The desert was silent.
Crocodile's body lay sprawled across the burning sands, lifeless. The once-proud Warlord of the Sea recognized by the World Government, feared across the Grand Line was now nothing more than a corpse beneath the relentless sun.
The surviving agents of Baroque Works stared blankly at their fallen leader. The last flicker of resistance in their eyes shattered completely.
"Don't kill us! We surrender!" one of them cried out, his voice trembling with despair.
But the only response they received was the cold, thunderous chant of uniformed Marines.
Their orders were clear no survivors.
The desert was soon filled with screams that were quickly silenced. When the echoes faded, not a single criminal was left alive.
"…."
Standing amidst the aftermath, Hawk's expression remained calm. In his mind, a familiar system panel flickered to life.
[Current Justice Points: 102,168]
"Oh? So I've finally broken a hundred thousand?" he murmured with mild surprise.
An unexpected bonus, indeed.
He had assumed that Crocodile's bounty eighty million Berries and the entire Baroque Works organization would net him, at most, twenty thousand points. But it seemed that eliminating a Warlord for the first time came with a special reward.
His Justice Points had skyrocketed to over a hundred thousand enough to push nearly any of his abilities to an Admiral-level mastery.
All except one.
It would still take a million points to perfect his Conqueror's Haki.
That would have to wait.
Suppressing the excitement in his chest, Hawk turned his attention to the royal pair standing nearby King Cobra and his daughter Vivi both visibly shaken by what they had witnessed.
"…"
The king caught sight of Hawk approaching and immediately took Vivi's hand, hurrying to meet him halfway. The proud ruler of Alabasta could no longer maintain the dignity of a monarch.
"Vice Admiral Hawk!" Cobra bowed deeply ninety degrees, his voice trembling with sincerity. "On behalf of the Kingdom of Alabasta, and the millions of citizens who have suffered through years of drought and despair—"
"I offer you our deepest gratitude. You have saved this nation."
Vivi followed suit, her tears glimmering in the sunlight as she bent low beside her father.
It was this man this Navy officer who had pulled her beloved homeland back from the brink of annihilation.
"Your Majesty, there's no need for such formality," Hawk said evenly, his voice calm and composed. "Eliminating evil and protecting the innocent that is the Navy's duty."
He paused, his tone shifting slightly, carrying an unspoken weight.
"It's just that… in the past, some things have strayed from the right path."
He didn't elaborate.
"This isn't the place for such talk," he added, glancing at the glittering golden pyramid nearby the Rain Dinners casino, Crocodile's lavish base of operations. "Let's head inside, King Cobra. We'll discuss matters there."
Cobra nodded immediately.
Under Hawk's command, elite Marines moved into the city of Rainbase, swiftly taking control of the casino. The remaining Baroque agents were purged without resistance.
The once-decadent den of corruption and blood was now the temporary command center of the G-3 Division.
Moments later, Hibari arrived to report, "Sir, we've found vast sums of Berries and treasure in the underground vault."
"Register and store them," Hawk ordered with a wave of his hand.
A small fortune, certainly but compared to the massive project forming in his mind, it was barely a drop in the ocean.
Inside Crocodile's office, Hawk sat leisurely behind the desk, legs crossed, a cigar burning between his fingers.
He gestured for Cobra and Vivi to sit across from him. Hibari and Peacock stood quietly behind him, the door shutting softly to seal out the noise from outside.
For a long moment, the room was silent.
Hawk studied the father and daughter in front of him, thoughts racing.
Alabasta was, strategically speaking, the perfect ally for the Navy's current ambitions.
A populous kingdom situated at the heart of the first half of the Grand Line—"Paradise." A vital hub of trade and travel.
And most importantly—the Navy was now wealthy.
The Golden City, with its limitless treasure, had given them a fortune large enough to make even the World Government envious.
But how to use that fortune—to quietly transform it into military strength without drawing attention—was the challenge.
If they used the Navy's own official channels, the flow of gold would be too slow, too visible.
Once discovered, their entire plan for independence would collapse before it even began.
But Alabasta… was different.
The Nefertari family—descendants of one of the twenty royal houses that founded the World Government eight centuries ago—held a unique position. They were the only family that had chosen not to move to Mary Geoise.
That decision, made generations ago, now gave them unparalleled legitimacy and political protection.
If he could convince King Cobra to cooperate…
Then Cobra could publicly declare that this vast sum of gold was an ancient royal treasure of Alabasta, newly unearthed from the desert.
No one would dare question it.
It would be the perfect cover—allowing the Navy to convert its wealth into arms, infrastructure, and influence, all under the guise of royal history.
And beyond that, Hawk believed in Cobra's character.
A king who truly loved his people—rare in this corrupted world.
Such a man was worthy of trust.
Hawk's eyes sharpened as his decision crystallized.
"King Cobra," he said suddenly, his voice steady but direct. "Can I trust you? Can the Navy trust you?"
"...!"
Cobra's head snapped up, shock and confusion flickering across his face.
He hadn't expected the savior of his kingdom to ask that.
Shouldn't the Navy already trust a loyal member nation of the World Government?
But then, Hawk's earlier words echoed in his mind—those cryptic, deliberate ones.
"Eliminating evil and protecting civilians—that's the Navy's duty. But in the past… some things have strayed from the right path."
The right path.
Cold sweat ran down Cobra's spine.
He was not a fool. As a king, he knew how to read between words, how to sense the tide beneath the surface.
The "right path"… the path of justice.
Crocodile had been one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea—a title granted by the World Government itself. For three years, he had ravaged Alabasta, turning it into a desert of despair.
And the World Government had done nothing.
The Navy had done nothing.
That—was the true deviation from justice.
And yet, Hawk—a Vice Admiral from Marine Headquarters—had slain Crocodile without hesitation.
It was not merely an act of righteousness. It was defiance.
Defiance against the system itself.
And now, he was asking whether the Navy could trust Alabasta—not whether the World Government could.
The realization hit Cobra like a thunderclap.
The man before him… did not represent the World Government.
He represented the Navy itself.
A Navy that sought to break free from its chains—to reclaim its original justice.
This was no longer a simple political discussion. It was a choice.
A choice that would determine Alabasta's fate.
To remain a subordinate of the World Government—continuing to endure the Celestial Dragons' tyranny and the corruption of the Warlord system?
Or… to stand beside this reborn Navy, and forge a new era of true justice?
The answer came to him instantly.
He thought of his people's hollow eyes, worn from drought and hopelessness.
He remembered the helpless shame he had felt as king.
He remembered Crocodile's smug, cruel smile.
The root of it all—the decay, the oppression—lay within that same corrupt, self-serving World Government.
His breathing quickened.
Beside him, Vivi gripped his trembling hand tightly, her eyes filled with worry.
Then, slowly, Cobra exhaled. The uncertainty in his gaze vanished, replaced by unwavering resolve.
He rose to his feet, bowed deeply once more—but this time, not out of gratitude.
Out of allegiance.
"Vice Admiral Hawk," he said, his voice no longer shaking.
"I, Nefertari D. Cobra, and the entire Kingdom of Alabasta—"
"—shall stand as the Navy's most steadfast ally."
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