33 Interrogation
...
"..."
Standing silently on the balcony while leaning his body on the railing, king Cobra could be seen glancing at the scenery of Alubarna in front of him with exhausted eyes.
The people walked calmly across the streets, and the kids happily played among themselves without a care in the world.
All in all, the city looked perfectly peaceful and calm. However, the expression of the king showed anything but happiness or satisfaction at the happy sight in front of him.
"How did things get this bad...?"
Muttering something like that, the king shook his head briefly, before he then turned around and started walking away with a pensive expression on his face.
-Step-
-Step-
-Step-
Walking for who knows how much time, the king's frown continued growing deeper and deeper with each step that he took, until soon, he found himself standing right in front of the throne room.
"Hmm...."
-Creaaaaak...-
Opening the creaking door of the throne room, the king groaned in a low voice, before he then entered swiftly and walked towards his throne with a lost gaze in his eyes.
-Rustle-
"Haaaah...~"
Sitting down, the king leaned his back on the throne, before he then let out a long and tired breath, as he massaged his temples while grimacing slightly.
"..."
After that, the king stayed silent, simply looking at the air with a blank gaze as if thinking of something, before he then opened his mouth and muttered in a low voice.
"If things continue like this, it will only be a matter of time before a civil war breaks out..."
His face was extremely tired as he said those words.
-Creaaaaak...-
Suddenly, as the king was still in deep thought, someone entered the room and called out to him.
"My king, there's news"
The one who entered was Pell, one of the always loyal captains of the Royal guard.
His face was urgent as if exclaiming that what he was about to say was nothing good, and his eyebrows furrowed deeply, making the king feel uneasy.
Making a solemn expression, the king asked him.
"Tell me, what are they?"
As if waiting for him to ask, Pell shook his head with a grave expression, before he then raised his voice and spoke with a worried tone.
"The rebels, I've received information that they will attack in one or two weeks from now!"
"Hmm... So this is the limit of how much we were able to postpone it... Huh? I had hoped that maybe a miracle would happen... But it seems like there's nothing we can do"
Closing his eyes as he spoke, the king sighed briefly, before he then looked at Pell, who still seemed to have something to say.
"My king, if you desire, I can lead our troops and end with the army right now, before they gather more resources and power!" Clenching his hand, Pell yelled angrily, as he looked at king Cobra with a pleading gaze.
However, to his dismay, the king immediately shook his head, before he then spoke in a soft tone.
"Even if they are rebels, they are still my people... In the first place, it is my fault for not being able to stop this drought from spreading... it is normal that they are angry"
Hearing that, Pell stood up from his kneeling stance in a haste, before he then raised his voice and looked at king Cobra with a sad gaze.
"But my king, it is not your fault! It's just that we haven't been able to find whoever it's behind all those acts to incriminate you!!"
"Enough, Pell... We will discuss this matter at a later moment"
Raising his hand as if to gesture Pell to stop talking, the king massaged his temples for a brief moment, before he then let out a long sigh.
"I... Yes, my king..."
Nodding his head with a reluctant look, Pell looked at the king's tired appearance for a brief moment, before he then turned around and left, leaving the king alone in the throne room once again.
-Sigh...-
Sighing once more, the king looked at the door with an anxious gaze, before he then placed his hand on top of his head, and muttered with a desperate tone in his voice.
"If only a miracle would appear..."
"... Miracles don't happen in real life, unfortunately..." Suddenly, from behind the throne, a voice reached the ears of the king and startled him enormously, making the king immediately try to stand up and get away from whoever was behind him.
However, before he was even able to move, an arm grabbed his clothes and pulled him back, before then another arm was placed on his neck and locked him directly to the throne, making him unable to move in the slightest.
"... Who... Who are you...?"
Saying that with a nervous tone in his voice, the king looked to his side, trying his best to see who was the one behind him, only to fail miserably when he noticed that whoever was locking him was not allowing him to turn his head to look at him.
"I'm just someone, no names needed here"
Saying so, the mysterious voice stayed silent for a few seconds before it then spoke once again to the king, but with a more threatening and sharp tone of voice than previously.
