"If you're using your hands to protect them, what will you attack me with?!"
Seeing this, Crocodile sneered mockingly and redoubled his efforts to churn up the sandstorm.
"Who said I only have hands?"
"Can't I use my feet?"
"Gomu Gomu no... White Stamp!"
The giant arms protecting Robin and Cobra stretched back violently, like enormous slingshots, providing Luffy's main body with terrifying propulsion.
Using this force, his body shot out like a cannonball. His right foot, covered in Armament Haki, cleaved through the air like a battleaxe, straight towards Crocodile.
"So fast!"
Crocodile was horrified. The sand wall he hastily conjured shattered like paper under the kick!
He tried to elementize and dodge, but the black foot was too fast, too fierce.
Thwump!
The Haki-wrapped foot slammed hard into Crocodile's chest. He clearly heard the sound of his ribs cracking.
"Gomu Gomu no... White Stamp Gatling!"
No pause. He had to finish this guy now.
With a final, powerful kick, Crocodile flew backwards like a broken kite, blood spraying from his mouth. The kick sent him flying upwards, smashing through layer after layer of the floor and bedrock, finally bursting out through the hole in the Royal Tomb!
Meanwhile, on the battlefield outside Alubarna.
The sounds of slaughter, clashing weapons, roars, and wails interwove. Blood stained the yellow sand.
The war had driven people into a frenzy.
Vivi and the Straw Hat crew charged into the fray, shouting themselves hoarse, trying to stop the bloodshed.
"Stop! Everyone, please stop! Crocodile's plot has been exposed!"
Vivi's voice was pitifully weak amidst the roar of a million people.
"Princess Vivi!"
Pell, covered in wounds, descended from the sky, landing beside Vivi, speaking urgently. "The seeds of hatred and suspicion have taken deep root. No one will listen... But thanks to that Miss Robin's warning, all the bombs in the palace and other areas have been dismantled!"
Vivi was stunned. She hadn't expected Robin to do that.
But now wasn't the time to dwell on it.
"They have to hear my voice!"
"I have an idea."
Ace pointed towards the highest ruined structure in the center of the battlefield. "Please take us up there."
Are they the princess's companions?
Without hesitation, Pell transformed into a white falcon and, carrying Vivi and Ace, soared into the sky.
Standing at the vantage point, looking down at the hellish, meat-grinder battlefield below, Ace's eyes narrowed. His right arm instantly turned into raging flames, which he swung upward violently.
"Hiken!!"
A massive pillar of fire shot skyward like an inverted waterfall of flame, exploding overhead in the dim battlefield sky.
The intense light and deafening roar instantly drew the attention of almost everyone on the battlefield.
There was a method like this?
Vivi was momentarily stunned, then hurriedly thanked Ace.
Ace smiled. "No need for thanks. Just take good care of my little brother from now on."
Vivi didn't have time to ponder the meaning in Ace's eyes right then.
She had something more important to do.
The fighting involuntarily halted for an instant.
Vivi seized this fleeting opportunity, mustering all her strength to send her voice across the battlefield: "The war is over!"
"Crocodile's conspiracy has been exposed! He is the one who caused the drought and started this war! My father never betrayed us!
Put down your weapons, fellow people of Alabasta!"
Her voice, choked with tears, was filled with undeniable sincerity and power, clearly reaching every ear.
Soldiers, rebels... all looked up in confusion at the familiar figure on the high platform.
The war... is over?
At that moment, a figure suddenly plummeted from the sky. Crocodile fell like a broken ragdoll, crashing heavily onto the sand and kicking up a cloud of dust.
He struggled to rise, but spat up several mouthfuls of blood and could no longer move.
"Mr. Crocodile?"
"Why is he here, and in such a state?"
"Could what Princess Vivi said be true?"
"Look, over there... it seems to be the Marines."
The rebels and soldiers watched, bewildered, as columns of Marines filed into the area.
"Sir Crocodile!"
Tashigi led the Marine troops, quickly surrounding him. Swords were drawn, rifles aimed. "You are suspected of conspiring to overthrow a World Government member nation, inciting a war on the scale of millions, abusing your authority as a Warlord of the Sea... We hereby formally announce the revocation of your title and privileges as a Warlord of the Sea. You are under arrest!"
Listening to the pronouncement, looking at the Alabastan people around him who were gradually ceasing their fight, gazing at him with hatred and scorn, the last glimmer of light in Crocodile's eyes went out.
He was defeated. Utterly defeated.
Crocodile opened his somewhat clouded eyes. "I lost... beaten by a man with that 'quality'..."
He murmured, looking up at the sky.
This time, it was truly over.
Deep within the Royal Tomb.
Luffy released the white wispy state, setting Cobra down. Only then did he notice something was wrong with Robin, who was still in his arms.
Her face was pale, her lips tinged with purple.
Luffy asked urgently, "Robin, what's wrong?"
Robin gave a weak smile, lifting her arm, the one scratched by the golden hook, now blackened and swollen. "It seems I was accidentally nicked by Crocodile's poison hook."
Looking at the sand and stones constantly falling around them and the tomb on the verge of total collapse, her tone held a sense of resignation. "Just leave me here, Luffy. Take His Majesty and get out of here."
She didn't really have much will to survive left.
Cobra walked over, his expression complex. "If you can read that script, you should know that stone records the location of an Ancient Weapon."
"That's not what I want.
I want to know the true 'history' recorded in the Poneglyphs scattered across the world. The history of the Void Century. Nothing else matters.
For twenty years, I've been searching. There are no more leads. This was my last hope. My hope is gone. So... nothing matters anymore.
I chose this path... I'm already tired. Dying here is fitting, I suppose.
I... I just wanted to know the history."
Luffy glared at her, gritting his teeth. "I'm not letting a nakama die right in front of me!"
Everyone had their own steadfast belief.
Why did people always say they wanted to die in front of him?
If you died, you'd have nothing, wouldn't you?
This wasn't about the plan anymore.
It wasn't because he 'needed' Robin for some plan. He simply didn't want Robin to die. It was that straightforward.
"Nakama?"
Robin's gaze shifted slightly, settling on Luffy's face, etched with anxiety.
Meeting them at the end... seems like it was a good thing.
She thought of Saul, of Dr. Clover... The giant friend's words seemed to echo in her ears.
"The sea is vast. You will definitely find nakama who are willing to protect you."
But...
Luffy ignored her melancholy and immediately started rummaging through her clothes.
***
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