Burning

What they called "politics" was actually a terrifying thing.

Because in many cases, your opponents weren't enemies on the battlefield, but some kind of invisible, intangible thing!

Fighting to the death against the unseen until your thoughts grew muddled and your mind collapsed—

That was "politics"!

As one of the World Government's affiliated nations, Cobra had far too many things to worry about.

His people, his country, his family, his friends, the World Government...

He was a gentle man, but that did not make him any less resolute.

No matter who his opponent was—even if it was the entire world—he would protect Alabasta!

That was the fate of the royal family.

And it was because of that fate that, in the distant future, Cobra would be secretly killed by the Five Elders before Imu's throne.

Back to the present.

The king was still in his prime, and there was much he could do.

He spoke with Dalton to learn the general situation, then learned from Crocodile about the existence of the Donquixote Family.

Afterward, Cobra began devising a strategy.

Crocodile was thinking, too.

Doflamingo's behavior was unusually unpredictable, and Crocodile had to stay on guard.

Alabasta was a base he had worked hard to establish, and he didn't want the World Government to take notice of it.

Fortunately, the Poneglyph was involved, so Cobra wouldn't readily seek help from the World Government.

In that case, all he had to do was deal with the "arms dealer" from the Donquixote Family!

Crocodile was prepared to take action by force.

That was one of the advantages of being a Shichibukai.

A mere "criminal" pirate could be killed without dragging an affiliated nation of the World Government into it!

The only question was: who exactly was this mysterious "fourth party"?

"..."

"Hey, Primitive Man!"

Crocodile turned toward Aiven Lindsey beside him, hoping to get some information from him.

"What do you think?"

"..."

Lindsey thought for a moment, then blinked, looking slightly puzzled.

"Actually, there's something I've been wondering about."

"Hm?"

Crocodile and Cobra both froze, waiting for him to continue.

Lindsey went on, "Why do you insist on assuming this will lead to war?"

"What?"

Crocodile and Cobra paused, confused by his meaning.

Lindsey spread his hands and explained, "We already know that the ones scheming behind the scenes are the Donquixote Family and the 'fourth party,' not Wapol."

"The first two are undoubtedly clever people. If their ultimate goal were war, they would have attacked us already."

"But the Donquixote Family chose to manipulate the Drum Kingdom, while the 'fourth party' has only been harassing us."

Lindsey sat cross-legged on the ground and tapped a finger against the floor, speaking slowly.

"So I think their goal isn't war. They want to use the conflict as an opportunity to get us to negotiate with them, then pursue some other aim!"

"..."

"..."

When he finished, Crocodile and Cobra fell silent.

That was right. How had they not thought of that?

Both of them could understand what Aiven Lindsey had said. They simply hadn't realized it in the moment.

Perhaps the former had been too focused on the people and the country, while the latter had been too preoccupied with the Poneglyph.

Now that everything was clear, Cobra first thanked Lindsey, then continued working out the strategy.

Crocodile turned to Aiven Lindsey, astonished. "How did you know?"

Lindsey answered candidly, "Conflict is driven by profit, but there's nothing to gain from going to war right now. So they must have something else in mind."

"..."

Crocodile fell silent, even more perplexed. "How can you tell?"

Lindsey blinked and smiled.

"You taught me, and then I learned."

"..."

"Yeah."

Half a day later, word came from the Drum Kingdom.

Everything was just as Aiven Lindsey had said. Wapol, the king of the Drum Kingdom, had sent Alabasta a so-called "invitation to peace talks."

To make it seem official, Wapol had even sent it in the form of a letter.

Cobra had already prepared for this, so he replied at once.

The two sides agreed to hold peace talks in two days on an Uninhabited Island in the waters between Alabasta and Drum Island.

Anyone could see that the other side had an ulterior motive for proposing negotiations, but Cobra still intended to attend.

The reason was simple—

"Things have to reach some kind of conclusion."

Cobra gently ruffled Vivi's hair, easing the worry in the little princess's eyes.

"Don't be afraid to move forward. We have to face the future sooner or later."

Two days later.

Uninhabited Island.

It was a barren little island, about the size of the port city of Nanohana.

It wasn't large, but it was suitable for peace talks between two nations.

At that moment, warships from the two countries were anchored on opposite sides of the island.

Alabasta's fleet consisted of more than a dozen warships, along with several smaller boats.

Alabasta wasn't keen on war, but as a superpower, it had a substantial stockpile of military resources.

For this operation, it had assembled a huge fleet by drawing on only a small portion of its stationed troops!

The Drum Kingdom, by contrast, had brought a force almost as large as Alabasta's.

But it was obvious that the Drum Kingdom's troops were a motley crew.

Besides their regular guards, there were also quite a few mercenaries from the underworld, and their warships weren't even of a uniform design.

Clearly, Wapol no longer intended to hide who was backing him.

After a long and tedious reception process, Cobra and Wapol each landed at opposite ends of the island and headed for a tent at its center to hold their peace talks.

Each man brought two guards.

On one side were Bepo and Jaka, both Zoan Devil Fruit Users. On the other were Jace and Crocomon.

Alabasta had a large standing army, and Cobra made good use of that advantage.

Besides the fleet accompanying him, he had also sent a number of fast ships to patrol the surrounding waters, on guard against the possible "fourth party."

Meanwhile, Aiven Lindsey and Crocodile were hiding aboard a small boat among Alabasta's fleet, watching to see what would happen.

A Den Den Mushi that was already connected was concealed inside Bepo's robe, and Crocodile held another.

It wasn't proper, but for Alabasta's sake, Cobra had given the two men tacit permission to eavesdrop.

Wapol's side had probably done the same. The Donquixote Family would surely be listening to the negotiations, too.

But neither side was here in person. They were waiting for the possible "anomaly."

Where was the anomaly?

The anomaly had arrived!

Rumble!

A series of violent explosions approached from the outskirts of the island.

"Hm?!"

Lindsey sensed something amiss. His ears twitched as he turned toward the distant horizon.

Crocodile did the same, then froze at once.

A crimson glow lit up their faces.

It was fire.

The sea was on fire!

A wall of blazing flames swept toward them, burning several patrol ships to ashes.

The King's Army soldiers of Alabasta jumped into the sea to escape. Several of them pulled out Den Den Mushi and sent a warning to the fleet near the island.

"Dragon! It's a dragon!"

"The dragon flew right over us! It set everything on fire!"