Crocodile, using the power of the Suna‑Suna no Mi, bound the badly‑wounded Pell the Falcon and King Cobra to the stone wall of the underground chamber.
Alone, he turned to face the massive Poneglyph before him.
With his right hand he gently stroked the stone, feeling its indestructible hardness and the perpetual chill of its surface. A flood of emotion welled up inside him.
"So this is the Poneglyph…
The stone that records Pluton's secret!"
He glanced back at King Cobra.
"It's time…
Spill the secret of the ancient weapon Pluton, Cobra!
Otherwise this birdman will die a miserable death right before your eyes!"
Pell shouted, "Your Majesty, don't do it! My life is nothing, but if scum like Crocodile gets Pluton's secret, the whole world will fall into ruin!
Please—let me die instead!"
Crocodile sneered.
"In my presence you don't even have the right to choose death.
The weak never decide how they die.
"Cobra, I'll give you ten seconds to think about it.
"Ten.
Nine.
Eight—"
Just then a figure burst into the chamber.
All three were startled.
When Cobra and Pell saw who it was, their shock turned to despair.
"Y‑You're…
The Demon Child, Nico Robin?!"
Even Crocodile paused.
"You're late, Nico Robin.
And where is the task I assigned you?"
Robin looked battered, covered in cuts and breathing hard.
"Apologies, boss.
I failed to capture Princess Vivi."
"Oh? Why?"
"The Navy was too quick. Headquarters Captain Hina caught up to me. Her Ori Ori no Mi is troublesome for me… I used everything I had just to escape.
"And… Uchiha Chiyu could arrive at any moment."
Crocodile snorted. "You think I'm afraid of him?
"Since you're here, and that fossil Cobra won't cooperate, you can read this Poneglyph for me.
"Tell me, Nico Robin—what's the truth about Pluton?"
That was exactly why Robin had come. She gazed at the huge cubic stone. Her eyes trembled; excitement washed over her.
"The real thing… a Poneglyph…"
She lightly traced the ancient characters, as if caressing the most delicate treasure.
"Enough, Nico Robin!
Translate Pluton's secret for me!
It's the whole reason you joined Baroque Works!"
Robin drew a deep breath.
"I can.
"But…"
Staring at the glyphs, she sighed. "What's recorded here doesn't seem to be Pluton's secret. It's…
"The history of Alabasta."
"What?!"
Word by word, she read: "Eight hundred years ago, Queen Nefertari D. Lili laid the foundation for Alabasta's glory. The kingdom was one of the twenty nations that created the World Government. Yet Queen Lili refused to move to Mary Geoise, choosing instead to return to Alabasta, and after that—"
"That's enough!"
Crocodile exploded.
"Nico Robin, are you saying all my years of planning were for nothing but a mirage?!"
Robin replied coolly, "Not to me. Every Poneglyph is invaluable.
"But for you…
Unfortunately, yes."
Crocodile suddenly calmed.
"Tell me, Nico Robin—does this stone truly omit Pluton's secret, or did you simply decide not to tell me?"
Robin's face tightened.
Crocodile was about to strike when another group charged into the ruins—Princess Vivi, Koza, the unconscious Igaram, and Nami.
Seeing the king's condition, Vivi cried out.
"Father!"
She rushed to him, but she had no power to break Crocodile's bindings.
Koza's expression twisted. Laying Igaram down, he glared at Crocodile.
"Crocodile! Alabasta's suffering is all your doing—the mastermind behind every tragedy. I'll never forgive you!"
He whipped out his rifle and fired.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bullets poured into Crocodile's body—
—and meant nothing.
They passed through sand, leaving pits that closed in an instant.
"Koza, leader of the rebels. You were merely a pawn. Without your influence I wouldn't have bothered with a nobody like you."
Koza sneered. "And aren't you a pawn in Marine hero Uchiha Chiyu's game?
"The moment he arrived your schemes collapsed. Years of plots—gone in an instant.
Who's really pathetic here?"
Crocodile snarled.
"You brat—tired of living!"
A raging tornado swirled in his palm, laced with sand, swelling out of control—a disaster waiting to be unleashed.
"Sandstorm!"
The sandstorm roared toward Koza.
