"So you're saying everything the rebel army has seen is fake?" Koza's face had gone ashen.
The fact that Mr. 10's partner was stationed at the water bar made everything so much worse. The bar served as their primary intelligence hub.
His mind raced back through countless memories. Most of their intel had come through the water bar, especially every single Dance Powder sighting. He'd once been so proud of how their intelligence network had become, bragging to his lieutenants about how well-informed they were compared to the scattered resistance groups that had failed before them.
But now it all looked like manipulation.
Marcus watched Koza process the revelations.
"This can't be right," Koza muttered. "We've seen the evidence with our own eyes."
"And who brought you that evidence?" Marcus asked quietly. "Who were your sources?"
Koza opened his mouth to answer, then stopped. The names that came to mind, suddenly seemed suspicious in this new light.
But he looked up at Marcus. "What if this is all a setup? What if you're just trying to destroy the rebel army from within? How do I know you're not part of this?"
Marcus wasn't surprised by the suspicion. Leaders were naturally paranoid, especially when they'd just learned they'd been deceived. The first instinct would be to wonder if this new information was just another layer of deception.
And he did possess hypnotic abilities, making such manipulation theoretically possible. For all Koza knew, everything he'd just witnessed could have been a performance designed to break his trust in his own people.
"That's a fair question. If I wanted to hypnotize you right now, would you be able to resist?"
Before Koza could respond, Marcus appeared behind him in the blink of an eye, one hand resting on the rebel leader's shoulder.
"Just like I did with him," he continued, nodding toward the still-entranced Mr. 10, "I could hypnotize you directly. Wouldn't that be easier than this whole charade? Even if your willpower is strong, I could hypnotize dozens of others. Imagine waking up tomorrow to find that half your trusted lieutenants had been turned against you overnight. Tell me, could you survive that?"
He walked back around to face Koza. "Your security is full of holes. Your tent has no guards inside, your meetings aren't screened for infiltrators, and your people are too trusting. If I were your enemy, I'd have killed you a dozen times over by now."
"Even without hypnosis, given how Vivi and Kira appeared in your tent, literally dropping from the sky, I could have just thrown a bomb down here. Could you have survived that?"
He paused, then added the clincher. "And here's something else to consider. The royal army has been fighting you for months, but have they ever been the ones to start a battle? It's always been defensive actions, responding to your attacks, right?"
Koza fell silent, then he shook his head firmly. "No! There have been plenty of times when the royal army attacked us first."
"Wait, what?"
Marcus frowned deeply.
"Proactive attacks? Large-scale warfare? Then why are you still able to camp here at Katorea? This is right near the port, with access to the oasis water sources."
"Because we drove them back every time."
"What?" Marcus looked confused, then turned to Vivi for clarification.
Vivi shook her head helplessly. "I've been at sea for over two years. I don't have intelligence on recent events, and my knowledge of earlier conflicts is limited to what I heard in the palace before I left."
"How many soldiers in these attacks?" Marcus pressed.
"Not many. Maybe thirty or so."
"Always the same number?"
Koza paused, thinking. "...Always the same."
"Then what's the point? What would King Cobra accomplish with token forces like that? If he wanted you dead, he'd send the full royal army. If he wanted to negotiate, he'd send diplomats. Small raids that always fail serve no strategic purpose unless..."
"Unless they're not really trying to win," Koza whispered.
He was beginning to look shaken. Before Marcus had exposed the infiltrator, he'd never really considered the possibility of moles within their ranks.
But now that the concept was out in the open, he had to question everything.
What about those royal army attacks? Could those have been staged by infiltrators too? Baroque Works agents wearing royal army uniforms, losing battles to make the rebels feel powerful and justified in their rebellion?
He'd never thought deeply about it before. When royal soldiers showed up and got driven off, it felt like victory. Those victories had helped their movement grow from a handful of desperate people to an army of 700,000. The momentum had seemed unstoppable.
Why hadn't he questioned it more carefully?
Because he knew King Cobra personally. Deep down, he hadn't believed Cobra would send a real army to massacre his own people. After all, the rebels were just citizens who couldn't survive any other way, driven to desperate measures by circumstances.
But if Cobra wasn't the real enemy...
"So this Mr. 0 person is the one behind everything?"
"That's right."
"Who is he? Why would he do this?"
Vivi hesitated briefly, then spoke the name. "Crocodile."
"One of the Seven Warlords? But why would he do this? He's already a government-sanctioned pirate. He runs that casino in Rainbase and makes money hand over fist." Koza looked baffled.
Given Crocodile's current position, calling him a local emperor wouldn't be an exaggeration. He lived in luxury that rivaled royalty, commanded respect from both criminals and civilians, and even the king couldn't really touch him due to his Warlord status.
