"Leader!"
"Koza!"
"Damn pirates!"
Seeing Koza captured, the surrounding rebel soldiers immediately panicked, gritting their teeth and glaring furiously at them.
"Don't make any sudden moves. If you don't want him to die, step back."
Sham's tone was icy. His claws gleamed with a cold light as they pressed against Koza's face, and his tail tightened slightly, choking the rebel leader until his face turned red.
Seeing this, the rebel army didn't dare to act rashly and quickly halted their advance.
"Good job, Sham."
"Gin, is that the cargo that was stolen from us?"
Allen and the others jumped up, immediately spotting the batch of ammunition stored inside the room.
Gin stepped forward to inspect it, then turned back and replied,
"That's right, this is it."
"Pirates, what exactly are you trying to do?!"
From among the rebels, the tall Kebi stepped forward in anger.
The corners of Allen's mouth curled up into a smile. "Do you even need to ask? We're here to get our things back, and to make you pay a little price while we're at it."
"We haven't touched the goods! We'll return everything to you. Just let Koza go, and I'll let you leave safely!" Kebi shouted loudly.
Allen didn't bother wasting words with him, stating bluntly, "Five camels and two carts. If I don't see them in three minutes, you'd better prepare five coffins."
"Boss, why five coffins?" Buchi asked in confusion.
Allen pointed at himself and chuckled, "One for each of you, perfectly counted. I can escape on my own anyway."
Sanji was speechless.
'I knew I shouldn't have come.'
...
As the irreplaceable leader of the rebel army, Koza's life was undoubtedly of utmost importance.
With the final battle imminent, any mishap at this crucial moment was something they simply could not afford. Kebi quickly ordered his men to prepare the camels Allen demanded.
Thinking back on it now, robbing that batch of weapons filled him with absolute regret.
Kebi fixed his gaze on Allen. "Release Koza once you're out of town, and we promise not to pursue you."
"Cut the crap. Who would believe your promises? We'll naturally let him go once we're safe."
"We can't trust the promises of pirates either. What if you don't release him?" Kebi's eyes were piercing.
"We don't want to face the retaliation of hundreds of thousands of rebels either. Taking his life does us no good, but if he dies, it'll be a huge problem for you, won't it?"
Sanji stepped forward and said calmly, "You don't have a choice. At worst, we all go down together. I can escape on my own anyway."
Gin chimed in, "I should be fine too."
The Nyaban Brothers rolled their eyes hard and yelled angrily, "Then you three should have just come by yourselves! Are we destined to die today or what?!"
"Ahem, don't sweat the small stuff. Load the goods and let's go."
Allen hopped onto the camel cart.
Soon, under the murderous glares of the rebel soldiers who looked ready to eat them alive, the group left Katorea with the ammunition and Koza.
The rebels sent a few men to tail them, but Allen didn't care. The entirety of Alabasta was crawling with rebel informants; it was impossible to avoid them completely anyway.
Outside the town, behind a giant cactus in the desert, an orange-haired head carefully peeked out.
"Everyone is accounted for, and they aren't being hunted down by the rebel army. Good, safety confirmed."
Nami breathed a sigh of relief and rode her camel out from behind the cactus.
By the time the group returned to the ship, the sun was slowly sinking below the horizon.
...
Night gradually fell.
Alabasta's only city unaffected by the drought and civil war, the city of dreams [Rainbase], was brightly lit.
A massive crocodile statue rested atop a pyramid-shaped building, quietly overlooking the entire city. Inside the Rain Dinners casino, it was a scene of intoxicating luxury and extravagance.
Inside a massive underground room.
"The spies planted within the rebel army have sent a report. A pirate crew attacked their headquarters, and their leader, Koza, has been abducted by them."
Dressed in a sexy white cowgirl outfit, Nico Robin walked up to the long stone table. Her eyes, hidden beneath the brim of her hat, were calm and profound.
"Word is that someone hijacked their munitions, resulting in this retaliation."
"Those fools. To think they'd mess up at a critical juncture like this."
Sitting at the head of the long table, Sir Crocodile instinctively bit down hard on the cigar in the corner of his mouth, his face clouded with gloom.
"Have you found out their identities?"
"It's the Demon Lion Pirates. They burned down our base in Mushroom Town at the entrance to the Grand Line a while ago, and they landed in Alabasta today."
Robin replied calmly, simultaneously tossing three bounty posters onto the table.
"...Demon Lion Allen. I've heard that name."
Crocodile stared coldly at the photos on the bounty posters, his voice deep.
"Didn't they just clash with Drake on Holiday Island a few days ago? Why are they here now?"
"I'm not sure. Perhaps something happened that caused them to change their course."
"Forget it, none of that matters. What's important right now is the rebel army and Koza."
Smoke swirled upwards as Crocodile's eyes turned sinister.
He had meticulously laid out his plans for years, and just as he was about to close the net, Koza—the spark meant to ignite the war—had met with an accident.
Now the rebel army was leaderless, and their attention had been drawn to the pirates. If he didn't find a way to correct this, the war would likely be delayed even further.
The empty hall fell silent.
After a long while, Crocodile looked at Robin and asked in a deep voice, "What's the situation with Mr. 2, who was sent to eliminate the Straw Hat crew?"
"He missed the Straw Hat crew and is currently on his way back. He should arrive by tomorrow morning," Robin replied, her tone completely flat.
Crocodile pondered for a moment before the corners of his mouth curled into a cold smirk.
"Have the spies spread a rumor. Tell them those pirates were hired by Nefertari Cobra to assassinate Koza. First, we need to shift the rebel army's focus back to the Royal Army."
"Then, send a secret order to Mr. 2. As soon as he arrives tomorrow, have him disguise himself as Koza, who narrowly escaped death, and head to Katorea. He will take command of the rebel army and prepare for war."
"As for Koza and that pirate crew..."
His golden hook gleamed with a cold light. A trace of icy killing intent flashed in Crocodile's eyes as he spoke in a low voice,
"Assemble the Officer Agents. Wipe them all out before tomorrow."
"...Understood."
Robin hesitated for a second before responding with a calm gaze.
Soon, the empty hall descended into silence once again.
...
The Royal Palace in the capital, Alubarna.
"King Cobra! Now that Koza has been taken hostage, the rebel army is without a leader. This is the perfect time for us to deploy our troops!"
"That's right! Please give the order to deploy, Your Majesty. This is a rare opportunity to wipe out the rebel army."
In the grand hall, Pell and Chaka of the Royal Guards knelt on one knee, bowing their heads as they made their plea.
Atop the steps, Nefertari Cobra stood before the throne with his hands clasped behind his back, showing no reaction to their requests.
He had already received intelligence regarding the incident with the rebel army. If they were to go to war, now was indeed an excellent opportunity.
But setting aside the fact that the rebels were all citizens suffering from drought and starvation, more importantly, Cobra knew that the root of the current problem did not lie with the rebel army.
The Dance Powder incident, the destruction of the canals, the conspiracy rumors spreading throughout the cities—everything indicated that someone was secretly manipulating this war from the shadows.
If they didn't drag the mastermind out from behind the scenes, winning the war would only result in a meaningless waste of the citizens' and soldiers' lives.
At this thought, a look of deep sorrow crept onto Cobra's face once more.
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