"Was it really that easy?"
Vivi crouched down, her expression a complex knot of emotions as she stared at the fallen Sand Crocodile. She couldn't help but ask out loud.
Frankly, she was experiencing an existential crisis. The greatest existential threat her kingdom had ever faced had just been dismantled by a man who seemed to care about nothing but sleeping with women.
Crocodile's intricate conspiracies, his ruthless machinations, and the staggering sacrifices her nation had endured—
It all felt completely meaningless now.
Vivi reflected on her time with Li Ke. While she could see he trained relentlessly, he always carried an air of total unreliability. It was as if nothing else in the world mattered to him except getting laid, working out, and eating. The man didn't care about his clothes, his reputation, or how others perceived him; his only metric of interest seemed to be whether a woman would let him into her bed.
To think this way felt incredibly rude—making her feel like an ungrateful, unprincipled hypocrite—but she couldn't shake the feeling. Having her country saved by someone like Li Ke felt like a bad joke. Vivi felt a deep pang of guilt over her own cynicism, but looking over at the smirking Li Ke, the absurdity of the situation only intensified.
In truth, Li Ke was just as surprised.
The profound lecture he had delivered to Crocodile was mostly just to convince himself. He had fully expected to deploy his Waterbending abilities. With a vast ocean right there at the harbor, it would have been a waste not to give Crocodile a refreshing surprise.
The turning point was his unexpected ability to deal raw "true damage," combined with an Observation Haki that had inexplicably unlocked god-tier perception. On top of that, Crocodile's actual physical speed and close-quarters combat skills were undeniably leagues below his own.
The result was a total blowout. Absolute, unreasonable dominance.
Even though the tactical logic was sound, Li Ke still found the outcome staggering. Crocodile was a heavyweight who could trigger massive environmental destruction—a real "showman" on par with Magneto.
Rubbing his chin, Li Ke pondered aloud. "Yeah, honestly, I think it was a bit too easy myself. Maybe my looks are just too devastating and my IQ is too high, so the Will of the World officially swapped me in as the main character?"
He was genuinely analyzing the possibility. His ability to hear the Voice of All Things allowed him to pick up on strange phenomena. He was still hung up on a peculiar phrase he had perceived back at Reverse Mountain, wondering if the world's consciousness was trying to elect a co-protagonist or something.
"Wait a minute..." Li Ke's train of thought suddenly ground to a halt. "Blackbeard is dead. Ace won't get captured. So who is going to be the main villain in the future?"
He came to a sudden realization. Because of his interference in a previous world-hop, Blackbeard had been eliminated by Gol D. Roger before his rise to power. Without Teach setting the narrative wheels in motion, who was left to play the final antagonist?
Finding a replacement for a grand antagonist like that was no easy task. For a symmetry-obsessed creator like Oda, the final villain had to be Luffy's perfect polar opposite . They had to steal something irreplaceable from Luffy, walk a completely divergent path, and harbor irreconcilable conflicts with him .
At the same time, the two needed to mutually respect each other's abilities . Like Luffy, this boss had to possess a level of power that their own subordinates could never hope to reach . Ideally, their crew would include figures critical to Luffy's journey, or individuals shares deep ties and bonds with the Straw Hat crew .
To achieve ultimate narrative symmetry, both characters should inherit parts of the Pirate King Gol D. Roger's legacy, yet steer them toward entirely opposite extremes . That was the only way the final clash would truly electrify the audience.
"Who on earth could it be?"
Li Ke's gaze drifted to Nami and Robin, watching the gentle sway of their hips as they walked ahead of him. No matter how much he racked his brain, he couldn't figure out who would inherit the final boss mantle.
After all, most characters in One Piece who fit that narrative weight were either too old, like Whitebeard, or already locked into their roles, like Big Mom and Kaido. Shanks practically shared a single pair of pants with Luffy, making a villain turn impossible. His own father, Dragon, was out of the question too.
What about the legendary Imu? This was a story about pirates; it made little narrative sense for a Celestial Dragon to serve as the absolute final boss of a pirate saga.
"Could Blackbeard still be alive?" Li Ke couldn't help but wonder. But with Gol D. Roger delivering the final blow, how could Teach possibly survive? His corpse had even been delivered back to the Whitebeard Pirates. It was highly unlikely the world would suddenly introduce a "Resurrected Teach" plotline down the road.
So, who was this mystery boss going to be? Li Ke fell deep into thought.
