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Next up was Usopp.
His opponent was Mr. 4's partner, Miss Merry Christmas.
She had the Mole-Mole Fruit and could turn into a mole-human hybrid.
Her specialty? Digging tunnels.
At first, it was like a game of whack-a-mole for Usopp—he was running all over the place but couldn't land a single hit.
Worse, he even got injured after she launched a sneak attack from underground.
But when Bai Ye heard how Usopp eventually handled it, he couldn't help giving him a thumbs-up.
The whole thing could be summed up in one sentence:
All fear comes from lack of firepower.
Instead of trying to snipe her directly, Usopp bombarded the ground itself.
He started by flooding the tunnels with water-element bullets, then blasted them with fire and wind elements.
That flushed Miss Merry Christmas out in no time.
From there, it was simple—one lightning-element bullet finished the job.
As cool as the method was, Bai Ye still felt a little disappointed.
He had hoped Usopp might awaken Observation Haki during this battle.
But maybe the enemy was too weak, or maybe the gifts Bai Ye gave him were just too overpowered.
Either way, Bai Ye started wondering if he should crank up the intensity in Usopp's future training.
Dual-wielding Usopp was already pretty cool, but Bai Ye was holding out for the day God Usopp finally appeared.
Compared to Usopp, Nami's fight was way easier.
Her opponent did have a Devil Fruit power, but zero ranged attacks.
Against Nami, a pure magic-type fighter, that was just asking for a beatdown—especially with no defense.
One thing worth mentioning, though, was that Nami seemed to be getting more sensitive to the elemental forces in the air.
It looked like she might be on the verge of awakening Observation Haki—or maybe a similar natural ability.
Back when they blasted open Rain Dinners, Nami was already able to use her Clima-Tact to manipulate lightning.
That alone made Bai Ye curious to see just how far Nami could go.
A full-on element wielder aboard the Pirate King's ship? Not a bad idea.
So yeah, aside from Chopper (who had been busy taking care of Bai Ye), the rest of the crew all gained something from this mission.
Including Bai Ye himself.
After all, passing a "heart demon trial" as a cultivator didn't just improve your mental state—it was a huge step in cultivation.
Based on his own calculations, if he were to fight Gaji again now…
He wouldn't even need to pop any pills.
That thought made Bai Ye a little regretful.
At the time, when he used his final move, he was completely tapped out.
His slash might've missed the mark, which is probably why Gaji wasn't killed outright.
But that might be a good thing. At least no one died, which meant the Navy wouldn't turn it into a huge deal.
In this era of great piracy, if word got out that a rookie pirate killed a Navy Vice Admiral candidate…
The consequences would be massive—worldwide, even.
But if the guy's just severely injured but still alive, there's more room to maneuver.
So for now, Bai Ye's motto was: "Reckless, but not stupid."
The Straw Hats' main mission now was to lie low and recover in Alabasta for a while.
After all, cutting down a Vice Admiral like Gaji was bound to get the Navy's attention.
If they went out sailing now and happened to run into one of the Three Admirals... that'd be a disaster.
Luckily, the entire Alabasta royal family was covering for them, so this was the safest place to be right now.
Bai Ye even had Vivi spread the news that the Straw Hat crew had already left Alabasta.
That was his way of playing the information game—to buy them some extra time.
As he thought about all this, Bai Ye had an idea:
Maybe he should give Brian a call and test the waters on how the Navy was reacting to the Straw Hats right now.
What Bai Ye didn't know was—at that exact moment—Brian was already standing outside the Fleet Admiral's office.
Knock knock.
Brian stepped into the room and stood before Fleet Admiral Sengoku.
"Admiral, I think... you'll want to take a look at this."
"It's about Warlord Crocodile and the Straw Hat Pirates."
On the Red Force
Lucky Roo, munching on a massive drumstick, waved a freshly printed newspaper and called out to a red-haired man:
"Hey, Captain! Looks like that kid Luffy and his crew made some big headlines!"
When everyone on the ship heard there was news about Luffy, they all gathered around.
Right there on the front page was a bold headline:
"Warlord Tries to Steal a Country—Gets Owned by Rookie Pirates from East Blue!"
"Whoa whoa whoa, is this a joke or what?"
Out on the Grand Line, the ship of one of the Four Emperors was cutting through the waves in a single direction.
In Dressrosa, inside a lavish room—
"Fufufufu… That guy really tried to steal a kingdom?"
A man wearing sunglasses, golden hair, a pink feather coat, cropped pants, and pointy shoes sat at the head of the room, legs crossed.
His grin was hard to read—was it mockery or something else?
"What a pity, Crocodile."
Looking at the paper with Crocodile getting wrecked, Doflamingo muttered:
"I was hoping we could work together, fufufufufu…"
Then his gaze shifted to another photo—
It was of a young man in a straw hat, laughing his head off.
"Monkey D. Luffy, huh?"
Doflamingo said under his breath:
"You've done something amazing, fufufufufu…"
"This ocean's getting more and more fun."
"I almost want to destroy it all!"
Suddenly, Doflamingo seemed to remember something, and his laughter grew louder and more manic:
"Now those old fossils will really have a headache."
"Fufufufufufu!!"
Holy Land Mary Geoise, atop the Red Line
The highest authority in the world resided here.
This was the domain of the World Nobles—the Celestial Dragons, whom Bai Ye referred to as pigs in human clothes.
Also home to the World Government and the Five Elders—the top decision-makers in the world.
Inside a grand hall that radiated ultimate power, five people sat facing each other.
"So Cobra… is pressuring the World Government now?"
Inside a dimly lit room, an old man wearing a black suit, with curly white hair, a fluffy white beard, a scar on his left cheek, and a flat hat on his head, slowly opened his mouth.
"Yeah, that guy might've acted unusually tough this time, but it's not something we can't handle."
Another old man, dressed in a dark blue suit, with long, straight white hair and three ridiculously long strands of beard, added:
"Nefeltari might be one of the original twenty royal families, but since they gave up their Celestial Dragon status on their own, they're not worth wasting too much of our time."
"Besides, the terms he asked for aren't unreasonable."
"....."