Chapter 50

Staring at the damaged goods that she previously bought with Deuce, Nami couldn't help but sigh.

"Seriously, just how much Beli has gone to waste? Those damn Baroque Works..."

Pouting, she turned to Bartolomeo and pointed at the gigantic man, Jean Bart, next to him.

"Anyway, who is this guy?"

Bartolomeo flashed a grin while giving Nami a thumbs-up.

"A stranger who was trying to kill me just minutes ago?"

"DON'T PRETEND AS IF THAT'S A NORMAL THING!!"

Nami barked comically, and Bartolomeo simply picked his nose with his pinky finger. Watching their interaction, Jean Bart finally spoke up,

"...Name's Jean Bart, and I'm the captain of Jean Bart Pirates."

Nami narrowed her eyes at Jean Bart,

"And?"

"...I'm a stranger who was trying to kill this mohawk guy just minutes ago."

"..."

...

After a few minutes of explanation from Bartolomeo and Jean Bart, Nami was found retelling the event with her arms crossed.

"And so, you thought Bartolomeo was trying to hurt people here, and found out as you fought that Bartolomeo had his wallet stolen."

"Exactly!"

Nami sighed as Bartolomeo nodded vigorously. She then asked Jean Bart,

"Why are you trying to protect people here anyway? Aren't you a pirate?"

"I am."

Jean Bart answered stoically,

"But I am the man who knows honour. My crew was on the verge of death after getting stranded on this island, and if not for the civilians here, we would've perished.

My crew doesn't have any gold to pay for the kindness. Therefore, we instead decided to protect them from other pirates—until our ship is fully restored for a sail."

Nami gazed at Jean Bart seriously, before backing off upon seeing that Jean Bart was being genuine in his statement. Nami then motioned at Bartolomeo,

"Let's go back. Deuce has returned."

Nami's mood was down, and she no longer felt like staying on the island. Bartolomeo scratched his head,

"Eh... but the only thing I got to do here was fighting. I feel like exploring a little more, you know—"

"If Deuce and I faced these troubles, what about Rowan? Who knows how many of those Baroque Works are hiding in this place."

"Ooh, true!"

Bartolomeo's eyes widened as he clapped in realization. Jean Bart furrowed his eyebrows, thinking about Nami's statement. Nami then eyed Jean Bart as she spoke,

"Bye then. Have fun returning the favour as you speak."

"Oi! Nami! Bartolomeo!"

As Deuce waved his hands at them, Nami and Bartolomeo walked away, leaving Jean Bart by himself. However, he didn't have a long time to think, for at the next moment,

"C-Captain!!!"

one of his crew members came in hurriedly with a concern written on his face.

__________

"Ugh..."

With a groan, Mr.12 opened his eyes atop the deck of Shooting Star.

"What is... no, wait!!"

Immediately lifting his body up, Mr.12 glared at the front in a caution.

"I was dragged underground by Ms.Merry Christmas, and then was hit on the head by Mr.4's metal bat, and then... and then what...?"

Mumbling to himself, he found his body relaxing as he saw nothing ahead of him. Sighing in relief, he held his chest and flinched as he felt pain from the slightest touch. Lifting the shirt, he saw a deep purple wound that, without a doubt, would take a long time to recover.

"Why are you flashing?"

Then, Mr.12 jumped as a voice was heard from his back. Upon turning around, he saw Rowan and Nami looking back at him weirdly.

"H-Huh?"

Mr.12 stood still, dazed. Then, he jumped back while yelping in fear,

"Gahhhhh!!!"

Nami sweatdropped as she turned to Rowan,

"What have you done to him?"

Rowan shrugged,

"Nothing—"

"HUAAAAAA!!!"

Mr.12 then jumped off of the ship and ran toward the forest. He tripped in the middle due to stumbling upon the corpse wearing a bandanna and kissed the ground, but quickly stood back up and ran off. Neither Rowan nor Nami stopped his act, and they simply resumed their conversation.

"Then why is that guy scared of you?"

"Ask him, not me."

"But he's gone!"

it was already evening, and the sun was halfway into the horizon. In silence, Rowan and Nami watched as the source of golden light slowly faded away.

Nami then broke the silence,

"Ms.Tuesday may be someone else, someone whom we don't know. Just because that person has purple hair doesn't mean she's Carina 100%."

"True."

Rowan nodded and Nami pursed her lips.

"Logically speaking, there is no reason for us to save her. We gain no benefit at all."

"True."

"She idiotically got herself in trouble and now expect us to save her ass? Isn't that selfish?"

"That's also true."

Rowan then smiled as he gazed Nami knowingly.

"But is that what you want us to do? To pretend as if we didn't hear what we heard today and continue our sail?"

"..."

Nami didn't respond but simply lowered her head.

Rowan peaked his head out of Shooting Star and saw Bartolomeo circling Ms.Wednesday with suspicion in his eyes.

"Something is weird. Verrryyy weird."

"U-Uh..."

Ms.Wednesday nervously stood, wondering what Bartolomeo was up to.

Bartolomeo squinted his eyes,

"I remember grandma making me read the news every day, saying that I need to stay awake or whatever! I used to pretend as if I read them, but in truth, I only looked at the images on the title page before throwing them out! To be honest, I forgot most of those images, but to this day, I haven't forgotten the faces of pretty girls I saw!"

"...As if that's something to be proud of."

Deuce, who was busy writing in the journal, shook his head. Then, he froze.

"Wait, what did he just say? News...?"

Bartolomeo pointed at Ms.Wednesday and claimed,

"You look like one of the girls I saw in that! In other words..."

