The huge meeting room was as silent as a grave.
It felt like Vivi's words were still echoing in the air—
"A two-hour limit, and if you step into this room thirty seconds late, Alabasta will declare war on the Drum Kingdom."
Even Crocodile, who had been hoping for things to blow up, couldn't help but be stunned.
What did that sentence... mean?
Exactly what it said.
Crocodile suddenly remembered that along the way, Rowan had pulled Vivi aside on the deck and talked to her a lot, and had Vivi write it all down in a notebook.
And now, he kind of knew what Rowan had been telling Vivi.
But... was that even possible?
After all, Crocodile had been in Alabasta for a long time and knew Vivi pretty well.
This little princess was a bit precocious and had also inherited Cobra's troublesome "the country is the people" personality, but at the end of the day, she was still just a five or six-year-old girl.
She had potential, but not right now.
Could just two days of teaching really allow her to represent a country and negotiate with another king—even a foolish tyrant?
Crocodile clearly didn't think so.
She'd probably lose terribly!
Crocodile didn't believe it, and Wapol certainly didn't either.
He stood outside the door, staring in surprise at Vivi on one side of the negotiating table, and couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"Moo ha ha ha, Chess, so this little brat is Alabasta's representative! You should have told me sooner, I would have eaten a little more!"
Wapol laughed, and the two ministers beside him couldn't help but laugh as well.
"I can't take it anymore, Kromanimo, that little brat's serious face is just too funny!"
"Ha ha ha ha, my stomach hurts from laughing too!"
The three of them laughed, making Dalton's face even darker.
Entrusting a country's representative duties to a little girl was indeed a bit strange, but so what?
No matter her age, Vivi undoubtedly represented the country of Alabasta at this moment!
In a negotiation representing a country, even if the other party did something outrageous, you had to take it seriously, or you would be irresponsible to your own country.
Like Wapol, as the king of a country.
At this moment, for him, representing the Drum Kingdom, he absolutely should not be laughing!
As soon as he did, he had already fallen into the other party's trap.
Dalton couldn't help but sigh.
As the old king's son, how could Wapol not have inherited even a trace of his father's political talent?
He thought about it, planning to try to advise him, but suddenly he heard Vivi speak again.
"Mr. Wapol, if you don't take a seat, the meeting can't start."
Vivi looked up at the clock on the wall and said with a smile, "There are fifteen seconds left."
—Only fifteen seconds until war between the two countries!
Hearing these words, Wapol wanted to laugh a few more times, but when he saw Vivi's eyes looking at him, he suddenly froze.
He had seen that kind of look before.
When Wapol was young, he had gone to the world conference once with his father—the old king.
There, his wild behavior accidentally bumped into another king, and that tall king only glanced at him, scaring Wapol out of his wits.
Later, according to his father, that king's country was located in the North Sea and was a nation newly built from the fires of war.
The old king told Wapol a lot, but he didn't listen to a word of it, only remembering that the guy was very scary.
Now, looking at the little girl's eyes, Wapol actually had that same feeling of fear again.
At the same time, Vivi began to count down.
"Ten, nine, eight, seven..."
Wapol waved his hands repeatedly, but Vivi's countdown continued.
The constantly decreasing numbers made it hard for Wapol to breathe.
He rushed into the room, ran to one side of the negotiating table, and sat down, finally breathing a sigh of relief with a look of narrow escape.
Then, he couldn't help but wonder.
Huh? Why did I do that?
Looking at Wapol's behavior, Dalton clenched his teeth, his face darkening even further.
What a disgrace!
As the king of the Drum Kingdom, this behavior was too shameful!
Beside him, Crocodile, sitting on the sofa, also became interested.
Meeting for the first time, and already this five or six-year-old princess had completely crushed the king of the Drum Kingdom in terms of rhythm and aura.
How did Rowan teach her?
Speaking of which, what is that guy doing now?
...
Back to two hours earlier.
Rowan held a staff and walked alone on the snowfield.
Crunch... crunch...
His boots stepped on the snow, making a pleasant rubbing sound.
Suddenly, many huge figures appeared by the roadside, a group of fierce-looking giant white rabbits.
One of the unique animals of the Drum Kingdom—Lapahn.
They were very aggressive rabbits, lived in groups, only recognized the strong, and attacked all creatures around them indiscriminately.
But at this moment, the terrifying animals that were enough to give the guards a headache actually lowered their heads one after another, making rare "recognition" gestures.
Seeing this, Rowan waved his hand lightly to signal them.
"Good little bunnies."
The Lapahn also waved their hands to show friendliness.
Because a feeling of unspeakable pressure was filling their surroundings, but it was not scary, because it was not a feeling of being threatened.
In fact, if the Lapahn wanted to, they could turn around and leave at any time without any obstruction.
But they felt it was wrong to do so.
They willingly bowed their heads, recognizing the man walking on the snowfield—
Ryan Rowan.
...
About half an hour later, Rowan came to a relatively open foothills area, with dense forests on both sides.
Looking up, he could see the main peak castle of the Drum Kingdom in the distance.
"This is a good place for an ambush."
Rowan's eyes wandered, looking ahead, and laughed softly, "Right?"
There, two masked figures in white suits were standing.
"[Golden Dawn] Ryan Rowan."
One of the masked figures slowly spoke, his voice low: "Under the order of the Celestial Dragons, you are under arrest."
To his surprise, Rowan asked with a smile, "Is it really the Celestial Dragons' orders?"
As soon as he said this, the surrounding air noticeably stagnated for half a second.
Then, the masked figure nodded, "Yes."
"No, it's not."
Rowan shook his head, "He's just an excuse. He can give orders, but his orders aren't enough to make you take such a big risk."
"And..."
Rowan looked around and continued:
"To move so many people."
The strong wind on the foothills picked up snowflakes, revealing the people hidden in the dense forests on both sides.
Unlike the two masked figures' attire, these were many people in black suits.
The masked figure slowly said, "Coming alone, you are very brave."
"No, you're wrong."
Rowan gently hooked his fingers, and the ground under the snow began to stir, with bursts of sand and gravel appearing.
These sands and gravel gradually gathered together, becoming sand soldier after sand soldier holding spears.
Rowan said with a smile, "I never fight outnumbered."
Suddenly, one of the quick-tempered black suits stomped his feet on the ground, using the speed of Six Styles "Shave" to instantly arrive behind Rowan, screaming:
"Who's waiting for you to use your ability to summon a bunch of people, you idiot!"
Immediately, wind blades gathered at his ankles, and a deadly Rankyaku wrapped in Armament Haki slid towards Rowan's neck.
Whoosh!
In the next instant, Rowan suddenly turned around, and the spear in his hand landed directly on the man's face, smashing his head into the ground.
Boom!
Snowflakes flew up.
Rowan turned around, dark purple ribbons swayed in the wind.
His voice echoed in the foothills.
"But sometimes, it's not a bad thing to do."
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