Chapter Ninety-Three: Before the Great Battle (Third Update, Please Subscribe and Recommend)

According to the original story, Crocodile’s goal was to obtain Pluto, while the World Government’s objective was to destroy it. Though their aims aligned at first, the outcomes they sought were entirely different. The presence of CP0 here could only mean that both sides had already colluded in advance.

On the surface, it appeared that Crocodile was obeying the orders of the Celestial Dragons and cooperating with their actions, but in truth, they were merely exploiting each other. Robin would never accept being used by the Celestial Dragons, so she borrowed Crocodile’s hand and joined forces with her—the sole surviving scholar of Ohara capable of reading the Poneglyphs. Their plan was to find Pluto and destroy it.

Crocodile, on the other hand, intended to use the secret protection of the World Government to seize Pluto for himself once it was found, aiming to wield a power capable of standing against the World Government and thereby fulfill his own ambitions.

But what did any of this have to do with Princess Vivi? As Buffon pondered over this, an eagle circled down from the sky and landed. Once on the ground, it transformed into a human—the very same Pell whom Buffon had treated earlier.

“Captain Buffon, thank you for saving my life and for stopping that sandstorm!” Pell knelt on one knee, offering the deep bow he once reserved only for King Cobra.

Buffon nodded and asked calmly, “Did Vivi send you to fetch us?”

“Yes, Miss Reiju guessed the battle here must be over by now and sent me to pick you up.”

“Let’s go, then.” Buffon lifted the still-unconscious Luffy and climbed onto Pell, who had transformed once more into an eagle.

Meanwhile, outside Rainbase, Smoker had already reached the spot where the fireball and sandstorm had disappeared, riding his amphibious smoke-powered tricycle, the Bilong-A. Gazing at the glittering shards of glass scattered on the ground, Smoker picked one up and slipped it into his pocket before heading back to Rainbase.

“Who exactly intervened here?” A great question burned in Smoker’s heart.

Upon finding Tashigi, he said seriously, “Tashigi, since we still haven’t received orders from headquarters, I’m heading out to borrow some troops. For now, command of all our men falls to you. Whether you continue to pursue the Straw Hat crew or help quell the unrest in this country is your decision.”

“Captain Smoker, what if we encounter Buffon?” Tashigi asked earnestly.

“Do not engage him under any circumstances!” With that, Smoker revved up his tricycle and sped out of Rainbase.

…

Riding on Pell’s back, Buffon had already formed the next steps of his plan. Now that he had offended CP0, it was likely that the World Government would never look upon him kindly again. In that case, he might as well uncover the truth behind this incident and then decide his next move.

And to uncover the truth, the quickest way was to find Cobra and the Poneglyph.

With this decision made, once Pell caught up with the Moving Crab, Buffon set Luffy down and had Pell carry him onward to Alubarna. When Vivi wished to accompany him, Buffon refused her outright.

The reason was simple: the naïve princess believed her relationship with Koza would enable her to stop the two armies from clashing, but that was simply impossible. There were surely Baroque Works agents infiltrated among both sides, and even someone as strong as Buffon couldn’t guarantee that provocations wouldn’t occur to spark the conflict.

With 300,000 royal soldiers sworn to defend the palace and 700,000 rebels driven by grief and rage, it was unlikely that the battle could be prevented before some great upheaval occurred.

Pell was ten times faster than the Moving Crab, and if the timing of the outbreak matched Buffon’s estimates, he was confident he could uncover the truth before the fighting began and then consider his response.

Guided by Buffon, Pell carried him directly to the high ground outside the southern gate of the Alubarna palace—the very place where, in the original story, Mr. 4’s group had temporarily detained Cobra after kidnapping him. Whether he would actually find Cobra there, Buffon could only try his luck.

As it turned out, Buffon was not disappointed. There, he found Cobra tied to a stake, battered and bruised, with the Mr. 4 duo standing guard.

Seeing something flying toward them, the pair didn’t care if it was friend or foe; Mr. 4 immediately hoisted his sausage-dog-ate cannon and fired a shot into the sky.

A baseball-shaped cannonball shot from the “dog’s” mouth, trailing white smoke as it hurtled toward Pell.

“You go to the palace and inform everyone that Cobra is safe. I’ll deal with these two and then bring him to meet you there!” Buffon said before leaping down. With his gloved hands, he couldn’t resist the urge to crush any ball-shaped object.

So, when he caught the baseball before it could explode, he simply squeezed it into powder.

Miss Merry Christmas, a mole fruit user, hadn’t even had time to dig a tunnel before Buffon chopped her down with a single strike, and Mr. 4 fared no better.

After subduing the pair, Buffon tied them up with silk thread before freeing Cobra.

Cobra looked at the stranger before him, filled with suspicion. “Thank you for saving me. May I ask who you are?”

“Buffon.”

Hearing the simple name, Cobra’s expression shifted from shock to delight. The name of the Miracle Doctor Buffon had already reached his ears from the port at Nanohana. He had thought that if such a wondrous physician were present, the casualties of this war would surely be much reduced…

“Take me to see the Poneglyph,” Buffon’s calm words interrupted his thoughts.

At this, Cobra immediately grew wary. “Could this Doctor Buffon be just like Crocodile? Healing civilians and gaining prestige on the surface, but secretly harboring ulterior motives?”

Seeing that Cobra remained silent, Buffon continued, “The Celestial Dragons are hunting Vivi. As one of the twenty founding clans, why did you choose to abandon your Celestial Dragon status and leave Mariejois to stay here?”

That was the final straw that broke the camel’s back, and Cobra gave up the thought of resisting to the end.

“I hope that once you know the truth, you will save this country—and Vivi!”

In Cobra’s eyes, anyone who knew such secrets and came to rescue him at this moment was unlikely to harbor ill intent. Though this might still be a trap, he decided to take the gamble. He believed that a miracle doctor willing to treat civilians for just 100 Berries couldn’t possibly be allied with the Celestial Dragons or Crocodile.

With that, he got up and led the way, while Buffon slung him over his shoulder and dashed toward the sanctuary.

At this moment, the rebel army, Baroque Works agents, the Straw Hat crew, and the navy led by Tashigi—all four forces—were converging rapidly on Alubarna.

A great battle was about to erupt!

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Chapter 93—Read “Before the Great Battle” for free.