"I heard you sent out the Unlucky Duo?"
After reporting on the task Crocodile had assigned her earlier, Nico Robin asked as though in passing.
"Hmph! Do I need to report to you when I deploy my people?!" Crocodile, whose temper had been particularly foul lately, shot back with a displeased look.
"Of course not." Robin spread her hands. "But this will considerably weaken our control over the Junior Agents. Is that really a good idea?"
Of course Crocodile knew the consequences of doing this, but what choice did he have?!
He could never say that to Nico Robin, however, so Crocodile suppressed his agitation and put on a calm, composed front. "Our plan has reached a stopping point, and our external operations are less frequent than before. The key now is to figure out exactly what Sapphire Star wants to do, and whether he's deliberately targeting us. Compared to the Junior Agents, the senior agents are more important."
"What if... they really are coming after you?" Robin probed in a joking tone. "He defeated a pirate with a bounty of six hundred million. That's higher than the two of ours, even with the late Mr. 1's added in."
"Bounties don't represent strength. All he did was defeat an officer from one of the Four Emperors' crews." Though he did feel a little rattled inside, Crocodile remained outwardly unshakable and shamelessly puffed himself up. "I've fought Whitebeard, one of the Four Emperors."
Robin's heart gave a sudden jolt.
She had no idea that Crocodile's so-called "fight" was essentially no different from "getting thrashed." Though she had heard a little of "Naruto the Cat" from Xie Wen, she had never heard the story of Kakuzu and Hashirama Senju...
So when she heard Crocodile say he had fought Whitebeard, the one among