Carl Enel

Noki walked over to Jaca, who had been dried into a "human husk" by Crocodile, then turned to Robin and asked, "Can he still be saved?"

Robin thought for a moment before answering, "In theory, someone who has been dehydrated for this long should be dead. But Jaca is one of Alabasta's strongest fighters, after all. His vitality must be far greater than an ordinary person's, so I can't be certain."

"You brought water with you, right?"

Noki knew how cautious Robin was. To guard against Crocodile, she, who did not know Haki, would surely have prepared something that could restrain him.

Robin took out two tubes of fresh water from some unknown place and tossed them to Noki. "You want to save him? In my opinion, he's more useful to us dead than alive. So even if you act ruthless, you're still a Marine at heart."

Noki did not answer. He uncapped the bottles and let the water drip onto Jaca's shriveled body.

Jaca's body visibly began to swell back up.

"That's all I can do. Whether he wakes up or not depends on his own fate."

Robin walked over to Noki on her long slender legs. Her beautiful eyes swept over Jaca and the others as she softly asked, "Boss, are we heading back to Rainbase next? As long as we spread word that you defeated Crocodile, your plan to become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea will be more than halfway complete."

"No rush."

Noki smiled as he looked at her face. "Since we came all this way, don't you want to see the Poneglyph in the palace?"

Robin blinked and looked at him curiously. "Could it be that you know where it's hidden?"

"I'm eighty percent sure I can find it."

As a transmigrator, Noki not only possessed exceptional talent, but also remembered much of the One Piece plot he had watched in his previous life.

He roughly remembered the location of that mysterious chamber in the palace.

Noki led Robin to a flat lawn she had once passed with Crocodile.

Robin was extremely intelligent. Seeing the open surroundings, she immediately said, "The Poneglyph is underground!"

"Mm. There are many stone statues around here, and one of them is the mechanism for opening the hidden door. Try pushing them all. One of them has to be the real one. If that doesn't work, we'll force our way in. It's right beneath us anyway."

Robin nodded and crossed her arms, activating her ability. Two slender, fair arms immediately sprouted from every statue, pushing them forward, backward, left, and right.

Sure enough, one of the statues moved.

Accompanied by the sound of turning mechanisms, a hidden door leading underground appeared before them.

Noki was about to step down.

But Robin stopped him. "Wait. What if there are traps down there to protect the chamber?"

Noki smiled faintly. "You've improved. You even know how to worry about your boss now. Don't worry, I'll walk in front. Even if there really are traps, they won't be able to hurt me."

"I just don't want to have to switch employers again so soon."

Robin followed closely behind Noki as they went down.

The secret chamber was dim and filled with dust. It had clearly been abandoned for a long time.

Robin had come prepared. She took out matches and lit the lamps on the walls.

The chamber was not very large.

After walking for only a short while, they reached the end.

A massive square stone monument stood on the ground.

"A Poneglyph!"

Robin quickened her pace, her eyes filled with burning excitement as she eagerly began deciphering the writing on the monument. The result, however, disappointed her greatly. This was not the information she wanted.

Noki looked up at the obscure, difficult text, then at Robin's disappointed expression. "If I'm not mistaken, this records the location of the Ancient Weapon Pluton?"

Robin instinctively wanted to deny it.

Noki continued, "You don't need to answer me. I'm not interested in Pluton for the moment. And even if I were, I could find it myself."

Robin found her new boss increasingly impossible to understand. She asked curiously, "You know where Pluton is?"

"You could say that. Now that you've seen the Poneglyph and gotten what you wanted, let's return to Rainbase."

"Oh."

Seeing that he was unwilling to elaborate, Robin did not dare ask further.

Noki had only made it halfway up when he suddenly stopped. "There are people guarding the outside of the chamber. They're probably palace guards."

"Should we kill our way out?"

"No need. Baroque Works still needs to establish itself in Alabasta. Offending the royal family would be troublesome."

Release!

Noki released Crocodile's corpse from Dark Space, grabbed him by the neck, and walked out through the chamber door.

