The first light of dawn slowly spread across the Kingdom of Sand.
Rainbase had not yet awakened. The canals remained still beneath the pale morning sky, their surfaces reflecting rows of silent buildings draped in fading lanterns from the night before. Before long, merchants would reopen their shops, travelers would flood the streets once again, and Rain Dinners would welcome another day of laughter, fortune, and carefully crafted illusions.
For now...
The city simply waited.
Several kilometers away, overlooking Rainbase from a line of weathered sandstone cliffs, the ART Pirates had chosen a vantage point where nearly every road leading into the city remained within sight.
Arthur stood near the edge of the ridge with his arms folded across his chest. His gaze rested on the sprawling oasis below, calm and unwavering, as though he had been watching the same scene for hours.
Around him, however, the atmosphere couldn't have been more different.
Sugar lay comfortably atop a smooth boulder, idly swinging her legs while peering through the brass telescope mounted beside her long sniper rifle.
"...Nothing."
She adjusted the focus.
"Still nothing."
A few meters away, Bepo slept soundly beneath the shade of a rocky overhang, his gentle snores drifting through the morning air.
Law leaned against the same rock with a thick medical journal open across his lap.
Or at least...
That had been Law's original intention.
Instead, Bepo's fluffy stomach had somehow become his pillow.
Robin glanced up from the ancient history book resting in her hands before smiling faintly.
"I don't think that's what bears are for."
"They're comfortable."
Law calmly turned another page without the slightest hint of embarrassment.
"They're warm, too."
"I appreciate the compliment..." Bepo mumbled in his sleep.
"...I'm sorry."
Robin quietly shook her head before returning to her book.
Not far away, Sugar sat cross-legged on a flat stone, carefully disassembling the barrel of her sniper rifle. Every movement remained slow and precise, each component cleaned before being placed neatly upon a folded cloth.
Nearby, Kuina dip a maintence oil along the edge of Wado Ichimonji.
Koala practiced flowing Fish-Man Karate forms in the open sand, her movements controlled enough to disturb only the thinnest layer of dust beneath her feet.
At the opposite end of the overlook, Hancock sat gracefully beneath a weathered acacia tree, enjoying a cup of freshly brewed tea while Baccarat lazily shuffled a deck of playing cards across a small travel table.
Monet, meanwhile, quietly reviewed the reports gathered throughout the previous day, occasionally marking several notes across a detailed map of Rainbase.
For a pirate crew whose combined bounties rivaled entire fleets...
The scene felt strangely peaceful.
"I'm bored." Sugar eventually lowered the telescope and sighed dramatically.
Nobody answered.
She tried again.
"I said..."
"...I'm bored."
Still nothing.
"We've been sitting on this cliff forever." Sugar puffed out her cheeks.
"Three days," Monet corrected without looking up.
"Exactly!"
Sugar threw both arms into the air.
"Three whole days!"
"We're pirates!"
"We're supposed to be fighting marine or World Goverment!"
"Blowing things up!"
"Doing something!"
"You've certainly been doing something." Baccarat smiled without lifting her eyes from the cards.
"What?"
"Complaining."
Even Hancock's lips curved into a faint smile.
Sugar groaned loudly before rolling onto her back.
"I liked it better when Admirals were chasing us."
"You complained then, too," Kuina replied while continuing to sharpen her sword.
"...Did I?"
"You said running was exhausting."
Sugar thought about it for a moment.
"...That sounds like me."
A quiet laugh spread across the ridge. Even Arthur smiled slightly. The peaceful moment lingered for another minute before a faint clicking sound broke the silence.
Click.
Monet lifted the miniature Den Den Mushi resting beside her notes.
The tiny snail blinked twice before speaking in the unmistakable voice of one of her surveillance agents hidden inside Rainbase.
"Miss Monet."
"What is it?"
"The Straw Hat Pirates have entered the city."
The relaxed atmosphere disappeared instantly.
Law closed his book.
Bepo opened one sleepy eye.
Kuina slid Wado Ichimonji back into its scabbard.
Koala lowered her stance.
Even Sugar immediately sat upright, reaching for her telescope without another complaint. And quickly reassembled her rifle.
"Where are they heading?" Arthur never took his eyes off Rainbase.
"Straight toward Rain Dinners." Monet nodded once.
"I understand."
Click.
The Den Den Mushi fell silent.
"They're right on schedule." Arthur looked toward the enormous golden dome rising above the city.
