Life is always full of surprises.
Edie had just seen Crocodile in the newspaper, and now Crocodile appeared before him.
A wild Shichibukai, and a Logia-type ability user at that.
He was definitely going to draw this blood!
"Kuzo, hold his arm."
Edie pulled out a blood collection needle and pricked Crocodile's elbow.
"What are you doing to me?"
Crocodile gritted his teeth, his tone angry.
He couldn't see, his head was pressed into the floor, and his arm was held tight by Kuzo, unable to move.
As a Logia-type ability user, being caught in his true form by Armament Haki.
It was a complete disgrace!
After drawing the blood, Edie slowly stood up and said, "Let him go."
When the power suppressing him disappeared, Crocodile immediately turned into quicksand and dispersed.
When he reappeared, he was already standing at the entrance of the bar.
He immediately checked his elbow, a tiny wound squeezed out a drop of blood.
Crocodile's face was grim, staring intently at Edie and Kuzo:
"Who are you? What do you want by drawing my blood?"
"Sometimes, knowing too much only brings trouble."
Edie smiled and said, "Let me ask you a question, Crocodile. Four years ago, Roger was publicly executed in Loguetown in the East Blue. After the execution, where was his body buried?"
Crocodile snorted, "Don't think you'll leave alive! Die, Sandstorm!"
A sandstorm formed in his right palm, and with a flick, he threw it towards Edie and Kuzo.
Boom!
Unlike the level used against the pirates before, this sandstorm rapidly expanded, engulfing the entire bar in an instant.
For a time, yellow sand filled the sky within several hundred meters.
Under this Logia-type power, the bar was torn apart, and tables and chairs were swept into the sky.
The pirates gathered around the bar were also caught in it, a completely indiscriminate, wide-range attack.
"Ah ah ah ah ah! Run, it's a Shichibukai, a Logia-type ability user!"
"Ability users are fighting!!"
Someone yelled, quickly moving away from the battlefield.
After a long while, when the sandstorm gradually subsided, the bar had disappeared, and yellow sand covered the ground.
"Where are they?"
Crocodile frowned.
Are they dead?
Suddenly, a voice came from behind.
"He's really irritable, just calm him down a bit."
Crocodile's expression changed, and he spun around abruptly.
However, before he could see anything clearly, a thick leg swept in.
Kuzo kicked Crocodile in the face.
Bang!
With Armament Haki wrapped around it, this blow landed heavily.
Half of Crocodile's face caved in, and he was sent flying like a cannonball, rolling over a hundred meters down the street.
Too fast!
Too fast to see the movements!
Crocodile felt his brain turn into a chaotic mess, a little dazed.
This is Paradise Sea, a small island near Alabasta, right?
This isn't the New World, is it!?
Crocodile covered his mouth, a large amount of blood staining his palm.
His vision blurred, and he struggled to get up, trying to see his opponent clearly.
At the far end of his vision, the ghost-masked man walked towards him step by step, as if strolling in a garden.
"Don't be so arrogant, damn it!" Crocodile's right arm turned into quicksand, suddenly sweeping forward.
Desert Spada!
The sand blade tore through the ground, heading straight for Kuzo.
However, Kuzo merely flickered, disappearing from Crocodile's sight.
Thump!
A foot suddenly landed on Crocodile's head, and his face made intimate contact with the ground.
The next moment, Kuzo lifted his leg, Armament Haki wrapped around the sole of his foot, and brought it down forcefully.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Like stepping on a cockroach, he repeatedly stomped on Crocodile's head.
"Enough, don't kill him."
Edie quickly stopped Kuzo's humiliating actions.
"Father, this guy just attacked you."
Though he said this, Kuzo still obeyed and did not stomp down.
Crocodile lay on the ground, half-dead, his consciousness fading.
He suddenly remembered something from a few years ago.
At that time, he was full of ambition, encountered the Whitebeard Pirates in the New World, and brazenly challenged them.
Then… he was beaten half to death.
It was that defeat that made him suddenly realize the gap known as "level."
The difference between pirates and pirates was greater than between humans and cockroaches.
Since then, he left the New World and was well-behaved for a while.
Until he was invited by the World Government to become a Shichibukai.
But today, he suffered another Waterloo.
"Look up, Crocodile."
The voice of the young man came to his ears, and Crocodile's consciousness recovered a bit.
He lay on the ground, his blood-stained face slowly lifted.
"Are you calm now?" Edie stood in front of Crocodile, hands in his pockets.
"…"
Crocodile narrowed his eyes, anger flaring up again.
In a fit of rage, he raged for a moment.
"Who… are you?"
"Edie, a passing Eddie."
Edie looked at him, shaking his head, "You're too weak, you couldn't last five seconds against Kuzo."
