Ants Are Still Ants, No Matter How Many There Are

Noki bade Kuzan farewell, then went to train with Garp. He did not return home until evening.

"You're back." Ain called out happily.

Noki looked up and saw that Ain was not the only one sitting at home. There was also a woman with long pink hair and a voluptuous figure. "Sister Tina, I thought you were coming tomorrow."

"After escorting the royal family members, I happened to have some free time, so I came over. Noki, you really are a busy man now. I've been here for hours and still hadn't seen you come back. Though I suppose that's no surprise. I heard Admiral Kuzan has already submitted an application to promote you to vice admiral. You might become my superior soon," Tina said in amazement.

As a rear admiral, Noki did not have the authority to directly command Marine Headquarters colonels. If he became a vice admiral, things would be entirely different. He would likely face the same predicament as Kuzan, having to deal with heaps of documents and manage countless affairs every day.

After all, admirals mainly managed officers of flag rank. Officers below that rank naturally had to be commanded by their subordinates. Admirals could not possibly handle everything personally; the pressure would be far too great.

Generally speaking, vice admirals were the main ones who shared an admiral's workload. There were exceptions, such as Vice Admiral Garp. Other than Fleet Admiral Sengoku, no one in the entire Marine dared order him around. That was also the main reason Garp had nothing to do all day.

"Hahaha, then shouldn't Sister Tina curry favor with her future superior?" Noki laughed.

Tina gave a soft snort and shifted closer to Ain. "What good would it do to curry favor with you? Don't you still listen to my Ain? Tina disdains that."

A faint blush rose on Ain's face at her words. "By the way, Noki, Sister Tina and I bought the ingredients. You haven't had dinner yet either, right? Could I trouble you to cook? I'll help you."

Tina rose to her feet voluntarily. "Noki has been busy all day, and we're still asking him to cook for us. That hardly seems right. Ain, how about you and I cook instead?"

"Sure."

The two women got up and headed toward the kitchen.

Noki shook his head, took off his coat, and hung it on the rack. "It's just cooking. It won't take much effort. Sister Tina rarely comes by, so I can't let her leave disappointed."

Tina smiled sweetly. "Then we'll have to trouble you, sir."

Seeing the young couple enter the kitchen, Tina had no desire to play the third wheel, so she simply waited patiently in the living room.

Not long after.

Plate after plate of steaming, fragrant food was brought to the table.

Ain and Tina sat together, while Noki sat across from them.

Noki watched Tina chatting with Ain, her face full of smiles, and felt rather emotional. In everyone else's eyes, Tina had always been a cold and regal beauty.

Yet the truth proved that most aloof women were not genuinely indifferent inside. More often than not, they simply reserved all their warmth for the people they valued.

"By the way, Sister Tina, you've patrolled the waters near Alabasta for a long time. What do you think of Crocodile and Baroque Works?" Noki asked as he picked up his chopsticks and ate.

Tina was enjoying the meal when she heard Noki's question. Without thinking, she answered, "I've captured many Baroque Works members. Most of them are just a bunch of third-rate pirates, nothing worth worrying about.

"As for Crocodile, he's been focused on running his casino these past few years. On top of that, he has the status of a Warlord, so it's not easy for me to interfere with him."

"I see."

Noki nodded and did not continue the topic.

Time passed in the blink of an eye.

After dinner.

Tina took the initiative to say goodbye. "Noki, thank you for the hospitality today. If you ever need your sister's help, just say the word. My rank and strength may not compare to yours, but there must be something I can help with."

Noki smiled. "That's exactly what I was waiting to hear, Sister Tina. I won't stand on ceremony when the time comes. If I really run into trouble, you can't shut your door and pretend not to be home."

Tina became somewhat annoyed. "What kind of person do you take me for? Tina is angry!"

"Just joking. Of course I know what kind of person Sister Tina is."

Tina crossed her arms beneath her full chest, turned her head aside, and huffed. "I'm leaving. You little lovebirds enjoy your time alone."

Noki returned to the dining room.

Ain was clearing the dishes from the table.

Noki walked over and helped her pick up a plate. "I'll be leaving Marineford for a while soon."

