Somewhere else...

|At the same time, in Whisky peak, Baroque works' base...|

...

With the air blowing mysteriously across the night, several bodies illuminated by the light of the moon could be seen lying on the ground with several injuries and bruises covering them.

From time to time, it was still possible to hear some of them groan in pain. However, it was apparent from first sight that all of them were completely unconscious and that had been badly beaten by someone.

And that someone, was standing right a few meters away from the pile of bodies.

Well, not exactly someone... But rather, a very particular group of people.

As if unaffected by the destroyed surroundings that were filled with unconscious people, these people were calmly talking to each other, as the tone of their conversation seemed to grow in importance with each second that passed.

One of them was a young man who had a straw hat on top of his head, who despite having a few small injuries over all his body, was still brimming with energy even at that moment, and was listening curiously to the conversation that was taking place there.

The other was a swordsman of green hair sitting on the ground, who also despite having a few injuries on his body seemed unaffected by them and calmly listened to the people of the group who were talking.

The third one was a beautiful, slim young woman with orange hair, who was looking at the last member of the group with an incredibly surprised expression on her face, as the nervousness in her eyes became more and more evident as the conversation continued on.

Finally, the fourth one, and the last one of the group, was a beautiful and slender young woman with light blue wavy hair tied into a ponytail.

She, unlike the others, had a grave expression on her face, as her hands clenched tightly into fists seemingly in rage because of something.

If Farid had been there, he could have immediately recognized her the moment he saw her.

She was Vivi, the princess of Arabasta, and the childhood friend he left behind when he decided to go into hiding never to go back.

Unbeknown to Farid, she, just like him during his first years of hiding, had actually left the Kingdom long ago as well. However, her objective, in contrast with Farid's, was to actually infiltrate inside a certain organization of bounty hunters and discover exactly who its leader was, as she suspected heavily that whoever it was, they were the ones that had framed the king of using Dance powder with the purpose of taking over Arabasta themselves.

A certain organization whose name was Baroque Works... Which had coincidentally appeared when the chaos in the kingdom began.

However, right now, her plan had gone awry, as, during one of her missions at capturing pirates, she had met a group of pirates that had far surpassed the power of the organization that she was infiltrating, and ended up being mercilessly defeated by them.

The people lying on the ground unconscious at that moment were actually none other than the members of this organization of bounty hunters, as they had been completely unable to capture the group of pirates that had appeared and ended up being utterly defeated by them.

To her fortune, the pirates were good people, and the only reason they fought against the bounty hunters was that they had attacked first, and left them with no more option but to defend themselves.

Furthermore, during the heat of the battle, her identity had gotten revealed, and she started being targeted by the top executives of Baroque works as she probably knew too many secrets about the organization. However, the group of pirates immediately helped her and saved her from near death when two of the top executives of the organization were about to kill her.

So, after understanding that the group of pirates in front of her was not a bad one, all the feeling of danger disappeared, and she willingly began explaining to them her situation, and the truth...

... The truth, about what was happening with Arabasta...

"That's why I must return immediately... Now that they know that I infiltrated their organization, it is very probable that they will try to hasten the civil war so that I don't arrive in time to warn everyone... I have to go back before that happens and reveal the truth to them...!"

Clenching her teeth in frustration, Vivi glanced at her floor unwillingly, before suddenly the orange-haired woman that was listening to her muttered something in concern and made Vivi look at her with a sad expression on her face.

"Hmm... Now it all makes sense I guess... Since you are on the verge of a civil war, it wouldn't be strange if your kingdom has no money at all... -Sigh...- And here I thought that my plan of taking a billion belly as a reward for bringing you home was great..."

"Yes, I'm sorry... We have no money to pay for something like that..."

Looking down once again in sadness, Vivi looked at her own hands with a rather blank expression, thinking about a lot of things, before then a deadly silence fell upon the group, who was too busy thinking about what they had just heard to mind the fact that no one was talking.

That was, however, until the young man with the straw hat smiled slightly and looked at Vivi with a playful gaze before speaking to her with an inquisitive tone.

"Hey... Then, who is it that's behind all this?"

"T-the identity of their boss...?!"

Hearing the question of the young man, Vivi widened her eyes enormously for a brief moment, as fear struck her voice, before she then panicked and started waving her arms in a frenzy with a pale expression on her face.

