The Pirate Princess Becomes Queen

Chapter Eight: I'm Not Bad at Directions

Neither the bounty hunters nor the pirates on the battlefield noticed that the pet duck Karu was traversing the battlefield with an unwavering gait.

The battle between the woman and the strong man was just a microcosm; the entire town was engulfed in carnage. These pirates, who had managed to storm the Grand Line from all corners of the world, even when defeated by the bounty hunters' fine wine and delicacies, still had some power to fight back in the face of death. The bright moonlight shone on the earth, and in the light mist, the pirates unleashed all their potential for a final stand.

Wearing a blue striped cotton hat, the duck Karu was incredibly fast. Standing at 1.5 meters tall, it was like a bolt of lightning. With its long legs, it ran from east to west and from north to south. Many bounty hunters and pirates saw it. However, the bounty hunters knew that it was the pet of the town's four big bosses, so they were not surprised. The pirates, on the other hand, were too busy to care about anything else. In this life-or-death situation, survival was the priority, and they had no time to pay attention to such trivial matters.

The duck's facial expressions are very human-like. It will be afraid when it sees swords clashing, and it will be very panicked when it sees guns firing at each other. It will feel fortunate to escape from the fighting, and when it rushes back into the battlefield, it will show that tearful expression.

From the air, the town's forces automatically divide into three parts: the bounty hunters who hold an absolute advantage, the pirates who are fighting back, and a duck that is running around aimlessly.

The duck may seem to be running around randomly, but that's not actually the case. If you were to mark its running path, you would find that its route is extremely scientific, and it never goes back the way it came. Whenever the battle gets intense enough, it will appear like a golden flash, pick up something, and then leave with a strange expression.

Four hours before dawn, all the pirates who had come to Whiskey Mountain were taken down.

From the captain, second mate, bosun, and commando to the ship's handymen, not a single one escaped; they lay scattered haphazardly on the ground.

Princess Vivi and the middle-aged man Icarus, along with many other bounty hunters, gathered in a circle to share their spoils.

All the supplies the pirates purchased from the "Prince Magical Items and Special Products Shop" have been put into storage, so they can still be used when the next batch of pirates arrives.

All the pirates' personal belongings were confiscated; swords, ammunition, gold and silver treasures, including their pirate ships, all had to be handed over to Baroque Works headquarters.

Of course, bounty hunters' integrity is completely unreliable. It's understandable that they might steal some items while looting corpses. Vivi, for example, kept over 150,000 Berries for herself. Adding another 20-30% to the total amount of supplies handed over is also reasonable. This is a problem that even if you brought in the Five Elders to lead Whiskey Mountain, let alone Nico Robin or Crocodile, they'd still be out of luck...

The only pity was the pirate ship. That thing was too big, and there was nowhere to hide it. Under the cover of night, it was no use to secretly saw off a couple of planks on the ship. They had no choice but to hand them over.

The corpses were examined one by one. Several bodies with bounties were kept, while the bodies of the pirates without bounties were burned and their ashes buried at the top of Whiskey Mountain.

Vivi took all the surviving pirates away. She was going to teach them how to play a card game to contribute to her stats and, incidentally, help the duck achieve a 100-win record.

In any other world, her behavior would definitely be considered a quirk that would require treatment, but in the world of One Piece, it's perfectly normal; there are plenty of people even stranger than her.

The bounty hunters of Whiskey Hill were extremely skilled at the process of killing, looting, cremating, and scattering ashes. Less than an hour after the killings were over, they had already taken care of the pirates who had come from afar.

Under the moonlight, everyone went home, putting away their blood-stained swords and clothes, waiting for the next batch of easy prey to come.

......

The arrival of the pirates caused Vivi's skill attributes to increase dramatically. In order to master these skills, she secretly trained with the old retainer Icarum on the other side of the town, without telling the bounty hunters on the island.

She has acquired quite a few combat skills, and now she needs to train and fight to turn this knowledge into her instincts.

One after the other, the two figures darted through the dense forest like ninjas. Vivi, who was in front, kept looking around, but she couldn't find anything. Her running could only be described as running around aimlessly.

The girl was agile, with long, light blue hair flowing in the wind. Her expression was focused, and her eyes were fixed straight ahead, as if there were some mortal enemies there.

A sudden cough broke the silence.

With his strange curly hair and towering two meters tall, Mr. 8 Icarus pointed helplessly to the girl's left front at a ninety-degree angle, saying, "Princess! West, is that west? This is the real west! Cough cough, Mom—Mom—"

The girl's expression shifted from serious to realization, then from realization to embarrassment. She scratched her head sheepishly and pointed ahead, "Icarum, then... then this side must be south, right?"

