The Dead Must Make Way for the Living!

Two days later.

As the World Economic News Agency's latest report was being prepared with great fervor.

Alabasta, Arubana, Royal Port.

Alabasta's King Cobra stood aboard a Royal Merchant Ship.

At that moment, Huka and several Guards stood on the deck, their faces stern as they guarded their king.

Beyond that, a voice also came from above Cobra's head.

"Your Majesty, they're here."

The one delivering the intelligence was a massive bird soaring through the sky.

That was Bell, transformed into a falcon.

With his words.

Cobra indeed saw, from the distant Sandora River.

A warship slowly appearing.

That warship was not a Navy vessel—the cross-star flag hanging from its mainmast was enough to reveal its origin.

It was a ship directly under the 'World Government'.

And at that moment.

On that warship.

"Tap." "Tap." "Tap."

Footsteps rang out, their owner a man.

He wore a white suit, a white round-top hat, one eye black and one white with no pupils, his entire face pale, giving him a very distinctive appearance.

If not for the beard on his chin, one might almost suspect he was wearing a mask.

Beside him stood two other tall men, also clad in white and wearing masks.

"You two stay here."

With that, the man casually ordered his companions, then his figure flickered.

"Shwoosh!"

An extremely fast 'Shave' and 'Geppo' were unleashed, his form leaping repeatedly across the sky above the Sandora River.

In just a few seconds, he crossed several hundred meters and appeared before Cobra.

"Clang!"

Huka and the Guards raised their weapons in alert, signaling the man not to act rashly.

But Cobra gently raised his hand, stopping his guards.

He strode out from the crowd, looked at the man, and announced his name loudly: "I am the King of Alabasta, Nefertari Cobra."

Upon hearing this, the man removed his hat, held it to his chest, and bowed: "CP0, Gernika."

Indeed.

The man named Gernika was an agent of CP0.

"We have been ordered by the government to handle the matter concerning the Shichibukai 'Crocodile'."

With that, he placed his hat back on: "Now, please explain the current situation, King Cobra—who killed Crocodile?"

Following the plan devised before his arrival, he cut straight to the point.

But to his surprise.

"As far as I know, the one who killed him called himself 'Dragon of the Chen'—I will explain the specifics to you shortly, of course."

Cobra nodded after hearing this.

"But before that... Igaram!"

The king called out loudly: "Bring the thing up!"

At his words, voices came from the cabin behind him: "Yes, Your Majesty!"

The next moment, the cabin door opened.

Led by Igaram, several Guards carried a large chest out from the cabin.

"Thud!"

Midway through, one of the Guards seemed to stumble and twist his ankle, letting out a crisp, muffled grunt.

"..."

The sound drew Gernika's gaze.

But the CP0 agent said nothing, merely fixing his eyes on the chest.

"This is..."

He asked softly.

And King Cobra had no intention of being cryptic.

The king simply continued: "Mr. Gernika, these are materials given to me some time ago by a woman who called herself an 'Informed Source.'"

He asked thus, his voice calm.

"They contain records of an organization called Baroque Works and its attempt to overthrow Alabasta—they call it the 'Utopia Plan.'"

"That woman also told me a few other things, such as the identity of that organization's leader."

King Cobra said calmly.

"..."

Thus, Gernika's expressionless face seemed to darken somewhat.

As a top agent of the World Government, he clearly knew a great deal.

So.

"You mean—"

"I cannot trust the veracity of the information that woman provided, so I thought the Five Elders might be able to confirm it for me?"

Cobra said softly.

"...I understand. Please wait a moment."

Thus, Gernika nodded.

Then, he decisively took a small Den Den Mushi from his chest and stepped aside.

"Brubrubru!" "Brubrubru!" "Click!"

And as the Den Den Mushi connected, Gernika's lips moved slightly, as if reporting what had happened here to the person on the other end.

Then he seemed to hear an instruction from the other end of the line and nodded slightly: "Yes."

So he hung up the Den Den Mushi and walked back before Cobra.

"Your Majesty King Cobra."

He said in a deep voice: "The Five Elders deeply regret this year's Natural Disaster in Alabasta, and never expected that Baroque Works' Mr. 0 would be hiding in Alabasta. This is a failure on the part of both the World Government and the Navy. The Government is willing to provide Alabasta with a substantial sum of disaster relief aid."

"As for the truth you mentioned, the Government is also willing to thoroughly investigate these documents on your behalf."

"Will this satisfy you?"

He explained the situation in a few concise words, his speech crisp and clean.

And after hearing his words, Cobra finally nodded: "Of course."

But then, Cobra added: "However, as you can see, these materials are extensive—what's here is only a portion of them. So I thought, the next time the Government delivers the disaster relief aid, I will hand over these materials then. Will that satisfy you?"

Upon hearing this, Gernika likewise nodded: "Of course."

It was worth noting—during their conversation, that guard who had twisted his ankle earlier seemed to lose his footing and nearly fell again.

This made Igaram look at him with some irritation, feeling that he would have to seriously improve the training intensity of the Royal Guard from now on.

And on the other side, after reaching a consensus.

"Then, I shall take my leave—Your Majesty."

Gernika showed no hesitation whatsoever and immediately took his leave on the spot.

Then his figure leaped once more, flying back toward the warship in the distance.

And after watching Gernika's figure disappear into the distance.

Cobra was silent for a moment before saying: "Igaram, all of you may withdraw."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

And Igaram, who had been wanting to do just that, nodded, though his gaze fell on that guard who kept making mistakes.

But it was at this moment—

"She stays."

Cobra pointed lightly at the guard and said with authority.

Thus, even Igaram was slightly taken aback.

