In a dimly lit room, a group of figures sat around a round table. Shadows flickered across the walls from the lone oil lamps burning in the corners. The air felt heavy—thick with tension.
These were the officers of Baroque Works.
And at the head of the table sat their leader.
Just yesterday, his true identity had finally been revealed to the core members. The mysterious Mr. Zero was none other than the Warlord Crocodile himself.
Things had been going out of hand for Crocodile lately.
He had already lost one of his capable officers—Mr. 5—at the hands of Gojo Satoru. The report had reached him quickly. And not only that, Princess Vivi was now traveling alongside that same man.
Crocodile did not fear Gojo.
He acknowledged that Gojo was powerful—yes—but in his mind, not powerful enough to challenge him. At least, that was what he believed.
If he had known that Gojo had defeated Jinbe, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea just like himself, he would have taken the situation far more seriously.
But he did not know.
And that ignorance made him underestimate the threat.
Currently, only Mr. 1, Mr. 2, and Mr. 3 and all their female partners were present in the room. The rest were either deployed or handling assignments across Alabasta.
Due to Gojo's unexpected intervention, many plans had gone awry.
Even events outside of Alabasta had shifted.
The Straw Hats had gone to Little Garden Island. According to the original storyline, they should have been confronted by Mr. 3. Instead, only a small group of Baroque Works agents had appeared—no officer-level member at all. From them, the Straw Hats had obtained the Eternal Pose to Alabasta.
A deviation.
Another ripple caused by Gojo's interference.
Yesterday, Crocodile had revealed his identity to his main officers. It had surprised them slightly—but not enough to shake their loyalty. They were too deep in Operation Utopia to retreat now.
They were currently discussing how to capture Princess Vivi and prevent her from ruining Operation Utopia—how to execute the plan perfectly, without flaws—
When suddenly—
A sharp ringing sound broke the atmosphere.
The Den Den Mushi on the table began to ring.
Its tiny face twitched impatiently.
Crocodile reached forward and picked it up.
"What happened?" he asked coldly.
From the other side, a hurried voice responded, "Princess Vivi appeared in Nanohana Town, but she has now left Nanohana."
Crocodile's brows furrowed slightly.
"What do you mean she left Nanohana? What were Mr. 4 and Miss Merry Christmas doing? I sent them there to keep an eye on the rebel army in Katorea Town."
There was a brief pause on the other end.
Then—
"Mr. 4 and Miss Merry Christmas have both been defeated. They are on their deathbeds. Not only that, almost half of the Millions and all of the Billions have been killed. The rest are severely injured."
For a split second, the room went silent.
Then Crocodile's voice rose sharply.
"What?! Who did it?"
The Den Den Mushi trembled slightly as the reply came.
"Mr. Zero… it was Gojo Satoru. The one with the 50 million bounty. He is traveling with Princess Vivi. He was the one who did all of this."
The name lingered in the air like poison.
Crocodile's expression darkened.
"Where are they now?" he asked, his tone dangerously low.
"I don't know," the voice admitted. "We only know that they have left the Nanohana Town port. From their direction, their next destination should be either Erumalu Town… or Spider's Cafe."
Click.
Crocodile disconnected the Den Den Mushi without another word.
The tiny snail fell silent.
The next moment—
He slammed his fist onto the table.
The heavy wood cracked under the impact, deep fractures spreading outward from his knuckles. The officers around the table stiffened but did not dare speak.
"Dammit!" Crocodile growled, his eyes flashing with fury. "From where did this Gojo Satoru come, trying to ruin my plan at every turn?"
His jaw tightened.
"First he killed Mr. 5, whom I sent to capture Princess Vivi. And now even Mr. 4 and Miss Merry Christmas have fallen."
The room felt colder.
Operation Utopia was supposed to move like clockwork.
But now—
A new variable had entered the game.
At that moment, Miss All Sunday—Crocodile's partner—spoke calmly from her seat.
"I don't think you need to worry too much," she said, her tone composed, analytical. "If they are heading to Erumalu Town, they will find nothing there. From Erumalu, they will travel to Yuba Town. And ultimately, if they intend to reach the capital of the Alabasta Kingdom—Alubarna—they will have no choice but to pass through Rainbase Town."
She folded her hands lightly on the table.
"So there is no need to rush. We can simply wait here and prepare properly. When they arrive, everything will fall into place."
Her confidence was steady, almost reassuring.
Crocodile listened in silence.
Then he nodded.
With his own scheming mind, he could deduce the same conclusion. It was almost certain that Gojo would escort Princess Vivi toward Rainbase sooner or later. And if they prepared the perfect ambush there—inside his territory—then both Vivi and Gojo could be dealt with at once.
Operation Utopia would remain untouched.
On the other side—
Gojo, Vivi, and Igaram finally reached Erumalu Town.
Or what remained of it.
The town stood in ruins. Buildings leaned at unnatural angles, their walls cracked and hollowed. Many had already collapsed entirely. Sand had swallowed entire streets, creeping through broken windows and burying doorways halfway. The wind howled softly, carrying fine grains of sand.
It was a dead city.
Vivi stared at the devastation, her expression tightening.
"Once, this city used to be called the Green City," she said quietly. "And now… this is its state."
Her voice trembled faintly.
"There are multiple towns like this in our kingdom now."
The wind carried her words across the empty streets.
Gojo did not respond with visible sadness or enthusiasm. His expression remained neutral behind his sunglasses.
He understood the reality of this world.
If you are too kind, you are the biggest fool in this world. If you are not ruthless enough, you end up building golden castles for others to conquer and rule.
Alabasta's weakness—its indecisiveness, its lack of raw power—had allowed Crocodile to spread his influence so deeply without being exposed for so long. And even if he had been exposed, what could the kingdom truly do?
Perhaps revoke his Warlord title.
But beyond that?
Very little.
Power ruled this sea.
Gojo turned slightly toward Igaram.
"You pick her up," he said plainly. "Princess, you will guide me toward Yuba Town—the next town."
He glanced toward the endless desert ahead.
"I don't have time to waste walking and draining stamina. Rather than that, I'll use my Devil Fruit powers to travel quickly the strain on stamina would be similar and this method will be more efficient."
Vivi and Igaram froze for a moment.
They had already stocked up on water and necessities. Gojo had ensured they carried plenty—multiple containers of water and enough dry rations to last for days. He was cautious in that regard.
But the way he said it—
It was clear he intended to reach Yuba as soon as possible.
Igaram did not fully understand what Gojo planned to do. But they had no choice but to follow.
He lifted Vivi carefully into his arms.
Gojo grabbed Igaram lightly by the collar.
The next moment—
Gojo began floating.
Vivi pointed in direction of Yuba Town.
Sand swirled beneath his feet as the air around him distorted faintly.
And then—
He moved.
The world blurred instantly.
The desert below became streaks of brown. The sky stretched into endless blue lines. Wind roared violently past their ears, pulling at their clothes and hair.
Vivi and Igaram could barely process what they were seeing. The landscape had transformed into flashing lines of color—brown for the desert, blue for the sky—nothing stable, nothing solid.
They were moving at an unbelievable speed.
The air trembled around them as Gojo cut across the desert toward Yuba Town like a streak of light.
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