Icarum covered his face tightly, his voice low and dejected: "Princess Vivi, that's north. Our training tonight was from the north... Have you forgotten?"

Weiwei was speechless for a few seconds, then lowered her head in disappointment. How could she, such an experienced driver, become a terrible navigator after transmigrating? But there was nothing she could do. Much of her knowledge from her previous life was useless. Here, the North Star was not visible at night, the climate was abnormal, the direction where the trees were sparse was not necessarily north, the alternation of hot and cold was completely irregular, and the direction in which the snow melted first was not necessarily south.

Ikaram possesses a whole set of skills for judging direction based on his rich life experience. He incorporates a whole host of data, such as rivers, ridges, time, and his own location, into his deductions, and finally arrives at a relatively accurate direction.

Locals who have lived and died here for their entire lives will never get lost. Pirates and naval personnel who travel all over the world have dedicated navigators and will also never get lost. It doesn't matter whether heroes like Luffy or Zoro get lost or not; they rely on their recklessness.

Everyone else was fine, but the newcomers from other places were completely lost.

The climate in this pirate world is already very strange, like the equator. The Grand Line, located between the East Blue and the South Blue, is even stranger. The geomagnetism, celestial phenomena, and ocean currents are all in chaos. The little geography knowledge Vivi learned in her previous life is completely useless. She adapts quickly to language, customs, and lifestyle, but she has been confused about geography for more than half a month.

"Sigh..." She sighed softly. She didn't have the skill of judging direction by experience at the moment. It was too complicated and made her dizzy just thinking about it. It seemed that she would have to maintain her terrible sense of direction for quite some time.

Chapter Nine: Headquarters Orders

"Uluru, urulu..."

"whee......"

"Heheka, heheka..."

Laughter could be heard from her side from time to time, and the girl Weiwei almost broke out in a well shape on her forehead. The ability to "listen to all things" was greatly interfering with her.

The sounds conveyed to her by the river, trees, and rocks are different from the sounds of the outside world. Often, they appear directly in her mind and are very likely to be misinterpreted by her brain as her own thoughts.

What's the use of this talent? I really can't see how it's used yet.

It's unrealistic to imagine it as a cheat code that gives you "notices" or "unique annotations." These "guys" are particularly mischievous and always causing trouble! They give you directions randomly! One says go left, another says go right, and after giving directions, they just stand by and watch the show. My terrible sense of direction is 10% my fault, 30% the fault of the environment, and the remaining 60% is the result of these "guys" giving me random directions!

After mistaking the location for the seventh time, Weiwei knew that tonight's training was over. She waved her hand dejectedly and said, "Let's go back and rest."

......

For a month, three groups of pirates came into the sights of the Whiskey Mountain bounty hunters.

The first two waves of pirates were captured, and they didn't dare to provoke the third wave. They had more than ten ships, and the entire pirate crew numbered over five hundred people, which looked very formidable. Keep in mind that the bounty hunters of Whiskey Mountain only numbered around a hundred. They couldn't handle a pirate crew that was too large. There might even be Devil Fruit users in such a pirate crew. When watching anime, you might think that Devil Fruit users are everywhere, but in reality, they are extremely rare. Ordinary people have a very high chance of never seeing a Devil Fruit user in their entire lives.

Mr. 8, Mr. 9, and Ms. Monday were just coasting along, eating their fill and letting the night pass by. Vivi, on the other hand, had a rather fulfilling month. Her terrible sense of direction was still not resolved, but her swordsmanship had successfully reached level 4 (3/1000). This improvement wasn't a sudden flash of glory, but rather a gradual process.

Swordsmanship on Earth required skill, but in the world of One Piece, swordsmanship emphasizes strength. Without strength, no matter how good your swordsmanship is, you can't cut a mountain in half with one strike.

Just look at Zoro's moves and you'll know. Swordsmen, swordsmen, and sword masters don't need to think too much. They don't need to care about real moves or feints. No matter what's in front of them, they just draw their swords, add Haki, and slash. If one slash isn't enough, they'll just slash twice.

Vivi was the same. Every time she picked up a skill attribute related to combat, she felt that her physical attributes such as strength, speed, and endurance would increase slightly. There was no need to talk about any philosophy or spiritual realm. It was simple and straightforward: "If I strike you with this sword, you will die." That was enough!

After her swordsmanship reached level 4, her physical abilities were enough to completely overwhelm ten of her original selves when she first transmigrated.

