Chapter 129: Vivi’s Choice
The exchange with Cobra didn’t take much time. Setting aside his overly kind and benevolent personality, His Majesty the King’s intelligence was excellent. The wisdom and experience accumulated by the Nefertari Family over eight hundred years gave him the best guidance.
Through the brief exchange, he immediately realized that Sokachio’s previous words weren’t entirely false. Elus clearly had little interest in Alabasta. Beneath that polite courtesy hid an attitude of indifference.
There was nothing in the Alabasta Kingdom that Elus coveted.
All the miscellaneous thoughts in his heart were cleared away, and useless things like face were cast aside. With utmost sincerity, he voiced his plea for help.
Elus agreed very straightforwardly.
Cobra first breathed a sigh of relief, but soon his brows furrowed again. Faced with the different options proposed by Elus, he fell into indecision, hesitating for a moment, unsure which option to choose.
The choices given by Elus were few—just two paths.
First, Elus would dispatch capable subordinates to Alabasta to deal with the trouble of Crocodile.
Second, Cobra picks a few people to send over, Elus can help guide them a bit. Not saying to cultivate top strong persons, but against enemies at Crocodile’s level, they won’t be completely helpless.
From a long-term perspective, the second option is definitely the most cost-effective. As long as Alabasta has its own protection god, it can naturally shield from wind and rain, protecting this land. But the problem is, in Cobra’s cognition, cultivating a truly powerful strong person is absolutely not something that can be done casually.
Within three to five years, it’s probably hard to achieve anything, and he is not sure how long Alabasta can hold out in the face of Crocodile’s aggressive ambition. Thinking this way, probably choosing the first option is better—short time, quick results. Elus gave a promise: whether Crocodile ends up dead or alive, he will definitely not have the strength to provoke Alabasta again······
Cobra furrowed his brows, still weighing the options.
“Can’t we choose both?”
Twelve-year-old Vivi stepped forward, boldly asking.
“······Choose both? Haha!” Elus laughed. He picked a bright red fruit from the fruit plate, not recognizing what fruit it was. He took a bite, and bright red juice splashed everywhere, the sweet taste filling his mouth.
These fruits were all provided by the Holy Land. In an ordinary fruit plate, two-thirds of the fruits were unrecognizable, making Elus deeply realize that the World Government’s control over this world remained as solid as a rock.
The so-called Pirate Era had little impact on the lofty Holy Land. Ordinary people suffered more hardships instead.
After eating the juicy fruit flesh, the almond-sized pit was spat out like a cannonball, landing in a nearby pond. Accompanied by a thunderous roar, the water in the man-made pond shot into the sky.
A downpour of rain came crashing down, mixed with dozens of beautiful ornamental fish.
A colorful little fish landed on the stone steps under the gazebo, drawing Vivi’s involuntary gaze—half because of the beautiful fish she’d never seen before, half because of the terrifying strength Elus displayed so casually.
Of course,
With Vivi’s insight, she didn’t fully understand the ingenuity of Elus’s little trick, but she noticed Uncle Bell’s tense expression behind her father. When their eyes met, Bell gave her a look.
The clever Princess understood the meaning: Elus’s power was beyond his comprehension.
The huge commotion attracted attention. CP0 members wearing masks and white robes appeared like ghosts on walls and treetops, but upon seeing Elus in the gazebo waving and smiling, they silently disappeared again.
This monster was not for them to handle.
As long as Elus didn’t plan to wipe out all the kings living in this area, no matter what he did, these CP0 members had no intention of interfering—it would only be humiliating themselves.
Watching the CP0 members disappear, Elus licked his lips. Three unfamiliar auras, completely different from the batch of CP0 members he saw last time. He wondered how many trump cards CP0, the so-called shield of the Celestial Dragons, was hiding.
“Little princess, don’t you think choosing both is a bit greedy?” Looking at Vivi, who was between girl and young woman, Elus couldn’t help but tease this still somewhat childish little princess.
