As evening approached, the banquet was finally set up.
Though it was put together in a hurry and looked a bit simple, there was plenty of food and drink. Igaram's wife joined in, going head-to-head with the Straw Hats' enormous appetites.
Luffy, being the glutton he is, didn't hold back at all. He ate and drank nonstop, even snatching food from other people's plates.
The others had no choice but to compete with him.
Carl ate at a steady pace, but every time Luffy stretched his hand toward his plate, Carl smacked his chopsticks—hardened with Armament Haki—against Luffy's hand, making him yelp in pain.
Mary, being clever, sat close to Carl. Because of this, Luffy didn't dare steal food from her plate, knowing he'd get smacked by Carl.
"Law, I didn't expect you to learn Armament Haki so quickly. That really caught me off guard," said Kaku casually.
"Well, Mr. Carl is a great teacher," Law replied modestly.
Sanji, who was busy analyzing the flavors of Alabasta's cuisine, glanced at Carl with resentment.
Carl raised an eyebrow and said, "Sanji, what's wrong? Didn't you also learn Iron Body from the Six Powers?"
Sanji rolled his eyes. "Iron Body is nothing compared to Armament Haki! If Mr. Carl had let me fight Mr. 1, I would've definitely awakened Haki!"
Where does he get this confidence?
Carl just shrugged, choosing not to comment.
But Zoro smirked and said sarcastically, "You damn love-cook, Mr. 1 has the Dice-Dice Fruit, which lets him turn his body into steel. As a swordsman, Tashigi would've been a better choice to fight him. If you had gone up against him, you'd probably have been diced into pieces."
Sanji immediately flared up. "What did you say, moss-head?! Are you doubting my talent?"
"Talent? Oh yeah, you did learn the Six Powers pretty fast. But when it comes to Haki, you're seriously lacking. I figured it out just a few days after entering the Grand Line, yet someone here still hasn't even shown signs of awakening it."
"You damn moss-head! You better watch your tongue before I kick it off!"
"I have Haki, unlike you."
Sanji failed to win the argument, and Zoro's final words struck a nerve.
Perhaps for Sanji, awakening Haki would soon become an obsession.
Chopper, Jango, Bepo, Shakky, and Jinbe exchanged glances before silently lowering their heads to focus on their food, choosing not to comment. However, before long, they too got dragged into a food fight with Luffy.
At some point, someone—no one knew who—stuck chopsticks in their nose and mouth, making a ridiculous face to get a laugh.
Suddenly, the whole room erupted in laughter.
Even the king and princess, who had been weighed down by stress for so long, laughed freely for the first time in ages. After everything they had been through, it was okay to let loose for once.
After the meal, the king invited everyone to take a bath in the palace bathhouse.
Carl wasn't really used to this, but since everyone else was going, it would have been awkward to refuse.
The men's bath quickly filled up with people—even the king and Igaram joined in. As soon as Sanji walked in, however, he immediately asked where the women's bath was, making his intentions obvious.
Ochoku pointed to the wall and said, "The women's bath is right behind this wall!"
Igaram panicked and tried to stop the king, but it was too late—Sanji and the others had already started climbing the wall one after another. Even Ochoku himself joined in.
Carl and Law exchanged helpless glances.
"Law, you really are a gentleman," Carl sighed.
Even the three animals—Bepo, Shiki, and Chopper—were peeping, but Law remained unfazed. True gentlemen like him were rare, especially compared to so-called knights like Sanji.
"Mr. Carl, aren't you one too?" Law asked casually.
"Oh, it's not that I don't want to look. It's just that none of them are my type, so I'll pass."
"I see."
Law didn't ask Carl what his type was—he simply continued washing up in silence.
Meanwhile, in the women's bath, Vivi, Nami, and Mary were relaxing and washing each other's backs when they suddenly heard a commotion.
"Father! Everyone! What do you think you're doing?! This is the women's bath!" Vivi yelled in frustration.
"A bunch of perverts," Mary muttered before sinking into the water.
Nami, however, smirked and stood up confidently. "I swear, I can't deal with you guys… 100,000 Berries each!"
And just like that, it was time for "censorship."
Luffy, Sanji, the king, and everyone else—including all the animals—collapsed on the spot. The king even had a nosebleed.
The scene must have been too much to handle…
"Thank you!" the king suddenly said.
"King of perversion!" everyone complained at once.
"It's not about that! I'm thanking you for saving this country!" the king declared before bowing deeply to everyone.
Zoro raised an eyebrow. "As a king, is that really appropriate?"
Igaram quickly objected. "Your Majesty, this is unacceptable! A king must maintain his dignity!"
Cobra, however, shook his head. "Igaram, a king's dignity is reflected in his appearance, but right now, we are in a bathhouse. The one thanking them isn't a king—it's a father and a citizen of this country."
Hearing this, everyone smiled.
Law remained silent, lost in thought.
Carl glanced at Sanji, who was still lying on the floor, and quickly said, "Chopper, Sanji has lost too much blood. Take care of him before it's too late."
For the next few days, they had to wait for the Log Pose to reset.
Carl took this opportunity to ask Cobra for permission to access the royal library. To his surprise, Cobra was incredibly generous and told him to take any books he liked.
Since the king insisted, Carl didn't hold back. He ended up filling an entire bag with hundreds of books, mostly about islands, cultures, and treasure legends.
During this time, the Straw Hat Pirates and the Heart Pirates stayed in the palace.
Even though they had helped save the country, they were still pirates, making it inconvenient for them to appear in public.
Alabasta was in the process of rebuilding, and new policies had to be put in place after the rebellion. For the sake of the country's future, great care had to be taken in shaping its recovery.
A special speech was also planned for Princess Vivi.
The Straw Hats timed their departure and decided to leave the night before Vivi's speech.
Vivi was reluctant to say goodbye, but as a princess, she had responsibilities to uphold, while the Straw Hats had their own dreams of adventure. Their paths were destined to part here.
After her speech, Alabasta would be fully back on track, and it wouldn't be appropriate for the princess to travel with pirates any longer.
The Straw Hats were unwilling to part ways, but they had no choice.
As for whether Vivi would go with them—that was for her to decide. They would wait for her, but if she didn't come by the appointed time, they would set sail without her.
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