After some time, the group finally arrived at Rain Dinners. It appeared to be a casino, but was actually the headquarters of Baroque Works.
Having learned from their previous experience, everyone was much more cautious this time, behaving very properly the entire way. Luffy being particularly well-behaved meant there were no problems!
"Let's go in!" Sanji said after taking a drag of his cigarette.
Upon entering the Rain Dinners, a cacophony of shouts and cries filled their ears, and their eyes were met with countless crowds gathered around different gambling venues, shouting and yelling.
"Where is Crocodile?" Usopp whispered to Vivi.
"I don't know either!" Vivi shook her head. Then she added, "This is my first time here too."
Meanwhile, in a corner of the casino, a woman wearing a hat was talking to a middle-aged man.
"See that group of people? Invite them to the VIP room!"
"But..."
"This is the boss's arrangement!" The middle-aged man was about to say something when the woman's words silenced him.
He could argue with the woman who was the store manager, but he couldn't argue with their boss.
"I understand!" After saying that, the middle-aged man walked towards Luffy and his crew.
The woman, Robin, glanced at Luffy and his Luffy again, and only breathed a sigh of relief when she was sure the figure that had terrified her was no longer there.
Facing him last time was incredibly stressful.
"Looks like he really was captured by Aokiji!" Robin murmured to herself.
The news of such an intense battle erupting at the Nanohana quickly spread throughout Alabasta.
Even Crocodile was terrified when he learned that Aokiji was there, and only felt a little relieved after hearing that Aokiji had left by ship not long after.
He later visited the Nanohana fields and saw that the entire city had been destroyed in the battle, with traces of ice everywhere.
Even after being exposed to the sun for more than a day, the ice only showed signs of melting slightly.
This also made him clearly realize the strength of a Admiral, and that he was absolutely no match for him.
At the same time, Xia Chen became curious about Xia Chen, who was able to fight Aokiji. When he learned that Xia Chen was also a member of the Straw Hat Pirates and had been defeated by Aokiji, Crocodile even had the urge to thank Aokiji.
Based on the intelligence he has gathered during this period, he now knows that the Straw Hat Pirates harbor great hostility towards him and are on their way to stop his plans.
Having such a powerful fighter in the Straw Hat Pirates would have been a real headache for him, but now, Aokiji has solved that problem for him.
It seems I should put in a good word for Aokiji at meetings from now on...
Rewinding to the present, while Luffy and his Luffy were still wondering where Crocodile was, the middle-aged man walked up to them and said:
"Our boss is waiting for you all in the VIP room over there!"
Following his directions, everyone looked and saw a door framed in gold with the letters VIP on it.
And there was a group of greeters at the entrance, posing to welcome them in.
"Oh, so arrogant? Isn't this basically telling us to bring it on?" Zoro said, raising an eyebrow.
" Crocodile, here I come!" Luffy shouted as he charged toward the door.
"That idiot!" Sanji couldn't help but sigh and mutter to himself.
"Let's go! Follow Luffy!" Zoro Luffy.
Then everyone followed behind and walked over.
The moment they entered the door, they were greeted by a long corridor, at the end of which were two signs.
One says "VIP", the other says "One Piece".
"Should we go through the VIP or the pirate route?" Usopp asked, puzzled.
"We're pirates, so of course we'll follow the pirate path!" Luffy answered without hesitation.
"What kind of pirates are you? This is obviously a trap!" Sanji said irritably.
"No, I'm going to take the pirate path!" With that, the group arrived at the end of the road, Luffy turned directly into the pirate path.
Usopp and Zoro followed closely behind.
"Huh? Why is this a dead end?" Luffy asked, scratching his head in confusion.
Before they could react, the floor beneath their feet suddenly opened up, and Luffy and his two companions fell in instantly.
Sanji and the others, on the other hand, were too slow to reach that spot and were still up there.
Seeing this, Sanji hurriedly shouted, " Luffy, grab me!"
"Oh!" After experiencing a period of weightlessness, Luffy finally came to his senses, stretching out his left arm to encircle Zoro and Usopp, while his right hand reached directly upwards towards Sanji.
"Hahaha... That was dangerous!" Luffy laughed as Luffy up, completely unaware that a fist was already poised to strike from behind his head.
"Bang!"
Luffy gets punched by Nami again.
"I told you to play it safe! You still insisted on choosing pirates, and you fell for such a simple trap!"
"Alright, let's go the other way. Be careful, although the other path is clearly a trap, there's no guarantee it's safe!"
"So... we need to be careful!"
After saying that, Nami looked at Luffy and said, "Go ahead and scout ahead!"
"Okay!"
Then a strange thing happened: Luffy ahead of everyone else, while the people behind him were at least ten meters away.
The main tactic is "better to die than see your fellow Daoists perish!" The captain is just there to be sold!
However, nothing unexpected happened on the rest of the way, and they passed through the passage smoothly, arriving at a huge underground room.
The room contains a conference table and several chairs.
Just then, a slightly hoarse male voice came from ahead.
"I didn't expect you guys to be so clever, not falling into my trap!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the chair at the very front slowly turned around, revealing a man wearing a black cloak with a stitched line on his face sitting there with his legs crossed.
Crocodile!
Upon seeing this man, Vivi's face turned grim.
"Oh? Princess Vivi, why are you looking at me with such hostility? Have I done something to offend you?"
" Crocodile! Are you still going to put on an act now? I've investigated everything! The natural disasters, rebellions, and Dance Powder incidents that have occurred in Alabasta over the years are all your doing!"
Why are you treating Alabasta like this? Have we offended you?
Vivi screamed loudly, her voice filled with hatred for Crocodile.
"Hahaha..."
Upon hearing this, Crocodile suddenly burst into laughter.
"What's so funny?" Vivi said angrily.
"Isn't it funny? Don't you find it amusing to see you all being played like idiots?"
"That's right, I did all of this. I also orchestrated the conflict between the Royal Army and the Rebel Army. Blame your people for not trusting your dear father, the King of Alabasta!"
As for why I did this?
"Hahaha..."