"Huh?"
Kai's decision left the four former Baroque Works officers looking at each other in confusion. Even King Cobra beside them was stunned.
If not for the fact that Baroque Works hadn't yet caused irreparable harm to Alabasta, he wouldn't want to easily spare these accomplices.
"What you do, I won't interfere with. Only one thing—you're forbidden from harming innocent civilians."
Kai's cold gaze swept over the four, frightening them into trembling as they rushed to pledge their loyalty.
"We absolutely won't!"
"We swear to you!"
The four competed to voice their commitments, fearing that being one second slower would lead them to follow their boss.
Seeing the intimidation worked, Kai nodded with satisfaction and assigned their real task. "Your mission is to assist King Cobra in secretly monitoring this nation."
"When facing external enemies or internal instability, you must help when necessary. If you encounter enemies you can't handle, contact me via Den Den Mushi."
Though Alabasta boasted ten million population and 600,000 troops, it severely lacked strong fighters. Pell and Chaka could handle ordinary pirates, but against powerful adversaries, they'd be easily defeated.
Having Galdino and these four as hidden pieces in the shadows made perfect backup. In case someone in the future wanted to harm Cobra's family, they could at least lend a hand or report information in time.
After all, Vivi's identity was truly special—Imu had once instructed the Five Elders "I want Vivi." Regardless of Imu's purpose, preventing him from getting his way was the right move.
In the original timeline, these four eventually opened a coffee shop in some desert anyway—now they'd just operate in a different location.
The four quickly exchanged glances, all seeing relief and gratitude in each other's eyes, and decisively agreed. If possible, they didn't want to leave this familiar environment anyway.
After arranging everything, Kai bid farewell to Cobra and Vivi, leading everyone back to the Sandora River port.
After boarding with the Kung Fu Dugong squad, Rayquaza set sail once more.
Due to lacking a sufficiently large hatch, that incredibly heavy Poneglyph could only be temporarily placed outdoors on the spacious deck.
Kai gathered his companions before the stone, patting its hard, cold surface and announcing, "From today, this is your new training equipment."
"Huh?"
His companions' mouths fell open, faces full of disbelief. Train using the Poneglyph? How would that even work?
This was naturally no problem. Because of the Poneglyph's indestructible characteristics, ordinary attacks landing on it couldn't even scratch it—wasn't this the best, most durable punching bag?
"Know why Marine Hero Garp's fists are so powerful?"
Ace instinctively replied, "Could he have also trained by hitting Poneglyphs?"
"Not quite." Kai shook his head. "He trained by hitting warships and mountains."
He immediately changed topics, patting the Poneglyph with confident assurance. "But regardless, warships versus Poneglyphs as training equipment—the advantage is ours."
Under Kai's arrangement, Ace and the others had no choice but to add "VS Poneglyph" to their daily training regimen.
"Where's our next stop? Going directly to Enies Lobby?"
Yamato seemed somewhat impatient, because her friends Dorry and Brogy's destination was also there—perhaps she could even help out.
"No rush."
Kai raised his index finger and wagged it lightly, his face carrying a mysterious smile. "Before that, how about we take a trip to the sky?"
"Sky?"
Yamato looked up at the azure sky—besides leisurely white clouds and occasionally passing seabirds, nothing was visible.
"That's right." Kai pointed skyward, smiling. "Above us hides a City of Gold filled with gold everywhere!"
"City of Gold?! Isn't that a fairy tale?"
Reiju and Sanji, siblings from North Blue, instantly recalled that household legend.
Yamato was completely confused. "What are you talking about?"
Reiju softly explained, "Legend has it over four hundred years ago, the Lvneel Kingdom had a famous adventurer named Mont Blanc Noland. Once during his adventures, he passed by an island called Jaya. According to him, there was a city forged from gold, which he named the City of Gold."
"Gold—"
"Built city—"
Even companions not particularly obsessed with wealth couldn't help their eyes lighting up at these words. What extravagance that would be.
Tesoro's Golden City merely had gold plating on surfaces—truly gold-constructed buildings were rare.
