Identity Exposed

Crocodile wasn't surprised by Cobra's words. Anyone with a little knowledge would recognize the Umbrella Corporation symbol, or rather, the Straw Hat Pirates were the exception—those who couldn't understand the symbol's significance were a minority.

Since Crocodile revealed the symbol to the group, he hadn't bothered to hide it. The Umbrella Corporation had a decent reputation in the world, at least a bit better than the Shichibukai.

"Alright, since you've made up your mind, I won't say anything more. I'll take care of Princess Vivi!"

Crocodile dropped the pretense, his expression completely different from usual, now showing a lazy air as he nodded directly.

"Thank you very much!"

Cobra looked relieved and relaxed.

"Father, please take good care of yourself!"

"Don't worry, Vivi! You go out and explore with Straw Hat and the others first! I'll take care of Alabasta for now."

"I'll also take care of things with the World Government..."

"Then I'll leave it to you, Father!"

Turning her head, Princess Vivi's smiling face revealed a look of sadness and even pain.

Even if this princess isn't particularly clever, she's not a fool like Luffy either. She's well aware that Alabasta's current situation isn't good.

However, even Princess Vivi couldn't think of a solution when faced with a behemoth like the World Government. She couldn't very well go and infiltrate the World Government herself, could she?

Princess Vivi knew perfectly well that her father had sent her away with the Straw Hat Crew only to protect her from trouble, but she had no choice but to force a smile to put her father at ease.

On the Straw Hat Pirates' ship, Crocodile stared intently at the pirate ship built by Vegapunk, seemingly deep in thought.

Of course, Crocodile is definitely not the original him, otherwise he wouldn't have so many strange behaviors—long ago, even before Vegapunk crossed over into the Ninja World, this guy had already been secretly attacked by Vegapunk.

That happened when Crocodile failed to challenge Whitebeard and was seriously injured and unconscious. He was discovered by Vegapunk's subordinates and was eventually secretly sent to his Laboratory.

Subsequently, Vegapunk conducted the first Quantum Brain Transmitter transfer experiment on this Crocodile. However, after the experiment was successful, Vegapunk did not give any more orders to this Shichibukai, but instead released him.

At that time, Crocodile was not yet Shichibukai, and Vegapunk was afraid that Crocodile under his control would lose the possibility of becoming Shichibukai, so he did not give him any orders.

However, after being controlled by Vegapunk, Crocodile underwent some modifications, significantly increasing his strength. Vegapunk even left a requirement for him to train hard in his subconscious.

This is why Crocodile still possesses Haki, and his physique and Devil Fruit abilities have actually improved. Otherwise, Crocodile would probably only be considered a bottom-tier member of the Shichibukai.

Subsequently, due to Vegapunk's time travel, the Quantum Brain was not in this world for a period of time. Crocodile, who had not been given any orders to begin with, was even less restrained, so his behavior remained very natural.

It wasn't until the Straw Hat Pirates arrived in Alabasta that Vegapunk realized his hidden move and began to manipulate it.

Or rather, Crocodile is now completely under Vegapunk's control, and is more like his clone!

Watching the Straw Hat Pirates bickering and joking around, Crocodile smiled. Vegapunk was now focusing all his attention on this clone, treating it as a comedy show.

However, at this moment, the two most reliable ninjas in the Straw Hat Crew walked over and looked intently at Shakurokfal.

"How is this Shichibukai adjusting to life at sea?"

Kisame looked at Crocodile with a strange smile. To be honest, he didn't understand the demon ability users in this world very well. Seawater was their nemesis, so why did they still desperately want to become pirates?

Especially Crocodile, whose Sand Fruit is severely countered by seawater. If he falls into the sea and no one saves him, he will surely die!

Crocodile glanced at Kisame, too lazy to continue the riddle game with him:

"Kisame, it's me!"

As Crocodile spoke, his voice changed. His originally hoarse and Haki voice sounded much younger and carried a hint of calm. Kisame's eyes narrowed slightly, and his expression turned strange.

"Dr. Vegapunk? It's you?"

These people aren't just carefree pirates; recognizing someone by their voice is a fundamental skill for ninjas in the Ninja World.

Kisame recognized Crocodile's voice just by listening to it; it was exactly the same as Vegapunk's. You have to understand, Vegapunk hasn't encountered many people in the Pirate World since he changed bodies.

Moreover, people in the Pirate World are very easygoing, and no one would bother to learn such voice-changing techniques—mainly because it wouldn't be of much use anyway.

Many people in the Pirate World are face-blind. Although there aren't many idiots as face-blind as Luffy, it would be giving those pirates too much credit to recognize people just by their voices.

"That's right, Crocodile has long been under my control, and can now be understood as one of my clones."

Crocodile nodded and spoke.

"I see..."

Kisame nodded, secretly surprised. He hadn't expected Vegapunk to value the Straw Hat Pirates so much, sending not only himself and Kakuzu, but even his clone to infiltrate the ship!

As for what Crocodile, Vegapunk's clone, was trying to do, Kisame didn't ask much. This is one of the advantages of being a ninja; even Rogue Ninja don't ask too many questions when carrying out missions.

In reality, Kisame was overthinking things. It was just a coincidence. Vegapunk hadn't paid much attention to his Shichibukai from the start, otherwise he wouldn't have made it not activate at all and instead let it act according to Crocodile's thought process.

After all, for Vegapunk, Shichibukai of Crocodile Fall's caliber is just a slightly larger cannon fodder. If there are enough resources, he can just pile up a lot of them.