This was one of Crocodile's deadliest techniques: once released, even he could not rein it in—a city‑levelling calamity. Even a 'small' version pulverised rock and shattered buildings.
"Koza!" Vivi screamed.
No one here could stop it. Koza was a breath away from being ripped apart when—
BOOM—
A second cyclone erupted from the ground, howling straight at Crocodile's.
BOOM!
The two storms collided like twin dragons, twining, tearing, then dying away together.
"What?!"
Crocodile was aghast. A mere gale could neutralise his Suna‑Suna no Mi? What power was that?!
He whirled—and saw two more arrivals:
Captain Hina, who had pursued Robin, and—at last in person—the man he had only heard about:
Uchiha Chiyu.
Even Nami and Hina were stunned.
Chiyu-sama can control sandstorms too?!
It was only a basic Wind Release; Chiyu even regretted not bringing Gaara to compare sand control with Crocodile.
"Uchiha Chiyu!"
Crocodile forced composure, but his voice still shook with anger.
Chiyu remained calm. "Crocodile."
"Why block my path?" Crocodile snapped. "I'm a Warlord of the Sea, sanctioned by the World Government! Even the Navy should not be my enemy!"
"You're mistaken," Chiyu said.
"Neither the Government nor the Navy binds me.
"My only guide… is my own will."
Crocodile laughed coldly. "Is that the 'special privilege' HQ granted you? Independent authority, shoot first, report later?"
"You're wrong again," said Chiyu. "I'd act the same without any privilege.
"Enough talk.
Your game is over. Surrender."
Crocodile burst into wild laughter.
"Ridiculous! What do you understand, newcomer? Your youthful zeal—how long will it last?
"This world is rotten to the core; your justice is a candle in the dark, a blade of grass in the mire—trivial, doomed to be snuffed out!
"Only power—power—is everything!"
To Crocodile's surprise, Chiyu nodded.
"You're right; I, too, believe in power.
But our choices differ.
"You saw darkness and became darker still.
I'll use power to cut down evil, shatter this decayed world, and usher in the light of a new one."
Crocodile sneered.
"Naïve idealist—you won't live long."
"Longer than you," Chiyu said, "who will die here."
Crocodile roared, "Do you think you're my equal? A Warlord is made by absolute strength!"
He attacked:
"Desert Spada!"
His arm turned into a crescent blade of sand, sweeping to slice Chiyu—and everyone behind him.
Chiyu scoffed—
BZZZZZT—
A shrill resonance burst forth. Gripping his twin blades, Yamaarashi and Hana‑shū, Chiyu unleashed a violent, inky aura that wrapped both swords, turning them into jet‑black blades.
"That's—!" Crocodile gasped. "Armament Haki?!"
Chiyu revealed Armament Haki for the first time, coating both swords so they could cut a Logia user.
BOOM—BOOM!
Twin arcs of black light slashed through space and crashed down.
Crocodile's crescent—an extension of his sand arm—met the blows, but Logia immunity meant nothing against Haki.
In an instant—
"AAARGH!"
Two massive gashes tore open Crocodile's sand arm, then his restored flesh, leaving deep, bloody wounds that would not heal.
Hina and Nami cheered.
King Cobra, Vivi, Koza, Pell—all were shocked and overjoyed.
At this moment, Uchiha Chiyu was their lone beacon—the true saviour of Alabasta.
Robin's face paled.
"Armament Haki… A single strike and Crocodile's already crippled… The youngest, strongest Marine—on par with legendary Vice Admirals…"
Crocodile panted, staring at the wounds to the bone.
"Uchiha Chiyu! I'll tear you to pieces!"
Chiyu shook his head.
"So you really can't use Haki anymore? A Warlord who can't use Haki—pathetic and disappointing."
Crocodile raged. "Mock me, will you?! I mastered both Haki in my pirate days! You think I became a Warlord by chance?!"
Chiyu's eyes narrowed. So Crocodile once had Haki, but lost it—his spirit broken, like Gecko Moria after Kaido crushed him.
But it didn't matter.
Chiyu's Sharingan flared scarlet, merged with Observation Haki—every enemy laid bare.
His twin blades, wreathed in black Armament, fused Uchiha sword art with the Navy's Rokushiki. He charged.
"Die!"
~~~
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