Somewhere in the desert west of Erumalu, in the middle of nowhere, the very few travelers traversing the area could observe a relatively small wooden building with a tall tower that had a water tank on top of it.
The building had Spider's Cafe written on it right above the entrance in red.
It looked like one of those rest stops owned by eccentric owners who wanted to stay as far away as possible from civilization. However, the truth was not that simple.
Spiders Cafe was a front and a secret meeting place for an organization unknowingly plotting to take over Alabsta, not that it mattered to the people passing through here anyway, as coffee shop rarely gets any visitors aside for the organization members.
And it just so happens that a secret meeting was about to begin in the cafe as members of the Baroque Works organization arrived there, preparing to discuss a matter of importance.
Inside the cafe, the owner, Poison Spider Zala, also known as Miss. Double finger, a young, slim woman of above-average height with curly dark-blue hair, thick lips, dark green eyes, pale skin, and a shapely figure, was smiling as she walked from table to bale with a tray of refreshments in her hands.
Zala exaggeratedly and almost comically swayed her hips as she moved from table to table, serving beverages to her colleagues.
"Here you go, Mr. 1," Zala remarked with a smile as she placed a cup of black coffee in front of a tall, muscular, tanned man with a unibrow and a shaved head as he sat on a table, his eyes closed.
The man, Mr. 1, opened his eyes after hearing Zala's voice and merely nodded at her in acknowledgment, only to close his eyes again without saying anything.
Zala just smiled at Mr. 1's reaction and moved on to the nearest table. She did not find Daz Bones' attitude offensive in the least, but she appreciated it instead.
They were professionals who joined the Baroque Works to make money, not friends, and Daz Bones, who shared these values with her, was probably the best partner she could ask for out of everyone else.
Zala sighed upon noticing who was sitting there. But she quickly regained her smile as she put a glass of strawberry juice in front of a relatively tall man wearing flamboyant ballet clothes with a swan theme, a pink overcoat, blue medical garments, and heavy makeup.
"Thank you, Double-chan!" the cross-dressing man, Bon Kurei, said with a wide smile as he got up and performed an exaggerated bow as if ballet dancing, causing Zala to sigh again as she moved on to the following table.
Zala couldn't help but think about what an oddball Mr. 2 was. Out of all the officer agents, he probably stood out the most. Not only was he the only officer agent without a partner, having both a holiday and a number nickname, but he also valued friendship above anything else opposed to his other colleagues.
Zala then moved on to serve drinks to the rest of the officer agents as they arrived, one after the other until they were finally well-rested and prepared to discuss business.
...
"I'm so bored!" Bon Kurei said as he stood in front of Mr.4 doing a ballet spin. "I'm so bored I started spinning!" he added, spinning even more vigorously, much to the amusement of Mr. 4, who started laughing and the annoyance of everyone else who scoffed at him.
"I suppose we've wasted enough time, Gane," said an average-sized man with a rather frail-looking build and top know shaped like number three while clearing his throat.
"Then why don't you stop wasting everyone one's time and tell us why you called us here, Mr. 3, Ba," replied a stout, short middle-aged woman with red hair, wearing a necktie that resembles a christmas tree, which matches with her codename, Miss Merry Crhistmas.
I was getting to that, Gane," Mr. 3 flatly remarked. "I received an order from up above to take out a pirate crew that recently arrived on Alabasta..." he added, trailing at the end of his sentence, seemingly unsure of how to word his sentence.
"And let's just say I might have chewed more than I can swallow," Mr. 3 explained, earning an amused look from Zala, an uninterested look from Daz Bones, while the others merely looked at him with mockery in their eyes.
"That's what you get for trying to horde the credit to yourself, Ba," Miss. Merry Christmas said with a mocking smile as she banged the table with her palm. "Serves you right," she added with a toothy grin.
"Don't worry, 3-chan. I'll take care of the bad pirates for you!" Bon Kurei said with a smile as he approached Mr. 3, patting the latter on the shoulder.
"I'm afraid things aren't that simple, Mr. 2, Gane," Mr. 3, Galdino said in a calm tone as he removed Bon Kurei's hand from his shoulder with twitching eyes.
"You all know the consequences for failure, and failure is indeed a possibility even if we all work together in this case, Gane," Galdino said in a severe tone, finally getting everyone's attention as they all looked at him with serious expressions.
"And what kind of pirate crew do you think can beat me?" Daz Bones asked in a bemused tone, raising an eyebrow with a frown on his face. "Do I need to remind you who you're talking to?" he added, threateningly glaring at Galdino.
Daz Bones was always stern, calm, focused, disciplined, self-assured, and confident in himself more than anything else. Ever since he ate Dice-Dice fruit, Daz bones had never encountered an opponent capable of so much as scratching him, leading him to think of himself as unbeatable.
Galdino, of course, knew that, and he was quick to salvage the situation. "I meant no disrespect, Gane," Galdino said, awkwardly clearing his throat as he waved his hand to the side.
"However, your power comes from your devil fruit, and devil fruits have their weaknesses..." Galdino said, regaining a calm expression as he trailed off at the end of his sentence.
"And our opponents this time seem to have an unknown amount of sea-stone," Galdino explained with a nod of his head. "So even if you could overpower them, they could still use sea-stone against you and the rest of us devil fruit users..." he concluded, shaking his head.
"No need to worry about that," a voice suddenly came from above the gathered officer agents, making them all jerk their heads upward to investigate its source.
"We won't be using any sea-stone to deal with you people... not that we would need it in the first place," said a man with long black hair, waving his silver, prosthetic left hand to the side with a grin as causally broke through the roof, floating above their heads.