At this moment, Crocodile was quietly contemplating the Utopia Plan.
He must constantly fine-tune and change his plan according to the changing circumstances in order to ensure its perfect implementation.
Crocodile was very concerned about the reason for King Cobra's departure!
When Cobra entrusted him with national security duties, Crocodile already knew Cobra's intentions; he did not choose to flee out of fear of the Yuba rebellion.
He set his sights on aid from a more distant location, directly requesting assistance from the Celestial Dragon who wasn't too far from Alabasta!
If he hadn't known the reason for Cobra's departure, Crocodile would never have worked so hard to suppress the rebellion in Yuba.
If he weren't worried about that particular Celestial Dragon and his terrifying subordinates, he probably would have portrayed Cobra as a useless king who had abandoned his country and fled.
After learning of Cobra's intentions, Crocodile carefully investigated all information about Gawain.
Although Gawain's specific personality and purpose are still unclear, Crocodile knows very well that Gawain is a big shot who is keen to participate in major events and maintain a positive image in them.
Whether it's Fish-Man Island, or Whitebeard and Jaya.
Saint Gawain was portrayed as a great person in the newspapers.
Therefore, with just a simple judgment, Crocodile knew that Alabasta would definitely receive Gawain's aid.
Therefore, he worked tirelessly to suppress the rebellion in Yuba, not wanting his plans to be discovered by Gawain and his group of peculiar individuals!
Crocodile didn't take Gawain's brief assistance to Alabasta to heart.
The plan I carried out in Alabasta was not a simple conspiracy, but a pure manipulation of natural disasters!
Although his Devil Fruit power has not yet Awakening, he can still take advantage of his battles against domestic pirates to block and absorb moisture from the sea, keeping the coastal areas of Alabasta perpetually arid.
At the same time, they will use the Dance Powder, something that the World Government has kept hidden for countless years and is now almost unknown to everyone, to concentrate the moisture inside Alabasta in the capital city of Alubarna.
Both of these incidents are virtually untraceable, even under any investigation.
Even if some clues are found, the investigators will only focus their attention on the still extremely secretive Baroque Works!
More than a decade ago, Crocodile abandoned his former pirate crew members in his journey to becoming a hero.
Next, he searched around the world for people who had no connection to his past but were quite capable and had great potential, and formed an organization that was ostensibly unrelated to him.
This organization is the Baroque Works!
Over the years, whether it was helping Crocodile gain fame, secretly collecting Dance Powder, or even the rebellion in Yuba, it was all Baroque Works secretly operated behind the scenes.
Even among the members of Baroque Works, fewer than three knew that Crocodile was their leader.
The other ordinary members only knew that their leader was a mysterious man named Mr. 0.
Crocodile frowned at the thought of Baroque Works, worried that they might be exposed ahead of the upcoming Gawain Pirates Baroque Works.
Although Crocodile was confident that his ability to control people would keep those who knew his identity from revealing his plans.
Even if Baroque Works disappears, they won't expose him.
But Crocodile still cares a lot about the existence of the Works, because a very important person has just joined the Works!
Just a year ago, Crocodile finally found Nico Robin, the Devil Child had been hiding and fleeing everywhere!
The reason Crocodile remained hidden in Alabasta for over a decade without revealing his true intentions was because he hadn't yet found Nico Robin.
His goal is the nation of Alabasta and the Poneglyph guarded within it, in order to obtain and control the legendary Pluton.
But even if he succeeds in obtaining everything, without someone able to read the main text, what he obtains is nothing more than Illusion.
Therefore, for more than a decade, Crocodile has maintained his identity as a hero while desperately searching for the Ohara survivor who had a bounty of 79 million Beli right from the start, a bounty even greater than that of Kaido when he first debuted.
Until a year ago, Crocodile found Nico Robin and coerced her into joining his organization.
Therefore, a year after Nico Robin joined, and after Crocodile felt he was capable of properly managing Nico Robin.
He then finally began to create an arid environment in Alabasta to fully implement his plans.
Therefore, in Crocodile's calculations at this point, the existence of Baroque Works is meaningless; the only thing that matters is Nico Robin.
Considering that Saint Gawain seems to enjoy investigations, whether it's investigating the cause of Queen Otohime's death on Fish-Man Island or investigating the truth about the Liar Noland on Jaya.
