Cooperation and Assistance

The unexpected result was hard for Vivi to accept. After a long while, she said, "So the president of Baroque Works has never been a human, but a Giant Beast."

Xia Qiu shook his head and said, "Not always. In fact, I've only been the president of Baroque Works for nine months."

Nine months?

Vivi was somewhat surprised and frowned as she asked, "But I joined Baroque Works a year ago. It was already in operation then and had been around for several years. Who was the previous president? And how did you become the president?"

Xia Qiu looked at Vivi and said softly, "The previous president was Crocodile."

Crocodile?

Vivi was even more surprised and asked, "You mean Crocodile of the Shichibukai?"

Xia Qiu nodded and slowly said, "That's right, I killed him and then took his place to become the president of Baroque Works."

"So that's how it is."

Vivi frowned; this outcome was somewhat unexpected.

Xia Qiu looked at Vivi and said with a smile, "No one knows this except Robin, not even Miss Double Finger."

"Even the Vice President doesn't know?"

Upon hearing this, Vivi asked curiously, "Then how did you become the president of the club?"

Xia Qiu looked at Vivi and said, "It's very simple. After Crocodile died, Robin took control of Baroque Works, but she had to leave. Apart from Robin, no one in the entire Baroque Works knew of my existence, especially Zala. Therefore, I was able to take advantage of the situation and become the president."

"So that's how it is."

Vivi nodded, then asked, "Then why did you tell me?"

Xia Qiu said, "Because I am no longer able to help Baroque Works continue to grow. As far as my position is concerned, this is all I can do. So I need someone to help me so that Baroque Works can continue to grow."

Need help?

Upon hearing his words, Vivi frowned and asked, "So you want me to help you?"

Xia Qiu nodded and said, "That's right, I hope you join Baroque Works. You are very capable and intelligent. If you can help me..."

Vivi interrupted Xia Qiu and said decisively, "That's impossible. I won't join an assassin group."

Xia Qiu said, "But you were once a member."

Vivi shook her head and said, "That was to investigate the drought, but the drought has now disappeared..."

"The drought disappeared because I killed Crocodile and announced the cessation of the Utopia Plan."

Xia Qiu looked at Vivi and said, "If it weren't for me, when do you think it would rain in Alabasta? With your abilities, could you defeat one of the Shichibukai?"

"I..."

Before Vivi could speak, Xia Qiu asked, "You should have heard of the Utopia Plan, right?"

Vivi nodded and said, "Yes, the dream of the Baroque Works is to establish an ideal country. The higher your ranking in the work, the higher your position will be after the country is established."

"You should have guessed by now that the target of this Utopia Plan is Alabasta."

Xia Qiu slowly said, "As long as Crocodile is alive, the plan will continue. The Rebel Army has already emerged and will continue to grow stronger. In just two years, the Rebel Army will clash with the kingdom's army, resulting in heavy casualties. Crocodile will then appear, stop the battle as a hero, and be crowned king."

"This plan is doomed to fail."

Vivi was surprised by the audacity of the plan and shook her head, saying, "The Rebel Army are weak and cannot defeat the Kingdom's army. Moreover, their leader is rational and a large-scale battle is impossible. He cannot do it."

"Yeah?"

Xia Qiu said, "The rebels are relatively few now, but what about in a few years? More and more cities will be drought-stricken, and more and more people will gather. Secondly, the Rebel Army leader you mentioned is called Koza, right? You trust him a lot, but what about the rest of the rebels? There are too many Baroque Works spies in the rebel base and the Royal Army. What if they launch a surprise attack first? And you may not know that there is a Senior Agent in Baroque Works who possesses the Copy-Copy Fruit. If he impersonates your father and does something wicked, how much chaos will it cause among the people? They can frame you once, and they can frame you a second time."

"If that's the case..."

Vivi's face was extremely gloomy; the consequences would be unimaginable.

Vivi looked at Xia Qiu and said, "I am very grateful to you for ending the plan."

Xia Qiu sneered and said, "I can't see that. It's you who stole the Devil Fruit in our cooperation, which has created a gap in my other plans and makes them difficult to complete now. That's why I asked you if you would like to join Baroque Works."

