Victory Fruit, Rest and Recuperation

Rain,

It's raining all over the kingdom!

With Crocodile's fall, the previously ended artificial rainmaking turned into natural rainfall, covering the entire Alabasta, as if to make up for three years of drought. Therefore...

It's all over!

The civil war in Alabasta ended in a 'bizarre' way.

At a critical moment when 700,000 Rebel Army were approaching the kingdom's capital, Alubarna, Rear Admiral Smoker of the Marine Headquarters noticed something unusual about the rebellion. He led a large number of naval officers and soldiers, headed by Lieutenant Tashigi, and bravely pressed forward despite the dangers... (500 words omitted)

The rebellion was successfully quelled, saving millions of Alabasta people from disaster! This earned the praise of the Alabasta people and upheld the 'just' spirit of the Navy... (500 words omitted)

During this time, with the help of the Alabasta royal family and some adventurers, Rear Admiral Smoker exposed the horrifying plot of former Shichibukai, Crocodile, to steal the country, once again proving to the world the Navy's unwavering stance of justice...

"Puff,"

As Roman flipped through the newspaper in his hand, he could imagine the coal-black face of the grumpy and stubborn Smoker when he saw these reports.

I'm afraid even the 'White Hunter' will be so angry he'll turn into a 'black hunter'...

"It seems that no matter where you are, the government's 'face' work is exactly the same."

Setting down the newspaper, Roman looked at the numerous hospital beds in the room. —Lying on them were the seriously injured members of the Straw Hat crew: Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, Sanji ...

Nami only suffered minor injuries, while Chopper is in the best condition. They are currently consulting with the royal physicians of Alabasta and making reasonable plans for the recovery of the others.

Two days have passed.

Two days ago, after turning the Imperial Palace Plaza into ruins, the Straw Hat crew finally defeated Crocodile. Although Luffy collapsed from poisoning, blood loss, and exhaustion on the spot, with Roman there, the unfortunate situation of casualties after the victory was avoided.

In fact, Nico Robin had a premonition that she would fall out with Crocodile. So she had secretly prepared an antidote for Crocodile's poison hooks, and even a sealed Seastone knife.

(Don't ask, the answer is that he's using a test tube of water to try and kill the crocodile single-handedly. That's an insult to Robin-chan's intelligence.)

Unfortunately, none of these things were ultimately of use, but the antidote did save Luffy from his immediate predicament. And then—

Nico Robin drifted away, and neither the Straw Hat crew nor Alabasta had any fighting power left to stop her, so they acquiesced to her departure.

Not long after, just like the police in a TV drama who arrived late.

When Smoker arrived with naval reinforcements, he was met with an unconscious crocodile and a host of fallen Baroque Works executives. And then there was the Alabasta royal family, who declared: 'This guy has committed countless evil deeds, only to be knocked to the ground by a passing hero! The hero has already hidden his merits and fame... You naval personnel can write your own reports.'

As for whether the Navy believes it or not?

Anyway, the Alabasta royal family believes it!

Have a problem with that? Ask the 200,000 warriors of our kingdom and the 700,000 rebel militia outside... about their weapons.

Smoker isn't Crocodile; he doesn't possess the strength to single-handedly take on an entire nation. Besides, Alabasta is Affiliated Nation of the World Government, which is the Navy's superior. In a sense, Alabasta is practically a... financial backer of the Navy.

So,

After detaining Crocodile and the executives of Baroque Works, Smoker had no choice but to leave Alubarna with a heavy heart.

As for the follow-up reports in Roman's possession—it's no surprise that the World Government attributed this 'credit' to Smoker.

The government can't possibly admit that its appointed 'Shichibukai' not only plotted to steal the country, but were also defeated by a group of rookie pirates who had just entered the Grand Line, can it? What's even more shameful is that the Navy played the role of being deceived and beaten up in this whole affair.

How could this be? Doesn't our World Government have any dignity?

"Anyway, we're fine now."

Roman patted the newspaper and stroked his chin as he recalled.

