Hearing Crocodile speak to Vivi like that, Gato found it a little hard to tolerate. She was a companion he had personally chosen.
"Don't underestimate Vivi. You must have heard of her other identity—Miss Wednesday. Your plans might soon be uncovered by her."
"I see."
Crocodile's expression darkened. Many of the high-ranking officers with codenames had no access to the inner circle, but an enemy kingdom's princess had infiltrated this far while he remained completely unaware. Were all his subordinates idiots?
"Well? She's quite capable, isn't she? If she gains power as well, your plans of all these years might end up ruined."
"As for how to give her power, that's something I need to worry about. If all else fails, I'll find her a powerful Devil Fruit to eat. With her intelligence, courage, and determination, one day she'll be worthy of the title of one of our Six Paths Elites."
Crocodile said nothing, tacitly accepting Gato's assessment.
"Oh, right. Deliberately leak some information to Vivi first. Lure her to Alabasta to seek revenge on you, then arrange some trials for her. You know how to control the extent of it, right?"
With Crocodile's intelligence, he naturally understood what Gato was trying to do. He simply wanted to train Vivi's abilities.
"Just what I wanted. I also want to see whether the person you chose, Captain, truly has what it takes to become our companion."
"Mm. Make the arrangements quickly. Once you're ready, come with me. What we'll be facing next may be a little too much for me to handle alone. The companion I'm targeting next is quite formidable..."
Crocodile raised an eyebrow, somewhat unconvinced. For such an arrogant captain to become cautious, could that person be even stronger than him?
Being beneath Gato was already something he found