Journey to One Piece

133. Not all are meant to be leaders

A small force was stationed in the open desert a few kilometres from the city. Chaka and Pel were in charge of the small platoon that was sent from the capital with this force. Igaram, the main guard of the royal palace, was left in charge of watching over the King and making sure he wasn't the target of any sly attacks.

When Igaram chose to stay, Vivi actually objected because she thought Koza would never do such shady things, but Ken stopped her. It was the CP organisations they were talking about. For the sake of completing the task, they would do anything. killing infants in a genocide. There was no bottom line for them. Ken therefore delegated the King's protection to Igaram and requested Usopp to serve as his personal guard and ensure that he was always in view.

Igaram trusted the views of Ken as he had seen how efficient he was before and even brought the enemy's right hand person under their wings. This needed some high level of trickery. Or at least Igaram believed that to be the case. Though Luffy was the Captain, Ken had always been the brain of the group because the Captain was an idiot most of the time.

Ussop was more than content to remain behind because he still harboured some fear. Though Nami and Chopper was a little sad that they didn't get chosen but this was the best. Ussop wouldn't suffer any harm even if he was secretly assaulted because his body was already very strong to begin with.

With that in mind the main crew had gone to front to confront the upcoming army. In fact, the Straw Hat were much ahead of the small platoon of Chaka and Pel, waiting for the rebel army to come.

They were currently perched on chairs in the middle of an uninhabited desert, gazing out into the distance. They could clearly see the dust being thrown off in the distance from where they were standing. The rebel force was advancing on the Capital at this time. There were large speakers positioned next to their seats. These speakers were constructed from Vivi's own flesh. She needed a louder voice if she wished to be heard. Ken gave her the freedom to do whatever she desired, despite not believing that it would be helpful.

"So many people.." Chopper remarked as he observed the dust storm that had started as a result of the approaching rebel force. He felt both excitement and fear,  Excited because he would be finally able to showcase his power and abilities to his friends. This would be Robin first time too fighting alongside too with Straw hats and they too were a little expectant in the upcoming battle.

As the rebel troops drew near, Vivi started screaming into the microphone.

"Everyone! Kindly halt!"

Those words readily reached the ears of the Rebel army after reverberating across the sand dunes.

"I am Vivi.. A citizen of the Alubarna... I am here to tell you that the main culprit who had caused the use of Dance Powder and making our country miserable had been caught... I want you to please wait for sometime because the rains that you all had been waiting would soon start.. Please..."

Before she could continue, Koza, who was slightly further back in the army and had made his way out of the crowd of Rebel army members, yelled.

"Vivi.. What are you doing here?"

"Koza... I.." And again Vivi got stopped in her words but this it was more dangerous. Before anyone could even hear the sound of the gunshot in their hearing, a metallic noise was heard.

Near Vivi's face, Zoro had laid his blade horizontally. The gunshot was heard because someone from the rebel army shot at Vivi and Zoro came forward to stop the bullet from hurting her.

Now that Zoro and Ken had made significant advancements in Observation Haki, Zoro moved forward to deflect the projectile this time. When Koza recognised what had happened, he nearly lost it.

"Who fired a gun at her? Who? Come out now!" At the peak of his lungs, Koza yelled. As she spoke, Vivi again grabbed the microphone and said.

"Everyone, please try to relax. I've said before that the criminal had been apprehended. The primary driving force behind all of this had been Crocodile." Vivi continued to give everyone a brief report while appearing unconcerned that someone had attempted to kill her. However, another gunfire was fired this time, but it came from a different angle. Once more, Zoro had to use his blade to save her.

Now, Luffy and the others were furious. After the first shot, the rebel troops appeared to be in some way at ease, but after the second, they appeared to be losing patience. They had already come a long way, and there was no way they were stopping because of some loudmouthed teenager.

They came to overthrow the Monarch and improve this nation. The rebel force marched once more while keeping those ideas in mind. Koza, who was terrified that his friend was shot twice had an ugly face when his orders were not heard at all and everyone just blindly marched.

"Vivi, did you understand what I said earlier?" Ken enquired as he observed the crowd approaching them in a march. He didn't really care about the army because they could take care of them. As she nodded, Vivi had tears in her eyes. She thought Koza would be able to help her but nothing of that sort happened.

As the troops approached, Luffy was moving slowly in their direction while wearing his hat over his eyes. He was enraged by what had just occurred. And he desired to knock up a few individuals.

"Luffy?"

"Captain!"

Everyone was baffled as to why Luffy was ambling slowly in the direction of the troops. But the next instant, they received their response. As soon as Luffy opened his eyes wide, an unseen aura wave began to spread out from him. The entire army was soon covered by the invisible wave.