In the deepest depths of the Navarone Fortress's great prison lay Sir Crocodile's private cell.
The flickering torches provided poor illumination at best, their dancing flames casting shifting shadows across the entire stone chamber.
Bound by Sea Prism Stone handcuffs, Crocodile sat slumped in a corner of the cell. His head hung low, completely motionless, as if he were resting with his eyes closed. He resembled a man-eating crocodile with its massive jaws bound shut—seemingly devoid of any threat whatsoever.
The surrounding environment was eerily quiet; even the low, steady sound of Crocodile's breathing was distinctly audible.
Suddenly, as if sensing something, Crocodile slowly raised his head. His gaze, cold and sharp as a steel blade, pierced through his disheveled hair and the iron bars, staring straight at the slender figure who had arrived uninvited.
Though it was his first time seeing him in person, Crocodile instantly recognized the visitor's true identity by the white glint of his glasses. An unreadable smirk curled up the corner of his mouth, contorting the prominent scar across his face.
"You... couldn't possibly be here to mock me, could you? To see what a pathetic sight a defeated opponent looks like as a prisoner of the Marines."
"No, I am not that bored."
Sherlock looked at the former Warlord of the Sea dressed in prison garb and gently pushed up his glasses. "As for being a defeated opponent, you were defeated by Luffy. Before that, I merely gave you a multiple-choice question."
"I believe when you chose to save Miss All Sunday back then, you had already considered this outcome. You bet everything on Nico Robin, but unfortunately, you lost the gamble."
"Heh, indeed. You won, and I lost. This ocean is just that simple, and that cruel." Crocodile quietly stared at the Sorcerer outside the cell, his eyes gleaming.
Strange as it was, these two men—who had engaged in an intense battle of wits in Arabasta—were actually meeting face-to-face for the very first time today. Not only was the location of their meeting incredibly awkward, but there wasn't even a hint of hostility in their conversation. Their calm tones made it sound as though they were merely discussing what they had eaten for breakfast.
"But why are you appearing inside a Marine fortress?"
Before Sherlock could respond, Crocodile suddenly raised his voice and continued, "Let me guess... Even though I'm locked up in a place like this, my perception of the outside world remains quite sharp. Hmm, I recall a brief commotion occurring last night..."
"Could it be that you and the Straw Hat kid accidentally wandered into this fortress, and some of your companions got captured?"
Sherlock remained silent. His tacit admission caused Crocodile to suddenly throw his head back and laugh uproariously with pure schadenfreude. He laughed with utter abandon and arrogance, showing not a single trace of the humility expected of a Marine captive.
"Hahahahaha! How ironic, Sherlock Sarsalian! You heroes who saved a kingdom have ended up imprisoned in the exact same place as us villains who persecuted it! Hahaha! I wonder what that naive princess would think if she found out about this."
Sherlock frowned slightly. He was concerned that Crocodile's outburst would draw the Marines inside the prison, but strangely, nothing happened.
(What's going on? The defensive forces inside this prison are far too sparse. What exactly are those Marines thinking?)
Pushing up his glasses slightly, Sherlock decided not to dwell on the matter for now. He looked at Crocodile's slightly contorted laughing face and said indifferently, "We were never heroes. And I don't think Luffy wanted to help Vivi just to become a hero either..."
Recalling the memory of the beautiful girl with light-blue hair, the corner of the Sorcerer's mouth curled upward slightly.
"...From beginning to end, we have only ever been pirates who would risk everything for our comrades."
"Hmph, is that so..."
Crocodile wiped the smile from his face and let out a soft snort. "Alright, enough small talk. State your purpose, Sorcerer. Since you've brought me such an entertaining joke, I'll do my best to give you a satisfactory answer."
"Then you have my thanks." Sherlock didn't care in the slightest about Crocodile's sarcasm. After pondering for a moment, he said quietly:
"My main reason for seeking you out this time is to inquire about someone."
"About someone?" Crocodile was taken aback. He had anticipated many questions, but he truly hadn't expected the Sorcerer to ask this.
"Yes," Sherlock nodded and continued. "From what I understand, when you first became a Warlord over a decade ago, you spent some time making a name for yourself in the second half of the Grand Line. During that period, did you ever hear the name Lisanna Sarsalian?"
In the Sorcerer's mind, since his sister could casually share drinks and laugh with Whitebeard—one of the Four Emperors—she definitely couldn't have been a nobody in the New World.
"Sarsalian... Lisanna???"
However, to Sherlock's great disappointment, Crocodile still looked entirely blank upon hearing the name, clearly having no idea who she was.
"Well, it's also possible she didn't use her real name..."
Sherlock knitted his brows in thought for a moment before his eyes suddenly lit up. He said urgently, "Right! Her most defining feature is her exceptionally beautiful, long silver hair. If you had seen her, she would have definitely left a deep impression!"
"Long silver hair? Silver... hair... Silver hair???!!!"
In a flash of lightning, a breathtakingly beautiful figure with brilliant silver hair flashed through Crocodile's mind, causing his entire body to freeze as if time itself had stopped.
(No way! Could the person he's talking about be that "terrifying" silver-haired girl from back then? Wait... her last name is Sarsalian too?)
Crocodile suddenly snapped his head up, his eyes widening as he scrutinized Sherlock's facial features under the dim torchlight. When he realized that the youth before him bore at least a seventy percent resemblance to the woman in his memories, Crocodile's expression instantly became incredibly bizarre. Combined with the centipede-like scar stretching across his face, it looked downright grotesque and terrifying.
"That person you're asking about... she is your...?"
"She is my older sister," Sherlock answered hastily, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu at Crocodile's bizarre expression.
If the Sorcerer's memory had been just a bit better, he would have realized with astonishment that Crocodile's current reaction was almost identical to Ace's when he first found out Sherlock was Silver-Hair's younger brother—both looked as if they had seen a ghost.
"I see. So her name is Lisanna."
Calming his racing thoughts, Crocodile's expression softened slightly. He sized up the Sorcerer from head to toe as if seeing him in a completely new light, murmuring, "I never expected her to have a younger brother. This ocean really is full of wonders."
(And neither of these siblings is easy to deal with...) Crocodile grumbled inwardly.
"So, you actually knew my sister back then?" Sherlock's expression grew tense, his dark eyes gleaming with an功inexplicable brilliance beneath his clear lenses.
Finally! He was finally going to get information on Lisanna!
"Knew her? No, no, no, I wouldn't say I knew her. We merely crossed paths once back then."
The expression on Crocodile's face at this moment was truly a sight to behold. He briefly recalled the scene of the first time he had laid eyes on "Silver-Hair." Even though many years had passed, it felt to him as if it had happened just yesterday.
"Silver-Hair... back then, you could say she indirectly saved my life."
"If she hadn't suddenly shown up and declared she was going to fight Whitebeard in a one-on-one duel, I might not have made it away from that old man alive..." The corner of Crocodile's mouth twitched slightly.
"Huh???"
Sherlock was instantly struck dumb by this explosive piece of news.
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