Inside the dim, chilly stone cell, the tense atmosphere made the air feel thick and heavy.
The two groups stood at daggers drawn, staring each other down. Though it looked as if a single word could trigger an all-out brawl, no one dared to make the first move, as everyone was acutely aware of their current situation.
"Hehehe, don't be so tense, Miss Allsunday."
Crocodile waved his hand with a chuckle, gesturing for the Baroque Works agents to put away their weapons. He then unhurriedly turned his gaze toward the Sorcerer. Judging by Crocodile's calm demeanor, he didn't seem the least bit excited about regaining his freedom.
"Right now, I no longer have any interest in Alabasta or the thing buried beneath that country. So, that means we don't necessarily have to be enemies from now on, right?"
Sherlock smiled without a word, seemingly acquiescing to Crocodile's statement.
Zoro remained unmoved. He kept a tight grip on his blade, his expression dead-serious as if facing a formidable foe.
"..." Robin looked hesitant. She stole a glance at Sherlock, and seeing the expressionless look on a certain four-eyes, she lowered her crossed arms from her chest.
"As if anyone would believe you!"
A certain long-nosed sniper poked half his head out from behind the Sorcerer, barking with false bravado, "A pirate like you who lies through his teeth probably tells nine lies out of every ten words!"
(Aren't you exactly describing yourself, Usopp...?) Sherlock, Zoro, and Robin silently complained in their minds.
Crocodile completely ignored the long-nosed fellow's accusations. He turned around, his gaze scanning the Baroque Works agents one by one, before finally locking onto Miss Goldenweek, Miss Valentine, and Mr. 5. His expression was solemn, and he remained silent.
A long silence ensued.
"Why?"
"Why did you come to rescue me? You should know perfectly well how dangerous it is to infiltrate a Marine fortress."
Crocodile spoke flatly, his tone as casual as if he were stating a trivial matter.
"..."
The bomb man and the kilo girl exchanged glances, neither uttering a word.
"Because we are comrades!" the sketch artist with the twin pigtails suddenly replied.
"Comrades?" Crocodile's frame jolted, while Robin and the others not far away also subtly changed expression.
"Yeah, comrades."
Miss Goldenweek looked up, staring at her former boss with her big, dark eyes, and answered with utmost sincerity, "Isn't it only natural to save your comrades?"
"Comrades? Heh, comrades..." Crocodile muttered to himself. His eyes, which were usually filled with cold cruelty, were now wide open. His face was a mask of sheer disbelief; it was clear he found the young artist's mindset utterly incomprehensible.
At the same time, looking at Miss Goldenweek's resolute little face, scenes from the final battle in the Alabasta Tomb inexplicably flashed through Crocodile's mind.
"Why? Why did you come to help this country? To help that naive princess?"
Crocodile had stumbled to his feet, blood trickling from his mouth and nose as his chest heaved violently. He glared at the Straw Hat kid not far away, whose body was also pushed to its absolute limit.
"You, that sorcerer, and your crewmates—aren't you all pirates?! What does a bunch of pirates have to do with this country? Why do you all have to oppose me?!"
Crocodile roared in a furious frenzy, yet he failed to realize that his voice was already trembling noticeably.
"Because we are Vivi's comrades!" Luffy pushed himself up and pressed down on the straw hat atop his head, his tone uncharacteristically serious.
"You bastard crocodile who stole Vivi's country, I will absolutely never forgive you!"
"Comrades? Heh... How are you guys exactly like that Straw Hat kid, throwing your lives away for something so utterly pointless?"
"Are you all idiots?!"
Though Crocodile mocked them mercilessly, the slight twitching of the muscles on his face laid bare his conflicted state of mind.
Just as he always claimed, Crocodile only trusted himself. He had never possessed the concept of comrades. But now...
(Could I have been wrong before?)
(No! How could I possibly be wrong!)
With that thought, Crocodile quietly came to a decision in his heart.
A decision that seemed somewhat unbelievable.
"Hmph!"
