"Luffy, Moonlight, Chopper..." At that moment, Zoro and the others rushed over, waving and shouting as they saw Luffy from a distance.
"Is everyone here?" Luffy asked with a smile.
"If everyone's here, then that means the war is over," Moonlight surmised.
"Yes, it's over," Vivi said, nodding as she looked at King Cobra, her voice choked with emotion. "But it wasn't us who ended it. It was the Navy. Father, Pell... Pell, he took the bomb and flew into the clouds to save everyone. Pell..."
"Pell... did he sacrifice himself?" Cobra trembled. For so many years, Pell had been the one who had assisted him in protecting the country.
"Although we managed to find the bomb, Crocodile was too cunning," Nami explained. "He didn't trust anyone. The bomb was not only guarded by the senior agents of Baroque Works, Mr. 7 and Miss Father's Day, but it was also on a timer. At the last moment, Pell, the guardian deity of Alabasta, flew into the clouds with the bomb and saved everyone. After the Navy arrived, they ended all of this."
"Pell... he is truly a guardian deity," Moonlight said, nodding. "But the only thing that could stop all of this was the Navy. In this sea, no one has the power to compete with them." The war had progressed to a fever pitch. Even if he had temporarily stunned everyone with his Conqueror's Haki, the fighting would have continued after they had woken up. He couldn't have stopped it, King Cobra couldn't have stopped it, and Vivi couldn't have stopped it. No one could. Only the Navy could quell all of this.
"Well," Moonlight said, turning to Vivi, "since the Navy is here, then we should also go. We are pirates, and we are the natural enemies of the Navy. Vivi, it's time to say goodbye."
"But everyone, I..." Vivi hesitated.
"Don't worry, we won't leave so easily," Nami said with a slight smile. "We still have things to do." With that, the crew left without another word.
Cobra nodded and, looking at the departing crew, he smiled at Vivi. "They are very good companions."
"Yes," Vivi smiled. "They are my trusted companions." The two of them then went to preside over the overall situation. Now that the war had subsided, the king had to appease the people and rebuild their homes.
Luffy and the others, bypassing the Navy, found a place to rest in the city. But at that moment, the entire city of Alabasta was crawling with Marines. It seemed that it was by a twist of fate that they once again ran into Tashigi, who was leading a group of Marines to quell the last of the fighting. Seeing Luffy and the others, she didn't make a move, but just stood there, staring at them in a daze, and let them pass by without any reaction. "Justice... what exactly is justice?" she wondered, a war raging in her heart.
Finally, the group arrived at the palace, and they all collapsed onto the beds, completely exhausted. This battle had drained all their energy, and they all immediately fell asleep. Only Moonlight sat quietly on the balcony, overlooking the entire city of Alabasta. Now that the Navy had appeared, it would be extremely difficult for them to leave afterwards. The Navy of the Grand Line was not like the ones they had encountered before. It would be difficult to break through their blockade.
He was speechless. When everyone woke up the next day, King Cobra had already calmed everything down. As the king of Alabasta, he had his methods. And to thank Luffy and the others, a luxurious palace banquet was specially prepared. The crew, who were already hungry, immediately began to eat. Especially Luffy, who gobbled up the food, frightening the people around him. Afterwards, Chopper gave them all a simple treatment and dispensed some medicine, and Sanji and Usopp went to the city to purchase supplies.
The group stayed in Alabasta for a full week, and after regaining their energy, they prepared to leave. All good things must come to an end. At this moment, the Navy had blocked all the exits of the entire island. The island was like an iron cage. Not even a bird could fly out. At the same time, a new set of wanted posters quietly arrived. With the end of the Alabasta War, everyone's bounty had been updated.
Luffy's bounty had increased from 30 million to 100 million Berries. Zoro's had increased from 15 million to 60 million. And Moonlight's was even more terrifying, jumping directly from 50 million to 200 million Berries. But he was worth the price. Sanji still had no bounty. Nami's and Usopp's were basically negligible, and Chopper had just joined the crew.
