Chapter 52

"And so,"

Under the clear sky, one ship was found to be rapidly sailing through the vast ocean. On its deck, Rowan was found to be sitting in a relaxed position, conversing with the blue-haired girl, Vivi, in front of him.

"Why would a princess infiltrate a dangerous criminal organization?"

It has already been a week since their departure from Onsen island. Unfortunately, they didn't get to enjoy the features that the island had to provide, but Rowan dismissed it without much thought.

"Alabasta Kingdom was it? If I recall correctly, it was one of the 20 original kingdoms known to have established World Government. And you introduced yourself as the princess of this majestic kingdom..."

Vivi stared at Rowan in silence, knowing that there was no way out once she accidentally spilled her true identity. Unaware of her thought, Rowan continued speaking his thought,

"I can assume two things from this information. One, the existence of Baroque Works is harmful to Alabasta Kingdom. Two, Alabasta Kingdom is in a pinch, for the princess herself to play the role of a spy.

From what I remember, Ms.Tuesday, Carina, was set on taking her revenge on Baroque Works. I guess that your alliance was reasonable since you shared a mutual goal."

The situation was quite complex. Rowan had to think far beyond the simple goal of 'rescuing Carina.'

First, will Carina be willing to retreat once he rescues her? Probably not, Rowan thought. After all, Carina was a smart girl, and the fact that she acted this brazenly speaks of how much hatred she contained for Baroque Works.

'She didn't speak the full truth, huh.'

Last time, Carina explained that Baroque Works ruined her business. However, Rowan felt that there was something more, and he was set on making her speak the next time he met her.

Anyhow, so what if Carina doesn't retreat? That meant that Rowan had two options afterwards: aid them in taking down the organization or simply leave. If he were to choose the latter option, it was highly likely for Carina to die. And during then, there will be no salvation for her.

"...It's as you say."

Sighing, Vivi finally opened her mouth. She turned to stare at the ocean ahead of them in concern.

"Alabasta Kingdom has been facing a drought unlike any other. The flourishing land has deteriorated into desert, and people has been suffering. In this state, a rumour arose—that the king of Alabasta, my father, used 'dance power' for his greed. Due to this situation, the signs of rebellion has begun to rise, and Alabasta is slowly approaching the point of internal warfare."

"Dance powder?"

"It is a special item that brings forth the rain once it's burnt. However, it doesn't create rain out of nothing. Rather, it achieves such feat at the cost of depriving other regions of rain."

"Hm... then objectively speaking, what's your opinion on your father as a king?"

Vivi, without any hesitation, said with a conviction,

"The wise and kind king whose interests revolve around the well beings of his citizens!"

"...I see."

Rowan read from Vivi's intent, that she was being truthful. And from his impression of her so far, she seemed to be someone trustworthy. Fixing his position, Rowan leaned in, before revealing a grin.

"Then, let's change the topic a little. Now, this is a guess that I came up after some thoughts, so think of it as the meaningless words of an outsider."

Rowan eyed the table on his right. There were piles of newspaper, ones in which he read carefully, trying to contain every single detail in his head.

"In the letter written by Carina, it was stated that 'Mr.1' isn't the administrator. And I still do remember her saying that Mr.1's true identity is a guy named Daz Bonez—what?"

Vivi, with her eyes popping out and her jaw opened wide, stared at Rowan in a shock.

Rowan sweatdropped.

"She never told you about this?"

"I've never met any of the Officer Agents!! The only one whom I know is Ms.All Sunday, the partner of the unknown administrator!!"

"Huh. Anyway,"

Rowan shrugged as he continued,

"If there is someone above Mr.1, it's got to be someone stronger than him at the very least, no? And judging from the information that I can acquire from these newspapers, Daz Bonez doesn't seem to be someone who'd yield to a person weaker than him.

In addition, Baroque Works' agents seem to work in pairs from what I've seen so far. Ms.All Sunday's partner means that the administrator or boss or whatever, is a guy.

And so, let's put in the information together. He's a guy stronger than Daz Bonez, and his bounty before his disappearance was 75 Million Beli."

Rowan snorted. Though it was a simple guess, he believed that his hunch was likely to be correct. And he speculated that some may be aware of this already; it was just that there was no real evidence.

"There aren't many whose bounties are above 75 Million Beli. Coincidentally, it seems that one of the Seven Warlords, 'Sir' Crocodile, has been hailed as the national hero of Alabasta for chasing the pirates out of the kingdom. But does that mean that he's a good man?"

'I think not,'

Thought Rowan as he glanced at the old newspaper that was laid on the top of the pile. Its title page read,

*Alliance of a thousand pirates under 'Sir' Crocodile in Mystoria! The ruination of the town and a bold proclamation of war against Whitebeard Pirates!*

Gradually, as Rowan spoke, Vivi's face became pale. She then stumbled, coming to think that Rowan's words did make sense.

"T-Then..."

Crocodile's power was quite well known due to his feats in Alabasta Kingdom. He was the user of Sand Sand fruit—the logia-type devil fruit that was exceptionally strong in desert.

Cannons, guns, sharp weapons, blunt weapons whatsoever—any form of physical attack had no effect on him. If Crocodile indeed was the administrator of Baroque Works... Vivi didn't know what could be done to save the country from such a formidable man.

"We..."

Vivi's head dropped.

"We tried to tell marines about Baroque Works. But of course, they didn't believe it, saying that an organization like that doesn't exist, that the rising turmoil in the kingdom is solely attributed to us. Therefore, we only had ourselves to rely on to fix all this, and... and now, we have to go against Crocodile of all possibilities?"

