One Piece: In Search of Freedom [Book 1]

CH 16: ROYALTY WITHIN OUR MIDST

Inherited will...

The tide of the times...

People's dreams...

These things cannot be stopped.

As long as people seek the answer of freedom, these things will never cease to be!

Mr. 8 and the others had all ended in the same alley, each with their own injuries. Miss Wednesday and Mr. 9 were at least in a better state as they sat on the ground with their heads down from the shame after such a hateful defeat, the duck Karoo behind them.

But Mr. 8 was lying face down, trying to crawl forward as he ignored the blood flowing from his body and the pain from his injuries. "Huff... Ugh... I can't fall in a place like this. I've got an important mission..."

"How pathetic... losing against two single pirates."

"?!!!" The three agents looked up in shock, never expecting to meet two familiar faces.

In the middle of the road was a couple. The first was a woman with pale skin, appearing even more so due to her practically florescent blond hair and dress. The short dress had lemon prints all over it and an orange round collar. The round hat she wore shared the same colors, covering most of her hair that was only long enough to get a little past her ears, a bang falling over the left side of her face, doing little to hide her green eyes. Her earrings were also lemons like the ones on her dress and she was wearing white heels and gloves. In her right hand, she held a parasol that had yellowish-green and blue stripes.

The man, on the other hand, had dark skin and short spiky dreadlocks. Unlike his colorful partner, his clothes were mostly brown with only a pink cravat that snuggled around his neck to give some color. Other than that, he wore a long, brown trench coat that reached past his knees, a zipper going down the middle. On the left side of his chest, left upper arm, and around the left knee of his trench coat, the number 5 was embroidered inside a box. Other than that, he wore simple brown pants and shoes, along with sunglasses despite it being the middle of the night.

The appearance of these two brought Mr. 8 much joy, "Mr. 5! Miss Valentine!"

Mr. 5 didn't share his feelings, instead raising his nose as he looked down at the three of them as if they were nothing more than bugs on the side of the road. "Are you guys kidding around? Huh?"

Miss Valentine twirled her parasol, laughing mockingly, "Kyahaha! After all, this is the difference between our rank and yours, isn't it?"

"Did you come to laugh at us?" Their words made Mr. 8 frown. He could barely lift his head, but he still tried to do so to glare at the duo.

"That's one reason." Mr. 5 didn't deny it. Even if he didn't laugh out loud like his partner, that did not mean he didn't enjoy the show also. Miss Valentine was just more unrestrained. "Kyahaha! Of course, we're here because of our mission."

"Thank goodness. If you help us, those pirates will be no match for us!" Mr. 9 immediately assumed they had come as a backup, not wondering how they could have been alerted so quickly that they were having trouble. Working in the frontier this whole time, he still had no idea the kind of "camaraderie" that existed in his organization.

Miss Wednesday followed along, "That's right. Please beat those pirates right away."

"Huh? Stop joking around. Us help you?" Mr. 5 acted as if he had just heard that the sun appeared at night.