Understanding

Even if Brook had regained his flesh-and-blood body, dealing with Baroque Works would not be easy. Besides, he was eager to see the whale Laboon, so in the end, he pointed Princess Vivi toward a clear path and told her to seek Yota’s help.

In Brook’s view, although Yota was somewhat utilitarian, he was still a decent person. If it was something he could help with easily, he would lend a hand.

Besides, he knew that Yota had always been collecting Devil Fruits. Baroque Works had quite a few Devil Fruit users. If they did not run into each other, Yota might not go out of his way to trouble them. But if they really crossed paths, Yota certainly would not mind collecting that unexpected windfall.

It had to be said that Brook had really been right this time. After meeting Princess Vivi, Yota had already decided to get involved in this matter.

The reason he asked Princess Vivi where she had gotten information about him was merely to satisfy his curiosity. In truth, no matter what, as long as Baroque Works dared to come after them, he would dare to drain every last one of their Devil Fruits.

"All right. Since Brook introduced you, tell me what trouble you’ve run into in a little while," Yota said.

"But for now, let’s deal with the trouble you brought along—the one floating in the sky."

As he spoke, Yota raised his head and saw a woman floating in the air beneath a parasol.

"Wahahaha! You actually dared to shelter traitors from Baroque Works. Little brother, you’ve got some nerve, don’t you?"

A fashionably dressed woman laughed from the sky.

"Be careful, Lord Yota! That’s a senior Baroque Works agent, Miss Valentine!" Princess Vivi immediately warned him.

Yota rolled his eyes. "What kind of trash is this? You dare talk to me like that? You’re the one with real nerve! Universal Pull!"

With a swoosh, Miss Valentine was dragged over by Universal Pull. Before she could react and adjust her weight, Yota had already seized her by the throat.

The fashionable beauty wore a completely bewildered expression. Feeling Yota’s hand clamped around her throat, she immediately began increasing her weight.

Then, with a crack, foam spilled from Miss Valentine’s mouth. Not only had she failed to break free from Yota’s grip, she had snapped her own neck…

Yota rolled his eyes. "Are you here to be funny? This is the first time I’ve seen someone commit suicide in such a novel way."

As he spoke, black mist swirled around his hand as he activated both the Munch-Munch Fruit and the Modification Fruit. He then tossed Miss Valentine onto the deck.

Miss Valentine touched her neck with a face full of terror. Only after a long while did she come to her senses. "I-I’m fine. I’m still alive!"

But when she looked up, she saw a Devil Fruit in Yota’s hand—the Light-Light Fruit she had once eaten!

Although the Light-Light Fruit and the Float-Float Fruit differed by only one word, the gap between them was as vast as heaven and earth.

The Float-Float Fruit could easily lift islands into the air, while the Light-Light Fruit could only control one’s own weight, and could only adjust it in kilograms.

In fact, Yota had even seen the superior version of the Light-Light Fruit: the Ton-Press Fruit, which could adjust one’s weight by the ton.

Although the Light-Light Fruit was of little use to Yota now, he still collected it. Money picked up along the road was a windfall no matter how little it was~~

"Isn’t that my Devil Fruit?" Miss Valentine said in shock. She immediately tried to activate her Devil Fruit abilities, only to discover that the Devil Fruit power she had once controlled as easily as her own limbs had vanished without a trace.

"That ability… You’re Marauder Yota! The super Great Pirate with a bounty of one billion!" Miss Valentine finally cried out. Then, her first reaction was to tightly cover her chest and curl herself into a ball.

Yota: "…"

So they really could not get over this, huh!

Yota could only roll his eyes helplessly at Miss Valentine for treating him like a pervert, then glanced at Charlotte Pudding.

Charlotte Pudding understood Yota’s meaning at once. She nodded, smiled lightly, and walked over to Miss Valentine. She reached out, grabbed her head, and gave a gentle pull, extracting Miss Valentine’s memories.

After briefly examining them, Charlotte Pudding placed the memories back into Miss Valentine’s head and said, "This woman is indeed an agent from an organization called Baroque Works."

Charlotte Pudding then organized the intelligence she had gathered and began explaining:

"Everyone in Baroque Works operates without using their real names. They all go by code names."

"Most chief officers have an opposite-sex partner. Male code names are Mr. plus a number, with smaller numbers indicating greater strength. Female code names are Miss plus a date or holiday."

"The goal their Leader claims to them is to annex Alabasta and build an ideal kingdom."

"Build an ideal kingdom? That does sound a bit like the Revolutionary Army," Violet said with a frown.

"But judging by how these people operate and their methods, they make me sick. They remind me of those people from the Donquixote Family."

"Don’t go smearing the Revolutionary Army," Yota said, rolling his eyes. "The Revolutionary Army does not overthrow countries for no reason. They only extend a hand to people mired in suffering… at least, they have not changed for the worse yet."

Then Yota turned his gaze toward Princess Vivi and Kamuret. "So these Baroque Works people are your enemies?"

Princess Vivi gritted her teeth. "That’s right. We suspect that Alabasta’s years of drought may all be the doing of Baroque Works using Dance Powder."

"Now, all of Alabasta is on the brink of collapse because there has been no rain."

At that, tears welled in Princess Vivi’s eyes. "Please, help save Alabasta. Even if I have to offer myself as payment…"

"Princess, sob sob sob, how could you make such a sacrifice?" Kamuret wept streams of tears like broad noodles, looking utterly heartbroken.

Yota: Are you people done? You just keep stabbing me in the heart, huh?

Just as Yota was about to explode with anger, a rumbling sound suddenly rang out. Princess Vivi’s ship erupted in a series of explosions, and many members of the guard ran about in panic.

Yota stretched out a hand and used his control over gravity to pull them all aboard the Azure Dragon. Then he watched as Princess Vivi’s ship slowly split into two and sank beneath the sea.