"Whatever floats your boat..."
Robin shook her head, thoroughly unfazed by Li Ke talking as if they were characters trapped inside a storybook. She quietly stared at the unconscious Crocodile, her mind flooded with a wave of complex emotions.
She felt a lingering sense of melancholy for her former employer. Even though Crocodile harbored his own dark motives, he genuinely intended to let her read the Poneglyph and had provided her with a safe haven. Now, that formidable warlord lay defeated at Li Ke's feet.
Had Crocodile remained conscious, the dialogue between them right now would have been incredibly fascinating. Robin shook her head, purging the idle thoughts from her mind. She let out a soft cough, pointedly reminding Li Ke that it was time to get down to business.
"Right, right."
Li Ke snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Vivi, giving her a firm thumbs-up.
"I guess it's your turn now, right? I'll leave the task of keeping the Marines off our backs to you. I'm sure you can handle it."
Vivi nodded resolutely. "Yes!"
Her heart was full of joy. Now that the Sand Crocodile had been dealt with, she believed all their problems were finally over.
But what Vivi didn't realize was—
--------------------------------------------------------
"Over? My ass."
Li Ke sat at a stall, pulling Nojiko and Nami into his lap. He chewed on some beef jerky as he watched the rebel forces gathering outside the royal capital. Thanks to confessions from both Robin and Crocodile, they had successfully broadcasted the truth to the entire nation: Alabasta's drought was entirely Crocodile's fault.
But did that actually solve the problems of the people of Alabasta?
Not even close.
The rebels had risen up because a lack of water caused their economy to collapse. Crocodile's conspiracy had merely accelerated the process. While Dance Powder was a ridiculous, artificial trigger, Vivi's father's governance was honestly... terrible.
Defeating Crocodile did absolutely nothing to fix the root of the problem.
"With things as messy as they are, nothing short of an absolute powerhouse capable of suppressing both sides can fix this."
Li Ke took a sip of juice. He didn't care much for alcohol, preferring fruit juice whenever he was on land.
Outside the capital, refugees were struggling just to find a single drop of clean water. Meanwhile, Alabasta's wealthy districts still had working fountains and manicured gardens. Under such conditions, how could anyone expect the lower class to remain quiet?
"Then go down there and help them," Nami said, rolling her eyes. Since Li Ke saw the problem so clearly, he shouldn't be sitting here fondling her breasts.
"None of my business. At most, I'll rescue Vivi's family if the city falls. They might be good people, but their governance is a total joke. Besides, the suffering people down there are still her father's subjects. The fact that they can't survive under his rule isn't just because of the Sand Crocodile. Without a Sand Crocodile, there would have been a Sea Crocodile. It simply boils down to a total lack of competence on the throne."
In Li Ke's eyes, Alabasta's core issue was its water conservancy. The problem was that the local irrigation systems were built like garbage. He didn't know how many officials had lined their pockets or who had blocked the channels, but Vivi's father was clearly powerless to stop it. Because of that, Li Ke didn't care at all if the King got overthrown.
In any case, the Marines and the World Government had verified the situation. Crocodile had attempted to stage a coup and was officially stripped of his Shichibukai title. They had even handed over a bounty of tens of millions of Berries.
Since Li Ke had no pirate bounty of his own, he truly couldn't care less whether Alabasta stood or fell.
"You really are a piece of work..."
Nami sighed, completely powerless to argue. Deep down, she knew Li Ke was stating a harsh truth. Crocodile was incredibly dangerous, but the root issue was that Alabasta's governance had always been deeply flawed. The Royal Family lacked the military might to back up their authority; under such circumstances, even a kind-hearted king was bound to be overthrown eventually.
Furthermore, Baroque Works couldn't have run rampant across the kingdom without countless corrupt officials and nobles opening doors for them behind the scenes.
"That's just who I am. As long as Vivi keeps finding her way into my bed, I can't be bothered to care about anything else."
Li Ke yawned. He had actually walked around the city earlier, but he gave up and returned after seeing nothing but miserable refugees.
"Then what will it take for you to help me bring peace back to this country?"
Vivi stood before them, her eyes red and puffy as she stared at Li Ke. She knew her arrangement with him was purely transactional, but she hadn't expected him to be this detached.
"Ha... at the end of the day, this is your own mess to clean up," Li Ke replied, looking at her. "Besides, Vivi, weren't you terrified at first that I would do something terrible to your country? That's why I told you I only wanted you. Now you're turning around and asking me to interfere in your kingdom's affairs—do you think I'm some soft-hearted pushover? I can help you, but you need to pay me a proper price."