"I can't tell you, so please don't ask!"

"But you know who is it, right?"

Still not giving up, the young man raised an eyebrow while looking at her peculiar behavior, before he then leaned forward from where he was sitting as if gesturing for her to answer him.

"I... I can't tell you... Otherwise, you will also start being hunted down!" Clenching her hands in anger, Vivi shook her head at the question of the young man.

After that, the orange-haired woman, who had noticed how panicky Vivi had gotten while talking about the boss of the said organization, narrowed her eyes and let out a wry laugh as she rapidly took a step back in caution.

"Haha... I don't think we want something like that... And besides... For them to try and take over an entire Kingdom, they must surely be someone extremely dangerous... Right?"

Hearing her assumption, Vivi nodded her head with a grave expression before she then started talking with a frustrated tone of voice.

"Yes, no matter how strong you are or how famous you become, you will never be able to touch him...!"

Clenching her fists in anger, Vivi looked at the dozens of unconscious men surrounding them, before she then lifted her head with a desperate expression on her face as she looked straight into the eyes of the young man, and yelled at him in a gloomy tone.

"After all, he is no one other than one of the seven Shichibukai... Crocodile!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

Immediately after that, a deadly silence fell upon the place, with all the pirates looking at Vivi with an incredibly blank expression, before then the young man with the straw hat tilted his head slightly and looked at Vivi with a confused expression before asking.

"Crocodile... Who's that?"

"Ah...!"

Then, letting out a startled cry and covering her mouth with her hand, Vivi widened her eyes for a brief moment, before she then felt two presences observing them, and turned to look up where she saw a hawk and a strange animal wearing clothes and watching over them in silence.

Following her gaze, the pirates also turned to look up, before all of them noticed the pair of animals observing them as well and felt a chill run down their back.

After all, to a normal person, they might have seemed like a harmless and completely normal pair of animals who were wearing clothes for who-knows-what kind of reason. However, the group of pirates and Vivi both knew that this pair of animals were actually some of the top executives of the organization and that just now they had overheard Vivi telling the pirates the identity of their boss.

Thus, making them an objective at that moment as well.

Soon, before any of them was able to do anything, the pair of animals soared into the sky and rapidly disappeared from the area, leaving behind only the startled and confused expressions of the pirates.

""...""

Then, suddenly as the tension slowly disappeared, the orange-haired woman moved right in front of Vivi and grabbed her by the collar before she then started shaking her violently.

"Hey, didn't you say that you wouldn't say it?! Now you have involved us in all this mess, and on top of that, a Shichibukai will also try to hunt us down from now on!!"

"I-I'm sorry, I s-said it without t-thinking...!" Struggling to apologize as she was being shaken violently by the orange-haired woman, Vivi did her best to calm her down, before suddenly the woman loosened her grip and let her go and started looking away with a desperate expression on her face.

"We have just gotten to Grandline, and we are already being targeted by a Shichibukai... Isn't it a little too much?"

Her gaze was so bleak, in fact, that even tears would be seen coming from the corner of her eyes.

On the other hand, as if completely ignoring the gloomy state of their companion, the pirate with the straw hat and the swordsman of green hair were calmly discussing among themselves with an excited expression on their faces as they imagined themselves fighting with the so-called Crocodile.

"We are quite lucky to get to fight a Shichibukai so fast!"

"Hmm... I wonder what he looks like"

"SHUT UP YOU TWO!!"

Hearing their carefree tone, the orange-haired woman couldn't help but yell at them in an angry tone.

However, completely ignoring her angry yell, the young man with the straw hat turned to look directly at Vivi once again and raised an eyebrow in curiosity as he spoke.

"Hey, but aren't there any strong guys in your kingdom capable of dealing with that Crocodile guy? Like the Marine or something like that?"

Hearing his question, Vivi stayed silent for a brief moment, seemingly pondering about it, before she then shook her head and looked at the floor with a sad gaze.

"No, the marines don't even know that Crocodile is the culprit... And even if they knew, it wouldn't change the fact that they can't arrest him until their superiors order them to do so..."

Then, remembering her days at the palace, a deep gaze appeared in her eyes for a brief moment, before she soon shook her head once again with a disappointed expression on her face.

"There's also the Royal guards... However, considering how powerful Shichibukai are, I don't think they will be able to take down Crocodile or even touch him in the slightest... Hmm?"

