Crocodile barely raised his head and looked at Gawain, whose upper body was naked and covered with scars, and Kizaru, who was standing lazily beside him. He knew in his heart that there was no chance of escaping today.
But at this moment, there was no anger in Crocodile's heart, only indescribable joy.
He suddenly remembered why he had hesitated before entering the tomb to obtain Pluton.
He's unwilling to do that!
Why are some people born to stand on top of the world while others are destined to be crushed in the dust?
Is this fair? Of course not!
Thinking of this, there seemed to be a fire burning in Crocodile's eyes. Then he turned to look at Gawain and said: "I will take off Whitebeard's head!"
"I will absolutely take off Whitebeard's head!"
"Hahahahahaha!"
The dry, hoarse laughter echoed in the desert, even drowning out the whistling wind around.
Kizaru looked at the scene coldly.
The lenses on his nose reflected the moonlight, completely blocking his eyes and making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.
Only a murmur came out from Kizaru's mouth: "Ko~wa~I~ne~"
"Now I believe you can fight that monster, Douglas Bullet, to that extent."
"But."
"The only fate that awaits you is to be imprisoned in Impel Down. No one can escape from there."
"No!"
Crocodile stopped laughing and said firmly: "Someone escaped from there."
"Golden Lion!"
"If he can be the first, why can't I be the second?!"
"You can certainly be the second one."
Gawain, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke. He lowered his head and looked at Crocodile with a hint of admiration in his eyes.
To be honest, although Crocodile is a villain, he is one of Gawain's most admired villains.
The creation of the Cross Guild and the reverse bounty on the Marines was a move that hit the nail on the head as unrest was just beginning to emerge in the New World, and it directly hit the weak spot of the Marines and the World Government.
From this point of view, Crocodile can almost be regarded as one of the top chess players of this era.
"If you can do it, show me!"
"Snort!"
Crocodile closed his eyes, but the corners of his mouth gradually widened: "I'm not going to prove anything to you, but if it's in my interest, I'm going to do it, simple as that."
"I'm really looking forward to what the blood of those tyrants tastes like."
"Hahahahaha."
After a few laughs, Crocodile lost consciousness. His body had already reached its limit. He was still alive, but he was only holding on to his last breath with his own will.
After a long silence, Kizaru picked up Crocodile with one hand and turned back to Alabasta.
Gawain looked in the direction where Kizaru had disappeared, took out a Den Den Mushi, and conveyed his orders to Gin and Kuro, who were acting separately.
"Don't go here!"
"Return to Nanohana city and wait!"
Hundreds of kilometers away.
Gin and his group took shelter from the sandstorm in an oasis and replenished their scarce freshwater resources.
After being exposed to the high temperature for several consecutive days, the skin of the three people has become much darker, but their eyes still reveal a sharp, murderous intent.
"Let's go back to Nanohana city."
Gin sat on a piece of rubble while looking at the Den Den Mushi in his hand, with confusion in his eyes.
The same confusion appeared to Zoro beside him: "Did he encounter a strong enemy?"
"Golden Lion?"
Zoro quietly tightened the three long swords at his waist.
His teeth were clenched so tightly that his cheeks bulged high, and his eyes were filled with deep resentment.
This situation where the captain has to bear everything alone and face a strong enemy because his strength is not enough is something he cannot bear both emotionally and personally.
How could he become the strongest swordsman in the world if he was always protected?
But he knew that he could not handle such an opponent.
Previously, it took the combined strength of four people to defeat Who's-Who, then the more powerful Golden Lion…
How should he fight him?
"We are still too weak."
Zoro put down the sword in his hand dejectedly, but his eyes were burning at this moment: "If I want to grow faster, I need stronger opponents, opponents so strong that I can't defeat them even if I put all my strength into it!"
"I don't want to be a burden to that man's progress."
"Ah."
Lucci took off his hat, brushed off the dust, and showed the same look as Zoro: "I feel the same way."
"Stop talking nonsense."
Gin said calmly: "According to the captain's orders, we should retreat."
"Even if we really have to face an opponent like Golden Lion together with him, we are still a pure burden to that man!"
Gin pronounced these words with great emphasis.
So much so that Lucci and Zoro both looked sideways, and they realized that this man was probably the most unwilling person in the entire White Knight Pirate.
The three of them said nothing. After covering their tracks with the yellow sand, they started their journey back.
Amidst the wind and sand, three figures were moving rapidly under the moon.
After a few seconds,
Bang!
Lucci suddenly stopped. He felt a little uneasy in his heart as if he had overlooked something.
This feeling was very similar to the feeling he had before the CP ambushed him at Whisky Peak.
It's hard to explain, but it makes his scalp tingle.
"What's wrong?"
Gin looked at Lucci in confusion.
"Nothing."
After Lucci pondered for a while without any results, he shook his head and said.
"Let's go."
"Follow the captain's instructions first."
"Um."
… ... ...
A few days later, with the actions of Cobra, Vivi, and Koza, the unrest within Alabasta was quickly put down.
As piece of evidence after piece of evidence was presented to Kizaru, he realized what Crocodile had done to this country.
However, Kizaru could see that Cobra was intentionally hiding something.
But the kingdom of Alabasta is, after all, one of the twenty countries that established the World Government. It is not easy to get too involved, and he might get into big trouble if he's not careful.
Based on the principle that less trouble is better than more, Kizaru simply turned a blind eye.
After all, in the past few days, he could see that Cobra might not be a wise and powerful king, but he could empathize with the suffering of the civilians.
This alone is enough to make him better than more than 99% of the kings in this era and at least make the lives of the common people in this country a little better.
The Marines's reinforcement also entered various towns within Alabasta a few days ago to assist the local guards in completely uprooting Baroque Works.
Except for Daz Bonez and his deputy Zala, who managed to escape, the rest of the Baroque Works cadres either died at the hands of Kuro and others or were captured by the Marines and spent time in jail.
Everything is moving in a good direction.
Apart from…