Eight days later.
Grand Line, aboard the Going Merry.
Sabo had already gotten up early. He stepped out of the cabin to train and greeted a familiar figure.
"Morning, Zoro."
Hearing him, Zoro gave a cold nod.
This guy had appeared out of nowhere, claiming to be one of Luffy's father's subordinates, and these idiots had just believed him…
Zoro didn't even know how to describe their stupidity. It was unbelievable.
Sabo shrugged helplessly, 'Way too cautious.'
He then glanced at Zoro's primitive training method; pure strength training. Having been observing for a few days, Sabo frowned slightly.
"Do you know about Haki?"
Zoro stopped swinging the massive dumbbell and looked at him.
"Haki?"
Creak.
Robin pushed open the door of another room and stepped out. She leaned against the railing of the second deck.
"Haki is the mark of the strong.
"If you want to challenge Red-Haired Shanks, training in Haki is necessary.
"After all, that man not only holds the title of the world's greatest swordsman, but is also said to possess the strongest Conqueror's Haki in the world. Well... though that part is still debatable."
These titles were widely spread among pirates. The title of the world's greatest swordsman aside, the claim of strongest Conqueror's Haki had shaken the New World before Shanks fought Sakazuki. However, after his recent defeat, that title was beginning to be questioned, though at this point few people still cared about such things.
Soon enough, the pirates of the New World might all be wiped out by that Fleet Admiral. When your life is at stake, who cares about titles?
Sabo continued, "That's right. You guys probably don't know it yet. When Luffy and the others wake up, I'll teach you."
There was a hint of helplessness in his tone.
Honestly, after spending some time with them, he had begun to wonder, the Supreme Commander is such a powerful and deep man, how did his son end up like this… a bit of an idiot? None of his good traits carried over at all.
Zoro looked at the two of them and took a deep breath. "Alright."
The reason he had boarded this ship was because of that idiot captain's connection to Shanks. It would give him a direct and convenient path to challenge the world's greatest swordsman. Otherwise, with no reputation, he might not even be accepted as a challenger.
But after coming aboard, Luffy's personality had already made him start to regret his choice. Still, he was not someone who broke his word, so he stayed.
Now it seemed it wasn't entirely a mistake.
At that moment, Sabo noticed the bag on Robin's back and said, "Ms. Robin, are you…"
She answered, "Crocodile's plan has reached its most critical stage. I need to head back. I'll wait for you in Alabasta."
Unlike in the original timeline, the crew had not encountered Princess Vivi of Alabasta.
At this point, due to a coincidence, Robin and the others had met Dragon's son. After coming aboard and talking for a while, Luffy was completely drawn in by the scale of what they were planning. He loudly insisted on going together to take down Crocodile.
Sabo nodded. "Then please be careful. I'll bring them along and speed things up."
Robin gave a soft "Mm," waved her hand, then jumped onto the turtle mount that had been following alongside the Going Merry, quickly disappearing from their sight.
* * *
A few days later.
Alabasta, Rainbase.
The sun had just risen, yet the usually hardworking desert citizens did not go out to work, because today would decide the fate of this country.
It was said that the rebel army had already reached the capital. At any moment, everything could change. At a time like this, it was better to stay indoors.
Inside the top floor of Rain Dinners, Crocodile stood before a massive floor-to-ceiling window, eyes closed as he enjoyed the rising sunlight. Robin leaned against the wall near the door, quietly waiting.
After a long while, Crocodile opened his eyes. "Hoo… at last… the day has come."
Originally, because of the great war between pirates and the Marines, he had planned to pretend to cooperate with Sakazuki while secretly finding a chance to eliminate the Alabasta royal family and seize Pluton.
But after Kaido and Shanks were defeated one after another, it felt like a blow to the head. Sakazuki alone had fought two Emperors. The remaining two were not even enough to divide among the Marines' top forces.
If he directly assassinated the Alabasta royal family and it was exposed, he would be finished. The Marines had too much free combat power now; anyone they sent would be troublesome.
It was better to play it safe and let the rebels deal with the royal family. After planning for so many years, a few more days made no difference.
Gazing at the rising sun, Crocodile asked, "Are the special shells ready?"
Robin softly replied, "They're ready. Waiting for your command at any time."
Those were specially made bombs Crocodile had ordered. It was said the explosion could cover a radius of five thousand meters.
A faint smile appeared on his lips. "Good. Let's go. Time to meet that pitiful king of Alabasta. After today, this country will no longer exist. The world will be ours..."
His body turned into a swirl of sand and vanished.
Robin sighed quietly in her heart, then walked out of Rain Dinners and headed toward the capital.
Crocodile was not worried that King Cobra would hide information about Pluton or the location of the Poneglyph passed down in Alabasta for centuries.
As long as that special bomb was dropped when the rebels broke into the capital, it would wipe out both the rebels and the royal army together. At least thousands, even tens of thousands, would die. A "benevolent king" like Cobra would definitely give in.
Once he obtained Pluton and had enough time, whether it was the World Government or the Marines, all of them would be trampled beneath his feet, including Sakazuki.
* * *
New World, New Marineford.
Although Sakazuki had given him leave, Carlo had nowhere else to go, so he stayed in the intelligence department, keeping an eye on information from around the world.
Looking at the report sent from Alabasta, his eyes narrowed.
"It's finally begun."
He put away the report and left the intelligence room. After reporting to Sakazuki in the Fleet Admiral's office, he returned to his quarters.
Taking out a Den Den Mushi, he contacted Bullet and Soter, then found a Devil Fruit recycler and let out a light laugh.
Whoosh!
In the next instant, he vanished.
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