The Wind Reached the Royal Palace

As Monkey D. Dragon entered the main gate of the Royal Palace, the two guards at the entrance raised their spears halfway, then stopped after Pell fell from the roof.

Pell stood on the steps, his wings not yet fully retracted, the hilt of his scimitar in his hand.

"Leader of the Revolutionary Army, Monkey D. Dragon."

The dragon raised its head and glanced at Pell.

"I have come to see King Cobra."

Pell moved his hand half an inch off the hilt of the knife.

His Majesty the King is in his study.

The dragon's gaze swept past his shoulder and down into the long corridor inside the Royal Palace.

"Lead the way."

Pell did not turn around immediately.

"Before that, I need to confirm one thing."

The dragon stopped at the bottom of the steps, its cloak billowing behind it in the wind.

"Explain."

"Are you here to protect Alabasta, or to drag Alabasta into war?"

Upon hearing this, the Royal Palace guards at the end of the corridor tightened their grip on their weapons.

Sabo leaned half his body out from beside the railing of the second-floor corridor.

"Pell."

Pell did not turn around.

"Your Chief of Staff of the General Staff, I apologize, but I am a guardian of this country."

Sabo pushed the brim of his hat up a little.

"You're right."

The dragon looked at Pell.

"I've come to protect King Cobra and Princess Vivi."

Pell looked at him.

What about the second half of the sentence?

The dragon's cloak fluttered in the wind.

"If the World Government continues to send people to kill them, I will turn this into a war."

Pell's hand pressed back onto the hilt.

"With your answer, I'm even less reassured."

"I know."

The dragon stepped onto the first step.

Pell's knife was drawn three inches from its sheath.

Sabo leaped from the second-floor railing, landing beside the two men.

"Mr. Long."

Dragon didn't look at Sabo.

"Let him finish speaking."

Pell's breathing became a little heavier.

"Alabasta has just experienced Crocodile, and the people have not yet fully recovered from that civil war."

"If the Revolutionary Army and the World Government fight here, the ones who die will be our soldiers, our merchants, and our children."

"You have ideals, the World Government has secrets, but the people of Alabasta just want to survive."

Upon hearing this, the dragon stopped on the second step.

The wind in front of the main gate of the Royal Palace subsided at this time.

"Therefore I will go in first to see the king."

Pell stared at him.

"Then what."

"Then it will be up to King Cobra to decide whether Alabasta should accept the protection of the Revolutionary Army."

Pell's eyes flickered.

You won't force me.

"Won't."

"You wouldn't use Sky Screen's list to push the Nefertari Family to the forefront."

"Won't."

What if the king refuses you?

Sabo looked at the dragon.

Vivi also came out from the door of the study on the second floor, her hand still on the brass key inside her collar.

The dragon raised its head and looked towards the second floor.

"I will leave behind intelligence, leave behind an escape route, and then leave."

Pell loosened his grip on the hilt of the knife slightly.

"I want His Majesty the King to hear these words in his own ears."

"Can."

Sabo walked over to Pell and whispered something.

"He's already here, so we won't let CP0 break in again."

Pell pushed the knife back into its sheath.

I hope you're right.

The dragon walked past him and entered the corridor.

The air inside the Royal Palace was cooler than outside. The ground still bore traces of the battle from the previous night, and a small section of stone in the corner was pierced by Shigan, half of which was covered by a cloth by a maid.

The dragon paused briefly as it passed over the rock.

Sabo followed behind him.

"The first group had three people. Two were subdued by me and the East Army, and one was rendered incapacitated by Chaka."

The dragon looked into the hole in the stone.

Who are they targeting?

"King Cobra."

Where is Princess Vivi?

"Clean it up while you're at it."

The dragon continued forward.

"The second group won't just kill the king."

Sabo was a beat too slow.

You think so too.

"They've already failed once; the second mission will be to cut off the evidence."

Vivi stood at the door of the study, watching Long approach step by step.

She had initially thought she would be scared.

But when she actually saw this man, the first person she thought of was Luffy.

When Luffy laughs, he doesn't have the weight of this man, and Luffy walks, he doesn't quiet the entire corridor.