Suddenly, as she was explaining, a small light appeared in her eyes, before she then let out a sigh and looked at the sky with a nostalgic expression on her face.

"Actually, there might be someone... But I'm not completely sure"

""Who?""

Hearing her suddenly mention someone capable of dealing with a Shichibukai, the three pirates rapidly turned to look at Vivi with a surprised expression, before she then smiled a little bit at their reaction and looked to the side as if reminiscing old times.

"I'm sure that at least one of you has heard of him before... He used to call himself the midget bounty hunter"

Hearing her words, the green-haired swordsman was the first one to react, as soon as a surprised expression on his face appeared on his face while he muttered in an understanding tone.

"That guy, huh? Yeah, I heard of him before. He was quite famous at most bars where bounty hunters used to look for jobs... They always used to say that he was an incredibly short guy who managed to take down incredibly powerful pirates that no one else could, and that he never left the city he was residing in, which in the end made him become something like a guardian angel for the people of that place"

"Incredibly powerful pirates?" Hearing the swordsman, the orange-haired woman raised an eyebrow in surprise, before she then looked straight at him with a curious expression on her face.

Hearing her inquisitive tone, the swordsman looked at the sky while grabbing his chin in contemplation for a brief moment, before he then nodded his head and looked back at the group with a nonchalant expression on his face.

"Yeah, I didn't pay too much attention at that time, but I remember them saying that he even caught several pirates with bounties of 60 million bellys some years ago"

""60 million bellys?!""

Hearing the swordsman's words, both, the orange-haired woman and the young man with the straw hat shouted in surprise at the surprising number, before then the orange-haired woman took a step back while her face turned incredibly pale.

"That's twice your bounty, Luffy... And he caught several of them at that"

"Yeah, what an amazing guy" Hearing the orange-haired woman's words, the young man with the straw hat scratched the back of his head before he then laughed a little bit as if unbothered by the enormous number that he had just heard.

It was then, however, that the orange-haired woman noticed something strange, and turned to look at Vivi once again with a frowning expression.

"But why did you say that you were not sure whether he would take down that Crocodile? He sounds like a really powerful guy to me"

Hearing her words, Vivi looked at the ground for a brief moment as a sad gaze appeared in her eyes, before then she shook her head and opened her mouth in order to reply.

However, just as she was about to do it, suddenly the swordsman raised his voice first and interrumped her from speaking.

"He disappeared a long time ago... Some said that he got ambushed by a pirate one day and then died, while others said that he left in order to retire after he saved up an enormous fortune by capturing pirates... Though, most of them were only rumors, and no one really knew where he went or what happened to him..."

"It's that so? That's a shame..."

Nodding her head at the swordsman's words, the orange-haired woman sighed briefly, before she then started massaging her temples with a troubled expression on her face.

On the other hand, looking at the swordsman with a sad expression, Vivi started nodding her head with an expression full of melancholy, before she then tried speaking once more to the orange-haired woman.

However, just as she was about to do it, the swordsman spoke up once again, as he seemed to have not finished speaking, and revealed something specific that made Vivi open her eyes widely the moment she heard it.

"... However, recently I heard that there was a rumor about a mysterious person that traveled across all the Grandline and sometimes the East blue capturing pirates constantly. He seemed to have incredible tracking skills that allowed him to capture any pirate, no matter how hard it is, and incredible strength that can take down any pirate no matter how high their bounties or how strong they are... Because of that, a lot of people theorized that he was that midget bounty hunter, while others just thought that he was a random guy with great skill... But in the end, they were all rumors, and no one knew whether they were really true or not"

"..."

'A mysterious person?'

Staying silent as her thoughts started running wild, Vivi looked at the ground with a contemplative gaze, before then a certain name appeared in her mind and a small word imperceptibly left her mouth.

"Farid..."

Her lips curled up slightly as she said that.

...

-To be continued...-

(A/N: Sorry for the wait again guys, University started again, and I was busy trying to choose my classes since they didn't explain shit to me.

Now on Tuesday, I enter classes at 8:00 AM and go home at 8:00 PM because of how my schedule ended up.

-Sigh...-

Well, leaving that aside, there should be another chapter going out soon.

I'm about to finish it, but I don't know whether it will be in a few minutes more or tomorrow since it's already pretty late and I have to get up early tomorrow. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and look forward to the next one!)