The Pirate Princess Becomes Queen

She spoke very sincerely, but the female bandit turned her head away, seemingly unwilling to speak to her.

The burly sand bandit named Balubalu scrutinized the two men: "You want the sand bandits to help you transport grain, right? Why don't you distribute the grain to the people instead of taking it away?"

Weiwei raised her head and looked at him: "We must transport it away. The people along the coast can hold on for another two months, but in many inland areas, in many villages, people are starving to death. Whether you help or not, I must transport the grain away."

"Damn it! These nobles are all heartless!"

"Even now, this guy still hasn't shown any remorse!"

"The country has become like this, and that's all their family's responsibility!"

The sand bandits were menacing, some even drawing their scimitars. The female sand bandit standing on the mast opened her mouth as if to say something, but swallowed her words back.

"Princess, be careful." Bell stood in front of Vivi, wanting to protect her.

"Don't worry, Bell, I'll win them over with kindness, they won't lay a hand on me."

Vivi herself didn't believe this. What nonsense about winning people over with virtue! Whether they were pirates, mountain bandits, or sand bandits, they were all a bunch of hot-blooded guys who didn't care about anything. Trying to reason with them? Difficult.

As one of the sand bandits charged forward two steps, a blood-red light flashed in Vivi's eyes, and she unleashed a burst of Conqueror's Haki.

Winning people over with virtue? That's impossible. Winning people over with force!

The sand bandits were positioned too close together, making it difficult for Vivi to accurately control any individual. The first three to be hit were immediately stunned.

"what happened?"

"Why did Old Hound and the others faint?"

"Is it heatstroke?"

After two more attempts to "win people over with virtue," the sand bandits finally realized the crux of the problem. They stared at Vivi and Belle in horror, wondering what methods the two had used, and were now on high alert.

Bell was closest to Vivi and felt it the most deeply. That trembling, needle-like sense of danger was truly terrifying. His princess had been away for over a year, and upon her return, she had changed so much.

While sincerely apologizing, Weiwei also tried to "win people over with virtue," saying, "My fist is bigger, and what I say is the truth."

She eventually reached an agreement with the sand bandits, who would use their boats and a vehicle called a sand sled to help them transport grain.

Professionals are different. Vivi thought that the desert, which was difficult to traverse, was like a smooth road under the feet of the sand bandits. They drove sand sleds, which were like sleds but had sails, loaded with food, and then roamed back and forth across the desert, shouting loudly from time to time.

"Can you really restore Alabasta to its former glory?" the female sand bandit Lasha asked Vivi as she skillfully maneuvered the sails and piloted the sand sled.

"A promise is a promise, that's my motto... no, that's the Nefertari family's motto!"

After purchasing large quantities of grain and developing Alabasta's specialty products, Vivi recruited a group of sand bandits to serve as a transport team. She also brought the female sand bandit Lasha back to the capital, Arubana, where she needed her to teach the palace guards how to use sand sleds.

Sand sleds are really useful in the desert and should be promoted as much as possible.

She didn't know the specifics of how to dig irrigation ditches or cultivate fields; these tasks were left to the senior officials, and she was only responsible for explaining.

In July of the 1518th year of the Sea Calendar, after two months of waiting, King Cobra's health had recovered. Although he still had some minor ailments such as coughing and wheezing, they no longer affected his travel. The royal ship was ready, and the navy sent a vice admiral to escort him along the way.

The person who arrived was the naval hero Garp!

Zefa was worried that someone might try to stop the meeting. He had nothing to say to his side; even with a crippled hand, he wasn't afraid of anyone. But King Cobra was a different story. He was just an ordinary person, and a sick one at that. Some pirate might sneak over and shoot him dead. If the king died, there would be no need to discuss anything else.

Zephyr asked his old friend Garp to take charge of the escort for this warship, hoping to avoid all the messy stuff and just get the people safely to the Navy Headquarters.

Garp was originally chasing Shiki. Defeating the now-wounded Shiki wouldn't be difficult, but catching up with him and capturing him would be extremely difficult.

Later, when he discovered that Kaido was also chasing Shiki, Garp began to openly slack off. When his old friend Zephyr asked him to do something, he agreed almost without thinking.

Chapter 165 Departure, Destination Marineford

Garp could only use it as a trump card, like a stabilizing force. He didn't care about the warship's navigation at all. The officer who came with them was Vivi's old acquaintance, a female swordswoman named Ain who used two short swords, wore shorts, and showed off her long legs.

The Navy was already used to Garp's eccentric behavior. While Ain was seriously discussing the route with the navigators in Alabasta, Garp was loudly eating snacks on the side.

Pointing to the sea chart, Ain said seriously, "We need to pass through Jaya Island, Long Ring Island... and then go to Water Seven."

Garp casually took out a bag of senbei (rice crackers) and started eating them happily, making a series of "crunch crunch" sounds.

Ain had to raise his voice two octaves: "We'll rest in Water Seven! We'll gather our supplies, then head to Marineford!"