"Not good, everyone," Vivi said, looking at the wanted posters with a worried expression.
"A bounty of over 100 million," she continued, "means that the World Government has listed you as extremely dangerous. The next time you encounter the Navy, it will be very terrifying. Luffy, Moonlight, Zoro..."
But Luffy just raised his wanted poster, his face full of excitement. "Great! I'm worth 100 million Berries!"
Zoro nodded in satisfaction. "60 million? That's good."
Moonlight just shook his head faintly, not caring. Sanji was smoking a cigarette, depressed. Everyone had a bounty; why didn't he? Chopper looked at everyone with envy. When would he have a bounty? Usopp and Nami looked at each other and couldn't help but burst into tears. "Everyone's bounties have risen, and we're still the same!"
"Moonlight, you're really amazing," Usopp said, looking at him with a mixture of envy and jealousy. "All of our bounties combined aren't as high as yours." Hearing this, everyone looked at Moonlight, their faces full of envy. But Moonlight had the strength to back it up.
"Everyone, you..." Vivi was stunned. "Aren't you worried about your bounties at all? Why do you all look so happy?"
"We're pirates," Nami replied. "The amount of our bounty determines our strength. As the future Pirate King, of course, we don't want to be underestimated by the world." Hearing that, Vivi couldn't help but smile. So that was why.
"Well," Luffy said, "everything is over now. Vivi, I think we're leaving. Are you going to go out to sea with us?" Finally, everyone looked at Vivi. It was time to say goodbye.
"I..." Vivi suddenly froze. She really wanted to go out to sea with them. This journey... she had experienced so much and gained so much. But she was still the princess of Alabasta. Her country still needed her, and her people also needed her. She looked at Luffy and the others, but she couldn't speak.
At that moment, a phone snail suddenly rang. Nami picked it up, and it was the voice of Mr. 2. He said that he had snatched their ship. If they wanted it back, they had to come to the Sandora River to find him.
"Mr. 2! Damn, we forgot about him," Sanji said, his face grim. "Everyone, let's hurry." After defeating Crocodile, they had forgotten about the other agents of Baroque Works. And these people were not ordinary. Especially Mr. 2; he had caused them a lot of trouble on the way here. Now, they were surrounded by the Navy, and their ship had been seized. Sanji took a deep breath of smoke, his face gloomy.
"Vivi," Nami said, "it is up to you to decide whether to leave or stay. It is exactly 12 o'clock. At this time tomorrow, we will wait for you at the East Port for five minutes. If you come, we will go to sea together. If you don't come, we will always remember you, because we are companions." With that, the group immediately ran towards the Sandora River.
Though the Navy had surrounded the entire city, this was Alabasta, after all. With the help of the king, Luffy and the others easily broke through the siege and came to the Sandora River. Sure enough, they saw Mr. 2 sitting on their Going Merry, and around the ship, a vessel with his insignia was docked. It was his ship, and some other agents of Baroque Works were also on board.
"Everyone, you're here!" Mr. 2 greeted them excitedly.
Everyone was stunned. On the phone, he had sounded so menacing. What was going on? Then, they understood. After Crocodile had been defeated, Baroque Works had been dissolved, and Mr. 2 was now homeless and was about to sail away. At that time, the Navy had found their ship and had wanted to seize it. It was Mr. 2 who had helped them protect it.
"I am no longer a member of Baroque Works," Mr. 2 Bon Clay said with a smile, looking at Luffy. "So, let's still be friends."
"Yes, we are still friends," Luffy and Usopp nodded. Suddenly, the three of them began to dance with excitement. Seeing this, Chopper couldn't help but join in.
"They know each other?" Moonlight asked, puzzled.
"Well, when we were in Nanohana, Luffy and Usopp were fishing, and they pulled this guy out of the water," Sanji explained, a hint of irritation in his voice. "And then they became a group. The reason the people from Baroque Works had our pictures was also because of him."
