Sailing: His comprehension is against the sky, and he comprehends the Eight Gates at the beginning.

In the alley behind, Mr. 3 was beaten so badly his head looked like a pig's head, and he was no longer human.

Ms. Golden Week looked terrified, with tears still on her face, and fainted.

"249 plus these two, that's 251, I won!"

Luffy's lips curled up, and there was a smug look in his eyes.

After that, he took Weiwei and left.

Ace was left there, furious and indignant, shouting.

"Damn it! It was just a little bit close!"

...

Rapeseed Flower Harbor, a secluded coastline.

Luffy returns with Vivi, followed by Ace, who is still agonizing over losing to Luffy.

The rest of the group has also returned, and each of them has purchased some necessities, such as the video Den Den Mushi and projection Den Den Mushi that Luffy asked them to prepare, which are currently being distributed on the deck.

Before even boarding the ship, Vivi's excited voice could be heard on board.

"Everyone, we're back!"

"We've gathered some intelligence!"

Upon hearing Weiwei's voice, everyone gathered at the side of the boat, excitedly exclaiming.

"Great, we didn't get any useful information!"

"No one from Baroque Studio has come looking for us; their target must be Vivi!"

"Thanks to you all! Now we can start preparing to implement the plan."

Suddenly, Sanji noticed an unfamiliar man with Luffy and asked him about it out of curiosity.

"Huh? Luffy! Who is he?"

Everyone looked over when they heard Sanji's question.

Before Luffy could introduce them, Ace shook off his previous entanglement and regained his usual confident and arrogant demeanor, smiling slightly.

"Greetings, everyone! I am Portgas D. Ace."

"Thank you all for taking care of my younger brother!"

He is Ace, whom Luffy can never beat.

But to others, he is the famous Fire Fist of the sea!

So at this moment, he switched to a confident and polite demeanor.

Upon hearing Ace's introduction, everyone was taken aback.

"Younger brother?! You're... Luffy's older brother?"

"I never knew Luffy had an older brother!"

"But how come Luffy's brother is on the Grand Line?"

Luffy smiled and said.

"Ace was the second division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, and like us, he was a pirate."

Upon hearing Luffy's words, everyone on the ship was taken aback.

"The Whitebeard Pirates?! The captain of the ship of that man who's known as the strongest in the world..."

"He's such a powerful person!"

"No wonder they're brothers, they're both like monsters."

While everyone was sighing with emotion, Ace's gaze swept around, and he suddenly asked Luffy with a puzzled look.

"Luffy, where's Uta? Isn't she here?"

Upon hearing this, Luffy suddenly realized that Uta wouldn't be able to see Ace, and said with some regret.

"Oh! I've sent Uta on a secret mission."

"Why don't you stay with us for a few more days? Then you'll be able to see Uta."

Ace shook his head.

"I don't have that much time."

"In fact, I'm hunting down a man who calls himself Blackbeard."

“That guy used to be my subordinate, but he killed his comrades and escaped from my ship.”

"As the captain, I must resolve this matter and give an explanation to my 247 fallen men!"

Upon hearing Ace's words, Luffy was speechless for a moment.

He knew that given Ace's personality, he knew he couldn't persuade him otherwise.

Therefore, he did not choose to speak.

At that moment, Ace suddenly handed Luffy a piece of paper.

"this is for you."

Luffy took the paper and recognized it as Ace's Vivre Card.

Ace continued.

"This piece of paper will allow us to meet again next time."

"You must... always hold onto this piece of paper!"

Seeing Ace's concerned smile, Luffy smiled and nodded.

After handing Luffy the Vivre Card, Ace suddenly spoke.

"Alright, the main reason I called you here was to see you, and I'll give you this thing while I'm at it."

"It's a bit of a pity I didn't get to see Uta."

"However... I should go now!"

Upon hearing that Ace was leaving so soon, everyone on the ship began to speak.

"Huh? Are you leaving so soon?"

"Luffy's brother, won't you come up for some tea?"

"Let's stay a little longer!"

Ace smiled and waved.

"I'll continue to entrust my younger brother to you."

Then, Ace looked at Luffy, his eyes filled with excitement and anticipation.

"Luffy, I hope we'll meet again at the pinnacle of piracy!"

Luffy nodded and only said one sentence.

"Take care of yourself!"

The next time we meet, it will indeed be at the pinnacle of pirates, but not at the pinnacle of Ace's life.

As Luffy watched Ace's retreating figure, he silently made a decision in his heart.

"Ace, I will definitely rescue you!"

...

After Ace left, Luffy summoned everyone to explain the plan.

"We have already found out Crocodile's plans."

"They will begin their operation at seven o'clock tomorrow morning."

"In other words, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the rebels will begin their advance on Albana shortly after this time."

"So we need to get to the vicinity of Albana ahead of time."

"When the rebel army breaks through the King's army's defenses and enters the capital, we will appear at that moment to expose Crocodile's conspiracy and eliminate the people of Baroque Works."

After explaining the general course of action to everyone, Luffy told them the detailed plan.

The final conclusion of the overall resolution is...

Let Nojiko stay in the rapeseed field until tomorrow, and broadcast the videos that others recorded from Crocodile and the executives to the city via Den Den Mushi, while protecting the broadcast from being disrupted or interrupted by the Baroque Works people.

The rest of the group then traveled upstream along the Santoro River overnight.

The Santora River runs through almost the entire Alabasta, dividing the country's major cities in the middle.

Furthermore, its upstream location is close to Albana, has no port, and is sparsely populated, making it the best place to hide.

Tomorrow, they can secretly set off from here to expose this conspiracy.

Once the action plan was finalized, everyone immediately began to act.

The final battle is about to begin!

...

Chapter Seventy-Three: The Final Battle Begins, Target: Albana!

evening.

Albana, inside the royal palace.

Kobra and several important ministers gathered together, while Uta and Karu sat nearby, gulping down water.

Karu, in particular, was extremely thirsty after traveling through the desert for several hours.

At this moment, she was drinking while holding the bucket of water, tears streaming down her face.

Beside him, Bel, the vice adjutant of the Kingdom's Guard, held a letter in his hand and looked on incredulously, exclaiming in surprise.

“This…this is indeed Princess Vivi’s handwritten letter.”

The other adjutant, Jaka, was covered in cold sweat, looking shocked, and muttered to himself.

"how so?!"

Kobra held his forehead, his face filled with anger and shock, staring blankly ahead, and said.

"This is indeed a pretty big blow."

"Because he was on the side of the world's ruling class, I became careless."

"I never imagined that [Crocodile] would want to overthrow this country for something like that."

At that moment, Jaka suddenly spoke up.

"What should we do now, Your Majesty?"

"Should we trust these pirates as this letter says...?"

"Entrust the fate of Alabasta to... a band of pirates!"

When Jaka spoke, there was doubt and worry in his eyes.

This was a matter of life and death for Alabasta, and entrusting it entirely to a group of pirates meant they dared not be careless.

Cobra was also hesitant and struggling at this moment.

Although in the letter, Vivi made it very clear that she wanted him to believe in this group of pirates.

However... as the ruler of a country, it was still too difficult for him to make this decision.

Just then, Uta suddenly looked at Bell and Jaka and spoke.

Are you the strongest people in this country?

Bell and Gakka were taken aback by what they heard, and looked at Uta with a puzzled expression.

Although she didn't know what she meant, she still nodded silently.

Uta smiled slightly upon hearing this and replied politely.