"See you later, Grandpa Toto! You can be sure we'll defeat the bastard responsible for all the unrest in Alabasta!"
"Princess Vivi, please be careful and don't take unnecessary risks," said old Toto, his face etched with worry.
"Don't worry, Grandpa Toto, I'll be back safe and sound!" Vivi said confidently. After all, seeing Rody's strength, she was absolutely certain he would crush Crocodile.
...
Vivi waved as the group said their goodbyes to old Toto. The SUV's engine roared softly, and without looking back, Rody accelerated, leaving the ruined, deserted village behind.
The journey was silent. Only the music from the speakers broke the stillness of the desert. Through the windows, the landscape stretched to infinity, bathed in the golden light of the sun.
Rody smiled as he gripped the steering wheel firmly. He loved that feeling: the freedom of the open road, the rhythm of the music, the dry wind hitting the windshield… it was as if the whole world shrank to just him and the immense sand dune stretching to the horizon.
Two hours passed before anything changed. On the horizon, a line of lights began to twinkle, growing brighter and brighter, until a huge city emerged before their eyes.
"Wow…!" Nami exclaimed, pressing her face against the windshield, completely amazed. "Is this… Rainbase?" she asked, her voice filled with excitement.
"It's so prosperous! It's like the riots and the drought never reached here!" Nami exclaimed again, still in awe.
The SUV plunged into the city, passing gleaming houses and bustling streets. The hustle and bustle, the noise, and the lights enveloped them immediately, as if they had stepped into another world.
"It's like being in Vegas," Rody thought with interest as he observed Rainbase.
"Of course it would be," Vivi murmured with a hint of sadness. "After all, this is Crocodile's base camp. It's only natural that he wouldn't allow his base to be affected by the social unrest… or by the drought plaguing Arabasta."
Hearing Vivi's murmur, Nami immediately recalled the difficult situation Arabasta was facing.
A pang of remorse washed over her; she felt bad for having been so surprised moments before.
"I-I'm sorry, Vivi… I didn't mean to sound insensitive," she said hurriedly, turning to face her, her face filled with guilt.
But Vivi quickly shook her head, offering a faint smile.
"Don't worry, Nami. It's okay," she replied gently, smiling.
Vivi didn't blame Nami too much; After all, she had already told him she came from the East Blue. It was normal for him to be surprised to see a place like this, so he didn't mind at all.
Seeing that Vivi didn't seem to mind, Nami sighed in relief and they continued on their way.
At one point, Rody and his group got out of the SUV, which Bumblebee quickly retrieved and put in his enormous mouth. From there, they began walking the rest of the way.
...
Guided by Vivi, the group made their way through the bustling market, surrounded by voices, music, and the clinking of coins. The aromas of spices, tobacco, and alcohol mingled in the air as they made their way through the crowd to their destination: the tallest, largest, and most luxurious building in the entire city.
Bumblebee was the first to move. With a kick, he opened the enormous casino doors, which crashed against the walls with a deafening roar. Then, with his hands on his hips and an arrogant smile, he shouted:
"Attention, everyone! This place has been requisitioned by our captain! If you don't want to die, you'd better get out of here right now!"
"That's right! Exactly! Why don't you leave now? x2!" Leo and José repeated, mimicking Bee's tone with exaggerated confidence.
Rody and the others followed them inside. The interior was dazzling: golden lamps, red velvet carpets, and mountains of chips piled on the tables.
At first glance, there were about three or four hundred players; counting the dealers and staff, the number easily exceeded five hundred.
The murmur of the crowd froze. All eyes turned toward the intruders.
The manager, the bellhops, and the casino players were silent for a moment, completely stunned by Bee's explosive entrance and arrogant words.
The echo of Bee's words still resonated through the casino, momentarily plunging it into a deathly silence. Suddenly, laughter erupted.
"Ha!"
"Hahahaha!"
"Hahahaha…!" One of the casino employees couldn't contain himself any longer. He doubled over with laughter, clutching his stomach, and began to roar with laughter as he said, "You, Tin Man, and those two weirdos with you… have you come here to die or what?"
Another player stood up, still holding a drink, and smiled mockingly.
"Do you have any idea who owns this casino?"
The laughter spread through the tables like a wave.
"Ignorant fool! This casino belongs to Crocodile-sama, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea!" one of the men added, a mocking smile spreading across his face.
Laughter echoed throughout the hall. The players and casino employees stared at Bee and his group as if they were witnessing a ridiculous spectacle.
When Crocodile became the hero of Alabasta, he had single-handedly driven off countless pirates. Most of those present had seen him fight, knew his power, and trusted him implicitly.
In their eyes, no one in this world could stand up to Crocodile and survive.
In the past, other equally arrogant, or even more so, types had tried to cause trouble at the Rain Dinners Casino.
It was no wonder; after all, this was the largest casino in Alabasta, with hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue every day. It was only natural that it attracted all sorts of greedy people.
But however loud or greedy they were, their strength never matched their words.
Crocodile didn't even need to intervene: the casino's own thugs were enough to make them disappear.
That's why no one took Bee's words seriously. To them, he was just another idiot blinded by greed.
"Another brave soul looking for death..." muttered the casino manager, a chilling smile on his face.
It was clear the casino manager was no novice in these situations. His eyes scanned Bee and his group, assessing their every move with chilling precision.
With a swift gesture, he looked at one of the guards, raised his hand, and, in an authoritative tone that echoed throughout the room, shouted to the thugs patrolling the casino:
"Kill them all and leave no one alive!"
