Chapter 60 Kingdoms, Armies, and Intrigues: Unveiling the Mysteries of Power and Military Might in the Alabasta

[Kaido: She's right. The Dragon Kingdom has a population of at most one million people. There are many countries in the world with millions of people. I've never seen the Dragon Kingdom with a large army.]

The kingdom's troop rankings are easy to understand. It's not like resources, where wealth involves many aspects. Troop rankings are just about quantity. So it's extremely abnormal for the Dragon Kingdom to not be in the top 3, let alone the top 1!

[Beckman: The order is a bit different this time. Before, it was from the lowest ranking countries to the highest ranking countries. This time, it's the opposite. Maybe the highest ranking countries should be played first?]

[Red Hair: Alabasta is one of the most populous countries in the world. I remember that their regular military strength is around 600,000.]

[Beckman: It should be more than that. Recently, there have been news reports that over 120,000 rebels have risen up in the Alabasta civil war, and the number is still increasing.]

[Raizo: If you count the rebels as part of the country's strength, Alabasta might have a strength of around 800,000!]

[Stussy: The military strength of Alabasta alone is comparable to the population of the entire Dragon Kingdom. How did the Dragon Kingdom make it to the list?]

[Morgans: The sky will give the answer!]

...

King Cobra was very happy.

He thought that if Alabasta could get the sky reward, it might be able to end the current chaos in the country.

The most serious problem in the country right now is drought.

If there were a few more freshwater lakes, people across the country could get through this difficult time.

Princess Vivi was also very excited.

She had been undercover for a long time, but she hadn't found anything yet.

She had only based her investigation on some clues.

Not finding anything for a long time made her despair several times.

Now there was finally a glimmer of hope.

The resource list was over, and the troop list would start tomorrow.

For now, everything was quiet.

Many forces wanted to attack the Dragon Kingdom, but it was not something that could be easily achieved.

The Three Swordsmen of the Dragon Kingdom were very powerful.

They had even taken down the Seven Warlords of the Sea, the Three Calamities, and the Marine Vice Admiral.

If you wanted to attack the Dragon Kingdom, you had to weigh your chances carefully.

Of course, not everyone saw this clearly.

There were always some blindly confident guys.

But those were a minority.

In the afternoon, one or two pirate groups blindly attacked the Dragon Kingdom.

They turned out to be criminals.

They were all killed, and those who survived were sent to mine.

Crocodile, Smoker, and others were also there.

But because Smoker had a good attitude before, he was not min a seastone, which made his work a lot easier.

He felt like he was on vacation!

"That big sword that pops out of the mecha looks really powerful. It's made of high-quality steel and has been forged very well. I wonder if it's a famous sword?"

Tashigi was working.

She didn't have much interest in mechas, but she was amazed by the big sword on the back of the mecha.

She had seen it in a video before, but it was different seeing it in person.

She was very interested in the sword and wanted to know more about it.

Old miner said to Tashigi, "It's just an ordinary machete."

Tashigi replied, "But it looks really unusual. Can I try it?"

Old miner said, "Sure, go ahead if you can handle it."

Tashigi pulled out the great sword with all her strength. She was surprised at how heavy it was! But when she swung it down, it cut through the mountain like a hot knife through butter!

The old miner was impressed, "That's a good and powerful big sword. It's definitely not inferior to Liang Kuai Dao, or even Da Kuai Dao! If you like it, work hard, and maybe you can give us a hand when you pay your labor rewards later. We have piles of these things in the warehouse!"

Tashigi was stunned.

She couldn't believe it.

There were piles of these powerful swords in the warehouse?

That was amazing!

Smoker was working in the mine when he saw a bunch of mechas.

He asked the old miner to teach him how to pilot the mechas.

He was so excited that he forgot that he was a prisoner.

"Hmph, they not worried that Smoker will run away in the mecha?" Crocodile was carrying a seastone block.

Crocodile and Smoker are both captives, but they are treated very differently. He need to wear seastone, which makes him very uncomfortable.

He is looking for a chance to escape.

He knows that the guards are watching the front of the mine, so he decides to try to escape through the forest behind the mountain.

He observes for a long time and finds that there are no miners near the back of the mountain.

He sees his chance and quickly slips away.

However, he is soon seen by the guards.

"Hey!! Stop!!" The old miner saw Crocodile trying to escape and his face changed. He ran towards Crocodile trying to stop him.

Crocodile sneered, "It's too late now. A group of ordinary people can't catch up to me."

Crocodile thought that even with the seastone, he was still faster than ordinary people.

He was confident that he would be able to escape into the forest and regain his freedom.

However, he suddenly hit something very hard. It felt like he hit steel!

A young man with short light blue hair and a furious expression "Who are you? How dare you escape? Don't you know that this is my confinement place?"

Crocodile was surprised to see that the young man had a bone mask on his right cheek.

He had never seen a race with bones on their faces before.

He looked down at the young man's body and saw that he had a big hole in his belly. Crocodile couldn't believe that someone could be alive with such a wound.

The miner's voice came again, "You can't go there! That's the prison where Captain Grimmjow got locked up for messing up! It's dangerous!"

"Dammit, you should've told me sooner!" Crocodile said angrily.

"Seastone? A prisoner? Hahaha! This is great! If the prisoner escapes, i can teach you a lesson and bring you back. That Ulquiorra won't be able to say anything! Let's fight!"

Grimmjow was very arrogant.

He released a powerful Reiatsu from his body and drew his Zanpakutō.

Crocodile's face changed drastically.

He couldn't believe what he was sensing.

It's so strong that it felt like Conqueror's Haki.