Slightly opening his eyes, Vegapunk shifted his attention away from the clone of Crocodile. Although the Straw Hat Pirates were sailing quite fast, and Vegapunk had accelerated their growth considerably, it would probably take at least a year and a half before they could truly confront the World Government.

"Hmm, you can send over some of my newly developed potions, Training Pod, and the high-tech warships I've built, under the name of Crocodile..."

"The stronger the Straw Hat Pirates, the greater the threat they pose to the World Government, and the better it will be for me to buy time..."

"The Chakra system is almost fully in place... Although this will definitely lead to the outflow of Chakra Seed, allowing the World Government to also obtain Chakra power, the more the World Government invests, the more advantageous it will be for me... After all, the Chakra system is truly a breeding system!"

Vegapunk could only bring ordinary Chakra Seed. The true Chakra Otsutsuki did not flow out. Even if these Chakra were to merge with the native system of the Pirate World, they would still create many combat powers that were no less than those of the Otsutsuki.

However, due to the innate limitation on Chakra, it's hard to say whether their combat power increases or decreases when facing those Otsutsuki harvesters.

Vegapunk, Hancock, and others can be considered Otsutsuki Clan possess the highest level of Chakra authority!

Therefore, Vegapunk actually welcomes the possible infiltration of the World Government. Despite their antics, once Chakra becomes fully widespread, enough to make the Chakra Illusion Network break even, the World Government will be left with nothing but regret!

"Now... all we need to do is wait patiently..."

Two months passed quickly, and the original Pirate World was now rife with undercurrents. With the covert expansion of the Chakra system, the Revolutionary Army, which was the first to obtain Chakra power, began their major operations.

Overnight, more than a dozen countries announced their withdrawal from the World Government Member States!

The World Government and the Navy's efforts to suppress the pirates have been largely ineffective. After all, three Navy Admiral have already died or gone missing. If it weren't for Vegapunk's influence, the Four Emperors of the pirate world would have suffered heavy losses as well, and the Navy probably wouldn't even be able to contain the New World!

Under these circumstances, the Navy can't even launch a Summit War, and its own power has shrunk considerably. In addition, the current mainstay of the Navy, Admiral Aokiji, is a dove, and he is even more perfunctory in dealing with the Revolutionary Army.

During this time, Vegapunk had been waiting on Dream Star, fully activating its reconnaissance capabilities to monitor the Red Line and the entire Pirate Planet, just to see if Lord Imu would lose his temper and use those secret weapons.

Any secret weapon is most difficult to deal with before it is used. Vegapunk was confident that with his now evolved lair, Dream Star, plus his Quantum Brain and his own scientific literacy, Vegapunk would be able to figure out a thing or two as long as Im had a weapon similar to Uranus.

By then, whether it's destroying that superweapon or figuring out how to create something to defend against it, we'll have made some progress.

Unfortunately, Vegapunk waited and waited, but to no avail. The World Government seemed to be deaf and dumb, and did not take any action. It merely sent out a lot of conventional cannon fodder to attack those countries and the Revolutionary Army.

It is precisely for this reason that many Affiliated Nation of the World Government seem to be quite restless. Regardless of what kind of person the king under the rule of the World Government is, whether he is good or bad, smart or stupid, cruel or wise, he is certainly very dissatisfied with the sum of Heavenly Tribute he has to pay every year.

Although the World Government also has the Navy protect these Affiliated Nation, in reality, pirates in places like the Four Seas are not a major threat.

Even in the first half of the Grand Line, countries like Alabasta, if not for the three-year drought that brought their kingdoms to the brink of collapse, would not have had their capital attacked by pirates!

Do you really think hundreds of thousands of standing troops are a joke? Those pirates in the first half of the Grand Line aren't the Four Emperors; they can only run away when faced with a large force.

What truly prevents them from breaking away from the World Government is the violence inherent in the World Government itself!

All the legal provisions within the World Government have one premise: they can only be used by Affiliated Nation of the World Government.

For example, the World Government itself prohibits the slave trade. Although this prohibition seems somewhat ridiculous under the power of the Celestial Dragons, even the Celestial Dragons cannot actually capture all the people of a World Government Member States and enslave them. They can only secretly plunder a very small portion of the population.

However, if World Government Member States, then no matter what it does, the World Government will not care. There are many cases where the entire country is captured and enslaved, and the World Government itself is usually behind the scenes.

It is under this deterrent force that these countries Four Seas dare not truly break away from the World Government. But now, the World Government has shown signs of collapse, and those Affiliated Nation of the World Government will naturally have some probing ideas.

Holy Land Mary Geoise.

The original holy land was magnificent and beautiful, and it was supported by the wealth of the people of the entire Pirate World, making it a near-perfect city.

However, after being hit by Vegapunk's triple attack, the entire city was almost destroyed. After more than two years of repairs, it has not been fully restored to its former glory; it can only be said that it has been roughly repaired.

But the Pangea Castle in the very center has long been restored, and it even looks more magnificent and imposing than it did two years ago.

In this city, which can be called the heart and brain of the World Government, five old men of different appearances are discussing the World Government's next strategy.

"Still haven't found Vegapunk's lair?"

"Damn it! If it weren't for our informant on the Revolutionary Army's side, we wouldn't even know we'd been tricked! Vegapunk isn't dead at all!"

"Hmph, we acted far too late... Vegapunk even planted a machine beneath the Red Line to destroy Mary Geoise! Yet, we knew absolutely nothing about it!"

"These CP Agents are far too lax!"