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Grand Line – Paradise
Alabasta – Katorea
While Zoro dealt with Crocodile, keeping him from reaching them, the rest of the group quickly arrived at Katorea using Soru. The city was still completely unaware of what was happening in the desert to the west.
However, despite being unaware of the desert events, the city was completely agitated.
And walking through the streets, looking for the rebel army's base, the Straw Hats hear random conversations happening around and find out that all this commotion is due to the fight between Sabo, Ace, and Luffy that ended in the morning, and the 'sudden' appearance of the colossal crater that now separates Katorea from Nanohana.
Also through the conversations, they manage to gather enough information to find the resistance base quickly and easily.
And as soon as they arrive in front of a gigantic fenced complex near the city, in the desert to the north, Vivi turns to the group to discuss the next step.
But as soon as she turns around, she realizes they were already invading the place, not caring if people were watching or not.
"Subtlety doesn't exist with this crew, huh?", letting out a tired sigh, Vivi asks while rubbing her forehead.
"You get used to it!", giving Vivi a pat on the back, Nami says as she passes by her and enters the complex.
In less than two minutes, the sudden entrance of strangers becomes noticed by the base, which results in a convergence of armed men toward their location.
And in a short time, they find themselves surrounded by armed men, all ready to attack them. Then, after a brief standoff, a man emerges from the middle of the crowd, stepping forward in front of the group before shouting at Vivi and the Straw Hats, "ENTRY OF STRANGERS WITHOUT INVITATION IS FORBIDDEN! TURN AROUND AND LEAVE THIS PLACE!"
"Take us to your leader, I want to speak with Koza!", Vivi steps forward and says, authority exuding from her voice.
"WHO ARE YOU GUYS AND WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH LEADER KOZA?", the man asks suspiciously.
"I'm Nefertari Vivi, and I came to stop this meaningless rebellion!", as soon as Vivi says this, the area around explodes in murmurs and chaotic cacophonies.
"Is that really the Princess?"
"It's the Princess! She's back!"
"It's her, there's no way it could be anyone else, no one can casually imitate her beauty like that."
"Meaningless rebellion?"
"What does she mean by that?"
"Why would she come here in the middle of a civil war?"
"Worse than that, why would she come to what can only be considered an enemy base?"
"And at the peak of the conflict, no less!"
"Please, take me to Koza! It's of utmost importance that I tell him what I know; this conflict is completely meaningless and orchestrated by outsiders who want to see us bleed!", Vivi pleads for an audience with the leader of the resistance, her speech silencing the chaotic murmurs that engulfed the surroundings.
After a minute of at least tense silence, the man from before breaks the silence, "First of all, it's good to see that you're safe, Princess! Despite the circumstances, we still respect you, so wait here, I'll inform leader Koza about your request for an audience!"
At this point, the area around them was already completely surrounded by the curious gazes of rebels, murmurs of doubt and confusion echoing through their ranks, fruits of Vivi's words.
In a top-down view, the man makes his way through the crowd of rebels until he comes out the other side, heading straight toward the rebel army's high command tent.
Crossing the rebel camp with ease, the man reaches his destination in a short time, pushing the cloth used as a door aside with his hand as he enters the tent.
Inside the large tent, the man sees, as soon as his vision adjusts to the lighting, the leader of the rebellion, Koza, a tall blond young man with an athletic build, talking with one of the army officers.
"How's the weapon situation? Haven't they arrived yet?", Koza asks calmly, bracing himself on a table full of documents and maps.
"Still nothing, but they're supposed to arrive today!", the officer, sitting in a chair a little away from the table where Koza was bracing himself, says in a relaxed manner.
"Are our men ready to receive the cargo in Nanohana?", taking one hand off the table, Koza asks while rubbing his forehead.
"Yes, we've already gone over this a million times. Our men have been stationed at the port for a week! So relax, Koza! Everything's ready. When the shipment arrives, we'll take it, simple and clean", standing up from the chair, the officer says with a sigh, Koza had already asked these same questions a million times over the week, and the answers rarely changed; everything was already prepared to receive the weapons shipment, there was nothing to worry about.