Most importantly, over the years he had made a habit of hunting down other pirates who threatened Arabasta's stability. He'd become something of a folk hero, the crocodile who protected the desert kingdom from outside threats.
Even Koza had to admit he'd always respected the man. Crocodile represented what he wished the government could be, powerful, decisive, and effective at protecting people.
"I know how it sounds," Vivi said. "But you have to understand, I've seen the evidence firsthand. You know I've been missing for the past two years, right?"
Koza nodded.
"I infiltrated Baroque Works. I became a member of their organization and worked my way up through their ranks. That's how I learned about all this. The core of Baroque Works is something called Operation Utopia."
"Utopia?"
"Simply put, it's a plan to create an ideal nation, one that doesn't need the Marines and isn't threatened by pirates. A truly free country."
"That..." Koza paused, considering. "That doesn't sound terrible."
"The problem is how he plans to achieve it," Marcus interjected. "And their target is Arabasta. You and your rebels are just pawns, sacrificial pieces meant to wear down the royal army. You must have heard about the Billions and things like that, right?"
Koza frowned and shook his head.
"Your intelligence network is that limited? Right now there are nearly sixty ships docked at Nanohana," Marcus said, walking over to the still-hypnotized man and rolling up his sleeve.
A tattoo appeared on the man's arm, a skull pierced by crossed cutlasses with purple wings spread behind it.
"Every undercover agent in both the rebel army and the royal army has this tattoo. The purpose is obvious, to avoid friendly fire when the real fighting starts, and to make sure they're not forgotten when it's time to hand out rewards."
Koza had definitely seen that design before, especially around Nanohana. He'd spotted it on quite a few people.
But they'd been fighting pirates, which is why he hadn't investigated further.
Now everything was starting to connect.
"I'm going to arrest all of them right now," Koza said, standing up with fury blazing in his eyes. He'd moved past doubt straight into rage.
Had the entire rebellion been nothing but a joke? He refused to let them complete their plan so easily.
Marcus grabbed his arm to stop him. "Why are you so impulsive? If you suddenly burst out there claiming everything's been a lie and everyone's been deceived, how many people do you think will believe you? Better question, what do you think those agents will do when you start making those accusations?"
"..."
"They'll turn the crowd against you. Say you've been bought off by the royal army. Or they might take a more direct approach and just shoot you, then install a new, more compliant rebel leader. What would you do then?"
Koza stopped short. The enemy was hidden while he was exposed. Charging out there blindly wouldn't solve anything.
For a moment, he felt like he understood Cobra's position a little better. You know something's wrong, but you can't identify the specific problem, let alone fix it.
"What if I verify things in small groups? Tell the truth only to people without tattoos?"
"Seven hundred thousand people. How exactly do you plan to verify them in small groups? Once you've told enough people, you'll eventually expose yourself. And who's to say that people without tattoos aren't also Baroque Works agents?"
"..."
Koza found himself at a complete loss. He felt like a drowning animal being swept along by a river current, unable to stop, unable to break free, only able to be carried along helplessly by forces beyond his control.
He sat in silence on his chair built from sandbags, staring at the dirt floor of his tent. The weight of everything he'd just learned pressed down on him.
Seven hundred thousand rebel troops. They were supposed to be his strength. But now he realized they were also his chains, making every decision slow and complicated. How do you tell an army that size they've been fighting the wrong enemy?
"So... I can only watch?" He let out a sigh. "Watch everything fall apart?"
Marcus studied the rebel leader's face. Koza had finally grasped the reality of his situation, which was better than the original timeline where he'd only figured it out moments before getting assassinated. At least now he had room to maneuver.
"Not necessarily," he said, and a bucket materialized in his hands.
Koza blinked at the sudden appearance of the object, but after everything he'd witnessed tonight, a little magic trick barely registered.
"Vivi already told you I can solve the food and water problems. Once people can eat their fill and drink water, at least thirty percent of your troops will choose to go home."
Koza nodded slowly. Most of his followers weren't ideological revolutionaries, they were desperate people with no other options. Give them another path to survival, and many would take it.
Actually, Marcus' estimate was probably conservative. Once thirty percent started leaving, the exodus would snowball. Desertion was contagious. Seven hundred thousand could easily drop to seventy thousand once people realized they had alternatives.
Marcus began digging square holes in the ground. Clear water spontaneously appeared in each depression. "See for yourself, an inexhaustible water source."
Koza approached cautiously and cupped some water in his hands. He took a sip, then a longer drink. It was cool, clean, and refreshing, better than anything he'd tasted in months.
"This is..."
Seeing Koza's amazed expression, Vivi nodded excitedly. Ever since learning about Marcus' abilities, her mind had been racing with possibilities. This water source alone could transform Arabasta's future.
But Koza's face fell.
"We don't have time for a gradual solution," he said, glancing at the unconscious Mr. 10. "He already reported back to his handlers before you caught him. If I know Baroque Works, they'll accelerate their timeline now that they know we're onto them."