Jaca was truly tough. Not only had he not died, but in such a short time, he had already recovered enough to walk like an ordinary person. As expected of a Zoan Devil Fruit user.

At this moment, he had brought the few remaining palace guards and surrounded the entrance to the chamber.

Noki raised Crocodile's body high and shouted, "Vice Captain Jaca, I'm a bounty hunter passing through Alubarna. Crocodile has already been taken down by me. Please let us pass."

Jaca did not believe Noki at first, but Crocodile's corpse could not be faked. When he also saw the mysterious woman who had once appeared alongside Crocodile, he became even more convinced that the man before him had hostile intentions. He coldly shouted, "What a joke. This is the royal palace. How could a mere passerby wander around such an important place? And the woman beside you is Crocodile's subordinate. I saw it with my own eyes.

Even if you killed Crocodile, that does not prove your identity is clean!"

Noki frowned slightly and said blandly, "This lady was an undercover agent I placed beside Crocodile. I am indeed not merely passing through. You know Marine Rear Admiral Noki, don't you?

I have a deal with him. We uncovered the evidence of Crocodile using Dancing Powder together. He asked me to remain in Alabasta and help you deal with Crocodile. If you don't believe me, you can ask him yourself. I'm in Rainbase, and you are welcome to find me anytime.

Now, please move aside."

Jaca was half-convinced, but considering the other side's overwhelming strength and his own serious injuries, he could only order his men to clear a path to avoid greater losses, allowing the two of them to leave.

On the way back.

Robin sat in the camel carriage and asked, "You connected your current identity to your real one. Aren't you afraid that will cause problems?"

Noki feigned confusion. "What problems could there be? My connections in the Marines are far better than you imagine. Never mind whether Jaca and the others will spread this matter around, even if the whole world finds out, the Marines won't suspect me. They'll reward me instead."

Robin rested her chin on one hand, smiling brightly. "I really can't understand why a Marine with such a promising future would insist on coming out to build his own power and become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea."

"I'll tell you later. For now, don't ask questions you shouldn't ask."

Robin had always been somewhat dark-minded due to her circumstances, and she immediately made some guesses. "Could it be that someone murdered your family, but you couldn't avenge them as a Marine? So you came out to build your own power and seek vengeance under a new identity?"

Noki yawned, closed his eyes to rest, and said, "Stop guessing. I have my own plans."

Robin smiled sweetly. "Boss, as your employee, I need to know your true purpose so I can serve you better."

Noki opened one eye and looked at her meaningfully. "What you said just now wasn't entirely wrong."

"I actually guessed right!"

Even Robin was surprised. If it were an ordinary enemy, then with his strength and ability to disguise himself, taking revenge without leaving any traces should have been easy.

Yet he had gone to such lengths, which meant this enemy was likely no ordinary person.

His Marine identity prevented him from acting.

That left only two possibilities: an official of the World Government, or another Marine like himself...

Noki was secretly startled. Nico Robin truly deserved to be called a woman who had survived countless storms. Her intelligence was practically monstrous. He would have to be especially careful in his dealings with her from now on, lest he suffer a setback.

The two returned to Rainbase.

A large crowd was still gathered outside Crocodile's casino.

Carrying Crocodile's corpse, Noki swaggered toward the casino's front entrance.

"Eh, isn't that Crocodile's body?"

"When did he get out?"

"That man actually killed Crocodile! He's incredible!"

The people and guards unconsciously made a path for him.

Noki and Robin entered the casino without incident.

Thud!

When the employees saw Noki casually toss the body of their boss, Crocodile, onto the ground, they thought he was going to kill them too. They all fell to their knees and begged for mercy.

"We're just ordinary employees! We knew nothing about Crocodile's crimes!"

"I have elderly parents and children to support. I only came here because the pay was good! I have absolutely nothing to do with Crocodile!"

"..."

Seeing the employees' panic, Robin stepped forward with a smile. "Don't be afraid, everyone. He will be your new boss from now on. For certain reasons, the casino will be closed for a few days. Go home and rest for now. When the casino reopens, I'll call you back."

