Pirate: I, Buggy, am the Emperor, the Emperor of the Clown King!

Chapter 56 (Free Chapter 8k): Vivi, the Straw Hat Pirates' Strategist, Joins the Flying Ship

early morning.

When it's foggy at sea, the humidity is still quite high.

The cactus-like mountain of tombstones was also completely shrouded in gray and white.

Ikaram leaned against a dilapidated wall.

He stared blankly at the distant sky, where a black dot was approaching.

"They're here."

Icarum swallowed hard, wondering if he would survive or die here.

After all, Baroque Works wasn't exactly a good thing; once it lost its usefulness—

Miss Monday stood beside him, her dark face expressionless.

Her arm was still wrapped in bandages, from a cut she had received a few days earlier from a shard of Alvida's spiked club.

Both of them stared at the black dot, awaiting their fate.

The black dot is getting bigger and closer.

Baroque Studio, Messenger, and Unlucky Duo: Miss Friday and the Vulture. The vulture circled twice above the square before landing in front of Icarus.

A sea otter was sitting on the back of the vulture. The sea otter took a Den Den Mushi (snail phone) from the bag the vulture was carrying and handed it to Ikaram.

"This is Mr. 8," Ikaram said wearily as he dialed the Den Den Mushi. "Requesting connection."

The Den Den Mushi's mouth opens and closes.

After a while, the Den Den Mushi's eyes turned into two crescent moons, and a lazy, slightly amused female voice came from its mouth: "Mr. 8? Long time no see. Reporting on the situation."

"7

Icarum took a deep breath: "Whiskey Peak Town—has fallen."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the Den Den Mushi.

"It's lost?" the woman's voice repeated, the amusement in her tone undiminished. "Mr. 8, are you kidding me?"

"This is no joke." Icarus's voice was calm. "The other party is—Buggy the Clown."

There was another moment of silence on the other end of the Den Den Mushi.

Buggy's name has recently shone brightly among the new pirates.

Although Buggy the Clown became a pirate a long time ago.

But Bucky the Joker used to be relatively low-key.

The current Joker Bucky is particularly high-profile.

Then the girl on the other end of the phone started laughing: "Mr. 8, although I want to say that this is not your fault, you know the rules of the studio, right?"

"But! But!" Icarus tensed up. "That's too strong, completely beyond our capabilities!"

"No!"

"Miss All Sunday!"

"I have more news to report!"

"He told us a story about a crocodile—blah blah blah—something like that."

Ikaram recounted the events as best he could, though he was not afraid of dying, he did not want to die.

If possible, try your best to survive.

The Den Den Mushi fell completely silent; even the lazy laughter disappeared.

After a while, the female voice on the Den Den Mushi rang out again, with a strange tone: "Understood—you stay put, someone will handle it."

Then the Den Den Mushi's eyes returned to normal, and the communication was lost.

"————" Ikaram and Miss Monday exchanged a glance, and then the Den Den Mushi was placed in the package on the vulture by the sea otter.

The vulture spread its wings, flapped them sharply, creating a gust of wind that whipped up dust and leaves, and carried the sea otter into the sky.

Ikaram looked up and watched the vulture grow smaller and smaller in the morning light until it disappeared below the horizon.

"They won't come to save us," Miss Monday's voice came from beside him.

As members of the Baroque Studio, we shouldn't be complacent.

"I know." Icarum closed his eyes and leaned against the wall. "The people who come—will only come to silence us."

Miss Monday did not speak.

Because what Ikaram said was true.

Baroque Works has always operated in this way: losers have no reason to live.

Especially those of them on the front lines, they know far too much.

If the mission fails, there is only one outcome awaiting them.

To silence them.

"We can't escape." Miss Monday looked up at the distant sky.

"—There's no escape." Icarum opened his eyes, looking at the blue sea in the distance. "No ships, no supplies, and most of our men are crippled."

run?

Where are you going?

The two remained silent for a long time.

The survivors in the square were still lying on the ground, leaning against the walls, and huddled in corners.

No one speaks.

Nobody was in the mood to talk.

They were all waiting—waiting for the person who would "deal with" them.

