"Damn, could it be that our 'Golden Champion Cup' combination will..."
The giant wax figure was already covered in wounds, and even the cunning Mr.3 had reached his limit! Ultimately, all schemes and tricks need a certain level of strength to back them up.
However, the miscalculation of Roman's factor tilted the balance of power towards the Straw Hat crew. And Miss Golden Week also...
"Paper Dance - Blossoms!"
Around the two senior officers of Baroque Works, countless paper flowers fluttered.
Although this move didn't have any attack power, as the saying goes, 'confusing flowers make people dizzy', the flying flowers blocked their vision, making it impossible for the painter girl Miss Golden Week to lock onto the enemy, let alone throw out control graffiti...
"Luffy!"
Roman's abilities were varied, but in terms of attack power:
"Gomu Gomu no—"
"This is..."
Just as Mr.3 was inwardly thinking that things were going bad, the 'paper flowers' in front of him suddenly scattered, revealing:
Luffy, with his hands stretched back, ready to strike!
"Rocket Launcher!!"
Boom—!
The two rubber arms suddenly retracted, accumulating the force of a hundred-meter-long rebound, and with the power to break through battleship armor and rock walls, they slammed into the wax robot named 'Golden Champion Cup.' The fruit creation, already riddled with holes, couldn't withstand the force and shattered into countless wax pieces with a crack.
"Be careful, don't hurt anyone!"
Roman immediately flew forward and grabbed the little girl codenamed Miss Golden Week. She was crucial to one of Roman's enhancement projects...
As for Mr.3? Let him go to hell!
"Damn it, damn it—"
Although he kept howling like a defeated dog, Mr.3 knew when to retreat. He immediately turned and plunged into the nearby dense forest, taking advantage of Roman grabbing Miss Golden Week to escape. But:
"Don't think you can run!"
Besides Roman, there was another fighter on the field: Luffy! He hadn't forgotten the person who had sabotaged the sacred duel between the two giants and hurt his friends.
"The one who tainted the duel—"
Luffy chased relentlessly, "What kind of man are you?"
?!
However, as Luffy entered the dense forest, his steps halted. It wasn't because he was afraid or hesitant, but because in front of him:
With arms crossed, one hand on his hip, leaning against a tree, nostrils flaring...
Various poses of Mr.3 filled the entire forest! At a glance, there were at least dozens.
"Hahaha, welcome to my 'Wax Museum.'"
The layered voices echoed in the forest, and the real Mr.3 hidden among the 'Mr.3s' was overjoyed. This straw hat kid had high combat power, but he was clearly not as troublesome as the other handsome guy. As long as he exploited the opponent's lack of experience...
"Hahaha, we are the art duo of Baroque Works, winning with wisdom."
The wax figures laughed from all directions, each one identical to the real thing.
"A brute like you, who only swings his fists wildly, could never catch me..."
As he spoke, the wax figures all looked at Luffy.
"Come on, step closer... I am Mr.3, and after I deal with you—"
"Gomu Gomu no—"
Facing the taunts of dozens of 'Mr.3s,' Luffy prepared for a shot, and then!
"Stamp!"
The suddenly extended sandal kicked one of the 'Mr.3s' in the face, even breaking the tree behind him.
"...You..."
The slowly falling Mr.3 was covered in blood and disbelief.
"...Why..."
Facing his question, Luffy adjusted his straw hat and answered seriously.
"Just a guess."
Ha—
Luffy said he guessed?
He wasn't just guessing—he accurately found the real one among dozens of wax figures.
It is clearly well-trained,
No wonder he was an elite taught by Garp for several years.
It seems he came prepared,
This young man
Has no sense of honor!
Coming to deceive and ambush a 35-year-old veteran of Baroque Works, is this reasonable?
...Well, this is just Roman's complaint.
Through the paper cranes flying in the air, Roman saw everything happening in the dense forest: it turns out Luffy's 'Observation Haki' had already started awakening at this time, but:
Without systematic training later, it could only rely on occasional bursts, resulting in wildly fluctuating combat power...
"Alright, then, Mr. Giant."
Using the 'Flame Sword' to free the bearded giant from the wax sword pinning him to the ground, Roman pointed to the little girl Miss Golden Week standing obediently nearby, and the pale-faced Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine kneeling beside her.
