Getting Ready, Each to Their Own Battle

"But... but..."

"How could this happen? How could this be—"

Faced with the remorse, frustration, disbelief, skepticism, and even the despair of the Rebels cadres, Roman calmly spread his hands.

"Accept reality."

"If I wanted to, I could replicate everything that happened to you."

"Of course, the 'fake king' you met at the Rapeseed Flower City wasn't me. Leaving aside the fact that as Vivi's friend I have no reason to do such a thing, just consider that back then—"

With a flick of Roman's hand, the clothes around his abdomen fell away, revealing blood-stained bandages underneath.

"I just went to fight the 'mastermind'. As a result, I almost turned into Alabasta sand."

Catching a bullet with bare hands... given Roman's current severely injured body, it would be a little difficult.

Such a clear new injury serves as Roman's alibi.

"In short, the facts speak for themselves."

Roman pointed to the bound men nearby. —Thanks to Baroque Works ' 'secrecy,' lower-ranking personnel had winged skull tattoos on their right arms to avoid friendly fire. And now, these tattoos had become their death warrant! After a moment of chaos, hundreds of Baroque Works combatants were dragged out:

"By comparing the information you obtained during the interrogation with the information provided by Vivi, it's not difficult to deduce the truth. — Unless you yourselves refuse to believe it."

"I... we..."

"We're doing this for the country, so that everyone can survive!"

Several Rebels were filled with remorse; if things hadn't been far from over, they probably would have slit their own throats on the spot.

Looking around, the hundreds of thousands of Rebels were once furious and full of fighting spirit were now standing blankly in place, with a resigned expression as if life had lost all meaning.

"Don't be so discouraged, things are far from over."

Although a massive battle involving millions of people was successfully prevented, the mastermind behind it still exists and is about to step into the limelight.

"Since we're all working for Alabasta, then we have a common goal—"

"Besides, it's not good for so many people to stay here..."

Roman began to explain the 'plan' to the group.

The rebel leaders all nodded in agreement—they wouldn't object to them committing suicide at this point, let alone gathering their strength to overthrow the mastermind behind it all.

It went fairly smoothly.

The Rebels were dealt with, but the Royal Army was the easiest to handle.

With Bell, the Royal Army guard adjutant who knows the truth, present, it's estimated that the Royal Army has already completed its purge and is evacuating the civilians of Alubarna. Next, all that's left is to wait for the others to finish their battles, and then face Crocodile, who is now all alone and on his way.

What? You mean Robin?

Isn't this one of our own combat units...?

But,

Roman stroked his chin. Just as he had said before, the key to this battle lay with Crocodile alone. If they couldn't defeat Crocodile, everything else was meaningless!

Are hundreds of thousands of soldiers really that powerful? More powerful than a giant sandstorm? If Crocodile really goes all out, countless ordinary soldiers will just be cannon fodder.

Facing Crocodile, who possesses considerable Observation Haki, Armament Haki, and whose Devil Fruit ability has reached the 'Awakening' stage, and whose physical skills are far from weak, even Luffy... —If he can't accumulate enough advantages, then...

You can't expect someone to magically appear on the spot, right? Therefore:

The plan must succeed!

"I'm not trying to discourage you,"

Mr. 1 clashed his fists together, producing a cold, metallic clang, as he coldly stared at the Three-Sword Style swordsman before him.

"Since I obtained the Supa Supa no Mi, no swordsman has been able to hurt me."

"Ah, I understand."

Zoro took off the bandana from his arm and put it on his head.

"No matter how many swordsmen you've encountered before, I advise you to forget all those battles."

"The only reason you haven't lost is because you haven't encountered me!"

Faced with the confident Zoro, the Bald Strongman Mr. 1 responded with only indifferent words.

"I don't know if your knife is sharp or not, but your tongue is certainly quick."

Thump,

With a leap, Mr. 1 charged at Zoro bare-handed! He sprang up on one leg, followed by a powerful downward kick.

Clang!

Amidst the ear-piercing clang of swords clashing, Mr. 1's entire leg transformed into a massive, heavy blade, firmly pinning down Zoro's twin swords.

"You've got some skills, bald guy!"

"Let's see how long you can last—"

With a single, outstretched finger, Mr. 1's fingers transformed into five short blades, forming tiger claws as he lunged at Zoro!

"Control Slash!"

