After resolving the Buster Call incident and reaching a hostage exchange agreement with Sakazuki, Luffy brought Monet back to Elegia.
Once inside the castle, Luffy asked Monet to call Kalifa.
"Go inform Zephyr to contact Sakazuki and bring over the families of those marines."
"Yes!"
Kalifa perfectly understood what it meant to be a subordinate and worked faithfully as a secretary.
"How are the city repairs going? With so many people coming here, were they able to calm down?"
"The organization is proceeding smoothly. If it's only ten thousand families, there won't be any problems."
Kalifa answered seriously.
Seeing her so stern behind those glasses, Luffy couldn't help but smile.
"Why are you so stiff? Are you trying to work hard to earn your heart back?"
"Mr. Luffy, is this sexual harassment?" Kalifa replied expressionlessly. "You already have many women, and every single one of them is better than me. Please don't waste your time on me."
Luffy was speechless.
He had only been joking casually, yet he somehow always ended up being misunderstood by his subordinates.
Tch.
He was very dissatisfied with that.
Originally, he hadn't even had those kinds of intentions, but after hearing Kalifa say that, he suddenly felt like teasing her even more.
However, considering the current situation, this obviously wasn't the time for jokes.
It would be better to talk about it after dealing with the World Government.
"When the Celestial Dragons' government falls, I'll return your hearts."
After thinking for a moment, Luffy agreed.
Upon hearing that, Kalifa's expression finally changed. A flash of joy passed through her eyes, although her voice remained calm.
"Thank you for your generosity."
"Go inform Zephyr."
"Yes."
With that promise, Kalifa became even more motivated to work and immediately left the castle.
Shortly afterward, Luffy went to find Vivi.
Inside the castle's music room, a group of girls were listening to Uta play the piano.
"How is it?"
When Luffy entered, Uta had just finished a song and immediately wanted to hear everyone's opinion.
"So you're planning to use this kind of music against those people and against Imu?" Robin rested her cheek on one hand and smiled elegantly. "What are you going to call it?"
"Hmm... I haven't thought of a name yet. What would be good...? Ah, Luffy, let's think of one together!"
Uta's eyes lit up the moment she saw him enter.
"I wrote a new song! I want to perform it during the final battle!"
The Little Diva was an even more terrifying force than an Ancient Weapon.
A true trump card.
The key capable of determining the final victory.
Her only flaw was that her ability worked best the very first time it was used.
That was why Luffy had been hiding Uta's powers until now, preventing the World Government from discovering them.
Only at the decisive moment would he reveal this hidden ace.
"How about calling it 'Final Battle'?" Luffy suggested with a grin. "But we can decide the name later. First, let's head to Alabasta. You've never been there before, right? Want to come along?"
"I do! I do!"
Uta raised her hand excitedly.
Vivi also smiled brightly.
"Let's all go together!"
No one objected.
Afterward, Luffy brought everyone aboard the Sunny and instantly headed toward the first half of the Grand Line.
When they arrived at the palace, his father-in-law, Cobra, welcomed them warmly.
"Father!"
Reuniting with her father after several months, Vivi couldn't hold back her emotional tears.
The time itself hadn't actually been that long, but the adventure had felt like years.
"Vivi... you've grown."
Cobra smiled as he gently patted his daughter's head.
She looked more and more like her mother and had already become an exceptional princess.
"Your Highness Vivi!"
"Princess Vivi!"
Igaram and the others also came forward one after another to greet her.
"Luffy."
Cobra turned toward Luffy and gestured invitingly.
"I figured you would come, so I prepared a banquet in advance. Please, come in."
He remained extremely satisfied with his son-in-law.
Soon, everyone headed toward the banquet hall.
Come to think of it, this was already the third banquet Luffy had attended that same day.
It all began in Elegia, when he announced the dissolution of the Straw Hat Pirates.
Then there was the banquet in Dressrosa after receiving the Riku family.
And now he was being welcomed by his father-in-law in Alabasta.
This is way too exhausting...
Luffy complained internally while taking his seat.
Vivi, however, didn't sit down immediately. Instead, she hurriedly spoke:
"Father, I'm now the user of the Rain Fruit, and I can control the weather!"
"The Rain Fruit?"
Cobra was shocked the moment he heard that.
Just from the name alone, its significance was obvious.
As a desert country, Alabasta suffered from water shortages year-round. Even after Crocodile's defeat, although the situation had improved significantly, the lack of rainfall remained an unavoidable issue.
"Luffy prepared this especially for me."
Vivi looked at Luffy affectionately and spoke to her father as though asking for praise.
"I'm going to transform this country! From now on, Alabasta will never suffer from water shortages again!"
Luffy simply smiled without saying anything.
"Especially"... not exactly.
It just so happened that the Adventure Shop had generated that fruit at the time.
Even so, he truly had intended to give it to Vivi.
If she coordinated with Nami and the Thunder Fruit, the two together would be capable of unleashing terrifying destructive power.
Hearing that, Cobra stood stunned for several seconds before sighing emotionally.
"Thank you, Luffy. You really thought of everything."
"It was nothing."
Cobra laughed again.
"No more formalities. Let's eat first!"
---xXx---
"Nico Robin, Nami, Kaya... who are the others?"
It had been a long time since Cobra last saw those girls, but now there were even more women around Luffy.
This boy is excellent in every way, but he's far too carefree...
Cobra himself had been a devoted man. The only woman in his life had been Vivi's mother.
