Chapter 303: Planning
As expected, Mr. 3 had no time to react to such a sudden and violent attack.
Fragments of hardened wax and stone tore through the air like cannon fire and slammed into him.
"Gah!"
Mr. 3 was thrown backward.
The impact sent sharp pain through his body. His wax defenses absorbed part of the force, but they could not completely protect him from an attack of that scale.
By the time he crashed to the ground, he had already suffered serious injuries.
Miss Goldenweek took one look at the situation and immediately began moving in the opposite direction.
She intended to leave.
Unfortunately, the house had already been demolished by Mr. 3's own wax, leaving nowhere to hide.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Axel's voice came from behind her.
Miss Goldenweek stopped.
She slowly turned around, then pointed toward the distance with one finger, silently indicating that she would very much like to leave.
Axel walked toward her.
"Where's the Log Pose?"
Miss Goldenweek immediately reached into her bag.
There was no hesitation this time.
She pulled out the Log Pose leading to Drum Island and handed it over.
Axel took it.
This was the reason he had remained on Whiskey Peak.
His body desperately needed treatment.
Over the past three years, he had traveled across much of the Grand Line, searching for doctors and possible solutions to his condition.
Nothing had worked.
His body had continued deteriorating little by little.
Among the doctors Axel knew of in this world, only a handful were remarkable enough to possibly help him.
Tony Tony Chopper.
Doctor Hogback, who would eventually work alongside Gecko Moria.
Doc Q of the Blackbeard Pirates.
Emporio Ivankov of the Revolutionary Army.
Trafalgar Law, the wielder of the Op-Op Fruit.
Dr. Kureha, Chopper's mentor.
And Crocus, the former doctor of the Roger Pirates.
But several of those choices were currently impossible.
Chopper had not yet completed his medical training.
Doc Q was known more for spreading death than curing disease. Asking him for treatment hardly sounded wise.
Ivankov had already disappeared into Impel Down at some unknown point. In Axel's current condition, deliberately infiltrating the World Government's greatest prison simply to find him was out of the question.
Then there was Law.
At this point in time, Law was still connected to Doflamingo.
Going after him carelessly could draw Doflamingo's attention.
And after what had already happened between them, the Warlord would hardly ignore an opportunity to eliminate Axel.
Axel did not particularly fear Doflamingo's strength.
The problem was his own body.
A prolonged battle was exactly what he needed to avoid.
For now, Drum Island was the most practical destination.
While Axel examined the Log Pose, Miss Goldenweek quietly began moving again.
One careful step.
Then another.
Nearby, Mr. 3 had apparently reached the same conclusion.
Still badly injured, he produced a thin layer of wax beneath himself and began dragging his body away as quietly as possible.
Neither dared move quickly enough to attract attention.
Axel noticed.
He did nothing.
It almost seemed as though he had decided to let them leave.
Vivi, however, could not understand it.
"You're seriously just going to let them go?!"
This time, she no longer bothered maintaining the pretense of Miss Wednesday.
The situation had already gone too far.
Baroque Works might not have questioned her private contact with Axel before, but after everything that had happened here, even a basic investigation could expose her sooner or later.
The moment she had chosen to approach Axel, Vivi had already understood that possibility.
Axel continued studying the Log Pose.
"What would you prefer I do?"
"Kill them!"
Mr. 3 stopped crawling.
Miss Goldenweek stopped walking.
Both slowly looked toward Vivi.
Axel glanced at her.
"Kill them?"
"Yes!"
Vivi pointed toward the escaping pair.
"Isn't that what you've been doing this whole time?"
By now, even someone completely oblivious would have noticed.
Several bounty hunters had died since Axel arrived.
The survivors feared him for a reason.
So why had he shown no hesitation killing those people, only to suddenly become merciful toward Mr. 3 and Miss Goldenweek?
Axel looked unconcerned.
"Killing the bounty hunters earlier was simply using evil against evil."
"This situation is different."
Vivi frowned.
"How is it different?"
"Killing these two gives me nothing."
Axel lifted the Log Pose slightly.
"I already have what I wanted."
Mr. 3 and Miss Goldenweek listened very carefully.
Axel continued.
"Leaving them alive, however, may be useful when the Marines arrive."
Vivi's expression changed.
"The Marines?"
"My presence on Whiskey Peak has almost certainly been reported by now."
Axel glanced toward the town.
"There are too many bounty hunters here, and too much money attached to information about me."
"If the Marines arrive after I leave, what will they do?"
Vivi thought for a moment.
Axel answered for her.
"They'll question everyone who saw me."