Letting out a soft grunt, Crocodile turned his back to everyone, leaving them with the sight of his tall, melancholy figure.
"Utterly foolish!"
(Yeah, utterly foolish...) Glancing at the somewhat bewildered Miss Goldenweek and then at the currently tsundere Crocodile, Sherlock gently pushed up his glasses with a smile.
Meanwhile, Luffy, Sanji, and Nami had finally shaken off the Marines pursuing them and ducked into a small room.
"Eh? You're saying that Marine who was with you just now was Sherlock?" The dimwitted captain, whose face was black and blue from the navigator's punches, looked completely dazed.
"Sigh..."
Nami and Sanji exchanged a look, letting out a long, helpless sigh in unison.
"You really need Chopper to treat your face blindness, Luffy."
"Give up, Nami-san. There's no cure for an idiot."
"Ahahahaha! I think it's fine!"
Luffy, however, burst into a mindless laugh while sitting on a chair. Scratching his head, he grinned and said, "It's just that Sherlock always wears his glasses normally, so taking them off all of a sudden made it a bit hard for me to recognize him."
(So you're basically saying the glasses are Sherlock's actual body?)
The curly-browed cook silently quipped in his head. Then, he lit a cigarette and took a deep, satisfying drag.
"By the way, Nami-san, what were you and Sherlock up to earlier?"
"Oh, us? Sherlock first took me to break into the archive room of this fortress..."
The orange-haired navigator then briefly explained her experience and the intelligence she gathered to Luffy and Sanji. Naturally, it went right in one ear and out the other for a certain dimwitted captain.
"That idiot moss-head actually got caught by the Marines? Tsk, he really knows how to cause trouble for his comrades."
With lines of frustration on his face, Sanji stubbed out the burnt-out cigarette butt. Although the blonde cook spoke mercilessly, his face was filled with concern.
"Then what are we waiting around here for? Let's hurry to the cells and break Zoro out!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the dimwitted captain leaped from his chair and headed for the door.
Thud! A dull sound echoed as a fist slammed into his head.
"You massive idiot!"
Nami pulled back her fist, snapping at the Straw Hat idiot who was currently clutching his head in agony. "Running off to the jail so blatantly right now—how is that any different from walking straight into a trap?!"
"Yes, Nami-san is completely right." Sanji nodded, stroking his chin as he analyzed the situation calmly. "Right now, Sherlock is on his own. Relying on his intellect and that elusive Devil Fruit ability of his, infiltrating the jail to rescue Zoro shouldn't be much of a challenge for him."
"So what we need to do right now isn't to save that moss-head, but to find the rest of the crew and the location of the Going Merry, so we're ready to escape this hellhole at a moment's notice!"
It had to be said that in a critical moment when their tactician Sherlock was absent, a certain love-struck cook could still analyze the situation and make the most correct judgment.
"Ohh, I see!" Luffy nodded, impressed though not entirely understanding. Although the dimwit didn't really grasp the reasoning, the Straw Hat captain, who trusted his comrades unconditionally, still agreed with his cook's perspective.
"Sigh, I wonder where everyone else is hiding right now."
A shadow of gloom fell over Nami's elegant face. "If only Chopper were here. With his nose to help us, it would be much easier to track down—"
Creak—
Before the orange-haired navigator could finish her sentence, the room door was slowly pushed open.
(Have we been spotted?!)
The three of them stared tensely at the doorway, only to freeze when they saw a familiar blue-nosed reindeer.
(Holy crap, speak of the devil...)
"Luffy! Sanji! Nami!"
Overjoyed to finally see his comrades, Chopper wept tears of relief. He instantly transformed from his reindeer form into his smallest, most compact form, throwing himself at the dimwitted captain.
Because of this sudden movement, the little black cat that had been fast asleep on Chopper's back was thrown off.
"Meow~"
The little black cat whimpered softly as it hit the floor. But then, this feline creature showed absolutely no intention of waking up. It seemed content to just go with the flow and keep sleeping right there on the ground, embodying the true spirit of "wherever you fall, that's where you lie down and keep sleeping."
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