Rain Dinners

"Crocodile, get out here!" Li Ziming had been idly playing with the chips in his hand when a voice suddenly interrupted him.

"Straw Hats?" Li Ziming looked toward the entrance and saw Luffy, Usopp, Nami, and Zoro.

"Straw Hats!" Smoker chased in right behind them.

"Boss, the Straw Hat Pirates are here," a man in a black suit reported to Crocodile.

"Take them to the VIP room." Crocodile looked at his beloved Banana Crocodile. "Bring Mr. 5 there as well."

"Yes." The man in black nodded, then left Crocodile's office.

"You wanted to see me?" Li Ziming entered Crocodile's office.

"Yeah. I'm going to pay a visit to that adorable princess. I'll leave this place to you." Crocodile stood up.

"Who would have thought that such an insignificant princess would make you so nervous?" Li Ziming walked disdainfully up to Crocodile. "Then again, it makes sense. If you capsize in a ditch, your title as a Shichibukai will be ruined."

"Hmph. Think whatever you want." Crocodile turned into a cloud of sand and vanished from the room.

"What a pain." Li Ziming helplessly found a bottle of liquor in the room, poured himself a glass, then sat on the sofa and drank cup after cup.

"Crocodile!" Luffy's voice suddenly rang out. "Are you Crocodile?" Li Ziming then saw several people appear inside a cage.

"Watch this... I've got no strength..." Luffy slumped lifelessly against the cage bars.

"Where's Sand Crocodile?" Smoker had met Li Ziming before, so he knew he was not Crocodile.

"He left." Li Ziming poured himself another drink and walked up to the cage. "Don't waste your strength. This cage is made of Seastone. Devil Fruit users can't muster any strength in front of this stuff."

"What are you trying to do?!" Zoro gripped his swords tightly, ready to defend against Li Ziming's attack at any moment.

"I, for one, have..." Usopp's legs were trembling.

"Shut up!" Li Ziming snapped impatiently at Usopp. "Stand back!"

"What?" Nami froze for a moment.

"You..." Smoker could tell what Li Ziming was planning to do, but that only confused him more. As far as he knew, Li Ziming was Crocodile's ally.

"Directional..."

"Peacock String Slasher!" A chain made up of countless rings flew toward him.

"Vivi, where's Crocodile?" Li Ziming frowned. It seemed Crocodile had not gone to find Vivi as he had claimed.

"Ming, what are you doing?! Why are you still helping Crocodile?! Didn't you already betray him?!" Vivi glared at Li Ziming furiously.

"I had no choice." Li Ziming shrugged. "Robin was captured, so I was threatened."

"Robin was captured?" Vivi said in surprise. "Then are you here to stop me?"

"You could say that." Li Ziming spread his hands. "Though I don't think you can save your country anyway."

"Ming!" Vivi glared angrily at Li Ziming. "Don't think you can stop me!"

"Then come on. Let me see your resolve." Li Ziming instantly appeared behind Vivi. "Art is explosion."

"Anti-Manner Kick Course!" A barrage of powerful kicks shot toward Li Ziming.

"Not bad, but you underestimate me too much." Li Ziming sidestepped the attack. "Explosion!" He placed his hand against the black-clad figure before him, and a violent blast sent the person flying.

"Sanji!" everyone shouted worriedly.

"I'm fine." Sanji stared at Li Ziming with a dark expression. "Bombs? Is that a Devil Fruit ability too?"

"Yeah. I ate the Bomb-Bomb Fruit, so I'm a bomb man. You'd better watch out for my attacks." Li Ziming suddenly appeared behind Sanji, his hand already aimed at him. "Explosion Shockwave!"

An explosion formed in Li Ziming's palm, and the shockwave it produced rushed toward Sanji.

"Damn it!" Sanji ran forward along the direction of the shockwave for a distance, then turned back to look at Li Ziming and lit a cigarette. "Unwelcome customers are especially unwelcome in a restaurant. Looks like I'll have to teach you some table manners."

"Honestly, I don't think a chef who smokes can be a good chef either." Li Ziming fired back without mercy.

Sanji suddenly accelerated and arrived beside Li Ziming in an instant, kicking at him. "Shoulder Shot!"

Li Ziming did not dodge, but Sanji felt as if his kick had struck an iron plate.

"You're still far too weak." Li Ziming grabbed Sanji's leg. "Exploding Kick!" Using the force of an explosion to increase his power, he kicked Sanji in the abdomen, followed by a powerful blast.

