Luffy was apologizing, but his face remained completely indifferent.
Carina was the first to lose her patience. She slammed a fist into him, and in an instant, Sanji and Buggy joined in the fray.
The thousands of Alabasta Marines surrounding the hotel watched this scene, utterly dumbfounded.
'Are these pirates all just idiots?'
Inevitably, the tension that had gripped the soldiers began to fade.
And this was exactly the result Carina wanted.
The four of them, who had been brawling moments ago, suddenly leaped from the third floor, charging toward the weakest point in the encirclement. In a single clash, over fifty men were sent flying. Their breakthrough was utterly overwhelming, carving through the ranks like a hot knife through butter.
This created a nightmare for the snipers stationed at the high points. Because Luffy and the others were tangled in a chaotic melee with the kingdom's marine, the snipers found it nearly impossible to take a shot without risking friendly fire.
In fact, it wasn't just the snipers; Vivi also frowned.
Although she had developed the Suna Suna no Mi quite well, the fruit lacked precision. Almost all of her attacks were large-scale maneuvers, making it impossible for her to strike the chaotic group without hitting her own men.
"All Marines! Stop tangling with the Straw Hat Pirates! Spread out and clear the area immediately!"
"Yes, Princess!"
The Alabasta Marines acted instantly upon receiving the order. They stopped trying to swarm the Straw Hat Pirates and retreated, gradually opening up the battlefield.
A chaotic brawl... that was the scenario Carina hoped for.
Vivi, however, did the exact opposite. She knew very well that the Alabasta Marines were no match for the Straw Hat crew in a close-quarters fight. With the snipers restricted, there was a high probability the four pirates would simply smash their way through and escape.
That could not happen.
If they couldn't win in hand-to-hand combat, they would simply remove the obstacles. Once the field was clear, the hundreds of prepared snipers—and Vivi herself—could strike without hesitation.
Of course, as the brain of the Straw Hat Pirates, Carina understood this perfectly.
The moment the Marines began to disperse, she reacted. She didn't use the gaps in the perimeter to flee; instead, she pushed deeper into the circular formation. Her goal was to keep the Alabasta Marines entangled, waiting for the perfect moment to make a final break for it.
Growing impatient, Vivi stomped her foot and activated the Rokushiki technique: Soru.
Having followed Sean for over a year, Vivi had focused primarily on developing her Devil Fruit, but thanks to a daily regimen of No. 3 meat jerky and consistent training, her Doriki had already surpassed 3,000. Her physical combat skills were far from lacking; she was effectively at the level of a Marine Vice Admiral from Headquarters.
Combined with the elemental intangibility of a Logia, she was nearly invincible in close combat—unless her opponent discovered the weakness of the Suna Suna no Mi, or possessed Seastone or Armament Haki.
As it happened, among the current Straw Hat crew, only Luffy had a preliminary awakening of Armament Haki from his time studying under Zephyr. The others had no Haki at all.
Therefore, Vivi's objective was clear: take down the other three first.
She focused on Carina, who was directing the crew's actions. Once Carina was dealt with, handling Luffy would be easy. After all, Sean had mentioned that this guy's IQ was in the negatives.
While Carina was intelligent, her weakness was glaringly obvious: she was weak. Far too weak.
Because of this, when Vivi moved with Soru, Carina didn't even notice her. Since she couldn't see the attack, she couldn't possibly counter it.
Before she even realized she was under attack, Carina felt a sudden impact on the back of her neck and collapsed instantly.
Vivi's next target was Sanji.
It had to be admitted that this man lived up to his status as a member of the original protagonist group. Even though he was significantly weaker than Vivi now, he reacted instantly to the attack coming from behind and managed to dodge, avoiding the immediate knockout that had claimed Carina.
However, he had a weakness of his own.
The moment he turned around and saw who had attacked him, his eyes transformed into hearts. He completely forgot that he was in the middle of a battle.
Vivi seized the moment and delivered a powerful kick, sending him flying dozens of meters away. She controlled the force perfectly, kicking Sanji directly into a group of Alabasta Marines.
Before Sanji could recover, the Marines swarmed him, slapping Seastone handcuffs and shackles onto his wrists and ankles. While Sanji wasn't an Ability User and the Seastone didn't drain his strength, the metal was among the hardest substances in the pirate world. Once locked, there was no way he could break free using mere brute force.
