Chapter 123: Bet
Grand Land, Kingdom of Alabasta, Royal Palace, Nursing Room.
"Igrams!" Vivi immediately entered the treatment room and saw Igram who was currently lying there with his whole body covered by bandages. Besides Igram, there is currently Chaka who is currently receiving treatment from the doctor who is in charge of the entire Alabasta Royal family.
"Vivi-sama!" Igram was then very surprised by Vivi's appearance in the room and tried to get up from his bed, "Agh!"
However, just as Igram was about to get up from his bed, Igram immediately felt a tremendous amount of pain from the injuries he received.
"No need to get up, Igram" Vivi immediately said quickly, "You can lie down so that your wound heals quickly"
"Vivi-sama…" Igram was still surprised by Vivi's appearance. Even though he had received news about Vivi from Chaka who was currently receiving treatment. Igram was still very surprised by Vivi's appearance.
"Are you all right, Vivi-sama? Didn't that bastard Crocodile do something to you?" asked Igram quickly.
Vivi immediately shook her head, "No need to worry, Igram. I'm fine" Vivi paused for a moment and her face was very sad seeing Igram's current condition, "I'm sorry, Igram. Because I you—"
"You don't need to apologize, Vivi-sama" Igram immediately said seriously, "I am doing this because of my duty that I should have done. I'm very happy to see you in good health as you are now."
"Even so…" Vivi sighed, "I still thank you."
"How is Chaka doing, Doctor?" Asked Cobra who immediately came to the place from Chaka.
"Chaka-sama is not experiencing any serious problems, Your Majesty." The doctor said calmly, "His condition is improving now, Your Majesty. Luckily, he came here quickly and was immediately able to get treatment. If only the wound he received was wide open. His condition will be even worse than it is now."
"Your Majesty, there's no need to worry about my current condition." Chaka said with difficulty and tried to get up.
"Chaka-sama, please don't get up just yet. If you do so. There's a chance your wound will open again."
"Listen to the doctor's words, Chaka" Cobra said seriously, "You should be able to get your condition back to normal"
"Your Majesty, how is it from Bell?" Igram suddenly asked, "Have we still not heard from him?"
"I received it this morning" Cobra said calmly, "Bell said he had just arrived in the Prodance Kingdom and at this time he might be trying to get a chance to talk to the Prodance King regarding our intentions"
"Bells? Prodance Kingdom?" Vivi mumbled in confusion and suddenly she recalled the plan she had previously drawn up with Igram, "Igram you mean Bell at this time…"
"That's right, Vivi-sama" Igram nodded, "Bell has been given an assignment by His Majesty to go to the Prodance Kingdom to meet the Prodance King to ask him for help so that our side can contact the Forethical Kingdom to ask them for help"
"Asking for help…" Vivi's gaze became very excited hearing this.
"The business with Crocodile can be said to be over for now" Cobra said seriously, "However, we still have to take care of the Rebellion Troop problem" Cobra said, "Right now the Rebellion Army's strength is increasing. If you let it continue like this. The Kingdom of Alabasta will be destroyed due to the internal conditions that occur"
"Dad" Vivi suddenly said, "Let me go see Koza"
"Vivi/Vivi-sama?!" Chaka, Cobra and Igram were surprised by Vivi's suggestion.
"Koza is my childhood friend and I'm sure he will definitely listen to everything I say" Vivi said seriously.
"I think it's hard to do, Vivi-sama" Chaka said seriously, "Currently, many people no longer believe in the kingdom especially with the leadership of His Majesty." Chaka's gaze looked at Cobra, "I'm sorry, Your Majesty. "
"It doesn't matter." Cobra nodded.
Chaka then continued, "Alabasta's current condition has become even more concerning since your departure, Vivi-sama. Citizens who do not believe and want His Majesty to step down from the throne are becoming more and more. Even now the number of Rebel Troops has increased compared to the previous number. According to the data we got from the people who were our spies in there . At least now the number of Rebel Troops has reached 250 thousand people"
"250 thousand people…" Vivi was very surprised by the number.
