Outside the royal palace.
"It's strange. Everything was going so well, so why did Lord Crocodile suddenly get angry?" a puzzled nobleman asked.
"Exactly! We were all trying so hard to flatter and please him!" another nobleman said indignantly.
"Perhaps Lord Crocodile is simply that kind of fickle man!" a nobleman sighed.
"Speaking of which, why hasn't there been any commotion from inside the palace? Aren't battles between strong individuals supposed to be earth-shaking?"
"Could it be... a battle of wills? I heard that strong individuals like to stare at each other, then inexplicably start fighting on the level of their souls!"
"A battle of souls? That sounds awesome!"
"Why hasn't there been a single sound? Is the commodore really all right?" Cobra said worriedly. Although he knew the commodore was very strong, his opponent was, after all, a Great Pirate recognized by the World Government!
"Even though the Sand Crocodile is very strong, there's still a qualitative gap between him and our teacher!" Drake said proudly, his youthful awkwardness gone and his bearing growing increasingly steady.
"Mm-hmm!" Komurasaki nodded vigorously and said crisply, "Commodore Brother said that if the Sand Crocodile couldn't escape the shadow of his crushing defeat five years ago, then dealing with him wouldn't require much effort at all."
As soon as her words fell, Longinus appeared at the entrance of the royal palace.
"Commodore Longinus, are you all right?" Cobra hurried over to ask.
"What could possibly be wrong with me?"
"Then Sir Crocodile..."
"Don't worry. After some persuasion and guidance from me, he has given up on certain unrealistic ideas." Longinus smiled gently.
"That's good, that's good." Although he didn't believe someone like the Sand Crocodile would be persuaded easily, Cobra still instinctively chose to believe him. "He is, after all, a Shichibukai. A