There was no resistance, nor any fierce struggle.
Under the intimidation of Reaper's Sound and overwhelming strength.
Even Bon Clay, who had a rather uninhibited personality, did not dare make any provocative moves at this moment.
After all, one only had one life, and on this sea, no one would willingly seek death.
When Roy emerged from the secluded alley.
Bon Clay wore a dejected, stunned expression as he became a bag-carrying lackey.
What had initially been nothing more than a pursuit for amusement.
Had, due to the vast gap in their strength, turned him into the other party's slave in the blink of an eye.
Bon Clay had originally planned to play along first, then seize an opportunity to escape.
But after Roy displayed extraordinary strength and offered to fund his journey to the Okama Kingdom to pursue his dream.
Bon Clay immediately became obedient and began following orders.
After all, everyone had their own weaknesses, and everyone had their own dreams.
For Bon Clay, a man proud of becoming an okama.
Roy would not discriminate against him in any way. On the contrary, Roy would offer a measure of support to subordinates he thought highly of.
All in all, Bon Clay's submission and Roy's recognition of his dream were only one aspect of it.
The main reason, however, was the intimidation of Roy's overwhelming strength and the official background he had revealed.
After all, following the World Government was better than serving a pirate, wasn't it?
Although Bon Clay had been greatly shocked after learning Baroque Works' true circumstances, he now had no other choice.
In a secluded street alley.
Before an intact carriage.
The coachman lay unconscious on the ground, while Spandam wore an anxious expression.
Sensing someone approaching from behind, Spandam turned around nervously.
When he saw Roy, the heart lodged in his throat slowly settled back into place.
"Roy, you finally came back! I told you, Shichibukai money wasn't so easy to take.
What do we do now?
Crocodile's men have already come after us."
The instant he saw Roy, Spandam could not help starting to complain.
But Roy was not about to indulge him and directly interrupted his grumbling.
"Enough, Spandam. Haven't we avoided getting caught so far?
We'll leave immediately. Trust me, that was just a minor incident."
Looking at Spandam clutching the box tightly.
Roy rolled his eyes and did not offer any further explanation.
"Right, right, you're right. We should leave this place immediately.
Once we get back to base, even Crocodile won't be able to cause us trouble."
"Eh, who is this?"
Having agreed with Roy, Spandam was about to grab Roy's sleeve and run.
When Bon Clay, standing beside them with an awkward expression, caught Spandam's attention.
"Oh, I forgot to introduce him. Spandam, this is Bon Clay, the subordinate I just recruited. He should have plenty of potential."
Roy stepped aside, revealing Bon Clay behind him to Spandam.
Spandam's earlier panic immediately vanished. With an arrogant expression, he shook Bon Clay's hand and gave a few perfunctory responses.
Clearly, Spandam had no desire to have much to do with a minor figure like Bon Clay.
Roy had long since grown accustomed to that.
After all, in Spandam's eyes, anyone who could not help advance his career was trash.
The two sides did not say much more.
Roy and Spandam began retreating along the route they had planned beforehand.
And while Roy and the others were making their escape.
Crocodile received the corresponding report because of Bon Clay's unauthorized actions.
In Crocodile's eyes, while the people in Baroque Works were useful, his arrogance meant he had never trusted any subordinate.
Especially the top five members of Baroque Works; Crocodile kept most of them under a certain degree of surveillance.
After all, there was far too much deception and betrayal in the Pirate World.
Thus, even though Crocodile was extremely confident in his own strength, he still maintained a measure of wariness toward his subordinates.
It could not be helped. These were lessons the predecessors had learned through blood and tears.
Sometimes, within an organization, one flaw was all it took to begin the collapse of the entire structure.
Crocodile's dream was to become the Pirate King.
And Alabasta was an extremely important part of Crocodile's plan. Especially now, with the plan drawing ever closer to success, Crocodile would absolutely not allow any mistakes at this stage.
Rain Country was, in fact, entirely under Crocodile's control.
As Roy and Spandam left Rain Country and fled toward the port city of Nanohana.
Crocodile watched the footage recorded by the surveillance Den Den Mushi.
"Stop. Rewind it."
The image before him continuously moved backward.
When a masked man appeared in Crocodile's sight.
"Spandam, a man from the World Government's direct intelligence agency. Why has he come to Rain Country?
Could the World Government have discovered the Dance Powder matter?
Impossible. If they had discovered it, CP9 definitely wouldn't be the ones sent."
The arrival of Spandam, CP9's highest-ranking official, made Crocodile wary.
Spandam's identity might have seemed extremely mysterious to ordinary people, but to Crocodile, one of the Shichibukai, it was nothing noteworthy.
It could not be helped. As Shichibukai aligned with the World Government, they naturally possessed a certain degree of authority.
Thus, Crocodile had often made use of his status to inquire into the World Government's internal affairs.
He clenched an expensive cigar between his teeth.
Frowning deeply, he watched the man who had left the casino city alongside Spandam in the footage.
Unlike Bon Clay, Crocodile knew of the existence of Observation Haki.
Two hundred and fifty million Beli was not much to Crocodile.
After all, he was now Alabasta's rising star.
And the Baroque Works under his command was also a money-making machine.
Therefore, money was nothing more than loose change to Crocodile.
What truly concerned him was why CP9 had come to Rain Country.
Many people in this world could use Haki, but not many could use Observation Haki.
Crocodile did not believe they had come merely to gamble and have fun.
After all, there were plenty of casino cities more prosperous than Rain Country.
For example, Gran Tesoro, the entertainment city renowned throughout the Pirate World.
In Crocodile's opinion, it was far more appealing than Rain Country.
The more arrogant a person was, the more sensitive he tended to be.
Ordinary matters often became complicated in their eyes.
This was the critical period for Crocodile to overthrow Alabasta's royal family.
So he would never allow any grain of sand to be mixed into Alabasta's pot of porridge, which was already nearly cooked.
Although the World Government and the Shichibukai were naturally in the same camp, if the World Government obstructed Crocodile's path, he would not mind defecting outright.
He looked at the documents and forms in his hand, then at the surveillance footage before him.
"People from the World Government really are troublesome."
With a sigh, he took a slightly lecherous-looking Den Den Mushi from his pocket.
"Mr. 3, go bring Nico Robin back. Tell her we need to speed up our plan."
Click!
He hung up the Den Den Mushi in his hand.
Looking at the still-lively scene beyond the window.
"While we can't keep the CP9 people here, we at least need to find out what these guys came for."
The desert wind blew the curtains into the air.
Crocodile, who had been in the room just moments ago, had already vanished without a trace.
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