Just as Koza seemed about to say something, the two hear a throat clearing, and when they turn toward the source of the sudden sound, they see, standing at the entrance of the tent, the man who came to inform him about Vivi.
"We'll continue later! Anyway, I want total attention on Nanohana. Inform me of anything, no matter how small! We're at a critical moment, you know it, I know it, so…", realizing that the new presence in the tent seemed to want to speak with him, Koza dismisses his officer with a reminder.
"Total attention, yeah, I know", before Koza could finish his sentence, the officer says with a sigh before moving out of the tent, passing by the man who had just arrived, and leaving.
After the tent's cloth stops swaying, Koza, turning his gaze to the man standing at the entrance, asks while gesturing for him to approach, "So, what happened?"
"Leader Koza, Princess Vivi has reappeared and is here at the base right now. She wants to talk to you", approaching the table, the man says, informing Koza of Vivi's presence in the camp.
"Vivi? What's she doing here?" surprised by what he just heard, Koza asks, frowning.
"I don't know, she said something about ending the rebellion, that it was all staged by outsiders! Well, she asked to talk to you!", the man says; the truth is, he didn't really understand why the Princess was there or what her words meant, the only thing he was sure of was that she wanted to speak with Koza.
"Urgh, what a fucking headache!... Sigh... bring her here", Koza curses before letting out a sigh and asking the man to bring Vivi to him. Just at a moment like this, she shows up, giving him yet another headache.
"She's accompanied by a group of people!", thinking it important to mention the group accompanying the Princess, the man adds.
"No problem, bring them too", taking off his sunglasses and tossing them on the table in front of him, Koza says in a somewhat tired tone.
Receiving permission, the man nods before turning around and leaving the tent, going to fetch Princess Vivi and the group accompanying her.
=Scene Break=
Meanwhile, with the Straw Hats. They had already been waiting for that man's return for a few minutes, and despite being surrounded by people casting them suspicious and doubtful looks while murmuring among themselves, everyone was waiting calmly while chatting. The only one who seemed more distressed was Vivi. Of course, Robin and Chopper were in the same boat as her, but the archaeologist knew how to hide what she was feeling well, and the little reindeer got easily distracted by anything, such as the group engaging in a random conversation.
The wait, however, didn't last much longer. Making his way through the crowd of rebels, the man from before arrives where they were and says to Vivi, "I spoke with leader Koza, he's waiting for you guys! If you could follow me."
"Of course, lead the way!", briefly looking at the group, Vivi turns her gaze back to the man and says, gesturing for him to show the way.
Nodding briefly, the man then begins to guide them out of the crowd and beyond, toward the tent where Koza awaited them.
The crowd, meanwhile, follows them right behind, very curious and intrigued by the presence of Princess Vivi, who, as far as they knew, had been missing for two years.
Arriving at the high command tent, the man slightly moves the entrance cloth aside and says, "I brought them, leader!"
Tired of all this bureaucracy and delay, Ace enters the tent without caring about anything, his action causing a herd effect, with everyone following him inside, including Vivi.
Recognizing Vivi the instant she enters the tent, Koza says, raising a hand to the man who had brought them there and seemed about to protest because of the Straw Hats' action, "It's fine, don't worry!"
Nodding lightly, the man turns around and leaves them alone, and as soon as the entrance cloth stops swaying, Koza asks, "Good to see you alive and well! But what are you doing here, Vivi?"
"I came to put an end to this meaningless rebellion. Too much blood has already been spilled; it's time to stop, Koza!", taking a deep breath, Vivi says with determination.
"Ha, it's time to stop, do you hear yourself? This is only happening because of your father. This kingdom is dry, Vivi! How can a desert island become even drier than it already was? Can't you see? This whole rebellion is the desperate people, we are thirsty, we are hungry", letting out a snort, Koza asks with fervor, his voice rising the more he spoke. Vivi managed to get on his nerves with her words.