Maybe I'll die, maybe I'll live, who knows?

After all, Baroque Works wouldn't suddenly kill all of its subordinates; generally, if a mission fails, only the person in charge is killed.

It doesn't really have much to do with the lower-level henchmen.

At the very bottom of the Baroque Workshop, the Million Elders and Billion Elders, though their abilities are low, are difficult to replenish if they suffer large-scale losses.

On the contrary, it doesn't matter if a few high-ranking agents die; they can be promoted from below.

Two days later.

A ship appeared on the sea off Whiskey Peak.

There were two people standing at the bow of the ship.

One male and one female.

The man was tall, with an afro and sunglasses, and his right hand was in his pocket.

Mr.5 Jem.

Bounty: 10 million Berries.

Paramecia type, user of the Blast-Blast Fruit.

The woman stood beside him, a full head shorter than him.

She was wearing a yellow dress with a very short hem that reached just above her thighs, and she was holding a parasol.

Miss Valentine's Day Mickey Tower.

Bounty: 7.5 million Berries.

Paramecia type, user of the Kilogram Fruit.

The ship came to a stop at the dock.

Mr. 5 jumped off the boat.

His gaze swept over the empty dock, the ransacked warehouse, and the wounded lying on the ground.

"Tsk," Mr. 5 thought, "It's really ugly."

Miss Valentine followed behind him, the parasol gently twirling on her shoulder.

Her gaze fell on the wounded, and her expression was not pleasant.

"Where's Mr. 8?" Miss Valentine isn't exactly a good person, but she's actually quite loyal and affectionate.

The premise is that it's within your own people.

"Over there." Mr. 5 gestured towards the square.

The two walked towards the square, one after the other.

Ikaram leaned against the wall, watching the two men walk toward him.

He didn't move.

It's not that I don't want to move, it's that I can't.

The wound on my broken leg still hurts; every breath brings a tooth-grinding pain.

"Mr. 8—you've disappointed us." Mr. 5 walked up to him, stopped, and looked down at Icarus, his eyes behind his sunglasses expressionless.

Icarum looked up at him: "I want to know the conclusion quickly, stop talking nonsense."

Mr. 5's lips curled up slightly.

He took a small Den Den Mushi out of his pocket and placed it on the stone stool next to him.

The Den Den Mushi's antennae twitched, and its eyes turned into two crescent moons, exactly like the female voice from two days ago.

"Mr. 8 has confessed to being a spy," Mr. 5 said into the Den Den Mushi. "According to protocol, silence him."

A languid female voice came from the other end of the Den Den Mushi: "Okay."

Then the communication was lost.

Upon hearing this, Icarum immediately broke down: "I didn't say I was a spy!"

Mr. 5 put away the Den Den Mushi and looked at Ikaram again: "I'm sorry, your and Vivi's information has been exposed."

"Princess Neferutari Vivi of the Kingdom of Alabasta".

"Ikaram, Captain of the Alabasta Kingdom Guard".

At this moment, Miss Valentine spoke up: "Hahaha! The boss said his secret has been discovered, so we investigated who was asking about the boss's secret."

"Hahahaha." Miss Valentine looked at Icarus: "I didn't expect it to be you two, Mr. 8 Icarus and Miss Wednesday Vivi."

As for the other severely injured survivors of the Baroque Workshop, and Miss Monday, they are not included in the elimination process.

The two of them came here today only to kill two people.

Baroque Workshop is a cold and ruthless place, but it actually has many loyal and affectionate people—they also hate betrayal.

"Sorry, Miss Monday—this has nothing to do with you." Icarus closed his eyes, knowing he was doomed today. "Can you let her go?"

"Hahaha," Miss Valentine interjected, "She's not within our mission scope."

"————" Seeing his companion say that, Mr. 5 didn't say anything more. It was better to give his usual partner some face in such a small matter.

Killing him is also an option.

Not killing them makes no difference.

Miss Monday stood beside Icarus, her dark face expressionless.

Her hands slowly clenched at her sides—was she going to die for M.8 Icarus?

Miss Monday looked at Miss Valentine, who shook her head slightly.

As long as Miss Monday doesn't get involved, she won't die; but if she does, then there's nothing that can be done.