"I'll be making a few questions here, and all you need to do is to answer honestly... If you do, then this can end peacefully for both of us... Probably"
Breathing heavily, the king frowned, before he then nodded his head.
"Very well..." Saying so, the mysterious person suddenly released the lock on the king, releasing him in the process, before then the person's hand moved and grabbed one of the armrests from the throne.
-Crack-
Suddenly, in one go, the armrest was crushed horribly, as if something had squished it, and made the king widen his eyes enormously at the sight.
'... Such strength...!'
In fact, the throne was made of a very hard and sturdy type of stone that made it very durable and stable. Thus, seeing such material being crushed by just the handgrip of a person, it wasn't a surprise that the king was bewildered by such an act.
"With this, I suppose you can guess what will happen to you if you call your guards... Right?"
Saying so, suddenly a figure appeared from behind the throne, and revealed itself.
Looking at it, the king couldn't help but gulp slightly in bewilderment, as the appearance of the person in front of him was very surprising... absurd even.
With dark and long robes covering most of his body, and the mask of a cow covering his face, the mysterious person in front of him had a... Very extravagant appearance...
Honestly, at that moment the king didn't know whether to feel fear or laugh at him...
Maybe because of that, the mysterious person noticed the strange look on the king's face and immediately turned to look at his own clothes.
"...?"
Then, as if dissatisfied with something, the mysterious man raised his head once again and looked at the king with threatening eyes behind his mask.
"Just so you know, there were no more masks available in the store, so I had no more option but to go with this one"
"... Hmm-Hm, I understand..."
Nodding his head with an understanding expression, the king looked at the man in front of him with a pitying gaze for a few seconds, before then the exasperated groan of the man startled him and made him remember that he was being threatened just a few seconds ago.
"..."
Seeing that the king had finally stopped doing useless things, the man nodded for a brief second, before then his voice grew cold once again.
"Well then, make sure to answer honestly if you don't want your head to go flying before you notice"
Hearing that, the king unconsciously shook briefly, before he then looked at the man in front of him with nervousness.
His life was at stake here, after all.
After that, the man suddenly started walking around the room, before he then raised his voice and made the king widen his eyes immediately after hearing his next words.
"The first thing I want to ask is... The reason for you buying so much dance powder... What was your objective when you did that?"
"...?!"
After that, the king stayed silent for a few seconds, as cold sweat started running down his back while his brain started working harder than ever.
'That question... Why is he asking something like that? Could it be that he is from the rebel army...?'
Looking at the mysterious man's clothes, the king wasn't able to discern anything in particular that associated him with them.
Thus, with no more option, the king opened his mouth and prepared to answer, hoping that his answer would satisfy the man in front of him.
Besides, maybe if he answered all the questions, he could be able to get a clue about this man's true identity.
"I didn't buy any dance powder, you're mistaken... I was incrimina...-"
However, before he was even able to finish talking, the man, who was several meters away from him walking around the room, suddenly moved like lightning and in just the blink of an eye appeared right in front of him.
Then, like a cube full of freezing water splashing over him, the next words of the mysterious man made the king's heart sink instantly in fright.
"I think I told you to answer honestly... But even then, it seems like you still have the guts to lie so blatantly"
-Swooosh!-
Without even being able to react, suddenly the hand of the man grabbed the king's throat and slammed him to the ground violently.
"Ga-hak!" Coughing violently at the sudden pain on his back after being thrown to the ground, the king looked with fearful eyes at the man above him, before then his eyes widened even more, as if he was seeing his very own reaper, when he saw the man's fist aim directly at his face.
"W-wait..." Muttering in fright, the king tried getting up from the ground, before he then noticed that the man was pressing him down, making him unable to move.
'Damnit... What it's his purpose...?!' The king thought angrily, as even though he had answered honestly, he had still been pushed down to the ground and told that he was lying.
Was the man in front of him trying to frame him? or did he have a recording device and was trying to make him say that he had indeed bought the dance powder, just so that no one believed in him anymore?