"Snoring...snoring..." Garp finished eating and went to sleep, drooling all over his clothes, sleeping so soundly.

The Alabasta people were somewhat taken aback, unsure of what this lieutenant general-dressed old man meant. Was it dissatisfaction or something else? Ain covered her face, finally understanding the true meaning of Vivi's earlier words, "As long as you don't feel ashamed, it's others who are ashamed." She now felt extremely ashamed!

After finishing their business, Garp wiped away the drool that had spilled out and woke up at the opportune moment.

Following protocol, the two went to pay their respects to King Cobra. As they passed through the square, they happened to see Vivi, dressed in a beige training uniform, practicing swordsmanship with a two-meter-tall man wearing a dark green overcoat.

The man is the captain of the Alabasta royal palace guard, and he ate the Dog-Dog Fruit, Jackal form of Jakka.

Ain glanced at it a few times and felt it was a bit fake. Neither of them were using their full strength. Jaka was afraid of hurting his princess, while Vivi was simply suppressing her strength. This kind of sword practice was just like exercise before a meal, excellent for warming up but almost no for improving one's abilities.

Garp didn't even look at him, picking his nose as he walked inside.

Ain thought of her teacher's views on Garp. Just how strong was Garp, whom her teacher, a powerful figure, called a "monster"? She simply couldn't imagine.

She couldn't help but ask, "Lord Garp."

Karp looked at her with a dazed expression, as if he were sleepwalking.

Ain swallowed back the words that were on the tip of her tongue and decided not to ask any more questions!

"Hi, Ain." Vivi gently hugged the female swordsman. It had been more than half a year since she pretended to be blind in the Kingdom of Lulusia. Seeing her old friend again made her quite happy.

The female swordsman had a sharp eye: "Your swordsmanship seems to have improved quite a bit?"

"I have indeed made some progress. I benefited greatly from sparring with a senior swordsman before." Vivi didn't hide anything; Ain and the others knew her true strength.

It was only then that she noticed Garp standing to the side. He was a top-tier character in the One Piece world, and it would be awesome if she could get some of his attributes. Unfortunately, Vivi thought for a long time but couldn't come up with a good excuse.

Garp may seem foolish, but he's actually a man of both wisdom and courage, capable of being friends with Sengoku and considered a nemesis by the Pirate King Roger. He often appears silly because he doesn't care about other people's opinions. He lives a very pure life and cannot be measured by simple intelligence.

Vivi's thoughts raced through her mind, but in the end she simply greeted him casually, "Vice Admiral Garp, I've heard so much about you."

The old man nodded as he flicked the boogers far away, doing nothing unusual or giving any extra indication.

What happened next was pretty predictable.

Garp and Ain paid a courtesy visit to King Cobra, who treated the guests from afar to a lavish meal at the palace. Garp, who is 74 years old this year, is just like his grandson Luffy, with an enormous appetite! He eats without any restraint or regard for decorum, which frightens the chef in charge of cooking.

After eating the vampire fruit, Vivi no longer needed to eat. She could eat or not eat all the time. Now that she was eating her own food, she had even less interest in eating a lot. She ate some fruit very elegantly and then started chatting with Ain. Her medical skills had improved a lot recently, and she was thinking about whether she could heal Zephyr's arm.

“It’s difficult. The teacher is seriously injured. Vegapunk saw her and thought it was impossible for her to recover.” Ain shook her head slightly, not holding out much hope for Vivi’s treatment.

Vivi didn't think so. Vegapunk was indeed a scientist with a bug-like ability in the One Piece world, but scientists and doctors are not the same thing. There is a clear line between them. She planned to try her own method when the time came.

Garp ate the food for twenty people all by himself. You could tell from his facial expression how comfortable it was to be the one being treated to a meal. King Cobra just smiled and didn't take it seriously at all.

Captain Jaka of the guard team was left to watch the house.

King Cobra, Princess Vivi, Karu the Duck, Bell the Vice-Captain of the Guard, along with the cook, the doctor, and a guard of over five hundred men, arrived at the port of Alabasta in a grand procession. King Cobra and Vivi boarded their royal ship, while Garp and Aion's naval warships served as escorts.

Three naval warships and two royal vessels set sail from Alabasta for Marineford, the naval headquarters.

Not long after setting off, Vivi summoned the whale Laboon. After letting go of her worries and recovering her health, Laboon was clearly very happy. The big whale rolled around on the surface of the sea from time to time and occasionally spouted water, which made the ducks quack.

Both the Alabastaans and the navy were initially startled by the whale that followed them. Laboon was not as long as those sea kings, but the sight of the 400-meter-long behemoth swimming on the surface of the sea was extremely shocking.

Upon learning that it was the princess's pet, the Alabasta people immediately felt relieved. The princess had a habit of keeping pets, and keeping a 400-meter-long whale... was quite reasonable! The naval soldiers observed for two days and gradually lowered their guard as well.

Compared to the enormous size of whales, naval warships appear very small.

