"By the way, what are you going to do with the princess, Masa?"

  Whehing was over, naturally, they gathered in the castle and talked about Vivi, who was discovered among all of the robbers.

  "Wait, before that, are you even sure she is a princess?"

  Unlike a, who asked what Masa would do, Perona wondered whether the tomboy, who was caught by the cats, was really a princess of the Arabasta Kingdom.

  "Don't look at me. I might be a, but I am in charge of assassination and have been oer 7 all the time." Kalifa felt speechless when a and Perona stared at her at the same time. Yes, she was a of CP9, a special and stro agent of the Wover uhe CP0, but even so, she was just one among many. Her father might be a member of CP0, and her sister was also a, but she didn't have the qualifications to know about the problem in the kingdom!

  "Useless agent." 2x

  "...."

  Kalifa took a deep breath, trying to endure her anger so she wouldn't stab them with Shigan.

  "You should ask Masa-sama about this, right?"

  Yes, instead of asking Kalifa, they khat they should have asked Masa.

  Masa looked at Kalifa and patted her head softly, letting her head lie on his p. She treated her like a cat, which made her shy but happy regardless. "It might be strange, but she is really the princess of Arabasta Kingdom."

  "Then, why was she there among... what was that anization again?"

  "Baroque Works. It is a bounty hunter anization. If I am n, it is founded by the Shichibukai."

  "Shichibukai? Like Moria-sama?" Perona was dumbfounded.

  "Yeah, his name... Crocodile, yeah, that one."

  "Crocodile?" 3x

  "You should have the bounty of every pirate on your door ste, right, ?"

  "Wait, let me check."

  Besides being turned into a pce to keep wealth, Masa also used her door ste to keep various books that they had collected along their adventures.

  a might not have much of an i in books, but Masa could use that knowledge for money, so she had been colleg all of them privately, too, including all the bounty of the pirates, so they could exge their money when they met a Marine Base.

  "Let's see... ah, this one! I found it."

  Opening her door, a searched for the bounty order until she found the Crocodile.

  The Desert King.

  Crocodile.

  81,000,000 Belly.

  "Ah, his bounty isn't much! He must be weaker than Moria-sama!" Perona was sure, which made Masa speechless, but he couldn't deny it since Crocodile was defeated by Luffy, who hadn't even learned Gear 2nd.

  Or rather, this was the most pathetic Shichibukai as Crocodile was defeated on his home ground, a pce full of desert.

  "His bounty might be small, but he isn't that weak. His Devil Fruit is Logia."

  "Logia..." 3x

  When they learhis fact, their expressions quickly ged since Masa also ate a Logia type of Devil Fruit.

  "What kind?"

  "Suna Suna no Mi, which turns him into a human sand."

  "Sand?"

  Thinking of the sand on the beach, they felt... it was hard for Crocodile to be s.

  "Don't uimate him, okay? Sand is dangerous."

  "How dangerous is it?"

  "Er... you be buried by a sea of sand, or all of the moisture on your body be sucked dry, then bee old and ugly."

  "..." 3x

  Dangerous.

  This Shichibukai is dangerous!

  "But I am stronger; you don't have to worry."

  There was no tension, only calm, that stated the fact that he was better, which made the three smile and hug him.

  "...don't hug me so suddenly, okay?"

  "So, what is the princess doing infiltrating Baroque Works?"

  "Probably... she thought that Crocodile's anization was the one behind all the crisis in her try."

  "Crisis? What kind?"

  "Rebellion, water she, dry climate, starvation, poverty, etbsp;

  "..." 3x

  "...isn't this kingdom better than the princess's kingdom then?"

  The Drum Kingdom might have been in the winter all the time, but even so, its dition was far better than that of the Arabasta Kingdom despite having snow all year around.

  "That kingdom seems so poor." a frowned and quickly lost her i in the Arabasta Kingdom sihis kingdom didn't seem to have much money.

  "Well, you are right."

  Masa didn't deny that the rise of the Arabasta Kingdom was only wheeology developed and the use of oil was discovered. Unfortunately, that future was still long, and there was no doubt the Drum Kingdom was in a better situation, especially when it had more plete resources.

  "This pce is cold, but it is good."

  Masa leaned bad said, "Should I build a hot spri here?"

  "....."

  "Let's do it!" a's eyes quickly turned into a money symbol, and she became excited, thinking of the prospect of building a business.

  Meanwhile, Kalifa and Perona shook their heads, but then again, they thought having a good pce to rest was a good thing.

  " we build it in a gothic theme?" Perona asked.

  "..." 3x

  "Wait! Wait a moment! Should we just end our versation just like that? Shouldn't we talk about the Arabasta Kingdom more?" Kalifa suddenly asked.

  "Hmm... what do you want to talk about, then? In clusion, this kingdom is in trouble due to a pirate, that's it."

  The Arabasta Kingdom was in a crisis due to the Crocodile, and the princess of this kingdom infiltrated the anizatioed by this evil pirate to reveal all the spiracies behind it.

  That was all it was.

  It wasn't something unon, or rather, it was something normal in this age where the pirates were on a rampage.

  However, Masa wasn't a hero, and he wouldn't be there when everyone sought hope to help people.

  The three of them khat as well since what he wished for was something more selfish, yet, they didn't mind it since being selfish and rational was far better than idealistid moronibsp;

  "A peaceful life..." a murmured.

  "What's wrong with you?" Masa looked at a with doubt.

  "No, I just remembered what you said before when Moria asked you about yoal."

  "Oh, that one."

  "What is it?" Kalifa, who had only joined Masa retly, didn't know about Masa's goal, which put her in a daze. "A life without the worry of war, starvation, siess, or being dominated by others."

  Was it even possible?

  Well, it ossible, but only for the leader of this world, the World Noble.

  However, they had made up their minds to be by his side to watch him achieve his ambition.

  Only—

  "Ah!"

  Not only Perona but Masa also frowned.

  "What's wrong, Perona?" a asked with a doubt.

  "Masa, Dalton has taken that princess and her followers out of the prison!"

  Being called useless by the cats, naturally, Perona was furious, so she had been trying to show that she was useful and started her ghost works to scout anything that happened on this isnd, especially on their ship and Vivi, who they had to keep in jail.

  Yet, Masa, who had been waiting for his target, felt gd that he didn't have to wait too long and couldn't help but frown when he heard Perona's report.

  "Bloodliheory..."