"Goodbye, Mr. 8." Mr. 5 raised his right hand and aimed it at Icarus's chest, with a booger on his right finger.

Just then!!

"stop!!!"

A woman's voice, though pleasant to the ear, carried barely suppressed anger and despair, drifted from afar.

Mr. 5 looked in the direction from which the sound came with great interest.

There is a ship in the distance of the dock, but it has not yet approached the dock.

However, several people had already jumped off the ship.

"Is he a Devil Fruit user?" Mr. 5 didn't recognize Luffy, but he could see that Luffy's body was stretching like rubber and was currently shrinking back.

Vivi, who noticed something was wrong through her binoculars on the Going Merry, asked Luffy to bring her over.

Currently, Luffy is the only one on the Going Merry with this ability.

"Interesting, let's kill them together then~" Confident in his own strength, Mr. 5 was not in a hurry at all.

"Did you do all this?" Luffy's voice was much calmer and more rational than usual, because he saw the miserable state of the plaza, with dried blood everywhere and crippled people in the corners.

"No, we just got here," Mr. 5 said. "This man is a traitor in our organization. We're here just to kill two traitors."

"————" After hearing this, Luffy decided to calm down and see what was going on.

After being tormented by Buggy a few times, Luffy is no longer as reckless as before.

People grow up, and besides, he didn't know anything about the other side, and didn't recognize them at all.

Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine's Day didn't rush into action either; if possible, they would like to gather more information.

Vivi charged toward Icarus, but her loyal guard had his legs cut off.

"Icaram—!!!"

"Who on earth did this to you?!"

Overwhelmed with grief, Vivi didn't notice anything unusual about her surroundings. Her first thought was that the organization's hideout here had been destroyed, so reinforcements had arrived.

"Don't come any closer!" Icarus, who had been resigned to his fate, suddenly yelled upon spotting Vivi, "Our identities have been exposed!"

"What!" Vivi froze on the spot, tears welling up in her eyes.

"It's a real shame. I was planning to wait until we had a final reunion before taking action." Mr. 5 frowned slightly.

Although Baroque Works is a group of cold-blooded killers, they don't mind having a little humanity within the bounds of the rules.

Of course, it was just a little bit, probably just some dying words; the mission still had to be done.

"Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine are here to silence you. You two get out of here! Don't worry about me!" Icarus knew he was going to die, but he didn't want his princess to die here.

Weiwei turned her head and looked at the two people.

Mr. 5 stood there, hands in his pockets, his eyes behind his sunglasses expressionless.

Miss Valentine stood beside him, the parasol twirling gently on her shoulder, a faint smile playing on her lips.

"This is an order from above," Mr. 5 said calmly. "Traitors have no right to live."

"Go to hell."

A black clump appeared on Mr. 5's finger; it was his boogers.

As a user of the Blast-Blast Fruit, his ability development was extremely poor.

Unfortunately, his movement was stopped when a figure grabbed his hand.

"Feed".

A soft voice came from beside Mr. 5.

Mr. 5 slowly turned his head and saw Luffy, who had just been talking to him.

"You want to kill her?" Luffy asked calmly.

Mr. 5's pupils contracted slightly: "Such powerful physical skills. Who are you?"

"Luffy." Luffy pulled his straw hat down a little. "The man who will become the Pirate King."

Mr. 5 frowned. He had heard of this name before—the straw hat boy who was publicly executed by the Clown King in Loguetown.

"Are you the grandson of that naval hero Garp?"

Upon hearing Luffy's name, Mr. 5 immediately connected the man before him with the portrait in his memory.

Even the incredibly arrogant Baroque Studio has a whitelist.

Crocodile isn't brain-dead; he knows there are some things he shouldn't do.

For example, anything related to the Celestial Dragons is off-limits.

And Luffy, who is related to Garp, is also someone you can't touch—no matter how confident Crocodile is, after being beaten up by Whitebeard, he doesn't think he can beat Garp, so once Garp comes knocking on his door, his plans will be ruined.

"————" Although he didn't really want to use his grandfather's reputation to intimidate the enemy, Luffy had nothing to say since the other party already knew.