“I don’t think so.”
Vivi withdrew her gaze, no longer looking at the dying fish, and said frankly,
“These two choices are actually very easy for Uncle you, right? They don’t seem difficult at all!”
Hmm?
Uncle?
Elus blinked, scratched his chin with his finger, and said troubledly: “This is tricky! Do I already look like uncle generation?” His seniority suddenly jumped up.
“Your father had already been born at your age.” Sokachio, sitting nearby, chimed in at the right moment.
That burning gaze like flames made Elus stiffen. Damn it! He forgot Grandfather was there too. “······Cough cough! Little princess, choosing both isn’t impossible, but······Forget it, forget it.”
Elus gave up on teasing the child.
Grandfather’s gaze had changed, and Cobra’s face showed a hint of wariness and vigilance. If he kept teasing, he might be branded with a ‘pervert’ label, which he didn’t want.
“Your Majesty Cobra, for Grandfather’s sake, I’ll take on Alabasta’s trouble. Dillon, Dillon, where is he?” He called twice, and two seconds later, the massive Dillon, like a humanoid beast, appeared before Elus.
“Your Highness, what are your orders?”
Dillon bowed and asked.
“Your Majesty Cobra.”
Elus pointed at Dillon standing in front of the gazebo. “This is my aide-de-camp, Dillon. After this World Conference ends, he will lead people to escort you and Princess Vivi back to the country. Leave Crocodile to him. At the same time, you can pick two people to hand over to me. It won’t take too long······one year. Give me one year, and Alabasta will have its own pillar of the state.”
Cobra stood up.
With a solemn expression, he made a promise: “The Alabasta Kingdom will never betray friends who have helped us.”
Elus also stood up and extended his hand again.
The two shook hands.
For someone like Cobra, no formal agreement was needed. What he promised, he would never go back on. That’s why everyone likes making friends with good people, even if they think good people are foolish and pedantic deep down.
Elus was very satisfied.
As Sokachio said before, compared to that army of 600,000 with limited use, the deep prestige built by generations of Nefertari Family kings—this thing held even greater significance. Pulling the Alabasta Kingdom into their camp was equivalent to raising the flag of benevolence.
This was a treasure that no million-strong army could exchange for.
Moreover, Alabasta Kingdom’s strength was something Elus was happy to see, regardless of whatever secrets it held eight hundred years ago. Looking at the Alabasta Kingdom’s eight-hundred-year history, a nation upholding the belief that ‘country is the people’ would one day stand against the World Government.
From their bones, they were different from the Holy Land’s Celestial Dragons.
Destined to be irreconcilable.
It was just that historical blanks and missing truths kept the Alabasta Kingdom subservient to World Government rule······
————
The next day, the fifty kings gathered, and the World Conference finally convened.
The conference topics were varied, including many ridiculous proposals that left people speechless. Like that idiot Wapol with a hole in his brain, who actually fantasized about promoting his absurd decree called ‘Hunting Doctor’ worldwide. Even the self-proclaimed cold-blooded Judge was shocked by this scumbag’s vile nature.
To think someone would enact such a stupid decree······simply astounding!
Indeed, when the forest is big, all kinds of birds appear; when there are many kings, all kinds of fools are seen.
Setting aside brain-dead types like Wapol, most kings were reasonably sane. But with more people, things got harder to handle. In seven days, they only settled a few harmless minor matters. The only major event concerned the Revolutionary Army.
The Revolutionary Army’s threat had long been recognized by the World Government. Monkey D. Dragon thus earned the title of the world’s most dangerous criminal. At the last World Conference, the Revolutionary Army had some fame but hadn’t yet attracted big shots’ attention.
Four years.
The Revolutionary Army developed rapidly. Amid the Pirate Era’s pain to the world, plus the World Government’s extortionate taxes to support the Celestial Dragons’ Tenryuubito’s Tax, who knew how many ordinary lives were destroyed. The heavier the world’s damage, the faster the Revolutionary Army grew.
