"Well, aren't you a commander with no army now."
Yuristine watched Marquis Kuroor's stupefied expression with great interest, a wicked smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.
"Stay away from me, stay away! Yah! Yah!"
The marquis had completely panicked. It turned out it wasn't that Cobra was a coward — Cobra simply knew these people were utterly unprovokable. But the horse beneath Kuroor seemed bewitched. It refused to budge, as if something had terrified it into stillness.
"Don't be scared. Relax. We're not going to do anything to you."
"Then what do you want?" He didn't believe that for a second. He had just tried to kill them — there was no way they'd let him off easily.
"We don't want much. Just planning to hand you over to your king so he can pay a ransom to get you back."
"No, no need to trouble him! I have money! I have plenty of money!"
If he got handed over to Cobra, he was finished. Cobra was no saint either. Falling into his hands would be no different from death.
"That won't do. Your money already belongs to us now. So you are currently penniless. Understand?"
"What?!"
The moment he heard all his money was gone, Kuroor's panic deepened another notch. Without money, how was he supposed to fund his private army?
"So just obediently accept your fate."
He tried to say something else, but before the words left his mouth, Jora knocked him unconscious. "Blah blah blah, there he goes, dragging on forever. So damn annoying."
"Captain, what do we do now?"
After knocking out the marquis, Jora turned to Shirakawa and asked.
"Head straight for the royal palace. I'm curious to see how this country's king plans to receive us over the next two months."
"Awesome! We finally get to go to the palace?!"
Hearing they were heading to the royal palace, Adala cried out with excitement. As a girl in the bloom of youth, she was naturally fascinated by things like palaces and castles.
"Well, all right. But the capital is quite a distance from here. It's going to take a pretty long time. Best to buy whatever supplies we need for the road while we're still here."
Wende reminded them.
"Then let's split up for now. Everyone buy your own things. One hour. We regroup at the city gate."
"Yes, Captain."
"As for this brain-dead marquis — Riddle, you carry him."
"Why me again?" Riddle's tone came out with a whiny, grumbling edge, clearly very reluctant.
"What, not willing?"
A glint of danger flickered in Shirakawa's eyes, sending a full-body shiver down Riddle's spine.
"How could that be? Willing, totally willing."
Riddle forced a smile onto his face, then with swift efficiency slung the marquis onto his back.
"Mute, you're coming with me," Riddle said to the longleg tribe boy. After all, Mute was one of the few people around here he could push around.
"No problem."
"All right, dismissed."
Once they dispersed, Shirakawa headed directly toward the city gate. He had nothing to buy — he trusted his crew would stock up on all the necessary supplies. Besides, he had no use for sun protection products. No matter how harsh the sun blazed, his skin never darkened.
About two hours after Shirakawa began waiting, the crew finally reassembled. The slowest were always the women — that was an immutable truth. Adala and her family were the last to arrive.
And slung across Abro's back was an enormous sack, which made it abundantly clear just how much stuff Adala and Lisa had bought in those two hours. The other crew members couldn't help but silently mourn for Abro in their hearts, while also feeling very thankful they themselves were still single.
Meanwhile, all these events in Rainbase had already reached King Cobra in the capital. The Den Den Mushi really was a marvelous thing — made communication so convenient.
"Damn it, that idiot!"
At that moment, King Cobra was cursing up a storm inside the royal palace, his mood at its absolute foulest. Never in his life had he imagined his kingdom harboring such a stupid noble.
"Absolutely infuriating!" Cobra cursed furiously again. Whatever dignity a king ought to possess had long since been obliterated by Kuroor.
"The man goes and gets himself killed, and now he has to drag the entire country into it. I should have stripped Kuroor of his noble title sooner."
Of course, Cobra was speaking out of pure rage. Revoking a noble's status was far from a simple matter.
"Your Majesty, what should we do now?"
It was the same minister of internal affairs from before, asking Cobra once again.
"You are my vassal. Shouldn't you be the one coming up with ideas? Why do you keep expecting me to do everything?"
"Forgive me, Your Majesty. This subordinate was being foolish."
"Speak, then. How do we resolve the problem of the Silver Pirates right now?"
Cobra sat back down on the throne — wait, it says 王伟山, likely a typo for 王座上 (throne)? Actually text says "寇布拉重新坐到王伟山", maybe a mistake, could be 王座上 (throne). I'll translate as "throne". Cobra sat back down on his throne, one hand propping up his forehead, the other tapping the armrest, as if deep in thought.
"This subordinate believes we should send out the invitations for Your Majesty's wedding to the Marines immediately, to ensure the Marines arrive earlier."
"But my wedding is still about two months away. Can they really come that early?"
"Have them arrive one month early."
"Why is that?" Cobra quickly asked. The Silver Pirates were already heading toward the capital, after all.
"Rainbase is quite far from the capital, and there are multiple cities along the way. They won't be traveling nonstop — they'll surely stop and rest in those cities. By this subordinate's calculations, it will take them roughly one month to reach the palace."
"I see. As expected of my minister."
Hearing a solution, Cobra's mood suddenly improved by a great deal. The stone weighing on his heart finally settled.
"However, Your Majesty, if you are going to invite the Marines, you must make it clear that the Silver Pirates are here."
"Why?"
"So the Marines will dispatch someone with real strength and status. Otherwise, if the person they send is too weak, they might end up being intimidated by the Silver Pirates instead."
"Very well. I understand. You may withdraw. I will send the invitation to the Marines at once."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
As for everything unfolding within the royal palace, Shirakawa and his crew knew nothing of it. At that very moment, they were cheerfully making their way toward the palace, half-thinking to themselves that the King of Alabasta might actually appreciate the gift they were bringing him.
After all, Marquis Kuroor's ambitions were no secret — if not known to everyone in the kingdom, at least to a great many. The king might even end up thanking them, for all they knew.
But in the end, Shirakawa had oversimplified the internal politics of a nation. They never would have imagined that Cobra would actually repay their kindness with treachery.
/-\
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