Before long, Liu Qing arrived aboard the Going Merry carrying Luffy and the other two. He casually tossed them onto the deck, clapped his hands, and looked behind him. "Come out, you two. You've been following us since we left the tavern. Is there something you want from us?"
Hearing Liu Qing speak to someone behind them, Nami startled and instantly hid behind him. Then she looked in the direction they had come from and saw two familiar faces: Mayor Igaram and Miss Wednesday.
Liu Qing looked at the pair. "Come aboard. Whatever it is, come over and tell us." Then he turned to Nami. "Nami, go wake those three gluttons."
"Oh~ Okay."
Nami walked over to Luffy and the other two. Looking at the unconscious trio, she delivered several punches with a series of thuds. Their heads instantly swelled up like pigs' heads, and her violent blows woke all three of them.
Luffy and Usopp clutched their swollen heads in utter bewilderment. They simply couldn't understand why Nami had hit them. And hadn't they been eating? How had they ended up back on the Going Merry?
As for Sanji, once he saw that Nami had hit him, he completely ignored the throbbing pain in his swollen head and stared at her with hearts in his eyes. He all but said, "What a wonderful beating! Hit me a few more times!"
Nami said awkwardly, "Ahem, ahem. Liu Qing told me to hit you awake. This island is full of pirate hunters. You were drugged unconscious, and Liu Qing rescued you. Zoro's still fighting in the tavern, but two people followed us back. They seem to want something from us, so Liu Qing asked me to wake you up so we could all see what this is about."
Usopp looked terrified. "What~? This whole island is full of pirate hunters? I'm never stuffing myself again!"
Just then, the two people who had followed them boarded the Going Merry and approached the group.
Miss Wednesday bowed to Luffy and the others before speaking. "I'm sorry. Let me introduce myself again. I'm the princess of the Alabasta Kingdom, Nefertari D. Vivi. The man beside me is my guard, Igaram."
Igaram also apologized awkwardly. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. We didn't mean to set you up. Our princess wanted to ask you for a favor, but we were afraid you weren't strong enough, so we thought we'd test your strength."
Vivi hurriedly added, "I'm truly sorry we didn't tell you about this beforehand. I beg you to help my country."
Before Luffy or the others could speak, Sanji's face took on a lovestruck look. With red hearts shining in his eyes, he gripped Vivi's hands tightly and said with deep affection, "Oh~ Beautiful Princess Vivi, what trouble have you encountered that requires our help? Please, you must tell us. We'll find a way to solve it for you."
Vivi said sadly, "A few months ago, my country suddenly fell into civil war. The people rose in rebellion."
Nami hesitated before asking, "Did all this happen because the king failed to do anything?"
Vivi shook her head. "No. My father treats the people very well."
"Then someone deliberately caused it," Liu Qing said with certainty.
"Yes. To find out why the people were rebelling, Igaram and I went undercover and joined Baroque Works. While I was there, I discovered that everything was being orchestrated by Crocodile of the Shichibukai."
"I came to find you after seeing the newspaper article about you. According to the paper, your companion is strong enough to fight the World's Greatest Swordsman, so I wanted to come and beg you to help my country." After saying this, Vivi dropped to her knees to plead with them.
Just then, Zoro returned after dealing with the pirate hunters in the tavern. He had heard Vivi's words too. His lips curved upward as he gripped the hilt of his sword. "A Shichibukai? I've been wanting to test my strength. Nobody here could take even one slash from me." Then he turned to Luffy and Sanji. "You two must want to test your strength too, right? Our Haki has improved a lot lately, after all."
Knowing Luffy and the others were certain to agree, Nami spoke first. "We can help you, but we want one billion Beli. For a king, one billion shouldn't be much, right?"
Vivi shook her head and sighed helplessly. "We don't have it. After the rebellion, the entire country might not even have two hundred million Beli left. If you help defeat Crocodile, you can take whatever catches your eye afterward."
Looking at Princess Vivi, who cared so much for her country, Nami couldn't help remembering when her hometown had been oppressed by Arlong. She thought, Vivi must feel the same way I did back then.
So Nami made her decision too. "All right. We accept your request. We don't want your treasure, either. We'll help you defeat Crocodile for free."
Hearing this, Vivi and Igaram jumped for joy. "We're saved... Our country is saved!"
"Thank you!" Igaram bowed in gratitude, then continued, "But we'll have to split up. All the Baroque Works members at Whiskey Peak have been killed this time. If we go straight back, we may be hunted down. I'll disguise myself as the princess and return directly to Alabasta. You leave along this route. That way, we can avoid our pursuers perfectly."
Liu Qing didn't object. If they didn't take a detour, were they going to pass up Tony Tony Chopper? They might as well split up. Besides, he wanted to learn Hakoku at Little Garden. When the time came, if the thousand-plus hands of Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands all used Hakoku at once, who would dare take that attack? Just thinking about it excited him.
While Liu Qing was thinking about this, Igaram came out in a different outfit.
Everyone stared at Igaram disguised as Vivi, utterly speechless.
Zoro in particular had the strongest reaction to the sight. He even drew his sword, showing just how badly it had affected everyone.
"There's no need. Change back into your original clothes. I have a way for you to fool the people hunting you," Liu Qing said, at a loss for words.
Half an hour later...
Having settled their plans, everyone began preparing to set sail. Igaram asked Vivi for a Log Pose pointing to Alabasta, then left in a small boat with a Wood Clone that looked exactly like her.
Luffy stood up, raised both arms excitedly, and shouted, "Let's go! On to the next island~!"
Meanwhile, at Baroque Works in Alabasta, Crocodile was staring gloomily at the crowd in his office.
Half a month earlier, Crocodile had been happily sending his subordinates out to incite the civilians to rebel against the Royal Army. Having just finished giving his orders, he stepped out of his room, only to discover a muscular man over six meters tall, with horns on his head and tattoos covering his body, standing at his door. The sight gave him a fright.
Crocodile stared darkly at the visitor. "Kaido of the Four Emperors, what are you doing here? Aren't you afraid the Marines will come arrest you?"
"Worororo~ Crocodile, boy, I want you to find someone for me. Until you find him, I'll be staying here. You don't mind, do you?" Kaido said nonchalantly.
How could Crocodile dare object? He immediately said, "Stay~ Make yourself at home. Stay as long as you like. But who do you want me to find? Who's important enough to make you come out personally?"
Kaido walked into the office, sat straight down on the floor, and took several gulps from his sake jug. "Hah~ Help me look for Liu Qing of the Straw Hat Pirates near the entrance to the Grand Line. As soon as you hear anything about them, come tell me."
An undercover Marine reported this scene to Marine Headquarters. After learning of the situation, Fleet Admiral Sengoku didn't hesitate and immediately sent Kizaru to Alabasta to keep watch over Kaido.
After that, the number of people in Crocodile's office grew day by day. Kaido arrived first. The next morning, Marine Admiral Kizaru, Borsalino, arrived too. On the afternoon of the third day, Perospero, the eldest son of Big Mom of the Four Emperors, also arrived.
Seeing so many major figures gathering in one place, News King Big News Morgans brought his people over on the fourth day after receiving word. Doflamingo, who enjoyed watching a spectacle, swung over alone on the fifth day. And after Red-Hair in the New World heard that Kaido intended to cause trouble for Luffy and the others, he arrived in Alabasta on the afternoon of the sixth day with his entire pirate crew, along with Dracule Mihawk.
Ace, who had reached a nearby island while hunting Blackbeard, also heard the news. He called Whitebeard on a Den Den Mushi and asked Pops to bring some people over to help Luffy. On the tenth day, Marco arrived at Baroque Works with two division commanders, Diamond Jozu and Vista the Flower Sword, plus several hundred subordinates.
That led to the scene at the beginning. In half a month, the original one person had become a crowd that couldn't fit into a dozen houses. There were nearly a thousand of them, and they were all relatively strong. The sight made Crocodile's scalp prickle.
Back in the present, just as Luffy and the others landed at Whiskey Peak, Crocodile finally received a Den Den Mushi call from his subordinates. After once again gathering everyone staying there for the Straw Hat Pirates, he answered it.
After hearing his subordinate's report, Crocodile looked expressionlessly at the big shots. "You all heard the news. Whatever you want to do, handle it yourselves. You can leave now."
"Don't be so stingy, Crocodile. We've already stayed this long. We might as well wait here for them to come. Don't send any more people to their deaths, either. Just wait for them to arrive." Shanks walked over to Crocodile, slung an arm around his shoulders, and spoke with a laugh.
Then he turned to Kaido. "Right, Kaido? You're not thinking of going to cause trouble for him now that you know where he is, are you?"
Before you continue