"I don't want to fight you, but I have to kill this woman. This is an internal matter for our organization." Mr. 5 was here to deal with the traitor. If he went back before dealing with the traitor, he might be the one to be dealt with.

"That won't do—I'll knock you all away!" Luffy's smile didn't change, but his eyes did.

Something was burning in those eyes.

Some things, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely—must never happen again.

Despite being attacked by Buggy several times, Luffy did not abandon his principles and would remind him before taking action.

Then Luffy's body lunged forward, his arms stretching backward; the power of the Gum-Gum Fruit stretched his arms to more than ten times their normal length.

"Rubber rocket launcher!!!"

He thrust out his palms with tremendous force, striking Mr. 5 squarely in the chest.

Mr. 5 tried to dodge, but it was too late.

Too fast and too close.

The palm struck Mr. 5 squarely in the chest with a loud "thump".

Strictly speaking, Mr. 5 is a mage-type Devil Fruit user. His physical skills are not terrible, but they are not particularly strong either.

Against an elite like Luffy, trained by Garp, it's impossible to win in close combat.

Luffy was just not intent on killing him, otherwise this move would have been enough to take him down.

It's important to know that although Luffy doesn't have many advanced skills right now, and his Devil Fruit abilities aren't very developed either.

But his physical skills are already at the level of a typical admiral, just talking about physical skills alone.

After all, this is similar to the meme of a civilian general.

An admiral who lacks both Haki and Devil Fruit abilities and is purely skilled in physical combat—while theoretically possible, practically impossible.

Mr. 5's body flew straight out like a cannonball.

His body crashed through a stone wall at the edge of the square, then through a second and a third wall, finally embedding itself in a fourth wall, with rubble and dust falling from the walls.

"Cough—cough cough—" Mr. 5 fell off the wall, lay on the ground, and coughed up a mouthful of blood.

His chest was caved in, and several of his ribs were broken.

—Mr.5, completely incapacitated.

"Mr. 5!" Miss Valentine's expression changed.

She jumped up, carrying the parasol, and her body leaped up from the ground.

With the activation of her Kilogram Fruit ability, her weight can freely vary between one kilogram and ten thousand kilograms.

"Intense pressure! Ten thousand kilograms!!!"

Her body stopped in mid-air, and then crashed down on Luffy like a meteorite.

Luffy didn't dodge; he looked up at the figure descending from the sky.

Then he heard a voice.

"Three-Sword Style: Kamaitachi"

A white and green figure flashed out from the side.

Zoro drew all three swords at the same time, their blades gleaming coldly in the sunlight.

His body spun in the air as three knives simultaneously struck Miss Valentine.

"puff""

Although there was only one sound, Miss Valentine's body exploded into three bloody bursts in the air.

It then fell from the sky and crashed to the ground with a dull thud.

Blood gushed from her body, soaking the ground.

She is not dead yet.

Zoro held back, not striking a vital point.

But she was already unable to get up again.

—Miss Valentine's Day, completely out of fighting spirit.

While Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine make a cool entrance, their fighting prowess is nowhere near that of Zoro and Luffy.

"Done." Zoro sheathed his sword and stood next to Miss Valentine's body.

Although Zoro and Luffy haven't been at sea for very long, their basic physical stats are actually quite high; they just lack the corresponding skills.

"You—you—" Mr. 5 climbed up from the ruins, looked at Miss Valentine lying on the ground, and then at the Straw Hat Boy and the Three-Sword Style Swordsman standing in front of him.

"—Miss Valentine's Day—" Mr. 5's lips moved slightly, then he lowered his head, his trembling hands clenching into fists.

As a user of the Blast-Blast Fruit, he also has a special ability: turning himself into a bomb.

"Let's die together!"

Mr. 5's body suddenly glowed, and then exploded.

Mr. 5 didn't know that Miss Valentine hadn't died. As an agent who walked in the shadows, he knew all too well why agents like himself would end up in the enemy's hands.

This is a misjudgment.

After all, the state of Whiskey Peak after being ravaged by the Buggy Pirates reveals the true nature of pirates.