"I've got them." Sugar adjusted the telescope until the distant streets came into focus.
Tiny figures crossed one of the broad avenues leading directly toward the magnificent casino.
Even from this distance...
Luffy's carefree stride was impossible to mistake.
Arthur watched quietly for several moments before speaking.
"Everyone." Every member of the crew turned toward him.
"Our waiting..." He looked toward the glittering casino standing proudly at the heart of Rainbase.
"...ends here."
No one asked another question.
Without another word, every member of the ART Pirates silently prepared for the moment they had known was coming from the very beginning.
Far below...
Unaware that countless eyes were already following every step they took...
The Straw Hat Pirates crossed the entrance of Rain Dinners.
And the story Arthur had refused to change finally began moving once again.
...
The towering bronze doors of Rain Dinners slowly swung open.
Warm light spilled across the polished marble floor as Luffy strode inside without the slightest hesitation, followed by Vivi, Nami, Zoro, Usopp, Smoker, Tashigi, and the others.
Above them, an enormous glass dome bathed the casino in brilliant sunlight. Roulette wheels spun endlessly. Coins clinked across gaming tables. Elegant music drifted through the luxurious hall while wealthy guests laughed as though the kingdom beyond those walls had never known drought or war.
"It really is huge," Usopp muttered, turning in every direction.
"We're not here to sightsee," Nami reminded him.
Vivi's eyes swept across the magnificent interior.
"Be careful."
"Crocodile already knows we're coming."
Luffy simply grinned.
"Good."
"I'll beat him anyway."
...
Several kilometers away, Sugar adjusted the focus of her telescope.
"I can see inside."
"That far?" Robin glanced toward her.
"Captain made it." Sugar tapped the side of the specially crafted lens.
"It sees farther than normal telescopes."
Arthur remained silent. His attention never left the distant casino.
"Captain." Sugar continued watching.
"They're inside."
"Baby-5, your turn." Arthur turn his eyes to Baby-5.
"I'll go now."
Baby-5 vanished ready to following the Straw Hats entered Rain Dinners.
Using the power of her [Fairy Dust] from Mythical Zoan Butterfly-Butterfly Fruit Model: Fairy Queen and Logia Mist-Mist Fruit, her body dissolved into a thin veil of pale mist that drifted silently through the casino's countless corridors. Invisible to ordinary eyes, she followed the Straw Hats from above as they wandered deeper into the massive building.
...
Time passed.
Rain Dinners continued welcoming guests while, hidden beneath the laughter and music, Crocodile calmly welcomed his own visitors.
From video Den-Den Mushi in Baby-5 hands, the explanation unfolded almost exactly as Arthur expected.
Luffy charging recklessly ahead.
Vivi's growing unease.
Smoker's unexpected arrival.
The hidden passage closing behind them.
The iron cage crashing down.
Crocodile's mocking laughter echoing through the underground chamber.
Operation Utopia.
The civil war.
The drought.
The manipulation.
The rebellion.
Every piece of the kingdom's suffering had been carefully orchestrated over the years.
Then came the trap.
Steel gates crashed into place.
Massive iron cages descended from above.
Hidden passages sealed shut.
Water surged through underground channels while enormous Banana Gators stirred beneath the flooded chamber.
The Straw Hats had walked directly into the center of Baroque Works.
Exactly as Crocodile intended.
...
Baby-5 remained perfectly still wacthing Crocodile show off in front of Straw Hat.
Arthur's orders echoed clearly in her mind.
Observe.
Do not interfere unless death becomes certain.
Even when the giant Banana Gators emerged beneath the prison floor...
Even when the water trap slowly began filling the chamber...
She never moved.
Mist drifted silently through the ceiling before slipping outside the underground prison.
Moments later, the miniature Den Den Mushi hidden inside her sleeve quietly clicked to life.
"Captain."
Arthur answered immediately.
"I'm listening."
"They've been captured."
"Crocodile has begun his plan."
"And?"
Baby-5 continued calmly.
"The Straw Hat escaped."
"He's going to Alubarna to stop the civil war and Crocodile's plan."
A brief silence followed.
Arthur simply replied,
"Continue watching."
"Understood."
The tiny snail fell silent once again.
Baby-5 dissolved back into mist, quietly following Luffy through the hidden passages of Rain Dinners.
From beginning to end...
Not once did Crocodile realize another pair of eyes had been observing everything from only a few steps away.
