The Door Beneath the Sand

The map in the Royal Palace study was spread out on the table, with water glasses and paperweights holding it down at the four corners.

Cobra stood by the table, his finger slowly tracing the location of the old waterway.

"This waterway was abandoned thirty years ago, and it collapsed again after the Crocodile incident. No normal person would enter the capital through there."

Sabo looked down at the map.

"CP0 does not require normal roads."

Pell said from the side.

"The old waterway has three exits: one leads to the slums, one to the old warehouse district, and the third is below the garden on the west side of the Royal Palace."

Chaka looked at Cobra.

"Your Majesty, when they sneaked into the Royal Palace last night, they also bypassed the main gate's defenses."

The dragon's finger stopped at the location of the western garden of the Royal Palace.

They won't take the same route as last night.

Vivi asked.

"Why."

Last night it was about assassinating the king; today it's about finding something.

Sabo looked up.

"They also know the key."

The dragon looked at the map.

"At least we know that the Nefertari Family has something that corresponds to the list."

Cobra tightened his grip on his cane.

"This matter has almost been dropped within the royal family."

"The World Government has eight hundred years to investigate."

Long pushed the map a little towards Vivi.

"The gate your father spoke of in the sands might not be in the Royal Palace."

Vivi looked at the dry riverbed on the west side of the map.

"Below the old waterway."

"Possibly."

Sabo stood the pipe upright on the ground.

"Mr. Long, I'll take some men to intercept them."

"No."

The dragon's reply came quickly.

Sabo looked at him.

The dragon removed its finger from the map.

"You will remain by the king's side."

"I'll go."

Vivi looked up.

"No."

The people in the study all looked at her at the same time.

Vivi held the brass key in her palm.

"If that door requires a key, only I can open it."

Pell said immediately.

"Your Highness, you must not go to the old waterway."

Vivi looked at Pell.

"Pell, if Sabo hadn't arrived last night, Father would be dead."

Pell's face darkened.

"That's precisely why you must not leave the Royal Palace."

"The Royal Palace is not safe."

Vivi placed the keys on the table.

The copper key is pressed against the old waterway on the map, its teeth pointing precisely to the west of the capital.

"If CP0 is really after the gate, they'll turn the Royal Palace into a battlefield."

"If I stay here, it's like letting all the guards take the blows for me."

Chaka opened.

"This is the guard's duty."

Vivi shook her head.

"Alabasta can no longer afford to sacrifice soldiers' lives to appease the royal family's hesitation."

Cobra looked at his daughter without saying a word.

Sabo's gaze lingered between Vivi and Cobra for two seconds.

He recalled the intelligence records from the Alabasta civil war.

The fourteen-year-old princess infiltrated Baroque Works and spent two years gathering evidence until the Straw Hat Pirates entered the country.

He knew why Luffy trusted her.

Some people don't back down because they're afraid.

Long looked at Vivi.

Do you know how to get to the old waterway?

Pell said immediately.

"Mr. Long."

The dragon did not look away.

Vivi nodded.

"I went there once with Koza when I was a child, and my father scolded me for three days."

Cobra coughed.

You almost fell into the well that time.

Vivi glanced at her father.

"That's why I remember the road."

Pell was about to speak when Cobra raised his hand to stop him.

"Vivi."

"Father."

Are you sure?

Vivi picked up the keys again and hung them back around her neck.

"Sure."

Cobra's cane remained on the table for a long time.

Then he said.

"Pell will go with you."

"Chaka will stay and protect you."

"Sabo will go with you too."

Vivi looked at Sabo.

Sabo nodded.

I was going anyway.

"Dragon said."

I will remain in the Royal Palace.

Sabo looked at the dragon.

"You're not going to the old waterway?"

The second group has five people; not all of them will go underground.

Long looked up and gazed out the window.

"They will leave people to keep watch over the Royal Palace, and cut off your escape route once you enter the underground."

"Chaka said in a deep voice."

"You need to wait for them here."

"Um."

Cobra looked at the dragon.

"If they are carrying the highest orders from the World Government, killing them would be tantamount to the Revolutionary Army openly declaring war on the World Government."

The dragon cloak swayed gently over his shoulders.

"When they stepped into the Royal Palace last night, it wasn't me who declared war."

The study fell silent once more.

The Golden Light of the countdown from the Sky Screen shone through the window onto the map, making the lines of the old waterway appear somewhat luminous.