That guy probably has a very curious mind.
Therefore, Crocodile prepared for the worst.
In his mind, if that Celestial Dragon was truly interested in the causes of the drought while helping Cobra, then...
He could simply throw out Baroque Works as bait.
His most trusted subordinate, Mr. 1, could impersonate him when necessary to extricate himself from the situation!
As for Nicole Robin...
With that thought in mind, Crocodile stood up and walked towards the top floor of his building.
As he pushed open the door to the top-floor library, a remarkably soft female voice came from inside.
"Even you are worried about Saint Gawain, the one Cobra asked for help from?"
Otherwise, you wouldn't have suddenly come to see me, would you?
Hearing the woman's voice, Crocodile frowned and looked towards a large expanse of bookshelves in the distance.
In the middle of the bookshelf, a woman dressed in a black crop top and black shorts, but with a white blouse adorned with gold pendants, stared expressionlessly at Crocodile.
Crocodile shook his head dismissively at the woman's question.
"Who do you take me for? Fear is absolutely out of the question."
At this point, Crocodile's brow furrowed even more.
"I just want to remind you, Nico Robin, that you'd better not wander around after the Celestial Dragon arrive."
After all, you should know better than me what that identity means!
"Hehe."
Hearing Crocodile's words, Nico Robin chuckled and nodded.
"Of course I won't wander around, because I'm no longer the Devil Child, but Miss Ideal Day of Baroque Works!"
Here we must mention Robin's codename, which is Miss All Sunday.
However, the female executives in the Baroque Works all have code names based on the seven days of the week and holidays around the world!
Just like Miss Two Fingers, which literally translates to "two fingers," the actual code name is two ones, which means January 1st.
January 1st is also the Japan New Year.
Therefore, the true translation of Miss·Two Fingers is actually Miss·New Year's Day.
The literal translation of Robin's codename "All Sunday" actually reflects the hope that all days would be days off.
In other words, it's the Miss Ideal Day, or ideal festival, that Crocodile himself wanted to create, which is tied to Crocodile's ideal world!
After all, in Crocodile's view, Nico Robin, who can read the Poneglyph, is the most important factor in realizing his Utopia Plan!
Let's get back to the main topic.
After emphasizing her identity to Crocodile, Robin narrowed her eyes slightly and continued speaking to Crocodile.
"I don't know if you're worried about my safety, or if you're worried that I'll run away or betray you."
I always feel that instead of worrying about these things, you should focus your worries on that Celestial Dragon's little hobby.
Although I haven't met him yet, just from reading the news, I know he's definitely not an easy person to get along with.
That person has both the passion to get to the bottom of things and the status and resources to accomplish all of that...
"Indeed..."
Hearing Robin's words, Crocodile couldn't help but nod.
"That guy might be a real problem, but he's not our problem."
He was just a passerby, and passersby wouldn't affect my plans.
As for the conditions I promised you, hehe, I'll let you see the Poneglyph.
After all, the higher one's position, the less one can see the questions from below...
"Pop pop pop!"
Crocodile was speaking when he was suddenly interrupted by Den Den Mushi.
Listening to the Den Den Mushi's voice, Crocodile gave Robin a deep look, then took the Den Den Mushi and left the Great Library.
As he walked into the distance, a cloud of sand rose behind him, slamming the library door shut.
At the same time, he answered the Den Den Mushi).
"Hello, is this Lord Crocodile?!"
The call came from a border city that had not yet rebelled, namely the Katorea City, which had just entered the port area of Alabasta.
"I am Yuta, the city defense officer of Katorea City. A new pirate ship has arrived in our harbor!"
If it's just a regular small-time pirate, then I'll try to handle it myself.
But this pirate crew is very difficult to deal with. Their flag bearer is the recently famous Logia user, Fire Fist Ace!
This pirate crew is the Spade Pirates of Fire Fist, and we have no chance against him being made of fire!!!
At this point, the city defense officer Yuta, looked nervously towards the distant dock. At this moment, the Spade Pirates' ships were slowly approaching the dock.
Meanwhile, in the direction of the capital Alubarna, Crocodile nodded solemnly.