"Your Majesty" Igram suddenly said, "I think we can take the action of inviting Koza to come talk to us. We can explain everything that happened to him later if he doesn't believe it. We can only take one action…"
"One action ?... " Everyone muttered in confusion regarding the action Igram wanted to take.
"We will make a bet"
"Bet? What do you mean Igram?" asked Vivi seriously.
"Bet on the decision that the Fortis Kingdom will make" Igram said seriously, "Although I didn't personally see the meeting that took place some time ago. However, I read the information in the newspaper . According to this information, I came to the conclusion that the Fortis Kingdom is a kingdom that is unlikely to build a cooperative relationship, especially with a kingdom that oppresses its citizens, which can be seen with King Fortis who hates gambling, slavery and others. In addition, look at the kingdom that is currently establishing a cooperative relationship with the kingdom of Fortis. Each of the Kings who led the kingdom was not a king who would oppress his citizens. We can use that as a bet against Koza."
Igram paused for a moment and continued, "Besides, I believe we all agree that spies from the Fortis Kingdom must have spread all over the world. We can take a reference by seeing that the World Government has even been infiltrated by their spies, especially for us. I believe in this kingdom there are spies from the Fortis Kingdom who are always monitoring us."
Igram stopped back and continued, "We can use this conversation that Bell is about to have as our bet on Koza. If we can really establish a cooperative relationship with the Fortis Kingdom, that means all the accusations leveled against His Majesty are false. Meanwhile, if the Fortis Kingdom does not accept a cooperative relationship with our side, it means that the accusations leveled against His Majesty are true."
Igram's gaze stared at everyone, "What do you think about this?"
"If you want to make such a bet…" Chaka mumbled softly then looked at Cobra, "His Majesty must risk his position—"
"No problem!" Cobra said seriously.
"Father" Vivi was very surprised by the decision made by Cobra.
"I have no problem with that. If I really am the one who did that and also because of the problems of my government many citizens of my kingdom are suffering till now. I am willing to step down from this throne and let a better person to rise to the position to replace me" Cobra said seriously, "I'd better step down for the sake of my citizens can be better than now"
"I believe you are a King who would not commit such an act, Your Majesty." The previously silent doctor suddenly said, "As long as I follow the government that you are currently leading. You never do anything that actually oppresses the people. You don't even collect taxes from the citizens which is very different from the government carried out by other kings" said the doctor.
"I believe too" Chaka suddenly said.
"Father!" Vivi suddenly called out, "Let me have a hand in knowing this. I will go to see Koza and invite him to come. I'm sure if I do this. He would definitely accept it . Koza, there's no way that person will forget me as his friend."
Cobra thought for a moment and said, "You can go. However… You must be accompanied by some bodyguards. Even though I trust Koza. However, there are some people who are his subordinates who won't necessarily take action against you."
"No problem' Vivi nodded and felt it was a natural thing.
New World, Prodance Kingdom, Royal Palace, Throne Room.
The meeting between the three leaders finally came to an end and the Ryugu Kingdom's Representative and the Amazonian Kingdom's Representative Lily had finally returned after eating the dishes the Prodance Kingdom had prepared for them.
Every Royal Representative didn't stay too long. They have a lot of work to do as well as they want to announce a cooperative relationship to their citizens.
Currently in the Throne room there is Elizabello II and also several other higher-ups along with Bell who has received permission to meet him.
"Thank you for allowing me to meet you, King of Prodance" Bell said in a polite tone as he bowed.
"I know you. You are the one who can take part in Revery's meeting with the Cobra King" Elizabello II said calmly.
"It is an honor to be known by you, King of Prodance" Bell said, "My name is Bell, I am the personal bodyguard serving as Army Commander of the Kingdom of Alabasta"
Elizabello II nodded and said, "What is your purpose in coming here, Commander Bell? Did King Cobra ask you to send me a message?"
Elizabello II and Cobra have a pretty good relationship. Because of that, the thing that Elizabello II asked about was a letter or something.
"That's not my job, King of Prodance" Bell shook his head and continued, "The purpose I was sent to see you was to ask you for help in contacting King Fortis."
"Contacting the King of Fortis" Elizabello II was slightly surprised to hear this.