The only problem is that Luffy and his crew never do this kind of thing.

But Mr. 5 doesn't know that!

Not only was he seriously injured, but he also mistakenly believed that his companion, Miss Valentine, had been killed. In Mr. 5's opinion, since that was the case, they might as well all die together.

boom!

The explosion was loud and devastating.

However, Luffy and Zoro were still very quick.

Luffy positioned himself in front of Vivi, his body expanding into a large ball to block the explosive impact.

Zoro didn't bother showing off at this moment; he grabbed Miss Valentine and ran behind Luffy to hide for a bit.

After the explosion, although the area at the center of the explosion looked very serious, the impact was not so great in areas further away.

Explosive attacks have a serious drawback: energy decreases exponentially in three-dimensional space. For example, if the yield of a nuclear bomb increases tenfold, its destructive radius only doubles.

"————" Luffy fell silent. The enemy's actions had taught him another lesson.

The constant stream of unexpected events made Luffy realize more and more that the world did not develop in the way he imagined.

Although his dream remains unchanged, his perception of the world has indeed changed somewhat.

On the other side...

"Icarum! Icarum!" Vivi's voice trembled. "Hold on! We'll save you! We will—"

"Your Highness—no need—" Although Luffy had done his best to block the impact of the explosion, Icarum's physical condition was too poor. In addition, she hadn't rested well in the past few days and looked like she only had half a breath left.

Icarus's gaze passed over Vivi's shoulder and landed on Luffy: "You—you are—"

"Luffy." Luffy squatted down and looked at him. "Monkey D. Luffy."

""

Icarum managed a strained smile: "Thank you—thank you for saving Her Highness."

"You're welcome." Luffy pulled his straw hat down a little. "I was just doing what I had to do."

Icarum smiled, and then his eyes slowly closed.

"Icarum?" Vivi's voice trembled. "Icarum?"

no respond.

"Icarim!!!"

Vivi's cries echoed across the square, heart-wrenching and like the mournful howl of a wounded wild beast.

She held Icarus's body, buried her face in his chest, and her tears soaked his clothes.

"Waaaaah!"

"Waaaaah!"

"Aaaaaaah!"

Weiwei cried uncontrollably.

Although Icarum was just a royal guard, he was no different from her father in taking care of Vivi, and even accompanied Vivi in ​​her antics as an undercover agent at Baroque Studio.

At the dock, the Merry finally came ashore.

Usopp and Sanji finally came over at this moment.

"————" Sanji looked at Vivi crying, not knowing how to comfort her, so he could only put a cigarette in his mouth and start to look worried.

Usopp also wanted to comfort Vivi, but as the team's current strategist, he needed to find a way to gather information from the surrounding area.

Then Usopp saw a burly man dressed in women's clothing.

Luffy stood to the side, head down, without saying a word.

Zoro stood behind him, arms crossed over his chest, eyes closed.

Sanji walked over, squatted down next to Vivi, and gently patted her shoulder.

"Miss Vivi—" Sanji's voice was gentle, tinged with an indescribable pity, "He's gone."

Vivi didn't respond; she just held Icarus's body, crying and trembling.

"Let him rest in peace—he—died to protect you, you can't let his sacrifice go to waste." Sanji knelt down next to Vivi and placed his hand on Icarus.

Then Sanji realized something was wrong. Why did it seem like he still had a pulse?

Mr.9 stood behind the crowd and suddenly realized that he was very invisible and couldn't get a word in edgewise.

"I understand." Vivi's sobs gradually subsided. "I won't—I won't let him down."

"No—I mean, it seems like he's not dead yet?" Sanji put his hand on Ikarum's nose, and it did seem like he was still breathing.

"Ahhh? Ikaram!" Vivi looked at Sanji and began to plead, "Please, please save him."

"I'll go to the ship to find some medicine." Sanji wasn't sure if Icarus could be saved, but he'd give it a try anyway.

Usopp stood a little further away, talking to Miss Monday.

Miss Monday briefly explained the situation, and Usopp's expression changed from shock to seriousness, and then from seriousness to an indescribable complexity.

"You mean—that Clown King Buggy—he deliberately spared your lives?" Usopp asked.

