"Arabasta occupies an extremely important position among the many member states of the World Government."
"Your actions have led to the capture of the royal palace of this country. Putting aside everything else, just considering the amount of Heavenly Gold this country pays to the World Government every year, the World Government will not let you off easily."
"Moreover, there's also the Marines."
Nico Robin glanced at Cobra, who was leading the way, then turned to look at Crocodile beside her:
"You also saw the live broadcast of that ceremony."
"Kaido, who is known as the strongest creature on land, sea and air, is like a child who hasn't grown up yet in front of that man."
"Mr. Crocodile, are you really not afraid of death?"
As if reminding Crocodile, she laid out the situation he was about to face.
"If I tell you..."
"Will the World Government not take action against me for a very long time to come?"
Nico Robin.
Crocodile, upon hearing this, spoke to Nico Robin with great interest.
"Even if you've dabbled in ancient weapons?"
Nico Robin's eyes flickered.
She was well aware that members of Cipher Pol had recently approached her and made some deals with Crocodile.
but
She has studied Poneglyphs for many years and has a certain understanding of the nature of world governments.
Given the current situation, the World Government's tolerance for the Shichibukai is indeed extremely high, but this absolutely does not include the Ancient Weapons.
"Wait until I get the ancient weapon."
"Whether it's the World Government or Rosen."
"I now have the right to have an equal dialogue with them."
When Crocodile mentioned the name Rosen, his voice suddenly became several degrees heavier than before.
"if."
I mean, if.
"There's no information about ancient weapons there, as you hoped?"
Upon hearing Nico Robin's words, Crocodile paused in his tracks.
"There are no 'ifs'!"
Crocodile was silent for a few seconds, then, as if nothing had happened, said something in a calm tone, and then stopped talking, following Cobra without uttering a word.
His heart was not as calm as it appeared on the surface.
As the first Shichibukai, he was certainly aware of the current situation.
The World Government desperately needs the power of the Shichibukai to balance the Marine Headquarters, or rather, to balance Rosen, but no matter how desperate it is, it will not tolerate the Shichibukai getting their hands on the Ancient Weapons.
in other words.
By capturing the Arabasta Palace and seeking the Ancient Weapon Pluton, regardless of the outcome, Crocodile will now be standing against both the World Government and the Marine Headquarters.
The Five Elders wanted to kill him.
Rosen was going to put a collar on him.
No matter how vast and boundless the Grand Line may be, there is no place for him to find refuge.
"Rather than wearing a collar and becoming the Marines' henchman."
"I would rather."
"Let's take this gamble."
As Crocodile thought of this, a hint of madness flashed deep in his eyes.
Either obtain the ancient weapon Pluton, become equal to Rosen, and be able to speak with the Five Elders on equal terms.
They either stand against both the Marines and the government, and are hunted down to death.
This was the only way he could think of to turn the tide.
Rather than sit idly by and wait to be caught between the Marines and the government, only to end up with a collar on their necks, they might as well go crazy.
If you win the bet, you go from being a pawn to a player.
As for losing the bet, how bad can the situation get?
Anyway, he was already a loser from the moment he lost to Edward Newgate, so what does it matter if he loses again?
This is the spirit of the king of the desert.
Marshall D. Teach is definitely not the only one in this vast ocean who would risk everything for ambition and dreams.
Crocodile.
"He really has gone mad!"
"No, it should be said that the pressure that Rosen put on all the Shichibukai was simply too great."
Nico Robin watched Crocodile's retreating figure, muttering to herself.
She knew that no one could stop an ambitious man who had gone mad and was gambling everything.
But can I really trust someone like him to tell him about Hades?
Nico Robin couldn't help but think that.
With Crocodile remaining silent, Nico Robin lost in thought, and Cobra, who was leading the way, also falling silent, the atmosphere among the three began to become strange.
It was both quiet and oppressive.
It was like the calm before the storm.
Click
As time passed, guided by Cobra, the three arrived at an underground burial temple.
"arrive."
"This is what you've been looking for."
"However, I don't know what's written on it."
Cobra paused, stopping in front of a huge stone monument.
Nico Robin.
Crocodile didn't delve into whether Cobra truly didn't know or was pretending not to know; instead, he glanced at Nico Robin beside him.
The latter did not speak, but walked to the stone tablet and began to carefully interpret the text recorded on it.
"Have you finished watching?"
"Then tell me quickly."
Where exactly is Hades?
Crocodile stood to the side, waiting for a full ten minutes, until Nico Robin turned away from the stone tablet and faced him before he finally spoke.
