Half a month later.
Alabasta, Southern Hall of the Royal Palace.
This was a relatively secluded area within the palace, a place where no one usually lived.
Yet over the past half month, it had been under heavy guard, with a considerable number of soldiers stationed here.
"Tap!" "Tap!" "Tap!"
At this moment, crisp footsteps rang out.
The guards' expressions stiffened as they turned to look at the approaching figure.
"Princess Vivi!?"
Upon seeing the blue-haired, beautiful princess, they immediately bowed in unison.
"By my father's order, I have come to meet that honored guest and to express our gratitude for the rainfall in Katorea,"
Vivi said succinctly.
"Please step aside."
Hearing this, the guards showed a hint of hesitation.
But the hesitation did not last long, and they complied, stepping aside.
In fact, when they were first assigned to guard the "honored guest" in the Southern Hall, they had been extremely vigilant—especially those guards who had previously attended the reception meeting, as they knew very well who the guest was and how powerful he was.
But as time passed, that vigilance gradually faded.
After all, to date, that guest had already used his miraculous ability to bring rain to three cities—Yuba, Katorea, and Erumalu—stabilizing Alabasta's internal situation.
King Cobra had also already held a private, one-on-one discussion with him.
Moreover, the king had recently been traveling across the country to pacify the populace and was extremely busy. Within the palace, Princess Vivi now held the highest status.
Naturally, they did not dare disobey her orders.
After the guards stepped aside, Vivi entered the Southern Hall.
From a distance, she saw a lounge chair.
Sunlight streamed down through the translucent dome overhead, perfectly illuminating the chair, where a masked figure—Dragon (Shenlong)—was reclining.
He held a cup of cola in his hand, a straw extending through a gap beneath his mask.
"Oh? Princess Vivi—disturbing my sunbathing again?"
Dragon (Shenlong) turned his head and greeted her casually.
Yet Vivi could clearly see him hurriedly shielding the cup behind his back.
Who would even try to steal that stuff?
Vivi complained inwardly.
But after a month of interaction, she had already grown familiar with Dragon.
She also understood that this self-proclaimed high-ranking officer of the "Twelve Zodiac," a man of extraordinary strength, simply had a very peculiar personality in certain respects.
Thus, she merely performed a proper royal salute.
"Good day, sir Dragon."
"I have come on my father's orders to thank you for the rainfall you brought to Katorea not long ago."
She gave what sounded like a perfectly reasonable explanation.
However—
"Ah, about that excuse—I'm afraid I must regretfully inform you, Princess, that you've already been found out."
Dragon said bluntly, showing no courtesy at all.
After confirming that Vivi had no intention of stealing his drink, he resumed sipping his cola.
"Not long ago, your guard captain, Igaram, came to see me. From what he said, I learned that King Cobra never gave you such an order."
As he spoke, the voice beneath the mask took on a teasing tone.
"And based on my guess, those who are plotting against your country should be about ready to make their move against me. So I'd advise you, Princess, to stay away from me if you have nothing important to do."
Hearing this, Vivi's expression changed.
"Igaram…"
She clenched her teeth, annoyed at her guard captain's loose lips.
Then she looked stubbornly at Dragon.
"That won't do. You have to tell me who the mastermind behind all this really is! Why won't my father tell me, no matter what?"
"I am the princess of Alabasta. I also bear responsibility to our people!"
That's right.
This was the very reason she had been coming here so frequently lately—even if it meant lying and making excuses.
Not long ago, her father had met with Dragon (Shenlong)—and this time, he had not taken her along.
However, based on what Igaram had let slip, she could be certain that during that meeting, Dragon had revealed the mastermind behind Alabasta's great drought.
Yet when she questioned King Cobra about it, her father had only shaken his head and refused to tell her the answer, no matter what.
"That is not something you need to know, Vivi."
That was all His Majesty the King said in response.
But Vivi could not accept it—she believed that, as the princess, she absolutely had the right to know who the villain was that was trying to destroy their country.
"That person must pay for what they've done to Alabasta!"
Vivi said angrily.
Faced with Vivi's attitude, Dragon neither confirmed nor denied anything.
"Princess, allow me to ask an impertinent question,"
he said softly.
"Have you ever left Alabasta?"
"I…"
Hearing the question, Vivi was momentarily confused.
But she still replied reluctantly,
"Of course, I…"
As the only princess of Alabasta, she had indeed almost never left the country.
There was only one exception—three years ago.
"I followed my father to attend the last 'Reverie'…"
She clenched her teeth as she recalled that meeting from three years earlier.
At the conference, her father had publicly rebuked the king of Drum Kingdom, Wapol. Afterward, Wapol took revenge by targeting her.
Although she had calmly chosen to compromise at the time, swallowing her pride and apologizing, she had later broken down and cried in her father's arms.
It was not a pleasant memory.
Dragon spread his hands.
"That's the reason, Princess."
"You haven't truly seen this 'world' yet, and your father clearly thinks the same."
He smiled lightly.
"So, please go back."
"…"
Vivi bit her lower lip and stared at Dragon. After a long moment, she snorted softly.
She stood up and turned to leave.
But halfway there, she suddenly came back. Amid Dragon's startled cry of "Hey—!", she grabbed the bottle of cola that had been sitting in ice beside him and gulped down the remaining soda in one go.
Only then did she cast Dragon a smug glance and stride out of the Southern Hall.
"…"
Staring at the now-empty cola bottle, Roy —beneath the mask—could only feel like crying.
It had to be said: no wonder she was someone who would nearly become a crewmate of the future Pirate King, Luffy. Her uniquely unconventional behavior and way of thinking were already showing signs even now.
Just as he was about to ask the guards outside the hall for another bottle of cola—
"Princess, why have you come back again?"
The voices of the guards rang out from outside the hall.
"I just remembered something I forgot to tell the gentleman inside. Yes—something very important and confidential. You should all leave first."
"Huh? But Captain Igaram said—"
"Hmm? Are you saying you won't obey the orders of me, the princess?"
"Of course not, absolutely not—we'll leave at once."
As the voices outside the door faded away,
Dragon saw Vivi, just as expected, stride back into the Southern Hall.
Upon seeing Roy , she immediately broke into a warm smile.
"Sir, I have something to discuss with you."
She quickly walked over to Dragon's side.
"What a coincidence—I have something to ask you as well."
Still reclining in his lounge chair, Dragon smiled and asked,
"Did only you come?"
Vivi's expression visibly froze for a split second.
But she quickly recovered and said with a smile,
"What do you mean, only me? Didn't I come alone just now as well?"
"That's not what I meant."
Dragon continued smiling as he spoke.
"I mean—are you the only one who came to take my head?"
"Whoosh!"
The instant Dragon finished speaking, Vivi's smiling face turned icy.
Her legs lashed out almost instantly, like a whip, kicking straight toward Dragon.
At the same moment, her appearance changed in an instant—from Vivi's beautiful face into that of a man with heavy makeup and straight-cut bangs.
And the second half of Dragon's words, spoken just then, revealed the man's identity:
"Baroque Works, Mr. 2."