Nico Robin's impression of Uchiha Madara had previously been limited to his reputation as the vice-captain of the Sunagakure Pirates—a towering, mythical titan in the New World.
How could a figure of that caliber appear here in the desert kingdom of Alabasta?
However, the moment Robin stepped into the banquet hall and caught sight of her mother, Nico Olvia, all color drained from her face. Her mind went completely blank.
Though Robin had only seen her mother a handful of times during her childhood, meeting again after so many years required only a single glance for both to immediately confirm each other's identity. An extraordinary, suffocating silence settled over the room.
Olvia was in no better state; having been separated from her daughter for over a decade, she stood trembling, her heart gripped by intense emotional turmoil.
"Let's go. Leave this place with your mother."
"Go... where?"
"Sky Island. The surviving scholars of Ohara are gathered there, studying and deciphering the Poneglyphs, just like you."
Madara's blunt words threw Robin's emotions into total disarray. Right at that moment, a violent sandstorm howled from outside the Rain Dinners casino, sweeping into the main hall.
Sir Crocodile had arrived!
Stepping into the hall before Madara, Crocodile wore his hair slicked back, a long horizontal scar running across the bridge of his face, a gold hoop dangling from his right ear, and a thick cigar puffing dense smoke from his lips.
His left hand was a signature golden hook containing a hidden blade coated in lethal scorpion venom, capable of killing an infected target within minutes if not sanitized immediately. Draped over his shoulders was a heavy black fur coat.
Robin's gaze carried a subtle wariness as she looked at Crocodile. Her boss was notoriously cruel and completely incapable of trust, disposing of anyone the instant they lost their utilitarian value.
Crocodile was an absolute egotist who openly declared to the world that he had no need for loyal subordinates—he alone was enough, placing zero faith in those beneath him.
Her collaboration with him had always been nothing more than mutual exploitation.
"A big shot from the New World... what brings you all the way out here?"
Crocodile was on high alert regarding Madara's presence. Aoki Shiraishi, leader of the Sunagakure Pirates, stood at the pinnacle of the Four Emperors; as his vice-captain, Uchiha Madara was feared across the seas as the "Dark Asura." The sudden arrival of such a monster naturally put Crocodile on edge.
"I am taking her with me."
"Heh... heheh."
Despite facing a legendary titan of the New World, Madara's opening demand caused Crocodile to lose his composure entirely.
The Ancient Weapon Pluton was the ultimate prize he had schemed tirelessly to obtain. Madara taking Nico Robin away meant the total dismantling of his grand plan. Without a second thought, Crocodile struck!
Although Madara was renowned across the New World, this was the desert kingdom of Alabasta. Here, his Sand-Sand Fruit (Suna Suna no Mi) combined with the arid environment allowed him to unleash his absolute maximum combat potential.
Desert Spada!
Crocodile transformed his arm into an enlarged blade of sand, firing it forward. By utilizing high-frequency vibrations, the sand was granted razor-sharp cleaving properties capable of slicing the ground wide open.
Purple, lightning-like static crackled along the trench torn through the floor. Yet Madara remained completely motionless; a barrier of roaring black flames ignited before him, blocking Crocodile's strike head-on with effortless ease.
Ground Seigo: Desert Girasole!(Infiltration & Desiccation: Hell Sandstorm)
The initial Desert Spada was merely a probe; Crocodile's true finishing move was a combined dual-technique. Through years of relentless combat training, he had pushed the Sand-Sand Fruit to a remarkably high degree of mastery.
The true essence of the Sand-Sand Fruit lay in the power of absolute desiccation: by touching the ground with his right hand, Crocodile could drain all moisture from anything within range, turning the earth into cracked wasteland while drying surrounding architecture and vegetation into dust.
Combined with the centrifugal force of a raging sandstorm, he formed a massive vortex whose trajectory he could freely manipulate, capable of expanding until it could swallow an entire metropolis whole.
Caught within the dual assault, Madara and the others were enveloped by a colossal desert tempest. Innumerable casino guests and the masonry of the hall itself began rapidly drying, withering into gray ash within seconds...
Desperate to eliminate Madara, Crocodile held nothing back. Condensing his Desert Spada into a massive broadsword of concentrated sand, he thrust forward with lethal, piercing momentum.
"Manipulating sand... an amusing ability."
The instant Crocodile closed in, the three tomoe within Madara's Sharingan spun rapidly, glowing with a predatory crimson luminescence. Madara thrust his palm forward, releasing a wave of pure, abyssal darkness.
A towering pillar of dark energy tore across the desert floor. In a fraction of a second, the desiccating sandstorm was completely shattered. Crocodile collapsed to one knee, coughing blood as his face turned deathly pale.
"Do you yield?"
Madara stood towering over Crocodile, his gaze icy and devoid of emotion.
"Heh... Go to hell!"
Three spikes of condensed sand erupted from the desert floor, aiming straight for Madara's skull at blinding speed. Yet in a staggering display of speed, Madara vanished, reappearing on his flank.
Squelch!
Madara's blade pierced straight through Crocodile's heart. As fresh blood dripped down the steel, Madara retrieved a specialized Lineage Factor Fruit.
Engineered using modified Lineage Factor technology, this synthetic fruit possessed the specialized function of absorbing Devil Fruit essences directly from a dying host. Merging with the Lineage Factor as Crocodile's heart stopped beating, the medium transformed into a brand-new Sand-Sand Fruit.
Birka, Sky Island...
Standing on the high clouds, Shiraishi gazed down at the vast Blue Sea below, his eyes deep and contemplative.
Of the four Road Poneglyphs required to reach Laugh Tale, he had already secured two: one claimed as war spoils from BIG MOM, and another retrieved from Zou, the homeland of the Mink Tribe. As for the remaining two, Shiraishi deduced that one was likely held by the World Government or the Celestial Dragons.
Having crippled Admirals Aokiji and Akainu, the Navy's core military deployment was severely compromised. Next, Shiraishi needed to orchestrate another major geopolitical move.
Eliminating Crocodile would force the World Government to urgently scout and appoint a replacement for the Seven Warlords of the Sea (Shichibukai).
The final island recorded within the Poneglyphs was destined to become the stage for a cataclysmic war; the Otsutsuki infiltrator lurking in the shadows was actively gathering power as well.
Over the past few years, beyond his initial four elemental gems, Shiraishi had acquired three additional gems through illicit underworld channels: the Fire-type, Dark-type, and Ground-type gems...
Unlike the Fire and Dark gems, which acted primarily as auxiliary stat-boosting artifacts, the Ground-type gem was peculiar—up until now, it had displayed only an incomplete, abstract glyph rather than a full biological totem.
Could it be that the Ground-type gem cannot form a biological totem on its own?
Pondering this, Shiraishi brought out his auxiliary gems—Dark, Fire, and Dragon—testing them against the Ground gem one by one.
The Dark and Fire gems produced zero resonance. But the moment the Dragon-type gem and the Ground-type gem were brought together, distinct symbols flared upon both stones.
Merging and interweaving in a brilliant flash of light, the dual energies coalesced into a complete, grand biological totem.
Within the glowing matrix materialized a serpentine, dragon-like creature. Its eyes were composed of four green hexagons, resembling the compound eyes of an insect.
Behind its head rested a black, frill-like decorative collar adorned with vibrant green hexagonal cells, while its long tail fanned out into five distinct prongs.