Hakoku!

"Eep!"

At that moment, Little Red Sparrow flapped her wings and landed on a branch. Her two eyes swept back and forth between Zero and MR.3 beneath the tree, seeming to shimmer as her expression looked remarkably human.

Just as Zero pointed the tip of his blade at MR.3, the appearance of another person sent his mood plummeting.

"Yo, Zero, are you done fighting?"

As Luffy greeted Zero, he tossed out the unconscious MR.5 and MISS. Valentine. His clothes were somewhat dirty, as though he had just gone through a fierce battle.

Behind Luffy, Usopp and Karoo strutted out of the woods as well. Usopp proudly claimed credit before Zero. "Zero, what do you think? We defeated two Baroque Works agents! Pretty amazing, right? Hehehe!"

Luffy said, "Wasn't it me who defeated them?"

"..."

Seeing that he was about to be surrounded, MR.3 wrapped himself in a large amount of candle wax and, in the blink of an eye, formed a suit of hard armor.

"This armor of mine once defeated a pirate with a 42 million bounty! Even you won't be able to hurt me!"

As he spoke, MR.3 spun his fist and charged at Luffy.

His plan was actually simple. Zero had easily shattered his candle shackles, so he was clearly no match for him. He could only break through the Straw Hat brat worth thirty million in front of him if he wanted even the slightest chance of survival!

If things had followed the original course of events, he might indeed have succeeded. However, MR.3 did not know that Luffy had already mastered Armament Haki!

"Armament Haki, Hardening!"

Facing MR.3's fierce attack, Luffy instantly covered his arm in Armament Haki and threw a punch!

Bang!

Crack!

Naturally, the candle armor cracked beneath the blow of Armament Haki, and Luffy's fist landed squarely on MR.3's stomach.

"Im... possible..."

MR.3 forced out those broken words, then rolled his eyes back and collapsed to the ground.

Only then did Luffy withdraw his fist and stare at him in confusion.

"Who... is this guy?"

Miss Goldenweek tried to run away from behind them, but Karoo spotted her and charged over to rough her up. She was defeated miserably without even getting the chance to use her full strength!

"Eep!"

At that moment, Little Red Sparrow flapped her wings and landed on Zero's shoulder, rubbing furiously against his cheek with great affection.

Zero sheathed Startled Dragon and said to Little Red Sparrow, "Where did you run off to just now? Don't go running around next time, okay?"

"Eep!"

"Oh, right. You might have to work a little to melt the wax on those two giants. If I remember correctly, that guy's candle wax is especially vulnerable to fire."

"Eep?"

Soon afterward, they found Roronoa Zoro and Nami nearby, bound by candle shackles. With Zero's help, the two were freed.

As for the four Baroque Works agents, they simply tied all four together and tossed them somewhere at random. As for how long they could survive in this dinosaur-infested place, that would depend on their luck.

As for Sanji, he was currently sitting inside a slowly melting white house somewhere on Little Garden, leisurely drinking black tea.

What am I doing?! I need to hurry and save Nami!

Coming to his senses, Sanji immediately stood up and prepared to leave. However, the ringing of a Den Den Mushi suddenly came from somewhere inside the house.

"Pururururu... Pururururu..."

Sanji walked back, picked up the Den Den Mushi, and immediately wore a grave expression upon hearing the introduction from the other end.

"I am MR.0!"

He had already learned the enemy's identity from his companions. It was Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords. He had not expected to be so close to the enemy at this very moment!

Through their subsequent conversation, Sanji learned that the place he was in was MR.3's headquarters, as Crocodile had called it. He thus pretended to be MR.3 and told Crocodile not to send any more pursuers.

Although Crocodile agreed, he told Sanji that Unluckies had delivered a Permanent Pointer pointing toward Alabasta. Sanji turned around and saw them standing by the window, launching an attack at him.

In the end, after a battle that was not particularly difficult, Sanji took the Permanent Pointer from Unluckies and left at once, intending to bring the news to everyone.

Later, after defeating the two giants, Zero obtained a Permanent Pointer pointing toward Elbaf Village from them, making Usopp incredibly envious. Fortunately, Zero later said that they could travel to Elbaf Village together someday, and Usopp immediately beamed with joy.

It was clear that, for Usopp, who wanted to become a brave warrior of the sea, the glory of the Giant Tribe had already been deeply branded into his heart and was gradually taking root, waiting for the day it would grow into a towering tree.

Just as everyone was worrying over how to get to Alabasta, Sanji appeared before them with the Permanent Pointer, and they were all overjoyed.

Sanji himself was somewhat puzzled, though. The battle was already over, so he had not gotten the chance to show off his skills!

Fortunately, he knew that Roronoa Zoro had also been restrained by the enemy and had not been of much use. Though Sanji had merely played a minor role as well, he had brought back the Permanent Pointer, which clearly made him far superior to Roronoa Zoro—or so he thought.

Yet when it came time to board the ship, the two started comparing the sizes of their prey again. If Nami had not shouted at them to get aboard, they probably would have argued forever.

As the Going Merry was about to reach the exit to the open sea, Dorry and Brogy had somehow already taken their positions on the shores to either side, directing them to sail straight ahead!

Only Zero knew what was about to happen. Though the others did not quite understand, they still followed the two giants' instructions.

Suddenly, a gigantic goldfish emerged from beneath the sea. It was a terrifying sea creature known as the Island Eater, said to feed on islands. Its droppings were even occasionally mistaken for islands and landed upon by people.

Seeing that they were about to fall into the Island Eater's mouth, the crew instinctively looked toward Zero. Yet they saw him staring ahead without the slightest fear. Remembering the two giants' earlier warning, the others' eyes immediately filled with determination as well.

Finally.

"Hakoku!"

Accompanied by the roars of the two giants, Brogy and Dorry, a terrifying red-and-blue shockwave shot forth and pierced straight through the Island Eater!

The Going Merry rode that shockwave out through the Island Eater's body. The Straw Hat Pirates all cheered, marveling at the Giant Tribe's strength!

As for the two giants who had unleashed Hakoku, the durability of their weapons immediately dropped to its lowest point. When they raised them, the great sword and axe split in half and fell onto the sea. Even so, they offered the Straw Hat Pirates their most sincere blessings.

"Friends! Charge onward!"

Boom!

The volcano erupted once more!

Though the two had lost their weapons, they started fighting again with their bare fists the very next moment, as though they had been born solely to battle!