Based on her self-assessment and some explanations from the old retainer Icarus, she estimated that her swordsmanship had reached a relatively high level. The captains of the escort teams of various countries, at least on the Grand Line, were basically at this level. Comparing them side by side, it was roughly the same as when Zoro first set sail.

Karu successfully completed his 100-win streak in the paper-breaking game, thanks to a hint from someone to the pirate prisoners, and received a +1 Agility bonus.

Vivi doesn't have such simple and intuitive attribute values. She can only indirectly improve her attributes through various skills. It's much simpler for the duck. After manifesting the agility attribute, it increased from the original 2 to 3. The increase was unbelievable. When it ran, you could see afterimages. Vivi tried it and found that when running in a straight line, she couldn't catch up with Karu at all.

A hundred-win streak wasn't the end; there seemed to be a thousand-win streak to come, and she estimated the reward would be even better. However, the thirty-odd pirates locked in the dungeon were almost sick of playing with paper and felt nauseous at the sight of it. She was worried that someone might sabotage Karu's winning streak, so she didn't press him too hard.

She developed games like marbles and tug-of-war, but unfortunately, the AI ​​panel didn't react at all to the duck's ten-game winning streak in these two games, so she could only continue to stubbornly play with paper.

......

It started raining in Whiskey Hill late at night, and the remaining blood at the dock was washed away by the rain.

Dark clouds gathered, and the rain pattered incessantly. The dense raindrops pounded on the trees, like an invisible giant hand pressing down on the treetops again and again. Without stubbornness or resistance, the trees were oppressed by the heavy rain and could only submit to the great power of heaven and earth, lowering their waists lower and lower still.

The harvest three days ago was mediocre. Everyone was on high alert for half a day, but in the end, only one pirate ship arrived.

Nine of the seventeen pirates were killed on the spot, and the remaining eight automatically joined the ranks of the paper-breaking tools.

The old retainer Icarus quietly approached Vivi and whispered, "Your Highness, oh wait! It's Wednesday. The pirates we dealt with three days ago seem to have more complicated identities. Headquarters has given us new orders."

At this moment, Vivi and Karu the duck were calculating their assets. Baroque Works wanted to overthrow their country, and she wanted to try her best to undermine them!

In just one month, she successfully increased her wealth from 500,000 Berries to 7 million Berries. At market price, adding another 3 million would theoretically be enough to buy a Grade 21 Great Sword.

Pirates are all bad guys, and bounty hunters who kill pirates are no better. It's common for them to line their own pockets. If Vivi weren't lacking in reputation and strength among bounty hunters, she would have dared to keep all the spoils.

Judging from Icarus's words now, it seems that his side killed some key figure? What can they do? They'll deal with whatever comes their way, and if they can't win, they'll just disband. Vivi doesn't feel any guilt at all.

She attended the meeting with an indifferent attitude. The hot-blooded Mr. 9 and the muscular Ms. Monday had been waiting for a while. Shortly after she arrived, Mr. 8 Ikaram, the oldest and highest-ranking member of Whiskey Hill, took out a Den Den Mushi.

Den Den Mushi are a type of animal in the One Piece world. They look somewhat like snails and are in a sleeping state when not in use, but awaken when connected. When talking to someone, they can perfectly mimic the speaker's facial expressions and tone of voice.

After Mr.8 Icarus answered the call, a somewhat cold female voice came from the other end.

After listening twice, Vivi was certain that the woman on the other end of the Den Den Mushi was the vice president of Baroque Works, the so-called "Devil's Child," Nico Robin, with a bounty of 7900 million Berries.

Nico Robin has not joined the Straw Hat crew, nor is she interested in telling dark jokes. She maintains a completely businesslike and serious attitude at work. Vivi did not speak, but listened attentively as the other party assigned a new task to the Whiskey Hill branch.

Chapter Ten: Unapproachable

"In one month, 20 million Berries were handed over and thirteen pirate ships were captured. Headquarters is very satisfied with the work of the senior agents of Whiskey Hill."

Nicole Robin has been eating at various people's homes since she was 8 years old, so she is an expert in understanding the nuances of human relationships. Often, her silence does not mean she is incapable of speaking; a few simple words can make even Vivi feel comfortable.

The vice president first gave the branch's performance a perfect score.

Nico Robin, on the other end of the Den Den Mushi, was also a little conflicted. As the vice president in charge of Baroque Works' daily operations, she had a lot of tasks to handle. Vivi and the others were constantly sending spoils to headquarters, and she was swamped trying to convert these spoils into essential supplies. For one thing, the thirteen pirate ships they had captured were a problem. Alabasta was a desert country; what would Baroque Works need so many ships for? To do maritime trade, dredging sand from the desert and selling it to others? They were poor and had no special products!