Even after Luffy and Zoro's bounties are released, the only one who actually comes to 'arrest' the Straw Hat Pirates is Hina, a fellow Smoker Supernovas as "Black Cage Prison Hina," whose rank is only colonel.

Although this colonel was quite skilled, there was no trace of the navy's high-ranking officers intervening. After all, in Roman's view:

Unless you're a young, impetuous person (like Smoker and Hina), wouldn't the first thing that comes to mind when you see Luffy's name be the legendary Vice Admiral Garp?

You know, there are very few people in this world who dare to add a 'D' in the middle of their name. With such an obvious surname, more composed officers would definitely not want to go too far. Otherwise, if they were ambushed by Garp, who would they complain to?

Was he Fleet Admiral Sengoku?

Don't be ridiculous. Isn't Fleet Admiral Sengoku's office the same as Vice Admiral Garp's lounge? Going there to reason with him is just asking for trouble...

"So, everyone, please rest here for a while before setting off again."

Having finally defeated a major boss, there's no need to rush around like we're running away. Anyway, Roman already used the 'White Knight' to sail the Golden Merry to a port city on the east coast and hide it there. It's guarded by the local Rebels... no, they should be called Alabasta militia, ensuring that the navy patrolling the oceans won't be able to catch a thing.

If there's any impact, it'll probably be on the friendship between Mr. 2 Bon Clay and the Straw Hat crew... But never mind, that's a trivial matter. Anyway, to use that phrase again:

If we're friends, we'll meet again someday on this vast ocean.

"My goodness, this medicine is truly miraculous!" After witnessing Chopper's medical skills, the Alabasta court physician exclaimed in astonishment, "Yet it's so reasonable, it's brilliant!"

"May I ask who your teacher is? They must be a very skilled doctor, right?"

!

Chopper, who had just been aloof and unapproachable, instantly became adorable, pulling out a chair and pushing a cup of hot tea towards him.

"Ugh, stop staring at me! You idiot~~"

"Get out of here, you bastard!"

······

"Ah, you can just think of this as 'Please sit down, please have some tea.'"

Roman waved his hand and saw Vivi walking over—she had already taken off her combat suit and changed into a casual short-sleeved dress. She was also carrying a basin and towel.

"Vivi, you've come to visit Luffy again."

"Mmm... Ah..."

Tsk tsk tsk, a princess of a nation personally wiping her sweat and washing herself, Luffy, you Great Sea King...

"I'll go check on the others' injuries."

Roman decided not to be a third wheel. He got up, went to the next room, and pushed open the door. Inside was—

The room was also filled with wounded soldiers: four elite 'Bird Claw' soldiers from the Royal Army and the leaders of the Rebels. On the contrary, the two vice-captains Chaka and Bell, whose throats were slit, had Zoan Devil Fruit and were able to jump around and direct the handling of the aftermath on the same day.

"Mr. Roman, we..."

In response to Koza's question, Roman smiled and shrugged.

"Sorry, the Mighty Water I gave you was diluted."

"So you'll probably feel weak all over for the next two weeks, but it'll be hard to die."

This······

"Yes, the truth is that when you fought Crocodile, you were actually unleashing your own power. So don't underestimate your potential."

"Why····"

"Because my captain wanted a 'happy' ending for everyone, I lied to you. — You don't mind, do you?"

Faced with Roman's question, both the Royal Army and the Rebels bowed respectfully.

"Won't!"

"Without you, we can't even imagine what a dark future our beloved country would face..."

"Thank you so much!" X8

"No, no, no," Roman waved his hand, "You should thank our captain."

"You can thank Luffy he recovers."

Since it seemed that everyone had recovered to a considerable extent, Roman was relieved. He still had many things to deal with.

"Although,"

Roman walked to the door, opened it, Guotou around.

"Luffy definitely doesn't care."

Thud!

The room was left with a group of wounded soldiers looking at each other in bewilderment.

"That really is..."

"A group of dashing 'heroes'!"