Nami suddenly realized. She and Moonlight had been on Drum Island at the time, so they didn't know about it. But Chopper... she couldn't help but look at Moonlight. Moonlight just smiled helplessly. After boarding the ship, Chopper had been gradually led astray by Usopp and Luffy.
WHOOSH!
At that moment, Moonlight suddenly turned around, holding his sword in a reverse grip, and a crescent-shaped wave of sword energy shot out towards the distant sea.
"What's wrong, Moonlight?" everyone was shocked. But at that moment, they saw that in the distance, dozens of black spears had pierced the void and were heading straight for their hull. Fortunately, Moonlight had acted quickly, and the spears were all cut off by his sword energy. Then, on the sea, a warship and ten naval warships came swiftly. On the warship was a woman in a Navy justice coat, with light pink, mid-length hair, purple lens sunglasses, a striped dress and shoes, and a cigarette in her mouth. She had been the one who had just attacked.
"Captain Hina!" Mr. 2 screamed, as if this person were a terrifying existence.
"A captain in the Navy? And she's driving a warship? Interesting," Zoro said, his eyes full of a new fighting spirit. This woman had attacked them without saying a word, which made him very unhappy.
"Wow, what a pretty lady," Sanji, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. The moment he saw Hina, he was instantly conquered, and his body floated as if he had no bones.
"It's not good! It's her! Her Black Cage formation is an invincible battle formation at sea!" Mr. 2's expression was grim as he told everyone of the horror of this person.
"The Black Cage formation?" the others were all confused.
At this time, Hina looked at Moonlight and, exhaling a faint puff of smoke, she said with interest, "A great pirate with a bounty of 200 million Berries. To be able to block my Black Cage formation... but it's useless. You are already surrounded. If you don't want to sink to the bottom of the sea, you will be obediently arrested. Otherwise, don't blame me for being impolite."
"Is that so?" Hearing this, Moonlight smiled faintly, and a huge wave of sword energy suddenly shot out, heading straight for the naval fleet.
"He's really a hard one to talk to," Hina said, shaking her head. Her hands suddenly turned into dark long spears, and she pierced the approaching sword energy. "Black Cage Array!" It was the same move she had used to attack the Going Merry just now. But the sword energy in the sky, moving forward, met no resistance. The black spears were like paper, cut to pieces by Moonlight's slash. The sword energy continued on, tearing through the sea and slamming into the warship. The invincible warship was suddenly cut in two. All the Marines screamed and fell into the sea. The sword energy continued to roar, and the surrounding sea and air suddenly burst into a storm of sword energy, like a typhoon passing by, and the surrounding sea was instantly thrown into chaos.
"I said long ago that you can't deal with him, Hina," a voice said, and Smoker arrived, driving another warship, with dozens of warships behind him, surrounding Luffy and the others. He had his men rescue Hina from the sea.
"It was my carelessness," Hina said, panting as she nodded. "The great pirate with a bounty of 200 million is indeed amazing." She looked at Moonlight with a new sense of dread.
"Luffy, Zoro, you go first," Moonlight said, jumping into the sea. "I'll hold them off." His Raptor's Air Rend activated, and his whole body was suddenly surrounded by a storm of phantoms.
"Okay, Moonlight, we're leaving it to you," Luffy said, nodding, his trust in Moonlight absolute. The others all set off, quickly leaving before the Navy could form an encirclement. To Moonlight's surprise, Mr. 2, moved by his spirit, actually stayed to help. "He is indeed a very passionate person," Moonlight thought. "No wonder he can get along with Luffy. Luffy never misjudges anyone." The number of naval ships was growing, and their cannons were all aimed at him. And there were two Devil Fruit users among them. This battle was much stronger than the one with Admiral Nelson. Even he would have a difficult time dealing with them alone. With Mr. 2 to draw some of the fire, it would be much easier.