"This Cartel is so powerful... Doctor, are you sure we can handle them?" Nami forced a smile.
"Yeah, yeah! Even the World Government can't do anything about them, right?" After hearing how frighteningly powerful the Cartel had become, Usopp quickly joined in.
There was no denying it. In just a few years, the Cartel had already gained enormous influence across the Grand Line. They might even have the Revolutionary Army supporting them from behind the scenes. No matter how you looked at it, this was not an organization a pirate crew that had only just left the East Blue could hope to face!
"You came from the East Blue, so show a little spirit," Crocus said with a chuckle.
"The East Blue is known as the weakest sea for pirates because it is where the Marines are strongest among the Four Seas. The fact that you managed to break out from the place where the Marines are strongest proves just how capable you are."
"Heh heh, of course," Luffy said, accepting Crocus's praise without the slightest hesitation, even though they had not exactly escaped through any proper channels.
If Lucci had not interfered, Uta would probably have captured them by now.
But in a way, luck was also a kind of strength—especially if that luck could last forever...
Seeing this, Nami could only ask another question. "But if the Cartel is acting this wildly, shouldn't the Marines do something about it?"
"I don't know..." How could Ikaram possibly know anything about Marine intelligence? He spoke dejectedly. "I even suspect that Marine Headquarters has some kind of connection with the Cartel. Whenever the Cartel attacked important sea transportation hubs, the Marines withdrew without putting up much of a fight."
He was utterly desperate. If the Cartel really was connected to the Marines, then who in this world could save them and rescue the princess?
"What? Aren't they supposed to be the just Marines?" Nami found it hard to understand. The others more or less felt the same way, because the Marines had always had a good reputation in the East Blue.
Although Nami had spent several years working for Gato's company, she did not dislike the Marines. After all, it was their presence that kept the East Blue safe from pirate attacks.
But Zoro answered her question directly. "Is helping kings and nobles what justice means?"
Nami and Ikaram were both stunned by that remark. Zoro had only said it offhand, though. If someone asked him to explain some grand principle, he definitely would not know what to say.
Still, that one sentence had gone straight to the heart of the matter. Marine Headquarters had no secret connection with the Cartel. An had refused to send the Marines to wipe out the Cartel for two reasons: first, the World Government was wary of the Marines; second, she did not believe the Cartel's existence was entirely wrong.
To restore its former position, the World Government had been building up its military strength over the years. It constantly plundered the wealth of various countries to build armies and weapons. Because of some shameful motives, it had also refused to aid Alabasta, which was why the kingdom had developed a "lawless zone."
The Cartel was a violent organization founded by some of the poorest and most desperate people in the world. They ignored the law because those so-called laws left them unable to survive. They used violence to fight the injustice imposed on them by those above them. In An's eyes, that was not evil.
Even though things had started to spiral out of control, the Cartel's existence had forced many kingdoms that had never been attacked by them to improve the way they treated their people.
An had no intention of moving against the Cartel until they completely lost control and changed from a rebel army fighting kings and nobles into the same kind of violent organization as the people they had once opposed.
This would inevitably harm innocent people as well, but all An could do was regret their misfortune. She was the Fleet Admiral of the Marines, but she also had the identity of the pirate Roger. She would not become a puppet of the World Government like the Fleet Admirals before her, but neither would she recklessly spread her goodwill everywhere.
That was why she had kept the Marines out of this incident. She also had a perfectly reasonable excuse to give the World Government.
The Marines had to place most of their strength in the New World. If they went after the Cartel, it could easily interfere with their plans there, possibly causing a disaster even more terrifying than ten Cartels combined.
The World Government knew that An was making excuses, but what she said did make sense, so it allowed the current situation in the first half of the Grand Line to continue.
"Yes..." After hearing Zoro's words, Ikaram sighed in self-reproach. "If the kingdom had developed better, perhaps the lawless zone would never have appeared. And without it, an organization like the Cartel might never have existed."
"Come on, we'll find out what's really going on when we get to Alabasta!" Luffy said directly. "Besides, didn't you say we're supposed to deal with the Cartel?"
Crocus was Shanks's friend, so Luffy was willing to trust his judgment.
"When the Cartel was first founded, it was an organization fighting for its own rights and resisting the World Government's unfair treatment. That was why it received support from the Revolutionary Army." Crocus slowly shook his head as he explained to everyone. "But as its power grew, the desire for power corrupted some of its leaders. They forgot what they had originally fought for and turned the entire Cartel into an extremely brutal organization."
"They recruited pirates from all four seas without any limits. This made the Cartel stronger, but it also brought pirate habits into the organization. Many of the old members who could not stand what the Cartel had become eventually left. The Cartel can no longer represent the oppressed people as it once did. It has become a new evil."
"So that's how it is..." Ikaram continued, "The princess always wanted to negotiate with the Cartel. At first, they seemed willing to talk as well, but then they suddenly changed their minds and launched an even more vicious attack. With no other choice, we decided to go to Marine Headquarters for help. Unfortunately, the Cartel found out about it along the way..."
"Then where was the princess taken?" Nami asked.
During the time he had spent recovering, Ikaram had already figured out the route the Cartel would probably take. He answered at once. "She was most likely taken to Alabasta first. Then, when the time was right, they would transport her to their current headquarters."
"Their current headquarters? Didn't they originate in Alabasta's lawless zone?" Nami asked in confusion. She had figured out that, apart from her, the others were all hopelessly unreliable. At a critical moment like this, none of them had even thought to ask for information.
"Unfortunately, I'm not entirely sure about that either." Ikaram looked troubled. The Cartel's power was growing rapidly, while the Alabasta Kingdom now controlled less than a quarter of its territory. Even the royal capital was surrounded. How could he possibly have access to so many clues about the Cartel?