...
Sugar never looked away from the telescope.
"They're here."
Arthur simply folded his arms.
"Straw Hat's moving."
"Crocodile's followed them."
Nobody spoke.
They already knew what happened next.
...
The Giant Sand Crab raced across the endless dunes with astonishing speed, its enormous legs gliding effortlessly over the scorching desert. Wind roared past the passengers as Alubarna slowly grew larger on the distant horizon.
No one spoke.
Every minute mattered now.
The rebellion had already begun.
If they failed to reach the capital before the fighting erupted...
Thousands would die.
"We have to hurry..." Vivi tightened her grip on the saddle.
Then—A sharp whistle sliced through the air.
SHHHHHK!
Something flashed beneath the sands.
A massive golden hook burst from the sand like a striking serpent, hurtling straight toward the Giant Sand Crab.
"Look out!" Usopp shouted.
The hook didn't aim for the crab.
It aimed directly at Vivi.
"Crocodile!" Vivi growled.
Luffy's eyes widened for only an instant.
Without thinking—
He leaped.
THUD!
He shoved Vivi sideways just as the golden hook reached her.
CLANG!
The hook wrapped around Luffy's waist instead.
"Luffy!"
Before anyone could react, the enormous force yanked him violently off the crab's back.
"Luffy!!"
The Giant Sand Crab never stopped running.
Luffy dangled behind it for only a heartbeat before the hook reeled him rapidly across the desert toward a distant figure standing alone atop a towering dune.
His black coat fluttered beneath the desert wind.
The golden hook slowly retracted.
Sir Crocodile.
"So you finally came." Luffy grinned.
"I was looking for the princess." Crocodile regarded him calmly.
"You'll do."
The crab continued racing toward Alubarna.
Vivi looked back desperately.
"Luffy!"
"We have to go back!"
She instinctively try to jumped.
Before anyone else could respond—
"No." Zoro's voice cut cleanly through the panic.
Everyone turned toward him.
"If we stop now..." His expression remained as calm as ever.
"...everything he's doing will be meaningless."
Vivi stared at him.
"But—"
"Luffy made his choice."
Zoro folded his arms.
"He chose to keep you moving."
Silence.
The wind howled around them.
Nami slowly lowered her eyes.
Usopp clenched his fists.
Even Chopper remained unusually quiet.
Zoro looked toward the shrinking figure of Luffy in the distance.
"If our captain says go..."
"...then we go."
Another long silence followed.
Finally...
Vivi bit her lip before turning back toward the capital.
"...All right."
The Giant Sand Crab surged forward once more, carrying them toward Alubarna as the sounds of battle gradually echoed across the desert.
Far behind them...
Luffy planted his sandals firmly upon the sand.
Across from him, Crocodile slowly removed his cigar.
Neither smiled.
Neither spoke.
The kingdom's fate continued racing toward the capital...
While, far behind it...
The first battle between the future Pirate King and the Hero of Alabasta was about to begin.
...
From a nearby ridge, Sabo instinctively took one step forward.
"...Captain."
"No." Arthur didn't even look at him.
Sabo stopped.
His eyes remained fixed on the young pirate standing alone before Crocodile.
"...I know."
Even so...
For reasons he couldn't explain...
Watching Straw Hat face that monster alone left an uncomfortable weight in his chest.
"...He's losing." Sugar frowned.
Arthur said nothing.
Minutes later—
"Luffy can't touch him." Robin quietly lowered her gaze.
"He still doesn't understand Logia."
"He will." Arthur's expression never changed.
...
The desert fell silent.
Only the wind moved between them, carrying grains of sand across the endless dunes.
Luffy lowered his stance.
Across from him, Crocodile calmly took another puff of his cigar.
"So..." Crocodile exhaled a cloud of smoke.
"You're ready to death"
"And I'm gonna kick your ass." Luffy cracked his knuckles.
"You pirates really are amusing." A faint smile appeared beneath Crocodile's cigar.
Without another word—
Luffy vanished.
"Gum-Gum Jet Pistol!"
His fist shot forward like a cannon.
It passed straight through Crocodile's chest.
"...Huh?"
Luffy's eyes widened.
The body before him dissolved into swirling sand.
The next instant—
WHOOSH!
A heavy kick slammed into Luffy's ribs.
BOOM!
His body skipped violently across the desert before crashing through several towering dunes.
"Cough!"
Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.