Reiju immediately added, "But later, when Noland obeyed the king's orders and led a fleet back to Jaya Island seeking the City of Gold, they found nothing. Finally, having committed the crime of deceiving the monarch, Noland was executed and labeled a 'liar.'"
"Since then, Noland's story has become a cautionary tale specifically used to teach children not to lie."
She herself had originally thought this was just a fairy tale, but since Kai was so certain, the truth obviously wasn't that simple. Noland must have been wrongly accused.
After all, Kai's credibility in her mind was at maximum.
Wapol, who'd been listening with fascination, immediately curled his lips disdainfully. "Tch, after all that, it's just a fairy tale to trick kids."
Since confirming his usefulness to Kai, his words and actions aboard had become considerably bolder.
Sanji, holding absolute trust in Kai, thought of another possibility. "Could Jaya Island at that time have been sent skyward by some Float-Float Fruit user?"
"Heh, the Float-Float Fruit can't keep an island permanently floating in the sky."
Kai denied this guess. Golden Lion was the best example. Even if he developed the Float-Float Fruit to awakening, once he died, those floating islands would immediately fall.
He revealed the answer. "The reason Noland couldn't find the City of Gold was because shortly after he left, part of Jaya Island was blasted skyward by a Knock Up Stream!"
This also triggered a four-century territorial war between native Shandians and Sky Islanders.
"I see."
Everyone suddenly understood.
"Then let's go—to Sky Island!"
Yamato laughed heartily, raising her arms in cheer.
Meanwhile, Marine Fleet Admiral Sengoku had far more pressing matters to worry about.
"What? Explain that again—what do you mean a Warlord died?"
Sengoku shot up from his seat. His pet goat he'd been holding was flipped upside down by the sudden movement, innocently bleating while its big eyes stared blankly up at its master.
Across the desk, a Commander-ranked staff officer steeled himself to report. "According to confirmed news from Alabasta, Sand Crocodile Crocodile clashed with Natural Disaster Kai for unknown reasons. In just minutes, the former was defeated and killed."
"Minutes?"
Sengoku could hardly believe his ears. Crocodile was at least a renowned Warlord, not some random nobody—resolved in minutes?
"Uh..."
The Commander hesitated, unsure whether to report the intelligence truthfully. After all, what was written seemed rather exaggerated.
Detecting the Commander's hesitation, Sengoku's sharp gaze swept over him. "What else does the report say? Read it! Word for word!"
"Yes!"
The Commander straightened with a start, reading loudly. "To be precise, those minutes included the time Oni Princess Yamato previously fought Crocodile. Kai himself—used less than one minute, within two moves, and barehanded broke Crocodile's neck!"
The office fell deathly silent.
That simple?
Sengoku's brows furrowed tighter. Should he say Crocodile was too weak, or Kai too strong?
But quickly, the Commander's next report made him instantly cast Crocodile's death aside. A bigger problem had arrived.
"According to King Cobra's statement, Kai threatened Princess Vivi's safety, forcing him to guide them to Alabasta's royal tomb. Then, Kai apparently had a specific target and directly broke through the tomb floor, finding an underground chamber—"
"In the chamber—"
The Commander's voice trembled. Even just recounting it, he felt the situation's severity. "A Poneglyph was stored. And—Kai forcibly took it away."
"What?!"
Sengoku's eyes widened. He braced both hands on his desk, leaning forward, eyes full of disbelief.
Poneglyph! That was absolute taboo; the World Government forbade touching!
Back then, Ohara suffered Buster Call's destructive attack merely for researching ancient script. Now Kai directly stole a Poneglyph! And not even a Red Road Poneglyph marking One Piece's location.
Why would a pirate want Poneglyphs recording Void Century history? Most importantly, his ship truly had someone who could interpret this ancient text.
Yes, archaeologist Nico Robin being aboard Rayquaza wasn't secret—at least not at his level.
Previously, Marines and the World Government turned a blind eye because, one, they feared the cost of all-out war with the Beast Pirates, and two, they believed Kai merely wanted someone to interpret the Red Road Poneglyphs, planning to compete for Pirate King.
