"Alright, let's compare what we know." Sanji lit a cigarette and spoke.
"Fighting a Shichibukai won't be easy. To reach Rain Dinners, we'll need to cross the Sandora River first, then pass through the desert. I've already prepared food and water.
"Now there's still the civil war. How do we stop it? The Rebel Army's outrage has already reached its peak. Even if we reveal the truth, it probably won't do much."
Sanji's grave voice made everyone tense.
"I'm planning to visit the oasis at Yuba. Kong Zha, the Rebel Army's leader, has known me since we were children. I want to try persuading him," Vivi said.
However.
The entire place fell silent. No one spoke.
"Vivi. Do you think he'll listen to you?" Reiner stared straight at her, ruthlessly shattering her hopes. "Seven hundred thousand people's expectations rest on his shoulders. Do you think a few words from you can make him give up?"
Everyone knew the answer. Impossible!
Sitting cross-legged, Reiner scratched his blond hair.
"We can't produce any evidence, Vivi. Forget childhood sweethearts—even if you were his father, it wouldn't help."
His father really had tried to persuade him, and really had failed.
A war on the scale of a million people—just lining them all up would be enough to pack the capital, Alubarna, to the brim.
It wasn't just the Rebel Army's leader who was difficult. Even if Kong Zha trusted Vivi unconditionally because of their close relationship, what about those seven hundred thousand highly agitated rebels? How were they supposed to convince them?
With a Sovereign's Might?
Pirates guarded the gates while rebels died for the state?
That wouldn't count as persuasion. Besides, Reiner didn't have the stamina for seven rounds in one night. Two would finish him off.
Plan A (crossed out)
"But what else can I do? I can't just watch the war break out."
Vivi's voice gradually weakened. With a thud, she collapsed onto the ground. "Those are a million lives. What am I supposed to do?"
"Sigh... the little delinquent is about to cry again." Reiner rested his face on his hand, his hand on his knee, and sighed helplessly.
Cry. Crying would be good. Once she cried, Crocodile should be finished too. Let Old Sand experience the power of the D. Clan.
"Hey, Reiner, don't say things like that at a time like this." Nami pinched his cheek hard, sounding irritated.
At that moment, Reiner began recalling the original story. He vaguely remembered the two armies already having clashed, and that they only stopped after it rained.
If it rained...
"Hey, I suddenly thought of something. Maybe we really can persuade the Rebel Army."
Hearing that, Nami let go. Everyone turned to look at him, and Reiner continued.
"The Rebel Army definitely can't listen to anything right now. But what if we can bring down their heightened emotions?
"The Rebel Army was, at its core, started by commoners. The ones who later defected were originally soldiers loyal to the king."
Everyone listened expectantly as Reiner went on.
"Leaving aside Crocodile's influence, the rebels raised an army and turned their weapons against the king for only two reasons.
"First, they couldn't survive without water. Second, they believed the person who took their water was the king. That's right from the Rebel Army's perspective, isn't it?
"So the only reason the Rebel Army could gather together like this comes down to one word."
By then, everyone understood. They spoke in unison.
"Water?"
"That's right. To the Rebel Army, this war is a fight for rainwater. So the fastest way to calm them down is also rainwater.
"If we can make it rain somewhere outside the capital, or even pour it directly over the rebels' heads, their fervent emotions will be shaken, at least somewhat."
Even now, there were still people among the rebels who found it hard to believe that the king would do something so absurd, and there were quite a few of them.
Sanji was the first to understand Reiner's idea. Rain alone definitely wouldn't make the Rebel Army give up, but it would be enough to temporarily lower most people's urge to resist, perhaps even extinguishing some people's will to fight entirely.
Under those circumstances, if they applied further pressure and interfered with the rebels' thinking, success would at least no longer be impossible.
"I understand what you mean, but that brings us to the most important question. How do we make it rain?" Sanji asked. Everyone looked at him blankly.
"Dance Powder!"
Reiner looked utterly confused. "Why are you looking at me? Do I look like I can pray for rain?"
What, did this stuff have a patent or something?
The Sand Crocodile could use it, but he couldn't?
Vivi had explained Dance Powder to them on the ship before. Reiner hadn't thought much of it at the time, but who knew it would come in handy now?
"B-but Dance Powder is banned by the World Government."
