When Supreme King Haki is released, it emanates a powerful pressure from the center of the releaser, often causing those much weaker to faint and lose consciousness, serving as an excellent skill for clearing lesser soldiers.
Especially after the update, the emergence of Supreme King Entanglement has become almost the pinnacle for the strong.
The first Awakening of Supreme King Haki causes indiscriminate attacks on all creatures nearby, but as one becomes proficient in using it, it can be selectively targeted at one or several people in a crowd.
Yamato's Supreme King Haki is already very refined; however, faced with tens of thousands of kingdom troops and the Rebel Army, she truly doesn't know how to differentiate between friend and foe specifically.
Hence, she deemed a certain area around her as a "Safe Zone," only affecting those outside of it with intimidation.
The kingdom troops observing the battle from high ground were less affected and were still able to report the situation.
Tens of thousands fainting simultaneously, this is an eerie situation they never anticipated by any means.
Of course, the current situation here is more shocking to the guards than those outside, despite Crocodile planning for years. Cobra still has certain popularity; the Royal City's guards still believe in their King.
But now, he doesn't know what to do in this chaotic scene, standing in the square bewildered for a moment.
However, his mission is complete; the battle report he brought should be enough to let the people here understand what's happening outside.
"So, King Cobra, Princess Vivi, is this outcome satisfactory for you? They'll be unconscious for quite a while, enough time for you to arrange follow-up actions, right? Wasn't spending 1,381,000,000 well worth it?"
"Worth it....."
Waging war has always been taxing and costly to the populace, let alone such internal strife within the kingdom. Besides casualties on both sides, the kingdom's economic development will face major issues afterwards. Spending several billions to resolve it so swiftly can save quite a bit of money.
Moreover, it seems this is truly the quickest way to stop the war. Baroque Works' undercover agents lie within both the Rebel Army and kingdom army, making it quite challenging to make them cease fighting. Now that both sides have fainted, there's naturally no need for battle.
Importantly for Cobra, it's about sparing the citizens from casualties.
"Our principle is to do business when paid. If you don't mind, can you take me to see the Poneglyph? Yamato, it's up to you to handle things here, whatever you feel like doing."
Yamato isn't interested in complex history; conversely, Robin isn't keen on combat. Leaving Yamato to deal with Crocodile while studying the Poneglyph with Cobra is the most time-efficient way.
Yamato gestured to Robin to show it was okay, it looked like she intended to follow the previous advice and ask questions later after things conclude.
"Uh... I don't really have any objections, but given the current situation... isn't this a bit inappropriate?"
Cobra didn't plan to breach the contract; his original plan was to drag Crocodile to die together, using triggers in the underground Holy Temple to bury him forever beneath Alabasta.
If he let him gain Alabasta, the citizens would have no peace ever again, which was his final duty as King.
As a royal lineage spanning thousands of years, it's quite odd for a place keeping secrets not to have mechanisms.
But now circumstances have changed; this group doesn't seem interested in Alabasta, and the power they showed surpasses Crocodile considerably.
Crucially, Cobra doesn't want to attract that monster Kaidou.
The secret of the Poneglyph has been exposed—if it truly reaches that stage, it cannot be preserved and Alabasta will endure another devastation; better to solve the issue while there's an opportunity.
During the next World Meeting, he could discuss issues about the Seven Warlords of the Sea persecuting allied nation Kings, the Navy being ineffective, requiring him to spend substantial funds on Pirate Mercenaries to manage this—all considered, he agreed readily.
Annoyed that Robin ignored him while speaking openly treating him like a commodity, Crocodile was very displeased; as she moved to free Cobra, yellow sand billowed too.
"I say, don't act as if I don't exist! Desert Treasure Blade!"
Crocodile's right arm transformed into yellow sand and raised upwards, countless grains converging and flowing rapidly, endowing his Desert Treasure Blade with powerful cutting ability.
The surface in the Imperial Palace split into two beneath this strike, while the blade charged unstoppably toward Robin.
"Thundering Hakken!"
Boom!
Both Robin and Cobra remained unscathed, whereas Crocodile was hammered by Yamato's rod, flying out and turning into scattered sand upon the wall.
"How weak, I say, are you really one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea? Jinbe and Hancock are much stronger than you."
Both Jinbe and Hancock have some connection to the Hundred Beasts, leading them inevitably into fights. Through battles with them, Yamato gained a rough understanding of the Seven Warlords' power level.
Later, the fight with Hawkeye confirmed her understanding wasn't off, but Crocodile's performance made her question whether the Seven Warlords were somewhat exaggerated.
"Cough cough... you bastard..."
Reforming from scattered sand, Crocodile's blood already stained most of his face red, looking extremely fierce.
"How... how is it possible? Just one blow..."
Vivi widened her eyes, having difficulty believing what just happened. For defeating Crocodile, she exhausted considerable effort, yet still found no solution.
Previously, Crocodile displayed ultimate arrogance, but now, she's seeing him knocked out with just one strike; actually, Vivi didn't realize this was merely a probing attack, as Yamato didn't deploy notable power in her humanoid form.
"Ah? You're still here, go with Robin to leave quickly, be careful of accidental injuries later."
"Hey, hey, even though you're a pirate from the New World, show some respect, I was sailing when you were just a brat! Heavy Sandstorm!"
Yellow sand flew all over the sky, the massive sand cyclone gradually engulfing the entire Imperial Palace, attracting outside yellow sand to gather toward the palace.
"I will find the Netherworld King and become the King of the World; just a woman, what qualifies you to stop..."
Thunk!
Before Crocodile finished his words, Yamato broke through the sandstorm he'd created and landed another strike on his head.
Watching Crocodile with his eyes turning white, Yamato patted her ear to shake out residual sand.
"The wind is strong, what did you just say, what kind of King were you claiming you'd become?"