"Whatever you need, the World Government can provide it," Vivi assured confidently.

Though Arabasta's resources couldn't be transported across, the World Government was another story; they could definitely get things across.

"Good. I need ten cannons and a thousand muskets," Kyoshiro requested.

"No problem!" Vivi agreed without hesitation.

The World Government had plenty of weapons to spare and wasn't concerned about the cost. She could even make a small profit by acting as an intermediary between Kyoshiro and Old Van.

Half a month later, a warship without a flag discreetly arrived in this isolated country. Vivi introduced Old Van to Kyoshiro, and they successfully completed their first transaction.

Having not yet driven away Kaidou, the wolf, and now inviting in the World Government, the tiger, it was unclear whether this was beneficial to Wano. But Vivi didn't have to think about it. It wasn't even Kyoshiro's problem to think about. With the people of Wano on the verge of starvation and no one capable of defeating Kaidou, the involvement of the World Government was a necessary measure.

Helping Kyoshiro wasn't just an act of charity. He had paid a considerable amount of Gold for it.

Kyoshiro also hinted that he would help take care of Otsuru and Otama at the clinic.

Vivi wanted to take Otama with her, but the young girl couldn't bear to leave the villagers of Amigasa Village and Okobore Town, her Master Tenguyama Hitetsu, and the land that raised her. With some reluctance, Vivi let her stay.

She left a plethora of notes and passed on all her medical knowledge to Otama. In her opinion, being a doctor was better than being a pirate or a bewitching kunoichi. With the sumo wrestlers openly protecting her and Kyoshiro secretly watching over her, even if the Flower Capital wasn't entirely peaceful, Vivi thought it was safe enough.

...

Half a month later, Vivi finally made her way back to Torrance Town.

As soon as she disembarked, she ran to the inn and called out, "Karoo!"

"Quack!!!" The duck dropped its cards and rushed out of the inn, giving Vivi a big hug!

Vivi thanked the young lady at the inn for taking care of Karoo. Then she and the duck secretly boarded the warship.

Now that everything was settled, it was time to go home.

With Karoo by her side, Vivi felt more confident and began to train using Yamato's method of wearing the Seastone handcuffs for a "weight-bearing" training session.

Wano's Seastone handcuffs varied in purity. Yamato's handcuffs had a relatively low Seastone purity, much lower than those used by the Marines to restrain Devil Fruit users. Vivi had Old Van obtain three sets of handcuffs for her, each with varying degrees of purity.

"Aiyoh!" The moment she put on the handcuffs, even on one hand, she felt extremely weak. She could not even muster the strength to draw her sword, let alone perform an 'Ikoku' move.

She staggered to the left with her handcuffs. Her head was buzzing and Karoo's quacking seemed far away. She felt completely drained and dizzy.

Gritting her teeth, she managed to take three steps to the right after remembering Yamato's resilience.

After holding on for a minute, however, she weakly asked Karoo, "Quick, Karoo, help me get them off!"

Once free of the cuffs, she quickly returned to her normal state and exchanged a baffled look with Karoo.

Vivi's heart sank at the thought of her momentary weakness: "I'm not in good shape today. There'll be no more training today. How about we play Go instead?"

She gave up this method of training. She realized that her determination paled in comparison to the "pure man" Yamato.

It was too inefficient and time-consuming. She reasoned that her time would be better spent practicing Haki or developing her Devil Fruit abilities.

Yamato's handcuffs were made of low-purity Seastone. Vivi thought that if she were to use the high-purity Seastone handcuffs used by the Marines, she probably wouldn't be able to handle them either.

Of course, she wasn't entirely sure if that was true.

Old Van's ship, flying the flag of the World Government, passed through the seas without much trouble, as most pirate ships didn't dare to provoke them. They left the Prodence Kingdom and entered the territory of Dressrosa.

Old Van couldn't escort Vivi all the way home. In public, he had duties as a CP9 agent, and the ship's crew list didn't include a certain Desert Princess.

Just getting her to the well-connected Dressrosa was quite an accomplishment.

Vivi and Old Van's relationship had to remain secret, so she had to find another ship to cross the Red Line and return to Whisky Peak.

'Geez, this is really troublesome.'

The hassle of changing ships and traveling back and forth was inconvenient for her. If she planned to stay hidden in Whisky Peak afterwards, it wouldn't be a problem, but she still had to rescue Yamato, which meant she would have to make another round trip.

She looked at her companion, the duck Karoo, who also looked back at her.

"We should find the whale Laboon!" Vivi mused. "Laboon must be a very, very big whale. Next time we come here, we could live in Laboon's stomach and cross the Red Line from Fish-Man Island!"

Karoo didn't quite understand the details, but the duck was excited at the prospect of having another little brother. It raised its right wing and quacked twice in approval.

Vivi considered the idea of recruiting Laboon. To do that, she would have to rescue Brook, who had eaten the Yomi Yomi no Mi (Revive-Revive Fruit). Brook was likely still on the Thriller Bark at this moment.

Rescuing this "person" meant facing another member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Gecko Moria, who possessed the Kage Kage no Mi (Shadow-Shadow Fruit).

Vivi no longer feared the Seven Warlords of the Sea as she had when she first came to this world. She believed that Gecko Moria was one of the weakest of the Seven Warlords. With his lack of spirit, conviction, and fighting skills, she was confident that she wouldn't lose a one-on-one fight with him.

But facing Moria's numerous underlings was an entirely different matter. What could she do? She had only one timid duck on her side.

Call Ace for help? She shook her head quickly. Ace shouldn't refuse, but there was just too much trouble with this guy.

Vivi quickly thought of the "Captain John's Treasure" she had once used to trick Buggy the Clown. Fighting alone was difficult, but with the numerous and expanded Baroque Works, it would be much easier. The organization had been established for several years and had recently expanded its workforce. Organizing a treasure-hunting team-building activity seemed reasonable, didn't it?

Just making claims wouldn't work. Saying that there were clues to Captain John's treasure on the Thriller Bark ship? No one would believe that! She wouldn't be able to convince her "good sister" Nico Robin without some concrete evidence.

Vivi decided to visit Thriller Bark herself after much deliberation. There was no need for a thorough investigation; a simple photo of the zombified Captain John would suffice. With the photo as key evidence, she could then complete the task set by Nico Robin.

The photo was the crucial clue that would confirm Captain John's whereabouts. With it, she could eagerly await the Baroque Works team-building activity. 

After all, the pitiful, weak, and helpless Miss Wednesday couldn't possibly defeat a member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea on her own, could she?

(End of Wano Arc)

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Kisshot

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