Not long after, Shin'ya grabbed Luffy and the other two and brought them back to the Going Merry. He tossed them onto the deck, clapped his hands, and looked behind him, saying,
"Come out, you two. You've been following us since we left the tavern. Is there something you need from us?"
Nami was startled when she heard Shin'ya speaking to someone behind them. She immediately hid behind him, then looked in the direction they'd just come from. She saw two familiar faces: the mayor, Igaram, and Miss Wednesday.
Shin'ya looked at the two of them and said,
"Come aboard. Tell us what you need here." Then he turned to Nami,
"Nami, go wake up those three gluttons."
"Oh~ Okay."
Nami walked over to Luffy and the others. Seeing them still unconscious, she delivered several punches—bang, bang, bang. Instantly, their heads swelled up like pig heads, and the three of them were violently jolted awake.
Luffy and Usopp sat up, bewildered, clutching their swollen heads. They couldn't figure out why Nami hit them or why they were back on the Going Merry when just a moment ago, they were eating.
As for Sanji, the moment he saw it was Nami, he completely ignored the throbbing pain in his head. His eyes turned into hearts as he gazed at her, nearly exclaiming,
"Good hit! Hit me more!"
Nami coughed awkwardly,
"Cough, cough… Shin'ya told me to wake you up. This whole island is crawling with pirate hunters. You were drugged and knocked out. Shin'ya rescued you. Zoro's still fighting in the tavern, but when we came back, two people followed us. They seem to want something, so Shin'ya asked me to wake you up so we can see what's going on."
Usopp blanched.
"What?! This whole island is full of pirate hunters? I'll never be so greedy again!"
Just then, the two people who had followed them boarded the Going Merry and approached.
Miss Wednesday bowed to Luffy and the others and said,
"Excuse me, allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Princess Nefertari Vivi of the Alabasta Kingdom, and this is my guard, Igaram."
Igaram also apologized sheepishly,
"I'm so sorry. We didn't mean to trick you. Our princess wants to ask for your help, but she was afraid you wouldn't be strong enough, so she thought to test your strength."
(Lol, I can't believe they accept their requests. Imagine someone requesting for your help this way when you could die)
Vivi quickly added,
"I'm truly sorry for not telling you beforehand. I beg you to help my country."
Luffy and the others remained silent. Sanji instantly turned into a lovesick fool, his eyes glowing with hearts. He tightly grasped Vivi's hand and spoke with deep affection,
"Oh~ Beautiful Princess Vivi, what troubles have befallen you that you'd seek our help? Tell us—we'll find a way to solve them."
Vivi spoke sadly,
"A few months ago, my country fell into civil war. The people revolted."
Nami hesitated before asking,
"Was it because of the king's inaction?"
Vivi shook her head,
"No, my father is good to the people."
"Then someone deliberately caused it," Shin'ya stated flatly.
"Yes. To find out why the people were rebelling, Igaram and I disguised ourselves as agents and infiltrated Baroque Works. There, I discovered it was all orchestrated by the Shichibukai, Crocodile."
"I came to find you after reading a newspaper article saying your companion has the strength to fight the world's greatest swordsman. So I wanted to ask for your help for my country." After Vivi finished, she immediately knelt in a plea.
Just then, Zoro, who had been dealing with pirate hunters in the tavern, returned. He heard Vivi's words, a smirk tugging at his lips as he gripped his sword hilt.
"A Shichibukai, huh? I've been wanting to test my strength. Nobody here can even handle one of my slashes." He turned to Luffy and Sanji.
"You two probably want to test your strength too, right? After all, our Haki's gotten better recently."
Nami knew Luffy and the others would definitely agree, so she spoke up first,
"We can help you—but we want 1 billion Berries. For a king, 1 billion isn't much, is it?"
Vivi shook her head and sighed,
"We don't have it. After the rebellion, the entire country probably doesn't even have 200 million Berries combined. If you help us defeat Crocodile, you can take whatever you want afterward."
Nami looked at Princess Vivi, so concerned for her country, and couldn't help but think of her own hometown's suffering under Arlong.