"And if they learn that Mr. 3 and Miss Goldenweek fought me directly, who do you think they'll question most carefully?"
Vivi understood where he was going.
But she immediately found a problem.
"Then wouldn't keeping them alive be worse?"
"You demanded a Log Pose to Drum Island."
She pointed toward the object in his hand.
"They know exactly where you're going."
Axel nodded.
"They do."
Vivi stared at him.
"Then what stops them from telling the Marines?"
"The rules of Baroque Works."
Mr. 3's face stiffened slightly.
Axel continued as though he had not noticed.
"Failure isn't tolerated."
"Mr. 3 already failed his mission."
"He came here to recruit me, failed, lost the Log Pose, and was defeated."
Axel looked toward him.
"Do you think he wants to fail again?"
Mr. 3 said nothing.
"As a Senior Agent, he knows Crocodile's identity."
Axel continued.
"If he then cooperates with the Marines and gives them information, what does that make him?"
"A subordinate who publicly embarrasses his own Boss."
"Perhaps Crocodile could forgive one failed recruitment attempt."
"But helping the Marines after that?"
Axel shook his head.
"I doubt there would be another chance."
Vivi fell silent.
She had not spent long inside Baroque Works, but she knew enough to understand that Axel was right.
Failure was dangerous.
Betrayal was worse.
Mr. 3 could lie to the Marines.
He could claim Axel had gone elsewhere.
He could pretend not to know.
He could fabricate an entirely different destination.
Anything was safer than admitting he had handed Axel exactly what he needed before losing.
Vivi still refused to concede.
"How do you know the Marines will believe them?"
"I don't."
Axel answered immediately.
Vivi paused.
"I can't guarantee that they'll believe anything Mr. 3 says."
Axel turned the Log Pose in his hand.
"But they don't need to."
"All I need is interference."
"A false lead."
"A delay."
"Something that forces them to spend time verifying information instead of following me directly."
"That's enough."
Vivi frowned.
"Then what stops these two from simply leaving Whiskey Peak before the Marines arrive?"
"Nothing."
Axel smiled faintly.
"Except the fact that I'm going to destroy every ship on the island first."
Mr. 3's face changed.
Miss Goldenweek stopped moving altogether.
Vivi stared at him.
"Every ship?"
"Yes."
Axel spoke as though it were the most ordinary thing in the world.
"Tell me, how quickly can the people on this island build a vessel capable of surviving the Grand Line?"
"A few hours?"
"A day?"
He shook his head.
"Ten days would already be optimistic."
"Maybe someone somewhere could build one faster."
"But the people here can't."
Vivi stared at him in silence.
Every time she thought she had found a flaw in Axel's reasoning, he had already considered it.
It was deeply irritating.
She crossed her arms.
"Then aren't you worried about me?"
Axel looked at her.
"I know you're going to Drum Island now."
"What if I tell the Marines?"
"You won't."
His answer came so quickly that Vivi almost took offense.
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because your identity is already compromised."
Vivi's expression hardened.
Axel continued calmly.
"You approached me because you wanted help against Crocodile."
"After what happened here, Baroque Works will investigate you sooner or later."
"And once Crocodile starts looking closely, how long do you think your disguise will survive?"
Vivi said nothing.
"At this point, you've already placed your bet."
Axel gestured toward himself.
"On me."
"You have no better option."
Vivi's hands tightened.
"That's not true."
"Maybe not yet."
Axel conceded the point.
"Perhaps you could still find someone else before Alabasta collapses."
His gaze sharpened slightly.
"But do you think Crocodile will give you enough time?"
Vivi's expression changed.
That question struck much closer to the truth.
Crocodile was cautious.
Painfully cautious.
He preferred preparation over improvisation.
Before carrying out a plan, he removed variables that might threaten it.
Even within Baroque Works, he rarely appeared personally. He moved through subordinates, kept his identity hidden, and remained behind the scenes whenever possible.
If he discovered Vivi's true identity...
Would he simply allow the princess of Alabasta to continue moving freely?
Of course not.
Vivi already knew the answer.
That was precisely why Axel's words frustrated her so much.
She looked at him with open annoyance.
"Has anyone ever told you that you're incredibly detestable?"
"Yes."
Axel answered without hesitation.
Then he looked toward the horizon.
"Maybe that's one reason the Marines haven't managed to catch me for three years."
Vivi stared at him, unable to decide whether that was a joke.
Nearby, Mr. 3 and Miss Goldenweek quietly released the breaths they had been holding.
Whatever Axel intended to do next, at least one thing was clear.
For now, they were still alive.
....
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