52 Princess Vivi's Despair

The Thousand Sunny set sail from the Twin Cape, bidding farewell to Crocus, and slowly headed towards the first stop on the Grand Line, Whisky Peak.

Luffy walked into the activity room and immediately saw Nami interrogating Vivi.

Facing the "fierce" Nami, Vivi weakly confessed everything, even revealing her true identity.

"So you're a princess? The princess of Alabasta..." Nami's expression gradually softened, and a symbol of beli appeared in her eyes.

The Six Styles Fruit were eaten, there was no way to turn back time, so now they had to recover the damage.

A princess was a very suitable target for extortion... and compensation!

When Vivi saw Luffy, she became even more afraid and quickly said, "I... I will compensate... I was just too hungry and wanted to find something to eat. I didn't know it was... something magical, like a Devil Fruit."

Nami immediately put on a friendly smile and said, "So, Princess Vivi, how much money are you willing to compensate?"

"Fi... Fifty thousand beli, what do you think?" Vivi's voice became smaller and smaller, almost inaudible.

"Fifty thousand?!" Nami grabbed Vivi's collar again, transforming into a shark's mouth, shaking her back and forth. "Are you an idiot? If you could buy something like that for fifty thousand, I would buy a whole room of it!"

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... that's all my savings."

Vivi felt like crying but had no tears. Her head was hurting from being shaken.

"I was the idiot who had a moment of hope for you just now. If you were rich, would you come here to steal food because you were hungry?"

"Yes..."

Vivi's stomach cooperated and made a growling sound. The young girl's face turned red.

Luffy watched the two girls arguing and couldn't help but laugh.

He sat down next to Nami and asked vivi, "Which two techniques did you master?"

"Moonwalk and Finger Pistol..."

Vivi bit her lip. She knew that the person in front of her was the real decision-maker, the captain. "Please don't throw me into the sea to feed the fish. When I return to the kingdom, I will definitely compensate you enough!"

["When you return to the kingdom, you're probably going to be taken out by Baroque Works halfway!"]

Luffy thought to himself and smiled, "The Nefertari family of Alabasta, your country is currently in rebellion, in chaos. I'm afraid there won't be much money for compensation. Besides, the Six Styles fruit is something that money can't buy."

"How should we deal with her, Luffy?" Nami sighed helplessly.

"Selling the princess as a slave should fetch a good price." Luffy smirked.

"That's a good idea, as expected of Luffy~" Nami's eyes lit up, full of agreement.

The two of them sang in harmony, scaring Vivi pale.

"I'm sorry!! Please, not that... I'm willing to do anything, please spare me!"

The fate of being sold as a slave was self-evident for a princess.

"Hahaha."

Luffy couldn't help but laugh. It was amusing to scare the little girl.

Nami glared at him and sighed, "I was just teasing you. We're not those low-level pirates who do such boring things."

"Thank you!" Vivi immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

"But you still have to compensate! Otherwise, I won't be able to sleep at night!"

"I... I understand, I will find a way..."

Vivi nodded vigorously, afraid that these two bad men and bad woman would change their minds.

Luffy shook his head and said, "The black market price for a Devil Fruit is at least one hundred million beli, and the Six Powers fruit is even rarer and has no side effects. Its price will only be higher, not low."

One hundred million!!

Vivi's heart almost stopped beating. If it was the old Alabasta, it wouldn't be a problem to come up with that money, but now...

"As far as I know, Alabasta is now being targeted by Crocodile. It won't be long before you're not a princess anymore, but a princess of a fallen kingdom, with no money for compensation."

Hearing this suddenly, Vivi trembled and stared at him in disbelief, "How... How do you know? Who are you?"

"I am Monkey D. Luffy, my grandfather is Monkey D. Garp, Vice Admiral of the Naval Headquarters."

"The grandson of a Marine hero?"

Vivi's mouth dropped open, realizing that this identity might not be lower than that of a princess... In fact, in a certain sense, it might even be higher.

That's the core high-ranking figure of the Three Great Powers of the Grand Line, a prominent figure in the Marines!

"Crocodile?" Nami asked in confusion.

"Just like the hawk-eyed guy we met before, he is one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, nicknamed 'Sand Crocodile'," Luffy explained.

Vivi stared at Luffy in a daze, her little head in complete chaos.

After a while, she became excited:

"What does this mean?!"

"Do you know what Crocodile did in Alabasta? Did you find out from the Marines?"

"If that's the case, why didn't the Marines take action?!"

Ah, you have discovered a blind spot, you're quite clever.

Luffy chuckled lightly.

Crocodile is a pirate. A pirate who went to Alabasta and became a hero. If you say he turned over a new leaf and started a new life, even the Five Elders would probably laugh their heads off.

He must be planning something, but considering that he is a Shichibukai, a lapdog of the government, they just can't be bothered.

"I know you're anxious, but don't forget that you're currently my prisoner, Princess Vivi."

Luffy raised his hand and explained to her the rules of how this world operates.

After listening, Vivi muttered in a daze:

"No wonder when I reported to the Marines, I never received any feedback... No one came to take a look, no one cared about what was happening in Alabasta!"

They know, or rather, they can guess some of the situations, but they can't intervene, and they don't want to.

After all, the Marines are said to be one of the Three Great Powers of the Grand Line, but to put it bluntly, they are still dogs of the World Government.

Without the government's approval, the Marines can't move against the Shichibukai.

Even if Vivi were to go to Sengoku and present all the evidence of what Crocodile did, there would be no results.

Vivi, who was struck by this, had tears welling up in her eyes, falling down one by one.

She bit her lip tightly, drawing blood.

["Alabasta... the rebellious army deceived by Crocodile, the suffering people... do they have no hope?"]

She clenched her fist, but there was only deep helplessness.

At the age of 14, she abandoned her princess status and infiltrated Baroque Works to investigate the mastermind behind the domestic turmoil.

After two years, she finally learned a name.

Behind everything, it was that Shichibukai, Sir Crocodile.

She finally saw a glimmer of hope. As long as she could obtain solid evidence and submit it to the Marines, everything that Alabasta had suffered would pass, the suffering would end, and the country would welcome hope.

However, now someone was telling her, "You're too naive."

"Haha... Luffy, don't bully her," Nami sighed deeply, looking at the pitiful Vivi and feeling empathy.

Luffy spread his hands. "I'm just helping you vent, that's all. Whose side are you on, Nami?"

She gave him a disdainful look.

Nami embraced Vivi, patting her head and comforting her with a smile.

"Don't cry. Although he's been scaring you all this time, when he says something like this, he actually wants to help you!"

"Huh?"

Vivi was stunned, her tearful eyes looking at Nami, then at Luffy.

Luffy propped his cheek with one hand and chuckled.

"Don't make it sound like I'm a good-for-nothing. It's just that Crocodile is a bit too arrogant. It's unreasonable. I have to teach him a lesson."

——