"She must be feeling the same way I did back then."
So Nami made a decision,
"Okay, we accept your request. We don't want your treasure. We'll help you defeat Crocodile for free."
Vivi and Igaram were overjoyed and jumped up,
"We're saved… Our country's saved!"
"Thank you!" Igaram bowed, then added,
"But we'll need to act separately. All the Baroque Works agents on Whiskey Peak have been taken out. If we head back directly, we might be hunted. I'll disguise myself as the princess and return to Alabasta. You leave via another route to avoid pursuit."
Shin'ya didn't object. If they didn't detour, what about Tony Tony Chopper? Besides, he wanted to learn more about Haki on Little Garden. Just imagining thousands of hands using Haki simultaneously thrilled him.
As Shin'ya thought about it, Igaram returned, now disguised as Vivi.
Everyone stared at him with visible black lines on their faces.
Especially Zoro, who reacted most dramatically by drawing his sword at the sight, showing just how shocking it was.
"No need. You should just change back to your original clothes," Shin'ya sighed.
"I have a way for you to fool the pursuers."
Half an hour later…
After some discussion, everyone began preparing to set sail. Igaram took an Alabasta Log Pose from Vivi, then left in a small boat with a wooden clone that looked identical to her.
Luffy stood up, raising his arms excitedly and shouting,
"Let's go! Onward to the next island~!"
---
Meanwhile, in Alabasta…
At the Baroque Works office, Crocodile was glaring darkly at the group gathered before him.
Flashback to half a month earlier—Crocodile had been gleefully ordering his subordinates to incite rebellion. But as soon as he stepped out of his office, a towering figure over six meters tall with two horns and tattoos covering his body stood in his way, startling him stiff.
Crocodile scowled,
"Yonko Kaido… What are you doing here? Aren't you afraid the Marines will come after you?"
Kaido laughed lazily,
"Ohohoho~ Sand Crocodile brat, I need you to find someone. Until I do, I'm staying here. You got a problem with that?"
Could Crocodile object? Of course not.
"Stay… stay as long as you want. But who are you looking for that's so important you came in person?"
Kaido walked into the office, sat down heavily, and drank from his sake gourd.
"Ha~ Help me find Shin'ya Kurozawa of the Straw Hat Pirates near the entrance to the Grand Line. Just tell me if you get any news."
This incident was quickly reported by a Marine undercover agent. Upon receiving the report, Fleet Admiral Sengoku immediately dispatched Admiral Kizaru to Alabasta to keep an eye on Kaido.
And day by day, the office grew more crowded.
Kaido came first. The next morning, Kizaru Borsalino arrived. By the third afternoon, Big Mom's eldest son Perospero showed up.
News of this strange gathering spread quickly. Morgans, the News King, arrived on the fourth day with his crew. On the fifth, Doflamingo came by himself. In the New World, when Shanks learned that Kaido was targeting Luffy, he also set sail for Alabasta, bringing his entire crew and Dracule Mihawk with him.
Meanwhile, Ace, chasing Blackbeard nearby, called Whitebeard on a Den Den Mushi, asking for reinforcements for Luffy. On the tenth day, Marco, Jozu, Vista, and hundreds of Whitebeard Pirates arrived at Baroque Works.
In just half a month, a gathering of one became thousands of warriors. Crocodile's nerves were shot.
Back in the present, as Luffy and the others set sail from Whiskey Peak, Crocodile received a call via Den Den Mushi. Gathering everyone in his office, he answered.
After hearing the report, he looked at the assembled heavyweights expressionlessly.
"You've all heard. Do as you please. Get out of here."
Shanks grinned, throwing an arm around Crocodile's shoulder.
"Don't be so stingy, Old Man Croc. We've waited this long—we'll wait a bit more. No point sending more people to their deaths. Let's wait for them to come."
He turned to Kaido.
"Right, Kaido? You wouldn't want people getting in the way now, would you?"
---
I changed the cover art for all my fanfics, you can check it out.
Join my P@treon for 20+ Exclusive Chapters
patreon.com/Zphyr_
Just check my collections.