One Piece: Nobody knows Devil Fruits better than me.

Chapter 21 We only care about money, Your Majesty!

Moderates?
Cobra found it somewhat absurd.

He was not a king known for his personal military prowess, but he at least understood what what had just happened meant.

The most elite guard in Alabasta was completely no match for Chenlong.

The battle ended silently before the opponent even made a move.

The other party is clearly showing off their fists.

But there is no doubt that Cobra is not a king who would be intimidated by such threats.

So he cleared his throat, intending to speak.

But until then.
"An organization? You have an organization? And even a leader?"

Vivi's voice rang out just before he did.

The princess was clearly not afraid of what had just happened; instead, she asked with a mixture of wariness and curiosity.

"Vivi!"

So, Cobra, unusually, scolded his daughter: "You promised me before that you would only listen in."

He was naturally very worried about his daughter's sudden actions—although the question Vivi asked was indeed the same one he wanted to ask, it was dangerous to speak rashly in the face of such a monster.

"That's right, Your Highness."

But to Cobra's surprise, Chenlong's attitude towards Vivi was quite mild.

Our organization is called the 'Twelve Constellations'.

"As for the leader."

At this point, Chenlong's tone became serious, as if he held the 'leader' in high regard.

"I cannot disclose any information about him—but in short, we genuinely want to cooperate with you and have no ill intentions."

As he said this, he casually put down the empty Coke cup in his hand.

"If I truly harbored ill intentions, I wouldn't have chosen to land in Airuma; I would have come directly to the capital."

“The rain along the way is my ‘sincerity,’ Your Majesty Cobra.”

The metal cup in his hand seemed to melt under the high temperature, emitting puffs of white smoke, before turning into a ball of red-hot molten iron that fell and instantly pierced the ground.

It seemed to be silently telling everyone present that if he wanted, he could easily storm the palace and even kill the king and princess.

"."

The guards then looked grim and angry.

King Cobra remained silent.

But in his eyes, there was a clear look of shock.

After a long pause, he finally spoke: "Two things."

"First, you said you wanted to cooperate, so I need to know what you want to get from Alabasta."

"Secondly, you still haven't provided enough evidence, so I still can't trust you—the story you told would still hold true if you replaced the 'mastermind' you mentioned with your organization."

He seemed completely unfazed by the power Chenlong displayed, remaining calm and composed.

“If you don’t figure these two things out, even if you take my life here, I won’t agree to anything you ask.”

At this point, he glanced slightly at Icarus beside him and made a gesture with his hand.

Icarum naturally understood the meaning of that action—to cover Princess Vivi's escape at all costs if things went wrong.

"."

Icarum's expression grew even more stern.

But at this moment, after hearing Cobra's words, Chenlong exclaimed in admiration: "As expected of the wise king of Alabasta, your will and courage are worthy of respect."

"But as I said, I am a businessman."

"Of course I will respond to each of your requests."

He leaned forward slightly and held up a finger: "Your first question is, what do we need?"

"The answer is simple—we want Pelé."

As he said this...

Cobra's expression changed instantly.

"Pele? Only Pele?"

The king said with some disbelief.

He considered many possibilities—such as the other party wanting to force Alabasta to sign some agreement, or wanting Alabasta's land, or the things hidden in the 'Royal Tomb' for many years.

But he never expected that the other party would only want Pelé.

It's not that Pele isn't valuable, but money isn't always the most urgently needed resource for certain organizations.

"As long as it's Bailey, I'll accept other treasures of equal value in exchange."

Chenlong smiled and said, "I'm a very honest person, so I'll put a price on it—I can help Alabasta bring rain, covering one city, for two billion Berries each time."

"Besides that, I'll help you take care of the mastermind behind this incident. The price is five billion Berries. What do you think?"

how about it?
"This is a serious problem, Your Excellency Chenlong."

Cobra, however, spoke up decisively.

"The figure of 2 billion baileys for a single rainfall is too high. Even if water is transported directly from nearby countries, the cost would be far lower than that."

"The highest number I can accept is 300 million berries from a single rainfall event."

"There's also a mastermind behind it all. I don't know who he is, but 5 billion Berries is too much—you can't exactly tell me Whitebeard is lurking in Alabasta, can you?"

"I can offer a maximum of two billion peles."

he said firmly.

Upon hearing this, Chenlong slammed his fist on the table: "Absurd! Three hundred million Berries—I also need stamina to use my abilities, it would take at least seven hundred million Berries per use."