This moment.
Even Crocodile himself didn't notice that his voice contained a hint of long-lost trepidation and excitement.
"The history of this country is recorded on it."
"As for Hades, which you mentioned."
"Not a single word in the entire text mentions ancient weapons."
Nico Robin met Crocodile's sharp gaze, a gaze so piercing it seemed to see right through her.
"No?"
After hearing this, Crocodile was neither convinced nor disbelieving; in any case, he remained unusually calm.
Even the slight unease and excitement that had been revealed in his voice just now had completely disappeared.
"Yes."
Nico Robin also maintained a calm expression, but her nerves were already subtly on edge, and she was on guard.
She was fully aware of what she was doing and what the consequences would be.
A mad, ambitious man, after betting everything on the table, then crushes his last glimmer of hope with his own hands.
As you can imagine, Crocodile's reaction was...
"I see!"
"I see."
Nico Robin.
Crocodile lowered his eyelids slightly, remained silent for a few seconds, and just as the atmosphere became extremely oppressive and gloomy, he suddenly raised his head and grinned at Nico Robin:
"It doesn't matter."
"I choose to forgive everything about you."
"Even if you concealed the fact that you were hiding it from Hades."
The words had barely left his mouth.
Crocodile's right arm has been elementalized into sand.
"Because I've never believed you!"
He raised his hand and flicked it, and the sand instantly transformed into a sharp sand blade, slashing straight at Nico Robin.
"What a coincidence."
"I have never believed you either."
"MR.0".
Nico Robin was neither surprised nor flustered by Crocodile's sudden attack; she had already prepared for it and had a plan to deal with it.
Click
Seeing the desert sword slashing down from the sky, she, already on edge, leaped away and narrowly avoided the sand blade's strike. The spot where she had just been standing was now cleaved open with a crack over fifty meters long.
Seeing this, Crocodile didn't say anything, but just gave Nico Robin a gloomy look, then raised his hand to condense a sandstorm, ready to launch another attack.
But just then, a hand suddenly grew out of the ground behind him, holding a bottle full of water, and poured it directly on him.
"What?"
Crocodile at this time is not the Crocodile of ten years later.
I feel ten years younger.
Their combat strength has declined by at least ten years.
Even without using Observation Haki to sense things, his reactions are extremely quick, unlike in the future when he spent decades in Paradise and gradually became arrogant.
Sensing the movement behind him, Crocodile did not rely on his Logia-type Sand-Sand Fruit ability to fight everything head-on. Instead, he chose to transform into his own element in advance, turning his entire body into sand and dodging the water that splashed on his back before it could reach him.
Swoosh
Then.
Before the water could spill or the bottle could fall to the ground, he had already swept up behind Nico Robin like a gentle breeze.
"Bye now."
Nico Robin.
Crocodile stood behind Nico Robin, his right hand transforming into a sharp sand blade, and slashed at Nico Robin.
Is this the end?
"What a pity!"
"If only the inscription on the stone tablet were not about Hades, but the Poneglyphs."
"That way, at least when I go to see my mother and everyone else, I can tell them the truth about the 100-year gap in my life."
Before the desert sword could actually strike Nico Robin's body, she already felt a sharp edge enveloping her, making her hair stand on end in shock.
At the brink of life and death, a variety of emotions welled up inside her.
There was resentment, regret, helplessness, and exhaustion.
At the same time, many thoughts also surfaced in her mind.
Why do the stone tablets in the underground burial temple record ancient weapons instead of Poneglyphs?
Why, after drifting at sea for so many years, is the historical record still nowhere to be found?
Why, after experiencing so much betrayal and pursuit, was he still unable to find the companions that Saul had promised to cherish?
But in the end, they all disappeared, leaving only regret and confusion, and then quietly accepted the embrace of death.
When Nico Robin decided to come to the Underground Burial Temple with Crocodile, she had already made the decision not to tell Crocodile even if she knew about the Ancient Weapon Pluton, and she was also prepared to die in the Underground Burial Temple.
In other words...
Whether the underground burial temple contains Poneglyphs or ancient weapons, her fate is essentially one of two things.
Kill Crocodile, or be killed by Crocodile.
Unfortunately.
Not only was she unable to kill Crocodile, but the inscription on the stone tablet was not the Poneglyph, leaving her to die with regret and confusion.
"Ah la la la la la!"
Just as Nico Robin's eyelids closed and she was about to die, a long-lost voice suddenly rang in her ears.
at the same time.
Hiss
A sudden burst of freezing air erupted and spread throughout the entire underground burial temple.
