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"Good grief. That's a lot of people. Vivi, your lot have really gone and broken the peace, haven't you."
Kaito looked out at the distant rebel camp with something between awe and amusement.
He knew the whole story, of course. That didn't mean he couldn't tease her about it.
"I'm going to find Koza. I have to tell him this whole thing is Crocodile's plot."
Vivi's eyes were fixed on the camp, her expression set.
She knew words alone weren't proof. She knew the odds. But this was the last chance to stop both sides from going to war, and she had to take it.
"Hehehe! You don't actually need me to step in, do you? Because if you want, I could deal with all two million of them right now."
Kaito offered this with a perfectly straight villain's smile.
"Mr. Kaito, please don't trouble yourself. We just need you ready for when we can't handle Crocodile ourselves."
Kaito shrugged.
"Fair enough."
Then, quietly, under his breath: 'What a waste. Seven hundred thousand souls in the Conqueror's Banner and stock is running low.'
[Open System Panel]
Kaito
Gender: Male
Age: 23
Realm: Peak Nascent Soul Stage
Cultivation Method: Basic Cultivation Method
Special Abilities: [Eye of Identification], [Dimensional Gate], [Space Compression Technique]
Follower: Izayoi Sakuya
Magic Treasures: Tenkuu (renamed after achieving human form), [Conqueror's Banner] (700,000 souls) Sub-gate Anchored World: "Pirate King"
Items: Dragon Ball Space Capsule Technology, Coke x250...
Comprehensive Evaluation: You are already a visible big shot across the myriad worlds, although you might still accidentally get stepped on! ┓(´-`)┏!
Kaito stared at the panel. A twitch crossed his lips.
250 Coke. Was the system calling him a fool?
[Ding! Host, it seems you haven't called on me in a while! You just log in for the daily sign-in and nothing else! An uninformed person would think this system had disappeared! ＜(￣﹌￣)＞]
'I've been busy.'
[Busy! Everyone's busy! Being busy is fine!]
'You're mocking me.'
[Heh...]
'Alright, stop it. Daily sign-in.'
[Ding! Congratulations, Host. You have obtained: [Dimensional Gate] sub-gate x1!]
'Are you rigging the results again?!'
[Tch.]
The system couldn't even be bothered to pretend anymore. Kaito briefly considered going berserk about it.
Then he didn't. The system was rigging things in his favour, after all.
'I wonder if Diablo's finished with Falmuth yet. That should be a decent soul harvest.'
He caught himself.
'Am I becoming completely indifferent to human lives?'
He turned it over for a moment. The honest answer was that he didn't have a problem with it — he'd simply tasted the results too many times. Feeding souls into the [Conqueror's Banner] to power up his subordinates was, to borrow a phrase, always cool. And now that the supply was running low, of course he was anxious.
As the saying went: cheating for a while is cool, cheating all the time is always cool.
"Kai-chan! Kai-chan! Let's go find that sand Crocodile!"
Rimuru's voice cut through his thoughts. He looked at her bright, easy smile, and all his self-doubt evaporated.
'Mentality's fine. Nothing wrong with me at all.'
"Let's go! We'll catch the classic scene live — and go meet Koza, the Jesus of Alabasta!"
"...The Jesus of Alabasta?"
Vivi tilted her head. That sounded like her father's name. Or maybe not.
"Cough — never mind. Go do what you need to do. We're going to go... play. And meet that sand Crocodile."
He turned to the children.
"Little ones, blades ready, follow me! I'll take you to see the sights — goldfish, no wait, Crocodiles!"
He set off toward the capital at a brisk pace, a trail of children falling into step behind him.
Honestly, if he'd been holding a small flag right now, he'd look exactly like a tour guide. A very suspect one. A black-market tour guide. Then again, what kind of respectable person carried a [Conqueror's Banner] around?
"Kaito-nii! Why are there Crocodiles in the desert?!"
Enju looked up at him with genuine curiosity.
"Follow along and you'll find out."
He scanned the group absently.
'Something feels like it's missing. Oh well, probably nothing important.'
In the desert not far behind them, a certain cowardly dragon was stretched out contentedly in the sand, enjoying a desert bath. How he had ended up there would be explained in due course.
"Luffy, please help me find my father. I'm going to Koza."
"Leave it to us! I'll find your father and bring him back, I promise!"
Vivi looked at Luffy and the others making their promises, and bowed to them with tears she couldn't quite hold back.
"My father... I'm trusting all of you."
"Oh, oh, oh!!!"
Everyone moved out toward their separate goals, and Alabasta began to shift.
For anyone wondering — yes, Kaito knew exactly where Cobra was. He was heading there right now. So why didn't he just tell Vivi?
Simple. They'd only just met. When watching the anime, sure, he might have thought Vivi's character design was excellent. But in reality their relationship was something between acquaintance and stranger. To use Kaito's own preferred phrase: none of my business.
He could just pull Cobra out himself when the moment came. Saying more wouldn't help anything.
"Cobra. Where is Pluton."
Crocodile stood with his cigar, looking at Cobra pinned to the wall, his voice carrying no particular emotion.
"Where did you hear that name from?!"
Cobra's pupils contracted. He couldn't stop himself from asking.
"I've spent years in this country with one purpose, to find the ancient weapon Pluton." Crocodile glanced sideways at Nico Robin, leaning against the wall in silence, then continued without answering the implied question. "Once I have Pluton, I'll have the foundation for a military nation of unmatched power."
He swept a hand toward the city beyond the walls.
"And why build something new when Alabasta is sitting right here? The whole country already thinks I'm their hero. Once I clean up the royals and everyone who knows too much, this nation is mine."
"You won't get away with it!" Cobra's voice cracked with fury. "The people will see through you. They always do in the end!"
Crocodile's expression didn't move.
"You can keep your dignity. I'll ask once more. Where is Pluton."
"I don't know!"
The patience ran out. Crocodile's tone went cold and flat.
"Fine. Princess Vivi is her your daughter. I imagine she'd know."
The colour left Cobra's face. He opened his mouth.
A small voice came from somewhere beside him.
"So this is the Koza, the Jesus of Alabasta, Kaito-nii was talking about! He really does look like Jesus..."