"Ah, I may be wrong though."

Vivi shook her head firmly.

"No, it must be Crocodile. Who else if it were not to be him? Everything makes sense now but one thing. Just... just what is he after? After he takes over the kingdom, what?"

Rowan hummed,

"Taking over the kingdom serves as the direct opposition to World Government. This means that he's confident enough to gain something that gives him the power to fight against them... and that something... is in Alabasta?"

"Something...? But I haven't heard of any secrets of the kingdom—"

Rowan, waving his hand, cut Vivi's words and stood up. Then, he took in a deep breath and stretched.

"Enough thinking for now. My brain's overloaded."

Rowan then pointed at Deuce at the edge of the ship, who was busy writing on his journal as his eyes went back and forth between the view in front of them and his note.

"Talk with him if you want to brainstorm more. He's smarter than me."

Rowan then went into the ship to take a nap, leaving Vivi by herself.

__________

__________

[3 weeks after]

"Welcome, dear guests of our town!"

Jean Bart and his crew found themselves dumbfounded as they received a warm welcome from the civilians of the town.

"'Hammer Fist' Jean Bart, we've heard of your feats and couldn't help but become your fan! Receiving a bounty due to beating up a corrupted mayor, then setting out and freeing the slaves under nobles! It's as if the knight in children's tale has manifested into real life!"

Jean Bart scratched his head, not knowing what to say.

"Please come in and accept our token of hospitality! Tonight, we'll celebrate the visit of heroes who are on par with Sora, the warrior of sea!"

The civilians hoorayed jovially. Many were seen carrying a tray of food that seemed delicious. Numerous kegs went back and forth, and the pirates could vividly hear the sounds of liquids splashing from within. They gulped in thirst, and the musicians who's arrived by the side has begun to play loud party music, which elevated their moods.

"H-Hey, captain..."

One member of the crew whispered at Jean Bart,

"Shouldn't this be fine? It's not like they're being hostile at us, right?"

"Hm..."

Jean Bart stoically gazed at the party that was about to begin in front of them.

"I'm not too sure though—"

"Let's drink like there's no tomorrow!!"

"Finally, after a long sail!! Now this is life, isn't it?!"

Before Jean Bart could speak, his crew members jumped on the party scene, unable to contain themselves.

Sighing, Jean Bart eventually revealed a slight smile.

"I guess... this much should be fine."

'After all, everything's going to get harder from hereon.'

Jean Bart was indeed correct in that. However, the form in which 'everything will get harder'... may be slightly different from what he expected.

For on that night, Jean Bart Pirates were wiped out and Jean Bart himself was captured.

__________

<<'Hammer Fist' Jean Bart has successfully been captured. All the other members without a bounty were killed on spot.>>

In an unknown room, a man in silhouette was listening to the words of a feminine voice that was spoken out of Den Den Mushi.

<<Hammer Fist will now be transported to Yuba. He placed under the manipulation by Ms.Goldenweek's power and play role of a 'hired soldier King Cobra subdue rebels'.>>

"What about the Grimheart Pirates, Ms.All Sunday."

<<Unfortunately, they were neither seen in Maple nor Gloom islands. I will tell agents to wait longer—>>

"...No. No need."

The man cut the voice from Den Den Mushi and ordered,

"Tell them to retreat. Also, issue all remaining Frontier Agents a new mission."

<<Which is?>>

"Gather at Nanohana and watch for the arrival of Grimheart Pirates."

'Grimheart' Rowan. 87 Million Beli. Defeated Rear Admiral Gasparde and escaped G-11 successfully. And recently... defeated Mr.4 and Ms.Merry Christmas pair.

Though the man wondered why Grimheart Pirates may take an interest in Baroque Works, he knew that Rowan didn't harbour good feelings about them.

"And also,"

The man closed his eyes in thought and opened them back. He stated,

"call all remaining Officer Agents to Rainbase."

<<...Roger that.>>

Ending the call, the man stood up and eyed the 'Unluckies', Mr.13 and Ms.Friday, who were sitting by the window on the side.

The two animals nodded before flying out of the room.

In silence, the man began walking. Walking down the hallway and then through a narrow passage, he eventually reached a dull-looking place where numerous jail cells were present.

The man stopped in front of one jail cell and crouched down to face a purple-haired girl behind the bars. He then spoke,

"It seems that your friends are coming to save you, Ms.Tuesday."

Said, girl, Carina, slowly lifted her head to face the man. Her dull eyes gained the light in them as she heard what the man said, and her mouth quivered,

"Friends...?"

"And I'm quite thankful."

The man revealed a cynical grin.

"What a useful hostage you are. Someone who has the confidential information of the organization, willingly making her way back for a stupid purpose of saving you? Really, keeping you alive was the right decision to make."

Carina's face wrinkled up as she expressed her rage. Gritting her teeth, Carina shouted,

"Croco... dile...!!!"

The man, Crocodile, laughed, feeling nothing but amusement as he received the full blunt of Carina's hostility.

"Now, dear betrayer, there is only have one job left for you to do."

His eyes, which were cold unlike the smile on his face, peered into Carina's soul.

"Watch from there as I crumble down your so-called friends and allies one by one."

Carina could do nothing but watch as the man walked away from her.

Feeling helpless, she slammed her fist against the cold ground as hard as she could. Though her fist bled, she didn't seem to care; she instead mumbled in a low tone,

"Damn it..."