Luffy and the others finally arrived at the rebel army's base in Yuba, only to find that the place had long since been abandoned.
The only one still there was Koza's father, left behind to guard what little remained.
Three years of raging sandstorms had already swallowed what had once been an oasis, leaving nothing but desolation as far as the eye could see.
The very formation of the rebel army had been part of a conspiracy woven by Crocodile.
He had deliberately spread rumors and misled the people, making them firmly believe that King Cobra had betrayed both his citizens and his country.
That resistance force had been born from anger toward "tyranny."
By now, the rebel army had already set out from Nanohana, heading straight toward the royal palace.
Luffy saw the situation clearly. He insisted that simply stopping the rebellion would not save Alabasta.
Only by dragging out the mastermind behind everything could they truly end the chaos.
After a heated argument, the Straw Hats finally reached an agreement.
They would head straight for Rainbase and confront Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, head-on.
Before they left, Koza's father handed Luffy the water he had worked so hard to dig up.
...
Meanwhile, in the underground palace beneath Rainbase, Crocodile had already gathered all his subordinates and publicly revealed his identity as the true boss behind Baroque Works.
After some conversation, Bon Clay and the others finally realized the true identities of the Straw Hat crew and Princess Vivi.
Looking at Mr. 3, who had failed to do his job properly, Crocodile's gaze turned cold.
Without the slightest mercy, he threw him into the crocodile pool.
...
Some time later, the Straw Hats finally reached Rainbase, only to run straight into Smoker the moment they arrived.
The two sides clashed immediately, but none of them expected that this was exactly the trap Crocodile had prepared.
In an instant, Luffy and the others were caught and locked firmly inside a Seastone cage.
Seastone not only sealed away Devil Fruit abilities, but its material was also so hard that there was no way to break free.
At the same time, Bon Clay, disguised as King Cobra, appeared in the plaza of Nanohana.
He mocked and toyed with the gathered citizens to the extreme, even boldly ordering troops to open fire on Koza, the leader of the rebel army.
That scene completely ignited everyone's fury.
Koza finally made up his mind and led the rebel army in an armed uprising, their blades pointed toward the kingdom's capital, Alubarna.
A full-scale civil war across all of Alabasta was already on the verge of erupting!
While trapped, Luffy and the others also learned Crocodile's entire conspiracy from his own mouth.
Now, the only way to stop the war was to cross Alabasta's inland river, reach the royal palace before the rebel army, and prevent the slaughter that was about to begin.
Fortunately, Sanji had escaped by chance.
Seizing the opportunity, he snuck deep into the trap and successfully rescued Luffy, Smoker, and Mr. 3, who had narrowly survived the crocodile pool.
Mr. 3 also unexpectedly learned a new skill of opening locks with a key during this escape.
To repay the favor, Smoker temporarily set aside his pursuit of the Straw Hats, and the two sides entered a temporary truce.
After that, Chopper brought over a giant crab from the Moving Crab Club, and everyone rode the "mount" at full speed toward the royal palace.
But at this critical moment, Crocodile suddenly appeared, aiming straight for Vivi.
In that moment of danger, Luffy made an immediate decision.
He told his companions to take Vivi and leave first, while he resolutely stayed behind to hold Crocodile off, facing the Warlord alone.
…
"Gum-Gum—Pistol!"
Luffy's arm stretched out as fast as a cannonball, carrying a sharp roar as it shot straight toward Crocodile's face.
Crocodile was a Logia user, the wielder of the Sand-Sand Fruit.
Every time Luffy's fist struck his body, Crocodile instantly turned into sand, avoiding all damage.
"Gum-Gum—Stamp!"
"Gum-Gum—Gatling!"
Luffy launched technique after technique, but no matter how many times he attacked, he still could not touch Crocodile.
Instead, he nearly had his vitals caught by Crocodile's hook again and again!
"I told you, a brat like you could struggle all you want and still never win—gh!"
Crocodile's voice was low and mocking, but before he could finish, Luffy's suddenly accelerated punch scattered the mouth he had been speaking with.
"Win-gh?! What the heck are you trying to say?!"
Luffy roared while panting heavily, his chest rising and falling violently.
He was clearly giving everything he had.
Every move was thrown with all his strength, yet he still could not touch Crocodile's real body.
That powerless feeling made his eyes burn red with frustration.
Crocodile's expression instantly darkened.
"Playtime is over, Straw Hat."
"I'm not playing with you!" Luffy clenched his teeth and roared. "I've been serious this whole time!"
"Damn it… I still can't hit him! I really do need to learn Haki!"
"Oh? You actually know about Haki?"
Crocodile sneered, his tone full of contempt.
"Too bad. You and I are pirates of completely different levels."
Before his words faded, he swept out his right hand.
