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"What… what do you want?!" Valentine glared at Logan, gritting her teeth.
Her face had gone completely pale from fear.
What kind of cursed day was this? She thought today's mission would be a simple one—then out of nowhere, a bunch of mysterious strangers showed up and completely wiped them out.
Was she about to end up like Mr. 5?!
Just one look at his charred corpse sent a shiver straight down her spine.
Logan stepped closer, towering over her, studying her from head to toe.
She wasn't on the level of Nami or Vivi—those were top-tier beauties—but she was still pretty enough. Yeah… worth taking.
"Relax. I'm not gonna kill you," Logan said casually.
Valentine exhaled in relief, as if she'd just been pardoned from execution.
As long as she stayed alive, she'd have a chance to escape.
"T-Then… what do you want from me?" she asked, forcing herself to sound braver than she felt.
He wasn't killing her, but he wasn't letting her go either—what the hell was he planning?
Logan's lips curled into a teasing smirk. "I want you to join my crew."
His tone left no room for argument. "If you join my pirate crew, I'll let bygones be bygones. Otherwise… his fate will be yours."
He tilted his chin toward Mr. 5's corpse. The threat couldn't be clearer.
Valentine froze. Sure, she was a "storyline beauty," but in Logan's eyes, she ranked way below Nami, Tashigi, and Vivi.
After all, as a Baroque Works assassin, she'd done plenty of shady things in the dark.
Logan didn't feel the slightest guilt about forcing her to submit—if anything, bringing her along might be a chance to set her straight.
At least under him, she wouldn't be hurting innocent people again.
Feeling the pressure of Logan's presence, Valentine instinctively shrank her neck like a frightened cat.
Join his crew? Was this some kind of twisted plot twist?!
Did he actually think she was strong? Or maybe he was just being merciful?
Yeah… maybe that was it.
But the moment she thought about the mysterious boss behind Baroque Works, dread clawed up her spine again.
She didn't even know who the boss was.
All she knew was that he controlled everything—from the shadows—and every single agent answered to him.
There's an old saying: You shouldn't fear a strong enemy. You should fear an enemy whose strength you can't even comprehend.
That described her boss perfectly.
If he ever found out she'd betrayed Baroque Works, she'd be lucky to die as cleanly as Mr. 5.
But faced with Logan's terrifying power, she didn't dare refuse outright.
"Um… sir, actually, I—"
"What?!"
Before she could finish, Logan moved his hand slightly. A spear made of pure lightning materialized out of thin air, its tip pressing against her forehead.
If she said a single wrong word, it would blow straight through her skull.
The air around her crackled with electricity. Her heart skipped a beat, and her face twitched uncontrollably.
Screw this—she wasn't dying over a paycheck!
"D-Don't kill me! I'll join! I'll join your crew!" she blurted out without hesitation.
One second later, the lightning spear vanished into thin air.
The suffocating pressure lifted. Valentine collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.
That was way too damn scary.
"Logan, you're amazing!!" Vivi's delighted voice rang out behind him, her tone unconsciously switching to a more affectionate one.
Her instincts had been right—Logan hadn't lied to her.
Two top Baroque Works agents, and he took them out effortlessly—one dead, one tamed.
Who could compare?
Logan smiled and gently patted her on the head. "Didn't I say it? Whatever happens to you is my business. Once we reach Alabasta, I'll take care of that damn Crocodile myself. Nobody pisses off my Princess Vivi and gets away with it."
"Mm!" Vivi's eyes sparkled as she wrapped her arm around his.
Watching how sweetly she clung to him, Logan couldn't help thinking—maybe it was about time to win her over completely.
He glanced back at the dazed Valentine.
Eh, one thing at a time.
He'd deal with Valentine first. Then once Robin joined up, he could have both her and Vivi around for some friendly "games."
"Valentine, hand me the Log Pose for Taigu Island."
"Oh… right." She instinctively nodded, pulling out the magnetic pointer. The needle was still wobbling slightly as she passed it to him.
Logan handed it to Nami. "Here. That's our next destination—don't lose it."
Sailing the Grand Line was such a pain in the ass.
Every new island needed a fresh Log Pose to guide them, or else they'd be sailing blind.
"This Log Pose isn't fully charged yet, right?" Nami frowned slightly.
"It'll be ready by tonight," Valentine said carefully.
Nami nodded. Not too bad.
At least it wasn't one of those islands that took months—or a year—to set. Those were the worst.
"Hmm?"
Logan suddenly looked up.
On a nearby rooftop, a sea otter and a falcon were staring right at them.
The otter was holding several portraits—incredibly detailed ones—of Logan and his crew.
"Nice artwork," Logan said with a smirk. "If that guy lived in my old world, he'd probably win an art award."
"You two?! The Unluckies?!" Valentine's eyes went wide as she recognized them.
Crap. That meant her betrayal had been recorded.
Their positions exposed, the sea otter stuffed the sketches away and leapt onto the falcon's back. Together, they flew off into the distance.
Logan watched them go, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"Robin… looks like we'll be meeting soon," he muttered.
"....."