"I understand, please wait a moment, I'll head to Katorea immediately!!!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Crocodile hung up the phone. Then, he transformed into a sandstorm and rushed out of his room, heading towards Katorea in the form of a sandstorm.
He must maintain his identity as a hero until his plan reaches its final stage!
As a true Alabasta hero, he would not allow any pirates to roam freely in Alabasta!
Even if the opponent is another Logia user, it doesn't matter!
Meanwhile, at Katorea, on the bow of the Piece of Spadille.
Ace shielded his eyes from the sunlight and looked towards the distant dock.
"Why?"
He muttered something to himself, sounding somewhat puzzled.
"Isn't Alabasta a large country with tens of millions of people? How come its port facing the Grand Line is so desolate?"
"It's probably because of the drought..."
"Ace is standing to the side, "Deuce replied with a soft sigh.
"Look, even the land near the dock has turned into a desert and Gobi!"
This is outrageous! This is the seaside, the sea is everywhere, but once we leave the dock, we can't find a single patch of slightly damp land!
After speaking, Deuce moored the boat on the dock, took a rope and secured it. Then, Deuce jumped to the vicinity of the dock, squatted down on the severely desertified ground, and dug deep into the sand.
Then he showed Ace the incredibly dry sand in his hand.
"Look, even if you dig down several tens of centimeters, the sand here doesn't show even the slightest sign of dampness."
It's right by the sea, but it feels completely isolated from water.
"As expected of the Grand Line! Any strange celestial phenomena and geographical features can occur here, and every island on the Grand Line has its own unique and amazing features!"
"Yes, it's so amazing and exciting, haha!"
Ace, who was on the ship, responded loudly and excitedly jumped to Deuce's side.
With his arms outstretched towards the blinding sunlight, Ace continued excitedly.
"But I like this kind of weather. The bright sunshine and dry air make my body involuntarily excited, haha."
So, Deuce, and everyone else.
Let's find a tavern first, have a good drink, and while we're at it, let's record our Log Pose!
Then we can cross Alabasta and head to our destination, Jaya!
The Supreme Black Dark Bird Gawain, Red-Haired Shanks, Dark King Rayleigh, and countless other Shichibukai are waiting for me to challenge them, haha!
"I'm going to be the Pirate King!!!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Ace excitedly raised his fist.
Hearing Ace's words, Deuce chuckled softly.
"You're really full of energy, Captain. But if you keep doing this, you'll have to eat more these next few days."
A major battle is coming up in a few days, so we must make sure we're well-rested!
Right, Ace...
Ace?!
When Deus realized that Ace hadn't answered him, Deuce quickly looked at Ace.
As a result, Ace actually fell asleep standing up!
That's right, right after his excited cheers, the next second he even blew snot bubbles out of his nose!
Looking at the soundly sleeping Ace, Deuce shook his head helplessly.
"What kind of weird constitution is this, where you can fall asleep anytime, anywhere?"
Oh dear, how could I have encountered such a captain...?
But she's so carefree, it's enviable!
As he spoke, Deuce punched Ace hard on the head.
Amidst the sparks flying everywhere, Ace slowly opened his eyes.
"Oh dear, I fell asleep again. Don't blame me, it's just that the environment here is too comfortable."
Ever since I ate the Mera Mera no Mi, everything—water, rain, snow—has become incredibly annoying for me.
Now it's a beautiful sunny day!
Hurry, hurry, hurry, tavern, tavern!
As he spoke, Ace strode towards the town outside the dock.
Although desertification is severe here, with sand and dry soil everywhere, it still resembles a town.
Following the deserted streets, Ace finally found a tavern.
The tavern's signboard looked extremely shabby, with the words "Sand Scorpion Tavern" written on it. As soon as Ace pushed open the tavern door, a female proprietress wearing a headscarf shouted at Ace.
"Hey, the pubs are closed lately, so Devil Fruit want a drink, we don't accept Beli!"
"Water? We only need fresh water. You're pirates, right? Do you have spare fresh water on your ship?!"
As soon as she finished speaking, the proprietress looked intently at Ace, while Ace...
He froze for a moment, then quickly asked the proprietress.
"Why?
Is it really possible to exchange fresh water for alcohol?
That's outrageous!
Quick, Deuce, bring all the fresh water off our ship!
We've found a truly conscientious business!