Luffy immediately forced himself back to his feet.
"Have you never fought a Logia before?" Crocodile slowly walked forward.
The surrounding sand began drifting upward around him.
"My body..."
"...is sand."
Thousands of grains spiraled around Crocodile like a living storm.
"So if punching doesn't work..." Luffy frowned.
"...I'll just punch harder!" He charged again.
"Gum-Gum Gatling!" A storm of punches erupted.
Dozens...
Hundreds of fists tore through the air. Every single one passed harmlessly through swirling sand. Crocodile didn't even bother moving.
When the barrage finally ended...
He stood exactly where he had been.
Untouched.
"...Just like smoke man." Luffy stared.
"You simply aren't strong enough." Crocodile slowly raised his golden hook.
Before Luffy could react—
SHHK!
The hook flashed. A deep slash tore across Luffy's shoulder. Blood sprayed across the sand. Luffy staggered backward, clutching the wound.
From far beyond the battlefield, Sabo silently watched through his binoculars.
Every exchange ended the same way.
Straw Hat attacked.
Crocodile answered.
The distance between them was overwhelming.
"...He's completely outmatched."
No one replied.
But Luffy refused to fall.
He charged again.
Again.
And again.
Every attack missed.
Every counterattack landed.
Minutes passed.
The outcome never changed.
Luffy's breathing became ragged.
His body was covered in cuts and bruises.
Crocodile looked almost bored.
"I'm... not done..." Luffy wiped the blood from his mouth.
"You are." Crocodile suddenly appeared directly in front of him.
His left hand shot forward.
It seized Luffy by the neck.
Instantly—
Luffy felt it.
His skin tightened.
His strength drained away.
Moisture.
His body was losing it.
"W-What..."
Crocodile watched him calmly.
"Everything eventually returns to sand."
Sabo's hand unconsciously tightened around the binoculars.
Cracks spread across the wooden frame beneath his grip.
He didn't understand why...
But seeing Straw Hat struggle like that made his heartbeat quicken.
It felt...
Wrong.
Luffy desperately struggled.
His arms weakened.
His vision blurred.
Only then did Crocodile release him.
"...Damn it..." Luffy collapsed onto one knee, gasping desperately for air.
"You've lost."
"I..." Luffy glared upward. "...haven't..."
"I admire your determination." Crocodile sighed.
"But determination changes nothing."
He raised the golden hook high above his shoulder.
The polished metal gleamed beneath the desert sun.
Then—
THRKK!
The hook pierced straight through Luffy's soulder.
Sabo took another step.
This time Arthur spoke quietly.
"Wait."
"...Captain."
"Not yet."
Arthur never looked away from the battlefield.
"He's still not give up."
The impact lifted Luffy off the ground.
Blood dripped silently onto the scorching sand.
Sabo's breathing stopped.
For the briefest instant...
A fragment of something flashed through his mind.
Laughter.
A small wooden boat.
Three cups raised beneath a forest canopy.
The memory disappeared before he could grasp it.
For several long seconds...
Neither of them moved.
Crocodile looked into Luffy's fading eyes.
"Tell me..."
"...have you ever seen a country die?"
Luffy couldn't answer. His consciousness was already slipping away.
With one effortless motion—
Crocodile pulled the hook free.
Luffy's body crashed onto the desert floor.
Motionless.
Crocodile looked down at him one last time.
"You challenged the sea too early."
He turned away.
As he walked toward the distant capital, the sand beneath Luffy suddenly shifted.
Softly.
Slowly.
Like an invisible mouth opening beneath the earth.
The ground collapsed.
A whirlpool of sand formed beneath the unconscious pirate.
His body gradually sank deeper.
One arm disappeared.
Then his shoulders.
Then everything else.
Within moments...
Only endless desert remained.
No footprints.
No blood.
No trace that Monkey D. Luffy had ever been there.
Far away...
The roar of the rebellion continued drawing closer to Alubarna.
And beneath the silent sands of Alabasta...
The future Pirate King drifted ever closer to death.
The Warlord didn't bother looking back.
To him...
The battle was already over.
...
"...Captain." Sugar's cheerful expression disappeared.
Sabo looked toward Arthur once more.
"...Captain."
Arthur remained silent.
Neither approval...
Nor refusal.
Everyone waited.
Arthur turned toward him.
"He lost." Only those two words.
Nothing more.
Arthur asked only one question.
"Is he dying?"
