Chapter 360: The Curtain Falls on History

Chapter 360: Chapter 360: The Curtain Falls on History

Chapter 360: The Curtain Falls on History

While Axel settled matters on his side, the battle at the inn had also reached its conclusion.

Mr. 1 and Miss Doublefinger lay battered on the floor, both staring at Wapol in disbelief.

Nothing about the former king’s round, flabby appearance suggested overwhelming strength.

Yet after a prolonged fight, they were the ones who had ended up defeated.

Miss Doublefinger gritted her teeth.

"What exactly is wrong with your body?"

Wapol picked his nose and raised his chin smugly.

His victory had not come from his original strength alone.

The abilities he had incorporated from the Pacifistas had played the decisive role, especially the imitation of Axel’s Reflection.

During the fight, Mr. 1 and Miss Doublefinger had hammered him with attack after attack. For a while, Wapol had felt as though the entire world had decided to beat him to death.

Fortunately, the automated Reflection he had acquired kept triggering whenever their attacks reached him.

It consumed a considerable amount of the energy stored inside his body and frightened him half to death several times, but most of the attacks failed to cause serious damage.

Once he finally found room to retaliate, Wapol showed absolutely no restraint.

He planted one foot squarely on Mr. 1.

The man’s blade body had terrified him earlier. There had been several moments when Wapol thought his Reflection was about to fail entirely.

In the end, it had taken repeated laser attacks before he finally overwhelmed Mr. 1’s steel-like defenses.

Now that the danger was over, Wapol’s courage returned in full.

He looked down at the two defeated Baroque Works agents and burst into obnoxious laughter.

"Wahahahaha!"

"You really thought you could break through the defenses of the great King Wapol?!"

Mr. 1 frowned.

A blade emerged beneath Wapol’s foot.

The attack immediately rebounded.

A fresh cut appeared on Mr. 1’s own body instead.

Wapol laughed even louder.

"Wahahahaha! See that?! Completely useless!"

He barely finished boasting before a foot struck him from behind.

Thud!

Wapol fell face-first onto the floor.

"WHO DARES KICK THE GREAT KING WAPOL?!"

He spun around furiously.

Then froze.

The anger vanished from his face so quickly it was almost impressive.

A flattering smile appeared in its place.

"Ah... Lord Axel."

Axel stood behind him.

The fight against Crocodile had seemed long because of the destruction it caused, but in reality it had lasted only around ten minutes.

Wapol’s battle had dragged on longer simply because he had spent much of it defending himself.

Vivi, however, was not pleased to see Axel.

She folded her arms.

"You acted on your own again!"

Axel glanced toward her.

Then he noticed Chopper.

The little reindeer was injured and heavily bandaged.

A faint crease appeared between Axel’s brows.

His eyes moved toward Wapol.

Wapol immediately looked somewhere else.

Axel said nothing about it.

He had never been particularly fond of explaining himself.

"Crocodile has been taken into Marine custody."

Vivi blinked.

Axel continued,

"With his condition, he won’t be escaping on his own."

From the floor, Mr. 1 suddenly looked past Axel.

"Miss All Sunday?"

Miss Doublefinger’s eyes widened as well.

Vivi immediately became alert.

Robin was standing behind Axel.

Miss All Sunday had been Crocodile’s direct subordinate, the person responsible for carrying his orders throughout Baroque Works.

Why was she here with Axel?

Robin smiled.

"I’m no longer Miss All Sunday."

She spoke calmly.

"I’ve left Baroque Works."

Mr. 1 and Miss Doublefinger stared at her.

Neither seemed willing to believe what they had heard.

Crocodile was not the sort of man people simply resigned from.

Robin seemed to understand the question they had not asked.

"Crocodile has been arrested by the Marines."

"So Baroque Works no longer has a leader."

Her smile remained unchanged.

"There’s no reason for the organization to continue existing."

The room went silent.

Mr. 1’s expression finally changed.

Miss Doublefinger stared at Robin.

Even Bon Clay, injured and resting nearby, suddenly raised his head.

"What?!"

He looked genuinely horrified.

"Our boss was Crocodile?!"

For the senior agents, the revelation came in two parts.

Their mysterious boss had been one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.

And that Warlord had just been arrested.

Neither piece of news was easy to accept.

Vivi was equally shocked, though for a very different reason.

Only a short time ago, she had still been desperately thinking about how to expose Crocodile, stop the rebellion, protect her father, and restore Alabasta.

Now Axel had simply returned and announced that the mastermind behind everything was already finished.

It felt almost unreal.

"Arrested?"

Vivi looked directly at Axel.

