Under normal circumstances, even without Luffy and Zoro, Sanji and the remaining crew should have been able to handle Baroque Works' underlings without much trouble.
After all, Sanji was one of the Straw Hat Pirates' top fighters. Nami had her Clima-Tact now, so dealing with small fry shouldn't have been an issue. Chopper had some combat ability, and if Usopp used his sneaky style, he could fight well too. Plus, with the main character's plot armor, there was no reason they shouldn't have been able to beat the ordinary Baroque Works grunts.
However, the problem lay in the fact that Baroque Works not only had numbers on their side but had also equipped themselves with powerful advanced weapons.
Sanji was already struggling against the sheer number of enemies, but now he had to worry about Nami and the others dodging Gatling guns and laser weapons, which only added to his burden, leaving him covered in injuries.
Meanwhile, Nami, who was being carried on Chopper's reindeer form, glanced at Vivi and asked with a hint of frustration, "Vivi, didn't you say that apart from the high-ranking officers, the rest of Baroque Works are just weaklings?"
Facing Nami's question, Vivi, sitting on Karoo the Spot-Billed Duck's back, dodged a barrage of gunfire while responding with equal confusion, "I don't know what's going on either. When I infiltrated Baroque Works with Igaram, we figured out most of their capabilities.
"Even with our skills, we managed to rise to the ranks of Mr. 8 and Miss Monday. The Billionaires and Millionaires of Baroque Works were honestly not as strong as the Kingdom's army. I have no idea where they got these high-powered weapons from."
Vivi wore a troubled expression. The fighting power of Baroque Works was far beyond what she had anticipated.
If things continued like this, Alabasta would inevitably fall into Crocodile's hands.
In her moment of distraction, a stray bullet grazed Vivi's shoulder, causing her to fall off Karoo.
Sanji and Nami tried to rush to her aid, but even at their fastest, they couldn't outrun the laser weapons in the hands of Baroque Works' Billionaire agents.
As the lasers fired toward Vivi, who lay helpless on the ground, she closed her eyes in fear.
Truth be told, Vivi wasn't afraid of danger or death. Otherwise, she wouldn't have spent two years undercover in Baroque Works.
What scared her more was the fate of her people, the imminent battle between the Kingdom's army and the rebel forces.
Boom!
A massive explosion rang out as the laser hit the ground. But when Vivi opened her eyes again, she found herself unharmed.
Standing in front of her was a tall figure clad in a black coat, shielding her from the blast.
Apparently, this person had saved her.
"That guy… he just deflected a laser cannon shot with his bare hands! Are you kidding me? This is one of the latest weapons developed on Dark Island! It's said to be powerful enough to sink a small ship in one shot!" exclaimed the Billionaire agent wielding the laser cannon. He stared at his weapon in disbelief.
He had been obsessed with this weapon ever since he got his hands on it, confirming its immense power through countless tests.
The huge crater left in the ground from the laser's impact was proof enough of the weapon's destructive force.
Yet this man had just deflected that same laser with his bare hand?
"Forget about who this guy is! With these powerful weapons, we can take down anyone—even the top officers of Baroque Works wouldn't stand a chance!
"The boss wants us to eliminate Princess Vivi. If we take her out, we'll be heroes!"
Though they didn't know who Wood was, the advanced weapons in their hands gave the Baroque Works agents plenty of confidence. Even if their opponent was a Marine captain, they believed they were more than a match for him.
In no time, hundreds of Baroque Works members aimed their weapons at Wood and Vivi.
Sanji and Nami desperately wanted to tell Wood to run, but with the sheer number of enemies surrounding them, there was nowhere for him and Vivi to escape.
"I don't know who you are, but I'm sorry. Because you saved me, you might end up dying here with me," Vivi said. Despite being only 16 years old, she didn't feel fear in the face of death. Instead, her first thought was guilt—guilt that her rescuer might lose his life because of her. Wood couldn't help but feel his decision to save her was the right one.
"It's too early to give up. It's not over yet. Don't you want to save your kingdom?" Wood replied.
As his words fell, a barrage of bullets and laser fire rained down on them.
Unable to bear witnessing the grim scene, Nami and Chopper shut their eyes tightly, while Sanji and Usopp wore expressions of fury and despair.
But in the next instant, the temperature around them soared, and a towering wall of fire, several meters high, rose from the ground, completely encircling Wood and Vivi, blocking every attack from all directions.
Bullets and lasers disappeared into the flames as if swallowed whole.
The fire had risen quickly, and just as quickly, it dissipated. As everyone stood there, stunned by what had just happened, they saw Wood standing still, conjuring a ball of water in his hand.
The ball of water floated above his palm, quickly shaping itself into a blade of water.
