The desert wind howled like a dying beast, whipping sand against the identical cloaks of the fleeing figures. Six Super Spot-Billed Ducks raced across the dunes, each carrying two riders shrouded in secrecy.
"They're splitting up!" Miss Doublefinger's voice cut through the gale, her fingers sharpening into deadly points. "But the math is wrong. Five Straw Hats plus Vivi makes six. Who is this 'Mr. Prince' they speak of?"
Mr. 1's expression remained as unyielding as steel. "The number is irrelevant. Only the princess matters."
From a nearby dune, Mr. 2 Bon Kurei watched with uncharacteristic seriousness. "The rebels are nearly at Alubarna's gates! If Vivi reaches Kohza, everything Crocodile-sama built collapses!"
BOOM!
An explosive baseball tore through the air where the ducks had been seconds before. Mr. 4 lowered his launcher, frustration evident. "Too fast."
"Let's dig after them, yohohoho!" Miss Merry Christmas cackled, already burrowing into the sand.
The ducks scattered like startled birds—pairs shooting south, west, southwest. Baroque Works agents split to pursue.
"Flame Star!" Usopp's voice cried from one western-bound pair.
Mr. 1 raised his forearm, the fireball deflecting harmlessly off his blade-hardened skin. "A child's trick."
"Got you!" Mr. 2 lunged at a southwest pair, only to be trampled under duck feet. "Ow! Rude!"
Within minutes, the agents were gone, chasing shadows across the dunes.
Silence descended, broken only by the whispering sand.
Then, from behind a rocky outcrop half-buried in sand, a seventh duck emerged—Carue, with Princess Vivi clinging to his back, her knuckles white around his feathers.
"They took the bait," Vivi whispered, tears mixing with the dust on her cheeks. "They all went after the decoys."
Carue gave a soft quack, nuzzling her hand.
"Zoro, Nami, Chopper, Sanji, Usopp…" She choked on their names. "They're buying us time with their lives."
She could still hear Crocodile's order echoing in her mind, delivered through the agents' cold voices: "Do not let the princess and the rebel leader meet. At any cost."
"We have to move, Carue," Vivi said, straightening her spine. "While the path is clear."
The duck burst into motion, streaking toward the distant silhouette of Alubarna. With every beat of his powerful legs, hope surged in Vivi's chest. Almost there. Almost to Kohza. Almost to stop this war—
THOOM. THOOM. THOOM.
The ground began to vibrate. Then tremble. Then shake.
Over the eastern dunes, a dark line appeared on the horizon. It thickened, widened, became a tidal wave of humanity—over two million rebels marching, their collective footsteps making the desert itself shudder.
Alubarna's battlements came into view. Cannons lined the walls, their barrels trembling as the vibration grew seismic.
Vivi's breath caught. "That's… the rebel army."
Carue skidded to a halt at the city's outer edge, just as the first ranks of rebels crested the final dune. At their front, a familiar figure raised a sword—Kohza, her childhood friend, now her kingdom's executioner.
Their eyes met across the charging horde.
I made it, Vivi thought, hope exploding in her chest. I can stop this—
"Looking for someone, little princess?"
The voice came from directly behind her, smooth as oil and cold as a tomb.
Vivi froze. Carue let out a panicked squawk.
Slowly, she turned.
Standing casually in the sand, as if he'd been there all along, was Mr. 1—Daz Bones. And beside him, materializing from swirling sand, Miss Doublefinger smiled with razor-sharp teeth.
"The decoys were a clever trick," Mr. 1 said, his arms shifting into gleaming blades. "But you made one mistake."
Miss Doublefinger finished, her fingers elongating into deadly spikes: "You forgot—we only ever needed to catch you."
The rebel war cry became a deafening roar as two million men charged toward Alubarna.
And Vivi stood trapped between the army and the assassins, with no Straw Hat in sight.
End of Chapter
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