Alabasta, Grand Line.
Inside the Royal Palace of the capital.
The rebellion had already captured two city gates, and the sound of shouting grew closer.
Those within the palace could clearly hear the approaching killing intent.
This place, symbolizing the kingdom's highest authority, was now filled with bloodshed.
Countless guards lay dead, their heads separated from their bodies. The vast palace had been razed, leaving only King Cobra and Princess Vivi, impaled on the wall with their arms outstretched.
Also present were Robin, leaning in the shadows, and Crocodile, enjoying the spectacle.
After slaughtering the palace, Crocodile did not immediately deal with King Cobra and Princess Vivi. He merely nailed them to the wall and walked to the parapet.
From his high vantage point, he looked down upon the capital, where fighting raged everywhere.
Crocodile took a puff of his cigar and slowly exhaled.
"Hoo—"
His gaze drifted to the rebellious army and the royal army, engaged in a battle for the capital.
"What a bunch of annoying flies."
"But they will all disappear soon..."
He turned and looked at Cobra and Vivi, nailed to the wall, and walked towards them.
"The Kingdom of Alabasta, passed down for thousands of years."
"In this generation, only two members of the royal family remain."
"And soon, the name Alabasta will vanish from history forever."
"How pathetic."
Vivi's arms were pierced and nailed to the wall, and she struggled in defiance.
"What do you want!"
"Crocodile!"
"As one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, attacking royalty! This is a capital offense!"
"The World Government and the Navy will not let you go!"
Crocodile glanced at her indifferently and looked at Cobra.
"The education of the Alabastan royal family is truly a failure."
"She would say such foolish things."
His gaze shifted slightly towards Vivi.
"Do you think I would say 'Yes, alright,' and then let you go?"
"There's a limit to foolishness."
"Really..."
He raised his right hand, and the ground in front of Vivi, where she was nailed, began to flow. Suddenly, a sand spike shot out, piercing her abdomen.
"Ah—"
Vivi cried out in pain, sweat pouring down her face, her body trembling uncontrollably.
King Cobra, already aged and weakened after being impaled, had little strength left. However, seeing his daughter treated this way, he struggled frantically.
"Stop it! Crocodile!"
"What is your objective!"
"As long as I can do it, I will agree to anything! Let Vivi go!"
Vivi, covered in cold sweat, looked up with difficulty. "Father, no..."
*Clap, clap, clap—*
Crocodile suddenly clapped his hands, interrupting Vivi.
"Such touching father-daughter affection..."
He said with a hint of disdain, then walked in front of Cobra.
Crocodile's tall figure cast a shadow that engulfed Cobra's body.
"Let me be clear from the start."
"I have no intention of letting you and your daughter live."
"The fall of a kingdom, and the demise of its royal family, is the natural order, isn't it?"
"However..."
"Before this kingdom, which has stood for thousands of years, perishes, there is one matter I must clarify with you, the current king."
Robin, in the shadows, stirred slightly, her attention sharpening.
Crocodile stared into Cobra's eyes, his gaze cold and unwavering.
"Cobra..."
"Where is Pluton..."
Cobra's pupils contracted, his eyes widening uncontrollably.
Seeing Cobra's reaction, Crocodile knew he had gained an advantage. He spoke more casually.
"Pluton."
"Legend says it can obliterate an entire island with a single shot."
"The most wicked ancient weapon, bearing the name of a 'god'."
"It should be slumbering somewhere in this country."
"Am I correct, Cobra..."
Cobra squeezed his eyes shut, then forced them open to look at Crocodile.
"I don't know what you're talking about..."
Crocodile chuckled and turned away, gazing out at the world.
In the capital.
The Royal Palace was already situated at a high point. From their current location on the uppermost floor, one could gaze at the heavens and feel an boundless sense of grandeur.
This filled Crocodile with a sense of intoxication. He did not press the matter further and instead explained leisurely.
"My objective has always been it."
"Otherwise, why do you think I would have endured playing the hero in this disgusting place for over twenty years?"
"It's been so long that I almost forgot I was a pirate..."
"It's truly detestable..."
Crocodile closed his eyes slightly and raised his arms as if to embrace the world.
"With it, I can build the world's most powerful military nation here."
"I will be the king of this nation."
"All those foolish pirates will be brought under my command, and my power will grow ceaselessly."