"But I heard that the Cartel's current headquarters is somewhere extremely secret. Even inside the Cartel, only a handful of people know where it is."
"...That rumor isn't helpful at all," Nami said sarcastically.
But after hearing this much, she no longer objected.
Fine, they would fight the Cartel. What else could she do after following a simple-minded captain like this one?
If none of the others were afraid, then as a ghost, she had even less reason to be.
"Looks like you've made up your minds." Crocus clapped his hands. "Laboon also wants to return to the surface. Since we're still inside the sea, I'll send you on your way."
"Laboon? You mean that giant whale?" Luffy asked curiously. He had been the last one to wake up, but he had still caught a glimpse of the whale. The thought that a whale could grow so huge filled him with curiosity.
"Come to think of it, Laboon wasn't always this big. He's just grown larger and larger over the past few years." Crocus spoke softly, as if he had remembered something. "I hope that's a good thing."
"A whale this big could feed us for ten years if we turned it into food," Sanji said, feeling his body's hunger for delicious food flare up. Still, he managed to suppress it.
The whale was obviously powerful, and it was just as obvious that it was not something they could treat as food.
Besides, its strength was truly terrifying. Even inside its body, it could control the water and push an entire island upward at incredible speed. If it could do that outside, it might be even more frightening.
With its enormous size, it might even be a terrifying monster no weaker than the Kraken.
Sanji felt that his current body would probably suffer multiple fractures if the whale so much as bumped into him.
Crocus glanced at him, then shouted, "Laboon, get us out of here!"
Not long after he spoke, the sea seemed to boil. A current burst through the inner world, and the entire island appeared to rise as the water pushed it upward. Everyone inside the metal room felt the whole place shake.
Luffy was the first to reach the window. Watching the scenery rise outside, he let out an astonished cry.
Nami rubbed her chin. "No wonder this room had to be made of steel. A wooden house would probably collapse under this kind of pressure, right?"
Ikaram was having a hard time. His body was already very weak, and the sudden ascent put him under extreme gravitational pressure, making him feel even worse.
Boom!
At last, a fierce rush of wind suddenly swept through the room. The world grew brighter—not because of electric lights, but because sunlight came pouring in.
Before long, Laboon shot them out. Crocus opened the door. "Your ship is on the island. Go on. I hope you succeed."
Luffy nodded. "Yeah! We'll definitely rescue the princess!"
With that, he charged out first.
The others had no choice but to follow. Usopp was still carrying the unconscious Ben Tennyson on his back, while Sanji had to carry the weakened Ikaram. He asked bitterly, "Why am I the one carrying someone again?"
"It's a chance for you to build a relationship with the princess ahead of time," Zoro teased as he walked beside him. "Once we rescue her, the person on your back can put in a good word for you. Then you'll get to spend more time with the princess, won't you?"
Those words worked exactly as Zoro intended. Sanji, who had been reluctant a moment earlier, suddenly found a burst of motivation.
The Ikaram on his back, however, turned black-faced with anger.
"Come to think of it, the princess must be a great beauty, right?" Sanji imagined what she might look like: long, silky hair, gentle eyes, and an elegant princess dress...
"Of course! Princess Vivi is the most beautiful woman in the world!" Ikaram shouted.
Sanji became even more excited. His speed suddenly increased several times over, and he even overtook Luffy, who had been ahead of him, becoming the first to reach the Going Merry.
"That guy..." Usopp, who had also been carrying someone the entire time, said unhappily. "He gets this worked up whenever women are involved."
"A fair lady is a fine match for a gentleman," someone said from behind him.
"The fair lady part might be true, but no matter how you look at him, he's definitely not a gentleman..." Usopp suddenly froze. That voice...
"Ben?!" Usopp turned around and was stunned to see Ben smiling at him!
"Hee hee." Ben grinned. "Come on, Big Brother Usopp! We're at the very back already!"
"Hey, you! You were already awake, so how dare you make me carry you? That's seriously unfair!"
Before he could do anything else, the island suddenly seemed to start dropping. Everyone shifted from extreme gravity to weightlessness and then back to extreme gravity, nearly falling over again.
"Hurry! The island is falling back down!"
Ben urged him on.
"I know, I know!" Usopp was actually pretty fast, since he knew how to use Moonwalk. Realizing how urgent the situation was, he hurried forward at full speed. Before long, everyone had reached the Going Merry.
"Set sail!"
Luffy shouted with both hands raised.
Because they were still on the island, the Going Merry could not sail normally. That was not a problem, though, because everyone aboard was superhuman.
As the navigator, Nami directly created a powerful wind. Driven by the wind, the Going Merry began moving across the island before suddenly plunging downward from above. They were still more than a hundred meters above the sea.
Everyone screamed as they rushed toward the water. The Going Merry seemed to sense the emotions of the people aboard and formed another protective barrier, making everyone feel much steadier.
Back on the island, Crocus watched the Straw Hats leave and said softly, "I wonder whether sending them to face the Cartel was the right choice."
At that moment, something seemed to whisper into his ear. Crocus gave a quiet laugh.
"Perhaps... they might even be able to free you from the curse."
The island descended, but Crocus did not return to Rab's body with it. Instead, he took the opportunity to jump onto Rab's back.
And on Rab's back, there was actually...
A huge number of buildings?!
There was not only an entire world inside Rab's stomach. There were also buildings on his back?
All of them had a distinctly religious style. Crocus did not enter the city. Instead, he placed a hand against Rab's back.
In that instant, he felt an incredibly powerful shock. It went straight into his mind, twisting his face in pain.
"Roger probably never imagined that, in the short time since his death, the world would already be on the verge of destruction..."
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