The two of them paled. They had run into a random group of people, yet someone here knew about their organization.
Zoro remembered too. Resting a hand on his sword hilt, he said, "Baroque Works, huh? Some guy called Mr. 7 came to the East Blue to recruit me once. Guess what happened?"
Zoro's smile turned sinister, and the two immediately tensed. There was no need to guess. That man had been killed while recruiting in the East Blue. So Zoro was the one who had done it.
When neither of them spoke, Zoro continued, "I told him I'd join Baroque Works if they made me the boss. He refused, so I killed him."
Rubick chimed in, "That café in Loguetown belongs to Baroque Works too, right? They tried to recruit me as well. Guess what happened next?"
What?!
Another grudge?
Rubick laughed. "I was so scared I ran away that very night."
"Phew."
The two breathed a sigh of relief.
Rubick clapped his hands. "All right, you two can stop standing around. Make yourselves useful. Sanji, find them something to do."
"What? You're making such a cute girl work? Have you no shame, Uncle?"
Rubick pointed at Sanji's chest. "Then you can do her share."
Sanji turned on Mr. 9. "What are you looking at? Get to work! Scrub the whole deck!"
The voyage that followed was grueling. Fortunately, Rubick's Devil Fruit power got them through one crisis after another. Being able to control the wind was incredibly useful at sea.
Gradually, the weather returned to normal, and the sea grew calm again.
Seeing how haggard Nami looked, Rubick said with concern, "Nami, take a break. The weather's settled down, which means we're near an island. Judging by this weather, it should be a summer island."
Only then did