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Chapter 70: The Deal
"You... you..."
When Igaram recognized these two Baroque Works agents, whose ranks were far higher than his own, his expression tightened abruptly. But he quickly suppressed his surprise and switched to a display of exaggerated joy.
"You've come at just the right time! With your help, we can definitely take down this swordsman easily and rescue Miss Wednesday from him!!"
Mr. 9, Miss Monday, and everyone else on the island breathed a sigh of relief, the tense atmosphere easing.
In Baroque Works, the boss's code name was Mr. 0.
In other words, the smaller the number, the higher the status and the greater the power.
Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine, who had just arrived, had actually reached the upper-middle level within the company, contrasting sharply with their actual abilities.
"Okay," Mr. 5 walked forward slowly, his sunglasses hiding his eyes, only a faint, meaningful smile visible at the corner of his mouth.
"Let us... give you some real 'help'."
His pace was neither hurried nor slow, yet it gave off an unsettling sense of pressure.
"What is this guy trying to do..." Zoro frowned slightly, keenly sensing something was off about the other party's actions.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Mr. 5 walked straight toward Zoro and Vivi.
However, just as he passed Igaram...
Something unexpected happened.
He suddenly reached out and pressed his palm against Igaram's bewildered, defenseless face.
BOOM—!!
A loud explosion rang out without warning!
Igaram had no time to react. His face exploded as if hit by a cannonball, and his entire body was blasted away, landing heavily on the ground.
When he could be seen clearly again, his face was charred black, thick smoke billowing from his mouth, his eyes unfocused as he lost consciousness.
In that moment, the air seemed to freeze.
After a few seconds of deathly silence, everyone realized what had happened.
Their Mayor, Baroque Works' Mr. 8, had been instantly defeated in a single blow.
However, the person who did it was Mr. 5, whose rank was far above theirs. Though shocked, angry, and confused, no one dared to question him.
Miss Monday, dressed as a nun but muscularly built, could no longer suppress her emotions as Igaram's partner. Her voice trembled as she said:
"Mr. 5! What are you doing?! Why attack Mr. 8?!"
She was so angry her muscles tensed, but fearing Mr. 5's strength, she didn't dare rashly step forward.
Vivi, on the other side, turned even paler. Her legs went weak, and she almost collapsed to the ground; fortunately, Zoro, who was holding her hostage, held her up.
"He is, of course, carrying out a mission assigned by the organization."
Before Mr. 5 could respond, Miss Valentine walked forward elegantly, twirling her small parasol.
She playfully raised the tip of her umbrella, skipped past Zoro, and pointed it directly at Vivi, who was held by him.
"You probably don't know her true identity yet, do you?"
"This is the Princess of Alabasta Kingdom, who has been missing for two years. I really didn't expect you to have such guts, infiltrating our organization with your own guard!"
"What I didn't expect was..."
In the increasingly astonished eyes of the crowd, Mr. 5 took over the conversation, speaking seriously:
"That you would dare to investigate the boss's true identity without permission!"
"The boss personally ordered the two of us to come and execute you!"
These words were like a bolt from the blue, stunning all the Baroque Works members present.
"What! Miss Wednesday is the Princess of Alabasta?! Mr. 8 is her bodyguard?!"
It was hard to imagine that a boss and colleague you had worked with for years would be traitors.
Hearing this, Miss Monday fell silent, her expression flickering as she sank into deep thought.
"Really... is it true?" Mr. 9 looked blankly at his partner.
Vivi bit her lower lip, tears welling up in her eyes. She nodded, her gaze still fixed on the motionless Igaram on the ground.
Her identity had been exposed, and Igaram's fate was now unknown.
She was also being held hostage by a pirate swordsman.
If this female pirate swordsman surrendered to Mr. 5 and his partner, only death awaited her.
In that case...
Vivi glanced at the blade close at hand, a glimmer of determination flashing in her eyes.
But.
Just as she was about to lean forward, the knife suddenly retracted.
Then she heard a low, calm voice beside her:
"So the 'big thing' she mentioned was a Princess."
Zoro looked at the blue-haired girl beside him with great interest.
Careful observation revealed that the princess's hair color was lighter, different from the original.
However, their personalities were similar; they were gentle on the outside but possessed amazing resilience.
He had clearly witnessed her attempt to commit suicide just now.
This realization filled him with admiration.
However, just admiring it wasn't enough.
"Hey, Princess," Zoro smirked, completely ignoring the tense atmosphere around him, and asked directly, "How much are you willing to pay?"
"Huh?" Vivi was stunned, looking at him blankly.
"It's not a business without payment," Zoro said calmly. "I never do anything that doesn't concern me."
"You mean..."
Vivi's pupils contracted slightly. As a princess, she was naturally sharp-witted and understood the implication in Zoro's words.
A glimmer of hope suddenly flashed in her eyes.
If it's this pirate swordsman with a bounty of 15 million, plus the other two wanted pirates on their ship...
Perhaps I really can escape the entanglement of Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine.
She spoke quickly, her voice trembling slightly with excitement:
"Alabasta's current financial situation is indeed very tight, but I promise in the name of the Princess, as long as you can save me and Igaram, we will absolutely not mistreat you!"
Hearing this, Zoro frowned almost imperceptibly.
No specific compensation amount was mentioned, indicating the country's finances were indeed dire.
However, the princess's attitude was sincere.
Whether to intervene... let's wait for those two money-grubbing women and that sleeping idiot captain to arrive before deciding.
But for now, we must at least save her life.
"Hey! Who are you? You dare to make a deal right in front of us? Are you not afraid of death?"
Mr. 5 and his companion had naturally noticed this scene long ago, and now they could no longer suppress their anger.
However, Zoro just glanced at them coldly, his gaze completely unaffected, as if they didn't matter at all.
"Damn it!"
The two senior agents of Baroque Works had never been treated with such contempt, and anger instantly welled up in their hearts.
"Mikita, let's attack together and take down this arrogant bastard!"
"Okay, Gem!"
Before the words had even faded, he had already acted.
Then the two of them used all their strength to launch an attack on Zoro.
Mr. 5 flicked out the earwax he had just picked from his ear.
He was a superhuman Devil Fruit user with the ability of the Boom-Boom Fruit, meaning any part of his body could create an explosion.
Miss Valentine jumped into the air, holding her umbrella, slowly rising until she reached directly above Zoro, then plummeted fiercely.
Her ability was the Kilo-Kilo Fruit, allowing her to freely control her weight from 1 kilogram to 10,000 kilograms.
During the ascent, her weight would decrease to increase altitude; during the descent, her weight would increase to its maximum, exerting an impact force of 10,000 kilograms.
But just as the two were about to act, an extremely angry voice came from behind them.
"Zoro! What did you do to the people on this island?!"
Then.
A body shot in like a cannonball, moving with incredible speed.
Everyone felt a gust of fierce wind blow past, followed by two screams.
Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine, who had been aggressively charging toward Zoro, were unexpectedly hit by a punch and a kick from the newcomer, sending them flying!
"Move it!"