"He did it on purpose." Miss Monday glanced at him. "He made us pass a message to the boss—"

Usopp frowned, turned around, and looked at Luffy.

Luffy was still standing next to Vivi, his head down, his expression unreadable.

Usopp wanted to say something, but he didn't say anything.

He turned around and continued talking to Miss Monday.

"What are you going to do with those people?" Usopp pointed to the crippled and wounded people in the square.

Miss Monday paused for a moment: "Wait to die."

Mr. 9 also ran over: "If Mr. 5 and Miss complete their Valentine's Day mission, then they will indeed only be killed, but now that the mission has failed—it will likely wipe out everyone."

This is the Baroque Studio's style of doing things.

They might only punish the ringleaders.

However, there's also the possibility of killing the wrong person while letting someone go free.

"You guys—you can't do this." Usopp's brow furrowed even more. "There's always a way."

"A solution?" Miss Monday glanced at him. "No ships, no supplies, most of our men are crippled—tell me, what solution is there?"

What is the only way?

The obvious choice is to find a force that can protect them.

Otherwise, simply going to sea would just be another way to die.

"I am a brave warrior of the sea, a great pirate with 8000 men under my command." Although Usopp has become much more serious lately due to his role as the strategist of the Straw Hat Pirates, he still reveals his subconscious habits when under pressure.

"We'll figure something out."

"At least—at least we can't let you die here."

He has 8000 men, a great pirate and brave sea warrior, though that's just bragging for now.

But if we keep moving forward, the future—is not impossible.

"You—you're a strange person." Miss Monday looked at him. "If you'd like, you can send us to the Drum Kingdom."

"Magnetic Valley Kingdom?" Usopp scratched his head; he had never heard of this name before.

"It's a country of doctors that's famous even on the Grand Line, and their artistic level is extremely high," Mr. 9 said.

"We'll have to discuss it with the captain," Usopp said, but he knew Luffy would definitely send someone over.

Then Usopp said, "Everyone come here, Miss Monday, can you tell us what happened here?"

So everyone gathered around.

Looking at everyone's eyes, Miss Monday began to recount what had happened: "————blah blah blah———— that's about it."

"—" Vivi clenched her hands into a fist and looked at Luffy: "I want to set sail with you guys!"

As for the princess of Alabasta?

A princess without strength and ability cannot solve any problems.

Vivi's target of hatred was not Buggy, after all, Buggy's crew did not kill Icarus after being ambushed.

Counter-attacking is perfectly normal; not killing them is already merciful.

As a normal, good person, Weiwei wouldn't do something like seeking revenge after she herself has made a mistake.

Vivi only planned to become stronger before returning to solve the kingdom's problems.

Luffy readily agreed: "Sure! Be my crewmate!"

In this respect, Luffy can be said to act on his feelings and his conscience; he will accept good people if he likes them, but he will not accept bad people no matter how strong they are.

We don't care about ability or background; we only accept partners who can have fun and adventure together and who each have their own dreams.

As for Miss Monday and Mr. 9.

Although both of them had this thought, they ultimately said nothing.

Life at the Baroque Studio is actually quite stressful, and if possible, the two of them would like to live in seclusion.

Moreover, the two actually have a good relationship and have feelings for each other.

Although Miss Monday is a black, muscular Barbie, Mr. 9 isn't picky. After getting used to living in the Baroque Studio, he values ​​the feelings between them more than their appearance.

"Then it's decided. Let's go to Drum Kingdom together and take everything that everyone here can carry." Luffy said, looking at the plaza.

Those who are physically intact are fine, but those who are disabled are doomed if they stay here.

If we take them to the Drum Kingdom, it's at least a human-inhabited area; they should be able to survive there.

Moreover, that place is very remote; it's like Iceland, where it snows all year round and has no spring, summer, or autumn.

Even if Baroque Works wanted to hunt them down, it would be quite troublesome.

The Merry alone couldn't have transported so many people.

But since Miss Valentine and Mr. 5 had already sent another boat over, it was still somewhat acceptable.

Of course, not everyone is willing to go to that awful place, Magnet Valley Kingdom, and some people will get off halfway through.