"Damn it! How come the Dragon Kingdom is full of monsters!" Crocodile thought to himself.

"By the way, the fact that you're wearing seastone means you're a devil fruit user! It's not fair to fight you with this handicap."

As Grimmjow said, he raised his knife and quickly removed the hard seastone.

Crocodile was happy and thought, "This idiot is going to hell!"

Boom! Crocodile was kicked back and flew away.

"Crocodile was kicked by that young man even without the seastone?!" Smoker and Tashigi, who were also captives in the area, were taken aback.

"Is that all you can do? That's boring! Let's fight for real!"

Grimmjow slashed at Crocodile with his knife, each blow was harsh, violent, and powerful!

Crocodile fought back, but he was still completely overwhelmed!

Blood was constantly splattering on his body!

Tashigi doubted her life, "Could it be that Seven Warlords of the Sea are actually weak?"

Smoker replied, "No, that blue-haired young man is too strong! There is such a strong man in the Dragon Kingdom?! Only Admirals from Marine Headquarters can crush Crocodile like this!"

"Uncle, who is that young man?" Smoker couldn't help but ask the miner next to him

At the same time, he was rejoicing in his heart.

If he hadn't been fascinated by the mecha just now, he would have run away.

He is not restricted by seastone, so he could have easily escaped.

Fortunately, he didn't run away.

"That's the captain of our kingdom's sixth guard, Grimmjow-sama. He made a mistake last time and was punished by Ulquiorra-sama to be confined in the back mountain. He's not in a good mood, and now he's in trouble!"

"Captain of the Sixth Guard!"

Crocodile was so beaten up that he didn't want to talk for a long time.

The next day came, and everyone was waiting for the sky screen

But this time, it was different. Many people watch the video of Crocodile's defeat.

[Sterry: Hahaha! I have assembled an army of 150,000 to attack Dragon Kingdom. I am the closest to Dragon Kingdom, and Gao Yang is mine! Dragon Kingdom is also mine!]

[Megumi: Who are you?]

[Sterry: I am the king of Goa Kingdom! We are the ones who are about to conquer your Dragon Kingdom!]

[Gao Yang: I thought you were just a joke, but you actually have the courage to be serious?]

[Sterry: Are you scared?]

[Gao Yang: There is really no other way. I don't want to let innocent soldiers die, so I can only take care of you first.]

[Sterry: You are arrogant! Just wait! You will die!"]

Then everyone waited for the video to start broadcasting.

Five minutes later, there was one minute left before the video started.

[A soldier from the Goa Kingdom: No! Sterry-sama was stabbed to death!]

[Kid: Damn it! They were killed so quickly! Even though they were in East Blue, didn't Sterry have an army of 150,000? How could they be killed so easily?!]

Even though he was famed as a fierce pirate who can defeat a thousand alone after he went to sea, he is no match for an army of 150,000.

Avoidance is the wisest choice.

[Urouge: So it's still a kingdom. An important figure of the royal family will be gone in a few minutes?!]

[Bonney: Great job!]

[Capone Bege: That guy is really a royal family? If you want to attack, just attack. He should not let him know that he will attack! If he dies, he dies!]

[Sengoku: The royal family was killed?!]

Sengoku was surprised.

It's not hard to kill a royal family in East Blue, but it's hard to do it so quickly.

This means that the Dragon Kingdom has a lot of influence in East Blue.

This is not good news.

[Kaido: Should i kill a few them with one stone? It's a shame i don't have time for that. The video has started. Oh, this time it will start from the beginning!]

Everyone is watching the video again.

The countries related to the ranking are especially paying attention.

Cobra sat up straight with a look of anticipation on his face.

Big Mom is also watching the video closely, her eyes narrowed in concentration.

[No. 1 Alabasta total: 810,000!]

[NO.2 Totto Land: 400,000!]

[NO.3 Dragon Kingdom: 350,000!]

The first overall force is way ahead of the others.

[Red Hair: The first place has the most soldiers, which is normal. After all, it's a big country with dozens of islands. But where did the Dragon Kingdom get 350,000 soldiers? That's almost half of their population!]

[Gao Yang: I don't know how we got so many soldiers.]

[Aokiji: You don't know either?]

[Gao Yang: Yes.]

Everyone was shocked when they heard that the king didn't know how many soldiers he had.

....

The sky screen started, showing an endless desert.

Alabasta is a very large kingdom with a long history and a population of nearly 10 million.

It is one of the few kingdoms that can compare to its size and population in the sea full of island countries.

The scene then changed to a conscription event.

In the Rainbase, a young man took out his long sword from his home.

"Mom, I'm going to join the army. When I become a soldier of the king, we can live a good life."

"Is it okay not to go?"

"Joining the army this year will give us a lot of benefits. Our taxes will be reduced by 50%. Even if I'm injured or die in battle, the government will provide some subsidies. If i miss this year, i may not get this discount next year."

"Okay, then you must be careful. The most important thing is to come back safely."

"Don't worry, I know."

In many cities.

"Defending the country is everyone's responsibility!"

"Join the army now and enjoy a 50% tax exemption!"

"Those who can read and write will receive a 20% increase in military pay!"

"Do you want to be a hero like Lord Pell? Do you want to be rich? Join our Army and become a real man!"

[Red Hair: Alabasta's treatment for its soldiers is really good. No wonder so many people join the army. They have a standing army of 600,000!]

[Whitebeard: They give tax breaks and exemptions to soldiers, and they also pay them well. They even provide subsidies to soldiers who are injured or killed in battle. That's really good!]

[Garp: This shows how the king gets its soldiers.]

[Beckman: What a good king.]

[Boss Bai: You call that good treatment?]