Plan

"Treinta Fleurs!" Robin struck at once, slender arms sprouting from Li Ziming's body.

Yet Li Ziming did not seem afraid at all. Instead, he reached out and grabbed the arms on his body. "So smooth." He wore an expression of pure enjoyment.

Robin immediately withdrew her power. Blushing, she glared at Li Ziming and snapped, "Pervert!"

"Pervert!" Vivi likewise looked coldly at Li Ziming, her gaze as though she were looking at human trash.

"A graceful lady, sought by a gentleman. Everyone appreciates beauty. Does that make me a pervert?" Li Ziming looked at the two women with amusement.

"A graceful lady, sought by a gentleman?" Robin repeated the two lines Li Ziming had recited. As an archaeologist, she instinctively sensed an ancient cultural aura within them.

"What twisted logic!" Vivi, on the other hand, had no reaction to such things.

"I really want to visit your hometown now. Your homeland must be a country with a long history." Robin looked at Li Ziming, her curiosity beyond measure.

"Really? How come I've never heard those two lines before?" Vivi looked at Li Ziming skeptically.

"Perhaps I'm the only one from my people left in this world. Besides, I can't even go home anymore." Li Ziming was still smiling, but both Robin and Vivi could feel the sorrow behind that smile. Perhaps they empathized with him. Robin had lost her homeland at a very young age, while Vivi's country was being ravaged by war, her homeland plagued by flames of conflict.

The two women unconsciously reached for Li Ziming's hand to comfort him, but clearly they had thought the same thing. Their hands met in midair.

Vivi's face immediately turned red, and she swiftly pulled her hand back. Robin watched Vivi with interest, then looked at Li Ziming.

"How was it?" Li Ziming put on a smug expression. "My performance and story just now were pretty good, weren't they?"

"Performance? Story?" Vivi stared at Li Ziming in disbelief, then said furiously, "You're a bastard!" With that, she angrily pushed open the door and left.

"Huh? Did I forget something?" After walking out, Vivi hesitated somewhat. But when Li Ziming's smug, punchable face surfaced in her mind, she completely lost the urge to go back.

"You like that princess?" Robin looked at Li Ziming curiously.

"I wouldn't call it liking her. Maybe admiration? Outstanding members of the opposite sex naturally attract each other." Li Ziming said helplessly, "And girls are only at their prettiest when they smile."

"Smile?" A trace of loneliness appeared on Robin's face. "Perhaps I forgot how to smile a long time ago."

"Is that so?" Li Ziming moved close to Robin with ill intent, placed his hands on her waist, and began tickling her.

"Ha, you bastard!" Robin naturally struggled with all her might. But she was sitting on a stool by the bar, and such stools were not very stable. As she fought and squirmed, the stool tipped over, and Robin was about to fall with it.

But how could Li Ziming pass up such a perfect opportunity to take advantage of her? He immediately reached out and caught Robin in his arms. "Be more careful, Robin."

Robin's face reddened briefly, then returned to normal. She pulled herself free from Li Ziming's hands and said irritably, "Would I have fallen if it weren't for someone?"

"Yes, yes, it was all my fault." Li Ziming admitted it readily. After all, he had taken a huge advantage of her. If he refused to admit it and made her fly into a rage from embarrassment, he could not guarantee that a shy girl would not leave a mark on his face.

"You bastard!" Although Robin had heard Li Ziming admit his fault, she still felt inexplicably annoyed. "Hey, don't you want to help that princess?"

"Oh?" Li Ziming looked at Robin in surprise. "Is our beautiful archaeologist preparing to betray Sand Crocodile too?"

"..." Robin merely rolled her eyes and said nothing more.

"How do you want me to help?" Li Ziming shrugged. "I'm not going to do something suicidal."

"You can't beat Crocodile?" Robin looked at Li Ziming in surprise.

"You don't seriously think I'm invincible just because you saw me take down a Marine rear admiral, do you? Remember, there are no weak Logia users." Li Ziming said helplessly. "Though I've mastered Haki too, I..." As he spoke, Li Ziming held out his right hand. A metallic color covered only as far as his wrist. "This is all I can manage, and only on one hand. With Haki like this, defeating a Logia user is simply impossible."

"So you're just going to wait? When Alabasta is destroyed, that princess will be devastated." Robin studied Li Ziming carefully, wanting to see what exactly he intended to do.

"Then I'm rather curious how you plan to help Vivi." Li Ziming countered. "You don't think Vivi can expose Sand Crocodile's conspiracy by herself just because she knows his identity, do you?"

"That's true. Perhaps I'm simply tired of serving under Crocodile. Besides, if I die like this, that might not be so bad." Robin said sadly, "I shouldn't have come into this world in the first place." As she spoke, Robin lay facedown on the table and began to cry. Li Ziming watched her with eyes full of pity, and before long, Robin fell silent.

Li Ziming walked over and discovered that she had fallen asleep. He gently picked her up, placed her on his bed, covered her with a blanket, and walked out.

Back at the bar, Li Ziming looked over his shop and fell into thought. He knew Sand Crocodile's weakness. If he revealed it, Li Ziming believed many people would try every possible way to kill Sand Crocodile in hopes of gaining the title of the one who defeated a Shichibukai. But Sand Crocodile would inevitably come looking for trouble with him because of it. What Li Ziming had to consider was whether it was worth doing, whether it was necessary to risk his life for Vivi.

"What a headache." Li Ziming looked toward the shelves, intending to mix himself a drink. But he had no mood to carefully make a cocktail. He casually took out a bottle of absinthe and a bottle of gin. Without mixing them, he began taking swigs of absinthe and gin in turn.

"Damn!" Li Ziming slammed the bottle heavily onto the table. "I never thought my guts would change after coming to this world. This is the world of pirates, a lawless world. Besides, when the hell have I ever been afraid of death?" Li Ziming's eyes turned bloodshot. Clearly, something was wrong with his state of mind now.

"Then first, I need to expose what's happening here." Li Ziming began considering what to do. The massive amount of alcohol did not numb his brain; instead, it made the blood throughout his body boil. "The most important thing is to draw in the Marines or the World Government. Those bastards won't allow anyone to have designs on the Ancient Weapons. Next are this country's internal problems. But Mr. 2's Mane Mane no Mi ability in Baroque Works is not easy to deal with either..." Li Ziming began thinking. "Still, one option is to make him admit it himself, or have Vivi persuade the Rebel Army. The Rebel Army's leader should be Vivi's childhood friend. Or make the people believe that all of this is Sand Crocodile's conspiracy. People are the easiest to guide, but how to guide them will require some careful thought."

Even Li Ziming did not understand why he was doing this. Why was he going to help a girl he had merely flirted with, regardless of the consequences? Perhaps this world's freedom had influenced him, and its foolish, hot-blooded spirit had affected him as well? Li Ziming shook his head and began preparing a detailed plan.