"One day, I will possess strength that surpasses the World Government."
"I will create a nation like a dream."
Cobra watched the fantasizing Crocodile and felt he had gone mad. He couldn't help but speak.
"The World Government will never allow such a thing to happen. You..."
Crocodile's expression darkened, and he coldly interrupted.
"Yes, that's why I need it."
"Pluton, which can easily turn an island to dust with a single cannonball..."
Cobra shook his head.
"Although I don't know where you heard that name."
"Even I am unsure of its whereabouts, and I don't even know if such a thing truly exists."
Crocodile stared at Cobra.
"I had already considered this possibility."
"I cannot be sure of the truth of the information, but there is one thing that must undeniably exist."
"So..."
"Hand over the Poneglyph hidden in Alabasta."
"Cobra..."
"As one of the descendants of the twenty kings, you cannot tell me you don't have such a thing."
"This information I can confirm."
Cobra's heart turned cold. He knew everything was lost. He looked at Crocodile and took a deep breath.
"If I tell you its location..."
"Can you then..."
But upon seeing Crocodile's lips begin to curve upwards, Cobra stopped speaking and closed his eyes in resignation.
"Fine..."
"I will take you there."
Crocodile let out a soft snort.
"As expected of someone who can be king, you are very clever."
"If you had finished your sentence just now..."
"Then in twenty minutes, a special bomb with a blast radius of five thousand meters would have been detonated in the center of the capital."
"There would be no more rebel or royal army in the capital; everything would have been eliminated by me."
"You should be grateful you came to your senses at the last moment."
"Otherwise, a few words from the 'wise ruler' Cobra could have decided the lives of tens of thousands of people..."
Crocodile's lips curled into a cruel smile, enjoying the manipulation of Cobra's fear.
In reality, this was all a lie. Whether Cobra told him or not, in twenty minutes, the annoying flies below would all be dead.
It would be interesting to tell him at the final moment of his life...
Crocodile's cruel smile did not fade. He manipulated sand to forcibly pull Cobra down from the wall.
"Lead the way."
Then, he lifted Nico Robin. The three of them were carried by the sand in the direction Cobra indicated.
Looking at the cruel Crocodile, Robin inexplicably thought of a saying.
The more you fear someone, the more you gravitate towards them...
Her gaze, glancing at the increasingly distant palace, subtly curled her little finger.
In the palace, Vivi, who was nailed to the wall, was suddenly rescued by four growing hands and then vanished like petals...
-----------
Meanwhile.
At the port of Alabasta.
After the Thousand Sunny hastily docked there, Sabo took out a Vivre Card and turned into snow, drifting into the distance, leaving the Straw Hat Pirates utterly bewildered.
"Where is the capital?"
-----------
Inside a tall building in the capital.
Koala, Barrett, and Sote watched Crocodile's performance silently from the window.
Barrett showed a flicker of interest.
"A special bomb with a five-kilometer blast radius."
"With that, do you still need Pluton?"
Some small islands were not even five kilometers in diameter. With such a weapon, one could destroy an island with a single shot. If it could be mass-produced, why would they need Pluton?
Koala smiled and shook his head.
"Wait for me."
Her Observation Haki spread out, searching.
*Whoosh—*
Her figure vanished.
On a high tower, Crocodile's two subordinates lost their lives...
*Whoosh—*
She reappeared, a cannonball in her hand.
She tossed it to Barrett.
"Take a look."
Barrett tossed it around, added the power of the Strong-Strong Fruit, and the bomb grew larger. Based on the power feedback, he said with a strange expression.
"This thing's sound can only travel five kilometers..."
"It probably wouldn't even kill a Zoan-type Devil Fruit user."
He threw it to Sote, who smiled, caught it, and added the power of the Float-Float Fruit, throwing it out the window.
"Shall we follow now?"
Koala nodded.
"Let's go."
"Just trail behind them."
Without Enel's vast Observation Haki, they could have instantly teleported if detected. But now...
They could only trail behind.
*Vroom, vroom, vroom—*
The bomb, amplified by the nearby Strong-Strong Fruit user's ability, grew several times larger, becoming a cannonball the size of a house, floating outside the window.
The three of them jumped on it.
Sote raised his hand and activated his ability. The cannonball shot into the sky.
Thousands of meters high in the clouds, they followed far behind Crocodile's group.
Waiting to hunt that crocodile...