Hope Shattered, Pack Them Up and Take Them Away

"They're such trash. I never expected over a hundred people to fail against three or four."

"And Miss Wednesday and Mr. 8, you two really do have a problem."

"But that's fine. Today, we'll wipe out every last one of you."

Miss Valentine and Mr. 5 entered the banquet hall, making an arrogant and imposing entrance.

On a tree branch outside the window, a sea otter and a vulture held drawing boards as they leisurely observed the situation inside the banquet hall.

"Wonderful! It's Miss Valentine and Mr. 5! We're saved!"

The hundred-plus people kneeling in the banquet hall revealed excited expressions. Their saviors had arrived.

Miss Monday stretched her limbs and slowly rose to her feet.

Her saviors were here, so naturally she no longer needed to kneel.

"They're senior officers of Baroque Works. We're in danger!"

Igaram wore a grave expression as he shielded Vivi behind him.

The lower one's code name was in Baroque Works, the stronger they were.

Especially officers ranked above Mr. 5. Every one of them possessed terrifying strength and could easily suppress a branch like Whiskey Peak.

Igaram looked at Luo Wen, unsure how he would deal with them.

"Uncle, do you really need to be so nervous?"

Nami was somewhat puzzled.

A fashionable blonde beauty and a slovenly middle-aged man—were they really that dangerous?

"They aren't ordinary employees. They both possess terrifying Devil Fruit powers."

"One is a Bomb-Bomb Man who can create explosions, while the other can freely alter her weight between 1 and 10,000 kilograms. They're both extremely troublesome opponents."

Igaram explained, though he also did not know whether Luo Wen could defeat the two of them.

"Oh, two targets that are at least a little more valuable have finally shown up."

Luo Wen showed a faint bit of interest.

But he did not have time to trade blows with them slowly. It was already late, and he needed to rest.

"Damn it, how arrogant."

Mr. 5 could not stand Luo Wen's disdainful attitude.

"Take my booger..."

Mr. 5 wanted Luo Wen to understand the power of a Bomb-Bomb Man, and his hand had already reached into his nostril.

Hiss—

Luo Wen sucked in a sharp breath. How had he forgotten about this disgusting thing?

If that hit him, the damage might not be great, but the humiliation would be off the charts!

Luo Wen snapped fully alert and burst out at his fastest speed. He absolutely could not let it contaminate him.

"Huh? Where did he go?"

Mr. 5's vision blurred, and Luo Wen vanished from his sight.

The next instant, Mr. 5's vision went black, and he lost consciousness.

Luo Wen stepped on Mr. 5's back and viciously stomped on him several times before finally letting out a breath.

Miss Valentine, who had been standing beside Mr. 5, stared wide-eyed. Luo Wen beside her felt like a ghost.

"Ah!"

"10,000-Kilogram Sweep!"

Miss Valentine screamed and, in her terror, pushed her power to its limit.

A 10,000-kilogram whip kick swept toward Luo Wen's head with a fierce howl through the air.

Luo Wen raised his forearm and easily blocked Miss Valentine's strongest attack without budging an inch.

Miss Valentine felt as though she had kicked not a human body, but an iron mountain.

Though she was the attacker and Luo Wen was completely unharmed, searing pain shot through her calf.

Before she could cry out, Luo Wen's counterattack arrived.

Luo Wen grabbed that fair, smooth calf with a backhand grip. The leg in his hand felt quite nice, and Miss Valentine herself was rather attractive.

But Luo Wen had no intention of going easy on her.

Holding Miss Valentine by the calf, Luo Wen slammed her against the ground.

Miss Valentine's world spun as her body crashed violently into the floor, and she immediately passed out.

Outside the window, the sea otter's mouth fell open, human-like terror appearing on its face.

But in order to gather intelligence, it still stood trembling on the branch, the brush in its hand scratching rapidly across the board.

Inside the banquet hall, silence fell for a moment.

Less than thirty seconds had passed since the two had made their arrogant entrance, yet Luo Wen had beaten them bloody and unconscious.

Miss Valentine was relatively fortunate. Other than a bloodied head and a bruised, swollen face, she was not seriously hurt.

Mr. 5, who had tried to attack Luo Wen with a booger, suffered terribly.

His arms were twisted like pretzels, and the body embedded in the ground twitched from time to time. The floor around him had been stained red with blood, and Mr. 5 was already on the verge of death.

Seeing the miserable state of the two, everyone sucked in a cold breath, contributing to global warming.

"This is what you called a troublesome opponent?"

Nami looked at Igaram and asked a question from the depths of her soul.

Luo Wen had knocked them down in just a few moves. They did not seem any different from the people who had been kneeling earlier.

"It's because Lord Luo Wen is too strong!"

Igaram was deeply embarrassed.

He had just said how powerful and unbeatable the two officers were.

The very next second, they were lying stiffly on the ground.

Beyond his embarrassment, Igaram was utterly shocked.

These were senior officers of Baroque Works, with powerful Devil Fruit abilities, yet in Luo Wen's hands they were as fragile as ordinary grunts.

That level of combat power was simply absurd.

Igaram was overjoyed. The stronger Luo Wen was, the greater the chance of saving Alabasta.

Meanwhile, Miss Monday, who had only been standing for a dozen seconds, bent over and dropped to her knees once more.

Whether it was an illusion or not, Miss Monday felt that everyone around her was kneeling even more properly than before.

Two senior officers had been defeated so easily?!

Miss Monday could not believe it. Her last hope was gone.

Those two had been so domineering whenever they dealt with their own people—why were they so useless against outsiders?

Sigh... at this point, she might as well give up!

Miss Monday let out a long sigh and no longer harbored any little schemes.

Perhaps being taken in for the bounty was not such a bad thing. At least in a Marine prison, she would not have to worry about Baroque Works punishing her.

"Tie these people up and take them in for the bounties."

At Luo Wen's command, everyone immediately got to work.

Vivi and Igaram, who were familiar with the place, found ropes. Together, they bound the hands of the hundred-plus people kneeling on the ground.

Every Baroque Works member, including Miss Monday, behaved honestly and cooperated completely with Luo Wen and the others.

Luo Wen, Nami, and the girls returned to the Windrider, planning to rest for the night before departing.

Igaram commandeered another ship to escort all the Baroque Works members from Whiskey Peak.

Of course, Luo Wen had not forgotten Miss Valentine and Mr. 5. The pair were tied up tightly and carried aboard Igaram's ship on stretchers.

Luo Wen was not worried that Miss Valentine and Mr. 5 would die from their severe injuries.

This was the world of pirates. People's physiques were absurdly strong—mere fatal wounds were nothing!

On a mountain peak by the shore.

A sea otter wearing sunglasses held a drawing board and painted, while a vulture stood guard beside it.

These two animals were the Unluckies of Baroque Works, responsible for reporting intelligence directly to Crocodile.

Before long, the sea otter finished its drawing. On it were portraits of Luo Wen and the others.

Turning to glance at the scene within the banquet hall, human-like fear flashed through the sea otter's eyes beneath its sunglasses.

The sea otter climbed onto the vulture, and the two animals soared high into the sky, returning to report to Crocodile.