After discussing the World Food Organization plan with Cobra in detail, that night Luffy quietly slipped into Vivi's room.
The girl was sitting near the window, carefully observing a map of Alabasta under the soft light of an oil lamp.
She had just finished bathing and wore only a white robe, leaving her delicate shoulders and sensual collarbone completely exposed.
When Luffy approached, he could still smell the faint fragrance coming from her.
"Luffy?"
Vivi flinched slightly, turned toward him, and complained in a pouty tone:
"Why do you walk around so quietly? You almost scared me to death!"
Luffy smiled, sat beside her, and asked:
"Looking at the map?"
"Yes. I want to create a permanent 'land of rain' in Alabasta and turn it into a massive national reservoir, so the country never has to worry about water shortages again."
Alabasta was an enormous country, covering an area of approximately one hundred and forty thousand square kilometers.
Additionally, the Sandora River divided the kingdom in half.
Of course, that river consisted mostly of seawater rather than freshwater.
Because of that, drought and water scarcity had always been severe problems for the kingdom.
"Wasn't there an oasis called Yuba that turned into a desert because of Crocodile? Why not restore that place first and create a miracle there?"
Luffy suggested.
In the original story, he had met an old man digging for water there and had even drunk the precious water belonging to the local residents.
"Yuba?"
Vivi's eyes immediately lit up.
"That used to be the biggest commercial center in western Alabasta! If the oasis is restored, it will definitely bring hope back to the people!"
"Restoring only the west isn't enough. The east needs it too. Cattleya used to be the rebel army's base, right? How's the situation there now?"
Luffy smiled again.
"There's still some instability... but you're right!" Vivi nodded excitedly. "If we turn Cattleya into a city of constant rainfall, then Alabasta will have two great water reserves, one in the west and one in the east! That will definitely make the kingdom prosper again!"
She quickly agreed, but then asked:
"But I need to discuss this with Father tomorrow. By the way... did you finish talking with him?"
Upon hearing that, Luffy revealed a mischievous smile and wrapped an arm around Vivi's waist.
"Your father practically encouraged me to have a child as soon as possible. After all, in the future you'll marry me and become the princess of my country. If you don't hurry up and give Cobra a grandchild, who's going to inherit the throne of Alabasta?"
Inheritance truly was a serious issue.
Vivi's face instantly turned bright red.
Her body gradually became warmer and more relaxed.
She lightly bit her lips while looking at Luffy with moist eyes.
"Actually... I've even been thinking about baby names recently..."
Luffy fell silent.
Father and daughter really are alike, huh???
He genuinely hadn't expected that from Vivi.
Luffy complained internally before picking the girl up in his arms and placing her onto the bed.
"Then let's start working hard right now."
"W-Wait! At least let's discuss the name first... Luffy!"
"That's fine. We can think about it while making one."
Two days later.
During that period, Vivi traveled several times between eastern and western Alabasta, using the powers of the Rain Fruit to transform Yuba and Cattleya into regions of permanent rainfall.
Of course, that didn't mean it would rain every single day of the year.
But the climate of both cities changed completely.
Clouds began gathering frequently above those regions, bringing steady rain and gradually restoring the ancient oases.
When Cobra announced the news throughout the kingdom, the entire country celebrated Princess Vivi's name.
In Alabasta, rain meant hope.
It was practically a miracle.
After resolving that issue, Luffy departed once more with the girls.
At the harbor, Cobra watched Vivi board the ship with an expression full of reluctance.
"Vivi... take care of your health."
"Father, you need to take care of yourself too!"
Under Cobra's emotional gaze, the Thousand Sunny crossed through space-time and returned to the New World.
When the ship exited the dimensional channel, what Nami and the others saw was not the familiar harbor of Elegia.
"Huh? Did the Sunny miss the coordinates?"
Nami immediately looked toward Luffy.
"Luffy, where are we?"
"In a certain sea region of the New World, not too far from Dressrosa. We're heading to the Kamabakka Kingdom now."