Or did he really believe that he was lying, even when he was not?
The king just couldn't understand the other person's intentions.
However, as if not interested in the king's confusion, the cold and emotionless voice of the man abruptly echoed around the room and made the king's heart stop for a second.
"It seems like asking you is worthless... I guess I can just end with this then"
Then, the king saw how the pitch-black fist of the man rose high into the air, before then moving at a vertiginous speed towards him, similar to a meteorite falling on top of him, ready to end his life.
'So this is it...'
Seeing the fist move towards him, king Cobra's mind shut down for a brief moment, before then flashing memories started passing by his eyes.
Those times when Arabasta was still prosperous, and everyone in his kingdom looked forward to the promising future that awaited them.
Those moments when Vivi was still a child, and he and his wife raised her with care and love, hoping that she would grow to become a marvelous person.
All the marvelous and incredible people that he met during his life... Be it commoners, other kings, marines, pirates... Or even a child.
Yes, even a child of incredible strength was present in his memories... One that he met for a very brief time.
He remembered all of them.
It was a good life, he thought, as he watched the punch move towards him, just being a few centimeters away.
However, he wouldn't be able to see Vivi for one last time... And that alone was his biggest sorrow.
'I'm sorry Vivi...'
Thinking that the king closed his eyes as if accepting his death, before suddenly a fierce and incredibly violent air gush passed by his face, and made him feel bewildered, as the impact that he expected never came.
"What...?"
Opening his eyes slowly, the king muttered in confusion, before then his eyes shot open when he noticed the fist of the man was only a centimeter away from him, completely stopped in mid-air.
'Why did he stop?' The king thought in bewilderment.
Then, suddenly, to the king's surprise, the fist retracted, and the man who had been pressing him down until then stood up and freed him from his grasp.
"Haaaah.... Haaaah..."
Breathing heavily, the king looked at the mysterious man in confusion for a few seconds, a deep frown forming on his confused face, before suddenly the man's voice reached his ears once again and startled him enormously.
"That answer is enough... If you were really the one who did a thing such as stealing the rain from all your kingdom, then you would have begged for your life and said anything to stop me from killing you, even if it meant revealing your dirty secrets"
"Excuse me...?" Hearing the man's words, the king couldn't help but exclaim in bafflement.
"Don't worry about it... That was the most important question I had for you, and you passed. So you don't need to be so wary from now on... However..."
Not minding the messy state of the king, whose face was covered in sweat and was pale to no end, the man continued.
"...I have one last question for you..."
Saying so, the man took one step closer to the king, before then he spoke again.
"...I moved through most of the castle... And yet, I didn't see princess Vivi at any moment... Where is she?"
"W-why do you want to know that!?" Frowning at the question, the king looked at the man in front of him with an upset expression.
He might be willing to give up his life. However, his daughter was another completely different matter. Even if it meant dying, he was not going to allow Vivi to get hurt because of his fault.
"Why...?"
Hearing his question, the man stayed silent for a few seconds, before he then answered with an emotionless voice.
"I'm just curious..."
"Curious you say...?" Frowning at the man's words, the king hesitated for a few seconds, before he then shook his head and looked at the man with a determined gaze in his eyes, even when most of his body still trembled because of the near-death experience that he had just undergone.
"I can't say"
"..."
Hearing his answer, the man behind the mask stayed silent for a few seconds, before he then looked directly at the king's eyes, and narrowed his eyes briefly.
"... Is that so...? Well, whatever"
Muttering those words, the man suddenly started walking away, before he then arrived next to one of the windows of the room, and opened it.
"Thanks for answering my questions, and sorry for the little fright. I'll be sure to compensate you" Speaking with an apologetic tone, the man bowed his head slightly, before he then jumped out of the window and disappeared from the room, leaving only the king alone, who couldn't believe what he had just heard.
'Little fright... You say?'
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|Farid's POV:|
...
'Well, that was disappointing...'
I mean, it was a good thing that the king didn't betray his own kingdom as the rumors said. However, that fact just meant that this matter had gotten much more complicated than in a beginning.
