One piece : A Lotus

What exactly is the 'hero' of Alabasta doing to save the people? We will reveal the unknown side of the hero!"

"Saved the city but took the riches: is this a peace that was bought with money, or peace that was protected for free?"

"Warlord, a legal pirate with the right to plunder, has access to Dance Powder."

"How poor is the treasury of Alabasta?"

A large number of exposé articles were distributed through mobile phones in a blurred manner, without openly accusing Crocodile and directly indicating that it wasn't the royal family using Dance Powder.

Instead, by subtly changing people's perspectives, Ezekiel aimed to make them learn to think independently. After all, for example, if the royal family had the funds to use Dance Powder all year round, then why wouldn't they just purchase water directly for the royal capital? Why the complications? And if Crocodile is a hero saving the country, why is he taking the riches looted from pirates?

This series of messages reached the ears of the rebels. Without convincing evidence, they might not have believed it at all, but still, some did. Some people are beginning to realize that things aren't as simple as they seemed.

In the vast kingdom of Alabasta, it's incredibly difficult to tarnish the royal family's reputation based on illusory rumors. Crocodile spent ten years on this, but Ezekiel is confident that his decade-long efforts can be undone in just one month.

Today, mobile phone sales have reached over a million units. The number of orders for mobile news exceeded all imagination. It's time to start the upload. The first step of the plan.

Since Alabasta is the starting point, Will needs to build a sufficiently powerful kingdom to oppose the World Government, which will become his enemy sooner or later.

Crocodile, drought, rebels—these words were written by him on paper as steps of the plan.

Now, the main issue is the drought. Ezekiel circled the word "drought."

Pell stood respectfully beside him, being a loyal guardian. He couldn't understand what Ezekiel was doing, but he wouldn't ask, as he had already decided to serve him wholeheartedly. Ezekiel is now the King and has demonstrated the same strength as Admiral Aokiji, having easily defeated Crocodile.

At this time, Chaka was worried about the fact that the old King Cobra had been taken by the rebels for two months.

"Your Majesty, your father has been detained by the rebels, and your sister has disappeared. Aren't you at all concerned?" he asked.

"Chaka," Ezekiel broke away from his thoughts, "do you think a nervous King is the successor my father expected?"

Chaka was at a loss for words and struggled to calm down a bit, but still felt a chill at Ezekiel 's indifference.

"I am going to announce a new decree," said Ezekiel . "Starting today, we will cease the strategy of withdrawing money from the national treasury to buy water resources."

Chaka grew angry, his face reddened:

"Your Majesty! Are you saying that His Majesty Cobra's decree was a mistake?!"

Of course, it made no sense to argue with someone who didn't understand his thoughts, so he patiently explained:

"No, Chaka, but the wealth of the royal family is not infinite." "Better to teach people to fish than to give them fish. We can build a pipeline from north to south to connect major cities. Drinking water will be delivered day and night, and then the whole of Alabasta will no longer suffer from water shortages. I will call this project... the 'River of Life.'"

Chaka's face was furious. It seemed he had just envisioned the policy Ezekiel described and felt a tingling on his scalp. Chaka's anger didn't fade, and he even allowed himself to be a bit sarcastic:

"Do you know that Alabasta has stood on this land for thousands of years? The kingdom existed even before the creation of the World Government, but no royal family has taken such risks for millennia. It requires enormous funds and manpower, challenging even for the entire nation to accomplish!" Chaka said in a deep voice.

"I know that," said Ezekiel.

"And yet you stand by your decision?"

"Chaka," Ezekiel stood, "how much money is needed?"

Chaka silently calculated.

"At least 50 billion Berries and more than 200,000 people in manpower."

Ezekiel smiled, truly impressed, but fortunately, he had calculated everything correctly.

"I will give you 100 billion Berries and 300,000 people in manpower!"

"A hundred billion?!" Chaka was stunned; he couldn't even imagine such an enormous figure, nor where the King could have obtained it! He knew that the entire royal family was currently relying on the sale of treasures from the palace to survive. Even if the whole palace were sold, it would be worth no more than fifty Berries. These are the accumulations of past kings!

"The money will be allocated in ten installments. The first part will be 5 billion Berries. Now go to the treasury with Pell and take the money from there. All the kingdom's armed forces, including the 'Karu' unit, are now at your disposal."

It's true that the regular army was deployed to confront the rebels, and currently, the entire royal capital had only minimal strength.

"Do you... really have that many Berries?" Chaka asked, his face reddening, afraid that it was just a joke or a lie.

"I vouch for His Majesty on this matter. It's merely 100 billion Berries. With His Majesty's abilities, it can be done!" Pell said proudly, feeling an inexplicable relief, recalling countless instances when Chaka looked down on him. Now it was time to prove who chose the right side! King Cobra is magnificent, but this new King is the true savior of Alabasta! Considering the potential of mobile phones, even if they are sold only in Alabasta, it would be enough to earn hundreds of billions of Berries.