Moria remained silent on the other end, reflecting for a moment, and Dragon didn't rush him.
After a short while, Moria spoke. "We haven't made contact with Cobra, but viewed normally, he should despise us..."
"I thought he might like us," Dragon said with a self-mocking chuckle.
"How could that be? He's a King! Besides Kuma, I haven't met any King who likes us," Moria said with a laugh. After a slight pause, he continued, "Of course, I'm not basing this purely on his identity. Firstly, because of that bastard Crocodile, our reputation here isn't great. Secondly, before Crocodile started causing trouble under our name, Alabasta was developing exceptionally well. They have a huge population and vast territory. Although much of it is desert, that also serves as a major pillar for their tourism economy.
"Furthermore, Alabasta's geographical location is excellent, not far from the entrance to the first half of the Grand Line. Anyone choosing this sea route is bound to pass through Alabasta. They also possess a powerful military and are one of the world's top military powers. So, aside from the somewhat arid climate, this ancient country simply didn't have any major internal conflicts. The Nefertari family also enjoys great prestige. Therefore..."
"Therefore, to the Nefertari family and the people of Alabasta, we are the kind of people they shouldn't and don't need to associate with, right?" Dragon said with a smile.
It had to be said that Moria, after all, was someone who had managed to coast on his reputation and resources long enough to become a Warlord of the Sea. Now, having changed platforms, being personally guided by someone like Dragon, and accumulating several years of practical experience outside, Moria was thriving under Dragon's command. He was a genuinely capable senior executive, a core figure who could handle things independently.
"Exactly. Normally, we wouldn't have any room to operate here, and Cobra has no reason to concern himself with us," Moria said calmly.
"But what's the result?" Dragon asked.
"The result is that this once-rich and prosperous country started to decline rapidly within a few years of Crocodile's arrival and his using our name to stir up trouble. Now, the country's climate issue is very serious. There are rumors that the Nefertari family is using 'Dance Powder,' but our investigation suggests Crocodile is more likely the culprit. Next, armed groups are being secretly funded and cultivated. You wouldn't believe it, but five years ago, the number of sand pirates in Alabasta was only about 30,000. Now, that number has swelled to 170,000! This has already severely damaged, even destroyed, the economies of the major desert cities in Alabasta. At the same time, it is having a devastating impact on Alabasta's world-famous desert cultural tourism industry.
"The crisis hasn't fully manifested yet, but this kind of collapse is clearly a domino effect that will lead to the destruction of entire industries, resulting in countless people losing their jobs, followed by poverty. Once people can't feed themselves, they will inevitably risk their lives to survive. At that point, not only will the sand pirate organizations further expand, but the rebel army, which is currently nothing more than a minor nuisance, will become the source of all the country's chaos..." Moria explained patiently.
At this point, Moria chuckled. "Now, that fool Nefertari Cobra truly believes that we are the ones behind all this plotting and has instead trusted Crocodile, who keeps cleaning up his image and is on the verge of becoming a national hero. Do you think he can have a good impression of us? If you showed up here, he'd probably immediately order his million-strong army to cut off your head!"
Cobra's character was impeccable. As a country's monarch, his benevolence was likewise unimpeachable, and he possessed a sufficiently broad mindset and deeply loved his people. However, his political acumen and royal stratagem were woefully inadequate. In the original story, even when Crocodile had pushed him to the brink of death, he still wanted to find evidence to take down Crocodile, and even though he knew the man was no good, he ultimately fostered a viper.
From Diarmuid's perspective, this was ridiculous. At a moment like that, who cared about evidence? It was better to mistakenly kill a few innocent people than to let the crisis continue! Besides, Crocodile was clearly not a good person to begin with.
As for worrying about Crocodile's national hero prestige affecting things... Heh, such things are never an issue in front of a victor. History is always written by the winner. Once Crocodile was taken down, simply digging up his past, a quick investigation would reveal a slew of dark history. Whatever they said would be plausible. Who cared about prestige? The only thing that truly posed a problem for Cobra was Crocodile's strength.
But looking at the entire Alabasta pirate usurpation incident, one could see that Cobra's actions were utterly foolish. Had people like Luffy not passed by and used cheats to defeat Crocodile, the country would have been doomed. Now, through investigation and learning about Cobra's actions, Moria's view of Cobra was roughly consistent with Diarmuid's. In peacetime, Cobra was definitely a wise and benevolent king. But when chaos broke out, he was an idiot. At this stage, Moria already regarded him as such.
Listening to Moria's sarcastic remarks, Dragon smiled. "It seems I can't just casually go to Alabasta, can I? Hahaha."
"Of course not," Moriah replied calmly.