He then blushed and asked shyly,

"You're my type..."

Watching Bartolomeo's antics from afar, Rowan deadpanned.

"WILL YOU GO OUT WITH ME?!!"

"Sorry, I don't date criminals!"

It was an immediate reply from Ms.Wednesday. Rowan, facepalming, couldn't help but cry,

"For fuck's sake... that girl's 13 at best, Bartard!"

Nami, who was watching the scene by Rowan's side, looked at Bartolomeo coldly. Deuce, on the other hand, was busy writing,

"Day 214... Bartolomeo confessed to a kid and got rejected. What a scum."

"H-Huhh?!!"

As Bartolomeo, having realized what he's just done, dropped his jaw, Rowan paused.

"Hang on."

Turning at Nami, he asked,

"Speaking of age, how old are we even?"

Nami impassively replied,

"I'm 15, you're 18, and those two..."

Deuce raised his hand,

"Another 18 here."

Everyone then turned to Bartolomeo, who stuttered in disbelief,

"I-I'm... 19..."

Rowan, Nami, and Deuce were placed in a deep shock.

"Bartolomeo... is the oldest among us...?"

Watching them in silence, Ms.Wednesday thought,

'These people clearly aren't normal...'

"Anyway,"

Quickly losing an interest in the topic, Rowan spoke,

"I'm starving. Who's on duty tonight?"

"Ah, it's me!"

Nami quickly perked up, clapping her hands in realization.

"Hold on, let me quickly go and make something!"

At the same time, Deuce was found asking Bartolomeo,

"By the way, you said that you saw that girl's face in news before, right? Can you recall specifics of it?"

"Nope!"

"Hahh... of course."

Bartolomeo confidently shook his head in negative, and Deuce muttered dryly.

"I guess it was just Bartolomeo being Bartard."

Unknown to them, Ms.Wednesday sighed out of relief.

...

Deep into the night, everyone was seen to have gathered on the ship together with Ms.Wednesday, after the meal.

Mr.12 who has run away still hasn't returned, and Rowan assumed that he won't return—not that he cared, knowing that Ms.Wednesday was enough to provide them the necessary information.

"And so,"

Rowan, who was seen standing up, stated,

"We'll be going to Rainbase of Alabasta Kingdom."

On the table lied the eternal pose of Sandy island where Alabasta Kingdom belonged. This tool was brought by Ms.Wednesday, who explained that agents must keep it with them such that they will always be able to return to the base at all times.

"And?"

Nami questioned, and Rowan grinned,

"Find Carina."

"...Shouldn't we come up with a plan that's more specific than that?"

Deuce sweatdropped.

"Indeed. And for us to do that..."

Chuckling, Rowan turned to Ms.Wednesday,

"You'll have to tell us everything you know about Baroque Works."

Ms.Wednesday took in a deep breath before nodding.

"The story goes far back from a year ago. Alright, let's start from the beginning.

First of all, I'm the princess of Alabasta Kingdom, and my true name is Nefertari Vivi."

"...Eh?"

Nami blinked her eyes.

"What?"

"Huh?"

Deuce and Bartolomeo froze, wondering what they just heard.

Rowan deadpanned at Ms.Wednesday, who called herself 'Vivi',

"I asked you to tell us about Baroque Works, not yourself."

"...Oh."

Vivi's brain stopped functioning. She dazed into the thin air before her eyes widened in the realization of what she just said.

"KYAAAAA!!!!!"

Rowan groaned, feeling that the situation had just become much more complex. Nevertheless, he remained calm and waited until Vivi's breathing stabilized. He was about to say something, before his eyes sharpened as he detected malicious intents just outside.

"Wait."

Holding his hand out to others, Rowan quickly ran up to the deck of the ship. Reaching outside, he stared at the ground just ahead.

"Buzz... what in the world..."

There was a gigantic man, Jean Bart, with the rest of his crew that amounted to 20 approximately, surrounding the corpse with the bandanna. He slowly stood up before turning his head and glaring at Rowan. "You..."

From Rowan's back, Nami, Deuce, Bartolomeo, and Vivi quickly made their ways out. Jean Bart's eyes widened, before he growled,

"I shouldn't have trusted you, filths...!!!"

Vivi's eyes were locked on the corpse. Though it was hard to see due to how dim the moonlight was, she instantly recognized that said corpse was the one found with Mr.4 and Ms.Merry Christmas.

"Huh? That's..."

Vivi couldn't finish her words. Jean Bart began running toward Shooting Star at the next moment, and Rowan stared at the man solemnly.

"HEY!"

Bartolomeo tried to explain,

"It isn't us, dude!! It was done by those—"

"It's no use, Barto. They can't hear you."

Rowan held his hand up, having sensed the immense rage in each and every one of Jean Bart Pirates.

"Who are we to refuse when enemies come to us, asking for a fight?"

Cracking his neck, Rowan then ordered,

"Subdue them. I'll handle that big guy."

Bartolomeo clicked his tongue but stood with a grim determination in his eyes. Nami and Deuce too, full of seriousness, prepared for a combat.

Vivi looked back and forth between Grimheart Pirates and foes repeatedly, full of nervousness.

Then, Rowan jumped off of Shooting Star and began falling right onto Jean Bart who was vigorously running toward the ship.

BOOM!

A big noise was heard as Rowan and Jean Bart's fists collided. Jean Bart's eyes trembled upon feeling the sheer force behind Rowan's blow, and Rowan, looking straight into the eyes of Jean Bart, grinned.

One of the Jean Bart Pirates then shouted,

"KILL THEM ALL!!!"

Then, the battle began.