"As for the mastermind behind this, although it's not Whitebeard, it's still a troublesome guy. Besides, this is a major issue concerning the entire country. You hand over more than 10 billion in 'heavenly gold' every year, but you're only willing to give 2 billion to save the country?"

Cobra, not to be outdone, retorted in a deep voice, "Since you know about the Celestial Gold, you must also know that we only handed over the Celestial Gold this year, and the national treasury was almost emptied, not to mention the issue of resettling refugees after the crisis is resolved."

The two argued back and forth, each sticking to their own version of events. Finally, a solution was agreed upon.

According to the final agreement between the two parties, Chenlong would bring rain to the cities of Alabasta for 500 million Berries each time.

Alabasta will offer a bounty of three billion Berries to eliminate the mastermind behind this incident.

After the specific figures were finalized, Cobra looked at Chenlong and said, "However, Your Excellency—although the plan has been finalized, you still haven't given me any evidence."

He said this with a solemn expression.

Upon hearing this, Chenlong smiled.

"This is not a difficult question, Your Majesty Cobra."

He held up a second finger and pointed to himself: "I can bring rain, that's a well-known fact in Alabasta today, and something that the mastermind behind it all absolutely cannot tolerate."

“So all I need to do is stay in the palace, and you spread the word that ‘it’s going to rain in Alabasta,’ and he will naturally send someone to kill me—and then you will see the evidence.”

He spoke casually, even with a hint of excitement.

Cobra's expression froze for a moment, and his gaze toward Chenlong became serious.

Clearly, he hadn't expected Chenlong to use him as bait: "Are you sure?"

"of course."

Chenlong responded calmly.

His gaze could see the content displayed on the light screen beneath his eyes.

【Loy Amos (Sliced ​​Clone - Chenlong)】

[Fruit Slots: 3]

[Currently equipped fruits: Magma Fruit LV3, Ice Fruit LV3, Sliced ​​Fruit (unavailable)]

"I am sure."

With those words spoken, the agreement was reached.

Cobra didn't say much, but immediately instructed Icarum to arrange a place for Chenlong to stay in the palace.

He then watched quietly as the mysterious guest left.

And after Chenlong left.

"Father."

Vivi, who had been staring wide-eyed with disbelief from the very beginning, couldn't help but look at her father.

She had never seen her father like that before—he no longer seemed like a king, but a mercenary merchant.

Moreover, she can't understand it now.

"His identity and motives are still uncertain, and his accomplices are wanted criminals who stole the 'Heavenly Gold.' We are a member state of the World Government, so why would you be willing to cooperate with him?"

At that moment, Cobra was looking at his daughter.

She is brave enough, but still too naive.

"Weiwei, I want to tell you a principle."

"Sometimes, to judge a person, you shouldn't just look at what they say, but also what they do."

The king spoke earnestly.

"What have you done?"

Weiwei frowned slightly.

Cobra said softly, "They did indeed send rain, which solved Alabasta's immediate problem."

"The other party does indeed possess the power to easily kill you and me, but he didn't make a move from beginning to end."

"The most crucial point is that the other party can actually use the entire country to threaten me and make me agree to a higher price—although the national treasury is indeed empty, if the entire country is taxed, a sum of money can actually be squeezed out."

Cobra said softly, "But he didn't. Vivi, why do you think that is?"

"."

Vivi was silent for a moment, then naturally came to the conclusion: "Many people will die."

Alabasta is facing extreme difficulties in collecting its income this year due to a severe drought that has lasted for seven months.

If taxes are forcibly levied on the people again, then large-scale famine and death will be almost inevitable.

At this point, Weiwei understood.

"If he and his 'Twelve Constellations' are truly the culprits behind the lack of rain in the country, then he certainly wouldn't care about the lives of the people."

"But he chose to back down at this point, so... he's not the mastermind?"

Vivi said in surprise.

Cobra glanced at his daughter with a sense of relief.

But then Vivi started to worry again: "But what about the World Government?"

“We are the Queen of Alabasta, Vivi.”

But at this moment, Cobra spoke softly but firmly.

“We chose to stay in this country, so we are only responsible to the people of this country.”

"You just need to remember this."

　Answering readers' questions:

　　The core theme of this book is Devil Fruit abilities, not Haki.

　　The protagonist will strengthen their body because using the fruit is beneficial.
　　However, domineering aura belongs to a different category of ability, which the protagonist will not acquire through normal training.

　　But! But! But!

　　This doesn't mean the protagonist won't be domineering in the future.

　　What does that mean?

　　In other words, even if the protagonist gains Haki in the future, it will definitely be because of his Devil Fruit ability (laughs).

　　
　
(End of this chapter)