Check out advanced chapters on P@treon: [email protected]/CosmicKaminari
----------
"Clang!"
There was a crisp sound as Vivi's drawn sword blocked the sharp blade that Mr. 1 had swung towards Nico Robin.
"Huh? You actually blocked my attack?" Mr. 1 frowned slightly and looked at Vivi in surprise.
"Hey, Mr. 1, what are you doing?" Miss Doublefinger took a puff of her cigarette and looked over strangely. "That's not the attack you should wield as Mr. 1."
As Mr. 1's partner, she deeply understood his power. Among all the senior agents of Baroque Works, only Mr. 2 had the power to compete with Mr. 1, but even so, Mr. 1 was the top agent. The attack he'd just used was not one that Vivi, Miss Wednesday, should have been able to block.
"There is something wrong with this woman, Miss Doublefinger," Mr. 1 frowned and said.
He knew his own affairs. Although he hadn't used his full strength in that attack, it was still quite powerful. But he also understood his partner's doubts. After all, even he was confused as to why Vivi was able to block his attack.
"Mr. 1, you're too careless," Miss Valentine said, holding an umbrella in her hand. She jumped up and used her Devil Fruit ability and the umbrella to float her body above Vivi. "Let me deal with this girl. She should have been our prey anyway."
"Hehe, take this!" Miss Valentine shouted. "Ten Thousand Kilogram Press!"
With a scream, Miss Valentine's body weight suddenly changed from zero to 10,000 kilograms after using her Kilo Kilo Fruit power. The sudden increase in body weight caused her to fall at an extremely fast speed, heading straight for Vivi who was using Sode no Shirayuki against Mr. 1's blades.
"Success!" Seeing that Vivi didn't even look at her, Miss Valentine let out an excited shout.
However, her excitement quickly turned to doubt.
BOOM!
There was a sound of something heavy hitting the ground. Mr. 1 and the surrounding senior agents were shocked to find that Miss Valentine's attack hadn't worked.
Vivi, who had been holding her sword with both hands, had shifted to holding it with just one hand. Her free hand was now lifted up to block Miss Valentine's descending body.
"Im-impossible..." Miss Valentine's eyes widened as she spoke in disbelief. "Miss Wednesday blocked my attack with one hand?"
"Using one hand to block my two-handed attack. You are very capable, Miss Wednesday!" Mr. 1 looked at Vivi with an increasingly cautious expression.
At this time, the surrounding senior agents also noticed something unusual about Vivi. They all stood up and gathered around warily.
"Unfortunately, the Miss Wednesday you knew is a thing of the past," Vivi said. "I am very strong now!"
Vivi turned slightly and released her hand from Miss Valentine's body. Then she used her free hand to grab Miss Valentine's leg and slammed her to the floor.
BOOM!
Vivi's powerful strength combined with Miss Valentine's original body weight instantly shattered the floor of the Spider's Café. Miss Valentine, who hit the back of her head, fainted instantly.
"Miss Valentine?!" As Miss Valentine's partner, Mr. 5's eyes widened when he saw this, and he immediately prepared to use his Devil Fruit power to attack Vivi.
But the next moment, something even more shocking and terrifying happened. Vivi released her grip on Miss Valentine, held Sode no Shirayuki with both hands again, and suddenly slashed at Mr. 1 with increased strength.
Crack!
Mr. 1's blade-transformed hands actually developed cracks.
"Huh? How is that possible?" Mr. 1 said in disbelief. "How could my body be cut with a sword!?"
At this moment, Mr. 1 felt that his worldview had been shattered. He had never taken swordsmen seriously before. In his opinion, it was impossible for swordsmen to cut through his body after he had eaten the Dice-Dice Fruit that turned him into living blades.
"It seems you've never heard of a swordsman who can cut through steel, Mr. 1," Vivi said. "It's perfect timing for you to experience it firsthand. Water Breathing, First Form: Surface Slash!"
Vivi let out a controlled breath, and Sode no Shirayuki made a flowing water-like slash from left to right in her hands.
Mr. 1 instinctively sensed danger and quickly stepped back in fear. At the same time, he transformed his chest into blade mode for protection.
However, only a crisp sound was heard. Both Mr. 1's blade-arms and his chest were easily cut through by the 'Surface Slash.'
In an instant, Mr. 1's hands were broken and his chest was bleeding.
This scene terrified the senior agents surrounding Vivi. They never imagined that Mr. 1, who had the highest number among them, would have his arms cut off and chest slashed so easily.
