King Wolof strode over, followed by several fully armed guards.
He walked to the center of the corridor and first saw a corpse lying on the floor tiles, dressed in a royal guard uniform, with black blood dripping from the corner of its mouth;
Then he saw Lia leaning against Barlow, her hands still gripping his clothes.
"What happened?" Wolof's voice was deep and urgent.
Lia lifted her head from Barlow's arms, let go of his hand, wiped her eyes with her fingers, and turned to her father, her voice still trembling, but her narration was surprisingly clear.
Someone disguised as a palace guard attempted to assassinate Cobra in the corridor. After kicking her away, the assassin raised a knife to kill Cobra, but Mr. Barlow leaped to her Cobra. His younger brother and sister subdued the assassin on the spot, and the assassin committed suicide by poison after being exposed.
She described in great detail how Barlow saved Cobra, down to the exact moment Barlow Cobra and the scimitar with his back.
Her tone shifted from shock to indignation as she described this detail, and then from indignation to a restrained yet unmistakable emphasis.
After listening, Wolof remained silent for a moment.
He glanced at the body on the floor tiles, then at Barlow, his lips moving as if he were about to say something of thanks.
Barlow spoke first. He straightened his clothes, which Lia had crumpled, took a step forward, and fixed his gaze on the king's face, past Lia's shoulder, past the corpse on the floor tiles, past the torches in the hands of the guards behind Wolof.
"Now that things have come to this, are you still going to hide it?"
"What do you mean?"
Barlow gave him no time to breathe. "Are you still going to argue? That rebel leader is Prince himself, not some imposter."
Wolof stepped forward. He was a head shorter Barlow, but his upright posture and tucked-in chin were instinctive reactions honed by decades of reigning on the throne.
"Mr. Barlow, don't speak recklessly just because you saved Cobra. I've already made it very clear: Prince died three years ago. The person standing in the Rainbase is just an imposter using his name."
Barlow gave a cold laugh, the kind of laugh that comes from hearing the other side utter an excuse you've already expected but still find absurd at the negotiating table, a laugh that makes your lips involuntarily curl downwards.
He looked down at the corpse that had committed suicide by poison at his feet, gently nudged the stiff shoulder with the tip of his boot, then raised his head, his gaze passing over Wolof's shoulder and landing on the faces of the guards behind him.
"Do you know him?" Barlow asked, pointing to the body on the ground.
The guards exchanged glances and nodded.
Barlow then asked, "How long has he been serving in the palace?"
One of the older guards, with a short, gray beard on his chin, replied in a hoarse voice, "About ten years."
Barlow withdrew his gaze from the guard's face and fixed it on Wolof, his tone unchanged, yet more oppressive than any shout.
"How could an imposter possibly get a guard who's served in the palace for over a decade to suddenly betray you and assassinate your youngest son? Where did he get the connections? How did he instruct him?"
Wolof's face darkened.
"Charles served by my side for over a decade and still managed to betray me, so why can't he?"
He took a step forward, his chin slightly raised, trying to regain control of the conversation.
"Mr. Barlow, I acknowledge that the Uchiha Trading Company is incredibly wealthy, comparable to a nation. I also acknowledge that the Uchiha Trading Company's influence extends throughout the East Blue, West Blue, and the Grand Line."
"But please don't underestimate Alabasta. The Nefertari Family has ruled this land for hundreds of years, and the gap between a nation and a merchant guild is still significant."
Barlow looked at him, then suddenly smiled, whether from anger or amusement, it was hard to tell.
"Your Majesty Wolof, doesn't Charles's betrayal prove that Prince is real? Who else but the popular Prince could make someone who has been by your side for over a decade willingly turn against you?"
"Stop putting on a brave face, Your Majesty Wolof. Anyone with a brain can see the current state of Alabasta. Your standing army is either being wiped out one by one by the rebels or has been incorporated into their ranks. The only manpower you can still mobilize is the small force in Alubarna. How can you possibly fight against the already established rebels?"
Wolof's eye twitched, and Barlow didn't give him a chance to refute.
"To be honest, in some places, the rebels are more popular than you are."
Barlow's tone remained consistently steady throughout, even when he said "putting on a brave face."
"Since we arrived in Alabasta, we've encountered more than one wave of rebels. The three of us alone cleared out the rebel garrisons in Limestone Village and Katya, intercepted intelligence along the way, and helped you wipe out the rebel scouts sent to Alubarna. Without us, do you think you'd still be standing here, talking to me like this?"
Wolof opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
"The three of us want to take this place now. Do you think you can stop us?"
No one dared to utter a sound in the corridor.
The guards' palms were sweaty as they held the torches, but none of them dared to move their hands an inch from the hilts of their swords.
Wolof fell completely silent, a silence that lasted longer than the last words Barlow uttered.
The candlelight cast a long shadow on the wall behind him, and the shadow's shoulders slumped, as if something that had been holding on for a long time had finally given way.
His lips moved several times, as if he wanted to say something to maintain the king's dignity, but in the end he said nothing.
He did lie, and he did underestimate the Uchiha, and those three people.
"Come with me."
Wolof turned around, the authority in his voice receding like the tide, leaving only weariness and the dryness of a father finally deciding to speak after being cornered.
He took two steps, then stopped and looked back at Lia was still leaning against the wall.
"Lia, you take Cobra with you."
Lia looked up, first at her father's back, then at Barlow.
Barlow didn't look at her; he was following Wolof deeper into the corridor.
Lia bent down, brushed the dust off her skirt, and quickly walked to the nanny to take Cobra, who had stopped crying but was still sobbing.
Cobra wrapped his arms around her neck, burying his face in the crook of her shoulder.
The study was at the end of the corridor on the second floor of the palace. Wolof opened the door, let everyone in, and then closed it himself.
This study was much smaller than the audience hall, with bookshelves on three walls reaching the ceiling, crammed with parchment scrolls and old books with gilded covers.
On the wall directly opposite the door hangs a huge map of the entire Alabasta, with the rebel-controlled areas marked in charcoal. The red circles have already swallowed up most of the territory on the map.
Several unread documents lay spread out on the desk, next to a cup of tea that had gone cold.
Wolof went behind the desk, but did not sit down.
He turned his back to everyone, looked up at the map on the wall for a long time, then turned around, put his hands on the edge of the table, and finally spoke.