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Two days later:
The World Economy Newspaper was feverishly preparing its latest report.
Alabasta, Alubarna, Royal Port:
King Nefertari Cobra of Alabasta stood on a royal merchant ship.
Igaram and several guards stood on the deck beside him, their expressions solemn as they protected their king.
Suddenly, a voice came from above Cobra's head.
"Your Majesty, they've arrived." The messenger was a giant bird soaring in the sky.
It was Pell, who had transformed into a falcon.
As he spoke, Cobra saw from afar on the Sandora River: a battleship slowly emerging.
It was not a Marine vessel.
The cross-star flag hanging from its mainmast revealed its origin.
It was a battleship directly under the World Government.
At that moment... on that battleship.
"Tap." "Tap." "Tap."
Footsteps rang out as a man walked forward.
He wore a white suit and a white bowler hat. One of his eyes was black, and the other was white with no visible pupils. His entire face was pale, giving him a highly distinctive appearance.
Without the beard on his chin, one might suspect that he was wearing a mask.
Beside him stood two tall men dressed in white and wearing masks.
"You stay here."
After giving this order to his companions, the man's figure blurred.
"Whoosh!"
With the rapid activation of Soru and Geppo, he leapt continuously through the air above the Sandora River.
In just a few seconds, he crossed several hundred meters and appeared directly in front of Cobra.
"Clang!"
Igaram and the guards raised their iron maces, signaling to the man not to make any rash moves. But Cobra gently raised a hand, stopping his guards.
He took a few steady steps forward, looked at the man, and announced his identity in a clear voice:
"I am the King of Alabasta, Nefertari Cobra."
Hearing this, the man removed his hat, held it against his chest, and bowed.
"…CP0, Ghalika."
That's right.
The man named Ghalika was an agent of CP0.
"We have come under orders from the government to handle matters concerning the Seven Warlords of the Sea, 'Crocodile.'"
As he spoke, he put his hat back on.
"Now then, Your Majesty Cobra, please explain the current situation. Who was it that killed Crocodile?"
Following the plan he had prepared before arriving, he went straight to the point.
But what he didn't expect was...
"As far as I know, the one who killed him called himself 'Shinryu.' I will naturally explain the specific details to you shortly." Cobra nodded as he spoke.
"But before that... Igaram!" The king called out loudly. "Bring it up!"
As his words fell, a voice came from within the cabin behind him.
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
The cabin door opened the next moment.
Led by Igaram, several guards carried a large chest out of the cabin.
"Thud!"
Midway through, one of the guards lost his footing, twisting his ankle and letting out a muffled groan.
"... "
The sound made Ghalika glance over.
But the CP0 agent said nothing, merely shifting his gaze to the chest.
"This is...?" He asked quietly.
Cobra had no intention of beating around the bush.
The king continued calmly.
"Ghalika San, this information was given to me not long ago by a woman who claimed to be an 'informed party.'"
His voice remained steady.
"It concerns an organization called Baroque Works and their attempt to overthrow Alabasta, what they called the 'Utopia Plan.'"
"That woman also told me some other things, such as the identity of that organization's leader."
King Cobra spoke evenly.
"... "
At this, Ghalika's expressionless face seemed to grow heavier. As a top-tier agent of the World Government, he clearly knew many things.
"So, what you mean is..."
"I cannot fully trust the authenticity of the information provided by that woman, so I was hoping that the Gorōsei might be able to confirm it for me."
Cobra said softly.
"…I understand. Please wait a moment." Ghalika nodded.
Then, without hesitation, he took a small Den Den Mushi from his coat and walked aside.
"Buru-buru!" "Buru-buru!" "Click!"
Once the Den Den Mushi was connected, Ghalika moved his lips slightly as if reporting everything that had happened here to the other end of the line.
Afterwards, he appeared to receive instructions from the other end and nodded slightly.
"Yes."
He hung up and returned to stand before Cobra.
"Your Majesty Cobra," He said in a low voice. "The Gorōsei (Five Elder Stars) deeply regret the natural disaster that Alabasta suffered this year. They also never expected that Baroque Works' Mr. 0 would be hiding in Alabasta. This was an oversight on the part of the World Government and the Marines. The government is willing to provide Alabasta with a substantial disaster relief fund."
"As for the truth you mentioned, the government is also willing to thoroughly investigate these documents and look into the matter."
"With this arrangement, are you satisfied?"
He summarized everything concisely and efficiently.
Hearing this, Cobra finally nodded.
"Naturally."
He then added, "However, as you can see, these materials are extensive. What's here is only part of them. So, when the government delivers the disaster relief funds next time, I'll hand over the rest. Would that be acceptable?"
Hearing this, Ghalika nodded as well.
"Of course."
During their exchange, it was worth noting that the guard who had twisted his ankle earlier seemed to lose his balance again and nearly fell.
Igaram glanced at him with some irritation, thinking that the Alabasta Royal Guard's training intensity clearly needed to be increased.
Once an understanding had been reached,
"Then I'll take my leave, Your Majesty."
Ghalika showed no hesitation and formally took his leave on the spot. His figure leapt once more, flying back toward the distant battleship.
After watching Ghalika disappear into the distance, Cobra fell silent for a moment before speaking again.
"Igaram, you may all stand down."
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Igaram nodded, though his gaze lingered on the guard who had kept making mistakes.
But just at that moment...
"She stays."
Cobra pointed at the guard and spoke with authority.