Nicole Robin gently rubbed her temples. This period had really exhausted her. From any perspective, the Whiskey Hill branch needed a break for a couple of days. It was just 996 every day, and she couldn't take it anymore.

She coughed lightly: "Ahem, headquarters is very satisfied with Whiskey Hill's performance recently. You've made Baroque Works a household name. During this period, the number of bounty hunters joining the Millionaires and Millionaires has increased significantly compared to a month ago."

The simple-minded Mr. 9 and Ms. Monday were beaming with joy, and Mr. 8, as an undercover agent, also seemed very happy. Only Vivi remained expressionless, guessing that the other party must have more to say.

Sure enough, Nicole Robin changed the subject: "But your actions have also brought more attention to the studio and attracted some unnecessary enemies."

Without much preamble, she went straight to the point: "On the pirate ship you captured yesterday, there was a citizen from the Kingdom of Kamabakka..."

Mr. 9, who is easily agitated, and Ms. Monday, a muscular and fierce woman, are both completely illiterate, as if they have never attended a literacy class. Although Vivi, the transmigrator, is not to the point of "I will stop watching One Piece after Roger died," she can talk about the three admirals, the four emperors, and the five elders in great detail. But when it comes to the Kingdom of Kaba, she is dumbfounded. Where is this?

All three looked at Mr. 8 Icarus. As the captain of the palace guard, Vivi felt that the old minister must know about this kingdom of Kaba.

“…Mother—” The old minister cleared his throat as if singing an opera, then asked with a strange expression, “It’s that…it’s that…that country that was once ruled by the miracle worker?!”

Nico Robin paused noticeably: "Although the King of Kamabakka has been imprisoned in Impel Down by the Navy, there are still quite a few... well, quite a few citizens living on that land... They call themselves Newtypes, and many countries on this side of the Grand Line call it the Land of Okama, the Land of Miracles... Mr. 0's orders to me were very clear: Baroque Works should not provoke the people of the Kamabakka Kingdom."

Mr. 0, the founder, is a legend at Baroque Works. Apart from Nicole Robin, the vice president in charge of daily operations, no one knows his true identity. At this moment, the veteran Mr. 8 heard that Mr. 0 was directly involved in the branch's work. He was full of questions, his eyes shining, as if he was thinking about the information revealed in this matter.

Nicole Robin said in a commanding tone, "From now on, all work on Whiskey Hill is suspended and moved underground. I will notify you when to resume operations."

Vivi tilted her head and thought for a moment. The Kingdom of Transvestites? An image of a man with a full beard but heavily made-up, wearing a short skirt that revealed his hairy legs, and flirting with everyone automatically popped into her mind. She couldn't help but shudder. Crocodile and Nico Robin's decision was correct, and she supported it unconditionally! Those guys were definitely not to be trifled with!

"During this period of hibernation, the headquarters has assigned the four of you the task of continuing to recruit renowned bounty hunters. I will provide you with a list later. In addition, I also have tasks to complete, such as treasure hunting, hiring ship repairmen, and weapons trading. Your hibernation period is five months. After five months, I will need to verify the tasks you have completed. If your contributions are insufficient... you know the consequences."

After leaving behind a threatening remark, Nicole Robin unilaterally hung up the phone.

Not long after, the Den Den Mushi, equipped with special parts, sent a file filled with names of recently rising bounty hunters.

The ship repair and treasure hunt missions don't seem to be in a hurry; the top priority right now is recruiting! The more the better.

The four of them looked at the list together. Originally, the population movement in the One Piece world was extremely slow, and many people never left the island where they were born in their entire lives. However, Gol D. Roger's words before his death unveiled the Great Pirate Era. Countless people set sail for it, just to find the elusive One Piece. Times have changed, and it is very difficult to find people based on their birthplace.

Nicole Robin's list for them mainly focused on two sea areas: the East China Sea and the South China Sea, which are adjacent to the Grand Line.

Vivi is paired with the passionate young man Mr. 9 on Wednesday, while the muscular woman is paired with the veteran Mr. 8 on Monday. This is the studio's arrangement, and they cannot be separated. Now it's up to them to choose.

Vivi quickly glanced through the list and soon determined her target: "I'm relatively weak, so Mr. 9 has to protect me. Let's go to the East China Sea, which is the weakest."

The old retainers were indifferent, not caring where they went. They immediately split the list in half and each set off on their own path to recruit bounty hunters for Baroque Works.