Of course, as a king, he wouldn't judge Luffy for that. The issue was that his own daughter was part of that group, which naturally gave him a headache.
That was something Vivi would have to face in the future.
"That's Perona, this is Uta, the number one singer in the world, that's Yamato, Kaido's daughter, and this is... well, the mermaid princess Shirahoshi."
Luffy immediately began introducing everyone to Cobra.
Looking at the old king's expression, he instantly realized Cobra had completely misunderstood things.
In truth, aside from Uta, he still hadn't done anything with the other three.
"Hi, Vivi's dad! I'm Uta!"
The Little Diva was extremely sociable and greeted him cheerfully.
Afterward, the other three greeted him one after another as well.
Dinner ended in a very pleasant atmosphere.
After the banquet, Cobra called Luffy alone into his office.
He pulled a letter hidden inside a book on the shelf and handed it to Luffy.
"This is a relic left behind by Queen Lily, ancestor of the Nefertari family."
Luffy took the letter and began reading it seriously.
The characters were ancient, but he could understand them.
The contents explained several things to the family's descendants.
No... more precisely, not to Lily's direct descendants.
Because Lily never had children.
The letter was addressed to her younger brother and his descendants.
Within it, Lily ordered that the Poneglyph hidden deep within the royal mausoleum be protected forever, turning it into an ancestral commandment of the family.
In addition, the letter mentioned certain things about the future.
She clearly stated that after eight hundred years, the world would undergo another great upheaval.
When that moment arrived, she hoped the future Nefertari family would choose to stand on the correct side of history.
The final line of the letter read:
"I made mistakes in the past, and I will atone for them!"
Luffy remained silent for several moments before returning the letter to Cobra.
Then he heard the king ask:
"The Void Century... I read everything in the newspaper, Luffy. Is it true?"
"Morgans exaggerated some parts, but overall, yes. It's true."
Cobra's gaze darkened.
"I see... so we truly were responsible for bringing such a massive disaster upon the world. In fact, when I heard about Vivi's Rain Fruit, it felt almost like destiny."
"Hmm?"
"Queen Lily was also a Devil Fruit user back then. Her fruit was the Rain Fruit."
Even Luffy was surprised by that revelation.
Cobra continued:
"The Rain Fruit reincarnated over the course of eight hundred years and eventually found its way to Vivi. That must also be destiny's guidance. Don't worry, Luffy. This time, the Nefertari family will stand on the correct side of history."
Luffy fell silent for a moment.
Vivi's Rain Fruit had come from the Adventure System.
Which meant another Rain Fruit likely still existed somewhere in the world.
But he had never heard anything about it.
Either it remained hidden somewhere unknown...
Or...
"Cobra, based on the letter, Queen Lily seemed to know exactly what would happen eight hundred years in the future. Did she possess some sort of future-seeing ability?"
"I have no idea."
Luffy fell into thought.
Could Lily have traveled through time into that era?
Or perhaps she was still alive, just like Imu?
Either way, traveling eight hundred years through time wasn't impossible.
The former princess of Wano, Kozuki Toki, had herself been someone from eight hundred years ago.
So the existence of another person like that wouldn't be absurd.
Besides, someone had clearly instructed Toki to do that.
The user of the Time Fruit, an extremely dangerous Paramecia.
After Toki's death, nobody knew where the fruit had reincarnated.
If possible, it would be better to find it quickly.
Luffy pushed those thoughts aside and changed the subject.
"Actually, I came here to ask for your help."
"There's no need for formalities, Luffy." Cobra smiled. "No matter what you want to do, I'll support you."
"It's about creating a new country..."
Luffy then explained in detail the dissolution of the Straw Hat Pirates and his future plans.
After hearing everything, Cobra remained silent for several seconds.
"You intend to announce the birth of a new nation to the world as soon as the World Government falls?"
"Exactly."
"And you don't intend to maintain the affiliated nations system?"
"No. I'm changing everything. The current system only exists so the World Government can extort tribute from countries and sustain its enormous structure. I won't follow that model."
Luffy shook his head.
The World Government depended entirely on the tribute system.
Every year, absurd amounts of money were collected.
And under that system, countless pirates inevitably emerged.
"After defeating Imu, the first thing I want to do is establish a World Food Organization."
People cannot survive without food.
When people starve, conflict inevitably appears. Many end up going out to sea and becoming pirates.
A food organization would serve to redistribute resources across the entire world.
Of course, that would be incredibly complicated.
It was the same as in his previous world.
Global food production was sufficient to feed the entire population, yet millions still starved every year.
What Luffy could do was try to control distribution country by country.
In short, there were only two things he needed to control first:
Food and weapons.
And the "weapons" mainly referred to Devil Fruits.
"I see..." Cobra slowly nodded. "Luffy, you truly can see farther ahead than the World Government."
Afterward, he declared firmly:
"I'll send people to assist you. Just continue moving forward with your plans."
However, immediately afterward, he frowned again.
"Still... after the new kingdom is established, Vivi is going to get married eventually, right?"
He had no objections to his daughter's relationship.
As a father, he simply wished to support her choice.
The issue was something else.
"Alabasta cannot remain without an heir!"
Cobra grabbed Luffy by the shoulders and spoke seriously:
"You understand what I mean, don't you?"
Luffy fell silent.
This was practically direct encouragement for him to have a child with Vivi.
Even in another world, he still couldn't escape the pressure to produce heirs...
(End of Chapter)