Rewards Galore

The little princess cared so deeply about her country that, upon learning the truth from Ruidio, she flew into a rage! Clutching her skirt, she shouted, "What gives him the right to do this?!"

Igaram said in shock, "But he's one of the Shichibukai, a man of the government! Why would he do something like this to our country? Alabasta is an Affiliated Nation of the World Government. If the government finds out what he's done, he'll lose his position as a Shichibukai!"

Ruidio laughed. "You've got it backward. Crocodile was invited to become a Shichibukai because he had the strength for it, not because he had to curry favor with the World Government to get the position."

Robin said, "Crocodile's plan already accounted for a war with the Marines. That's exactly why he needed the power of 'that thing' supposedly hidden in this country."

Pell said scornfully, "A pirate's a pirate, after all!"

"'That thing'?" Jackal Chaka asked, puzzled.

Only King Cobra's eyes flickered as he thought of the thing his royal family had guarded for generations.

"For what we're about to discuss, I'm afraid I'll need you to dismiss your attendants for the time being, Your Majesty."

As Ruidio spoke, he looked at Igaram, the captain of the guards, and the two Zoan lieutenants, Pell and Chaka. "The princess can stay."

Cobra stared intently at Ruidio. The young man met his gaze without flinching or looking away, his eyes honest and open. Only then did Cobra speak slowly. "Igaram, Pell, Chaka, leave us for now. Vivi, you stay."

"Your Majesty!" "Your Majesty!" "King Cobra..."

The three guards were reluctant, but they obeyed. Before leaving, each of them gave Ruidio and Robin a long look. They didn't know the young man, but this "Devil Child" was infamous! Was it really all right to leave the king and princess alone with someone like her?

The Royal Palace hall fell silent.

"..."

Cobra looked seriously at Ruidio, then glanced at Robin beside him. "All right, let's continue where we left off. You were talking about 'that thing' Crocodile was looking for in this country?"

Robin looked at Ruidio.

"Where should I start...?"

Ruidio thought for a moment, then looked up at the exquisite decorations in the Royal Palace hall, where the crest of Alabasta's royal family, the Nefertari, appeared everywhere.

"Right, let's start with... 'Nefertari D. Lily.'"

"D?" Vivi was puzzled. Was this Lily a member of their royal family? Why did she have that in her name?

Shock was no longer enough to describe Cobra's reaction!

He stared at Ruidio as though he had seen a ghost. Drawing a deep breath, he asked in a low voice, "Young man! Where on earth did you learn that name?!"

Even with the Alabastan royal family's extensive collection of books and thousands of years of inheritance, searching every record from eight hundred years ago onward would not turn up a single mention of Queen Lily's name!

Only the oral tradition passed down within their royal family proved that this wise queen had once existed.

Yet today, he had heard a young stranger speak of Queen Lily!

And he had used the queen's full name, complete with the unusual "D"!

"Don't worry about that,"

Ruidio said indifferently. "There are all sorts of strange abilities out on the seas. As long as a person or thing existed, they'll leave traces that someone can find."

D...

Robin remembered that Jaguar D. Saul's full name also contained a "D."

"As far as I know, more than eight hundred years ago, a great war took place in this world,"

Ruidio continued, ignoring the reactions of the three listeners. "The losing side was led by a man called 'Joy Boy,' while the victors were an allied force of twenty nations.

"Those twenty victors formed the World Government, which has lasted to this day. Their families moved atop the Red Line, and their descendants became the present-day world nobles: the Celestial Dragons.

"Queen Lily was one of those twenty victorious rulers. She could have taken your Nefertari royal family to Mary Geoise. If she had, Princess Vivi, you'd be a Celestial Dragon today too.

"But Queen Lily didn't do that. Perhaps she eventually realized that the war she had won was unjust, shameful, even evil. They were just twenty despicable victors.

"So she refused to associate with them. Not only did she leave Mary Geoise, she also added a 'D' to her name."

"..."

Vivi listened with her mouth hanging open. There was too much to take in, and she didn't know whether it was true. At a loss for how to react, she could only look at her father.