Sugar steadied the telescope.
Luffy remained motionless.
Blood soaked the sand beneath him.
Several long seconds passed before she answered.
"...Almost."
Arthur remained perfectly still.
Nobody else spoke.
Far below...
Crocodile continued walking toward Alubarna.
Several more moments passed.
"...Captain." Then Sugar spoke again.
"Crocodile's gone."
"How is he?" Arthur's eyes remained fixed on the horizon.
Sugar watched carefully.
A falcon-shaped silhouette descended from the sky.
"Pell found him."
"...If we leave him like this he will die even with Pell around him."
Arthur finally moved.
"Law." His voice remained calm.
"I know." The Surgeon of Death had already closed his book.
Sabo quietly let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
Somehow...
Relief washed over him.
Even though he still couldn't explain why.
Without another word...
A translucent sphere expanded around him.
"ROOM."
The space inside the sphere distorted.
An instant later...
Law vanished.
Another figure emerged from shimmering space beside the unconscious pirate.
...
Pell landed beside Luffy in a cloud of sand.
"No..."
His eyes widened.
"...Straw Hat!"
The young guardian immediately knelt beside the motionless pirate.
The wound through Luffy's body was severe.
His breathing had grown dangerously faint.
Before Pell could react...
A blue sphere silently unfolded around them.
ROOM.
Law appeared beside Luffy as though he had always been there.
"Who are—" Pell instinctively reached for his sword.
"I'm not your enemy."
Law didn't waste another second. His fingers moved with practiced precision. Invisible force spread through Luffy's body.
Dark venom seeped from the wound in thin streams before gathering into a floating sphere above Law's hand.
The poison.
Every remaining trace of it.
Removed.
Next came the bleeding.
Damaged blood vessels reconnected.
Several ruptured organs shifted back into place.
The wound itself remained.
But the steady flow of blood slowed to a trickle.
"That should keep him alive." Law finally exhaled.
"You..." Pell stared in stunned silence.
"He still isn't out of danger." Law stood.
"His body need alot of water and nutrition."
Pell looked down at Luffy.
The pirate remained unconscious.
But his breathing had become steadier.
"Take him." Law glanced toward the distant capital.
"...Where?" Pell looked back.
"The royal mausoleum." Law answered without hesitation.
"He need to fight there."
"How do you know that?" The guardian frowned.
"Our captain has excellent intuition." Law simply smiled.
Before Pell could ask another question—[ROOM].
The blue sphere collapsed.
Law disappeared. Leaving only drifting sand behind.
For several moments...
Pell remained motionless.
"I don't know why you people are..." Then he carefully lifted Luffy onto his shoulder.
"...but thank you."
With one powerful beat of his wings, Pell launched into the blazing sky and headed toward Alubarna.
High above the desert...
Law quietly reappeared atop the same sandstone ridge overlooking Rainbase.
"Well?" Sugar immediately lowered her telescope.
"He'll survive." Law brushed a little sand from his coat.
"Good." Arthur gave a small nod.
No celebration followed.
No relief.
Only quiet understanding.
Below them...
Pell carried the future of Alabasta across the endless desert.
And for the first time since entering the kingdom...
Arthur turned his gaze away from Luffy and toward the distant capital, where the smoke of war had already begun rising into the afternoon sky.
...
Pell became little more than a distant silhouette against the afternoon sky before finally disappearing beyond the horizon.
No one on the ridge spoke.
Arthur quietly watched the falcon fly toward Alubarna until it was no longer visible.
Only then did he turn away.
Below them, Rainbase remained as lively as ever.
The casino still echoed with laughter.
Merchants still welcomed customers.
Music still drifted through the streets.
To anyone arriving from another island...
Nothing appeared unusual.
Yet everyone standing upon the ridge understood the truth.
The kingdom had already passed the point where peace could still be restored.
Robin was the first to notice it.
She looked toward the distant capital, where a faint column of smoke had begun rising beyond the shimmering desert.
"It has started."
Arthur followed her gaze.
"The civil war."
Moments later, another plume rose into the sky. Then another followed.
Within minutes, thin trails of smoke stretched across the horizon like dark scars beneath the afternoon sun.
"They're fighting each other..." Koala clenched her fists.
"They don't even know who's really responsible." Sugar lowered her rifle.
"We could stop this before more people die." Baccarat silently nodded in agreement.
Even Bepo's usual cheerful expression had disappeared.
