Chapter 52

Upon hearing this form of address,

Sima Di knew this was Mr. 2 in disguise, and gave a cold nod.

"The ambush has been dealt with. Let's move out."

"Good, that's our boss for you! I'll just—"

"Hold on. Notify Mr. 1 to head to the north of the city. I've left the Straw Hat Pirates' swordsman for him."

"Huh?"

"Hmm?"

"Yes!"

And so,

when the great army set out, Mr. 1 broke away from the main force alone, heading north of the city by himself.

In fact,

he was even somewhat touched by the boss's "thoughtfulness." Having failed to cut down that swordsman last time was a disgrace for someone who called himself the "Swordsman's Bane"!

The rebel army drove straight in, passing the city gate, passing through the city district, passing the outer wall of Wang Gong.

They finally met the bare-chested four-hundred-thousand-strong Royal Army at the giant plaza.

The rebel soldiers, who had already been prepared to fight with their backs to the wall, were dumbfounded at the sight!

Weren't they supposed to fight to the death?

Why aren't the enemies even properly geared up?

Mr. 2 cast a questioning look at Sima Di—what should they do now?

Sima Di returned a look that said wait and see.

Just as everyone was bewildered,

Vivi's voice rang out through every loudspeaker in all of Alubarna.

"Citizens, I am Princess Vivi."

"I now stand for Alabasta, stand for the Nefertari royal house, and unconditionally surrender to all of you! All the weapons are piled beneath the steps—this is our sincerity!"

"So no matter what happens next, please, everyone, absolutely do not take up arms!"

"Alabasta belongs to everyone. Rivers of blood will only delight the plotters behind the scenes—the only ones who suffer will be our families!"

The rebel army erupted in uproar!

"What?"

"The Royal Army... is surrendering just like that?"

"But why?"

"We can finally live!"

Mr. 2 was also stunned, and looked again at "Crocodile."

Aren't we going to do something about this?

Sima Di shook his head once more.

What could possibly be done?

And then...

The wild move came!

And what they saw was...

? burn? burn? burn? burn? burn? burn? burn? burn? burn? burn? burn? burn? burn? burn? burn?

There'll be an extra update later, making up for yesterday's!

Begging for comments in the comment section! Every 100 comments means an extra update! Progress: 199/200;

53. Zoro's iconic moment! Using magic to defeat magic!

Just as both the rebel army and the Royal Army were caught in utter bewilderment, Vivi began her campaign of persuasion.

Starting from the initial point that "the Dance Powder was deliberately used by the plotters," so that aside from the capital Alubarna, only Rainbase, where Crocodile was stationed, still received rain.

Vivi posed her soul-searching question!

"Since Alubarna has already used Dance Powder to plunder all the surrounding rainwater, why does Rainbase still have rain?"

"If it's because of the river separating them, then why are Yuba and Erumalu, which are similarly situated, still in drought?"

This was a question no one had ever thought to ask before, and now it was being forcefully raised.

Right!

Using Dance Powder only in Alubarna shouldn't affect the other half of the country across the way!

Unless...

Rainbase's abundant rainfall was also brought by Dance Powder!

And as the one stationed at Rainbase, Crocodile, he...

"Gwahahah—" Sima Di, disguised as Crocodile, laughed loudly: "Princess Vivi, you can't possibly be suggesting I used Dance Powder too, can you? Stop hiding in the shadows—come out and talk!"

"Out I come, then!"

Vivi stepped out from the edge of the plaza, came to stand before the Royal Army, and on the steps locked eyes with Crocodile.

"Isn't that exactly the case?" Vivi pressed. "Using Dance Powder to smear the royal house, while openly playing the hero to gain fame, and secretly forming Baroque Works as an armed force, intending to launch a coup today to swap heaven and earth and complete your plot to steal the kingdom!"

"Gwahahah—"

Crocodile laughed exaggeratedly, as though he had heard something utterly hilarious.

But...

"You think I have no proof?"

Vivi pointed to one side of the plaza, and only then did the crowd notice a giant curtain hanging there.

Following Vivi's covert signal,

the giant curtain projected an image — it was exactly the scene of Crocodile painting grand visions in an underground chamber.

"... The Utopia Plan is already more than half complete, only the final kick at the door remains!"

"When the time comes, the king impersonated by Mr. 2 will step aside for me, and we shall become the new royalty!"

"Everyone, follow me to conquer the world!

Although the footage cut off abruptly here, it was already enough to explain everything.

—In the World of Thieves there is no such thing as 'video editing'; a Den Den Mushi will only faithfully play back the footage it recorded.

Crocodile now finds himself with no way to defend himself!

He was present at the time too — why doesn't he remember Crocodile saying these words?

Mr. 2 tried to seek confirmation from Crocodile, but the man beside him merely watched the footage with a dark expression, showing no intention of speaking with him.

—A Den Den Mushi cannot be faked, but people and scenes can be!

You, Crocodile, aren't you the one who likes to play the framing game?

Then Ma Di used the Transformation Technique to record this footage and manufacture evidence!

This is called fighting magic with magic.

And it wasn't even over yet,

the scene shifted,

showing Mr. 2 in a swan outfit standing before a mirror, activating his "Clone-Clone Fruit" to switch between face after face — among them King Cobra's and rebel leader Koza's.

Needless to say,

this too was manufactured by Ma Di.

Even Mr. 2 was dumbfounded, wondering when he had been secretly filmed.

At this moment,

Vivi explained at the right moment: "The so-called Utopia Operation is to use the Dance Powder incident to stir up conflict, and supply weapons to the rebel army."

"Then use the image of a hero to win the people's trust."

"After that, kidnap the king, and have the senior agent Mr. 2, who ate the Clone-Clone Fruit, impersonate the king to destroy towns and thoroughly inflame the opposition, letting the rebel army and the king's army slaughter each other while he reaps the benefits of the fisherman's game."

"Now, the source of all the disasters in Alabasta is none other than this so-called hero of Alabasta, Warlord of the Sea, pirate Crocodile standing before us!"