Li Ke hadn't been actively maintaining his advanced Observation Haki, keeping only a basic danger-sense active, which was why he hadn't noticed her approach. Keeping that multi-faceted perception running non-stop was simply too exhausting.
"I can extend our contract by another ten years!" Vivi blurted out immediately.
"And do you have ten years of youth to give?" Li Ke shot back.
"..."
Vivi bit her lip until it bled. She desperately wanted to say yes, but reality dictated otherwise. A woman's youth was far more fleeting than a man's. A man in his thirties could easily marry a teenager; with proper training, that age was a man's peak in both his career and physical prime. A woman, no matter how meticulously she maintained herself, could hardly be called a vibrant, youthful beauty once she hit her thirties.
"So, you don't have the leverage to negotiate with me," Li Ke said, his face hardening into a serious expression. "Your father, on the other hand, does. I want a ship. I want your national treasury to fund me, under the official guise of hiring me to suppress this internal rebellion."
"But we don't have that kind of money..." Vivi stammered.
She knew the royal treasury was completely drained. If Li Ke was making a demand like this, he would undoubtedly expect a top-tier vessel—meaning wood from the Treasure Tree Adam was a baseline requirement, alongside a mountain of other rare, expensive materials.
A ship of that caliber would easily cost upwards of several billion Berries!
But looking at Li Ke's stone-cold expression, Vivi bit her lip, completely unable to utter a single word of defiance. He was, in all honesty, her kingdom's absolute last hope for peace.
"Then squeeze the funds out of the nobles and the government officials," Li Ke suggested casually, his hand continuing to toy with Nami. He couldn't help but marvel at Nami's incredible genetics; after just a few days of living the good life, her body was filling out rapidly like a balloon—but in the most aesthetically perfect way possible. "It's not like that wealth will belong to them anyway once the angry mob breaches the gates."
"But..."
"Don't tell me the nobles, the corrupt politicians, and the wealthy merchants are broke," Li Ke laughed dismissively. He stared straight at Vivi, laying bare the core reason he refused to play the altruistic hero. "I'm not the one dictating the size of that rebel army outside—you and your upper class are. If you want to wipe clean the structural debt you owe your own people, you have to pay the price. No exceptions."
But doing that will just make them exploit the people even harder!
Vivi desperately wanted to scream those words, but she could see the truth now. It wasn't that Li Ke physically couldn't help her; he was staying out of it because this crisis was the direct consequence of the Alabastians' own choices.
If he didn't care at all, he wouldn't have helped defend the city walls during his first few days back, nor would he be sitting here watching the standoff unfold.
Deep down, she knew neither faction's soldiers would actually harm her or her father. She had even spoken directly with the rebel leader, but it was futile. The starving people at the bottom didn't give a damn about national unity or abstract peace anymore. They just wanted to survive. Yet, the longer this dragged on, the deeper the chaos would grow, and the slimmer the chances of actual recovery became.
"I... I will go try," Vivi murmured, her face clouded with despair as she walked away.
Li Ke noticed that a few of the palace maidservants serving them left alongside her. Not long after, a guard arrived to announce a group of new visitors.
Li Ke told Nami and Nojiko to go get properly dressed. He then casually pulled a stunning desert dancer into his lap, wrapping an arm around her waist before granting the guests an audience.
"We are willing to pool our funds to build you the finest vessel imaginable, but you must step in and crush this rebellion immediately!" the spokesperson blurted out, cutting straight to the chase.
"Take it up with the King. In principle, I accept the terms," Li Ke sneered.
These men were nothing but low-level proxies sent by the elites. The shadows pulling their strings clearly looked down on him. They had trembled in terror before the Sand Crocodile, yet they didn't harbor a shred of fear toward him. It was truly amusing.
As soon as he finished speaking, he signaled for his guards to kick them out, throwing the envoys into a sudden panic.
"Wait! We have other offers—"
They began shouting frantically, their tones growing harsh and demanding. Li Ke didn't have the patience for it. He casually drew Kashu and delivered a blindingly fast horizontal slash. In a single fluid motion, the compressed air pressure shredded their expensive garments to pieces, leaving the entire delegation standing stark naked like plucked pigs.
The envoys let out a chorus of squeals like stuck pigs, sending Li Ke into a fit of roaring laughter.