Now, I had to begin looking for clues about who was the fucker that was creating all this mess, even when there is not even the slightest hint about their identity.
I had heard a little bit of the conversation between the king with Pell, and from what I heard, not even they knew anything about who was the one behind the scenes. Thus, I was now back to zero.
"Well, even then, I am sure that I will be able to find them somehow"
Why did I believe so?
Well, I haven't been idle during these 6 years...
Through my several years of experience as a bounty hunter, there were several moments when I had to track pirates who were incredibly hidden, knowing that someone would try to hunt them down. Thus, If there was one thing I had become good at, it was tracking down people.
And the first step to that was...
Identify all the information I had at hand currently.
"Well, whoever the culprit is, they probably have a lot of money to spend, since they bought a lot of dance powder just to incriminate the king... So either the culprit is an important person that has a lot of money... Or there are several influential people involved in this"
Looking at my hand, I began to lift each of my fingers each time I numbered the information that I had.
"Second... Whoever did this, either have a personal organization or hired a lot of people just to incriminate the king during that incident some years ago. After all, it is impossible to do something like moving that much dance powder without a great number of people at hand... Even less when it comes to moving the dance powder directly inside the castle... That requires even more man-power"
And the third point was...
"They can monitor Arabasta easily... So, either they have a lot of agents reporting the situation to them remotely, or they are in Arabasta themselves..."
Why did I think this? It was pretty simple.
Since whoever it's behind this is apparently trying to make the people of Arabasta rebel against their king, they are probably trying to seize something out of a conflict like that... And honestly, I can think of several things that you can take while people are busy fighting in a revolution.
Thus, it was very probable that whoever was behind this also needed to be in direct contact with Arabasta, so that they can strike exactly when the moment arrives.
After all, what was the use of such a sophisticated plan, when you end up arriving too late to take the spoils of war?
So, in summary, whoever was behind this, was very influential, had an organization or people to command at the least, and was currently residing in Arabasta or had several agents that inform him of what was happening.
"Thinking like that, there are a few people to ask... Like for example, Hasan, the mafia leader of Alubarna... or Hiyo, that corrupt old hag who is the leader of the biggest merchant group allocated in Nanohana..."
As for if there was any other important person in Arabasta who I should ask... Hmm?
Suddenly, something clicked in my mind, as several memories flooded back into my mind, making me frown in the process.
{O-our hometown was destroyed by a terrifying sandstorm...}
{I didn't notice that thanks to the sandstorm our well had dried up completely...}
{Is It true that Yuba has been destroyed completely by sandstorms? Damn, nature must really hate them!}
{You are probably here to replenish your water, right? Sorry, as you probably saw by now, our town is a bit dry right now...)
The words of the several victims of the drought I had met until now began replaying in my mind, as I started connecting a few dots in my head.
The sandstorms were the biggest issue here.
In the first place, the sandstorms were simply too fierce to be called "normal"... However, because of the drought, I had somewhat just accepted it since there was no other explanation...
However, what if those sandstorms were never normal, to begin with... But an attack?
Sandstorms...
Sand...
There was only one person in Arabasta who had the characteristics that I was thinking about right now, and that met the requirements that I had mentioned earlier.
A man of great power and influence, residing in Arabasta...
Honestly, it all connected too perfectly, but there was the possibility that it was all a coincidence. So I didn't get my hopes up.
However, if by any chance I was right... Then this matter would be solved a lot faster than I had thought.
A Shichibukai... One of the seven pirates that were specially recognized by the world government because of their strength... Crocodile.
A man that could control sand, and that had been in Arabasta for quite some time by now... Forging his reputation as a hero here in Arabasta a long time ago.
If he really was the person that I was looking for... then this fight would surely be a tough fight compared to the ones I have had until now... I was gonna fight a Shichibukai, after all...
However, have I ever failed to catch a pirate before?
...
No answer needed... it was a rhetorical question.
...
-Sigh...-
"It seems like I will have to pay a visit to Rainbase, huh?"
-To be continued...-
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(A/N: Farid right now: Elementary, my dear readers 🕵️)