"That was my fault."

Hearing this, Vivi felt a little guilty and looked at Xia Qiu, asking, "However, I will not join Baroque Works. I want to ask you, what are your plans?"

"We won't tell anyone before the plan begins."

Xia Qiu looked at Vivi and said, "And you absolutely cannot tell the person who ruined the plan."

"I can help you."

Vivi spoke quickly, then softened her tone and said, "If your plan doesn't harm Alabasta or ordinary people, I can help you."

Xia Qiu shook his head and said, "This plan will not only not harm ordinary people, but it can even save them, but I cannot tell you for the time being."

"If what you say is true, I can help you then."

Vivi said seriously, "As a reward for killing Crocodile and abandoning the plan, and as an apology for taking the Sand-Sand Fruit."

Vivi paused, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "I know I may never be able to repay your kindness, but..."

"No, just doing this one thing is enough."

Xia Qiu interrupted her and said, "All you need to do is help me once. I promise I won't go against your ways."

Vivi nodded and said, "As long as you are telling the truth, then I can agree to your request."

At this point, Vivi looked at Xia Qiu and said, "But I will not join Baroque Works. Of course, I will not reveal anything about you and will keep it a secret."

"That's good."

Xia Qiu looked at Vivi and said, "However, it's okay if you don't join. Are you interested in cooperating with me?"

"Cooperate?"

Vivi asked, puzzled, "What kind of cooperation?"

Xia Qiu slowly said, "Using Baroque Works and Alabasta, we will establish a huge intelligence organization, and the two of us will share intelligence resources."

"An intelligence organization?"

Vivi asked, puzzled, "Why do you want to establish an intelligence organization?"

"Intelligence itself is of great value, including understanding affairs, mastering information and controlling information channels, controlling public opinion, reducing the uncertainty of conflict, preventing problems before they occur, and gaining the ability to respond in advance."

Xia Qiu slowly said, "Intelligence is even more important to Alabasta. If there were a powerful intelligence organization, you wouldn't need to personally infiltrate Baroque Works, and such a huge conspiracy wouldn't exist. You could also prepare for future crises and resolve conflicts from the Empire, such as Drum Kingdom, which has always been hostile to Alabasta. Moreover, Princess Vivi will succeed her father as the queen of this country. Doesn't she want a powerful intelligence organization?"

"Intelligence organizations are indeed useful."

Upon hearing this, Vivi looked at Xia Qiu and said, "But sharing it with Baroque Works and then sending you to kill people, I don't think that's a good thing."

Xia Qiu said, "Then you don't need to worry. You will set up, operate, and control this intelligence organization. You can share some intelligence with me that you think is worth sharing, and if I need intelligence, I will notify you. You can decide for yourself whether or not to help me."

"This is a huge loss for you. Would you be willing to do this? Wouldn't you do something underhanded?" Vivi asked, puzzled.

"Tamper with it?"

Xia Qiu said, "My identity means I can't directly control anything. Whether it's Baroque Works or an intelligence organization, if you're in charge of creating and screening candidates, you don't need to worry about me at all."

Secondly.

Xia Qiu added, "I only need some information, such as changes in the pirate forces and information on the interactions of high-ranking naval officers, to prevent the Baroque Works from being wiped out by the Navy. If I were to use it actively, I would only investigate certain specific individuals. Therefore, I don't need to have complete control over it."

"Yeah?"

Vivi fell into deep thought. He didn't need much information; most of it was for the safety of his organization, which wasn't unreasonable.

And he's right, his identity determines his limitations. If they could cooperate to establish an intelligence organization, it would be easier for him to control it, and the importance of an intelligence organization is undeniable. This would be a very worthwhile deal.

Xia Qiu looked at Vivi and said, "This will only benefit you, not harm you. Your only worry is what I might do. But think about how great the risk is when I expose my identity to you? And what can you do if you know my identity?"

Upon hearing this, Vivi considered the consequences and realized that everything was in her best interest.

He cannot harm himself. Although he is strong, he is Logia Devil Fruit User. As long as he does not get close to water or enter the water, he cannot kill himself.

