Soloing the Royal Palace

Just as Werther was getting into the thrill of killing, Nefertari Cobra lay sprawled on his back in the palace bedroom, completely lacking any royal dignity. His arms were raised above his head in the shape of a heart, and he looked utterly bored.

That was right—this was not Nefertari Cobra himself, but Bon Clay of Baroque Works.

Not long ago, Bon Clay had used his Devil Fruit ability to disguise himself as Nefertari Cobra, while the real Nefertari Cobra had already been placed under their control.

Bon Clay spent nearly every day in the palace bedroom. Unless necessary, he would not leave easily, because no matter how similar his voice and appearance were, daily habits could not be imitated.

After replacing the real king, the first thing Baroque Works did was replace every servant in the palace who was familiar with him. The ministers could not be touched, however, or it would arouse suspicion, so Bon Clay could only show himself as little as possible.

Just as Bon Clay was bored out of his mind, the bedroom door was suddenly pushed open, and a fat man ran inside.

The fat man's face was filled with panic as he rushed before Bon Clay.

"Sir, this is bad! The palace has been invaded! It's the Thunder Swordsman, Werther! Sir, save us! Our brothers have suffered heavy casualties!" After speaking, he dropped to his knees on the floor, gasping for breath.

When Bon Clay heard that the palace had been invaded, he did not feel too nervous. After all, there were not many people in Alabasta who dared offend Baroque Works.

But when he heard the title Thunder Swordsman, Werther, he immediately felt that things had gone wrong.

"Why would someone like that invade the Alabasta palace for no reason? What exactly is going on?" Bon Clay was somewhat nervous as well. That was a pirate with a bounty as high as 170 million Beli, far beyond what he could handle.

"Sir, we don't know either. That guy suddenly—" Before the fat man could finish, the bedroom door exploded with a boom.

Out of the dust-filled room stepped a short young man. It was Werther.

Werther had actually dealt with Baroque Works' people long ago, but the palace was too large. He had searched many places before finally finding this one.

Werther looked at Nefertari Cobra, then at the fat man behind him bearing the mark of Baroque Works, and immediately knew that the man before him was not the real Nefertari Cobra, but that okama, Bon Clay.

Werther had always had a fairly good impression of Bon Clay, so he intended to settle this peacefully. In other words, he wanted to talk.

"You're Bon Clay, right? I don't want to waste words. Tell me where Crocodile is, and I won't make things difficult for you." Werther sheathed Intent Blood. It seemed he truly did not intend to use force.

"The Thunder Swordsman, Werther? Someone as murderous as you seeking the boss can't possibly mean anything good. I won't betray the boss!" With that, he actually charged straight at Werther.

Werther looked at Bon Clay rushing toward him with some helplessness. It seemed negotiations were impossible. He dodged Bon Clay's flying kick, then, seeing his legs spread wide, suddenly had a rather wicked thought.

As Werther evaded Bon Clay's flying kick, he threw out a kick of his own, striking Bon Clay directly in the balls. Though he had not used much force, Werther clearly felt Bon Clay's movements freeze.

Bon Clay's face then turned bluish-purple as he hurriedly retreated. After backing away some distance, his legs trembled as he pointed at Werther, apparently in too much pain to speak.

Seeing Bon Clay's reaction, Werther felt that what he had just done might have been a little excessive. Still, a move that involved spreading one's legs so wide was simply asking to be kicked.

He stopped wasting words on Bon Clay, who had already lost half his fighting ability. Werther knew that this loyal okama would never betray Crocodile.

In a flash, he appeared before Bon Clay and kicked him in the stomach. Bon Clay could no longer endure the heavy blow and collapsed to the floor.

Werther began searching the surrounding area for the Den Den Mushi Bon Clay used to contact Crocodile. Since Bon Clay was carrying out such a mission, he was certain to have a Den Den Mushi that could contact Crocodile directly.

Sure enough, Werther found a Den Den Mushi in the cabinet beside the bed.

He picked up its receiver, and a pururururu sound began to ring from the Den Den Mushi.

After waiting a long time, no one answered. Just as Werther was about to give up, the Den Den Mushi was answered—but the voice on the other end was a woman's.

"This is Miss All Sunday. The boss isn't here right now. If there's anything, you can tell me, Bon Clay." A familiar yet unfamiliar female voice came from the Den Den Mushi.

"Hehehe, hehehe, Robin, is that you? Where is Crocodile? Do you know? I never expected you to be the one answering." This was Werther's first contact with the Straw Hat Pirates, so he found it rather interesting.

After hearing Werther's voice, Robin fell silent for a while.

"How do you know me? You're not Bon Clay. Who are you, and why are you looking for Crocodile?" Robin immediately recognized that it was not Bon Clay's voice, but she was not particularly nervous. She did not care much about the people of Baroque Works; the only thing she cared about was the Poneglyph.

"Of course I'm not that okama, Bon Clay. My name is Werther. As for why I'm looking for Crocodile... well, I'll probably kill him. Probably. Anyway, just tell me where Crocodile is." Werther only wanted to find Crocodile and beat him up first. As for why, it was because the man had been too hard to find. Werther could be this unreasonable sometimes.

"The Thunder Swordsman? Telling you where Crocodile is isn't impossible, but what do I get out of it?" Robin, who had not yet met Luffy, had been hardened by life into someone even more pragmatic. Without Luffy's salvation, perhaps a vicious female pirate would have appeared on the seas in the future? Probably not. Robin was, after all, a very kind girl by nature.

"Uh, fine. Tell me Crocodile's location, and I'll tell you where a Poneglyph is. How about it?" Werther began using his trump card, tempting Robin with a Poneglyph.

"You really know where a Poneglyph is? Tell me now, and I'll immediately tell you Crocodile's location." At the mention of Poneglyph, Robin became visibly excited.

"Hehehe, wait until I see Crocodile. If you don't tell me now, I'll slowly look for him myself. It's not as if I don't know where Crocodile's base is—I can just go there and wait." Werther was no fool. If he told that fox Robin the Poneglyph's location now, she might very well ignore him, go straight for the Poneglyph, and then vanish without a trace. That was entirely possible.

Robin fell silent again for a while.

"Crocodile is at the casino in Rainbase. Remember what you promised me. After you meet Crocodile, tell me the Poneglyph's location." With that, Robin hung up the Den Den Mushi.

Werther's eye twitched. That woman actually hung up on him. He felt a wave of frustration, and then footsteps sounded behind him. It was Tuski.

Werther had once asked Tuski whether she hated seeing him kill people. Tuski's answer had been, "As long as Al feels that he's doing the right thing, I'll support Al."

But Tuski did not like fighting. She only liked eating and rubies.

So while Werther soloed the palace, Tuski had been tagging along behind him, gathering rubies everywhere.

Just looking at the huge sack on Tuski's back was enough to show how plentiful her haul had been.