Alabasta Kingdom, Rainbase.
The Alabasta Kingdom covered a vast area, but most of it was uninhabited desert. Eighty percent of its population was concentrated in the oasis regions along both banks of the Sandora River.
Abundant water, dense populations, and convenient river transport had made the cities along the Sandora River extraordinarily prosperous, turning the region into Alabasta Kingdom's economic center.
Rainbase, known as the "City of Dreams," was an even brighter jewel of the Sandora River basin and the hub of the Kingdom's economic lifeline.
Setting politics and history aside, Rainbase was more qualified than Alubarna, where the royal family resided, to serve as a nation's capital from every possible perspective.
But absurdly enough:
Rainbase, such a crucial economic hub, had been openly occupied and operated as a headquarters by Sand Crocodile Crocodile, becoming a de facto independent kingdom beyond royal control.
As king, Cobra not only did nothing about it, but followed public opinion in regarding Crocodile as a hero protecting Alabasta. That only further fed Crocodile's arrogance.
Under Crocodile's careful management, the people of Rainbase had long forgotten that Alabasta even had a king. They knew only the Shichibukai who had always been "protecting" them.
Yet Rainbase's lord, Crocodile, was not particularly happy at the moment.
According to Garen and Vivi's plan, after reaching Alabasta, they should have headed straight for Alubarna, the Kingdom's capital, and told King Cobra, who was still completely in the dark, the truth about Sand Crocodile's plot to steal the country.
But plans could not keep up with changes. Sand Crocodile's sudden descent had brought the two hostile sides face-to-face, while Hawkeye's presence and Garen's performance created a delicate deadlock.
For Crocodile, the situation was even more awkward.
He could neither fight nor flee, so he could only remain in a muddled