After all, I can fly.

Secondly, his identity is special and cannot be exposed, so he has no ability to indirectly control an intelligence organization.

Furthermore, although he was strong, Vivi found that she still had an advantage in land battles.

There are absolutely no worries.

Besides, the cooperation will bring huge benefits to oneself, so why not?

Vivi looked at Xia Qiu and said, "I can agree to that."

"Very good." Xia Qiu was very happy to hear this answer.

"But I have a condition," Vivi suddenly said.

Xia Qiu asked curiously, "What are the conditions?"

Vivi said, "You must also promise me that you will not reveal our relationship to anyone else. Not even Heckle can know that we have cooperated to establish an intelligence organization."

"But I need Zala to contact you," Xia Qiu said, frowning.

"Except for Zala, the other members of the Baroque Works are unaware of this."

Vivi quickly said that this way, no evidence would be left, and everything would be foolproof.

Xia Qiu nodded and said, "This is acceptable."

Vivi smiled and said, "In that case, I'm willing to cooperate with you."

"I wish us a pleasant cooperation."

Xia Qiu smiled and raised his foreleg. Vivi was stunned for a moment, then walked over and reached out to touch his leg.

"Come back in a few days and we'll make a detailed plan."

Xia Qiu gave her instructions.

"Good."

Vivi nodded, said goodbye to Xia Qiu, turned and left the house, found Zala, and then left the island.

After she left, Xia Qiu felt that she had basically fulfilled her minimum requirements.

Xia Qiu hopes that she can join the Baroque Works and become the intelligence organization in charge of him, so that she can act entirely according to his orders.

But there is absolutely no possibility of that.

So, the only option was to settle for second best, and the requirement of joining the Baroque Works was decisively changed from doing several things for oneself to simply completing one plan.

He used his gratitude for everything he had done for Alabasta, and the fact that she had repaid kindness with ingratitude by eating Devil Fruit without permission, as leverage to persuade her, and declared that he would not harm ordinary people.

She was a Princess, so she naturally knew how great this favor was, yet she repaid it in the wrong way.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, she will agree, but with conditions.

When the time comes, her plan will begin. The plan itself can save many people and eliminate evil forces, which will further strengthen her desire to carry out the plan.

Therefore, Vivi can be considered one of the contributors to the implementation of the plan. Of course, her strength is still very weak and needs to be enhanced and used properly.

Secondly, the establishment of intelligence organizations.

From completely belonging to her, to jointly controlling the intelligence organization, and finally belonging to her while she borrowed some information, Xia Qiu's demands kept decreasing. She was even willing to let the other party take control of the intelligence organization, which made Vivi agree to her request.

But obtaining some information is enough.

With the help of Vivi, he basically fulfilled his requirements.

Princess Vivi is gone.

Not long after, Zala returned to Xia Qiu's side and said softly.

Xia Qiu nodded and said, "I understand."

Zala looked at Xia Qiu, wanting to say something, but hesitated.

Xia Qiu glanced at her and asked, "What's wrong?"

Zala asked cautiously, "What exactly did you say to Princess Vivi?"

Xia Qiu looked at her and asked, "Why are you asking these questions?"

Zala coughed and said, "You've let Princess Vivi discover my identity, I'm afraid she..."

"Don't worry, she won't tell anyone."

Xia Qiu said softly, "In fact, both Zala Vivi might betray me."

Although Vivi is not a member of Baroque Works, she is more trustworthy Zala.

Because the temptations facing Zala were too great, the entire Baroque Works, in the face of enormous profits, found its own strength to be merely a weak deterrent.

Faced with enormous profits, she might very well betray herself, which is why she needs Vivi's help.

Vivi profits from the collaboration and has no ulterior motives towards Baroque Works, so she won't do anything as long as her interests aren't harmed.

"That's good." Zala breathed a sigh of relief.

"Don't worry, it's just some cooperation matters. You'll find out later."

Xia Qiu left these words behind and slowly walked away into the ocean.

Four thousand words, only one chapter today. Updates will resume tomorrow.