"Crocodile was really arrested?"

"Yeah."

His answer was casual.

Far too casual for something Vivi had spent so long fearing.

She stared at him.

"The fighting we heard outside... that was you and Crocodile?"

Axel nodded.

Vivi hesitated.

"Could he come back?"

Axel considered it.

"Probably not."

"Given the situation the Marines are dealing with right now, I’d expect him to be sent straight to Impel Down."

There was another reason as well.

Crocodile’s pursuit of Pluton had now been exposed.

A Warlord attempting to take over a kingdom was already serious.

A Warlord searching for an Ancient Weapon was much worse.

The World Government could tolerate many things for political convenience.

Pluton was not one of them.

If word spread that an Ancient Weapon capable of destroying entire countries could be obtained, every ambitious pirate, kingdom, and power in the world would begin moving.

The resulting chaos could easily spread far beyond Alabasta.

There was little chance Crocodile would simply be released again.

Vivi finally relaxed.

Impel Down.

Just hearing the name of the supposedly inescapable prison made Crocodile feel much farther away.

"Then all that’s left is the Rebel Army."

"They’re already here," Axel said.

Vivi froze.

"Here?"

"Yes."

Her eyes narrowed.

"The noise earlier... besides your fight..."

Axel smiled.

Vivi’s expression darkened.

"You brought the Rebel Army to Rainbase?"

"Mhm."

Vivi stared at him.

"So this was your solution?"

Her voice rose.

"Bringing hundreds of thousands of angry rebels into Crocodile’s city before anything was settled?"

"If something had gone wrong, how many people could have died?"

Axel spread his hands innocently.

Before Vivi could continue, another tremor rolled through Rainbase.

Dust drifted from the already damaged ceiling.

Then came the screams outside.

The city, already shaken by the destruction of Rain Dinners, had lost what little calm remained.

Vivi looked toward the window.

"Did you do something else?"

Axel gave her an offended look.

Vivi did not buy it.

He was exactly the sort of person worth suspecting whenever something inexplicable happened.

"Instead of accusing me," Axel said, "wouldn’t it be easier to go outside and see?"

No one disagreed.

Chopper and Bon Clay were injured, but both insisted on moving.

Wapol had little interest in Alabasta’s political crisis and looked almost bored by the entire subject. Even the news that Crocodile had been arrested barely seemed to affect him.

Mr. 1 and Miss Doublefinger remained too injured to escape.

The group stepped outside.

Rainbase was in complete disorder.

People were abandoning homes and shops with whatever they could carry.

Most took only valuables, food, and water.

"Lord Crocodile is fighting someone!"

"Rain Dinners collapsed!"

"Get out of the city!"

"The Rebel Army and Royal Army are about to fight!"

"Run before the fighting starts!"

"How did everything go wrong at once?!"

Fear spread faster than facts.

Families rushed past one another.

Merchants abandoned goods that had been worth fortunes an hour earlier.

Some people cried.

Others shouted.

A few simply ran without knowing exactly what they were running from.

Vivi stopped.

"The Rebel Army and Royal Army?"

Her face tightened.

"What happened?"

She immediately looked toward Axel.

Axel shrugged.

"Don’t ask me."

"For once, I actually don’t know."

He had expected the Rebel Army to arrive.

He had not expected the Royal Army to appear at the same time.

And considering the hatred that had built between them over the last several years, putting both forces face-to-face was dangerous.

Then Vivi suddenly remembered something.

She turned toward Bon Clay.

"You."

Bon Clay blinked.

"You were pretending to be Koza."

Her eyes sharpened.

"Then you must know where the real Koza is."

Bon Clay and Chopper were supporting each other as they walked.

He answered without trying to soften the truth.

"There’s no need to search where I left him."

Vivi’s heart tightened.

"When I carried out the Boss’s order, I stabbed him."

Bon Clay lowered his eyes.

"The blade went into his abdomen, and then I threw him into the sand."

Vivi went completely still.

"No..."

Her face drained of color.

Without thinking, she swung her hand toward Bon Clay’s face.

Bon Clay did not dodge.

He had already decided that if Vivi wanted to strike him, he would accept it.

Her fist never landed.

Axel caught her wrist.

Vivi turned toward him.

"He doesn’t owe you that."

She bit her lip.

Bon Clay spoke quietly.

"When I was injured and pretending to be Koza, I heard you talking."

"About him."

"About your friendship."

He gave Vivi an unusually sincere look.

"It moved me."

"So if you need to hit me, I should accept it."

"I don’t think I’d forgive myself otherwise."

Axel stared at him.