Cobra frowned, his eyes wide. He seemed to be staring at Ruidio, yet also seemed to be rapidly recalling many things. Some matters that had once baffled him suddenly became clear if he took what the young man had said as his premise!

"Once... someone whose name also contained a 'D' was suddenly murdered before my eyes."

An old, deep voice suddenly came from the entrance to the Royal Palace hall. "He was my older brother."

Everyone looked over. In the dim light of dusk, a figure stood in the doorway, his hair shaped like an enormous three-leaf clover.

Behind him, twenty or thirty scholars followed. Olvia was among them.

Cobra wasn't surprised; of course he knew beforehand who had entered the Royal Palace. But one thing puzzled him, and he raised his voice to ask, "What exactly is 'D'?"

Why had Queen Lily added it to her own name?

"Doctor!" Robin's eyes glistened with tears, and she could hardly hide her smile as she watched the scholars file into the hall, scholars who had already died along with Ohara.

"Robin, it's truly unbelievable..."

Dr. Clover, who led the group, looked up at Robin and smiled, full of emotion.

But now wasn't the time for that. His gaze lingered briefly on Ruidio before he spoke in a deep voice to King Cobra, whose eyes were fixed intently on him.

"My real name is 'Clough D. Clover.' You ask me what 'D' is, Your Majesty? To tell the truth, I've studied history all my life, and I still don't know. But one thing I can say for certain: executing people on a whim simply because they have that D in their names is utterly absurd!"

"If everything Ruidio just said is true..." Olvia murmured, "Since those with a 'D' are secretly executed, could that mean the 'D's are descendants of the people who fought the alliance of twenty nations and lost?"

Ruidio raised a finger. "I have a theory about 'D.' Of course, I can't guarantee it's right."

He glanced at Vivi, who was listening without understanding, and smiled. "One of the nineteen victorious rulers once said that the 'D's in the present day, eight hundred years later, are all 'empty shells' who don't know the meaning of their names... So I think this so-called 'D' might not have any real meaning at all. It could simply be a 'mark' for recognizing comrades."

Did the "×" on the Straw Hat Pirates' arms mean anything?

It didn't. But whenever they showed that "×" mark, they knew they were friends for life.

Chapter 36: Rewards Galore

[Cover serial: Bonney Basking in the Sun, part 12: "Need a hand?"]

[Bonney suddenly appeared, transformed into a build resembling Ruidio's, and sent the fat man holding the Queen Mother hostage flying with a swing of her stick. At the same time, the fishermen swarmed the terrified skinny man.]

Just a mark in their names?

Dr. Clover exclaimed in shock, "Could it really be that simple?"

Ruidio asked, "Does it have to be complicated?"

Robin pondered aloud, "Their ancestors used this 'D' as a mark of comradeship, but their descendants gradually forgot that function. They stopped standing together and even became enemies. They could indeed be called... 'empty shells' who have forgotten the meaning of their names."

It seemed to make sense logically.

That was assuming the basis for the conclusion was true: what Ruidio had said about the twenty nations, the unjust war, Queen Lily, Joy Boy, and all the rest.

"About that... I have evidence that can corroborate it."

King Cobra and Dr. Clover spoke almost simultaneously, and both were startled.

Dr. Clover said gravely, "The World Government destroyed Ohara because we historians, who only wanted to know the truth about the past, found fragments of evidence of the great war eight hundred years ago and the existence of the Great Kingdom..."

Cobra's eyes shone. "Now that we've come this far, I have no reason to keep it hidden. Eight hundred years ago, Queen Lily did go to the Holy Land, but she never returned to Alabasta! Every record of her disappeared, except for a letter written in her own hand!"

He said solemnly, "Vivi, listen carefully. This is what the secret letter our royal family has safeguarded for generations says: 'The Poneglyphs point to the Ancient Weapons and the truth of everything. D's of the future, raise the flag of dawn in the world that will one day sink. Signed: Nefertari, D! Lily.'!"

