Cobra?
Garp did not pay much attention to the name, but Dragon and Tsuru, who were quick thinkers, both knew what it meant.
Nefertari Cobra was the prince of Alabasta. Though he was only in his teens, he was very kind to the common people and loved by many. He was sure to be the next king.
And now, he was actually in this oasis too?
Was he traveling in disguise?
It did not seem like it, because the guards around were very strict. It was not like normal movement.
Garp noticed nothing. He said to Incum with some arrogance, "See? Your highness said we can come in."
"Damn..." Incum gritted his teeth. The young man seemed unable to stand Garp's attitude, but Cobra had given the order, so he had to obey.
"Alright, the Marines are an important force in keeping the sea safe. There is no reason to block them here." Cobra and Incum had been playmates as kids. He patted his shoulder, then said to Garp,
"You all can enter, but please do not go to the pyramid in the very center."
"Pyramid?"
Garp looked up. Only then did he notice that inside the oasis, there was a pyramid ahead. Because of the distance, he could only see the top point of it.
A pyramid inside the oasis?
It felt a bit odd.
Garp frowned. He said directly, "We are just here to restock. Of course, if it involves our mission, I think I cannot agree to your condition."
"Mission?" Cobra said with some confusion.
"A mission about demons."
"Then come in freely. Nefertari has no ties with demons." After Cobra said that, he told Incum, "Do not block Yuba. People are free to come and go. As long as it is not a dangerous area, we have no right to limit where they can go."
"But..."
Incum looked like he wanted to say more, but in the end, he did not. He followed Cobra and left quickly.
The guards around also soon vanished from the Marines' sight.
These guards were pretty average. Any Marine Garp brought this time could probably take on a bunch of them. But in places with order, strength alone was not enough.
Strength rules in places without order. The Marines just happened to be the keepers of order. Even Admirals had to follow orders from some weak Celestial Dragons.
Only Garp did not care much about these things. But after all, he was a Marine. No matter what, he would follow some orders from the World Government.
And...
Using World Government orders to pressure an allied country seemed not bad either.
"It feels a bit strange." At this time, Tsuru walked to Garp's side and said in a low voice,
"They seem to value that pyramid a lot."
"Maybe it is some symbol. That Cobra does not seem like someone who would team up with demons, or someone trying to use the power of the ascension altar." Garp walked forward with big steps. The Marines followed close behind.
Indeed, from Cobra's simple words earlier, you could tell he was not the type to get lost in power. Besides, ascension altars were not pyramid-shaped. Even if that pyramid had some secret, it was their own business.
As long as it did not involve ascension altars, Garp and the others did not want to get into power struggles. That was too much hassle.
And as they entered Yuba, another ship landed on the river in the south.
On the other side, Thor had already met up with Rayleigh and the Roger Pirates.
By now, Number One was back. They had left the small island they started on. After a period of training, they were ready to find ways to deal with Aatrox.
Out on the sea, they spotted Thor and Rayleigh's ship.
"Rayleigh!"
Roger had been leaning on the railing, bored and looking ahead. But at that moment, he suddenly saw a familiar figure on a ship in the distance. Excited, he almost turned on his Observation Haki right away and knew at once it was Rayleigh!
He had been released from The Black Order?
Roger had contacted The Black Order before to ask them to let Rayleigh out, but Makima had not responded then. Roger thought he would not see Rayleigh for a while.
But now Rayleigh was out just like that?
In the next moment, the person next to Rayleigh grabbed him and flew up fast. That person moved like lightning and brought Rayleigh to their ship.
Roger's shout just now had made the whole crew rush over. When they saw Rayleigh back, they were all very excited too.
"Alright, save the catching up for later."
Seeing everyone so worked up, Thor said alone, feeling a bit out of place, "Releasing the King of the Underworld Rayleigh is to deal with Aatrox. Fleet Admiral Makima trusts your Roger Pirates to do this."
His words calmed people down bit by bit. Roger glanced at Rayleigh, then said to Thor, "Of course. I did not expect The Black Order to trust me this much."
They had let Rayleigh go without even talking to them first. They were really sure we would go after Aatrox.
But their confidence was right, because he would indeed go after Aatrox.
"So now tell us. What is Makima's plan exactly?"
Rayleigh said to Thor too.
He had asked this before, but Thor said to wait until everyone was together.
All eyes were on Thor, but he was not nervous. Instead, he seemed calm as he said,
"Aatrox is not a true demon lord, so the suppression from hell is not strong on him. That is why he can leave hell so easily. And since he has already come to this world once, even if sent back to hell, he can return here through certain rituals."
Thor said in a deep voice, "We are just partners for this one event, so I will be direct. To deal with Aatrox, we must seal him in the 'entrance to hell'."
"Entrance to hell?" Roger frowned.
"Yes, it is the gap between hell and this world. Demon followers can send their calls and matching rituals to hell to summon Aatrox back. But the entrance to hell is the crack between the two worlds. Neither calls from this world nor hell can reach there!"
Thor said, "If we seal Aatrox inside it, we can end this disaster!"
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