But then he thought, five seconds was actually quite impressive.
Kuzo, after all, belonged to the [Emperor-level Combat Power]!
Edie? Eddie?
Crocodile was silent, he had never heard of such a person.
"Enough with the nonsense, I ask, you answer."
"Four years ago, you were watching Roger's execution in the execution plaza, right?"
"Where was Roger's body buried?"
Edie repeated his previous question.
Now, he had mastered cloning technology; as long as he obtained Roger's Lineage Factor, he could clone a Roger.
He could clone him by his own power, without relying on the system's rewards.
Crocodile no longer resisted, choosing to give in.
"In Loguetown. That's Roger's hometown, Marine Vice Admiral Garp buried Roger's body there."
"Garp?" Edie was surprised.
Marine Hero Monkey D. Garp, also Monkey D. Luffy's grandfather, the protagonist of Pirate King.
Roger and Garp had a complicated relationship during Roger's lifetime.
After his death, Garp burying Roger's body seemed quite reasonable.
Not only that, Garp, this "mole," even secretly helped Roger raise his son, hiding it from the World Government.
"I see, do you know the exact location?"
"…What if I say I don't know?"
"You have a golden pirate hook on your left hand, wouldn't you mind having one on your right hand too?" Edie said with a smile.
"I'll guide you!"
When under someone else's roof, one must bow their head.
Crocodile stumbled to his feet, unable to stand steadily.
Seeing this, Edie ordered, "Kuzo."
As soon as he spoke, Kuzo immediately transformed into a green dragon, lowering his dragon head.
Edie lightly leaped and jumped onto him.
Crocodile's face was filled with horror, and he blurted out, "You're Kaido!?"
One of the Pirate Emperors of the New World, he stands at the pinnacle of piracy alongside Whitebeard and Big Mom.
Such a powerful individual actually bowed to this Eddie, willing to serve as his mount?
Unbelievable!
Crocodile simply couldn't believe what was happening before his eyes.
Not only him, but many pirates hiding in the distance, secretly observing, also looked terrified.
It's Kaido?!
On the dragon's head, Eddie had no interest in explaining.
"Let's go to East Blue."
The Azure Dragon's body twisted, and with a sweep of its claw, it grabbed Crocodile in its palm.
In a flash, the Azure Dragon vanished into the sky.
It wasn't until it was completely out of sight that the observers hiding in the distance finally snapped back to reality.
"I can't believe it! Was that really Kaido?"
"Haha, Crocodile just became a Shichibukai and was severely beaten by Kaido, and then captured."
"This is a slap in the World Government's face! There's a good show to watch!"
"Are you all idiots? Hurry up and run! The Marine will be here soon!"
"An Admiral will come!"
After realizing this, the pirates all started to flee.
If they didn't run now, when an Admiral arrived, they might be captured as well.
That would be an undeserved calamity.
Besides pirates, there were also some local residents among the observers.
At this moment, someone immediately reported the situation to the Marine.
…
Grand Line, Paradise Sea.
Marineford, Marineford.
Fleet Admiral General Kong received the report from below, and his face instantly changed dramatically.
"Impossible! Kaido appeared on Jaya Island? Crocodile was captured…?"
"Are you sure? This is not a joke!"
"I understand. Keep monitoring!"
Hanging up the Den Den Mushi, General Kong's expression was unpredictable.
He picked up the Den Den Mushi again and dialed the Admiral's office number.
A moment later, a man wearing frog-eye glasses walked into the Fleet Admiral's office.
Marineford Admiral, Sengoku the Buddha.
"Is there something, Fleet Admiral Kong?"
"Kaido appeared on Jaya Island!"
Kong's first sentence shocked Sengoku: "Impossible, there's no intelligence from the New World…"
"The eyewitness took a photo. See for yourself."
Kong handed the photo to Sengoku.
Sengoku picked it up from the desk and was immediately stunned when he saw it.
A giant Azure Dragon soared towards the sky, one of its dragon claws gripping Crocodile.
But that wasn't the key.
The key was that on top of Kaido's head, there was a man standing.
Because of the distance, the photo was blurry, and the man's face couldn't be seen clearly.
Only a side view was visible: he was wearing a white coat, with his hands in his pockets.
"Who is this person?!" Sengoku was shocked.
Riding Kaido, who could it be? Even Rocks couldn't do that back then!
"I don't know… It's too blurry."
Kong said in a deep voice, "You must go to Jaya Island immediately. A Pirate Emperor showing up in the Paradise Sea is certainly not for tourism. We must be extremely vigilant!"
"Understood. Should the news be sealed? It will cause panic."
"I've already had people seal the news. Act immediately."
Sengoku accepted the order and left with swift efficiency.