Alabasta Alubarna, the royal capital.
Once, this city stood proud as a jewel of the desert kingdom. Now, even the wind carried sorrow. Dust swirled through the air, mingling with the dry, scorching scent of decay. The palm trees that once offered shade now hung limp and brittle, their yellowed leaves curling under the sun's cruel gaze.
Beneath the towering marble columns of the palace, King Nefertari Cobra stood in silence.
His weathered hands clutched a sealed document fresh intelligence sent through encrypted channels from the Navy. His eyes, wide with disbelief, scanned the pages again and again, each line striking like a red-hot blade to his heart.
"This... impossible..." he murmured, voice hoarse and trembling.
The truth written before him shattered everything he believed.
The man he had personally honored as Alabasta's savior the national hero, the symbol of hope Crocodile... was the very architect of the kingdom's ruin.
He had manipulated forbidden "Dance Powder" to alter weather patterns, hoarding rain for Rainbase while leaving the rest of Alabasta in unending drought.
Because of him, the fertile lands had cracked into barren wastelands. Rivers turned to dust. Countless citizens were displaced, their anger and despair directed toward their helpless king.
And Crocodile?
He smiled benevolently as he "saved" the people he had doomed.
With one hand, he played the benevolent protector. With the other, he nurtured Baroque Works an underground network of assassins and spies to stir rebellion and plunge Alabasta into civil war.
"Damn it..." Cobra's voice broke, his hands shaking uncontrollably.
He remembered how many times he had publicly praised Crocodile's valor, thanked him for defeating pirates, called him a hero of the nation.
Now those memories stung like cruel, mocking slaps to the face.
He Nefertari D. Cobra, the twelfth king of Alabasta had invited the serpent into his own home and crowned him a hero.
It was the greatest irony... and the deepest shame.
His gaze fell to the final section of the report, where an uncompromising order was stamped in crimson ink:
[The Royal Army is to immediately cease all military action and fortify the capital. The Navy will assume full responsibility for the operation against Baroque Works.]
The command was direct, forceful, absolute.
And below it signed in blood-red ink was the name that now echoed through Cobra's mind.
Rear Admiral Renn Hawk.
"Hawk... Rear Admiral Hawk..." Cobra repeated quietly, tasting the name like a prayer.
He didn't know who this man was, or why he had come to Alabasta.
But he knew one thing this Hawk had given them a chance.
Without him, Alabasta would have already fallen entirely into Crocodile's grasp. The nation would have vanished into the sands of history, its people left to rot in despair, and Cobra himself remembered as the king who destroyed his own kingdom.
Suddenly, a royal guard burst through the doorway and dropped to one knee.
"Relay my orders!" Cobra commanded. His voice, once frail, now rang with a king's authority.
"All royal troops are to withdraw and regroup within Alubarna's walls. And summon Bell immediately!"
The guard saluted and sprinted away. Moments later, a tall man in white robes entered the hall. His head was wrapped in a turban, his hawk-like eyes sharp and focused.
He was Pell the Falcon, guardian of the kingdom, wielder of the Zoan-type Bird-Bird Fruit, Model: Falcon.
"Pell," Cobra said urgently. "Do you have word on the Navy's movement from Nanohana?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," Pell replied, bowing. "After departing Nanohana, they made no effort to conceal their advance. The fleet has gathered and is now marching toward Rainbase."
"Rainbase..." Cobra whispered.
That was Crocodile's fortress.
"Rear Admiral Hawk... You intend to strike directly at the heart."
He couldn't remain behind. As king, and as a man who had led his nation into ruin, he needed to face the one fighting to save it.
He needed to thank him not as a ruler, but as a man.
"Prepare for departure," Cobra said resolutely. "We're going to Rainbase."
A clear, determined voice echoed from behind the palace columns.
"Father, please take me with you!"
Both Cobra and Pell turned toward the sound.
A young woman stepped into the light long blue hair flowing, white gown fluttering. Princess Vivi.
She had overheard everything the panic in her father's voice, the grim weight in Pell's tone. She had pieced together the truth.
Crocodile's deception was exposed.
And the one who unveiled it was the Navy.
As a princess of Alabasta, she could not remain a bystander at this turning point in her nation's fate.
Seeing the resolve burning in her daughter's eyes, Cobra finally nodded. "Very well. Pell, let's go."
The falcon warrior knelt, his great white wings unfurling in a powerful sweep.
Moments later, a majestic bird soared skyward from the palace, rising into the blazing desert sun.
On its back rode the hope of Alabasta the king and his daughter.
High above the desert, the wind howled around them.
Vivi clutched her father's robe tightly as the gusts whipped her hair into a storm of blue silk.
Below them stretched a kingdom of dust and ruin once lush and green, now nothing but cracked earth and despair.
Cobra's heart ached at the sight. Yet, when his eyes turned toward the distant horizon toward Rainbase a faint light flickered within that darkness.
Rear Admiral Hawk... you must win.
The falcon cried, slicing through the skies as it raced toward the storm brewing at Rainbase.
Meanwhile, in the desert below, the steady rhythm of marching boots thundered across the sands.
Step. Step. Step.
Thousands of Navy soldiers advanced in perfect formation, their discipline cutting through the wasteland like a blade.
At their head walked a man in a white coat emblazoned with the word Justice Renn Hawk.
His expression was calm, composed. Behind him followed Zoro, Sanji, Robin, Hibari, and Peacock, each ready for battle.
On the horizon, the golden pyramid-shaped casino of Rainbase shimmered in the sun the lair of Crocodile himself.
Then, from the dunes ahead, another group appeared. Fewer in number, disorganized, but unmistakable.
Hawk's sharp gaze lifted. Through the swirling sands, his eyes locked onto the man at their center.
Crocodile.
The corners of Hawk's mouth curved slightly, his eyes turning cold and sharp as lightning.
An invisible pressure rippled through the air, crashing down upon the desert like a storm.
Conqueror's Haki unleashed.
"The Desert King himself, huh?" Hawk muttered, voice like steel.
"Let's see if you can stand even with me."
The sand trembled. The desert fell silent.
The battle for Alabasta had begun.
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