These two weak Devil Fruit users were no match for the others... no, Zoro alone could take them both down. Nami, Vivi, Usopp, and Karoo only needed to cheer
"Because of my agreement with this little girl, I will spare their lives."
This was the condition Roman had negotiated with Miss Golden Week: she would follow Roman's orders, but he had to let the other Baroque Works officers go.
"These are your 'spoils of war'," the bearded giant touched the wounds on his hands and feet, "and you saved my life, so I have no reason to criticize you, but..."
He glanced reluctantly at the long-bearded giant beside him, his rival, friend, and close companion for a hundred years!
Elbaf, such an ending...
"Ah, about that, I must apologize to you. I actually interfered in your duel."
As Roman spoke, the long-bearded giant lying on the ground slowly got up.
"Am I... in Elbaf's heaven..."
He turned to look at the stunned bearded giant, and despite his severe injuries, a smile gradually spread across his face.
"...It seems not."
"Waaah~~~ You're not dead? That's great, that's great!!"
"Hey, be gentle!"
The long-bearded giant's face turned three shades paler as the bearded giant hugged him tightly.
"You're going to tear my wounds open—"
On his chest, the blood had already clotted. On one hand, it was due to the giant's abnormal physique, and on the other:
White paper strips had sewn the long-bearded giant's wounds tightly together! At the same time, the torn paper on either side of the wound indicated they had resisted an attack.
"Although I secretly covered your companion with a thin layer of 'armor,' considering his condition at the time..."
Roman shrugged.
"If my 'interference' in the duel displeased you, I apologize again..."
"No, no!"
The bearded giant wiped away tears, as if it had rained from the sky.
"I must thank you, little human."
"I..."
"Hahaha, as long as you're not angry."
Roman pointed to the weapons the two giants had thrown aside.
"Speaking of which, it's because your weapons have been used for 100 years and are already worn out. Otherwise—"
Roman's flimsy 'paper armor' wouldn't have changed anything.
"Puhahaha, that's great, that's great~~~"
"Gahahaha, I'm still alive~~~"
The two giants laughed heartily once again. After all, there's nothing more worth celebrating than escaping death!
"Today is a good day, I must thank the gods of Elbaf!"
"Hahahaha~~~"
So, when Luffy came back after defeating Mr.3, what he saw was a bonfire party scene!
The meat was provided by Zoro's triceratops, and the fuel was the giant wax 'cake' left by Mr.3. Although there was no wine, everyone who had just escaped death was still in high spirits, until:
"So you guys are having a party here?"
The blond gentleman Sanji leaped out of the dense forest and hurriedly shouted to everyone:
"I just found a small hut in the forest, and from the Den Den Mushi inside, I learned that Baroque Works had sent senior officers led by Mr.3—"
?!
"Roman, who is this little girl?"
"Miss Golden Week, the 'senior officer of Baroque Works' you mentioned." Roman took the green tea from her and nodded to the little girl. "Thank you."
In fact, the little girl codenamed Miss Golden Week didn't seem to care much about her job. Even if she was 'captured', she remained indifferent, as if she only needed to leisurely drink tea and eat rice crackers.
"Alright, and these two kneeling here..."
Sanji glanced at Mr.5 and Miss Valentine, who were trying hard to blend into the background, and could roughly guess their identities.
"Yes, low-ranking officers of Baroque Works."
—We are mid-ranking officers, not low-ranking!
However, Mr.5 and Miss Valentine didn't dare to say that out loud. They were hoping the others would consider them small fry and let them go...
"Alright, I worried for nothing."
Sanji looked at everyone. Although they looked disheveled, most of them only had minor injuries. As for the two giants nearby... well, seeing them eating meat heartily, it was hard to tell if the huge, hideous wounds on their chests and limbs were serious or not.
After all, people's physiques in this world are really different. Some can be killed by a single shot, while others can have dozens of broken bones and still be lively the next day: like Sanji himself.
"But this thing should be very useful to us,"
Sanji said, taking out a Log Pose.
"I got this from an otter and a vulture—"
"A permanent pointer to Alabasta."
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