pirates laughed hysterically, contributing massively to Igaram's neverending embarrassment.

"Oi! Listen to me! By now, you all would be wanted by Baroque Works, sooner or later, they will send someone to follow you! It's a good thing that you and your friends knocked out Mr Five's group. " Igaram them looked at Vivi.

" Princess Vivi, please give me an Eternal Pose to Alabasta." Igaram told her seriously. Vivi had no choice but to give him the Eternal Pose to Alabasta.

The Eternal Pose is an hourglass-like device with only one orb in the middle of the device, and a needle hanging from a wire inside of the orb.

Unlike a Log Pose, which resets its recordings on new islands, an Eternal Pose always points to the same island, no matter how long it stays elsewhere.

"Listen to me, Vivi. I will disguise myself as you and take these three dummies called Henohenounchi with me to Alabasta. When Baroque Works is chasing me, please go to Alabasta with these people as a regular routine. I've never been on that route, but I think it should take about 2 to 3 islands before you reach Alabasta. " Igaram bowed at her.

" If you are safe, I hope to see you in our country. " Igaram smiled at her. Vivi nodded back.

Igaram put the dummies on a normal sized ship and looked back at Luffy. They shook hands. "Please take care of the princess, Mugiwara-san." Igaram nodded at Luffy who nodded back.

"The dress looks good on you." Luffy grinned at him. Igaram laughed before hugging Vivi.

"I think there will be many obstacles in your journey. But please take care of yourself, Vivi." Igaram released the hug and they shook hands.

Igaram boarded the ship and started sailing away. Luffy waved at him while grinning broadly. Igaram nodded back while smiling a little.

"He's still cool until the last minute." Usopp commented. Vivi nodded.

" He is a person I can rely on." Vivi replied while smiling.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!*

Igaram's ship blew up unexpectedly. His ship was engulfed by a blazing inferno. Luffy gritted his teeth as Vivi watched on with a horrified expression while biting her lower lip until it bled in order to keep a calm front.

"The Log Pose is ready, captain!" Nami shouted before grabbing Vivi who finally broke dowm crying and hugged her gently. Everyone ran away, leaving Luffy and Zoro to stare at the blazing inferno.

"Zoro....."

"Hmm?"

"I'm gonna kill that Croc when I see him."

"It's a race to see who kills him first then..."

To be continued...