Baroque Works

The two Undead seemed to obey a command, directly spreading their arms to reveal a black sheen that spread from their wrists to their fists, covering the round shields and spears they held.

"Not bad at all," Reiner said, a wider smile spreading across his face as he watched the Haki shimmer on the Undead.

"Oh, impressive! Your ability is quite good," Broggy praised with a laugh.

"Hey Reiner, let them fight me, hehe."

Luffy's eyes gleamed with eagerness, feeling the powerful aura emanating from the two Undead.

Reiner immediately recalled them. "Stop messing around, Luffy. They could pin you to the ground and rub you in the dirt right now."

Coming to Little Garden this time was a huge score. Reiner clenched his fist. The Blue Ogre and Red Ogre could even serve him until the end of the first half of the Grand Line.

His previous strongest Undead, the Saw Devil and Wolverine Undead, were completely outmatched.

Until Luffy and Zoro grew stronger and he could update their templates, the Blue Ogre and Red Ogre would be his trump card.

With the addition of Haki, Reiner's Undead had for the first time surpassed Luffy in strength, making him the strongest person on the ship.

Woohoo! Liftoff!

"Nice! Reiner!"

Usopp excitedly punched the air. With two new powerful members on board, his Grand Adventure of Captain Usopp gained even more assurance.

"Wait a minute, that bounty of twenty-five million pair, could it also be…" Vivi looked at Reiner in astonishment.

She had seen Reiner summon Undead on the ship these past few days, but she hadn't felt comfortable asking about other people's abilities.

Now, thinking about how that pair with the twenty-five million bounty hadn't been seen on the ship, combined with the Undead Reiner had just created…

Everything became clear!

"Ah, those are Reiner's Undead," Luffy directly told Vivi.

Reiner didn't mind. He had told Luffy not to blab everything, and Luffy wouldn't speak carelessly about things he shouldn't.

"So that's how it is." Vivi's expression was strange, and her gaze towards Reiner was different.

Didn't he say the Undead were for odd jobs?

"That's just how Reiner is," Nami said disdainfully. "He has no strong aura whatsoever."

"What are you talking about? Are you questioning my Usopp-style gameplay?"

"Wait, Reiner, are you complimenting me?" Usopp said, speechless.

Meanwhile, in the lush primeval forest.

Mr.3, accompanied by a girl in a small yellow hat, was heading towards the giants' stronghold, followed by Mr.5 and a woman in a bodycon skirt.

The candle man, Mr.3, adjusted his neat collar, while casting a disdainful glance behind him.

"What are you two doing here? Don't you dare drag me down later."

"Don't be so full of yourself."

Mr.5 replied dismissively, hands in his pockets. "You know the consequences of mission failure. The Boss never keeps useless people around."

"Of course I know better than you." Mr.3 said with a serious expression. "This target is very important. If I'm not mistaken, someone else might be coming after us."

"I wonder if it's Mr.2 or Mr.1."

"It's probably that pervert. Mr.1 usually doesn't leave the Boss's side," the candle man said flatly.

He had been with Baroque Works for a long time. Although he hadn't met the Boss, he understood his methods very well.

Someone else coming later didn't necessarily mean they were coming to help them, especially if it was Mr.1…

"Forget it, no matter what, as long as we complete the mission."

Rustle~ Rustle rustle~

A sound suddenly came from the bushes, but the group seemed unconcerned, continuing to walk on their own.

"This damned primeval forest!" Miss Valentine cursed softly. "It's humid! And stuffy, and there are so many bugs. I can't stand it for another second!"

Until the few of them had walked far away…

A blue Fish-man's head peeked out from the bushes, its empty eyes staring in the direction the four had left.

Then, it circled around, taking off at its fastest speed, a blue figure darting through the forest towards Reiner's location.

A short while later, on the open grassy field in the center of the island, Reiner saw a Fish-man Undead running quickly towards him.

"Did you find prey?" The Undead arrived before him, gesticulating wildly.

"This way?"

"Four people? Two men, one child…"

"There's a 3? What does that mean?"

Reiner's expression gradually turned strange. What the hell was it trying to convey?

Seeing this, Nami couldn't help but ask curiously, "What's wrong, Reiner? Did something happen?"

"There are other people on the island."

Reiner lit a cigarette and slowly said, "They're coming straight for us, and they're very close."

"Coming for us?" Nami was confused. "Did we offend anyone?"

"No, they might be coming for me."

Vivi suddenly stepped forward, her hands crossed over her chest, her face looking rather grim. She had a faint, unsettling suspicion.

"No need to guess, they're already here," Reiner said calmly.

The others looked around, but there was only a dark forest surrounding the clearing.

"I don't see anyone?"

"Where are they?"

The Red Ogre Undead pointed in a direction with its spear. The two Undead had already sensed several presences approaching.

Following the direction of the spear, a figure soon emerged from the forest.

"Tch, so I was discovered, huh?"

The person was indeed Mr.3. He frowned, finding himself stared down by the Straw Hat Crew as soon as he stepped out.

Oh, isn't that the future Vice-Captain, Brother 3?

Reiner looked at the '3' shaped braid on his head and immediately understood what the Undead's gesture for '3' had meant.

"Mr.3!!!" Vivi's pupils dilated as she exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hands, her body trembling slightly.

Nami, seeing this, stepped forward curiously and placed a hand on Vivi's back, asking worriedly, "What's wrong, Vivi? Do you know him?"

"He's one of Baroque Works' chief assassins."

Vivi stared at Mr.3, her expression flustered, gripping Nami's hand tightly. "Baroque Works is an assassin organization, and their members' code names are ranked by strength.

"His number is 3! He's probably here to hunt me down."

"Hunt you down?" Nami was stunned for a moment. "So that's why that curly-haired guy asked us to escort you to Alabasta."

"What happened to Igaram!" Vivi suddenly shouted at Mr.3.

Since he's here, then Igaram, who left early to draw fire for her, must have...

"You mean the Alabasta guard captain?"

Mr.3 looked at Vivi mockingly. "Who knows? Maybe he's already been eaten clean by the fish in the sea."

How could this be? Vivi's face paled, and the unshed tears in her eyes shimmered.

"So he's an enemy, right?"

Luffy suddenly spoke up. "Didn't we take on a mission? If he's here to hunt Vivi down, then he's an enemy, right?"

"The answer is obvious," Reiner said. "They also have three others hidden in the forest. I sent the Undead in the forest after them."

"Alright, I'll leave it to you," Luffy replied and charged straight at the opponent.

Reiner didn't summon any more Undead, only controlling the Fish-man Undead scattered in the forest to surround them.

"I'm sorry, Nami," Vivi knelt on the ground, one hand held by Nami. "I'm afraid I've gotten you involved with a formidable enemy."

"Don't worry, Vivi, they're very strong," Nami said with a comforting smile.

However, just a few seconds into her smile, Vivi's next words instantly made Nami do a complete 180.

"The mastermind behind Baroque Works is one of the Warlords of the Sea—

—Crocodile!"

"NANI!!!" Nami and Usopp's faces turned green with fright.

"Hey, you jerk! You didn't say anything about this at the beginning!"

"Does that mean! We just entered the Grand Line and we're already being targeted by a Warlord of the Sea?!"

"You jerk! Say something, Vivi!" Nami bared her teeth, grabbing Vivi and shaking her incessantly.

Vivi: "Sob, I'm sorry~~"