Alabasta Arc

The Alabasta Arc is the eleventh story arc in the manga and anime, One Piece. It is also the fifth and final arc in the Alabasta Saga. The Straw Hats finally reach the desert kingdom of Alabasta and begin their race across the land to reach Alubarna before a massive war breaks out between the kingdom's royal guards and the rebels. However, the true perpetrator of the war, Mr. 0 and the remaining Baroque Works officer agents stand in the way of reaching their goal. The kingdom of Alabasta is on Sandy Island, the fourth island the Straw Hat Pirates encounter in the Grand Line. It is a large desert kingdom ruled by king Nefeltari Cobra. The Going Merry is on its way to Alabasta and the crew is trying to catch fish to eat. When they steer through a hot spot (an undersea volcano making the sea above steaming hot), Usopp and Luffy catch Mr. 2, who coincidentally took a similar course, on their fishing rods.

The crew pulls him up and quickly befriend him, mainly due to how entertaining he is, especially with his ability to transform into other people with the Mane Mane no Mi. He imitates everybody on the ship except Sanji, who was cooking at the moment, and Vivi, who he simply did not touch. Bon Kurei is then picked up by his own ship and crew and leaves, swearing on friendship. Just as they leave, Vivi realizes that he is Mr. 2 of Baroque Works, but the Straw Hats see it as good fortune to have met him and wear white cloths on their wrists so Bon Kurei can not imitate them without them noticing. The Straw Hats finally reach the port town of Nanohana in the desert kingdom of Alabasta. Luffy, hungry from the long journey, storms off into town without waiting for his crew. At a bar, he interrupts a confrontation between a man named Portgas D. Ace and Captain Smoker of the Marines, knocking both through the wall without his noticing. Luffy grabs a lot of meat, but flees when Smoker stands back up and gives chase. He leads the Marines directly to his crew mates that were purchasing provisions and water in the town. Just as Smoker tries to catch them, Ace interrupts and secures an escape route for the Straw Hat Pirates. Back on the ship, Luffy tells the crew the man who saved them was his brother. Ace hops onto the ship and meets the crew, but does not stay long and gives Luffy a piece of paper before leaving, destroying seven ships with Billions of the Baroque Works on the way out. Vivi also sends Carue with a message to Alubarna to warn the King.