Inside Crocodile's private cell.
At this moment, this dark stone room was no longer as lively as before. Sherlock and the others, along with several Baroque Works assassins, had already departed, leaving only two men behind.
Crocodile sat cross-legged in his usual spot, a serene expression unique to someone who had found release washed over his face.
Even though the prison doors stood wide open and Sea Prism Stone no longer bound his powers, looking at Crocodile's current demeanor, he didn't seem to have the slightest intention of escaping.
"Why didn't you escape with everyone else?"
Mr. 1 stood straight as an iron tower beside Crocodile, his arms crossed over his chest. This Dice-Dice Fruit user found his boss's bizarre decision utterly incomprehensible.
"Why? Heh, since when does everything in this world need a reason?"
"If I really had to give a reason for refusing to escape, it's just that doing so makes me feel a bit displeased."
Having delivered his willful rationale in a flat, indifferent tone, Crocodile glanced up at the tall man beside him and asked with a hint of curiosity, "What about you? Why didn't you leave with them?"
"..." Mr. 1 remained silent.
"Hmph, suit yourself then." Seeing that his subordinate wouldn't answer, Crocodile didn't care at all. He withdrew his gaze, closed his eyes, and rested his mind.
A sudden breeze swept through the somewhat empty and dim cell. This anomalous occurrence instantly caught the attention of both Crocodile and Mr. 1. As the gentle breeze blew past, a petite figure slowly materialized out of thin air.
Mismatched black-and-white twintails, a skull-shaped eyepatch over her left eye, a red-and-black Gothic dress, and a custom-tailored Marine officer's coat...
Who else could it be but the "Enemy of Nature"?
(Who is this little girl? Wait, the rank insignia on her coat is... a Marine Rear Admiral??!!)
Seeing the rank insignia on the newcomer's clothing, Mr. 1—who had already been startled by Alan's bizarre entrance—instinctively tensed his muscles. But then, realizing he was already a prisoner of the Marines, he relaxed again.
(The Enemy of Nature?!... I never expected her to be stationed at this fortress as well.) Seeing this twintailed loli Rear Admiral, the last lingering trace of conflict in Crocodile's heart instantly vanished.
For Crocodile knew all too well that as long as this natural enemy of Logia users was present, he—a Sand-Sand Fruit user—wouldn't be able to escape even if he wanted to.
(000)...
"Eh? Why are you still here? I thought you were planning to escape with them too."
Alan sized up Crocodile as he sat on the ground with a deeply surprised look. She let out a soft chuckle and continued, "Well, well. Though I don't know why you've suddenly become so well-behaved, your actions have indeed saved me a lot of trouble. Hmm... consider this your reward, then."
With that, the expired loli pulled two cigars out of her pocket like a magic trick. She lit them, tossed one to Crocodile, and stuffed the other into her own mouth.
Crocodile wasn't polite either. Catching the cigar, he took a deep drag and slowly blew a smoke ring with a look of pure satisfaction. It seemed he was highly pleased with the quality of the cigar.
Just like that, the two cigar enthusiasts silently puffed away inside the prison cell, making for an extremely harmonious scene.
"..." Watching the large man and the small girl blowing clouds of smoke, Mr. 1 stood there utterly dumbfounded.
(Why is a little girl who looks about the same age as Miss Goldenweek smoking a cigar? Is she close with Boss Crocodile? And why is the Boss acting so calm...)
Phooouuu... Gently exhaling a puff of smoke, Rear Admiral Alan didn't even glance at the big guy having a minor existential crisis beside them. She chuckled at Crocodile. "Well? Not a bad flavor, right? These are premium gold-grade cigars from The Goldglint Trading Company. Ordinary people can't buy them."
"Of course, for a guy like you who's about to be sent to Impel Down, let alone cigars, you probably won't even get to smoke a tree leaf in the future. Tsk, tsk, how pitiful."
Alan smacked her lips in mock pity, then continued in a deeply enticing tone, "So, are you really not planning to escape? Impel Down is an incredibly terrifying place, you know~ There's a whole pack of starved, ravenous Jailer Beasts waiting there."
From her tone, this loli Rear Admiral actually seemed to be looking forward to Crocodile staging a jailbreak.
Crocodile, however, remained entirely unfazed. "What? Are you saying that if I break out, a Marine like you will just turn a blind eye?"
"Of course that's impossible! If I actually let a former Warlord of the Sea successfully escape on my watch, a ton of annoying folks would come looking to give me trouble," Alan said, waving her hand with a laugh.
"What I mean is, you run out and have some fun first, and then I'll catch you again. You know, recapturing an escaped convict is a massive achievement, especially a heavyweight like you. Maybe that guy Sengoku will get so happy that he'll stop nagging me about pulling his pet goat's tail, and he might even reinstate me to my former rank. A Vice Admiral's salary is way higher than a Rear Admiral's, after all!"
(And it seems someone else is harboring similar intentions as well...)
Recalling Rear Admiral Black Crow's recent string of abnormal behavior, a playful smirk curled at the corner of Alan's lips. Although this expired loli usually acted completely nonsensical, she had, after all, lived for so many years, allowing her to see through matters much more clearly.
Crocodile let out a soft grunt and tossed aside the burnt-out cigar stub. "If you really want to claim credit, why don't you go capture Straw Hat and the Sorcerer? Or is it..."
"...Are you wary of the Sorcerer's sister?"
Crocodile stared intently at Rear Admiral Alan, his gaze suddenly turning sharp. "And if I remember correctly, back then, besides the Pirate Empress, the other companion of Silver Hair was you, wasn't it? Enemy of Nature!"
(0)??!!
This was the second time Crocodile had caused Alan to flash such a startled expression, and the interval between the two times was remarkably short.
"Eh? How do you even know that the Sorcerer is her younger brother? That information is supposed to be highly confidential."
Alan narrowed her amber right eye slightly and continued, "But you seem to have gotten one thing wrong. While my relationship with Silver Hair is decent, a Marine like me was never a 'companion' to a pirate like her. If it hadn't been for a favor I owed someone back then, there's no way I would have led them to find that old man Whitebeard."
"As for her brother, whether I capture him or let him go depends entirely on my mood. As long as I can do my best to ensure that brat's physical safety, that's enough for me."
"By the way, her brother is actually quite sensible..." Thinking of the massive bag of gold she had previously confiscated from the Going Merry, as well as the various benefits the Sorcerer had promised her earlier, the smile on the expired loli's face grew increasingly radiant.
(Uh, what on earth are they talking about???) Standing to the side and acting as an involuntary audience member, Mr. 1 swallowed hard in utter bewilderment.
"Alright, just behave yourself and stay here for now. I'm leaving."
"I'd like to see exactly how those guys intend to escape from Navarone Fortress, an iron bastion guarded by over ten thousand Marine soldiers."
No longer paying mind to the deeply contemplative Crocodile, Rear Admiral Alan turned around and walked toward the exit.
"Oh, right, right." Just as she was about to step out of the stone room, the expired loli suddenly stopped as if remembering something. She turned back to look at Crocodile and said softly:
"If you ever change your mind, you're welcome to break out at any time~ Heeheehee."
Rear Admiral Alan gave Crocodile a knowing, "you know what I mean" look with a beaming smile, waved her hand, and left without looking back.
Staring at the wide-open door, the muscles on Crocodile's face twitched violently, causing even his centipede-shaped scar to tremble a few times.
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