The next second, several sharp cracks rang through the air.
They were the sounds of Geppo stepping on air.
Lin Xuan crossed hundreds of meters of sea and plunged toward the center of the smoke from the explosion.
Meanwhile, in the ruined alley thick with the smell of gunpowder.
Two bedraggled figures had just rounded the corner, breathing heavily from their frantic run.
A hot blast laced with grit lashed Vivi's face, stinging fiercely.
But she had no time to care about that, or the tearing pain in her lungs as she ran.
"Quick! Princess... don't worry about me! Run that way!"
Igarappoi's labored panting came from behind her, accompanied by a fit of coughing.
The retainer who usually kept his curls immaculately groomed now wore a tattered suit, the blood seeping from his back staining the fabric dark brown.
"Shut up! We're leaving together!"
Vivi clung tightly to Igarappoi's arm.
She dared not look back, because that presence of death was following unhurriedly behind them.
The man with sunglasses and an afro-Mr. 5, a senior agent of Baroque Works-had not even taken his hands out of his pockets.
"You certainly can run, Miss Wednesday... oh, no, should I call you Princess Nefertari Vivi?"
Mr. 5's voice was languid and teasing.
He stopped, raised his right hand, casually picked his nose with his little finger, then flicked it.
The gesture was flippant.
But in Vivi's constricted pupils, the tiny lump he flicked carried a deadly threat.
"Igarappoi! Get down!"
Boom!
This explosion was more violent than any of the previous ones.
Flames instantly swallowed the alley, and the massive shock wave hurled them both away.
Vivi slammed into a pile of broken bricks and tiles, her ears filled with a shrill ringing.
From her fingertips to the ends of