Especially Miss Doublefinger, who was most familiar with Mr. 1. Others might not know, but she understood how tough Mr. 1's body became after transforming into blades. Even her own Devil Fruit ability couldn't harm Mr. 1's body.
"Vivi, don't kill them," Ikki finally spoke up, seeing Vivi almost cutting Mr. 1 in half. "They're still useful to me."
Besides himself, Nami, Nojiko, and Vivi would need to further liberate their Zanpakutō in the future. They needed to wait until their life force reached A level and their swordsmanship reached the mountain-cutting level before they could use their Zanpakutō to absorb the power of a Devil Fruit. When their power hadn't reached this standard, even if they used their Zanpakutō to defeat Devil Fruit users, there was no way for the Zanpakutō to absorb the Devil Fruit's power.
Therefore, when he arrived, Ikki had already decided to capture these people on the Explorer and deal with them later.
"How is it possible? How is it possible that Mr. 1 was so easily defeated!" Mr. 5 pointed at Vivi with a terrified expression. "You woman, you're not Miss Wednesday at all. There's no way Miss Wednesday has that kind of power."
Vivi ignored Mr. 5 and turned to Ikki, nodding at his instruction. Immediately, her body became a blur, rushing towards the remaining senior agents with a burst of water.
"Water Breathing, Third Form: Flowing Dance!"
When she finished speaking, Vivi had already knocked several senior agents unconscious by hitting them on the back of the head with the blunt edge of Sode no Shirayuki.
The power brought by her enhanced life force was simply beyond what any of the senior agents could handle at this stage. Although Vivi used the back of her sword, she didn't hold back much in terms of strength.
When Vivi stood still again, Mr. 2, Miss Doublefinger, and the others had their eyes rolled back and had all fainted.
"How do you feel? Did you vent your anger, Vivi?" Ikki walked up to Vivi and asked.
"Yes, thank you Captain Ikki for giving me such power," Vivi smiled and nodded.
Seeing all the senior agents she had never dared to dream of defeating fall under her own sword, Vivi felt like it was surreal. If Ikki wasn't standing next to her, she would have thought she was dreaming.
"Nojiko, please help treat Mr. 1. Don't let him die," Ikki instructed. "Then you and Vivi take these senior agents back to the Explorer as planned. Lock them up."
"These guys are Devil Fruit users, so remember to restrain them tightly with sea stone chains. Then you and Nami escort Vivi to Katorea to find the rebel leader."
"Our ultimate goal is to defeat Crocodile, but if we can find the rebel leader and expose the truth about Baroque Works, it will help resolve the civil unrest in Alabasta."
"After that, regardless of whether you find the rebel leader or not, you all should go to Alubarna, the capital of Alabasta. I'll meet you there."
"With your power, you can also prevent things from happening in Alubarna."
"What about you, Captain Ikki?" Vivi asked.
"I'll go straight to Rain Dinners," Ikki replied, placing his hand on Zangetsu at his waist. "From the Spider's Café, you can reach Rain Dinners quickly. If I encounter that sand crocodile, I'll defeat him directly."
"How can we let Captain Ikki deal with Crocodile alone? Let's do it together," Vivi protested.
"Haha, don't worry, Vivi. I'm confident I won't lose to that sand crocodile. If you go to Alubarna quickly, you can prevent trouble in the capital, right?" Ikki's face radiated confidence.
Now he not only mastered Zangetsu's Shikai but also Intermediate Armament Haki and Conqueror's Haki. If he still lost to Crocodile under such circumstances, Ikki felt he might as well just find a piece of tofu and bash his head against it.
"What about this woman, Captain Ikki?" Vivi looked at Nico Robin, who was standing behind Ikki with a calm expression.
"She'll come with me," Ikki replied. "If we're lucky, I may be able to fulfill my agreement with her along the way."
Ikki glanced at Robin behind him and smiled. He hadn't forgotten that on the way to Rain Dinners, there was a Poneglyph hidden in a certain area of the desert.
However, his words made Robin frown: "Fulfill the promise? Mr. Ikki is really good at joking. The Poneglyph isn't in Rain Dinners."
Hearing this, Ikki just smiled: "Anyway, just follow me. And didn't you say before that it was uncomfortable being around Vivi? Staying with me should be more in line with your preferences."
Robin held her chin with one hand, looked at Vivi, and then at Ikki.
"Fine then, I will follow you, Mr. Ikki," she agreed. "Speaking of which, Mr. Ikki, the reason you wanted me alone with you wasn't to fulfill our agreement, was it? Rather, you want to send Vivi and the others away so you can take the opportunity to do something inappropriate to me, who is also the type of woman you like."
Ikki: