The brothers' reunion

Inside the tavern.

Everyone in the Straw Hat Pirates, along with Princess Vivi, ate and chatted around a round table, with bursts of laughter ringing out now and then.

Ace approached the newspaper stand outside the tavern and pointed at Luffy's wanted poster as he asked the owner, "Sir, have you seen this man?"

The owner was clearly terribly nearsighted. He opened his eyes wide and stared hard at the wanted poster. "Uh... Oh, it's Monkey D. Luffy."

Ace brightened. "Do you know him? He should be in this city by now. I've been looking for him for a while."

The owner stared at Ace with a look that said he had to be joking. "Young man, with these old eyes of mine, do I look like I can see someone clearly enough to recognize them? Even you look like a pixelated blur to me right now. Go ask someone else. I don't know."

Ace was speechless. "Uh... All right, I'll ask somewhere else. Thanks, sir."

Just as Ace was about to find someone else to ask, a familiar voice came from the tavern beside him. "Ahahaha! Vivi, the meat in your country is really delicious too! So good, so good!"

Ace stopped in his tracks, a smile gradually spreading across his face. "There's no mistaking that voice. It's Luffy."

He walked toward the tavern entrance, pushed the door open, and looked around. Before long, he spotted Luffy and the others at a table, eating with grease all over their mouths.

Ace shouted excitedly, "Luffy!"

Luffy, who was still stuffing meat into his mouth, paused and turned around. His expression grew just as excited. "Ace! Hahaha! Ace, what are you doing here?" He started to throw himself at Ace as he spoke.

Before Luffy could move, the tavern door was slammed open.

It was Smoker, who had spotted Ace and intended to question him. He had just reached the tavern entrance when he heard the voice that brought him shame. Forgetting all about Ace, he barged through the door and charged straight at Luffy.

But Ace was blocking the doorway. Unable to react in time, Smoker planted his left hand on Ace's head and drove him down into the table next to Luffy's. The table shattered, and even the floor was smashed into a large crater.

Once he realized the person he had hit was Ace, Smoker ignored him and went straight up to Luffy. "Straw Hat, I finally caught up with you. You've got some nerve, sitting out in public and eating in plain sight."

Luffy ignored Smoker and ran over to Ace. After helping him up, he gave Ace several dozen hard slaps on the back, making his face flush red. It clearly hurt quite a bit.

Annoyed, Ace gritted his teeth at Luffy. "Enough, Luffy! How long are you going to keep hitting me? That hurts!"

"Ahahaha! Sorry, sorry! I'm just so happy." Luffy laughed without a care.

Seeing Luffy and Ace completely ignore his presence, a vein bulged on Smoker's forehead. Suppressing his anger, he strode up to Luffy with both fists clenched tight and said through gritted teeth, "You certainly made me search, Straw Hat! I knew you'd come to Alabasta."

Only when Luffy heard his voice did he draw his gaze back from the distance and turn it on Smoker. He stared at Smoker for quite a while, then suddenly slapped his forehead as if he had remembered something. "Ah! It's you, the smoke guy we beat so badly you couldn't fight back! What are you doing here too?"

At Luffy's words, Smoker's face instantly darkened. He snorted coldly. "Hmph, I was going easy on you on purpose! Now I've learned Haki, and I'm much stronger. Of course I went to sea to catch you, you little brat. But I'll let it slide today. I was ordered to investigate the situation in Alabasta."

Just then, seeing Smoker and Luffy talking there, Liu Qing, Zoro, and the others called out, "Hey, you two, stop standing around talking! Come eat with us. Whatever it is, you can talk about it over food. And Luffy, don't just stand there chatting. Come eat."

Hearing Liu Qing call, Ace stood on no ceremony. He grabbed Luffy's arm, strode over to the table, and sat down. Smoker hesitated at the sight, but ultimately called Tashigi over and went to sit down with her.

Liu Qing called over the tavern owner. "Sir, bring us another round of everything we just ordered."

Then he turned to look at Ace.

Ace caught on and immediately introduced himself. "My name is Portgas D. Ace. I'm Luffy's older brother and Whitebeard's Second Division Commander."

Then he looked at Liu Qing and said, "You're in trouble. A lot of big names from the New World have come to Alabasta, including Kaido, Red-Hair, and others. They came specifically for you."

"For me? Why did they come for me? I haven't done anything to them." Bewildered, Liu Qing questioned Ace.

Ace thought for a moment. "Hmm... I guess they're not all here for you. The only two who came for you are Kaido of the Four Emperors and Big Mom's eldest son, Perospero. Pretty much everyone else is here to watch the show."

