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Vivi was indeed adventurous, and Ikki knew this well. In the original story, if Luffy and his crew hadn't been pirates, Vivi would have gladly joined them aboard the Going Merry without worrying about bringing trouble to Alabasta. Perhaps she truly would have gone on sea adventures with Luffy and the others.
Thinking about this, Ikki grew even more excited about inviting Vivi to become his partner. After all, the girl before him, like Nojiko and Nami, was someone willing to put her trust in others. In Ikki's opinion, such a person was a very suitable candidate to join his crew.
With the system-provided power-up items, Ikki didn't have to worry about new crew members having low initial combat abilities. Given enough time, even if Vivi was only slightly stronger than an average person, Ikki was confident he could make her exceptionally powerful.
'The only thing to consider is what happens after the Alabasta situation is resolved,' Ikki thought. 'How can I convince her to leave with me? Perhaps I should make arrangements with her in advance.'
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he looked at Vivi.
"...As for Mr. 11, I remember seeing him at Whiskey Peak recently," Vivi was saying. "If you go there now, you might find him." Noticing Ikki staring at her, she tilted her head curiously. "Um, are you listening to me?"
"Of course," Ikki nodded slightly and turned to Nami. "Whiskey Peak, that's perfect. Nami, isn't our current route headed toward Whiskey Peak?"
"Yes, according to your previous route selection, we are indeed heading in that direction," Nami confirmed, raising her hand to point into the distance. "If I'm right, that place over there is Whiskey Peak."
Hearing this, Ikki looked where Nami was pointing. Sure enough, he could see an island that, from a distance, appeared to be covered with huge cacti.
"What a coincidence," Ikki remarked. "Now that we're here, prepare to land, Nami, Nojiko. Be careful, though. The people on that island are all members of Baroque Works. Even if they pretend to be ordinary townspeople, don't trust them."
With that said, Ikki turned to look at Vivi, who was staring at him in surprise. "And you, Princess Vivi, please help me identify Mr. 11 when we arrive."
Although Mr. 11 had appeared in the original story, he was just a minor character. Ikki had long forgotten exactly what he looked like or what clothes he wore. Therefore, it would be more convenient to have Vivi, who knew him, point him out.
Nojiko and Nami nodded. Though they didn't know how Ikki knew that the people at Whiskey Peak were all Baroque Works agents, as his partners, they trusted him.
"You even know that everyone at Whiskey Peak works for Baroque Works?" Vivi looked at Ikki with surprise, growing more curious about his intelligence capabilities.
"Wait a minute," she continued, "aren't you planning to attack the Whiskey Peak residents? I have no interest in playing along with them, there are so many of them and only three of you. Aren't you worried?"
"They're just ordinary bounty hunters. I can't think of any reason to be afraid of them," Ikki replied, giving Vivi a mysterious smile. "Princess Vivi, you still know too little about us."
Vivi swallowed nervously, then suddenly seemed to remember something important. "There's someone at Whiskey Peak who's my partner. Please don't hurt him! His name is—"
Although she still didn't know the full extent of Ikki's powers, based on what she'd seen from Nami and Nojiko, Vivi decided to play it safe and reveal the identity of her bodyguard, Igaram, to prevent him from being accidentally harmed.
Soon after, the Explorer successfully docked at Whiskey Peak under Nami's guidance. They were greeted by a group of enthusiastic, welcoming townspeople.
'Just as Captain Ikki said, they welcome us warmly,' Nojiko and Nami thought simultaneously, exchanging glances. 'Looking at them, you'd think they were just ordinary citizens.'
...
"Welcome to Whiskey Peak. I am Igaram, the mayor of this town," a tall man with curly blond hair greeted them with a smile. However, when his eyes fell on Vivi standing beside Ikki, his expression momentarily darkened.
'Princess Vivi, why are you with this man?' Igaram thought, frowning slightly. Just as he was about to speak again, Ikki suddenly drew Zangetsu from his waist and swung it through the air.
"Sanjuroku Pound Ho!" he called out.
To the complete shock of Igaram and the others, a blue flying slash emerged from the blade. Moving at incredible speed, it struck a vulture perched on a building and a sea otter holding a drawing pad some distance away.
'That's... the Unlucky Pair?!' Igaram realized. 'Why is this man attacking them? And how did he hit targets so far away with his sword?!'
Igaram swallowed nervously. His eyes now regarded Ikki with new fear. At the same time, he felt grateful they hadn't tried to rob Ikki's ship initially and had instead planned to welcome the visitors before subduing them.
"Captain Ikki, what was that about those animals?" Nami asked, glancing at the fallen creatures and looking at Ikki with confusion.
"Those animals also work for Baroque Works," Ikki explained, resting Zangetsu on his shoulder. "If we hadn't dealt with them, our portraits might have ended up on the boss's desk."
His statement caused the Baroque Works agents disguised as townspeople to stare in shock.
"Hey, Miss Wednesday, can you tell me which of these people is Mr. 11?" Ikki asked, patting Vivi's shoulder while scanning the crowd.
"It's... it's him!" Vivi quickly pointed to a man wearing a hat about two hundred meters behind Igaram. Impressed by Ikki's display of power and reacting instinctively to his question, she revealed Mr. 11's identity without hesitation.
"That's him? Thanks." Ikki smiled, eyeing the sword at Mr. 11's waist.
The next moment, his figure vanished, only to reappear directly in front of Mr. 11.
"Hello, Mr. 11," Ikki greeted with a broad smile. "The sword on your waist must be Kashu, one of the Skillful Grade swords. If you don't mind, would you please hand it over?"
Before Mr. 11 could even respond, Zangetsu had already struck him down.
For a stranger like Mr. 11, Ikki saw no reason for extended conversation.
[Ding! Congratulations to Host for defeating Mr. 11. You can now claim the Skillful Grade sword Kashu from him.]
'No rewards for swordsmanship techniques or swordsmanship realm advancement,' Ikki thought as he took Kashu from Mr. 11. 'Just the sword itself. Still worthwhile.'
The next moment, his figure vanished again from Igaram's sight.
Screams began erupting all along the coast.
A minute later, Igaram realized that of the nearly two hundred Baroque Works agents present, everyone except himself and Vivi had been defeated.