Ain looked at him questioningly. After briefly considering the information in her mind, she guessed his intentions. "Going back to Alabasta?"

"Yeah. To make sure the plan goes through, I have to return in advance. It's just... I hope Ain can keep it secret for me. No matter who asks, don't reveal my whereabouts."

"I understand. When does Noki plan to leave?"

"The sooner, the better. If nothing comes up, I plan to set out early tomorrow morning."

"So soon? You only just got back..."

Noki wrapped one arm around her waist, and Ain naturally leaned into the man's warm, solid chest. "Things have only recently settled down, so I'll definitely be busy for a while. I may have to leave the Marines often. I'm leaving everything here to you. I'll stabilize things over there as quickly as I can and come back to ease your burden."

Ain inhaled the masculine scent coming from him and found it comforting. She gave a soft, sweet hum. "Noki really knows how to make empty promises. You keep saying you'll ease my burden, but Ain and Nami are handling practically everything on the warship now. What do you even do?"

"Well..."

Noki was left speechless. It seemed she had a point.

Normally, unless they encountered an especially powerful opponent who required him to step in, there did not seem to be much else for him to do.

Ain changed the subject and continued, "But you still have to come back soon. Even if Noki doesn't handle affairs, you're the spiritual pillar of the whole unit, especially... especially mine. I'm still waiting for Noki to come back and recharge me."

"Recharge?"

For a moment, Noki's mind failed to process it.

Ain put down the dishes in her hands, turned around, buried her head in his embrace, wrapped both arms tightly around his waist, and took a deep breath.

Noki raised an eyebrow and said helplessly, "Did you learn that from a book with Sister Gion again? Since when have you two been secretly keeping in touch?"

Ain pressed close against him, the softness of her chest squeezing against the man without restraint. Noki could even clearly feel her lips moving. "Mm... the book said men all like this. Doesn't Noki like it?"

"I do like it..."

Noki sighed and wrapped his arms around the beauty in his embrace.

The night passed without incident.

The next day, Noki woke early and prepared the necessities. It was not until the afternoon that he silently departed Marineford using Moonwalk.

With his mastery of physical techniques, he could not travel day and night and go directly from Marineford to Alabasta. But if he traveled for a while, rested for a while, and kept at it for several days, it was still possible.

At Noki's home.

Ain held the Vivre Card Noki had given her in her palm as if it were a priceless treasure. Before they parted, they had deliberately torn off pieces of their Vivre Cards and exchanged them. That way, even if they were separated by thousands of miles, they could always know each other's condition and location.

A few days later.

The Reverie began.

The kings of the major World Government member nations gathered here as representatives, nearly fifty of them in total.

As the king of Alabasta, one of the foremost major nations in the first half of the Grand Line, Cobra held considerable influence. "The chairmanship rotates. If I remember correctly, it should be my turn this time, right?"

"That's right."

The kings all voiced their agreement.

Donquixote Doflamingo rested his chin on the back of his hand, watching everyone with a smile.

"Then, Your Majesties, let us once again have a good discussion about this beautiful world—"

"Tap... tap... tap!"

A World Government official entered the conference room. "My apologies for interrupting you all, but there is something that must be shown to all the kings first, especially... His Majesty, the King of the Kingdom of Alabasta."

"This is today's newspaper. It has already spread across the entire world."

The official had people present dozens of newspapers to the kings for their review.

The newspaper's front page featured a photograph, and Crocodile was clearly visible in it.

Cobra had long since learned the truth, but when he saw the information published in the newspaper, he still could not contain his emotions. He rose furiously to his feet. "Crocodile actually committed such an atrocity! He used Dance Powder in my royal capital, Alubarna, and framed my Alabasta royal family! This is utterly unforgivable! I believe the World Government must immediately revoke his Warlord status and dispatch forces to arrest him!"

"That's right."

Another king said with deep sympathy, "I've always opposed the Warlord system. How could pirates possibly be trusted? Now it seems that is indeed the case. In my opinion, the Warlord system should be abolished altogether!"

The kings all responded in agreement.

"Ahem."

Doflamingo coughed twice, drawing everyone's attention. The corners of his mouth curled up as he smiled faintly. "Fuffuffuffuffu, the Warlord system has existed for many years, and Crocodile is the only incident so far. Don't judge the whole system by one case.