Luffy explained while handing a permanent Log Pose to Nami.
"Kamabakka Kingdom?"
Robin seemed surprised.
"I've heard of it. It's also known as 'Peach Island' and serves as the base of the Okama Kingdom... Luffy, what kind of place are you planning to take us to?"
She gave him a strange look.
Robin was clearly imagining something weird.
Luffy replied irritably:
"What are you thinking about? The king of that country, Emporio Ivankov, is a commander in the Revolutionary Army. That place currently serves as the Revolutionary Army's headquarters."
"Huh?!"
Uta's ears immediately perked up.
"We're going to meet Luffy's father?!"
During the battle at Whole Cake Island, she had been disappointed she didn't get to meet Dragon.
"Yeah, it's time to reunite with the Revolutionary Army. The final battle is approaching."
Luffy nodded with a smile.
Not long afterward, guided by the permanent Log Pose, the Thousand Sunny finally arrived at the peach-shaped island.
The entire island resembled a massive pink heart surrounded by the sea.
As soon as the Sunny approached, it was immediately detected by Revolutionary Army lookouts.
The One Piece ship had already become far too famous.
Even without looking at the flag, simply seeing the Sunny was enough to recognize it instantly.
Because of that, the news was quickly sent to higher-ups.
By the time Luffy and the others docked, the island's ruler, Emporio Ivankov, was already leading a large group of okamas to welcome them at the harbor.
"What a rare visitor! I never imagined that One Piece himself would come to this island! Straw Hat boy! Your father, Dragon, has already been waiting for you, hee-haw!"
Seeing Ivankov's enormous head in front of him, Luffy still couldn't fully get used to it.
"Long time no see, Ivankov."
Luffy greeted him.
The last time they had met was during the Marineford War.
At that time, Kuma had asked him to pass information to Dragon through Luffy.
"It's been a while since I've seen you."
Ivankov looked behind Luffy, observing the women disembarking one after another.
He immediately grinned.
"Girls, welcome to the Kamabakka Hip-Hop Kingdom!"
Afterward, the okamas immediately began joking among themselves.
"Ahh, Lord Luffy, the Pirate King really is as romantic as the rumors say! Always surrounded by so many beauties!"
"Hey, Lord Luffy, what do you think of me? It would be my pleasure to share a drink with you!"
"Don't tease Lord Luffy, Jawbell! Just look at yourself! Anyone worthy of drinking with the great Pirate King needs perfect hips and a perfect chin!"
The women immediately developed dark lines on their faces.
Luffy laughed and replied:
"We can drink later. First, I want to meet my father."
"Come on, I'll take you to him!"
Ivankov made an exaggerated gesture and immediately led everyone toward the kingdom.
Along the way, Robin curiously asked Inazuma:
"So the Revolutionary Army's former headquarters, Baltigo, really was destroyed by the Holy Knights?"
"Yes."
Robin nodded in understanding.
Not long afterward, everyone arrived at the palace, an enormous castle completely decorated in pink.
Under the peach trees outside, a huge outdoor banquet had already been prepared.
There, Luffy finally met his father, Monkey D. Dragon, as well as Sabo.
And also Koala, whom he had already met before.
"Hey, Luffy."
Koala smiled as she greeted him.
"We meet again. You finally came."
"Good afternoon."
Luffy nodded before sweeping his gaze across the Revolutionary Army members, quickly pausing on several unfamiliar faces.
One of them was a beautiful woman with short purple hair.
She removed her red glasses while keeping an unlit cigarette between her lips and said:
"I'm Belo Betty, commander of the Revolutionary Army's Eastern Army. My bounty is 457 million berries. This is my assistant, vice commander Ahiru. Nice to meet you, Luffy."
The two already seemed to have a very good impression of him, greeting him quite warmly.
"Nice to meet you too."
Luffy then looked toward the others.
Lindbergh, commander of the Southern Army, was an inventor mink with a bounty of 316 million berries.