Ruidio clapped his hands. "That explains it. That explains it."

Robin couldn't understand. "What does 'the world that will one day sink' mean?"

Cobra slowly shook his head. "I don't know that either... But if we understand the 'D's to be those who opposed the World Government, everything makes sense. Our ancestor left us a mission. How could her descendants forget it?" He smiled.

Ruidio said, "I told you, I'm only guessing. If you want the truth, you'll have to do as your ancestral queen said: collect the Poneglyph stones and reach Laugh Tale."

Vivi looked from one person to another. "Weren't we talking about Crocodile? What about 'that thing' he's looking for?"

"Oh, he's looking for Pluton, the Ancient Weapon."

Ruidio said casually, "He used Dance Powder to create a drought so he could stir up a rebellion and start a civil war in Alabasta. Then he could sit back and reap the benefits, seize the country, and rule it as his own pirate kingdom. The World Government obviously wouldn't stand by and let that happen, so Crocodile wanted to dig up the Ancient Weapon. That way, he could blast away any Marines sent after him with a single shot. Just self-preservation."

Dr. Clover was puzzled. "A pirate emperor? Aren't there already some in the New World?"

"There are only so many emperors in the New World, and the territory's already been divided up," Ruidio said. "Do you really think Crocodile's stupid? Whitebeard, Red-Haired Shanks, Big Mom, Kaido—which one of them could he take territory from?"

Vivi said angrily, "He doesn't dare compete with those great pirates, so he comes here and plots to ruin our Alabasta? What kind of scumbag is he?!"

Robin said a word in her former boss's defense. "A great ancient kingdom like Alabasta, with such a large population and such deep military resources, can't be found even in the New World."

Cobra nodded gently at that. It was true enough.

"In that case," the king said, his gaze resolute, "we can't stand by and do nothing. I'll muster the army at once and demand an explanation from His Excellency the Shichibukai!"

Ruidio asked, "Do you need my help?"

Cobra took his hand and patted it. "Of course. The more like-minded friends, the better!" he said with a laugh. "Just like the 'D's of old."

[Nefertari D. Cobra has entrusted you with a quest: Long-Awaited Rain]

[Estimated difficulty: ★★★★]

[Quest accepted]

"Princess Vivi, what about you?" Ruidio turned eagerly to the blue-haired girl beside him. "Do you want my help?"

Olvia started to speak but stopped. Robin raised a hand to stop her: that was just how he was; she would get used to it.

"Of course!" Vivi said firmly.

[Nefertari D. Vivi has entrusted you with a quest: Long-Awaited Rain]

[Estimated difficulty: ★★★★]

[Quest accepted]

The damn system had actually merged these two quests directly with Koza's. Still, it didn't matter. He was getting multiple meals out of the same fish anyway, so even if the rewards diminished, they were still free gains.

Ruidio nodded with a smile. "Sorry, but your army won't get a chance to go after Crocodile. I chased that Shichibukai away a couple of days ago. He should be on his way to the New World by now."

"What?!" Cobra was stunned. The young man was that strong? Crocodile was a great pirate who had been famous for twenty years!

Only Robin smiled inwardly, without exposing Ruidio.

Vivi had just worked up her fighting spirit. Now she looked a little lost. "It's already over?"

Ruidio patted Robin on the shoulder. "I even poached Crocodile's right-hand woman. What do you think? If you don't believe me, you can send someone to Rainbase to check. He did leave, right?" He turned to Robin for confirmation.

Robin said, "He left on the evening of the day you met him."

Cobra had mixed feelings, but it was good news either way. As for whether it was true, he could confirm that later. Besides, if the regions outside the capital received normal rainfall over the next month or two, everything would speak for itself. That was the fundamental goal.

"Oh, right!"

His gaze swept over Clover and the others, lingering on Olvia's face, which looked so much like Robin's. He asked politely, "I haven't had the chance to ask. Who are you...?"

Never mind these scholars—he still didn't really know who Ruidio was either!

Yet he had already told the young man everything about his own ancestor.