"Cifer ~ You're back~"
Cifer suddenly appeared in the palace, while Chopper was taking a walk in the back garden with Enel and Nolan, like an Admiral inspecting his territory.
"Captain Cifer, there are so many! What are these?!"
Nolan opened one of the packages, and its contents scattered all over the floor after being released from their restraints.
Under the moonlight, the jewels scattered on the ground shone brightly.
"It's a treasure trove!"
Chopper and Nolan's eyes gleamed, and the latter even seemed to take a bath as he disappeared into the jewels.
"Don't you really like gold?"
Cifer picked up a palm-sized gold brick and threw it at Enel, who caught it steadily.
"The God of the Sky Country do indeed love gold, because that kind of thing is befitting their God status."
"However, the Thunder God of the Blue Sea now prefers other things."
Enel gently weighed the gold nugget in his hand, feeling that its size and weight were just right.
"Lightning Metallurgy!"
The gold nugget in his hand melted like a candle and then reformed into a small Thunder God's Staff.
"Chopper, here you go."
After letting it cool slightly, Enel threw it at Chopper.
"It's Enel's Thunder God's Staff!"
Chopper caught the stick he was thrown at him and waved it wildly, imagining himself as powerful as him.
"Brother Enel ~ I want one too~"
Nolan seemed to have discovered a new treasure, and walked up to him with a small gold nugget in his hand.
"How can you make Thunder God's Staff from such a small gold nugget?"
Enel was puzzled after taking it. This little bit was enough to make a few dozen Thunder God's Toothpick.
"What is Enel saying? Make me a little bracelet!"
Nolan waved her small, smooth arm.
"So?"
In the blink of an eye, the small gold bracelet was placed in Nolan's hand, with strangely shaped yet very beautiful patterns on it.
"So beautiful!"
Nolan held the small bracelet as if it were a priceless treasure.
"Once you've finished this business, becoming a goldsmith might be a good option for you."
"Hmph~ God wouldn't do something so degrading!"
The two bickered as always.
"So much treasure!"
Just then, Cobra, who had brought his men a midnight snack, and the two Guardian God were all struck by the dazzling golden light.
Since Alabasta was hit by a three-year Drought, most of the country's treasury has been used for disaster relief.
Even Cobra, as king, had never seen such a magnificent scene.
"What do you want? This is our treasure!"
Upon hearing the strange man's voice, Nolan immediately stood in front of the treasure, preventing them from advancing any further. This was a "debt" that Captain Cifer had been chasing after!
No~ No~
Everyone quickly denied it; who would dare to covet this guy's money!
"King Cobra, Alabasta has suffered three consecutive years of drought; you must be desperately short of money!"
Cifer suddenly had an idea: since he was worried about getting a card because he didn't know when he would leave the Shichibukai.
Then why not just not do it?
"Eh~ that's true~"
Cobra didn't understand what he was trying to say, but he still told him the truth about the country's current financial situation.
Cifer listened attentively the whole time, even though he couldn't understand it.
"I have over a billion in gold and silver treasures. I plan to lend you half, and then have the other half issued in the name of the Alabasta royal family, with four Savings Cards for me. How about that?"
Cifer expressed his thoughts.
"Really?!"
A few hundred million Belly is just a drop in the ocean for the tens of millions of people in Alabasta.
But in a time when people are so desperate to save even a single Belly, this is undoubtedly a timely help.
All they need to do is open a few Savings Card for each other, what's so difficult about that?
"I'm warning you beforehand! Alabasta will probably need a long time to recover, and we won't be able to pay you back until the lives of ordinary people are back on track!"
Cobra really wanted the money, but some things needed to be clarified.
This money must be used wisely; it would be troublesome if the other party wanted it back in a crisis.
"Don't worry, money can be found anywhere after a few voyages at sea, but human relationships are different. Our aid to Alabasta at this time is a huge favor!"
The future world needs men like Cobra, Cifer needs to take control of him in advance.
"As long as it's not something that harms civilians or endangers the world, it's naturally my duty to do it!"
The two hit it off immediately. Cifer kept only a package worth 100 million Belly and handed over the rest, along with the treasure on the ship, to Cobra.
He didn't know the exact value, but he didn't care, and he didn't think Cobra would covet his money.
Everyone ate their late-night snack and then went to sleep late into the night.
"Gentlemen, I've heard that several agents have recently lost contact. We've received instructions that if this mission is completed successfully, one of us will be able to take their place!"
At this moment, a group of people dressed in the Royal Army uniforms were heading towards the palace, all with the same symbol tattooed on their arms.
"As long as Chaka and Beel aren't guarding him closely, the king will be easy to capture!"
Everyone was incredibly excited. They had been members of Baroque Works for several years, and now they finally saw a chance to make it big!
They planned to sneak in quietly.
"It looks like a lot of bugs have crawled in!"
At the top of the palace, Enel and Cifer's eyes seemed to gleam in the darkness.
With their powerful senses, even if they were asleep, there was no way they could hide anything from them.
"I'm taking the money but not doing anything. You figure it out!"
"Also, Nolan and Chopper are asleep, so don't make too much noise."
Cifer yawned, intending to go back to his room for another nap.
"Extremely simple!"
Dealing with a bunch of small fry doesn't require making a big fuss.
"What's going on?!"
When the Baroque Works members sneaked into the palace from the side, they were surprised to find that there wasn't a single guard in the huge palace!
"Those behind, go scout over there!"
A leading member of the Baroque Works looked at the quiet palace and fell into deep thought.
Logically speaking, even a royal palace would not be without guards under normal circumstances, let alone when this Rebel Army is about to launch a war.
He sensed something was wrong.
"Hey you guys, isn't anyone listening to me?!"
After thinking for several seconds, he still hadn't received a response from his subordinates, which made him even more irritable. He angrily turned around and wanted to scold them.
But he saw the most terrifying scene of his life.
The dozen or so subordinates who had been following behind him were now all lying on the ground, with deep dents on their bodies or heads, and their chests no longer rising and falling.
A tall man stood in the center of the corpse, squinting and smiling at him.