"King of Prodance, the territory of the Kingdom of Alabasta has now been claimed by one of the Shichibukai namely Crocodile as his territory. After claiming the territory as his territory, Crocodile has built a casino business in the Kingdom of Alabasta which is to the detriment of the citizens of our kingdom. Many citizens from our kingdom have an addiction to gambling which is actually detrimental to them and is causing many of them to suffer from hunger today."
Bell clenched his fists tightly as he explained this and continued, "Besides, since the appearance of Crocodile in our kingdom. His Majesty always gets slander starting from the exploitation of resources and also various other things. This is also why at this time in the Kingdom of Alabasta there appears an organization called the Rebel Army where the goal of this organization is to overthrow the leadership of the Cobra King and replace him with the new king."
"This…" Elizabello II fell silent hearing this.
"This situation is really very bad" Dagama said seriously, "If this situation is not handled properly. It won't take long for your kingdom to slowly crumble."
"That's what we've been thinking at this point" Bell said feeling full of emotion, "We have no way of dealing with Crocodile. Currently Crocodile has been considered a hero by the citizens of our kingdom because it has helped in dealing with the problem of pirates who often do trouble in our kingdom. But on the other hand, indirectly Crocodile himself is also slowly destroying our kingdom by making the citizens addicted to gambling…"
Bell took a deep breath and said, "Previously we had discussions with His Majesty regarding this matter and also asked His Majesty to ask the World Government for help. However, His Majesty said as long as there is no solid evidence Crocodile will destroy our kingdom. The World Government will not interfere in this matter especially with the current status of Crocodile who has been considered a hero for our kingdom. It's hard to take down Crocodile…"
Bell paused for a moment and looked at Elizabello II, "I came here because I wanted to ask the King of Prodance for help in contacting King Fortis. Our kingdom would like to ask for help from their kingdom to resolve this matter." Bell immediately bowed, "King of Prodance, please help us"
Elizabello II and Dagama fell silent hearing this.
Elizabello II sighed, "I can help you contact the King of Fortis…"
Bell immediately raised his head and his face was full of joy.
"However, regarding the decision of King Fortis. It was his decision. Will it help you or not. I'm just going to tell you, King Fortis will only help if in the kingdom he's helped has a benefit to his kingdom. Otherwise, it's hard to get him to move to help." Elizabello II paused and continued, "Our kingdom received help from the Fortis Kingdom earlier only because the Fortis Kingdom needed something in our kingdom. If at that time the Fortis Kingdom did not have what it needed, it is likely that by now our kingdom would have been destroyed by the two kingdoms that previously fought with us. The same was true for the Ryugu Kingdom and the Amazon Lily Kingdom. These two Kingdoms can establish a cooperative relationship with the Fortis Kingdom because the Fortis Kingdom needs something from these two kingdoms."
Dagama suddenly continued, "It's not just the three kingdoms that are currently establishing cooperative relations with the Fortis Kingdom. The two kingdoms that King Fortis was told that King Fortis wanted to establish a cooperative relationship with . These two kingdoms also have something the Fortis Kingdom wants."
"Excuse me. If I may ask, do you know the two kingdoms that the Fortis Kingdom wants to establish a cooperative relationship with?" Bell asked expectantly.
"No" Elizabello II shook her head, "At the banquet after the Octagon meeting. The Empress asked about this matter. However, King Fortis didn't answer and kept it to himself."
"I see." Bell nodded and there was still hope within him that the Kingdom of Alabasta was a kingdom that became one of the two kingdoms.
Because if the Kingdom of Alabasta to establish a cooperative relationship with the Kingdom of Fortis. It can be said that the Alabasta Kingdom will become a safe kingdom and also they will get a lot of help from the Fortis Kingdom which can help them develop their kingdom.
"I'll be in touch, King Fortis" Elizabello II said, "However, I hope you can strengthen your heart. Because it's possible that your request was rejected or maybe this call was not picked up by him"
"Not pick up?" Bell asked in confusion.
"King Fortis is a very busy person" Dagama said, "Usually at this time of the day he is doing work so he rarely focuses on the person who contacts him"
"I see." Bell nodded and looked ahead seriously while praying for the communication line to be picked up by King Fortis.