The Beginning of the Great Battle

Robin added from the side, "I heard that Major Ener has three capable Marines under his command. They could have been ignored before, but now... it seems we'll have to take them seriously."

Crocodile raised a brow. "Then send Mr. 3 and his partner, Miss Goldenweek, as well. Make sure you recover those three billion."

Three billion Beli was no small sum to anyone.

Even Crocodile was tempted, so this time, he had dispatched his strongest lineup.

He believed they would definitely take Ener down!

Meanwhile, after Ener gave Smoker the two swords and the compensation Beli to deliver to the weapon shop owner,

they set sail once more.

Their destination was the first half of the Grand Line.

Gin steered the ship while Nami helped out. Lina and Zoro, meanwhile, had their eyes fixed on Ener's waist.

After all, Ener now had four swords hanging at his waist.

They were Ice Demon, Flame Dragon, Sandai Kitetsu, and Yubashiri. Ener first removed Ice Demon and Flame Dragon and handed them to Lina. "These are your family's swords... and now, you're worthy of wielding them. I hope you'll make their names known throughout the world in the days to come."

Lina accepted them with an excited expression. "I will! I'll definitely make their names known throughout the world..."

Then, without caring that others were present, she threw herself into Ener's arms and kissed him.

Ener patted her shapely backside, signaling for her to get down first.

Then he handed Yubashiri to Zoro. "I promised I'd replace your swords with Famed Blades. This is the first one... After this, I'll find another for you and help you gather three Famed Blades."

Zoro was equally excited. To a swordsman, Famed Blades held a fatal allure.

Especially when he had yet to gather all of them.

Ener said, "Yubashiri, one of the Fifty Skillful Blades."

Zoro took a deep breath, his expression utterly sincere. "Thank you..."

Ener patted his shoulder. "From the moment you joined my crew, we became companions who could entrust our backs to each other. So there's no need for thanks."

"Entrust our backs to each other?"

Zoro carefully pondered those words. Not just him, but Gin, Lina, and Nami beside him as well.

Then the four of them looked at one another before breaking into smiles together.

With that smile, their relationship grew closer still. At this moment, this little group truly became one.

Three days later, Ener's group landed on Cactus Island, the first island of the Grand Line.

Whiskey Peak was located on Cactus Island. Whiskey Peak was a town with flourishing winemaking and music, and its people were exceptionally hospitable.

It was also the only town, spread along both sides of a river on the island.

In truth, the town housed a group of bounty hunters and was one of Baroque Works' bases. Many young and inexperienced pirates had become prey for those bounty hunters.

That was one of the reasons Ener had come here.

Because they had hunted down many pirates one by one, they had amassed quite a bit of Beli. Combined with the town's winemaking, it was no small source of income.

Second, Cactus Island was the first island upon entering the Grand Line. If he took it over and managed it properly, it would definitely become an excellent source of revenue...

After all, any business dealing with the Four Blues had to pass through here. Just collecting tolls would make his hands go numb.

Third, he had promised to help Zoro gather three Famed Blades.

If his guess was correct, many members of Baroque Works had already gathered here, and Mr. 11 should be among them.

As long as he was here, Kashu in Mr. 11's possession would naturally fall into Ener's hands.

But the moment Ener's group entered the town,

they saw a group approaching them without the slightest attempt at concealment.

A man and a woman led them.

The man was tall and muscular, with a monk-like shaved head. A scar ran down the right side of his face from beneath his hairline to his cheekbone. His eyebrows were thin and connected, while his lips were thick.

He wore warrior monk attire, with snake patterns on both sides of his chest and the character "One" tattooed across it.

The woman had an afro, a curvaceous figure, and walked with an affected sway.

To their left stood a sturdy okama wearing bizarre heavy makeup and a swan ballet outfit.

To their right stood two people, one large and one small. The larger one had a number 3 on his head, while the smaller one held a brush and palette.

Finally, there were Miss Christmas, Mr. 5, Ms. Valentine, and a group of Baroque Works agents, all of whom had exchanged blows with Ener before.

Ener could not help frowning.

Mr. 1 Daz Bonez, Miss Doublefinger, Mr. 2/Bentham, Mr. 3 Galdino, Miss Goldenweek, Mr. 4, Miss Christmas, Mr. 5, Ms. Valentine... Mr. 11.

Good grief.

Aside from Crocodile and Robin at the top, had every member of Baroque Works come?

Wait...

Who was that behind them?

She had waist-length, wavy light-blue hair.

She was beautiful and graceful, with two locks of hair hanging from both sides of her forehead past her shoulders. She usually tied the rest of her hair back into a ponytail.

Princess Vivi?

Ener truly had not expected even her to be here.

Ener turned to Zoro, Gin, and Lina beside him. "Just knock out the blue-haired one at the back. Don't hit her too hard. Her identity is unusual, and she'll be of great use later."

"Her identity is unusual?"

Zoro, Gin, and Lina were startled at first, then could not help growing curious. For Ener to call someone's identity unusual, it had to be extremely unusual.

So they all nodded, understanding.

Ener added, "I've already explained the Baroque Works members' abilities and appearances to you in detail. You know what you're dealing with now, right?"

Zoro, Gin, and Lina nodded together. "Don't worry..."

Then their attention settled on Mr. 2/Bentham, Mr. 3 Galdino, and Miss Goldenweek. Aside from the leading Mr. 1 Daz Bonez, only those three could pose a threat to them.

But Mr. 1 Daz Bonez would naturally be handled by Ener, so they did not need to worry.

At that moment, Mr. 1 and the others were also sizing up Ener, Zoro, Gin, and Lina.

Mr. 1 said, "Ener is mine. Mr. 2, take Miss Doublefinger and Miss Christmas to deal with Zoro. Mr. 3 Galdino and Miss Goldenweek will handle Gin. Everyone else will deal with Lina."

It had to be said, Baroque Works truly lived up to its reputation. They had already investigated Ener's side extremely thoroughly.

"They really don't take us seriously at all! Not only did they brazenly block our path like this, they didn't even bother with Whiskey Peak's underhanded schemes.

And now they've divided us up directly... Zoro, Gin, Lina, today is your first battle on the Grand Line, and it will also be the battle that makes your names known.

Make the whole world acknowledge your strength!"

"Shave!"

The moment he finished speaking, Ener vanished from where he stood.