"Thank you, General Manager!"

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. After glancing at Crocodile's pale face, they hurriedly gathered their belongings and left.

After everyone had gone.

Noki finally said to Robin, "Next, I'll have to trouble you to inform the members of Baroque Works and spread the news of my defeat of Crocodile throughout the world."

"Understood."

Robin nodded and walked a short distance before suddenly stopping. "Oh, right. I need to make it clear who killed Crocodile. You haven't named your new identity yet."

"Call him Carl... Enel."

Noki truly was not good at naming things. In any case, Enel was separated from the Blue Sea by the distant Sky Island. It was not as if he could come all the way down from the heavens to accuse him of "stealing someone else's name."

"Carl Enel?"

Robin murmured the name once, then went to carry out Noki's instructions.

Baroque Works was quite efficient.

In just three days.

The news that Carl Enel had defeated Crocodile spread throughout the world.

At the same time, his name became deeply engraved in the hearts of Baroque Works' members, because it was the name of their boss!

Noki had no desire to imitate Crocodile by building an organization while still playing mysterious, leaving even his subordinates unaware of whom they served. That was simply too foolish.

He really should learn from Donquixote Doflamingo.

The Donquixote Family was far larger than Baroque Works. Even a lowly errand boy knew he belonged to Donquixote Doflamingo. They obeyed no one but Doflamingo's orders. It could be said that he had achieved absolute centralization.

Of course.

Crocodile had his own difficulties.

According to his plan, if everyone had known he was the leader of Baroque Works, then the very next day, his scheme to harm the Alabasta royal family and play both sides would have been exposed.

Noki had no interest in becoming king, so he naturally did not have that concern.

During this time, Jaca contacted Cobra, who was far away in the Holy Land, and asked him to confirm whether Carl Enel's claim of working with Rear Admiral Noki was true.

Cobra had his daughter, Princess Vivi, go to Marineford to ask. Although Noki was absent, Ain understood what her man intended and confirmed it for him.

Cobra was old and shrewd. He understood that Noki likely had connections with certain underworld forces in order to help Alabasta, so he specifically instructed Jaca and the others to keep silent and never mention the matter again.

Meanwhile, after learning the news, the Five Elders held a discussion and unanimously concluded that allowing Carl Enel to replace Crocodile was the best way to erase Crocodile's negative influence.

Noki had originally planned to contact the World Government himself after the news spread, but they beat him to it and found him first.

The World Government discovered that Noki had taken over Crocodile's casino, so they called the Den Den Mushi inside it directly.

"You are Carl Enel, correct?" A hoarse voice came through the Den Den Mushi.

"That's right. Who are you?"

Noki glanced at Robin, who was quietly listening nearby.

"I'm an official of the World Government. I won't waste time on pleasantries. Let's get straight to the point.

I know you want the position of one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea and to replace Crocodile.

You were behind Crocodile's plan being exposed this time, weren't you?"

Aside from Ain, Cobra, and the rest of the royal family, Noki had only mentioned his assistance to Alabasta to Kuzan a few times, so it was normal that the World Government did not know.

"Mm."

Noki admitted it readily.

"Heh heh, you actually dare admit it. Do you have any idea how badly this incident damaged the World Government's reputation?"

"It wasn't me who told Crocodile to plot against the Kingdom of Alabasta. By all rights, I saved a World Government member nation. You should be thanking me."

"That is why we have decided to give you an opportunity to accept our gratitude. The World Government plans to announce that you had always been the new Seven Warlords of the Sea intended to replace Crocodile.

Everything you did to expose and defeat Crocodile was planned by the World Government in advance. You merely followed our orders."

Noki sneered. "What a scheme. This way, the World Government can easily recover the reputation it lost a few days ago and even gain a wave of praise."

"You will gain plenty as well. Once you become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, won't Crocodile's forces in Alabasta rightfully fall into your hands?"

"That's true."

Noki pretended to fall silent for a moment. "Since you have already planned everything so thoroughly, it would be rude of me to disrupt your plans. Announce it as you just said."