A Set

A common saying circulates among sailors:

A butterfly flapping its wings can stir up a storm thousands of miles away.

Metaphors often imply that even the smallest change can influence the direction of major events!

Lindsey now deeply understood this.

If everything had proceeded normally, Crocodile would never have left Alabasta.

He would have remained hidden here, cultivating his public image as the "national hero" of the country, all while secretly building Baroque Works and plotting for the Poneglyph.

Years later, on the verge of achieving his "nation-stealing" scheme, Crocodile would have been stopped and defeated by the Straw Hat Pirates.

But after "Caesar retrieved the ancient stone tablet," everything began to change.

Crocodile learned about the ancient stone tablet. After pursuing the Ancient Weapon for a long time, he chose to temporarily leave Alabasta and search for clues in the New World.

He then witnessed Aiven Lindsey's resurrection and experienced the riot on Sabaody Archipelago.

Now, as he returned to Alabasta with Aiven Lindsey, the two of them learned incredibly shocking news.

A neighboring country was going to war with Alabasta?!

Something's wrong.

Something is very, very wrong!

Crocodile, puffing on his cigar, silently observed the grandfather and grandson before him.

Staring contest.

He had only been away from Alabasta for a little over a month, so why was there suddenly a war?

Having bypassed the surrounding islands, Crocodile was unaware of the "sea ban."

What in the world was going on?

Crocodile tried to ask further, but the grandfather and grandson's answers were a jumbled mess.

These two were indeed citizens of Alabasta, but by no means did they look like "King's Army" personnel fit for patrol duty.

They lacked any combat training and seemed downright neurotic!

"Tsk, amateurs..."

Crocodile shook his head in exasperation and told the two to collect their thoughts while he took the helm.

Meanwhile, Lindsey tied their small fishing boat to the larger ship and waited silently for it to dock.

He couldn't help but wonder what had happened in Alabasta.

This was supposed to be a famous superpower in the Grand Line, spanning over ten million square kilometers, with a standing army of six hundred thousand.

Even the World Government wouldn't dare suppress a nation of this magnitude easily. What reckless "neighboring country" dared to provoke it?

Furthermore, Alabasta's current king, Cobra, was famously devoted to his people. He would never allow civilians to be involved in warfare, so why were this grandfather and grandson patrolling on their own?

Too many questions flooded his mind at once.

As the sailboat docked, Lindsey finally set foot on Alabasta.

This was Nanohana, a port city famous for its perfume!

As soon as he landed, even Lindsey could sense that Alabasta was clearly not right at the moment.

In the city of Nanohana alone, what was usually a bustling port city now had no vendors on the streets and no signs of life.

Scattered King's Army soldiers were stationed at intersections, most residents stayed indoors, and a few militiamen were patrolling.

It was a clear sign of impending war!

Meanwhile, the grandfather and grandson had finally recovered their composure.

After receiving Crocodile's casual forgiveness, they finally relaxed and began to rally the surrounding residents.

"Hey, everyone, Mr. Sand Crocodile is back!"

"..."

As soon as this was said, houses began to stir.

Before long, dozens of people gathered, chattering excitedly, and some even cheered.

"Mr. Sand Crocodile, you're finally back!"

"Are you alright? Do you need to rest first?"

"That's great! With you here, the King will surely lead us to defeat the enemy!"

"..."

The cacophony of chatter made Crocodile frown slightly.

He actually disdained these commoners who were easily incited, but his persona in Alabasta was that of a "national hero" fighting pirates, so he had to deal with them reluctantly.

Seeing that he couldn't get any useful information this way, Crocodile found an excuse to bid farewell to the crowd. Then, he pulled a few members of the King's Army aside into a small alley.

He casually introduced Aiven Lindsey.

"This is my... 'friend'."

He emphasized the last two words, saying them with great reluctance.

Alabasta was the country he had set his sights on, so Crocodile had to figure out who was behind all this!

"So, what happened while I was away?"

"..."

Hearing this, the King's Army members exchanged glances.

After a moment of thought, one of the captains stepped forward and replied, "Actually, even we aren't entirely sure..."

"Hmm?" Crocodile raised an eyebrow.

What the captain said next plunged Crocodile into deep confusion.

"Not long after you left Alabasta, the same flyer suddenly appeared all over the country."

"The content of the flyer was a declaration of war from the Drum Kingdom against Alabasta."

As he spoke, the captain took out the "flyer" from his bosom and handed it to Crocodile, then continued:

"The King of the Drum Kingdom, Wapol, claimed that a rebellion had broken out in their country, and the leader was now hiding in Alabasta, even colluding with the royal family. He demanded we hand over the culprit, or we would pay the price."

"But all the citizens believe that His Majesty Cobra would never do such a thing."

"His Majesty Cobra also tried to communicate with the Drum Kingdom, but they never responded, and we heard nothing."

"Moreover, for over a month now, many Alabastan merchant ships and fishing boats have been attacked by the Drum Kingdom, and their provocations haven't stopped."

"Everyone was outraged, and many even volunteered to become militiamen, which is how things have become like this."

"..."

After the explanation, Crocodile finally had a general understanding of recent events.

However, this only increased his confusion.

He had investigated the surrounding countries long ago, so he naturally knew about the Drum Kingdom and its then-king, Wapol.

The former was a small country, and the latter was a complete fool.

Incompetent, corrupt, and brutal fool!

Whether it was the "country" or the "individual," they were trash that didn't need to be considered. Why had things escalated to this point?

"Although there hasn't been a large-scale war, there have been too many scattered attacks, as if they were deliberately provoking us, making it impossible to defend against them all," the captain said helplessly. "So, His Majesty Cobra sent us here mainly to stabilize people's morale."

"..."

"I understand."

Crocodile nodded.

The King's Army members before him didn't seem to know much either. He would have to ask King Cobra himself for the specific intelligence.

The journey to the capital, "Alubarna," began.

Along the way, they had to cross a vast desert.

Ordinary people would naturally need to make thorough preparations, but for two Devil Fruit users, this journey only required time.

The desert scenery was indeed beautiful, so Lindsey took the opportunity to enjoy the view as they walked.

Crocodile, on the other hand, was a bit busy.

After organizing his thoughts slightly, he took out a Den Den Mushi and contacted Cobra in the Alubarna royal capital in advance.

Buru buru buru...

Click!

The Den Den Mushi connected. After a brief pleasantry with Cobra, Crocodile got straight to the point.

"During my trip at sea, I also gathered some useful information."

Crocodile chuckled sinisterly, but his tone was incredibly sincere.

"I suspect that the disturbance from the Drum Kingdom is related to something within your royal mausoleum."

Cobra, on the other end of the Den Den Mushi, clearly didn't understand and asked, "The royal mausoleum? What's in there?"

Crocodile paused, seemingly quickly formulating a plan in his mind, then slowly uttered four words:

"Poneglyph."

"..."

Slap, slap!

Lindsey, standing by, couldn't help but clap his hands as he watched the scene unfold.

He had to admit, the little alligator was quite good at making things up.