"Even so, is there a possibility of winning him over? If we expose all of this as Crocodile's plot and help him stabilize the domestic situation, could Cobra accept us?" Dragon asked.
Dragon had actually had his eyes on Alabasta for a long time, which was why he had sent a capable assistant like Moria there. After all, Alabasta was a massive country with a long history, excellent geographical positioning, a large population, and enormous wealth. It might even secretly harbor the Ancient Weapon, Pluton.
Under normal circumstances, Alabasta could maintain a standing army of over a million while still ensuring a good standard of living for its citizens. That spoke volumes about how wealthy the country was... If he could take control of Alabasta, Dragon would finally have the leverage to bargain with Mariejois head-on!
However, before now, Dragon had never figured out how to integrate Alabasta into his plans. He had only planted some secret agents there and was even calculating on utilizing Crocodile. But now, his contact with Sabo had opened up a new avenue.
If he could use Alabasta as a shell... wouldn't that be a wonderful opportunity?
"Is that even possible? Don't forget, the Nefertari family are descendants of the Twenty Kings..." Moria said after a moment of silence.
"The Twenty Kings..." Dragon murmured softly. The mysterious castle in the Holy Land where the fire broke out years ago... All these memories flooded into Dragon's mind. Perhaps he could find the answer from the Nefertari family?
"Although they are descendants of the Twenty Kings, I hear their relationship with Mariejois is not very good... There might still be a possibility of winning them over, right?" Dragon hesitated.
Seeing that Dragon was not giving up, Moria could only reluctantly say, "Try contacting them?"
"Hmm... not yet. Continue to observe the situation. But prepare for both eventualities, and bet on both sides. It would be best if we could gain Cobra's support and intertwine our interests," Dragon said after contemplating for a while.
"But I think Crocodile has a better chance of winning. Didn't you also think more highly of Crocodile before, even talking about forcing him to join us later?" Moria asked.
"That's true. Compared to Cobra, Crocodile is countless times smarter, more resourceful, and more capable. His strength is also enough to tempt me. But the problem is... precisely because of this, I now wish to join forces with Cobra," Dragon said with an evil smile.
Originally, he just wanted to cooperate, so naturally, he would seek out a capable person like Crocodile. But now, he wanted to swallow Alabasta whole and install a puppet in charge. From that perspective, Cobra, who was clearly an idiot when it came to such matters, was the perfect King!
"When is the right time to make a move?" Moria asked.
In a broad sense, the sooner the better, as that would minimize the damage to Alabasta and allow for quicker stabilization after taking care of Crocodile.
But from Dragon's perspective, the more chaotic the situation, the better. The more chaos, the closer the country was to collapse, and the more cornered Cobra was, the less choice he had, the more likely he would grab onto the lifeline extended by Moria's people...
Thinking of this, Dragon instructed, "You handle it yourself. When that fool Cobra is at his wit's end, that's when we'll pull him out."
"Understood," Moria replied with a smile.
"By the way, how is that zombie of yours coming along?" Dragon asked.
"It's really just an extension of my Devil Fruit ability. I don't have much interest in it. It's mainly that Hogback keeps pestering me. Considering he is a world-class doctor and a talent important to us, I've put up with him until now... But overall, it is having an effect. It's a decent strategic option and a good trump card, but it's meaningless against real experts," Moria summarized.
"I don't care about that. It doesn't need to do anything against experts. It just needs to lower our casualty rate. But you must keep it clean... Don't let anyone know this is our doing," Dragon instructed.
"Understood," Moria smiled, then added, "Right now, everyone thinks it's the work of that Baroque Works organization. That bastard Crocodile is trying to pass the blame to us, so I'm letting him carry a few more barrels of it."
"Well done," Dragon chuckled.
As if remembering something else, Dragon added, "Also, the New World might get chaotic soon. We need to seize the opportunity..."
"To stir up trouble in the New World?" Moria's eyes lit up. Kaido was the source of this chaos, after all...
"No, seize the opportunity to execute a few large-scale operations while the major powers are focused on the New World. I'll contact you then," Dragon said with a hint of resignation.
"Alright," Moriah replied, slightly deflated, but he didn't refuse.
After hanging up the Den Den Mushi, Dragon made several more calls, contacting many of his senior executives, such as Emporio Ivankov.
Finally, he looked at the Den Den Mushi in his hand and hesitated for a long time.
Rodriguez Diarmuid... Should I contact him?
The Goa Kingdom was a great project, but he might not be able to pull it off alone. However, if he had the help of Diarmuid and Stussy, there would be no problem. But that would mean sharing a certain amount of the profit, and simultaneously, it would expose the truth...
Was it worth it?