Less than half an hour later—
Alubarna, the royal capital of Alabasta.
Inside the palace.
"Lord Igaram, Lord Pell, the giant dragon that took His Majesty away this morning has returned."
Igaram and Pell's expressions changed immediately.
"Where is it now?"
"It's still in the sky, but it'll be here soon."
"Did you see the king?"
"Sorry, but it was getting dark, and it was too far away, so we couldn't make it out clearly."
"Understood. Lead the way. We're going over there at once."
"Yes, sir."
But when they reached the city wall, what they saw left them utterly shocked.
The crimson dragon was moving at incredible speed, drawing nearer and nearer.
"What is that?"
"It looks like... a cage?"
No one could make sense of it.
Kane slowly descended, and only then did the people below finally see its true appearance clearly.
Bang!
The cage slammed heavily into the ground.
Igaram and Pell looked over.
Inside the cage were both men and women, but they all shared one thing in common—they were gravely injured.
The two of them were puzzled at first, but when they spotted one familiar figure among them, both froze in disbelief.
Because that person was Crocodile.
Even if they did not recognize the other officers, there was no way they could ever forget Crocodile, the so-called hero.
"Crocodile?!"
Shock filled both their eyes.
When Cobra had left that morning, he had only told them he was going to deal with the rebels. Though he had mentioned that it had something to do with Crocodile, they had never imagined that within the span of a single day, the Marine Vice Admiral before them would have directly captured Crocodile and brought him back.
This was one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea!
Crocodile was extremely displeased by the way they were staring at him like he was some animal in a cage.
But in his current state, he no longer had the slightest strength left to resist.
So he simply closed his eyes.
After the initial shock, Igaram and Pell quickly noticed another problem.
Kane had brought Crocodile and the others back, but Cobra was nowhere to be seen.
At this moment, Kane had already returned to human form.
Seeing how obedient the Baroque Works members were, he was fairly satisfied.
"Vice Admiral, may I ask where His Majesty is?" Igaram immediately asked.
"Him? He's probably on his way back right now. He should arrive by tomorrow morning."
Both their expressions changed again.
"Please explain clearly, Vice Admiral!"
"Cobra is with the rebels at the moment. They're on the move, and he should be back tomorrow."
"What? Why would His Majesty be among the rebels?!"
Both men went pale.
"Relax. He stayed behind of his own accord. He'll be back tomorrow morning. As for the exact reason, Cobra can explain it to you himself when he returns."
"But—"
"No buts. Are you done yet? How annoying," Kane said impatiently.
Both men were instantly cowed by the pressure Kane gave off.
"I already said he's fine, which means he's fine. This old man is a man of his word. Oh, right, what about the money Cobra told you to prepare?"
Both men were momentarily stunned.
Then they subconsciously replied, "It's all ready."
Only then did Kane reveal a satisfied smile.
"Not bad."
The two found it rather strange, but they did not think too deeply about it.
"Vice Admiral, these people are...?"
"All the officers of Baroque Works. They're the ones who brought disaster upon your kingdom."
Igaram and Pell both looked horrified.
"How is that possible?"
"You're questioning this old man?"
"No, that's not what I mean. It's just that this is too shocking," Pell said.
But after speaking, anger appeared on both their faces.
They hated Crocodile so much they wanted to devour him alive.
"Crocodile, why did you do this?" Igaram demanded furiously.
At those words, Crocodile finally opened his eyes.
Then he revealed a look of disdain.
He could not even be bothered to answer Igaram's question.
"Little crocodile, tone down that look in your eyes. It makes me uncomfortable," Kane said in displeasure.
Crocodile's body shook, and then he immediately closed his eyes again.
After several rounds of this, he had already learned that clashing with Kane brought no benefit at all. It would only earn him even greater humiliation.
That old Marine was a madman.
A monstrously powerful madman.
Seeing him behave, Kane nodded in satisfaction.
Then he looked toward the two ministers.
"All right. I've been busy all day, and this old man needs some rest. You'll know the full story tomorrow."
Igaram and Pell turned to look at Kane, the anger on their faces turning into confusion.
But Kane clearly had no intention of saying more.
So they arranged for someone to lead him away to rest.
After Kane left, the two men exchanged a glance.
Both could see helplessness and shock in each other's eyes.
What had happened today had simply gone far beyond anything they had expected.
"This won't do, Igaram. Even though Vice Admiral Kane said that, I still can't rest easy," Pell said directly.
In truth, he had wanted to follow along since that morning, but Cobra had refused to let him.
"What are you planning to do?" Igaram asked.
"From what Vice Admiral Kane said, His Majesty and the others have already departed from Yuba. If I set out right now, I should be able to meet them before long. I need to confirm His Majesty's safety."
Igaram nodded at once. In truth, he had been thinking the same thing.
Even though Kane had given his assurance, they still could not set their minds at ease.
"All right, then we'll do that. I'll handle everything in the palace. Maybe by tomorrow, this kingdom will return to normal."
Excitement also appeared on Pell's face.
He immediately used his Devil Fruit power to transform into his falcon form. With a beat of his wings, he shot into the sky and quickly disappeared.
On Kane's third day in Alabasta—
As Cobra and Koza publicly revealed Crocodile's conspiracy to the people, a piece of news that shocked the world spread at astonishing speed.
Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, had been stripped of his title by the World Government.
The reason given was that he had violated the rules governing the Seven Warlords of the Sea. But as for what Crocodile had actually done, it was glossed over with a single stroke.
Instead, the report heavily emphasized that Marine Vice Admiral Kane had discovered the conspiracy in advance and crushed Crocodile's scheme directly, preventing any major unrest from breaking out at all.
"Heh. Same old style. But they moved fast this time. Is it because they want to bury the matter as quickly as possible?" Kane said as he looked at the newspaper in his hand.
Then he stopped caring about it.
"All right, Cobra. It's time to take me to the Poneglyph. That's what we agreed on before."
Cobra's expression was not a pleasant one.
Although what the newspaper said was basically true, in his eyes it was nothing but making light of what mattered most.
The suffering their kingdom had endured for the past three years had been brushed aside in a single line, and that left him deeply dissatisfied.
"Vice Admiral Kane, a system like the Seven Warlords of the Sea should never have existed," Cobra said directly.
"Mhm. This old man thinks so too."
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