"That was almost touching."

Bon Clay brightened slightly.

Then Axel added,

"But can you stop talking about your heart like that?"

Bon Clay’s expression collapsed.

Vivi slowly lowered her fist.

She said nothing more about it.

Whatever she felt toward Bon Clay could wait.

"We need to stop the armies before they fight."

Then she ran.

Chopper and Bon Clay were in no condition to follow quickly, so they remained behind together.

Wapol stayed as well, mostly because someone had to keep an eye on Mr. 1 and Miss Doublefinger.

Axel followed Vivi with Robin.

After a few seconds, he seemed to lose patience with her running speed.

Before Vivi understood what was happening, Axel grabbed both her and Robin.

He carried them like two pieces of luggage and accelerated.

"W-Wait!"

The scenery blurred.

By the time Vivi recovered from the sudden speed, they had already reached the confrontation between the two armies.

And then all three stopped.

No battle had begun.

The Royal Army stood on one side.

The Rebel Army stood on the other.

Weapons were ready, but no one was fighting.

Between the two forces stood two men.

King Cobra.

And Toto.

They were speaking intensely to one another while both armies watched.

Axel stared at the scene.

"What the hell...?"

Vivi felt much the same.

Robin merely smiled.

Vivi’s gaze moved toward the elderly man.

"Uncle Toto..."

Toto turned.

For a moment, the years seemed to disappear from his expression.

It had been a long time since he had seen Vivi.

The little princess who used to visit his family had grown into a young woman without him even noticing.

Vivi hurried toward him.

"Koza."

Her voice tightened.

"Is he...?"

Toto nodded.

"He’s alive."

Vivi stopped breathing for a moment.

"His wounds are serious, but his life isn’t in danger."

Relief washed across her face.

Toto explained what had happened.

Although he had never supported his son’s rebellion, Koza was still his son.

He had always watched over him from a distance.

The day Koza was attacked and later thrown into the desert, Toto had secretly followed the movements around him.

He found Koza buried in the sand and rescued him.

That was why Toto had hesitated earlier when the rebels argued over Koza’s disappearance.

He knew someone was deliberately using his son’s fate to stir the army into action.

But revealing that Koza was still alive also meant revealing where he was.

And whoever had attacked him once might simply try again.

So Toto remained silent.

Then news reached him that the Rebel Army had attacked Princess Vivi.

He realized the situation was spiraling out of control.

Using a concealed route, he brought the still-recovering Koza toward Rainbase.

His arrival, combined with Cobra’s appearance, had prevented the confrontation from turning into a battle.

Vivi exhaled slowly.

For the first time in what felt like forever, events had resolved themselves without someone needing to be beaten unconscious.

Then Cobra approached.

The King of Alabasta stopped in front of Axel.

And bowed deeply.

"Thank you."

His voice was completely sincere.

"For everything you’ve done for Alabasta."

Several Royal Guards immediately reacted.

"Your Majesty!"

Igaram stepped forward.

Cobra raised one hand, stopping him.

He continued,

"I gathered the Royal Army and came here intending to confront Crocodile."

"If we had arrived at the wrong moment, the Royal Army and Rebel Army might have fought instead."

"Countless people could have died."

He bowed lower.

"For preventing that, and for defeating the man responsible for this disaster, you have my gratitude."

Axel reached out and pulled him upright.

"You don’t need to thank me."

Cobra looked at him.

"I need something from you too."

The king did not hesitate.

"You saved this country."

"If it is within my power, I will do it."

Axel glanced toward the people surrounding Cobra.

Igaram.

Pell.

Chaka.

The king understood.

"You may all leave us."

Igaram immediately objected.

"Your Majesty, that is..."

"It’s fine."

Cobra’s voice left little room for argument.

The guards hesitated.

They knew perfectly well that if Axel truly intended to harm Cobra, their presence would accomplish almost nothing.

Still, their loyalty made leaving difficult.

Eventually, under Cobra’s insistence, they withdrew.

Robin remained far enough away not to intrude.

Vivi watched from a distance.

Once only Axel and Cobra were left close enough to speak privately, the king asked,

"What do you need?"

Axel answered directly.

"I want access to the royal tomb."

Cobra’s face changed.

"What?"

He barely managed to keep his voice down.

For several seconds, neither spoke.

Then Cobra asked carefully,

"Why?"

Axel looked at him.

"The Poneglyph."

One word was enough.

Cobra’s expression hardened.

That single subject carried the weight of secrets his family had guarded for generations.

He remained silent for a long time.

Finally, he closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, the decision had been made.

"...All right."

....

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