"You've already proven you can defeat Crocodile." Only Hancock remained calm as she watched Arthur.
"So why are we still standing here?" She stepped beside him.
Arthur remained silent for several seconds.
The desert wind stirred the hem of his coat.
"Because this isn't our fight." Finally, he answered.
Several members of the crew exchanged puzzled glances.
Robin understood immediately.
But she allowed him to continue.
Arthur slowly raised one hand toward the distant capital.
"For eight hundred years..."
"...the Nefertari Family has carried this kingdom."
"They chose to remain with their people when every other royal family abandoned theirs."
His eyes remained fixed upon Alubarna.
"That responsibility didn't disappear simply because Crocodile arrived."
"But innocent people are suffering." Koala frowned.
"They are." Arthur nodded.
"Every one of those lives matters."
"Then why don't we stop it?" Baby-5 looked at him quietly.
"If I walk into Alubarna today..." Arthur turned toward all of them.
"...this war ends within minutes."
They had all witnessed enough to know he was telling the truth.
Arthur continued.
"Crocodile falls."
"Baroque Works disappears."
"The kingdom survives."
He paused.
"And tomorrow?"
Silence.
" The people won't remember their king... or Princess Vivi. They'll remember an Emperor instead."
No one spoke.
Arthur looked toward the smoke rising across the desert.
"A country saved by an outsider..."
"...will wait for another outsider the next time it falls."
"But if its own people stand back up..." Robin quietly closed her book.
"...they'll never forget they were capable of doing it themselves."
"That's the future this kingdom deserves." A gentle smile appeared on Arthur's face.
Silence settled over the ridge.
At last...
They understood.
Arthur wasn't protecting the kingdom.
He was protecting its future.
"So..." Sugar slowly rested her rifle across one shoulder.
"So... we're basically babysitters?"
"In a way." A faint chuckle escaped Arthur.
"Bodyguards for history." She blinked.
That answer earned several quiet smiles.
"So what's our role now?" Even Law closed his medical journal.
Arthur looked toward the capital one final time.
"Our role begins the moment history is threatened."
"If someone tries to alter what must happen..."
"...we stop them."
"If someone is about to die before their time..."
"...we save them."
"But the victory..." He looked toward the smoke drifting above Alubarna.
"...belongs to Alabasta."
Far away...
The thunder of cannons rolled across the desert.
Another explosion followed.
Then another.
The battle had finally reached the capital.
The war Arthur had been waiting for had finally begun.
...
At that very moment...
Luffy's fingers twitched.
A low groan escaped his lips as his eyes slowly opened.
The first thing he saw was a stone ceiling.
The second...
"You're awake." Was Pell watching him with visible relief.
"Crocodile..." Luffy blinked several times before sitting upright.
"I lost." His voice was hoarse.
"You nearly died."
Pell handed him a canteen.
"There was someone else."
"Someone?" Luffy accepted the water.
"I don't know if you know them."
Pell looked toward the doorway.
"One of the ART Pirates appeared without warning."
"He neutralized the poison... then vanished before I could even thank him."
"Huh." Luffy scratched the back of his head.
A brief silence followed.
"I'm gonna beat Crocodile." Then he stood.
"You can barely stand." Pell stared at him.
"Doesn't matter." Luffy grinned.
"I'm not finished yet."
Without another word, he rushed toward the exit.
Pell watched him leave before quietly smiling to himself.
"...Princess Vivi chose the right captain."
...
Several kilometers away...
Arthur watched a flock of desert birds suddenly take flight from the direction of Alubarna.
"He woke up." A faint smile crossed his face.
"You can tell?" Robin looked at him.
"The flow of history has resumed." Arthur nodded.
The others exchanged puzzled glances.
No one completely understood what Arthur meant.
Robin didn't fully understand what Arthur meant... but she understood enough to remain silent.
Some stories...
Could not be forced.
Only protected.
"Let's go." Arthur slowly turned toward the road leading to the capital.
Every member of the ART Pirates stood.
No one rushed ahead.
No one drew a weapon.
They simply began walking through the golden desert beneath the fading afternoon sun.
Toward the battlefield where the fate of an entire kingdom would soon be decided.
And somewhere ahead...
A young pirate wearing a straw hat was running toward the same destination.
Neither of them sought glory.
Yet before the day was over...
One would become the hero the kingdom remembered.
The other would make certain that history remembered the right hero.