I'm A Plunderer In The World Of One Piece.

Small Garden – Giant Duel Arena

Thanks to Mr. 5's botched attempt at sabotage, Dorry the giant didn't suffer a fatal injury from the sake bomb.

The duel between the two giants raged on, the clash of their weapons sending shockwaves across the island—still as evenly matched as ever.

In a shadowed corner of the forest, four figures crouched among the brush with anxious expressions.

"..."

Once officers under Baroque Works, the four exchanged uneasy glances, none willing to break the silence.

According to the usual plan, they should have already executed Mr. 0's orders—eliminating the Straw Hats and Princess Vivi here on Small Garden.

But fate had twisted the script.

A new boss had emerged—and his orders were no less disturbing.

In fact, he'd commanded them to do the same: kill the Straw Hats.

But unlike Mr. 0, this man was the crew's Vice-Captain.

To order the death of his own companions... how was that even possible?

The absurdity gave them all headaches.

Miss Valentine broke the silence with a whisper, "He said he planted invisible bombs in our bodies... and if we try to leave Small Garden, they'll detonate. Do you think it's real?"

Mr. 5 frowned, his tone cautious. "Hmph. I doubt the kind of bombs he's talking about are normal ones. He knows my body is resistant to explosions. If he's confident, then it must be something beyond the usual."

After a moment, the two turned toward Mr. 3.

"Hey, you've got the brain—what should we do?"

Mr. 3's expression shifted as he watched the giants clash in the distance, muttering under his breath.

"There are two possibilities."

He paused.

"First, this new boss has serious issues with his Captain and crew. Maybe he wants us to do his dirty work so he doesn't have to."

Mr. 5 blinked. "So he's that cold? Willing to kill his own crewmates?"

Mr. 3 gave him a tired look.

"I said maybe. But personally, I think that's unlikely. Does Shirogai sama look like someone who acts out of petty grudges?"

Mr. 5 wanted to say yes—but couldn't quite bring himself to.

Mr. 3 adjusted his glasses and continued. "More likely, he believes we can't kill his crew. He's using this mission to test them... to sharpen their instincts."

Miss Valentine, floating lightly with her parasol, shouted indignantly, "So we're just test dummies?!"

Mr. 3 sighed. "You should be grateful. If we actually succeeded in killing one of them, we'd probably be begging for death ourselves."

"...Oh."

The two dimwits fell silent, the logic finally sinking in.

In the distance, the booming clash of the giants' weapons continued shaking the trees.

Mr. 3's 3-shaped topknot flared upward like a candle's flame.

He had made his decision.

"I'll follow the orders. I'll try my best to eliminate them—using the weaknesses Shirogai-san provided."

Turning to Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine, he barked:

"You two, follow the plan. Kidnap the navigator and provoke the long-nosed sniper.

Miss Goldenweek, you're with me—we'll head into the forest and set up traps for the others."

"As for that Straw Hat captain... we'll leave him for last."

Miss Goldenweek looked up blankly and pointed toward the ongoing battle.

"What about the giants?"

Mr. 3 waved her off. "Shirogai-san said he'd deal with them personally."

"Oh. Okay."

With that, Mr. 3 and Miss Goldenweek vanished into the foliage.

Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine exchanged a glance.

"If he wants us to kill them, then whatever happens isn't our fault."

"Hmph. I'll take out my frustration on them," Miss Valentine said coldly.

They disappeared into the jungle, hunting the sniper and the navigator.

---

Elsewhere...

Inside a secluded wax house, hidden deep within the trees, Shirogai reclined comfortably on a wax-crafted lounge chair, casually tossing snacks into his mouth.

"Hehe... poor Usopp. Running into Valentine—that woman really knows how to hold a grudge."

He completely ignored the fact that this entire mess was his doing.

This ability to tap into the thoughts of others came from his Devil Fruit.

[Whisper-Whisper Fruit] · Modified Second Gear Ability: [Mind Lurker]

By fracturing his own mental energy and embedding it into a target, Shirogai could eavesdrop on their thoughts in real time.

Unless the target possessed both Observation Haki and Armament Haki, they'd have no idea they were being spied on.

And even better, this power had no upper limit on the number of targets—only the range, which was currently restricted to an island-sized area.

If it extended worldwide, any bystander could become his personal surveillance drone.

That would make him a god-tier informant—almost like Professor X.

"Tch. Sanji, sneaking around again. As expected of the Straw Hats' ghost-footed chef."

Shirogai transformed his arm into a wispy, smoky gray mist, letting it seep out of the wax house and into the surrounding jungle, concealing the building with stealth.

---

Not far away, Sanji halted as he spotted a strange fog curling through the forest.

"Huh? Fog?"

His curly eyebrow twitched.

"Whatever. I'll head back. Don't want to get lost like that idiot."

With that, he turned and wandered off in another direction, hunting a beast large enough to upstage Moss-Head.

"Why can't I find anything decent to hunt? This is getting annoying."

---

Meanwhile…

"Achoo!"

Zoro, carrying the corpse of a massive rhinoceros over his shoulder, sneezed and looked around.

"Huh… this place looks familiar."

He eyed a vine-wrapped tree, suspicion rising.

Then, not far away, a familiar silhouette caught his eye.

"Nami?"

A grin spread across his face. He adjusted the prey on his shoulder and moved toward her.

"Nami, what are you doing here? This place is dangerous."

But something felt... off.

The woman's head was bowed, unmoving.

And then—she melted.

In an instant, the "Nami" figure transformed into a wave of gooey white wax, surging toward him.

Zoro's eyes sharpened.

"Tch. I knew you weren't Nami. You're Baroque Works scum!"

He flung the rhino carcass aside and drew his blades.

"Two-Sword Style—Cutting Slash!"

His blades sliced the rushing wax into eight neat pieces—

—but it wasn't enough.

The wax reformed, unharmed.

"Damn."

Zoro used Soru to vanish from the spot, but a streak of wax tagged his hands mid-dash, coating his swords.

He gritted his teeth.

The blades were now encased in hardened wax, as rigid as steel—useless.

From the shadows, Mr. 3's laughter echoed through the trees.

"Heh heh heh... your hands and weapons are sealed. There's nothing you can do now."

---

Back at the wax house, Shirogai remained lounging lazily, munching biscuits as the chaos unfolded.

"So Zoro's the first to fall into the trap, huh?"

He grinned, eyes still closed.

"Interesting. Very interesting."

---

Get access to 60 chapters by becoming patrons

Patreon.com/Zphyr_