"The agents in both armies will probably get new orders soon. When their propaganda unites start working together, even I won't be able to prevent war from breaking out. They'll paint me as a traitor who's been bought off by the royal family."
The tent fell quiet.
Then Vivi spoke up. "Actually, there is still one way to end this war."
"What is it?"
"I join the rebel army."
"What?" Koza's eyes went wide. He stared at her like she'd just announced she was going to marry a Sea King. "You're joking, right?"
But Vivi's expression remained completely serious. "I won't deny that Crocodile created this crisis, but isn't this also the inevitable result of Arabasta's decades of failed governance?"
"What are you talking about?" Koza looked confused. "You're a princess! Do you hear what you're saying?"
"As one of the most populous nations in the world, Arabasta has never truly improved itself. Every year there are pirate raids that destroy countless families. Because of that, many people become pirates themselves just to survive." Vivi gestured toward the tent flap, beyond which hundreds of thousands of desperate people were camped. "This situation has become normal, but does that mean normal is right?"
Only by living among the lowest classes had she truly understood something that had been hidden from her in the palace. After eight hundred years of Nefertari rule, Arabasta's upper class was rotten to the core. Even if a wise king appeared, what difference would it make? A country that needed help from a Warlord of the Sea just to maintain basic stability, could that really be called a functioning nation?
"Look at how easily Baroque Works recruited followers just by promising an ideal country. Doesn't that tell us something about how badly we've failed our people?"
Koza was staring at her.
"You didn't come here to convince me to stop the war," he said slowly. It wasn't a question.
Vivi shook her head. "I came to tell you that my companions can make sure people eat well and drink clean water. Stopping the war is what I want... but it's not what I think is right."
She still wanted to prevent bloodshed, but she'd realized that simply avoiding conflict wouldn't solve the underlying problems.
"So what are you proposing?"
Koza swallowed hard. He already had a guess, and it terrified him.
"Announce that I renounce my right to inherit the throne of Arabasta. At the same time, I'm joining the rebel army to transform it into the legitimate government. We'll eliminate the aristocratic class."
"As for justification, we'll say the king has been controlled by corrupt nobles for years, and all the recent chaos was orchestrated by them. Since His Majesty is getting old anyway, he's decided to abdicate in favor of more capable leadership."
Koza opened and closed his mouth several times before finding his voice. "Are you sure you're not just having a fight with your father?"
Vivi gave him a look that could have melted steel. "Do you really think I'm the kind of person who would let countless people die over a family argument?"
"No," Koza admitted quickly. "You're not."
Then Vivi laid out her complete vision, the ideas Marcus had shared with Dalton back in Drum Kingdom, adapted for Arabasta's situation. No aristocracy, no hereditary classes, true equality under law. A genuine "Operation Utopia" that actually served the people.
Koza stared at her. "So you don't intend to become the new ruler yourself?"
"If I just replaced my father as monarch, what would be the point of this whole rebellion?" Vivi shook her head firmly. "The system itself is the problem."
She fixed Koza with an intense stare. "You should become the new leader, Koza. Guide the people toward a world of equality and freedom."
Koza felt like his entire worldview was crumbling and rebuilding itself. "Wait a minute... are you the rebel here, or am I?"
The situation was absurd! Here was the princess of Arabasta, asking a rebel leader to take over her country and implement a revolutionary government.
"Give me a second. My head's spinning."
Vivi didn't pressure him further. Instead, she looked at Marcus questioningly.
Marcus gave her a thumbs up. "Well said."
Vivi felt slightly embarrassed at that.
After a long pause, Koza said, "Right now, I almost feel sorry for King Cobra."
Vivi stuck out her tongue playfully with a cheeky smile. "I believe Father will forgive me. And if it makes the country better, I think he'll understand. He's probably been tired of feeling powerless all these years anyway."
Koza stood up. He looked at Vivi solemnly. "Once you've made this choice, there's no going back. When this declaration spreads, the damage to the royal family's reputation will be enormous."
But Vivi's eyes remained firm. "I've been thinking about this for a long time."
Koza walked over to the still-hypnotized Mr. 10, then glanced at Marcus. "Are you done with him?"
Marcus shook his head.
Without warning, Koza threw a punch that connected with the spy's jaw. The brutal impact instantly shattered the trance.
"What?!" Mr. 10 jolted awake, then immediately clutched his face as pain shot through his broken jaw.
Memories came flooding back. His face went ashen.
He wanted to slap himself. Initially, after completing his routine intelligence gathering, he'd planned to slip away quietly in the chaos. But everything had happened too fast, Kebi's declaration had drawn attention to him, forcing him to step forward when he should have stayed hidden.
Then, hearing there might be a reward for information, greed had gotten the better of him. And that greed had led directly to this disaster.