"Besides, even royal families can produce scum, much less pirates. It is inevitable that an ill-intentioned Warlord may occasionally appear. In my view, revoking Crocodile's Warlord status will be enough. There is no need to abolish the entire system."

The kings had nearly forgotten that there was a Warlord among them.

"What the King of Dressrosa says is not without reason."

Cobra also fell silent. With Doflamingo present, abolishing the Warlord system was indeed impossible.

"..."

Meanwhile.

Elsewhere in the Holy Land.

Inside the Hall of Power.

Five elderly men with peculiar styles of facial hair were holding a discussion.

"Damn Crocodile! The Warlord system had always been controversial, but it had never risen to the national level. Now that his plan has been exposed, the Warlords' overall reputation will surely plummet, and that will in turn affect the reputation of our World Government." The elderly man with the handlebar mustache was the first to curse.

The curly-haired elder in a black flat cap said gravely, "The best course of action now is to immediately announce the revocation of Crocodile's Warlord status and inform the public that the World Government had long been aware of Crocodile's plan. The reason we did not intervene immediately was because we were preparing to suppress him."

The bald elder holding a sword said, "The Marines' forces are all being used to protect the Reverie. I'm afraid we cannot deploy anyone to pursue Crocodile within the next week."

"Mm. Nothing else can go wrong at the Reverie. Otherwise, the damage to the World Government's reputation will only become greater!" said the blond elder.

"In that case, all we can do now is revoke Crocodile's status. As for everything else, we will wait and see.

"We still do not know who exposed Crocodile's plan. In my estimation, that person likely intends to make a move against Crocodile." The long-bearded elder stroked his beard as he spoke.

"Correct. Dispatch the CP Organization to closely monitor Alabasta's movements. If Crocodile is truly defeated by someone, perhaps we can make use of him."

"Precisely!"

Grand Line, Alabasta, Rainbase.

"Damn it!"

Crocodile clenched his hand tightly. The newspaper in his grasp rapidly dried up and turned to dust. At that moment, he was like an enraged lion, with none of his former composure remaining as he roared, "It must have been Mr. 2! Only he has the ability to disguise himself perfectly as me! He actually dared betray me! Unforgivable! I'll kill him!!"

Crocodile himself did not know why Mr. 2 knew his true identity, but at a time like this, anyone would think the same way. The first thought would naturally be that one of his subordinates had betrayed him.

Nico Robin watched him quietly from the side. Only after a long while did she speak. "Boss, Mr. 2 is not our main problem. The World Government has already announced the termination of all cooperation with you. You have become an ordinary pirate again, and they have even issued a bounty for you. I'm afraid Alabasta can no longer accommodate us."

Crocodile restrained his rage, at least making himself appear calm on the surface. A year of effort could not be allowed to go to waste just like this!

"Things have come to this. The plan to seize the Kingdom of Alabasta has failed, but that does not mean I cannot obtain the ancient weapon Pluton.

"If the rumors are true, Pluton's whereabouts are likely hidden somewhere within the Alubarna royal palace. Miss All Sunday, come with me to Alubarna. We leave immediately. Even if we have to turn the palace upside down, we will find every scrap of information about Pluton!"

Robin said calmly, "Boss, I'm afraid that will be difficult. Without the protection of your Warlord status, Alabasta's six hundred thousand standing troops will all turn their attention toward you. Even if I gather every Baroque Works member in Alabasta, we would still be no match for them."

"Hahahahaha! Six hundred thousand soldiers? Ants are still ants, no matter how many there are! Leaving aside whether they can even attack me, a Logia user, an army of six hundred thousand cannot spread out properly against just two people. At most, only a dozen or so can fight us at once. With your and my strength, as long as we have enough time, what would be so difficult about killing them all?"

"You're right."

Robin pressed her lips together in a faint smile, a trace of amusement flashing through her eyes. "Then, Boss, time is of the essence. Let's go. I also want to find the Poneglyph hidden in the Alabasta royal palace."

"Damn Mr. 2!"

Crocodile's hatred refused to fade. He swore that sooner or later, he would tear that okama to pieces.