"Tell the people actually pulling the strings to come state their demands face-to-face!"
His face twisted into a look of pure, unadulterated mockery. What a joke. Just because he didn't want to become a pirate didn't mean he lacked the stomach to do exactly what a pirate would do.
Sure enough, it didn't take long for the hidden masters behind those proxies to drag the King of Alabasta out of his chambers. They begged Li Ke to help suppress the rebellion, and Li Ke naturally tacked on demands for tax exemptions and trade privileges. Under pressure from the merchants and nobles, Vivi's father conceded to every single term.
Shortly after, Li Ke stood atop the towering fortress walls. He looked out at the boundless rebel army stretching to the horizon, then glanced down at the Royal Army standing in battle formation, and finally at the nobles and the King who were watching his every move with bated breath. A sudden sense of absolute dominance washed over him.
He couldn't help but laugh out loud.
These elites were waiting for him to leap down, launch a massive slaughter, and butcher the "lowly peasants" for them.
But he had absolutely no intention of doing that.
He used to be one of those so-called commoners himself, and he had no interest in playing the part of a ruler over men. He only cared about being a ruler over women in his bed. Oppressing weaklings who couldn't even fight back was just too boring.
"As I thought, these people are nothing but parasites!"
The moment that thought solidified in his mind, he triggered a faint, lingering sensation deep within his soul.
He was fully aware of the latent power that had been stirred by Gol D. Roger's sheer presence during their earlier encounter. Before now, he simply hadn't believed he possessed the rare qualities required for Conqueror's Haki (Haoshoku Haki). But now, watching a king forced to make choices at his whim, and seeing the corrupt nobles and officials cursing him under their breath, he laughed with utter arrogance.
The inherent superiority of a world-traveler, the absolute confidence of a powerhouse, and the untamed wildness of an interdimensional voyager clicked into place. At this very moment, he finally recognized his own worth.
He had unlocked the ultimate privilege: the right to do whatever the hell he wanted!
Morals, ethics, social order, and common decency—these were nothing but guidelines he would follow only when he felt like it.
Who cared about trends? Who cared about styles? Who cared about regulations, rules, or societal etiquette?
I will do whatever the hell I want!
He didn't need validation from anyone. Validating himself was more than enough.
If he wanted to eat, he ate. If he wanted to sleep, he slept. If he wanted a woman, he pursued her and used every trick in the book to claim her. In this exact moment, the mental shackles forged by his modern upbringing shattered completely. The latent, tightly coiled power inside him finally erupted with a vengeance.
This was the structural influence of the world working on him, a path he was destined to walk. His societal restraints had long been brittle and falling apart; now, they simply ceased to exist.
An oppressive aura expanded outward instantly, sinking heavily into the hearts of everyone nearby. It triggered a primal, terrifying instinct—the feeling of facing an apex predator. It felt as if taking even a single step or making a single movement would result in instant death.
This was the manifestation of his personal path, an absolute affirmation of his own will. It was a power that could never awaken in someone who lacked an ego of absolute supremacy, someone who lacked the urge to dominate, or someone who gave a damn about the rules constructed by society.
His actions were tyrannical.
His title was the Supreme King.
"Freeze!"
He required no logic. He required no justification. As long as he willed it, and as long as he stood there, everyone present had to halt.
Because he had arrived.
The violent pressure struck indiscriminately, overwhelming the minds of everyone within a radius of dozens of kilometers. Every living soul could feel that a terrifying entity had arrived. He was here. He was broadcasting his displeasure. He was moving in.
To prevent any voluntary actions that might trigger the wrath of this supreme existence, their brains simply chose to shut down. Under the raw weight of Li Ke's true self, the atmosphere crackled with faint, visible sparks of black electricity.
The universe was undeniably favoring him, allowing the energy inside his body to be channeled outward much faster and more safely than normal.
He was unburdened by restrictions on his aptitude or limitations on his talent. As long as Li Ke willed it, and as long as his resolve remained unbreakable, he would face no bottlenecks in this world until he hit the absolute ceiling of the universe and maxed out his physical potential. All he needed to do was train.
"So? Is the war settled?"
Li Ke hopped down lightly from the high fortress wall. But at this moment, not a single soul on the battlements was left to answer his question.
Under his overwhelming pressure, every single person had lost consciousness.
"Ha..."
Looking at the field of unconscious bodies, Li Ke let out another loud laugh.
So this was the true flavor of a Conqueror.
Fascinating.