But now it seemed they couldn't let this continue!
Sengoku took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his inner turmoil and waving the Commander to withdraw.
After the office door closed, he immediately picked up that Den Den Mushi connecting directly to the world's power summit.
"Sengoku? What's the matter?"
An aged voice came from the Den Den Mushi.
"Saint Saturn, the situation is this—"
Sengoku offered no pleasantries, his tone grave as he reported everything that occurred in Alabasta.
The other end fell silent momentarily. Warrior God of Science and Defense Saturn's voice remained steady. "I understand. This matter requires our deliberation."
The call disconnected.
Mary Geoise, Room of Authority
Saint Jaygarcia Saturn surveyed his four colleagues, speaking slowly. "That's the situation. Everyone, let's discuss."
"What's there to discuss?"
Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro held the First Kitetsu, his tone decisive with icy killing intent. "We must eliminate him! We cannot tolerate him continuing to recklessly probe these forbidden secrets! The Void Century is absolutely not for the likes of them to uncover!"
The other four Elders exchanged glances, nodding in agreement.
Previously, no matter how much Natural Disaster Kai stirred up trouble in the New World, in their eyes he was merely a slightly stronger pirate —one of countless such figures over eight hundred years, unable to truly threaten them.
But once he began systematically collecting and interpreting Poneglyphs, everything changed. This transcended the realm of ordinary piracy, striking at the very foundation of World Government rule.
This wasn't an ordinary pirate—they had to strike hard!
If it were some small-time pirate, they might be too lazy to target him. After all, even if someone understood one Poneglyph, they might lack the strength and opportunity to find other Poneglyphs.
But Kai's threat level was on another level entirely. He already constituted a genuine threat.
And for threats, the World Government's response had always been singular—complete eradication!
"Isn't Kai currently operating in the Grand Line's first half? This gives us an excellent opportunity."
The Five Elders exchanged knowing glances, their mouths curving into cold smiles.
"In that case, let Marines and CP0 jointly act, to ensure we eliminate him in one strike."
"Mm, with Kai dead, that madman Kaido won't go to war over a corpse."
"Agreed!"
After quickly finalizing the assassination plan for Kai, the five turned their attention to that Poneglyph that reappeared in Alabasta.
"That woman Lily absolutely did it deliberately."
Saint Topman Warcury snorted coldly. Now he was one hundred percent certain—the Poneglyphs' dispersal all those years ago was precisely Lily's carefully laid trap.
Saint Shepherd Ju Peter didn't particularly care about what happened centuries ago. The past was the past—further discussion was meaningless. He cared more about immediate threats. "Do you think other Poneglyphs might exist in Alabasta?"
"Unlikely. That woman wouldn't be stupid enough to place several Poneglyphs in Alabasta. One was already pushing it."
That said, a thorough search is still necessary.
"Order CP7 and CP8 to conduct a thorough search of Alabasta. No corner must be overlooked."
"Agreed."
With one agenda settled, the next was immediately brought up.
"A Warlord position is vacant—it must be filled quickly." Saint Jaygarcia Saturn spoke first.
At these words, the room fell into brief silence. Warlord candidates weren't easy to find—they needed both strength and prestige.
The five couldn't help but feel irritated. Damn Crocodile. How could he be so weak? If he'd shown even half the strength he had when challenging Whitebeard, he wouldn't have been defeated so easily, would he?
Suddenly, Saint Topman Warcury thought of a candidate. "How about that self-proclaimed 'Whitebeard Jr.' Edward Weevil?"
"Him? The one who attacked Zephyr's training ship?"
"Correct. He single-handedly defeated Zephyr and a shipful of trainees—his strength is beyond question."
"His strength is adequate. But choosing him will likely provoke strong backlash from within the Marines."
"Hmph. Backlash?"
Warcury's tone held no emotion, carrying dismissive indifference. "Respect must be earned. If Marines are weaker than pirates—they have no right to complain."
"Then it's decided!"
In casual conversation, Zephyr's bitter vendetta was casually dismissed with barely a second thought.