Wood gripped the water blade and made several sweeping motions, causing ripples to cascade through the air. In the aftermath of these invisible waves, the wind around them suddenly calmed.
The Baroque Works agents who had been facing Wood moments ago had all felt the sharp sword energy brush past them, leaving them drenched in cold sweat.
When the air finally stilled, they checked their bodies and found that they were completely unharmed.
"I thought he was supposed to be some big shot, but it looks like he's just trying to scare us—"
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Before the words were even out of their mouths, they realized that their weapons had grown strangely light. They looked down and saw that their laser cannons had been cleanly sliced in two!
Dark Island's weapons were crafted from the finest steel, and even an expert swordsman would struggle to cut through them.
Yet these Baroque Works agents were shocked to find that their beloved weapons had been sliced in half as if they were made of tofu.
And it wasn't just one or two of them. Every single one of the thousands of Baroque Works agents had their weapons cut cleanly in two. One half remained in their hands, while the other half lay on the ground.
"Monster! This guy is a real monster! Why didn't the mission briefing mention someone like him?" the agents panicked.
In an instant, this man had cut through all their steel weapons. They had no doubt that he could do the same to their flesh and bones.
If he could cut through steel so effortlessly, slicing through their bodies would be even easier.
Did they have any chance to resist or escape? The answer was no.
None of them had even seen Wood draw his blade, and despite the distance between them, he had cut through their weapons as if they were nothing. They realized that even if they tried to run, they wouldn't stand a chance against someone of his caliber.
Wood remained standing in place, still gripping the water blade. His presence was so intimidating that it was unbearable.
Finally, one of the Baroque Works agents couldn't handle the pressure anymore and made a break for it.
As soon as the first person fled, a chain reaction followed, and the rest of the Baroque Works agents scattered, fleeing in all directions.
"Vivi, you should've told us you knew someone this powerful from the start!" Nami teased.
"Yeah! If we had known we had such a strong backup, we wouldn't have had to run around like scared mice," Usopp chimed in. "They're lucky they ran, or else I'd have called in my 8,000-man army and taken them down!"
"Wow! We have 8,000 backup soldiers? Usopp, you're amazing!" Chopper exclaimed.
With the crisis averted and a new, clearly formidable ally on their side, Nami and the others started joking around with Vivi.
But to everyone's surprise, Vivi stared at them in confusion and said, "Wait, isn't this guy one of your friends?"
After a brief moment of mutual bewilderment, Nami, Vivi, and the others turned their gazes to Wood, while Sanji narrowed his eyes, watching him warily.
Sanji's caution wasn't out of hostility, but rather because Wood's presence felt dangerous.
Unlike Nami, Usopp, and Chopper, Sanji immediately sensed an overwhelming pressure from Wood as soon as he saw him. His skin tingled, and every instinct screamed at him that the man before them was someone to be feared.
The only other person Sanji had ever felt this way about was Dracule Mihawk, the world's greatest swordsman. Although Sanji hadn't fought Mihawk directly, he had felt that same sense of overwhelming power when Mihawk's sharp gaze fell upon him.
Though Wood had saved them and hadn't harmed any of the fleeing Baroque Works agents, Sanji remained on high alert. The man before him was far too dangerous to let his guard down.
"I'm not your enemy, so there's no need to be so wary of me," Wood said calmly. "Besides, if I truly wanted to harm you, do you think you'd be able to stop me?"
Despite saving Vivi and the others, Wood hadn't killed any of Crocodile's men.
The reason Crocodile had paid so much attention to the Straw Hat Pirates, compared to the original timeline, was due to his bet with Wood.
Since Wood had saved them but hadn't killed Crocodile's men, he figured he hadn't technically broken their agreement.
Wood reasoned with himself, convincing himself that his actions didn't violate the terms of the bet.
As he pondered his own logic, Vivi approached him, clutching her injured shoulder, and bowed in gratitude. "Thank you for saving us. May I ask your name? Are you someone I know?"
Although the man had saved them, Vivi felt it would be rude not to thank him. She was also incredibly curious about who he was and why he had helped them.
From his voice and build, Vivi was fairly certain she didn't know him. After all, if someone this powerful had been connected to her family, she would have remembered.
"My name isn't important. You can think of me as a distant relative of the Nefertari family or as just a handsome merchant passing by.
"Either way, I'm not with Crocodile's group, but don't expect me to help you any further. Saving you just now already violated the terms of my agreement, so don't think I'll be helping you take down Crocodile or anything like that.
"One more thing—Crocodile is a Logia-type user of the Sand-Sand Fruit. The drought in Alabasta is his doing, and his weakness is water."
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Next Bonus 1500 -> 2000
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P/S: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 400+ at p@treon.com/Betek (@->a)