All Forces Mobilize

"Has Ace arrived yet?"

Xia Qiu was somewhat surprised. Ace was supposed to arrive at Drum Island two months after Blackbeard left Drum Kingdom, but he arrived half a month earlier.

It seems that I asked Vivi to publicize this matter so that he would know in advance.

"And they even took Nami with them."

Xia Qiu was somewhat surprised by this, not expecting Blackbeard to kidnap Nami. However, the intelligence did mention an orange-haired girl, but she wasn't always by his side, and her appearance differed significantly from the wanted poster. The intelligence personnel couldn't confirm her identity.

In that case...

Xia Qiu looked at Heckle, who was holding Den Den Mushi, and said, "Have Mr. Christmas go with Ace to Mock Town, and have Mr. Christmas carry Den Den Mushi to keep in touch with you at all times."

"Good."

Heckle said a few words to the Den Den Mushi, asked Xia Qiu a few questions, and then hung up the Den Den Mushi.

"Now that Ace is here, we should head over as soon as possible," Xia Qiu thought. Since Ace was here, they could go directly to Blackbeard without waiting for him to make a move.

In the original story, Crocodile died, Blackbeard only then planned to take his place, taking a month or two before putting it into action.

There are no vacancies now, and we need to plan, so action will at least be delayed.

It would be better to wait for the two to fight and then fish in troubled waters.

Xia Qiu looked at Heckle and said, "There are a few things I need you to do. First, contact Vivi and have her prepare a sufficient quantity of fruit to meet us at the rendezvous point in Aru-Ma City. Second, have Cecilia wait at the port so we can meet up with her. Third, have all the bounty hunters at the outposts cease their operations and refrain from any rash actions for the time being. Fourth, go and prepare the supplies for Mock Town; we need to depart within an hour."

"Yes."

Heckle immediately took action, contacting everyone as Xia Qiu had ordered, and preparing supplies for the trip, including cola, food, oxygen grass, and so on—all emergency supplies.

Preparations were completed in just half an hour. Afterwards, Heckle led his men into the submarine, and Xia Qiu went underwater together, heading to Alabasta.

Upon arriving in Elma, Alabasta, Heckle brought the submarine to the surface, where two figures were waiting.

Heckle stepped out of the submarine, ordered his subordinates to bring the fruit inside, and said to Cecilia, "I have a mission; you need to come with me."

"Good."

Cecilia, unsuspecting, helped carry the fruit into the cabin.

Vivi asked curiously, "Are you going to confront the Blackbeard Pirates because of the information we just received?"

The intelligence agent contacted her and informed Heckle, so she knew the inside story, which involved the Blackbeard Pirates.

"That's right." Heckle looked at Vivi and said, "Princess Vivi, the president needs your help."

"Should I go too?"

Vivi frowned; she had no desire to get involved in the more secretive operations of Baroque Works.

"You don't need to follow us."

Heckle replied, "The president wants you to go to Island Two to monitor the prisoners and prevent them from escaping."

"So that's how it is."

Vivi felt relieved. She naturally knew the identities of those people and the danger they posed. Since it involved her, she did not refuse.

However, Vivi was a little curious. Since she was the one who needed to go, did the Baroque Works mobilize a lot of people? Princess Vivi asked curiously, "Who are the people on this mission? Did the head of the company go?"

"Cecilia, me, and Mr. Christmas."

"And of course, the president," Heckle said.

"It seems this task is not simple."

Vivi thought to herself, "Even Mr. Christmas in the Drum Kingdom has been recalled. So, apart from Mr. 2, basically most of the Senior Agent have missions."

With even he himself leaving, there's no one left to guard the casino.

Even the company president will be going, and there will be more people involved than when Lucci was captured, so the scale of the mission will be larger.

Vivi immediately said, "I'll head to Island Number Two right away."

"Thank you for your help."

Heckle bowed slightly and walked back into the submarine, which then sank and headed into the distance.

Meanwhile, Vivi watched them drift away and returned to Alabasta before setting sail with them.

As for the casino, she temporarily entrusted it to Igaram.

"Why did your company president send someone to come with me?" Ace asked, sitting there with a frown.

Smith said coldly, "Her presence with you can help you contact us and provide timely assistance. Secondly, she can also serve as an asset. These are the conditions we've set, and we hope you can abide by them."

"I don't want anyone interfering with my fight," Ace said coldly.

Smith said, "Don't worry, she won't interfere with your fight with the enemy. On the contrary, she can help you stop others from interfering with your fight and rescue your comrades."

"Rescue my companion?"

Upon hearing this, Ace frowned and said, "This is extremely difficult. The opponent is very strong, and she may not be able to help."

Ace was invited to become Shichibukai two years ago. He was confident that he could defeat Blackbeard, but he did not think that Blackbeard's strength was much weaker than his own.

According to sources here, he has at least four subordinates. Anyone he values must be quite capable. It's possible to hold off one, but four would be extremely difficult.

Therefore, he preferred that they take matters into their own hands.

"You underestimate us."

A voice suddenly rang out, and the instant the voice sounded, Ace stood up and looked into the distance.

Suddenly, a door opened beside the bed, and a tall figure slowly walked out—it was Mr. Christmas.

"You're Devil Fruit User?"

Ace looked at the other person and asked with some surprise.

With his arms crossed, Mr. Christmas said coldly, "I am a Door-Door Devil Fruit User, I can open doors anywhere to enter Spatial Dimension. At the same time, I am also a gunman."

"Can this ability allow other people to enter the Spatial Dimension?" Ace asked hurriedly.

Mr. Christmas nodded and said, "Of course."

"Then you coming to save her is the best way."

Hearing about Mr. Christmas, Ace felt relieved, even though he was afraid of hurting Nami if he were to intervene.

But with her abilities, she can safely bring the person back.

Mr. Christmas glanced at him and asked, "So, can we go now?"

"Sure."

Ace said with a smile, "But before we leave, we still need to wait for someone. He should be here soon."

"You have accomplices?"

The question came somewhat unexpectedly on Mr. Christmas.

Ace laughed and said, "Yes, he was afraid of causing trouble, so he didn't come ashore with me to go fishing. He should be back on the ship now."

"Go to sea?"

Mr. Christmas tilted its head.

Meanwhile, on a small boat on Ace Drum Island, a six-armed Fish-Man sat rubbing his body, muttering:

"It's so cold. Why isn't Ace back yet? Did he fall asleep again?"