His vice commander was Jiron, an obese man with a strange appearance.
Morley, commander of the Western Army, was a giant over twelve meters tall. He had been imprisoned in Impel Down over a hundred years ago but escaped by using the powers of the Oshi Oshi no Mi to dig a tunnel without anyone noticing. His bounty was 293 million berries.
His vice commander, Ushiano, was a mink with horns and an extremely long neck.
Karasu, commander of the Northern Army, was the man covered in black shadows. With a serious expression, he possessed a bounty of 400 million berries.
His vice commander was Gambo, a man wearing earmuffs and glasses.
In addition to the four armies of east, west, south, and north, Ivankov also acted as commander of the Grand Line Army, while Inazuma served as his vice commander.
There were also numerous other revolutionary officers, including fish-men.
After everyone finished introducing themselves, Koala smiled and commented:
"Don't mind Karasu's serious expression. He's actually your fan, Luffy."
"Really?"
Luffy gave Karasu a surprised look.
His Observation Haki could vaguely sense the opponent's strength. Despite having "only" a 400 million berry bounty, Karasu was extremely powerful.
If he wasn't mistaken, he seemed to possess some kind of soot-related Logia ability.
Definitely one of the most troublesome fighters in the Revolutionary Army.
"Luffy."
At that moment, Sabo smiled and asked:
"So you finally became the Pirate King. Our childhood dream came true. How does it feel now?"
"Don't even ask..."
Luffy rolled his eyes, then looked toward Dragon after sitting down.
"Dad, I came here this time because I need the Revolutionary Army's help."
Dragon showed surprise.
"Go ahead."
"It's about bringing down the World Government... and creating an organization responsible for global food distribution."
Luffy then briefly explained his idea.
At the end, he concluded:
"Simply put, all participating countries will be able to sell their agricultural surplus to the organization. At the same time, the organization will also sell food to countries in need at appropriate prices."
"Any country can face a bad year or a disaster."
"When that happens, they'll be able to buy enough food to survive the crisis."
"Of course, while enjoying those benefits, participating countries will also have equivalent responsibilities."
There were countless implications behind that plan.
But Luffy explained only the positive side to Dragon.
Compared to the World Government's financial exploitation model and the Heavenly Tribute, the system he wanted to create was far more efficient.
After hearing everything, Dragon stared deeply at his son.
He wasn't an idiot.
Of course he perfectly understood the hidden meaning behind that seemingly benevolent plan.
Luffy wasn't doing charity.
He intended to monopolize the global right to food distribution.
Some countries produced too much food.
Others were devastated by wars, revolutions, or pirate attacks, leaving their populations on the verge of starvation.
Nobody conducted large-scale food transportation across the Grand Line.
Because it simply wasn't safe.
The only entity capable of doing that was the World Government itself.
But the Celestial Dragons would never do something like that.
Redistribute food?
What a joke.
In their logic, countries existed only to provide Heavenly Tribute.
After a long silence, Dragon finally smiled.
"I understand. This really could bring peace to the world."
Then he continued:
"Luffy, you want the Revolutionary Army to help spread this proposal among countries that have undergone revolutions?"
"Exactly."
"And participation won't be mandatory?"
"No. Joining or leaving will be completely optional."
Luffy smiled calmly.
Mandatory?
There was no need.
If they wanted to join, they could join.
If they didn't want to, fine.
But when a crisis arrived and the country desperately needed food, would they be able to buy enough on the international market by themselves?
And even if they bought it... would they be able to transport it safely?
The question would never be "whether to participate or not."
Because in the future, countries outside the system wouldn't even have easy access to the global food trade.
What Luffy needed was a monopoly.
And he inevitably needed it.
In the future, there would only be one true global super food merchant.
He would control most of the world's food circulation, in addition to possessing the best transportation, storage, and distribution systems.
Once he reached sufficient scale, he could control the entire world through food.
Compared to the brutal Heavenly Tribute system, at least this seemed far more acceptable.
This was food supremacy.
(End of Chapter)