Sabo rolled up the map and tucked it inside his coat.

"Princess, there is one more thing before we depart."

Vivi asked.

"What."

You need to change your clothes.

Half an hour later.

In the servants' passageway on the west side of the Royal Palace, Vivi changed into a light-colored long dress that was easy to move in, tied her hair up with a cloth ribbon, and draped an ordinary maid's cloak over it.

Pell had already transformed into human form and was standing at the entrance of the passage, without wearing the Royal Palace's conspicuous guard badge.

Sabo leaned against the wall, having just hung up the Den Den Mushi in his hand.

Vivi walked over.

Who did you contact?

"Emporio Ivankov's intelligence network."

Sabo put the Den Den Mushi into his pocket.

"If we're trapped underground, someone might create a disturbance in the old warehouse district to divert attention from the outside."

Pell looked at him.

"Your Revolutionary Army also has intelligence networks in Alabasta."

"Not before."

Sabo looked at Vivi.

"It happened after last night."

Vivi didn't press the matter.

The door at the end of the passage was opened, leading to a narrow maintenance path behind the west garden.

The three entered the path and moved along the base of the wall towards the old warehouse area.

The high walls of the Royal Palace blocked most of the sunlight, and piles of timber and lime buckets left over from the repairs a few days earlier lay on the ground.

Pell walked at the front, Sabo in the middle, and Vivi at the back.

After walking about two hundred meters, Pell raised his hand.

The three stopped.

There is a dead sand scorpion in the corner of the wall ahead.

Pell crouched down and took a look.

"They were trampled to death within ten minutes."

Sabo stepped forward and touched the ground with his finger.

"The sole pattern is very shallow, the stride is short, and I have to control my center of gravity too much when walking."

Vivi asked in a low voice.

"CP0."

Sabo nodded.

"At least one."

Pell looked toward the old warehouse district.

They were ahead of us.

Sabo looked up towards the direction of the Royal Palace.

"They might be waiting for us to catch up."

Vivi's hand reached for the short sword at her waist.

"Shall we still go?"

Sabo removed the tube from behind.

"Walk."

Pell's wings spread slightly behind his shoulders.

"What if this is a trap?"

Sabo looked at the narrow road ahead.

That means the location of the door is also important to them.

The three continued on their way.

Meanwhile, in the Royal Palace study.

Cobra sat back down in his chair, while Chaka stood in the doorway, his bandages still damp with blood.

The dragon stood by the window, looking towards the west garden.

Cobra spoke.

"You let Vivi go because she's suitable."

"Dragon said."

"Yes."

"Or it's because you need the heir of the Nefertari Family to open that door personally."

The dragon turned around.

"Too."

Chaka placed his hand on the hilt of the knife.

Cobra looked at the dragon.

You are very honest.

There's no point in lying to you.

Your honesty is unsettling.

"I know."

Cobra coughed twice.

"Mr. Long, if there's something behind that door that could put Alabasta in a position of power, I'll consider my people first."

The dragon nodded.

You should do that.

"What if my choice contradicts the Revolutionary Army's plan?"

"I'll change my plan."

Cobra looked at him.

"Would you change your plans for Luffy's sake?"

The dragon did not answer quickly.

The wind outside the window rustled softly against the canvas.

After a few seconds, Long said.

"I didn't used to."

Cobra's eyes flickered.

"And now?"

The dragon looked up at the Sky Screen and counted down.

Four hours and fifty-two minutes.

"Now I'll ask him first if he wants me to get involved."

Cobra ran his fingers over the tip of his cane.

"The Sky Screen has changed you."

"Dragon said."

"It brought out everything I had hidden."

Chaka suddenly looked up.

At the end of the corridor, a servant came running up quickly, his face pale.

"Your Majesty, contact with the east tower has been lost."

Chaka drew his sword half an inch.

The east tower is not in the direction of the old waterway.

The dragon looked towards the door.

They split into two groups.

The servant's voice trembled.

"There's one more thing."

Cobra asked.

"Explain."

"A Den Den Mushi) was left on the tower, playing the same message."

The dragon walked towards the door.

What are you saying?

The servant swallowed hard.

"Make Monkey D. Dragon leave the Royal Palace, otherwise they will send the footage of King Cobra colluding with the Revolutionary Army to Marine Headquarters ahead of schedule."