"Tch, looks like I really have no talent for kicking." Li Ziming's kick had been fast, but Sanji had blocked it with his hands just before it landed. Still, Li Ziming had no confidence that he could block Sanji's kicks.

"You bastard." Sanji's face was covered in wounds, all burns caused by Li Ziming's explosions.

"Wouldn't it be better if you just lay down obediently?" Li Ziming sighed. "You can't beat me."

"Can't beat you?" Sanji said coldly. "I would never lose to someone who is rude to a beautiful lady!" Sanji's speed suddenly increased, and he instantly appeared before Li Ziming. "Mouton Shot!"

"I told you it's useless! As you are now, you can't beat Sand Crocodile at all!" Half of Li Ziming's face turned metallic.

"Um..." Smoker looked at Li Ziming uncertainly.

"Can't you understand?" Li Ziming grabbed Sanji with one hand. "Big Explosion!" The powerful blast directly knocked Sanji unconscious.

"Sanji!" Luffy shouted furiously. "You bastard, I'll definitely punch you flying!"

"Sanji..." Vivi collapsed weakly to the ground.

"With the likes of you, you want to save this country? Are you trying to make me laugh?" Li Ziming picked up his drink again and poured himself another glass.

"Mr. 5, you've already dealt with them? Well done!" Mr. 5 walked in and smugly stood before the cage. "You guys have been captured by us now, hahaha!"

"Boom!" A violent explosion suddenly erupted, leaving everyone stunned.

"Mr. 5, what are you doing?!" Mr. 5 glared at Li Ziming furiously.

"That wasn't me." Li Ziming shrugged and looked around.

"Damn it, let's get out of here!" Mr. 5 said in panic as water began flooding in from all around them.

Li Ziming looked at Vivi, his eyes filled with confusion and disappointment.

"I won't give up!" Vivi suddenly shouted. "They're all my companions! They'll help me! We'll definitely stop Crocodile!"

"Is that so? Then do your best." Li Ziming suddenly appeared in front of the cage.

"Hey, let me out! I'm going to punch you flying!" Luffy glared at Li Ziming angrily.

The others also looked at Li Ziming with determination.

"I'm really jealous." Li Ziming scratched his head, then aimed his palm at the cage.

"Ha, Mr. 5, are you going to blow them to death?" Mr. 5 looked at Li Ziming excitedly.

Nami and Usopp were somewhat frightened, but neither said a word.

"Directional Blast!" Li Ziming activated his ability, then turned and left.

"Huh?" Mr. 5 looked at Li Ziming in surprise. "Mr. 5, you let them out!" A bad feeling rose in his heart.

"When did I ever say I was going to kill them?" Li Ziming shrugged indifferently, then prepared to leave with his drink.

"What exactly are you trying to do?!" Luffy looked at Li Ziming in disbelief. "Does that make you one of our companions too?"

"At least not for now." Li Ziming shrugged. "Whether I will be in the future is still unknown, so if we meet in this war to quell the rebellion, you'd better not hold back."

"Damn it, for this country, and for Sanji, I'll definitely punch you flying!" Luffy said angrily.

"I'm not dead yet!" Sanji suddenly stood up. "That guy's explosion wasn't aimed directly at me. I only passed out because of the shockwave."

"You... you were betraying the boss all along!" Mr. 5 suddenly said in shock. "Aren't you worried about that companion of yours?!"

"You noticed pretty late. I never said I wanted to work for Crocodile." Li Ziming shrugged. "Besides, rather than worrying about my companion, I think you should worry about yourself first." With that, Li Ziming left.

"Can we trust that guy, Vivi?" Nami asked doubtfully. Li Ziming did not feel like the people from Whiskey Peak.

"I don't know. At first, I only knew that he was a high-ranking officer of Baroque Works. After that, it seemed he rebelled, then apparently rejoined for some reason. But from what they said just now, it seems Robin was captured?"

"So is that guy actually our companion too?" Luffy's brain truly was not suited to thinking about such complicated matters. He directly asked whether Li Ziming would become his companion.

"I don't know. But if we can rescue Robin, Ming should help us," Vivi said.

"I'm going with you." Smoker suddenly spoke, taking the Straw Hat Pirates by surprise.

"Is it really okay for the Marines and pirates to act together?" Zoro mocked Smoker.

"I'll catch you criminals sooner or later. But I have something to ask that bastard." Smoker was extremely curious about the Six Powers and Haki Li Ziming had used. Haki was one thing, but the Six Powers were not something just anyone could learn, so Smoker intended to get to the bottom of it.

And so, the group headed toward the capital of Alabasta.