As Vir was getting more engrossed in his killing spree, in the palace bedroom, Nefertari Cobra was lying on the bed in a rather unkingly manner, with his arms forming a heart shape above his head, looking extremely bored.
No, this wasn’t the real Nefertari Cobra but Mr. 2 Bon Clay of Baroque Works.
Mr. 2 had recently used his Devil Fruit ability to disguise himself as Nefertari Cobra, while the real Cobra had already been captured by them.
Mr. 2 spent most of his days in the palace bedroom unless absolutely necessary because, despite mimicking appearance and voice perfectly, daily habits were difficult to imitate.
After replacing the real king, Baroque Works replaced all the palace staff familiar with the king. However, to avoid suspicion, they couldn’t touch the ministers, so Mr. 2 tried to make as few public appearances as possible.
As Mr. 2 was wallowing in boredom, the bedroom door suddenly burst open, and a chubby man rushed in.
The chubby man looked terrified as he ran to Mr. 2.
“Sir, it’s bad! The palace has been invaded. The intruder is the Thunder Swordsman, Vir. Sir, please help! Our brothers are suffering heavy casualties.” He finished, panting and kneeling on the floor.
Hearing that the palace was under attack, Mr. 2 wasn’t too alarmed at first because few would dare offend Baroque Works in Alabasta.
However, upon hearing the name “Thunder Swordsman, Vir,” Mr. 2 realized things were not looking good.
“Why would such a person suddenly invade Alabasta’s palace? What on earth is going on?” Mr. 2 was nervous. After all, this was a pirate with a bounty of 170 million Berries, far beyond his league.
“Sir, we don’t know either. That guy suddenly…” The chubby man didn’t finish his sentence before the bedroom door shattered with a loud bang.
Through the dust, a short young man emerged — it was Vir.
Vir had already dealt with the Baroque Works members, but because the palace was so large, it took him a while to find this place.
Seeing Nefertari Cobra and the chubby man with the Baroque Works emblem, Vir immediately knew this was not the real Nefertari Cobra but the okama, Mr. 2.
Vir had a good impression of Mr. 2 and planned to solve this peacefully by talking.
“You must be Mr. 2. I don’t want to waste words. Tell me where Crocodile is, and I won’t make things difficult for you.” Vir sheathed Blood Will, clearly not intending to use force.
“Thunder Swordsman, Vir, is it? Someone as fierce as you looking for the boss can’t mean anything good. I won’t betray the boss,” Mr. 2 declared and charged at Vir.
Seeing Mr. 2 charging, Vir felt a bit helpless. It seemed talking things out wouldn’t work. He dodged Mr. 2’s flying kick and, noticing his wide-legged stance, had a mischievous idea.
While dodging, Vir kicked Mr. 2 in the crotch. Though he didn’t use much force, he clearly felt Mr. 2’s movements halt.
Mr. 2’s face turned pale and purple as he retreated rapidly, pointing at Vir, seemingly in too much pain to speak.
Seeing Mr. 2’s reaction, Vir realized his move might have been over the top, but Mr. 2’s stance was just begging to be kicked.
Without further words to the half-crippled Mr. 2, knowing this sentimental okama wouldn’t betray Crocodile, Vir dashed forward and kicked Mr. 2 in the stomach. Unable to withstand the kick, Mr. 2 collapsed.
Vir began searching the room for Mr. 2’s phone transponder. Someone on a mission like this would surely have a direct line to Crocodile.
As expected, Vir found a phone transponder in the bedside cabinet.
Picking up the receiver, the phone transponder began making the familiar “buru buru” sound.
After a long wait, just as Vir was about to give up, someone answered, but it was a woman’s voice.
“This is Miss All-Sunday. The boss is not here right now. Who is this, and what do you need?” The voice of Nico Robin, both familiar and unfamiliar to Vir, came through the transponder.
“Hehehe, it’s you, Robin. Do you know where Crocodile is? I didn’t expect you to answer,” Vir said, intrigued by this first interaction with the Straw Hat crew.
Robin paused for a moment upon hearing Vir’s voice.
“How do you know me? You’re not Mr. 2. Who are you, and what do you want with Crocodile?” Robin quickly realized it wasn’t Mr. 2 and wasn’t too concerned because she never cared much for Baroque Works members, only for the Poneglyphs.
“Of course, I’m not that okama Mr. 2. My name is Vir. As for why I’m looking for Crocodile…
Well, I’ll probably kill him. Just tell me where he is,” Vir said, simply wanting to find Crocodile and beat him up for being so hard to find. Sometimes, Vir was just that unreasonable.
“Thunder Swordsman, huh? Telling you where Crocodile is might not be impossible, but what’s in it for me?” Robin asked, pragmatic from her harsh life experiences. Without Luffy’s redemption, she might have become a vicious pirate. Though that’s unlikely, given her inherently kind nature.
“Okay, how about this? You tell me where Crocodile is, and I’ll tell you the location of a Poneglyph. Deal?” Vir resorted to his ultimate weapon, using the Poneglyph to lure Robin.
“You really know where a Poneglyph is? Tell me now, and I’ll tell you where Crocodile is,” Robin, excited at the mention of the Poneglyph, responded eagerly.
“Hehehe, I’ll tell you after I meet Crocodile. If you don’t tell me now, I’ll find him myself. I know where his base is. I can wait there,” Vir, not being foolish, knew telling Robin the location now could mean she’d leave immediately, leaving him in the lurch.
After another pause, Robin responded.
“Crocodile is in Rainbase, at the casino. Remember your promise to tell me the Poneglyph’s location after meeting Crocodile.” With that, Robin hung up.
Vir’s eye twitched. That woman actually hung up on me, he thought, feeling irritated. Just then, he heard footsteps behind him — it was Rabbitski.
Vir had once asked Rabbitski if he minded his killing. Rabbitski’s response was, “As long as Al thinks it’s right, I support Al.”
However, Rabbitski didn’t like fighting. He only liked eating and red gems.
So, while Vir was solo raiding the palace, Rabbitski was looting rubies, as evidenced by the large bag behind him, filled to the brim.
Become a Patron read up to 40 chapter ahead public release ^_^
Please join Discord Server so we can talk ^_^