A condensed blade of sand, sharp as a crescent moon, sliced toward Luffy with a piercing whistle.
"Desert Spada!"
Luffy's pupils shrank.
Relying on instinct, he rolled to the side in a sorry state.
The sand blade brushed past his shoulder and carved a deep trench into the ground, sending broken stone and flowing sand flying.
He had only just climbed back up when the sand beneath his feet suddenly trembled violently.
"Desert Sunflower!"
Following Crocodile's low shout, the sand beneath Luffy instantly collapsed, forming a huge spiraling pit.
A powerful suction force wildly dragged at his body.
Luffy hurriedly charged to the side, but in the end, he still fell into it.
After struggling several times, he relied on his rubber body and finally managed to bounce out of the sand pit.
However, the battle that followed was completely one-sided.
Luffy charged again and again, throwing punches, kicking, and stretching his arms in an attempt to wrap around and restrain Crocodile.
But every time, Crocodile's elemental transformation easily neutralized him.
Crocodile's attacks, however, landed one after another.
Before long, Luffy was covered in injuries, his entire body battered and wounded.
The moment Luffy missed again and lost his balance, Crocodile suddenly appeared beside him and slammed his palm against Luffy's right arm.
"Crescent Cutlass!"
Luffy's arm was struck. The moisture in his right arm was violently drained away, and his muscles rapidly shriveled and stiffened.
Pain surged through him like a tide.
"Damn it…"
Looking at his arm, now dry as dead wood, Luffy's mind suddenly flashed to the bucket of water the dried-up old man in Yuba had given him.
He forced himself to break free, staggered toward his fallen luggage, pulled out the bucket, and began gulping down water.
In the blink of an eye, his withered arm returned to normal.
"It's useless," Crocodile mocked coldly.
"Who says it's useless?!"
Luffy gripped the bucket tightly, rage burning in both eyes.
"This water… was dug up by that dried-up old man in Yuba after he worked all night! Just like he said—"
"Yuba won't be defeated by sand!"
Then Luffy suddenly opened his mouth wide.
His arms stretched hard, pulling his mouth to its limit as he lunged toward Crocodile not far away.
"Gum-Gum—Big Chomp!"
Half of Crocodile's body was swallowed whole by Luffy!
That scene completely enraged him.
Crocodile erupted with force and tore himself straight out of Luffy's enormous mouth.
"Stop making pointless struggles… Die together with that stubborn Yuba of yours! Sandstorm!"
Crocodile waved his hand, and a massive tornado wrapped in yellow sand spun wildly as it shot into the sky.
"Straw Hat Luffy, listen carefully."
Crocodile's voice carried a cruel smile.
"The prevailing winds here blow from north to south all year round. Now… if my little sandstorm baby rides that wind south and keeps growing stronger, once it becomes a gigantic sandstorm that blots out the sky, where do you think it will attack?"
"…South."
Luffy squeezed out the word through clenched teeth.
"Exactly. Yuba!"
Luffy's eyes instantly widened until they looked ready to split. With a furious roar, he charged forward.
"Bastard! What are you doing?! Stop!"
"This has nothing to do with the dried-up old man!"
"Watch closely."
Crocodile pointed at the sandstorm.
"The sandstorm has already started slowly moving south."
Luffy no longer had the attention to spare for Crocodile. He turned and charged toward the sandstorm instead.
"Damn it! Stop! Stop, you bastard!"
But after only a few steps, he was violently knocked to the ground by the fierce winds surrounding the storm.
All he could do was watch helplessly as it moved south, bit by bit.
At that moment, Luffy sank into a deep sense of powerlessness.
If only he knew Haki.
If only he could stop it.
Yuba, everyone—everything was too late.
Crocodile slowly walked up to him, looking down at his weakness and helplessness with utter mockery.
"It's useless. Give up! That sandstorm will eventually grow to an incomparable size. Yuba… is finished."
Luffy snapped his head around. His eyes were bloodshot as he roared in rage.
"DON'T JOKE ABOUT THAT!!! STOP IT!! RIGHT NOW!!"
Crocodile ignored him completely.
He slowly raised the hook in his hand, its cold, gleaming tip stabbing toward Luffy's chest.
But just as the hook was less than a centimeter away from Luffy's chest, the raging sandstorm vanished in an instant!
At the same time, his golden hook had been roasted red-hot.
Two gazes locked firmly onto him from behind.
Then a cold voice came from the surroundings.
"If you dare take another step forward… even if you so much as move a finger," one voice said.
"You'll die without even ashes left behind," the other followed.
Crocodile's movement froze abruptly.
Then those two voices sounded again at the exact same time, carrying a bone-chilling coldness.
"Who gave you permission…"
"…to lay a hand on our little brother?"