"I... understand, but my father is not the culprit you're looking for! The one responsible for all of this has a name, and it's certainly not my father's", closing her eyes tightly as she feels for what her people had to go through, Vivi opens her eyes and says firmly.
"What do you mean by that?", Koza asks, frowning.
"It was all set up, Koza! All set up, the reason for this rebellion, this rebellion, it was all set up", Vivi says fervently while gesturing.
"Vivi, I don't…", not believing what she was saying, Koza begins to say tiredly, only to be interrupted by Vivi.
"Just listen to me, okay? Two years ago, we heard concerning rumors about a mercenary organization called Baroque Works and its possible involvement in the growing tensions between the people and the royal family! So, after being ignored by the Marines for months, I and Igaram decided to infiltrate that organization to find out what was going on...", silencing Koza, Vivi begins to explain things from the beginning.
"Wait, why did you and Igaram have to infiltrate? Why not others?", with one point intriguing him, Koza asks, interrupting her.
"Because Baroque Works was infiltrated everywhere, and they couldn't trust anyone but themselves? Alright, we all know it was at the very least a stupid and rash decision, but Vivi managed quite well", the one answering this question ends up being Nami, not Vivi. Until that moment, she seemed more interested in the maps on the table than in the conversation.
"By the way, who are you guys exactly?", turning his attention to Nami and the rest of the group, Koza asks curiously.
"Nami, pirate, nice to meet you! We're part of the Straw Hat crew!", Nami introduces herself before turning her attention back to the maps on the table.
"Pirates, seriously?", turning his attention to Vivi, Koza asks suspiciously. Who the hell was this idiot making friends with?
"Baroque Works found out that I and Igaram were infiltrated in their ranks and sent people to kill us. These 'pirates' are the ones who saved us!", Vivi answers, shrugging. She didn't care that her friends were pirates.
"Alright... anyway, we're getting off track, let's get back to the subject", realizing they were drifting away from the main topic, Koza says, bringing everyone back.
"Yes, right! In these two years, I discovered that Baroque Works was behind the drought in Alabasta; they were using dance powder to shake the people's trust in my father's government. Their goal is to destroy our kingdom and build their own nation atop our skeleton", Vivi nods, continuing to explain what she had discovered while infiltrated.
"Vivi...", not believing it, Koza begins to say while scratching his head, only to be interrupted by Robin.
"It's true, I was the one who spread those rumors she followed", upon realizing that Koza still wasn't taking Vivi seriously, Robin intervenes, trying to help.
" I don't get it, they spread those rumors you heard and also saved you?", frowning, Koza asks, confused about the role of this pirate crew in the middle of all this.
"No, this is Robin, she was the second-in-command of Baroque Works until recently", Vivi answers for Robin, taking the chance to introduce her to Koza.
"Was?", Koza asks, curious about the use of the word.
"Yeah, the boss sent me on a suicide mission, and I decided that partnership wasn't worth it anymore", Robin replies, briefly explaining the reason why the word 'was' was used.
"Alright, let's say all this nonsense is true, who is this boss?", even not believing all that nonsense, Koza asks, more out of curiosity than anything else.
"It's Crocodile, he's the one behind all this...", Vivi says, revealing the great name behind all the suffering of the people of Alabasta.
"Look, Vivi, that's quite a story, but I can't just...", deciding that was enough, Koza interrupts her, only to be interrupted himself.
In the middle of Koza's speech, the tent's entrance cloth is abruptly opened by the officer he had ordered to keep an eye out for any news that might come from Nanohana.
The man, not caring that a conversation was happening, spots Koza and says hurriedly, "Koza, news from Nanohana just arrived, the King Cobra was spotted arriving in the city with a contingent of soldiers, they're saying he's got a speech to give to the people!"
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35 Advanced Chapters on Patreon!
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