"Your Majesty, he—"

He thought Cobra was angry about the guard's earlier mistake, so he hurriedly tried to explain.

But Cobra said nothing, only giving Igaram a firm look.

"...Yes!"

Thus, Igaram naturally understood his master's intent.

He shot the guard a look that said 'good luck,' then led the others away.

And after all the guards had left—

"Take it off."

"That armor is heavy, and the things you stuffed in your boots can't be comfortable either, right?"

Cobra looked at the 'guard' and spoke gently.

"..."

The 'guard' said nothing, but the body beneath the armor seemed to tremble slightly.

Seeing this, Cobra shook his head. "Vivi, I'm not a father who can't recognize his own daughter's voice."

"But you're not a good king!"

Hearing those words, Nefertari Vivi finally couldn't hold back anymore.

She yanked off her helmet and threw it to the ground.

"That man—Crocodile—he's the mastermind behind everything, isn't he!?"

She stared at her father, her voice sharp in a way it rarely was.

"You know full well it's all his fault. Why don't you tell the government? Why are you covering for him?"

As she'd said before, Cobra had kept her out of matters concerning the Dragon of the Chen.

But Vivi was never an obedient princess.

So she'd been investigating in secret, until recently, when she happened to hear Igaram's wife, Tiragatan, mention that Igaram would be at the port today. That was when she formed her plan.

She secretly replaced one of the guards and came here, witnessing firsthand her father king's conversation with the World Government agent.

She knew exactly what those documents represented.

They were Crocodile's evidence of guilt—the 'truth' owed to this drought and the countless dead.

But hearing Vivi's words, Cobra showed no sign of anger.

He simply looked at his daughter and sighed. "I didn't want you to be exposed to these things just yet, but..."

He shook his head with a bitter smile. "You're just like your mother—never one to follow the rules."

After this lament, he paused in thought, then spoke again.

"Vivi."

Instead of answering her directly, he raised one finger. "I have two stories here."

"The first story is that Crocodile, the 'Shichibukai,' is actually the head of a criminal syndicate and the culprit behind the seven-month drought that nearly usurped our kingdom."

"Then, a strong person named 'Dragon of the Chen' defeated Crocodile and saved this country."

Saying this, he raised a second finger.

"The second story is..."

He looked at his daughter. "There was never any conspiracy—Alabasta's seven months without rain were just due to extreme weather this year."

"And the one who defeated Crocodile was MR.0 of 'Baroque Works,' whose name is 'Dragon of the Chen.'"

"Crocodile happened to fight him in Alabasta and was killed."

"Which story do you think the World Government would prefer?"

Hearing her father king's question, Vivi fell silent.

Which story would they prefer?

The answer was obvious—the second one.

In the first story, the 'Shichibukai,' chosen and privileged by the World Government, became a villain who tried to usurp a World Government member nation, one of the original twenty kingdoms, causing countless deaths.

And a member of the 'Twelve Zodiacs,' the organization that stole the Celestial Gold, became the hero who defeated him.

That kind of thing... how could the World Government ever accept it?

The second story was much easier to swallow—in this story, the World Government made no mistakes. Crocodile was simply outmatched.

And the fact that he died fighting a criminal heroically even served to justify the World Government's choice of the 'Shichibukai.'

"..."

So Vivi naturally understood her father king's meaning.

This was a deal.

To ensure the 'second story' was the truth, the World Government had to silence Cobra.

Gernika had realized this too, which was why he'd just called the Five Elders to explain the situation.

And the Five Elders had indeed shown their sincerity.

"To protect the government's face, that money won't be short."

Cobra's gaze drifted into the distance, toward Alabasta.

"With that money, the damage the people have suffered this year can be made up for."

Didn't he want the truth to be revealed?

No, of course he wanted to.

But—

"Vivi, do you remember what Ancestor Lily said?"

"The past must compromise for the future."

"The dead must make way for the living."

He said softly, "We are the kings of Alabasta. We must do our utmost to preserve the well-being of more of our people."

Before the weight of life and the stability of the kingdom, the truth was the only thing that didn't matter.

".Why?"

But before he could finish his words, Vivi interrupted him once again.

She lifted her head, looking at her Father King.

But this time, her tone was no longer an accusation, but a gentle inquiry.

"Why did you have to hide it from me and do all this alone, Father King?"

"If you had told me earlier, I could have shared this burden with you."

Until this moment, she had understood everything.

She understood why her Father King hadn't let her know the identity of the mastermind behind the scenes.

He had likely planned for today from the very first moment he learned the truth.

And she naturally understood that, given her Father King's personality, making such a decision must not have been easy.

Turning an enemy into a hero, burying the truth—this was a decision born of guilt and pain.

So she didn't understand.

She was sensible. She would understand and make the same choice as Cobra—just like at that World Conference years ago, when she had forced back her grievances and apologized to Wapol for bullying her.

She could share this pain with Cobra.

"I know, Vivi."

But at this moment, Cobra only gently stroked his daughter's hair.

And in his mind, he couldn't help but recall the last World Conference, when he heard that his daughter had been bullied, and Vivi, holding back her tears, had smiled at him and said, 'Father King, I'm fine.'

"I know you would do that."

Of course he knew how outstanding his daughter was.

But precisely because of that—

"That's why I didn't want you to do it—guilt and pain, let me bear them alone. That's enough."

The king of Alabasta shook his head: "I'm already a bad king who concealed the truth for a villain, so I thought... at least let me be a good father."

Crocodile and Cobra both still have important roles later on. [So I've written quite a bit about Cobra's character.]

And this chapter is 4000 words, a small burst for today. I'll humbly ask for some follows and monthly tickets.