"What?! He squandered that much treasure?!"
Nami exploded the moment she heard it:
"Unbelievable! Does that mean there's nothing left here?!"
"Crocodile, you bastard!"
Moria's eyes bulged in disbelief:
"You actually pulled a stunt like that?! Captain John's treasure was in my hands—so it belongs to me, damn it!"
"You stole it all?! That's unforgivable!"
"No..."
Robin spoke up calmly, her analytical tone cutting through the uproar:
"If nothing remained here, Crocodile wouldn't have returned."
"During the Summit War two years ago, he had just escaped from Impel Down. Alone, with all his forces crushed, it would've been impossible to rebuild an organization like Baroque Works."
"So if he's come back to this treasure trove now, there must be something left, something vital. Something that can help him."
"It may not be material wealth, but…"
Robin smiled as she turned to face Crocodile, whose face had darkened:
"Mr. 0… your goal is to become the Pirate King, isn't it? If that hasn't changed, then this treasure must still hold something that can bring you closer to that dream."
"What?! Pirate King?!"
Luffy's eyes lit up:
"There's something that important in the treasure?!"
Smack!
Luffy clenched his fist and grinned with confidence:
"I wasn't all that interested at first, but now? I have to get it!"
"Because I'm the one who's going to become King of the Pirates!"
"Don't get cocky, brat! Like hell I'd let you have it!"
Moria bared his teeth in a wicked grin:
"Kishishishi... I see now. So that's how it is, Sand Croc. Fine, I won't press the treasure issue any further… but that item, I'm taking it!"
"..."
Crocodile bit down on his cigar, glaring at the unshaken Nico Robin. Under his stare, she remained composed:
"What, did I hit the mark?"
"Hmph… I'm not surprised. You would figure it out, Nico Robin."
He calmed himself. Maybe… just maybe, this situation was an opportunity.
"Straw Hat!"
Crocodile turned to Luffy—clearly recognizing that this captain was the key:
"I've got a proposal. Hear me out."
"A proposal?"
Luffy tilted his head:
"Why not just fight it out? We all know where the treasure is, whoever wins gets the prize!"
"Hmph! Naive!"
Crocodile scoffed and glanced toward the ever-grinning Moria. Then suddenly, he slashed his hand through the air:
"Come out!"
Whooosh—!
A swirling sandstorm erupted, surging toward an empty patch of ground.
"Ahhh!"
A scream rang out. Within the storm, a figure appeared—suspended midair, a massive sand hand clutching his throat.
"It's that invisible guy!"
The Straw Hats were stunned. Even with their Observation Haki, none of them had sensed Absalom's presence. How had Crocodile?
"The ground here is covered in sand particles. Even if you're invisible, even if you can fool Observation Haki, you still have to step on the ground."
Crocodile's sand-made giant hand raised Absalom into the air, his voice cold as Moria watched in shock:
"Touch the sand I've spread, and you enter my domain of awareness."
"And for that, I should thank that lightning bastard."
"Lightning... you mean Enel?"
The Straw Hats caught on. Enel's Observation Haki had unparalleled range thanks to his Goro Goro no Mi and its electromagnetic waves.
Crocodile now enhanced his own Observation Haki using sand, not as conveniently as Enel, but terrifying nonetheless.
"That invisible guy tried sneaking into the treasure!"
Luffy jumped to his feet:
"That's low!"
"Exactly, Straw Hat. Keeping Moria around is a liability… He's a seasoned pirate, far more devious than you'd think."
Crocodile conveniently ignored how devious he was, and laid out his plan:
"Join forces with me, and take Moria out. The 'item' in the treasure can be shared."
"I hid it well over twenty years ago, back when I had no idea what it truly was."
"Now, we eliminate Moria. I need your help to retrieve the item—and you won't find it without me."
Crocodile looked deeply at Nico Robin:
"The intel and clues about the Ancient Weapon Pluton... I found them here."
"What?! Pluton?!"
Everyone in the Straw Hat crew gasped.
Back in Water 7, their entire battle against CP9 had revolved around Pluton.
Franky had even once safeguarded the blueprints of that legendary weapon.
Though they later realized the blueprints were meant as a countermeasure against Pluton, the shadow of that weapon had loomed large.
"If even remnants of that knowledge are here…"
Robin broke into a cold sweat:
"This treasure… is far more dangerous than we thought."
"Luffy, we need to—"
"Alright!"
Luffy gave a thumbs-up to Crocodile:
"Then let's team up!"
"LUFFY!"
Nami smacked him square on the head:
"You big idiot! Were you even listening to Robin?!"
"This guy's Crocodile! He's as dangerous as they come—devious and underhanded! Teaming up with someone like that is just asking for trouble!"
Luffy rubbed the lump on his head and pouted:
"Yeah, but… we've got all of you, right? We can handle a little danger!"
"..."
"Aww, don't say it like that…"
"Eheheh… You flatter us…"
"Y-Yeah! Don't say stuff like that, it's embarrassing…"
"I mean… even if you praise me, I'm not happy, y'know… you idiot!"
"..."
Crocodile's eye twitched as he glanced between Nico Robin's quiet smirk and the Straw Hats' sudden wave of false modesty.
These guys are nuts.
Should I just give up on this alliance?!
"Hey, you brats! You think I'm some pushover you can gang up on?!"
Moria's veins bulged as he saw Absalom caught in the sand giant's grip, now sinking helplessly into a quicksand pit:
"You think you've got me figured out, huh?!"
Shadows surged wildly behind him. Not just his own, but those of the trees, the rocks—even the mountains—on the island twisted and writhed unnaturally.
And with that movement, their physical counterparts began to shift as well!
"A shadow can control its original body! Living or not—it doesn't matter!"
Moria spread his arms, cackling maniacally:
"Now I can even manipulate a mountain! Wahahahaha!"
Swish!
Even the crew's own shadows began to stir behind them. A creeping sense of sluggishness weighed down their limbs.
"And you… are no exception!"
immense wealth to build Baroque Works from the ground up."
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