Labu had never left Reverse Mountain for fifty years. Now that he had let go of his inner turmoil, he acted like a child, sometimes swimming to the front of the warship and sometimes to the back, performing water spraying for everyone.

As the group entered the Devil's Triangle, Vivi quietly left the group aboard the whale Laboon. She had left in a hurry last time and hadn't known that the duck had eaten the Shadow-Shadow Fruit, so she hadn't taken many things. Now she wanted to go back to Devil's Island to see if she could find anything of value.

Vivi and the duck both crawled into the giant space inside Lab's stomach. At a command, the whale dived and quickly broke away from the fleet.

Chapter 166 Swallow

Returning to the familiar place, the process of finding the terrifying three-masted ship was not complicated.

Karoo the duck is now very sensitive to "things from the underworld". With Karoo as its guide, Laboon the whale sped forward and, less than half a day after leaving the fleet, spotted the Thriller Bark in the distance.

The ship was still shrouded in thick fog, sitting alone on the sea in the Devil's Triangle. Previously controlled by zombies, it could roam freely within a certain area, but now it was completely silent.

Pirates, bounty hunters, and the subsequent marines conducted several raids on Devil's Island aboard the Thriller Bark. Some time ago, even the nearby fishermen received the news and would come here to stroll around whenever they had free time. If they couldn't get any gold or silver treasures, then taking a tombstone or two coffin boards would be just as good.

People in this world don't have any taboos about death, nor do they have the custom of returning to their roots. Most people are simply buried at sea. Being able to be put in a coffin and buried in the ground after death is a privilege enjoyed only by the wealthy. Now, getting some funeral supplies on the island is no problem at all.

Vivi had Labu wait a short distance away. She and Duck parachuted onto Devil's Island, and the sight was utterly shocking.

Crocodile's "erosion cycle" hasn't reached the level of Akainu and Aokiji, which permanently altered the climate and environment of an island, but it's only a step away. The island is now severely desertified, with nearly a third of it already gone. The locust-like plundering by numerous pirates, marines, and bounty hunters has further exacerbated this desolation.

The desertification of the land, the immense destruction caused by Oz the Demon, and the subsequent plundering have rendered Thriller Bark completely incapable of movement, and the hull has been utterly destroyed, which is why the ship remains here.

This ship is too big. Those forces capable of sailing it don't care about such a small ship, and those who can't sail it... well, they just aren't capable.

Vivi lacks the ability, but Labu does.

She got it by chance; she wants not only everything on the island, but also the entire island!

If a normal person's shadow is cut off, it cannot be exposed to light. Once exposed to light, the owner of the shadow will be burned to ashes by the sunlight, and the owner of the shadow will die. No matter where the shadow is, the shadow will also die. This is a two-sided thing.

By stuffing the shadow into the corpse to create a zombie, and since zombies are not afraid of light, theoretically, if the shadow's owner were locked up in a dungeon for ten thousand years, the zombie could roam the world freely. However, considering various factors, Vivi found it inconvenient to openly allow a large number of zombies to follow her.

Now there's a solution to this problem. Laboon's modified stomach is a perfect match for Devil's Island. Normally, the zombies are hidden inside the whale's body, but during battle, the whale opens its mouth and an overwhelming horde of zombies can overwhelm the enemy.

The island was originally quite large, but now Crocodile has turned most of it into sand using his Devil Fruit powers. Vivi drew her black sword, Shusui, and swung it repeatedly, cutting away all the sandy and useless areas.

Only the mansion and the laboratory building behind it were left behind. Only a small part of the cemetery was preserved, and the remaining forests, artificial lakes, rockeries, and plantations were all abandoned.

The towers on the east and west sides of the mansion had completely collapsed, but the main building was still standing. Vivi and Karu the duck went inside for a stroll and found that everything that could be taken away, including carpets, chandeliers, tableware, and even wall tiles, had been taken.

There used to be many zombies on the island, but with the death of Moonlight Moria, all the shadows returned to their original bodies, and now the main building is littered with corpses.

A tombstone can be used as a mattress, and a coffin can be used to reinforce a house. A broken-down corpse is unwanted; it's heavy and useless. Only Kozuki Oden would use a corpse as firewood. Ordinary people don't have that kind of heart. Now it's all going to Vivi, or rather, Karu.

The mad scientist's lab was completely emptied; all the experimental equipment and notes were lost. Vivi was a little disappointed, but there was nothing she could do.

Time was tight, so I didn't have time to look at it carefully.

"Labu, come on, swallow this island!" Vivi flew into the air and waved to the whale from afar.

Laboon was very honest. If you let me swallow, then I will swallow. It opened its big mouth and with a whoosh, swallowed the Moria Mansion, which had been cut off from the east and west towers and was now only a third of the way down, along with part of the island, into its stomach.

Weiwei was very satisfied: "Okay, the matter is done. Let's speed up and catch up with the main group."

Laboon the whale was overjoyed, as if he had done something insignificant. He flicked his tail twice, blew two bubbles at Vivi and the duck, and then dived into the sea to catch up with the fleet.