Even Igaram was momentarily stunned.
"Your Majesty, he..."
Thinking Cobra was displeased with the guard's earlier mistakes, Igaram hurried to explain.
But Cobra said nothing, only giving Igaram a firm look.
"...Yes!"
Understanding his king's intent, Igaram wished the guard good luck and then led the others away.
After all the guards had left...
"Take it off.
"That armor is heavy, and with something stuffed under your boots, it can't be comfortable, can it?" Cobra said gently as he looked at the guard.
"..."
The guard didn't speak, but the body beneath the armor seemed to tremble slightly.
Seeing this, Cobra shook his head.
"Vivi, I'm not a father who can't recognize his own daughter's voice and you're not good at hiding!"
Hearing this, Nefertari Vivi could hold back no longer. She abruptly removed her helmet and threw it to the ground.
"That man, Crocodile, he was the mastermind behind everything, wasn't he?!" She looked at her father and asked sharply, in a way she normally never would.
"You clearly knew everything was his fault. So why didn't you tell the government? Why did you cover for him?"
As mentioned before, Cobra hadn't allowed her to be involved in matters concerning Shinryu. But Vivi had never been an obedient princess.
She had been investigating in secret. Not long ago, she happened to overhear Igaram's wife, Terracotta, say that Igaram was going to the port today, which gave her an idea.
She secretly took the place of a guard, came here, and personally witnessed her father's conversation with the World Government agent.
She knew very well what those documents represented.
They were proof of Crocodile's crimes, the "truth" owed to the countless citizens who had died in this great drought.
Yet upon hearing Vivi's words, Cobra showed no anger at all. He merely looked at his daughter and sighed.
"I didn't want you to be exposed to these matters so soon, but..."
He shook his head with a wry smile.
"You're just like your mother. Neither of you ever followed the rules."
After sighing, he fell silent for a moment before speaking again.
"Vivi."
Instead of answering her directly, he raised one finger.
"I have two stories here."
"The first story is that the Shichibukai Crocodile was actually the leader of a criminal organization and the mastermind behind the seven months without rain."
"After that, a powerful individual named 'Shinryu' defeated Crocodile and saved our country."
As he said this, he raised a second finger.
"The second story is..."
He looked at his daughter.
"There was never any conspiracy. Alabasta went seven months without rain simply because of this year's extreme climate."
"The one who defeated Crocodile was Mr. 0 of Baroque Works, a man named 'Shinryu.'"
"Crocodile happened to clash with him in Alabasta and was killed in the battle."
"Which story do you think the World Government would prefer?"
After hearing her father's question, Vivi fell silent.
'Which story would they prefer?'
The answer was obvious: the second one, of course.
In the first story, a "Shichibukai" selected and granted special privileges by the World Government becomes a criminal who attempts to seize a World Government–affiliated nation and one of the Twenty Founding Kingdoms, causing the deaths of countless civilians.
Meanwhile, a member of the organization "The Twelve Zodiac," which had seized the Heavenly Tribute, becomes the hero who defeats him.
How could the World Government possibly accept something like that?
The second story, however, sounded much better.
In that version, the World Government made no mistakes at all, Crocodile was simply not strong enough. He even died heroically while fighting criminals, which conveniently proved that the World Government's choice of the "Oka Shichibukai" had been correct.
"…"
Vivi naturally understood her father's meaning.
This was a deal.
To ensure that the "second story" became reality, the World Government had to seal Cobra's lips. That was precisely why Ghalika had contacted the Gorōsei (Five Elder Stars) earlier to report the situation.
And the Gorōsei had indeed shown sincerity.
"To preserve the government's dignity, that sum of money will not be small." Cobra's gaze drifted toward the distance, toward Alabasta. "With that money, the disasters the people suffered this year can be made up for."
Did he not want the truth to be made public?
No… he naturally did.
But…
"Vivi, do you remember what our ancestor Lily once said?"
"The past must compromise for the future and the dead must make way for the living."
He spoke softly.
"We are the kings of Alabasta. We must do everything we can to protect the well-being of our people."
When weighed against lives and the stability of the kingdom, the truth was the least important thing.
"...Why?" But before he could finish, Vivi interrupted him once more.
She lifted her head and looked at her father.
This time, however, her tone was no longer accusatory; it was a quiet question.
"Why did you hide all of this from me and shoulder it alone, Father? If you had told me earlier, I could have shared this burden with you..."
By this point, she understood everything.
She understood why her father hadn't revealed the mastermind's identity to her. From the moment he learned the truth, Cobra had probably formed today's plan.
She naturally understood that, given her father's character, making such a decision could not have been easy.
Letting an enemy become a hero and burying the truth was a decision steeped in guilt and pain.
That was why she didn't understand.
She knew how to see the bigger picture. She would have understood and made the same choice as Cobra—just as she did long ago at Levely, when she apologized to Wapol after he bullied her.
She could have shared this pain with him.
"I know, Vivi."
But in that moment, Cobra simply reached out and gently stroked his daughter's hair.
He couldn't help but recall the last Levely when he learned that his daughter had been bullied. She had smiled through her tears and said, "Father, I'm fine."
"I know you would have done that."
He naturally knew how exceptional his daughter was.
And precisely because of that...
"That's why I didn't want you to do it. Having one person bear guilt and pain like this is enough."
The King of Alabasta shook his head.
"I'm already a bad king who hid the truth for a villain, so I thought… at the very least, let me be a good father."
(End of Chapter)