Four hours.
Chouchou was burning through his demonic power, flying at super high speed while blasting giant trenches in the sand with his roar.
Zoro and Sanji were in charge of drawing giant arrows at the end of each trench.
(Of course, Zoro immediately drew the first arrow pointing south instead of north, forcing Sanji to drag him back and fix it.)
By now, Chouchou was steaming like he was in Gear Second, but he'd found the last pit of the rebels.
"ROAR!" He let out one last, massive shockwave, carving a 0.5-kilometer trench.
Nami just shook her head.
"Chouchou, that's not long enough! Think of Ray! You can't say you can't do it!"
The demon's whisper hit him again.
Chouchou raised his head and roared, squeezing out the last drops of demonic power from his... kidneys and bladder... and extended the trench another 500 meters by, uh, flying and relieving himself.
Zoro and Sanji, covering their noses, jumped to the end and quickly drew the final arrow.
With the task finally done, Chouchou collapsed onto the sand like a dead dog, barely able to hold his giant form.
Just then, the demon's whisper returned.
"Chouchou," Nami said sweetly, "your performance has greatly disappointed Ray. You have one hour to reach the capital, Alubarna. It's 200 kilometers away! Are you really this weak? 'Lord Dog Demon'? Hehe~"
Chouchou, on the verge of death, forced himself to stand.
He couldn't let his master down.
'ROAR!' If he couldn't fly, he'd run.
'Charge, Dog Demon Chouchou! I am the best!' He started running for his life, all to satisfy that woman.
Zoro, riding on his back, looked on with pity.
He glanced at Nami.
"I get why you're doing this," he grumbled, "but sooner or later... you'll die a miserable death."
Nami just snorted. "Maybe. But you promised to solve the rebel problem. If my plan fails, you'll break your promise. Are you a man who breaks his vows?"
Zoro's face turned uglier than if he'd just eaten Chouchou's shit.
Nami just smirked.
"Don't worry, he'll be fine. We have Ray. As long as he's not dead dead, he can be revived. Chopper! Get out the adrenaline! Give him a liter! We can't let his sacrifice be in vain!"
Nami looked like a ruthless boss pushing her employee to the brink of death.
Chopper and Vivi shivered.
But they could also see the genuine worry and guilt in Nami's eyes.
…
Two hours later, in an alley in Alubarna...
King Cobra followed 'Nami' into the shadows.
"You said you had news about my daughter, Vivi?"
'Nami' chuckled. "Yes. It's about Crocodile... and the Dance Powder."
Cobra's expression froze. "Crocodile? He's behind the drought?"
"Yes," 'Nami' said, pulling an envelope from her chest.
"The details are in this letter..."
As Cobra approached, her expression turned sinister.
The king was in grave danger!
…
Almost simultaneously, Chouchou, running on pure adrenaline and fumes, arrived at Alubarna.
He'd caught the scent of Cobra and, squeezing out his last drop of power, leaped into the air, flying right over the alley.
He saw 'Nami' about to attack the king.
Chopper, riding on his back, was shocked.
"Nami! What are you doing?! That's Vivi's father!"
(The others just looked at him like he was an idiot.)
They all instantly recognized the fake Nami as Mr. 2.
Sanji, seeing it was Nami's face, said he couldn't bring himself to attack.
So, he and Zoro did a combo: Sanji kicked Zoro downwards, accelerating his descent.
"Two-Sword Style: Blazing Lion Song!" Zoro's slash interrupted 'Nami's' attack.
'She' (Bon Clay) retreated, realizing the plan had failed.
After a brief clash, he leaped for a high wall to escape.
That was a mistake.
"Clima-Tact: Thunderbolt Tempo!"
"Special Attack: Explosive Star!"
Lightning and explosions hit him at the same time, reverting him to his original form.
Despite his skills, Bon Clay was outnumbered and quickly collapsed, foaming at the mouth.
He was then gifted Nami's "Asian bondage" and a scheduled lightning strike reward (the same treatment Gion and Hina got).
Chouchou, his mission complete, reverted to his small form and passed out cold.
"Chouchou-san flipped over!" Chopper panicked. "Doctor! Where's the... Oh, right. I am one."
…
Led by Cobra, the crew snuck into the palace.
Vivi explained everything.
Zoro and Sanji were impressed by the King's calm resolve.
Cobra immediately ordered 100,000 troops, led by Pell, to follow the coordinates (which he'd get from the Marines he was about to call) to rescue the rebels.
He overruled his guards' protests, insisting the people were the future of Alubasta.
He also agreed to go to the "peace talks" himself as part of their new plan.
With the plan set, Nami had the revived (but barely) Chouchou contact Ray with a new request.
…
Out in the desert...
Ray, Luffy, and the "tools" were tailing Crocodile and Robin from 10km away.
Ray got the message.
"Master," Chouchou's voice came through, "delay Crocodile. The female devil says we have to minimize the chance of him sensing the rescue operation."
Ray understood.
He looked at Luffy. "Luffy... can you defeat Crocodile now?"
Luffy's excitement exploded. "Yes! I can't wait! Are you flying me there?"
Ray shook his head and pulled Luffy in front of him with his whip.
Then, he lifted one leg.
"Don't worry," he said, "I won't use Haki."
He delivered a beautiful side kick, square on Luffy's rubber butt.
The force flattened Luffy into a pancake before launching him like a graceful arc through the sky, straight towards Crocodile's location.
"AHHHHHHHHHH~!"
…
Several seconds later...
Crocodile and Robin, riding their giant desert turtle, heard an angry roar approaching fast.
"CROCODILE! I'M GOING TO BEAT YOU UP!"