Vivi's voice grew softer and softer as she gradually saw the wicked smiles appearing on everyone else's faces.
Heh heh heh heh~
The World Government hadn't approved of them becoming pirates either!
"So our mission now is to hurry to the rebel base and burn Dance Powder?"
Sanji continued, "As for the rest, it depends on how far you can take it, Vivi. It also depends on whether the king's former image in the people's hearts was high enough."
"Don't worry. Without Crocodile's scheme, my father would be the person the entire kingdom trusted most."
Vivi then asked in confusion, "But where are we going to find Dance Powder?"
"What's so difficult about that? Crocodile or those high-ranking officers can't possibly be personally burning Dance Powder. At most, they'd assign some Million Agents or Billion Agents to do it."
Reiner said dismissively, "Just show our faces on the streets, and plenty of Baroque Works people will come looking for us. We can catch them one by one and ask.
"Also, when we docked earlier, didn't we spot more than ten Billion Agent ships? There might be plenty of it on those."
"—Yosh!"
Luffy raised his hand and smacked his fist into his palm in front of his chest. "I don't understand any of that, but we can go fight now, right?"
"Not bad, Four-Eyes. Didn't expect you to have a brain like that." Zoro grinned in praise.
"Hey, keep it low-key."
It was all thanks to his god's-eye view. Reiner then told everyone about what he had discovered in town.
Based on the directions and the map, Nami concluded that the Rebel Army had likely moved from Yuba, where Vivi said they were, to Cattelya.
That was also why the group had come up empty-handed in the original story. And Cattelya's location...
What a coincidence, wasn't it?
It was right next door!
Rubbing Chopper's head, Reiner smiled. "Thanks to Chopper's sense of smell. Otherwise, we would've made a huge blunder."
"Hee hee hee, even if you say that, I won't be happy, idiot." Chopper wiggled his rear, looking shy yet pleased.
With their plan settled, they continued with the groups from that morning and split into two teams. This time, Luffy joined Vivi's group as well.
Reiner summoned the undead and headed straight along the coast toward the Baroque Works ships they had spotted that morning.
When they arrived, the other side's ships were anything but quiet. People at that level seemed to know at least some insider information. Even if they didn't know the core plan, they definitely knew when it would happen.
A banquet was underway aboard the ships. A crowd shouted and laughed, with sounds of clinking glasses, singing, loud laughter, and moaning drifting over. Hmm? Hmm? Ah? Ah??
"Reiner, will this be okay?"
"There are two hundred Billion Agents on the other side. Can you beat them?"
"Vivi said they're candidates for Chief Agents."
The cowardly trio chimed in one after another, making Reiner want to claw at the floor. He scratched his head and pointed at several undead.
"Ask them. Why are you asking me?"
The next moment, the Saw Devil charged in, with Blue Ogre and Red Ogre joining him. The sooner they finished, the sooner they could leave.
As for Reiner and the other three, they immediately found a place to hide, lying atop a huge boulder with four heads poking out.
"Whoa! They sank a ship right away!"
"Blue Ogre and Red Ogre are way too fierce!"
"Reiner's undead are so strong."
At that moment, a horrifyingly one-sided battle was unfolding aboard the Baroque Works ships.
"Screech—screech—!"
Clang!
The Saw Devil and Wolverine Undead darted through the crowd like swimming dragons. With every swing of their blades, flashes of steel swept through the air. Enemies fell one after another, and soon the deck was covered with bodies.
Blue Ogre and Red Ogre had it much simpler. With a casual strike, they sent enemies flying and knocked down entire groups.
One ship had barely pulled alongside when Red Ogre gripped his shield tightly and smashed it into the middle of the vessel. Cracks instantly appeared and spread around it. The entire ship split into two on the spot, its bow and stern rising before sinking into the sea.
Those ships weren't small either. They were several times larger than the Going Merry. But compared to the two gigantic Sea Kings the giants had hunted on Little Garden, they were nothing but toys.
Soon, more than ten ships had been slaughtered through. Some people jumped into the sea, and Reiner quietly summoned Fish-man Undead to harvest them.
Most of those fish-men were mere fodder, but in the sea, as one side's combat strength rose while the other's fell, they quickly surrounded and wiped out the enemy.
Reiner only left a few survivors alive. After questioning them about Dance Powder, he learned that there really was some aboard the ships here.
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