With the second person dealt with, Vivi turned her gaze to the third.
Buggy!
At that moment, Buggy was floating in the air, raining knives down upon the Alabasta Marines. While he was a nuisance, like the previous two, he had a weakness.
Vivi noticed his feet, which remained on the ground.
She signaled a few nearby Marines and pointed toward the feet. The soldiers understood immediately and rushed forward with Seastone. Piling on top of each other like a human tower, they pinned Buggy's feet to the ground and quickly locked them in Seastone shackles.
In an instant, the man who had been enjoying himself while throwing knives from the sky felt his strength vanish. He plummeted to the earth. More Seastone restraints were promptly slapped onto Buggy's body.
From the moment Vivi started moving, less than thirty seconds had passed, and everyone in the Straw Hat Pirates except Luffy had been neutralized.
Luffy, after knocking away two nearby Marines, charged straight toward Vivi.
"Everyone, scatter!" Vivi shouted.
This was exactly what she had been waiting for. Sean had told her that Luffy's intelligence was practically non-existent. Without Carina to provide tactical direction, he had no concept of strategy.
By ordering the Marines to clear the area once more, Vivi ensured she could unleash her full power without any restraint.
A torrent of sand erupted from the pouch at her waist. This was no ordinary sand.
By utilizing the powers of the Suna Suna no Mi, Vivi had refined ordinary sand into Corundum Sand. Its hardness was only a fraction less than that of Jozu's diamonds. However, the refinement process was tedious and time-consuming, making it impossible to perform in the heat of battle. Consequently, Vivi had to refine a set amount in advance and carry it with her at all times.
In the next instant, Luffy, who had been charging toward Vivi, suddenly crashed face-first into the ground with a loud thud.
While it looked bizarre, a closer look revealed that Luffy's legs had been bound by a ring of sand, tight as a rope.
Vivi had no intention of stopping there. Her master, Sean, had told her countless times about the importance of finishing the job—a lesson Vivi had etched deep into her instincts.
Almost the same moment Luffy fell, more ropes made of Corundum Sand appeared, snapping around his neck, wrists, and waist. He was pinned firmly to the ground, unable to move an inch.
"Go! Put the Seastone shackles on him!"
"Yes, Princess!"
Once the Seastone shackles were on, Luffy would completely lose any possibility of resistance.
Just as it seemed this operation was about to end in total victory, something happened.
A figure plummeted from the sky with blinding speed, smashing down directly beside Luffy. The resulting shockwave was so powerful that it forced the surrounding Alabasta Marines to stagger back at least ten paces.
Vivi's brow furrowed instantly. She recognized the newcomer immediately.
The Vice Admiral of Headquarters, the man known as the Hero of the Marines—Monkey D. Garp.
More importantly, Garp was Luffy's own grandfather.
As for why he had come... did she even need to guess?
'That guy Kizaru... really is unreliable!'
Vivi felt a surge of anxiety. If Garp was determined to rescue Luffy, she and the entire Alabasta Second Fleet—all 18,000 men—would be unable to stop him.
"Bwahaha! Little girl of Alabasta, this brat is the culprit of the Enies Lobby incident, after all. How about I take him back to Headquarters?"
"Take him back to Headquarters..."
Vivi nearly laughed out of sheer frustration. If the culprit of the Enies Lobby incident were truly taken back to Headquarters, it would undoubtedly mean a death sentence.
'As his grandfather, would you really be okay with that?'
She suspected that halfway there, the Straw Hat Pirates would somehow "miraculously" escape again for some inexplicable reason.
Still, Garp was technically Sean's "savior." Although no one actually knew the truth—that even if Garp hadn't gone to that deserted island, Sean would have eventually escaped using his own strength—in the eyes of everyone else, Garp had saved Sean's life.
This left Vivi in a difficult position.
After a moment of thought, she pulled out a Den Den Mushi.
'Forget it, I'll let Brother Sean decide!'
If Sean didn't agree to let Luffy go, they could use Blueno's ability to bring reinforcements in an instant. If that happened, even Garp...
...would find it impossible to rescue Luffy.