So you really do know where Pluton is!

"What! Are you out of your mind? You know the boss is coming here personally, and you still plan to stay and wait for him?

The boss is one of the Shichibukai! Do you have any idea what that title means?

They're seven great pirates the World Government picked out from all the pirates on the seas, each with both fame and strength, to intimidate other pirates.

How is fighting a monster like that any different from throwing your life away?"

Mikita was actually Miss Valentine's real name. But Yang Cheng addressing her by her real name was hardly important right now.

What concerned Miss Valentine far more was that Yang Cheng had actually said he would stay here and wait for Crocodile.

"I know perfectly well how powerful the Shichibukai are. But honestly, it's not as if I have no chance of winning.

The Sand-Sand Fruit's ability is powerful. If Crocodile were in Alabasta, my chances might be slim.

But without that terrain advantage, even if I can't beat him in the end, I'm confident I can get away unscathed."

"So you deliberately let the Unluckies report back earlier because you wanted the boss... Crocodile to leave Alabasta?"

After hearing Yang Cheng's explanation, Miss Valentine looked surprised.

"Are you really confident you can take on Crocodile?"

Yang Cheng had taken down plenty of pirates with bounties over a hundred million in front of Miss Valentine before, while Crocodile's bounty wasn't even that high, standing at only eighty-one million Beli.

But Miss Valentine also understood that bounties weren't the only measure of a pirate's strength.

After Crocodile became one of the Shichibukai, his bounty had been frozen at that amount.

Quite a few wanted pirates had higher bounties than Crocodile, but whether in fame or strength, they weren't even fit to shine his shoes.

"All I can say is that I have a chance. Crocodile may be one of the Shichibukai, but he relies far too much on his Devil Fruit ability.

When it comes to developing that ability alone, he's certainly better than most. But his training in Taijutsu and Haki doesn't quite live up to his Shichibukai title."

The strength Crocodile had displayed during the Paramount War had undoubtedly far exceeded the value of eighty-one million Beli.

His Devil Fruit ability could easily whip up sandstorms to create natural disasters and instantly drain moisture from objects. Among all Devil Fruit abilities, even if it wasn't T0, it was at least T1.

Unfortunately, precisely because that ability was so powerful, Crocodile had always focused on developing it and neglected his Haki training.

Combined with his appearing too early in the story, that had left him a victim of the plot.

Miss Valentine had only dealt with low-level opponents so far and hadn't seen much of the wider world, so she had no idea what this "Haki" Yang Cheng mentioned was.

But after hearing Yang Cheng say that he wouldn't necessarily lose even against Crocodile of the Shichibukai, she hesitated for a moment before speaking. "If you're staying, then I'm not leaving either."

Yang Cheng: (･_･???

"I already know the boss's secret. Even if I'm not his main target, he won't let me off, will he?

Rather than running off alone and getting hunted down by Mr. 1 and the others, I'd be better off sticking with you.

Didn't you just say you had a decent chance of beating the boss as long as you weren't in a desert kingdom like Alabasta?

Then if you take him down here, not only will we not have to run, we can take over all of Baroque Works.

I've been sick of Mr. 2 and that pig of an old woman, Mr. Christmas, for ages!"

"Once you beat the boss and become President of Baroque Works, wouldn't that make me the Vice President?

Then I'll make them call me Lady Vice President... no, I'll make them call me Queen!"

Watching Miss Valentine laugh shrilly as she lost herself in her fantasies, Yang Cheng could only stare at her, speechless.

Meanwhile, when Vivi heard that Yang Cheng intended to stay and fight Crocodile, and that he even had a chance of winning, she kept thanking him over and over.

Whatever his reasons, if Yang Cheng really could defeat Crocodile, he would be a great benefactor to everyone in Alabasta.

The distance between Alabasta and Whiskey Peak wasn't particularly great, but it wasn't short either.

Still, as Whiskey Peak was one of Baroque Works' bases, Crocodile naturally had an Eternal Pose pointing there.

Several days passed before Crocodile and Nico Robin landed on the coast and met Yang Cheng, who had been waiting for them in Whiskey Town.

Miss Valentine, who had previously insisted that Nico Robin would have to call her Queen, lost every trace of her queenly air once Crocodile and Robin actually arrived. She was now hiding in a corner with Vivi and the others, watching the two sides face off.

"Mr. 5, you should know perfectly well why I've come here personally.

Tell me where to find the thing I want, and I'll consider sparing your lives."

Crocodile raised his hands, the golden hook on his left arm gleaming in the sunlight. With a large cigar clenched between his teeth, he puffed out clouds of smoke, looking every inch an underworld boss.

"The thing you're talking about is the Ancient Weapon-Pluton?"

When Yang Cheng openly spoke the name "Pluton," Crocodile's eyes immediately flashed.

Through certain special sources, he had learned that the withered kingdom of Alabasta concealed the whereabouts of the Ancient Weapon Pluton.

But despite spending years laying his plans, he hadn't found a single scrap of information about the ancient weapon in Alabasta.

That was why he had begun to suspect that such an important secret was being guarded by Alabasta's royal family. He had then started plotting to seize the entire kingdom, intending to use it as a stepping stone for his eventual advance into the New World.

"So you really do know about Pluton! Tell me what you know.

I'll keep my word and let you and Miss Valentine leave here alive."

In Crocodile's eyes, Yang Cheng and Miss Valentine were nothing but small fry.

Whether he killed them or not hardly mattered. His priority now was finding Pluton.

"Unfortunately, I'm not too sure where Pluton actually is either."

"Are you playing me? If Pluton

isn't in Alabasta, how would you know I stayed in Alabasta to search for an ancient weapon?

It looks like you won't give me the answers I want until I make you suffer a little."

As Crocodile swept his hooked left arm, sand began swirling around his feet despite the lack of wind, and his gaze turned vicious.

"I don't know where you heard that rumor, but the Ancient Weapon Pluton really isn't in Alabasta.

The secret buried in Alabasta is merely Pluton's whereabouts.

And the inscription recording its location is on a Poneglyph. Since I can't read Poneglyphs, I really don't know where that thing is lying dormant now."

Yang Cheng's account sounded so convincing that it only strengthened Crocodile's belief in the authenticity of his information.

"Where is this Poneglyph you're talking about?"

Crocodile couldn't read Poneglyphs either, but didn't he have his secretary, Nico Robin, right beside him?