"This… this is…!!!"
"You've got to be kidding. His ability only triggers if he touches you, right? So that means he must've touched…"
Vivi, Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji all turned pale with shock.
None of them expected that this flamboyant pervert in front of them had actually laid hands on that man.
Only Chopper, Nami, and Usopp were standing there with confusion written all over their faces.
"Huh? Huh? Why aren't you guys talking anymore? Hey, Zoro? Sanji?"
Chopper's tiny body kept swiveling left and right, startled purely because everyone else looked like they'd seen a ghost.
Even Nami and Usopp, who hadn't seen the real face before, only felt a vague sense of dread creeping up their spines.
That man had vanished from the sea for far too long.
And most of his movements had been in the New World.
So aside from the old monsters who'd witnessed true storms, fewer and fewer people even spoke his name anymore.
His wanted poster rarely circulated as well, because of how sensitive his identity was.
In Paradise, information about him had become scarce.
"Who is this? Just from the vibe alone, he looks terrifying."
Usopp muttered a complaint.
No one answered.
In the end, Vivi's pupils trembled as she forced herself to explain.
"This person he's turned into…"
"…is the king who once held absolute dominion over these seas."
"Black Spear, Dotor Ozz!!!"
"Oh… so it's just Ozz…"
Nami and Usopp relaxed for half a second, speaking without thinking.
Then their words froze in their throats.
Their mouths fell open.
Their eyes bulged so far it looked like they might pop.
"HAAAAAAH?!"
Their bodies shook like seaweed caught in a storm, as if they'd been struck by a thunderbolt.
Only Chopper, still a total country bumpkin, blinked and looked around innocently.
"Ozz? Who's that?"
Seeing their reactions, Bon Clay flashed one of Ozz's signature smiles.
His calm gaze swept across them.
Every expression, every tiny shift, was so perfect it was like the real man stood there.
"Exactly! That reaction!"
"So you've all heard of Lord Ozz's name!"
"He's the most perfect man in the world, the one everyone should admire!!!"
Staring at that "Ozz," even the Straw Hats' three main fighters, who were relatively familiar with the real thing, looked like their brains had stopped working.
"Bon-chan… you're so similar!"
"You're exactly like Uncle Ozz!"
Luffy finally snapped out of it, eyes shining like a kid who'd just discovered a new toy.
But Zoro and Sanji stayed a lot more grounded.
Their focus was not the same as Luffy's at all.
"You've noticed the problem, haven't you, curly-brow?"
Zoro's face was dead serious.
"Like I needed you to tell me, moss-head."
Sanji lit a cigarette and answered quietly.
Then both of them locked onto that okama weirdo, the one who only stopped dancing ballet when he wore "Ozz's" face.
"Hey!"
"If you can turn into him…"
"…doesn't that mean you actually touched him?!!!"
Bon Clay had said it himself.
To copy someone perfectly, you had to touch them.
So he had touched Ozz.
And Ozz had allowed a walking assault on the eyes like this to touch him?
Neither of them could believe it.
"Of course!!! Yo!!!"
Bon Clay wiped a hand over his face, instantly changing back to his own appearance.
Then he started dancing ballet again.
"I'm a true man of the sea!"
"A man Lord Ozz himself acknowledged!!!"
"…"
Watching that overly delicate pose, Zoro and Sanji honestly had nothing they could say.
Not long after, Bon Clay left, heading off to find his own ship.
He waved goodbye as if they were old friends.
Only after he was gone did Vivi finally admit what she'd realized.
That man was one of Crocodile's subordinates.
"He's Crocodile's man? Then it makes sense he has ties to Uncle Ozz."
"But that's exactly why he's troublesome!"
"He's memorized all our faces!"
They argued back and forth.
Meanwhile, Nami and Usopp still hadn't recovered from the earlier shock.
The man who had tormented their family for over a decade was… that perfect-looking?
In Nami's imagination, Ozz should've been like Buggy: sly and evil.
And Usopp… this was the first time he'd seen the face of the world's greatest sniper, the man who defeated his own dad.
The very figure every sniper dreamed of becoming.
"It really does mean Crocodile is close with Mr. Ozz…"
"Otherwise, a subordinate like that would never get the chance to touch someone so high up."
Thinking that, Vivi's heart sank.
But soon enough they forced themselves back into action.
They landed in Alabasta.
…
On the other side, inside a small restaurant in Alabasta.
"Hey, boss!"
"Have you seen this pirate with the straw hat?"
A shirtless man asked with a smile.
Before the owner could answer, a Marine stepped into the doorway.
"Portgas D. Ace."
"Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates."
"Why is someone like you in a place like this?"
Smoker clenched two cigars in his mouth and asked coldly.
"Me?"
"I'm here to find someone."
"And what do you want?"
"Just let me arrest you."
"That won't work."
Ace smiled, lifting the brim of his hat with one finger.
"I'll play with you a little."
Both men gathered power.
Fire and smoke swelled inside their bodies, ready to burst.
And then…
"Gomu Gomu…"
A sharp rush of wind.
A headbutt no one could have predicted slammed into Smoker's lower back, sending both men flying forward together.
Shock and wide-open mouths appeared on both Ace and Smoker at the same time.
The restaurant erupted with screams.
And from within the crowd, a faint, nearly inaudible camera Den Den Mushi shutter click.
"What a big hole. Is that old man's hobby?"
Luffy asked curiously while shoveling food into his mouth like his life depended on it.
"You did that!!!" everyone snapped at him at once.
Between the two who were knocked flying, Smoker recognized his hated enemy first.
Before Ace could even speak, Smoker pinned him to the ground.
"Hey!"
"Straw Hat Luffy!"
"So you really came to Alabasta!"
"But…"
"You don't seriously think that just because you ran to a country under Black Spear's influence…"
"…you can escape, do you?!!!"
What followed was a chase.
Smoker and Ace both ended up pursuing Luffy.
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm here to beat Crocodile!"
"Nani?!"
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