A Terrifying Possibility!

The jungle still looked like a jungle, but deep within the dense forest, a cluster of houses had been erected.

This was truly strange... Why hadn't Baroque Works left after completing their mission? Instead, they had set up camp here and stayed for half a year?!

However, combined with the intelligence Fred had provided that afternoon, Ron already had an answer in mind.

The root of Garp's inability to act as he pleased was actually the attitude of the Five Elders. But unlike the Five Elders' previous unilateral dissatisfaction, this time, the source came from the affiliated nations.

The day before they were preparing to depart, a king from one of the affiliated nations learned of the Marines' plan from an unknown source. He went to Mary Geoise and, in front of the Five Elders, accused Garp of interfering in his country's internal affairs with the Marines' military power. He even rallied other affiliated nations to complain about the Marines together!

This gave the Five Elders a huge headache!

Before Garp could even make a move, the affiliated nations were already dissatisfied. What should they do?

If they retracted their words, where would the Five Elders' dignity go?

If they didn't retract them, the affiliated nations would cause trouble again.

Therefore, Garp still couldn't make a move. The only one who could act was Ron, who had no record and was outside of their jurisdiction.

And the one causing trouble was the King of Alabasta, Nefertari Cobra!

"Nefertari Cobra?"

Upon hearing the name, Ron's heart skipped a beat.

Time rewinded to the garden that afternoon. Surrounded by lightning and black coal dust, the two had no worries about their conversation being leaked.

"Yes, it's a powerful nation comparable to our Hana! King Cobra, like my aunt, loves his people dearly and is deeply loved by his citizens."

At this point, Fred, who was usually full of confidence, showed a rare hint of surprise: "But strangely, why would Alabasta know about what happened in Hana? And King Cobra, acting completely out of character, personally went to Mary Geoise to speak up for me."

Although they were both descendants of the twenty royal families of creation, the Nefertari family and the "Celestial Dragon" families of Mary Geoise had never been on the same page. The current king, Cobra, was a typical outlier, not showing respect, let alone obedience, to the World Government.

On the contrary, during the World Council meeting in 1514, when the issue of the Revolutionary Army was discussed, Cobra had accused other affiliated kings of not caring about their citizens, which allowed the Revolutionary Army to exploit the situation, making a group of kings extremely embarrassed.

For such a good-natured person to stand up for a rebel like himself?

"Perhaps... it's a high-ranking official you bribed within the World Government who is helping you!"

Ron looked at Fred with a strange expression.

"Do they have that capability?"

Fred didn't believe those good-for-nothings could accomplish something so earth-shattering, but currently, this was the only explanation that made sense.

After the storm subsided, Fred suddenly asked, "You've asked me so many questions, I'd like to ask you one, Captain Ron."

Ron, who was about to leave, turned back. "Please speak!"

"Why did the Marines abandon you? Do you know that there has never been a precedent for someone leaving the Marines to take a position in an affiliated nation and then returning?"

"This question... I'll answer it when you become king!"

Fred watched Ron's receding back and clenched his fist silently.

"Me... become king?"

Let alone Fred, perhaps even the Five Elders would be puzzled why Alabasta knew about what happened in Hana, thousands of miles away, and why Nefertari Cobra, a descendant of the twenty royal families of creation, would admonish them about the Hana incident.

But in Ron's eyes, there were traces to follow.

Baroque Works had interfered in the Hana civil unrest, and the mastermind behind it was Alabasta's national hero, Crocodile!

For Cobra to act so out of character was no secret to someone who had read the original story... because Ron dared to assert that it wasn't Cobra at all!

It was a high-ranking executive of Baroque Works, the user of the Mane Mane no Mi, Mr.2 Bon Clay!

Did Desert Crocodile dare to deceive the Five Elders after eating a bear's heart and leopard's gall?

Or did Bon Clay dare to impersonate Cobra in front of the Five Elders after eating a bear's heart and leopard's gall?

Ron didn't care about that.

What he cared about was Crocodile's determination to rebel in Hana, as revealed by this incident!

Having Bon Clay impersonate Cobra to advise the Five Elders, accusing Garp of interfering in the internal affairs of affiliated nations with the Marines' military power, making the Marines hesitant to act, and committing such a brazen and unforgivable act, had only one purpose.

That was, this rebellion must succeed!

But, why?

