Underground Burial Temple

The royal capital, which had stood for centuries, was undergoing an unprecedented baptism of war. But Rain had no way to resolve the conflict on the surface for the moment. His battlefield lay hidden in the deepest reaches of this palace.

After leaving the Clock Tower, Rain avoided the guards in chaos across the palace square and headed straight for the royal mausoleum behind the palace, a place regarded as an absolute forbidden zone.

Rain did not bother searching for the mechanism that opened the passage underground. He slowly crouched down and gently pressed his unbandaged left hand against the hard ground covered in windblown sand.

The rudimentary form of Observation Haki combined with the Devil Fruit's unique Earth Vein Perception, spreading wildly into the depths of the earth like an invisible giant net.

"Found it."

With his eyes closed, Rain clearly mapped out a three-dimensional structure of the underground in his mind. Deep beneath the surface, within a vast subterranean cavern, stood an enormous complex of stone structures. At its deepest point was a cubic stone block with an abnormally high density.

It was a mysterious material that even his Rock-Rock Fruit could not comprehend—the Poneglyph recording the whereabouts of the Ancient Weapon Pluton.

"Mantle Undercurrent."

Rain's body instantly turned into a mass of grayish-white quicksand and rubble. Like a drop of water merging with the sea, he sank unobstructed into the hard bedrock.

Underground Burial Temple, the vast and dim central burial chamber.

It was so quiet that a pin dropping could be heard. The air was thick with an ancient, stale smell. At the very center of the hall stood a massive square stele of deep blue stone, covered in ancient writing.

The enormous Granite pillars supporting the dome on either side of the hall were carved with the imposing faces of Alabasta's past kings.

Inside one of the huge pillars nearest the Poneglyph, Rain lay silently concealed in the shadows like a relief sculpture perfectly fused with the pillar. He had even deliberately slowed his heartbeat and breathing, reducing his vital signs until they were no different from those of a cold stone.

He was a patient hunter.

Before long, the heavy underground doors let out a harsh scraping sound as someone slowly pushed them open from outside.

Two sets of footsteps broke the Burial Temple's centuries-long silence.

"So this is it... the stone that records the 'true history'..."

Nico Robin, dressed in dark purple leather, stared at the deep-blue stele in the center of the hall. At last, a fierce gleam of fervor and excitement flashed through her usually placid eyes.

Before her stood Cobra, the King of Alabasta, his face gray with despair and reluctance as Robin restrained him with her Devil Fruit ability.

"You villains... why are you interested in the Poneglyph?!" Cobra gritted his teeth, his voice filled with utter despair as he watched Robin walk toward the stele.

Standing before the Poneglyph, Robin tilted her head up and lightly brushed her fingers across the ancient text. "I only want to study history."

Hidden within the stone pillar, Rain watched it all coldly.

This woman burdened by Ohara's grim fate and the Sand Crocodile, whose mind held nothing but power and destruction, had never been on the same path.

"Whoosh—"

As Robin focused entirely on deciphering the words carved into the stele, the stale air in the underground hall was suddenly ripped apart by a violent blast of wind and sand!

A massive sandstorm swept in through the entrance and instantly gathered into shape behind Robin and Cobra.

Crocodile appeared in the hall, draped in a black fur coat with a cigar clenched between his teeth. He carried a savage killing intent and an unusual air of dishevelment. There was even a streak of blood on his forehead, evidence that he had just endured a brutal battle on the surface.

"That rubber brat in the Straw Hat really is tougher than expected."

Crocodile spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva and fixed a sinister gaze on Robin standing before the stele.

"But as long as I get that thing, every problem is insignificant. Nico Robin, are you done deciphering it? Where in Alabasta is the Ancient Weapon Pluton hidden?"

Robin slowly turned around, placing her back to the stele bearing Top Secret information. In an instant, her eyes returned to their still, indifferent calm.

"Unfortunately, Crocodile. There is no information about Pluton recorded here."

Robin looked at the brutal tyrant and calmly told a monstrous lie. "It only records the names of Alabasta's past kings and some insignificant royal history."

"What did you say?"

The fervor on Crocodile's face froze instantly. His serpent-like eyes locked onto Robin, while the air around him began to dry and distort under the force of his extreme rage.

He had spent three whole years plotting for this country, for this stone! And now this woman was telling him it did not contain what he wanted?

"Is that so..." Crocodile's voice was as cold as the bitter winds of the West Blue, carrying a chilling killing intent. "Then our contract of cooperation ends here. A pawn that has lost its value has only one road left—death."

At the exact moment Crocodile finished speaking—

Robin's gaze turned icy. She had anticipated this moment long ago!

"Not necessarily!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Robin suddenly pulled a small glass bottle filled with clean water from her clothes and hurled it viciously at Crocodile. At the same time, a sharp dagger flashed into her right hand.

Crack!

The bottle shattered against Crocodile's chest. Water splashed everywhere, instantly preventing part of his body from turning into sand. Then Robin lunged forward like a ghost, gripping her dagger as she drove it straight at Crocodile's heart!

This sudden betrayal was vicious, and its timing was impeccable.

Yet Crocodile did not even blink in the face of the sudden assassination attempt.

"Foolish woman."

Clang!

The dagger that should have pierced his heart came to an abrupt halt in midair. Crocodile's right hand, adorned with a jeweled ring, clamped around Robin's wrist like an iron vise.

The absolute gap in physical skill and strength caused Robin's carefully planned ambush to collapse in an instant.

"You think you can kill me with that little water? You're far too naïve."

A cruel smile curled across Crocodile's lips. His Pure Gold Poison Hook, coated in lethal venom, tore through the air with a shrill howl as it mercilessly pierced toward Robin's abdomen!

Faced with this unavoidable killing blow, Robin closed her eyes in despair.

However.

Boom—!

At the instant that deadly golden hook was only a hair's breadth from Robin's body—

The enormous Granite pillar beside Robin, which had stood for centuries, suddenly erupted with an extreme heat fierce enough to ignite the air itself!

The hard stone pillar was heated red-hot and melted in an instant!

An Flame Demon Arm, wrapped in violent dark-red magma and supported from within by ultra-dense Obsidian, brutally smashed through the pillar and tightly seized Crocodile's swinging Pure Gold Poison Hook!

Sizzle—!

Liquid magma exceeding a thousand degrees came into contact with Pure Gold, producing an ear-piercing melting sound and blinding sparks. The poisonous golden hook that had terrified countless pirates began to glow red and soften at a visible rate the instant it was caught!

Along with that magma arm came a basin of clean water, drenching Crocodile from head to toe.

This sudden, horrifying change left Robin, Cobra, and even Crocodile himself frozen in shock.

The heat of the magma instantly illuminated the dark hall.

Amid scattering rubble and sparks, a tall figure in a dark-gray cloak slowly stepped out from the half-melted stone pillar.

Rain raised his head. In his pitch-black eyes hidden beneath the shadows, extreme coldness and savagery burned as he locked onto Crocodile at close range.

"Long time no see, Sand Crocodile."

Rain's hoarse, low voice, like two stones grinding together, thundered through the deathly silent Burial Temple.

"That broken hook of yours is still just as... weak and useless."

As Rain finished speaking, his Obsidian right hand, flowing with magma, suddenly tightened.

Crack—!

Crocodile's prized Pure Gold Poison Hook was crushed between terrifying heat and extreme hardness, forcibly squeezed until a glaring crack appeared across it!