"Hmm?"
Garp, who was eating, saw Crane walking over with a serious look on her face.
"What's up?"
" Fleet Admiral Sora has given orders." Crane sat across from Garp, looking at the table full of meat but having no appetite at all.
She said to Garp, "Ah Xing will arrive soon too."
"?!' Garp was surprised. The Marine headquarters had suffered heavy losses, and now they were sending another Admiral here?
"What's going on?"
"That pyramid is a bit strange. Fleet Admiral Sora didn't explain clearly. This means that in this operation, we Marines don't need to be the main force." Crane said in a low voice, "The Roger Pirates will come later."
"Roger?!" Hearing this familiar name, Garp got excited right away. "What is he coming for?!"
Back in God Valley, he had teamed up with Roger to fight Rocks. Later in the Jaltzburg kingdom, he had also kind of teamed up with Roger against Aatrox. So why was he coming now?
One was a soldier, the other a pirate. Was it right for them to keep meeting like this?!
"Makima traded Rayleigh to get the Roger Pirates to lure Aatrox to Alabasta, then seal him inside that upside-down pyramid."
"What?!" Garp's eyes widened. "Aatrox is coming?!"
"Yes, that's right. So our task now is to clear the battlefield and make sure to drive all the civilians away completely." Crane nodded and said.
Driving away civilians wasn't just for justice in their hearts, but also to keep Aatrox from using them as power. Yet the Marines could only do this?
Garp said unhappily, "How are they going to seal Aatrox?"
Garp knew Roger had grown much stronger now, but he didn't think Roger could beat Aatrox.
"With pirates and The Black Order sending people too—all their top fighters—plus us Marines, beating Aatrox isn't impossible."
Crane stood up again. She said to all the Marines, "Everyone start evacuating civilians now. From here all the way to the downstream of the Sandora River, at least take them ten kilometers north of Yuba!"
The Marines who were eating didn't know what was happening yet, but when they heard the Vice Admiral speak, they quickly stood up, gathered, and headed out on the task. Only Garp's face didn't look good.
After the Marines left, Crane walked back over. "I know you don't like working with pirates, but in front of a demon, we're all at least human."
"I know." Garp said, a bit annoyed. "I just hate how I feel right now. It seems like I can't do anything."
"There are only eight demon lords. When you faced Tunfo, Sakaki, and Toguro, weren't you pretty strong?" Crane said, teasing a little. "Come on, don't be upset. We need to hurry and notify Alabasta's king too."
"With the king's orders, the evacuation can go much smoother."
"Why not let the World Government handle this?" Dragon walked over to Garp's side.
After hearing Crane, he frowned and said, "How are we supposed to notify the king in Albana now?"
"I don't know. The World Government doesn't seem to plan on telling Alabasta's officials." Crane was puzzled too. Alabasta was an ancient kingdom, one of the more important ones among the World Government's member nations. But why did it feel like the World Government was giving up on it?
"What are they thinking? Do they know how many people are in Alabasta? How can we Marines evacuate them all by ourselves?!" Dragon said angrily right away.
That's right. The Five Elders hadn't notified Alabasta on purpose. They wanted to see if Alabasta had hidden anything over these hundreds or thousands of years, and what reaction they would have when Aatrox arrived.
As for a World Government member nation...
To be honest, they really didn't care much. Even if the country fell, others would just build a new one on the ruins. As long as the new one kept giving the Celestial Dragons gold from the sky, it was fine.
Nefertari—they were traitors among the Celestial Dragons from the start!
"We don't have a Den Den Mushi connected to Alabasta's king here." Garp said. "But one person definitely does."
Dragon's eyes lit up. Yes, someone here definitely did.
Cobra!
He was Alabasta's prince, and the kingdom's guards were around. He must have a way to contact the king.
Thinking this, Dragon said, "I'll go find him right now!"
Garp and Crane watched Dragon rush off without saying anything.
The Marines were indeed a big system. The longer you stayed in it, the more it affected you. Even your sense of justice would wear down over time. Someone like Garp, who didn't want to become an Admiral, was already rare.
And Dragon, though he could still hold onto his justice in the Marines for now, how long could he keep it up?
If you think about it carefully, it made sense why Garp later preferred to leave Luffy with mountain bandits instead of at Marine headquarters in Marineford.
There was too much darkness at Marine headquarters. Someone with Luffy's personality couldn't accept it.
Maybe seeing Dragon grow up there and then leave the Marines made Garp want to leave Luffy back home in the East Blue, raised by mountain bandits.
Right now, Dragon was running quickly toward the pyramid, because Cobra was there. He needed to tell Cobra about Aatrox coming as soon as possible, so Cobra could inform the king. Otherwise, the country was in big trouble.
"Stop! We told you Marines can't go inside!"
Dragon, rushing forward, heard the kingdom guards ahead. He said breathlessly, "Get out of the way!"
With a wave of his hand, he created a strong gust of wind that blew all the guards away. Even though Dragon was still very young, his strength wasn't weak at all.
He jumped over the guards' bodies and saw the huge pyramid come into view.
Dragon ran up quickly and saw an inverted triangular opening in the pyramid. Inside was deep and dark, like it connected to the underworld.
Without thinking more, Dragon ran right in, because Cobra was inside.
The moment he entered, Dragon suddenly felt cold all over, like something was watching him. In this dark world, a strong killing intent came down, making it hard for him to move!
Though it was dark, the pyramid's layout was faintly visible. You could see it wasn't just going up, but also...
Down!
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