But they both had the same thing in their eyes.

They will all be looking ahead.

He rarely looks back.

Cobra emerged from the study, wearing an outer robe, his complexion worse than the night before, but his posture remained firm.

"Monkey D. Dragon."

The dragon stopped three steps away from him.

"King Cobra."

The two looked at each other.

Vivi stood to her father's left, Sabo stood half a step behind the dragon, and Pell and Chaka stood guard at the door on either side.

Cobra spoke first.

"You arrived faster than I expected."

"The Sky Screen compresses time."

"Are you here to save me, or to force me to choose sides?"

The dragon did not answer immediately.

He glanced at Cobra's cane, then at the outline of the key pressed against Vivi's collar by the fabric.

"I'll save people first."

Cobra's brow twitched.

"Let's talk about taking sides again."

"Let's talk about whether you're willing to tell the whole world the truth about the Nefertari Family."

Vivi's fingers pressed against the brass key through her clothes.

Cobra looked at his daughter.

"You've already noticed."

"Dragon said."

That key was no ordinary royal relic.

Cobra tapped his cane lightly on the ground.

"You know what it is."

"Have no idea."

The dragon looked at him.

"But the Five Elders won't care about an ordinary key before Imu wants to kill you."

The study fell silent.

Sabo's gaze fell on Vivi's collar for the first time.

Vivi took the key out of her collar.

The brass key showed its age in the sunlight, with intricate teeth and a faint pattern at the end of the handle, resembling an unfolding flower.

Cobra looked at the key.

"This is something that successive kings passed down only to their heirs."

When my father handed it to me, he only said one sentence.

Vivi asked.

What are you saying?

Cobra looked at her.

When the sky tells everyone the truth, go find the door that's sunk in the sand.

Sabo pressed his finger against the tube.

"The door of Shali."

The dragon looked out at the desert.

"Alabasta has underground ruins."

Cobra nodded.

"There are many, but I don't know which one he's referring to."

Vivi gripped the key tightly.

"Father, you didn't tell me that last night."

Last night I thought I wouldn't make it to today.

Cobra spoke softly.

Vivi's lips moved slightly, but she didn't say anything.

Dragon looked at Sabo.

Bring me the map of the Royal Palace.

Sabo immediately turned around.

"Yes."

Cobra looked at the dragon.

You're looking for that door.

"The World Government wants to kill you before Sky Screen releases the list, which means they're afraid that what you have will corroborate the list."

"If there's evidence behind that door, then behind the Sky Screen, Alabasta is no longer just the protected party."

Pell from the doorway.

"That's what you meant by not pushing it to the very front."

The dragon glanced at him.

The choice remains with the king.

Vivi looked down at the keys.

"If there's something inside, and we don't take it out, the World Government will continue to come and kill us."

"Yes."

"If it's brought out, Alabasta will be caught in an even bigger storm."

"Yes."

Vivi looked up.

"There is no safe option at all."

The dragon looked at her.

"Have."

Vivi asked.

What is it?

"Let the whole world see."

Hurried footsteps echoed in the hallway outside the study.

A Royal Palace communications officer rushed to the door carrying Den Den Mushi), sweat dripping from his chin onto his collar.

"Your Majesty, news has come from the Port that three ships flying the Chamber of Commerce flag have turned around in the open sea and have not docked. Some people on board have released seagull beacons."

Sabo returned from the other end of the corridor with the map in his hand, pausing when he heard the words "Seagull Beacon".

The dragon turned around.

"It's not a chamber of commerce."

The communications officer's voice was strained.

"They didn't enter the Port; they're instead heading towards the dry riverbed west of the capital."

Pell's expression changed.

"The western dry riverbed can bypass the outer city patrols and lead directly to the entrance of the old waterway."

Chaka gripped the knife handle.

"It's very close to the underground Royal Palace."

Dragon reached out and took the map from Sabo, his gaze falling on the dried-up river line on the west side of the capital.

"The second group arrived ahead of schedule."

Sky Screen timer hung outside the window.

Five hours and twenty-one minutes.