Crocodile went to Alabasta knowing the whereabouts of the ancient weapon Pluton. What reason did he have to interfere in the civil unrest in Hana, thousands of miles away?

Ron had spent some effort studying Crocodile, one of the ten great unjust cases of the Pirate King.

An extremely narcissistic and ambitious revenger. If you said he did things without purpose, Ron would truly sympathize with the Five Elders for five minutes, one minute per person...

So...

"Ancient weapon... huh?"

The blueprints for Pluton were in Water 7 in the New World. The Poneglyph pointing to Water 7 was located underground in the Royal Mausoleum of Alabasta. Poseidon was a Mermaid Princess born once in several hundred years on Fish-Man Island, and the clue was on the Poneglyph at the top of the giant bean pod on Apis Island. Neither of these had any connection to Hana, yet Crocodile was determined to cause civil unrest in Hana, even leaving a large number of personnel hidden in the jungle...

Ron's expression became serious.

This was just a possibility!

But it was a very terrifying possibility!

Even if it wasn't an ancient weapon, there was a high chance it was related to the Poneglyphs!

Three of Crocodile's top subordinates remained at the camp: Mr.1 Daz Bones, Mr.3 Galdino, and Mr.3's partner, Miss. Goldenweek.

High-ranking executives of Baroque Works had one thing in common: apart from Mr.2 Bon Clay, a newcomer who firmly believed he was both man and woman and thus didn't need a partner, all other executives were paired up, one male and one female.

Of course, whether there was a hidden motive for concealing his identity due to the peculiarity of his Devil Fruit was unknown. After all, Daz Bones didn't know Bon Clay's true appearance until the original story began.

Miss. Doublefinger was Daz Bones' partner, but usually, if there wasn't any special work, she would be working as an informant and occasional assassin at Alabasta's Spider Cafe, not appearing with Daz Bones.

But just looking at this lineup now, it was clear that Baroque Works had spared no expense!

Daz Bones, Crocodile's number one killer, with a bounty of 55 million Belly!

Galdino, the candle man whose combat power was no less than Daz Bones', with a bounty of 45 million Belly!

The young girl, Goldenweek... hmm...

And their true combat power was definitely higher than their bounties!

The World Government and Marines set bounties based on how much of a threat a person posed to them. As assassins, the two wouldn't provoke the Marines for no reason. Moreover, as mentioned before, Baroque Works was mainly involved in arms trading, making money to buy powder... Dancing Powder.

The fact that even a hidden killer in the underworld could have such a high bounty from the Marines was proof of their strength.

"Haven't dug anything up today?"

The night was deep, but this camp had just finished a day of hard work and was preparing dinner. Bones quickly shoved the unappetizing food in his hand down his throat and looked at the sky, as if asking a question, or perhaps talking to himself.

"I guess the so-called treasure must be a mistake by BOSS. There's nothing here at all!"

Candleman Galdino had a strange trait: his mood was synchronized with the flame burning at the tip of his "3"-shaped hair. Right now, after months of being stuck in the jungle, barely able to eat or stay warm, that flame was dim, almost extinguished.

Because the candles made by the Doru Doru no Mi were as hard as iron, he was responsible for crafting the tools needed for treasure hunting, everyone's shelters, and other necessities, as long as they didn't involve fire.

BOSS had ordered them to minimize the possibility of being discovered, so they had to make do with what they could find on-site.

Fred had paid a great price to find out where these guys were hiding and eliminate them as a threat!

"..."

Bones remained silent. In the past, if Galdino dared to question BOSS like this, he would have severely punished him. But after half a year of persistence, even he couldn't help but have doubts.

"Let's keep going. There are only two days left..."

Bones ultimately couldn't bring himself to reprimand Galdino. He shook his head, put down his utensils, and walked towards his room.

Galdino chewed the unappetizing food and muttered to himself, "Whatever! Even if I can't bring back the treasure, I won't be afraid of BOSS if I bring back the reward... Ugh! What is this disgusting stuff?!"

A subordinate beside him looked pained at the dropped bowl, swallowed, and said, "Sir, that's wild boar oil. It's very fragrant!"

"Fragrant? How can you eat such a big piece of oil... Huh?!"

Suddenly, Galdino noticed a blue crack appearing on the glistening wild boar oil. At the same time, a deafening explosion sounded behind them.

Thirty Million Volts · Thunderstorm!!