Behind a rocky outcrop nearby—
"Did we win?"
"This time there shouldn't be any more problems, right?"
"That just now nearly scared me to death…"
Chopper, his little legs trembling, peeked out from behind the rock, his face still full of fear.
A moment earlier, everyone had started cheering, but when Crocodile suddenly erupted again, they all shrank back into hiding.
Now that the enemy was truly down, they couldn't even feel joy—only cautious relief.
Rainer didn't waste a moment. He ripped a strip of cloth from his clothes to wrap around his hand, then pulled out a pair of specially-prepared Seastone handcuffs and locked them onto Crocodile.
"All right. Now it's safe."
He called out to the others, then collapsed into a sitting position, exhaling deeply. Fishing a cigarette out of the pocket of his blue shirt, he lit it up.
His gaze lingered on Crocodile's unconscious body. Exploding with power at the last moment… good. If he hadn't, this template wouldn't have felt worthy.
"Huuh~~ …I'm dead tired."
Seeing this, Luffy also dropped his Gear Second and plopped down, leaning back on his arms with a long sigh.
"So hungry… I need meat!" His face was pale and drained, and he just lay down, looking half-dead.
Using Gear Second drained his stamina at an incredible rate. Every time he used it, he was left completely exhausted. And if he pushed it too often, it could even shorten his lifespan.
Right now, his brain had room for only one thought: meat.
Usopp came running back from a distance, waving his arms and shouting at the top of his lungs.
"How about that, huh?! You see how amazing your Captain Usopp is?!"
Strutting proudly, Usopp's face was glowing with triumph.
In truth, he hadn't even expected to land that shot. His hands had been trembling after he fired. He had originally thought to just hide and let Luffy and the oni hold Crocodile down until the fight was over.
But when Crocodile suddenly went berserk, and Rainer's life looked in danger, his body had moved on its own. He barely had time to aim—he just squeezed the trigger in a panic.
And somehow… it hit!
Even now, he couldn't believe it wasn't pure luck. But of course, his mouth wasn't about to let the truth get in the way of some bragging.
"Hahaha! Not bad, right, Luffy, Rainer?"
Usopp stood tall, hands on his hips, one thumb pointing toward himself as he grinned smugly.
"Thanks to my crucial shot, you guys were able to defeat a Warlord of the Sea! Remember who's really in charge of this ship from now on!"
"Shishishi, nice work, Usopp. We couldn't have done it without you."
Luffy chuckled. Nami and the others also stepped out to rejoin the group. They knew Rainer was busy collecting his template, so they didn't disturb him; they just sat quietly to rest.
"Father!"
Vivi rushed into Cobra's arms like a little girl, tears flowing freely.
Such a crybaby… but this time, they were tears of relief and joy.
"Vivi… you've suffered so much all these years." Cobra hugged her tightly, eyes full of pride.
This daughter who had spent years in disguise, infiltrating the underworld to find the truth… had now saved the entire kingdom.
After a few words of father-daughter reunion, Cobra looked up at the Straw Hats.
"And who are these?"
"Father, these are my friends."
Wiping her tears away, Vivi introduced the Straw Hat crew. She explained everything that had happened along the way—how they stopped the rebels, and how Crocodile had been defeated.
The more Cobra listened, the more shaken he became. He had ruled the country diligently for decades, and yet Crocodile had nearly destroyed it under his nose. Despite all his secret investigations, he had uncovered nothing.
And now… a group of pirates had come out of nowhere to save the nation at its breaking point?
But Cobra was not a narrow-minded man. Pirate or not, these people were his country's benefactors.
And a benefactor is a benefactor. It mattered little whether they were pirate or Marines.
"I cannot thank you enough… but there is still one matter."
His tone grew serious. "Crocodile planted a bomb in the capital."
"A bomb?!"
"Yes. He said its blast radius would cover several kilometers."
"NANI?!!"
The so-called "weak trio" turned pale instantly. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's run away already!!"
"No need to panic," Cobra reassured. "The detonation is set for tomorrow afternoon. Pell!"
Crocodile's plan had been for Mr. 2 to impersonate the king in the morning, incite a war with the rebels, and then detonate the bomb in the midst of the battle in the afternoon.
But thanks to the Straw Hats, the rebels had already stood down, and Crocodile was defeated within just two days of their arrival.
"Your Majesty, your command!" Pell dropped to one knee, still weary from the earlier fight where he had been knocked down by a single strike from Crocodile.
"We will stay here and force Crocodile to reveal the bomb's location. Meanwhile—"
"No need."
A sultry female voice interrupted.
Nicole Robin, clutching her shoulder, stepped forward with a calm expression.
"The bomb is hidden in the bell tower at the center of the royal plaza."
"Nico Robin?!"
"Miss All-Sunday?!"
"There's still an enemy?! Luffy, get up!!"
Everyone reacted differently at her sudden appearance.
Still sprawled on the ground, Luffy fixed his gaze on her for a moment before saying, "It's okay. She's not an enemy."
"Seriously? Luffy, can you really tell?" Nami frowned. She was skeptical, but sometimes Luffy's strange intuition was hard to argue with.
"Trust me. I'm a good judge of people! Shishishi."
Robin, however, looked at him with faint surprise. The boy's smile… it unsettled her, yet somehow made her lips curve slightly as she turned away.
"Consider it my way of repaying you—for saving my life."
"Robin! Why didn't you tell Crocodile?" Cobra suddenly shouted after her.
As the royal family that had guarded the Poneglyphs for generations, he knew well enough that the stone here contained information about the Ancient Weapons.
Why had she lied to Crocodile about it?
"That's none of your concern," Robin replied without turning back. She waved her hand casually. "I'm not interested in such things. Rest assured."
The others didn't understand their exchange, but they didn't dwell on it. Cobra quickly sent Pell back to the capital to mobilize the army and prepare for evacuation.
"Truly, fate mocks us," Cobra sighed. His country, brought to ruin by one group of pirates… only to be saved by another.
"WHAT THE—?!"
Just then, a shocked cry rang out in the distance—coming from Rainer's direction.
Everyone turned in surprise. He was supposed to be busy binding Crocodile's spirit, but—
"Rainer, your head's on fire?!"
"What's going on with those flames?!"
"What's with those strange cloud-like embers?"
"Awakened…? Did I just awaken?!"
Even Rainer himself looked bewildered.
Surrounded by azure flame-clouds, with strange information about his Devil Fruit flooding into his mind, he realized with certainty—
His Devil Fruit had awakened.