After Souta Kiryuu disappeared, Chopper finally grew shy, his whole reindeer body wobbling like a limp noodle.
"Dr. Kureha, I think he doesn't hate me!"
Chopper shouted excitedly at Dr. Kureha. Though he had always dreamed of going out to sea and longed for companions, deep down he still believed he was just a reindeer, unfit to join humans on their adventures.
"Haha, not only does he not hate you, he actually seems to like you. If you were to ask about joining them, who knows—you might soon become part of the legendary Dragon Pirates. But remember, they're fighting against the entire world right now. Do you have the courage to stand alongside them against the World Government? That's an enemy far more terrifying than Wapol."
Dr. Kureha patted Chopper's hat with a smile. She knew well that with Chopper's current strength and fragile heart, he couldn't yet join the Dragon Pirates.
The Dragon Pirates were a force of elites, filled with monsters of the sea who fought only high-stakes battles. They stood at the frontline against the World Government and the Celestial Dragons—an even more explosive force than the Revolutionary Army itself.
"Captain Souta is amazing… I'm still too weak."
Chopper's eyes sparkled as he imagined fighting alongside Souta, but moments later he shrank back with self-doubt. How could someone like him ever qualify to join such a powerful crew?
"Everyone has their own destiny. Don't lose heart—you'll definitely find companions who belong with you."
Dr. Kureha comforted him. After Chopper mistakenly ate the Devil Fruit, he was shunned by his herd and hunted by humans. Those scars had left a deep shadow in his heart. Even Dr. Hiriluk and Kureha herself hadn't been able to fully integrate him into human society.
···
Souta Kiryuu returned to the Ark Maxim and set course back to Skypiea.
"Yahaha! Boss God, shall we take a detour and strike at one of the Warlords?" Enel said eagerly, his fighting spirit blazing. He had heard that the crocodile in Alabasta was also a Logia-type, which piqued his interest.
"Boss, that crocodile seems like an easy target. I've heard his Rain Dinners casino is overflowing with wealth." Capone Bege's eyes lit up. To the Dragon Pirates, a Warlord like Crocodile was hardly worth worrying about.
Kuma, Enel, even Gecko Moria could probably handle him—and with Souta leading, defeating Crocodile would be effortless.
"Does this mean another fight?!"
Jewelry Bonney cheered happily. Another Warlord, just like Moria—she wondered if Crocodile would prove just as weak.
"Heh-heh, Souta, since you already went after me, you have no reason to spare that sand lizard." Moria chuckled darkly. If he had to suffer, so should Crocodile. No Warlord should be left unscathed.
"I have no objections," Kuma said calmly after meeting Souta's gaze. As long as it meant fighting pirates and standing against the Celestial Dragons, he would not oppose it.
Even Trafalgar Law wanted to sharpen his blade against another Warlord before eventually clashing with Doflamingo. It would give him valuable experience before taking down the Donquixote Family.
"Since everyone wants to go, then we'll go."
Souta nodded. The crew's voices were unanimous. Crocodile had painted too large a target on himself in the first half of the Grand Line, permanently stationed in Alabasta, parading as a 'hero of the kingdom.' Ignoring him wasn't an option.
"Wuhuu! Off to Alabasta! Let's crush that sand lizard!"
Bonney shouted, and the Dragon Pirates echoed her cry with excitement. Souta had made headlines back in Loguetown—now it was time for the rest of the crew to step into the spotlight.
The Ark Maxim soared straight toward Alabasta.
Meanwhile, in Rainbase, Crocodile remained unaware of the danger drawing near. After the battle in the Sorbet Kingdom, he had managed to acquire fragments of the Pluton blueprints. But once translated by Nico Robin, they proved to be nothing but useless scraps.
He had been fooled—Souta had outwitted him. Even Big Mom and Golden Lion had been tricked as well!
The humiliation had left Crocodile sleepless for days, often jolting awake at night, fuming with the desire to cut Souta down.
Even Robin found it hard to believe. Crocodile, the master schemer, had been outmaneuvered by Souta, a man who seemed like nothing more than a reckless brute.
···
As the Dragon Pirates prepared to strike Crocodile, another world-shaking event was unfolding elsewhere in the New World.
A non-affiliated island known as Demon God Island had been completely surrounded by CP agents. With surveillance Den Den Mushi cutting off all communications, the island was severed from the outside world—ensuring no repeat of the God Valley incident.
During the agents' first wave of suppression and looting, a purple Devil Fruit plunged into the sea, carried by the currents to seek its true master. After drifting for dozens of days, it would eventually be discovered by a man with a flamboyant pompadour, who would then board the great whale ship of Whitebeard—igniting the destined path of a new era.
Before the Sun God rose to the seas, darkness would descend upon the world.
···
The Grand Line—Alabasta.
The Ark Maxim descended upon Crocodile's stronghold: the luxurious Rain Dinners casino of Rainbase.
"This Crocodile used Dance Powder to control the kingdom's rain, drawing it only to Rainbase and the capital Alubarna. Then he framed the king, accusing him of hoarding the powder. Tell me, doesn't anyone find it strange that Rainbase also enjoys constant rain?"
Souta's voice carried a note of disbelief. The two places that benefited from rainfall—Cobra, the king in Alubarna, and Crocodile in Rainbase—were the most obvious suspects. Yet Crocodile's image as the kingdom's 'hero,' backed by Baroque Works' propaganda and elimination of dissent, had shifted the people's hatred entirely onto King Cobra.
Now, nearly a million rebels stood against six hundred thousand royal troops. Skirmishes and standoffs raged endlessly, threatening to erupt into a full-scale war—one of global proportions.
Even the Marineford war had mobilized only a hundred thousand marines against Whitebeard's forces: sixteen division commanders, forty-three allied crews, and barely seventy thousand pirates altogether. Not even with Impel Down's escaped prisoners did the number exceed two hundred thousand.
Of course, Marineford had been fought by elites. Alabasta's rebels and soldiers were mostly commoners, far less formidable than the monsters who clashed at Marineford.
"Crocodile has always presented himself as Alabasta's protector against pirates. His prestige is sky-high. There's even been talk lately of overthrowing the royal family and crowning Crocodile as king."
Lafitte smiled faintly, seeing through Crocodile's ploys. Were it not for the Nefertari family's status as one of the original twenty royal lines, Crocodile would already have swallowed Alabasta whole, ruling it just as Doflamingo ruled Dressrosa—both Warlord and king of a World Government nation.