Upon hearing the manager's order, the thugs moved instantly, clearing tables and chairs in their path.
Reaching Rody's group, the leader of the thugs saw Vivi and Nami's plump figures and ordered in a lewd tone:
"Hehehe, you're in the same group as those three losers, aren't you?"
"Kill all the men except for those three women." "How lucky we are to be able to have some fun with such delicious girls today."
Nami and Vivi, seeing and hearing this, showed disgust on their beautiful faces, but the thugs didn't care about those looks. Instead, they began to whisper even more among themselves, filled with excitement as they imagined how much fun they would have with these two beauties.
At that moment, one of them frowned, looked at the man the orange-haired girl was holding, and when he studied him closely, his pupils contracted.
"Boss, wait... just a moment, that man with the black markings on his face, I think I've seen him somewhere..." "Oh, no, now I remember, it's...!"
Rody, impatient with the load of crap this group of creeps was spewing, waved his hand impatiently.
DISMANTLE
SWOOOSH!
Several terrifying, invisible slashes ripped through everyone in the casino. Rody's precision was lethal. If his precision was already lethal, now with Observation Haki: his slashes were so precise he could cut anyone he wanted, even the tiniest ant could be sliced.
PLAF!
PLAF!
The invisible slashes instantly sliced everyone in half, causing blood to rain down everywhere. Everyone except the manager was cut in half, and a lake of blood began to form in the casino.
"Um... What just happened? Why did this happen?" Vivi murmured, her face contorted with horror at the bloody scene unfolding before her eyes.
Rody looked at the manager, soaked in the blood of everyone present, and said coldly, "Go, call your boss, Crocodile. Be quick, or I'll find you and cut you into hundreds of thousands of pieces."
The manager looked around and saw a pool of blood forming beneath him. He looked up and saw the gruesome scene. His body began to tremble uncontrollably, and he didn't know what to do. But as soon as she heard Rody, she looked up and saw those indifferent eyes. A thought clicked in her mind, and she carefully replayed the demon's words in her head.
"I'll cut you into hundreds of pieces if you're not quick." The next moment, without looking back, she ran swiftly toward Crocodile's office. As she ran, she vomited from the stench of feces and blood, but she didn't stop and ran faster than ever.
Rody turned to look at Vivi and asked indifferently, "What's going on?"
"Mr. Rody," she replied, her voice trembling and her face pale, "with the exception of a few people in the casino who are Crocodile's subordinates, everyone else here is just ordinary people, normal citizens of Arabasta."
"You could have killed only Crocodile's men. Why did you kill the others too?" "—Vivi stammered to Rody, as pale as a ghost, staring at the bloodied corpses, severed in two, on the casino floor.
"Ha, ha, ha!" Seeing Vivi's horrified expression, Rody smirked. "You ask me why? The truth is, I don't even know myself. Maybe… because they were in my way, or maybe I simply don't care if they're ordinary people, civilians, whatever. What difference does it make?"
"After all, they're just ants I can crush whenever I want. Who dares say anything to me?" At that moment, Rody's face was adorned with a cruel smile, and he stared intently into Vivi's eyes, pronouncing each word without remorse, as if human life held no value.
"How… how can you say that…?" Vivi stammered fearfully, her eyes never leaving Rody's.
"They're people, their lives matter, definitely not the ants you're talking about," Vivi said, staring at Rody, her gaze gradually shifting from fear to anger and determination.
SQUEEZE
"Aghhm!"
Suddenly, Rody reached out, grabbed Vivi by the neck, and lifted her up in front of him, causing her to gasp in surprise.
"Princess Vivi!" Seeing Rody grab and strangle Vivi, despite having witnessed the horror of Rody killing hundreds of people in an instant, and knowing they stood no chance against him and that acting would be like hitting a mountain with a stick, Igaram and Pell stepped forward, ready to stop Rody, even if it meant risking their lives.
However, Sebas, who was standing to one side, suddenly extended his staff to stop them.
Bee also transformed his hand into a cannon and pointed it at them. The next instant, the cannon lit up with a blue light that radiated intense heat.
"Get out of the way!" they both exclaimed in unison.
"You two, Lord Rody has no intention of killing Princess Vivi now. If you decide to do anything, you will not only lose your lives, but you could also cause the princess's death, so stay put," Sebas warned, his face more serious than ever.
At that moment, Vivi, even though she was beginning to lose consciousness, gestured to Igaram and Pell, indicating that they shouldn't do anything.
"Princess Vivi?!"
Although Igaram and Pell disagreed, they obeyed the order and reluctantly stopped, their bodies tense. Even after stopping, they didn't take their eyes off Rody; after all, they were afraid he'd snap Princess Vivi's neck at any moment.
"Don't be like that, Rody," Nami warned, tugging at Rody's sleeve to bring up the topic of money. "Vivi still owes us 15 million Baileys," she added, but at that moment she was looking at Vivi with concern.
Ignoring Nami's attempts to dissuade him, Rody slowly brought his lips close to Vivi's ear and whispered:
"I like the look in your eyes. I just killed a few hundred insignificant ants. Tell me, if I killed everyone in this country except you, what would your expression be?"
"Hahaha, just thinking about it gets me so excited!"
"Hahaha…!"
Upon hearing Rody's demonic whisper, Vivi paled with fear. The next instant, her body began to tremble. Seeing Vivi's pale face, Rody became even more excited. His gaze traveled over her slender body, and a desire for possession began to consume him.
Vivi was about to say something when footsteps echoed from the back of the casino.