Sometimes—no, most of the time—reality is this absurd and laughable.
The Revolutionary Army aims to overthrow the World Government and Celestial Dragons’ brutal rule, but it’s precisely because of that brutality that the Revolutionary Army grew astonishingly······The stronger the Revolutionary Army becomes, the more it proves how severe the world’s damage is.
In short,
At the conference, King Nefertari of Ilusia Kingdom, His Majesty Shionda Lucas, spoke on the danger posed by Revolutionary Army leader Drag, believing they would disrupt world order. Even all the so-called Four Emperors in the New World combined weren’t as terrifying as this man.
The Four Emperors could only destroy their rule physically.
But the Revolutionary Army could directly uproot their foundation, inciting lowly commoners to rebel against noble rule—the most intolerable threat.
King Lucas’s speech drew widespread agreement. No matter the deep hatreds between nations, when facing enemies challenging the entire ruling class, they naturally stood together.
Of course, not everyone agreed.
Like His Majesty Cobra, who wasn’t too concerned about the Revolutionary Army threat. He knew something about them. In his view, if not for those rulers’ brutality, how would they provoke the Revolutionary Army? Even without it, such evils would eventually attract······
Thinking of the Holy Land’s Celestial Dragons, talk of retribution was too embarrassing to mention.
Cobra couldn’t change the world, only keep himself clean, so he wasn’t afraid of the Revolutionary Army.
Besides Cobra, King Judge of Jermma Kingdom didn’t support either. Unsure if any attending kings were Revolutionary Army spies, Judge, who had clashed with them in North Blue, was very wary of the organization. Unless necessary, he didn’t want to provoke them.
Anyway, whether he supported or not didn’t hinder the majority’s agreement.
Thus, the seven-day World Conference ended.
Handling the dangerous criminal organization Revolutionary Army······was the conference’s greatest achievement. A World Government high official bowed to receive the document signed and stamped by fifty kings. With this, cracking down on the Revolutionary Army wasn’t just the Navy’s duty—World Government member nations must provide corresponding help.
Cobra’s expression wasn’t great. Minority obeys majority; he had to sign, leaving him unhappy. Fortunately, his well-behaved daughter comforted him softly nearby. Soon, the gloomy mood gradually returned to normal.
“Where’s Bell? I don’t see him?”
After walking a bit, Cobra came to his senses and noticed his trusted kingdom guard adjutant was missing—only a group of guard team members and the stone-like silent Dillon.
“Uncle Bell was taken by Elus.”
Vivi directly called Elus by name.
During the seven-day conference, only kings could participate; princes, princesses, etc., waited outside. Vivi had no peers in the Holy Land. When Sokachio took Elus’s seven-year-old younger brother and five-year-old younger sister to the park, they met Vivi.
Twelve years old, not yet a full-fledged young lady.
The still childish Vivi played with Elus’s younger brother and sister, quickly winning them over. They were quite a bit older than Elus’s siblings, and kids’ intuition sensed the terrifying aura restrained in Elus, so they weren’t very close to this big brother. Now, they became Vivi’s little followers as big sister.
Having won over Elus’s younger brother and sister, Vivi stopped calling Elus “uncle,” but also refused suffixes like ‘brother,’ just calling his name directly. Elus had no opinion on this.
“Bell was taken by Elus? This is······to train Bell?” Cobra looked at Dillon.
He hadn’t decided who to send to Elus for training. Bell was a good candidate, but without him, the kingdom’s army would lack a pillar······However, with Dillon handling Crocodile, without the Sand Crocodile’s interference, even without Bell, domestic affairs shouldn’t spiral out of control······
“In that case, let Bell work hard.”
Cobra said so.
Falcão Bell thus began a grueling, unforgettable ordeal.