"Tsk,"

Clang clang clang clang—

Sparks flew, blades clashed, and the battle between the swordsman and the swordsman officially began.

Kick--

"Ooh,"

"Forehead,"

Bang!

Sanji and Mr. Bon Clay, having both kicked each other in the face, were simultaneously sent flying backward and crashed to the ground. Then:

"This is really annoying,"

Sanji patted his pants, stood up, and stretched his arms and legs. "Why is it that the guy with the Green Algae Head goes to fight a 75 million Beli bounty executive, while I have to fight a transvestite like you?"

Even if we win, wouldn't we be unfairly outmatched by that annoying guy? Unless—

"Hmph, what a boastful statement."

Mr. von Clay, dressed in a swan-like suit, also rose to his feet. He could sense that the blond, curly-browed man in the black suit before him was about the same height as himself, but:

"I've trained day and night to finally master this Okama Kenpo. Someone as insignificant as you can't possibly break it!"

"Oh, then go ahead and try, I'll kick your hands off!"

Amidst the clashing of fists and feet, a fierce battle ensued!

Achoo!

With a sneeze from a... dog? gun? cannon... a round baseball whistled out of the Gun Dog's mouth! But Chopper, in his reindeer form, nimbly dodged the 'ball', while glancing back at the other side.

The baseball missed its target, but that didn't matter. Because along the baseball's trajectory, the tall and strong Mr. 4 suddenly swung his 4-ton bat, instantly changing the baseball's trajectory and sending it flying back towards Chopper at supersonic speed!

Boom!!

The baseball exploded with a deafening roar, like a powerful cannonball, but:

Brush--

Chopper, with all four hooves on the ground, burst through the smoke and leaped out of the explosion.

"Too slow,"

"This dodgeball game is far too easy compared to Mr. Roman's 'Dodgeball Puppets'."

Oh~~~

The chubby and kind-hearted Mr. 4 put down his baseball bat, took out his water glass, took a sip, and then:

Bang!

He got hit on the back of the head with a stick.

"What are you doing? Finish off the opponent! You pig, you idiot—"

Is this the other person's partner, Miss? Merry Christmas?

She was a short, impatient old woman, a stark contrast to her partner. She disliked Mr. 4's slow pace, but the two reportedly had excellent teamwork during battle.

This old woman is a user of the 'Mole-Mole Fruit', which is why she kidnapped Vivi's father from the palace, causing a series of misunderstandings. However, once they know this information, it won't be difficult for the two vice-captains of the Alabasta Kingdom to rescue their king.

So:

The other side has two of them, plus an animal weapon...

Can we win?

Certainly!

"Aaaaaaah, help me~~~"

"Stop right there, you bastard!!"

If the other battlefields were relatively normal in terms of 'art style,' then Usopp's side was... well...

As is customary, the one shouting and crying in front is Usopp, followed by Miss Twofinger, who's frantically chasing after him. She's a thorn-woman who ate the Thorn-Thorn Fruit, and her entire body can transform into sharp spikes! She's definitely a master of close combat, but:

After witnessing the other's ability to break a boulder with a single finger, Usopp resolved to avoid any close contact and vanished like the wind! This infuriated Miss Doublefinger to the point of wanting her head to explode!

Although she already had a head of blue, afro-like hair...

"Damn it, aren't you a man of the sea?"

"Get back here and fight!"

Running so fast, is it a reincarnation of a land duck?!

And the last battlefield.

'Nami, how is it?'

Nami, who had quietly infiltrated the pirate ship named 'Baroque Gustav', frowned and whispered to the paper crane on her shoulder after evading a pair of armed patrolmen.

"We haven't found it yet, but it should be nearby, because I can smell it—"

Brush,

With a flash of light, the cabin behind her instantly turned into Four-Point Separation of wood, and an arrogant voice came from inside.

"Look what I've found, Mr. 10."

"Oh? What is it, Miss Tuesday?"

With another flippant voice, a man wielding two guns and a woman carrying a long knife emerged from the hole.

"Looks like we've got 'job' coming our way."

·······

Do you need support?

Faced with Roman's question on the other side of the paper crane, Nami, holding "The Art of the Thief," shook her head.

"Need not."

Be careful.

Crocodile should realize this soon; the outcome depends entirely on you, Nami.

PS: Thank you to reader 141217172632176 for the 100 RMB reward and 6 monthly tickets! An extra chapter is coming!