Liu Qing looked stunned. He truly could not understand why he had to fight a fierce battle against one of the Four Emperors as soon as he arrived in Alabasta. He turned his gaze to Smoker and asked in confusion, "What exactly were your orders? What exactly are you here to investigate?"

Smoker sighed helplessly and explained, "Well... Admiral Kizaru discovered that Crocodile was secretly carrying out a plan to seize Alabasta. But the Admiral has to keep an eye on Crocodile at all times and can't get away, and there are no other Marines here to help. That's why Fleet Admiral Sengoku sent me to collect evidence. Once we have conclusive evidence, we can strip him of his Shichibukai title and arrest him."

Hearing this, everyone in the Straw Hat Pirates and Princess Vivi understood.

"Oh!" everyone exclaimed in unison, finally understanding the reason behind it.

Princess Vivi said thoughtfully, "No wonder. I was wondering why the Rebel Army suddenly stopped resisting. It turns out someone was watching Crocodile, so he couldn't keep pulling his underhanded tricks as freely as before."

"Then doesn't that mean everything I've done was pointless?" Vivi wanted to cry but had no tears.

Liu Qing pointed at Smoker and said to Vivi, "How was it pointless? Doesn't this white-haired guy need evidence? Don't you have plenty of it? Just give it to him and have him send it to headquarters. Then, once Crocodile is stripped of his Shichibukai title, wouldn't it be better to throw him straight into prison?"

Then Vivi and Smoker began discussing the matter, Luffy and Ace caught up, and everyone else chatted about their own affairs.

Elsewhere...

Alabasta's Dream City-Rainbase.

Rainbase was the only city unaffected by drought and civil unrest, and it was also home to the kingdom's largest casino, Rain Dinners.

In a luxurious casino, the headquarters of Baroque Works, the big names who had been waiting for almost a month finally received more news about the Straw Hat Pirates.

Some stood, some sat, and some lay down, but all of them were staring at the man seated behind the desk.

Kaido spoke first. "Crocodile, has that brat reached Alabasta? Where is he? I'll go find him now."

Crocodile could not be bothered to waste words either. In the twenty-odd days since these bastards had arrived, they had completely ruined years of his planning. Now, aside from his title as a Shichibukai and his title as president of Baroque Works, he had nothing left. He really was one damned unlucky bastard.

He took a stack of papers from the desk and handed them out to everyone, his expression dark as he gritted his teeth. "Read it yourselves, then get off this island as soon as you can. What sin did I commit in my past life to end up meeting you bastards?"

"Big news! Once they start fighting, all of you find good angles for your photos. Take good shots, and I'll give you bonuses." Looking at the intelligence in his hands, Big News Morgans addressed his underlings.

"You can fight him, but you can only go after Liu Qing. If you hurt Luffy, you'll have to fight me." Shanks stared at Kaido with cold eyes.

Marco and the others stood behind him. They had all come at Ace's request to protect Luffy from Kaido.

Kaido laughed unconcernedly. "Worororo! Don't worry, Red-Hair. Aside from Liu Qing, I'm not interested in anyone in the Straw Hat Pirates. I just hope that brat really is that strong."

"The Marines won't interfere either. We have only one demand: stay away from the city when you fight. Don't let it affect the ordinary people there," Kizaru added. "What a pain."

Of everyone there, Nico Robin had the most on her mind. Ever since Kaido arrived, she had been collecting all the information she could about the Straw Hat Pirates. After more than twenty days of investigation, she had discovered that the Straw Hat Pirates were a group who treated their companions sincerely.

Whenever a companion ran into trouble, all of them would do everything they could to help. The Straw Hat Pirates' backgrounds in particular had shocked Nico Robin once she investigated them.

This had also given her the idea of joining the Straw Hat Pirates. She had already decided that once this battle was over, she would leave Crocodile and join them. As for whether she could get in, the mere fact that she was one of the few people who could read Poneglyphs meant she could not fail.

Inside the casino, everyone finished reading the intelligence in their hands.

"So he's in Nanohana. Worororo! I'll be going ahead." Kaido rose with a laugh and headed for the entrance. Once outside, he transformed straight into an Azure Dragon, found the right direction, and flew off.

Doflamingo swaggered up to Crocodile. "Fufufufu! Well? Want to go take a look together? This is a battle on the level of the Four Emperors."

Crocodile snorted coldly, stood up, and ran in the direction Kaido had flown.

Everyone else also set off toward Nanohana, intending to watch this battle between powerful fighters.