Whether it's the indestructible stone tablet that records the location of ancient weapons, the sand blade that is about to slay Nico Robin from behind, or even Crocodile himself.
Everything was frozen into ice the instant the freezing air exploded.
"this."
Seeing the underground burial temple transformed into a frozen wasteland, Nico Robin's beautiful eyes widened, her pretty face filled with astonishment and disbelief.
She fantasized that someone would come to rescue her.
after all.
She has never forgotten the words Saul left before he was frozen, and even after experiencing countless betrayals over the years, she still dreams of one day meeting a like-minded partner.
Unexpectedly, at the critical moment of life and death, the one who descended from the sky was not the companion of his imagination, but one of the culprits who carried out the Buster Call and destroyed Ohara, and also his savior who let him escape.
"Aokiji!"
"I knew it was you."
"Come out quickly!"
Having experienced the terror of life and death, and then seeing her long-lost enemies and benefactors, Nico Robin looked around and her emotions began to spiral out of control.
Even when facing death, she was able to confront it relatively calmly.
But when she realized that the person who might save her was Kuzan, she completely broke down.
However,
No matter how hoarse Nico Robin's voice became from shouting, she still didn't see the long-lost figure appear.
If it weren't for the fact that the ice block freezing Crocodile in front of her was exactly the same as the ice block that froze Saul back then, she would have even doubted that all of this was just her imagination.
What you are seeing now is nothing more than a hallucination before death.
"Aokiji!"
Nico Robin turned around and looked around, but still couldn't find any trace of Kuzan.
The only response I received was...
Click
Crocodile, who was originally frozen into an ice sculpture, suddenly had the ice covering his body crack open, extending into countless cracks, like a spider web, covering his entire body.
Then.
The ice sculpture didn't break; instead, it vanished into thin air as if its moisture had been drained.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
After escaping, Crocodile gasped for breath.
Obviously.
Even for someone like him who is a Logia-type Devil Fruit user, the feeling of being frozen by the freezing air was quite unpleasant.
After all, the Ice-Ice Fruit is effective against the Sand-Sand Fruit, although not as significantly as the Water Fruit, it still has a restraining effect.
If he hadn't developed the Sand-Sand Fruit to an almost cataclysmic level, mastering the power of drying, capable of absorbing the moisture from organic and inorganic matter it comes into contact with, drying out the moisture in rocks or soil to turn them back into sand, and even drying out underground water flow beneath the desert, it would truly be completely frozen once frozen.
"Kuzan."
"I didn't expect to see you here?"
"When did you start targeting me?"
Crocodile, panting, scanned his surroundings, remaining on guard.
To his bewilderment, after looking around the entire underground burial temple, he couldn't find Kuzan anywhere.
See here.
Crocodile's eyes flashed red.
He immediately unleashed his Observation Haki.
"How is that possible?"
"There's no sign of life?"
"Then what's the deal with these ice blocks?"
Crocodile was stunned.
Although his Observation Haki wasn't very good, it was still enough to sense a range of about a hundred meters. However, after using his Observation Haki to sense the area just now, he found that there were only two other people around him.
One is Nico Robin.
One is Cobra.
There was no third aura at all.
Observation Haki doesn't lie, but neither do the eyes.
The bone-chilling cold he felt when he was frozen, and the ice covering every corner of every underground burial temple, all told Crocodile a story.
Such power is possessed by only two people in the entire world.
The user of the Ice-Ice Fruit.
Kuzan.
as well as.
Using the Arms-Arms Fruit, I handcrafted the strongest ice-type Zanpakutō.
The owner of Hyōrinmaru.
Rosen.
"Ah la la la la la".
"I'm ready, Rosen."
"Although I don't quite know how to face her, an ugly daughter-in-law must eventually meet her father-in-law. I have to face her eventually!"
Just as Crocodile began to question his own eyes and Observation Haki, a voice that was very familiar to both him and Nico Robin rang out again.
Both of them were certain that it was Kuzan's voice.
only.
"Rosen?"
Crocodile's face changed instantly when he heard Kuzan's voice, which seemed to be talking to someone he couldn't see, and that Rosen's name was mentioned.
"Shatter, Kyōka Suigetsu."
At this moment.
A voice rang softly in Crocodile and Nico Robin's ears.
…
100 Powerstones = 1 Bonus Chapter Tomorrow!
Help us reach the goal!
Too slow? We upload 10 Chapters/Day on P@treon!
The book is likely Already Finished there. Don't wait for daily updates—read the complete story + R-18 scenes right now!
[email protected]/Ren Saga