"Did he become like that to save you?"
Robin looked at the withered, mummy-like figure that had completely lost his sanity. She glanced in the direction she had taken Vivi and made this guess.
In truth, Robin wasn't wrong. Since setting sail, Tom had faced many crises, but never one like this—watching helplessly as a companion was taken away, powerless to stop it. To him, it was an immense blow.
It could be said that Tom's actions were indeed largely driven by his desire to save Vivi.
The first time Tom officially fought Crocodile, he was pushed to the brink. None of the enemies he had faced before had pushed him so far into a corner, ultimately forcing him to use an extreme method to unleash his potential and find a sliver of hope in the abyss.
The reason Robin had returned was also because she wanted to see how someone who valued their companions would react when faced with overwhelming power.
At first, Robin thought Tom was dead. In her view, it was perfectly normal for Tom to die at Crocodile's hands. But when that reality actually presented itself, she was still somewhat disappointed.
Twenty years ago, there had been someone who was willing to sacrifice their life to protect her. But after that, Robin, only eight years old, never experienced being protected again. Her life since then had been nothing but betrayal and escape.
Gradually, Robin began to doubt. No one in this world would risk their life to protect a companion. Even someone you once trusted might betray you the next second, plunging you into an abyss of no return.
That was why she wanted to see, after Vivi was taken, how Tom would face the powerful Crocodile.
And then she saw the "mummy" that had lost its sanity—Tom. When his withered, branch-like hand reached up from the ground and grabbed her foot, watching him crawl out of the sand like a corpse, even Robin, standing in the scorching noon heat, felt a chill run down her spine.
Robin wasn't the type to fear mummies or ghosts. She was a woman who had crawled through endless darkness.
But when she saw the bloody red in Tom's eyes as he emerged from the sand, she could clearly sense the will to survive hidden in those eyes, as well as an overwhelming murderous intent that made one shudder.
"So what if it's as you say?"
Vivi didn't understand what Robin was thinking. When Tom started charging at her like a madman, she wanted to call out to him. But Robin wouldn't give her the chance to speak.
"He's trying to save you, but now he doesn't even recognize you."
Hearing Robin's words, Vivi immediately cut her off. "He's staked everything he has to fight! You can't possibly understand the feeling of heartbreak when someone risks everything to save you, even their own life!"
Vivi didn't know exactly what Tom had done to turn himself into that inhuman, ghost-like state. But she knew that a man who had lost so much water his body was shriveled up, who could barely stand, was still fighting desperately. And that huge, mountain-like lizard that had emerged from the sand in front of the maddened Tom—she had feared for him. But the lizard was torn to shreds by the enraged Tom in an instant. Vivi was terrified, but also heartbroken.
Hearing Vivi's words, Robin was silent for a moment. Then, without speaking, she turned and headed back toward Rainbase.
Luffy and the others were still on their way to Rainbase. Along the way, Usopp wanted to drink the water Toto had given Luffy, but Luffy stubbornly refused, saying it was important water and couldn't be drunk casually.
To set an example, Luffy himself didn't drink the small bucket of water Toto had given him.
Nami found this very strange. She hadn't expected Luffy to have moments of restraint. Luffy unceremoniously told her she was being rude, and said it twice.
After hearing Chopper talk about Tom, Nami felt very uneasy. She wanted to find something to do to distract herself. So during the journey, she helped Luffy tuck the blank paper Ace had given him into the band of his straw hat.
Sanji also came over to join the fun, saying his pants had a hole and asking Nami to mend them. Seeing that Sanji's pants were perfectly fine, Nami simply punched him into oblivion.
"Sanji, are you okay?"
Chopper saw Sanji lying twisted in the sand and hurried over to check.
"This is the baptism of love. I'm so happy."
Sanji lay in the sand with a dazed, drunken expression, speaking foolishly.
"No, I think you just got punched."
Usopp said bluntly.
"Yeah, I think so too."
Chopper agreed.
Around mid-afternoon the next day, Luffy and the others finally arrived at Rainbase.
Since Usopp and the others had drunk all their water the previous night, and Luffy stubbornly refused to drink the water Toto had given him, they were all parched after a day of travel. As soon as they reached Rainbase, they ran into a small shop to get water.
Luffy and Usopp burst into the shop, loudly shouting for the owner to bring them several buckets of water. They didn't notice Smoker and Tashigi sitting nearby.
Tashigi had been asking Smoker why they came to Rainbase. Smoker said it was just his intuition. Then he noticed Luffy and Usopp swaggering in as if he were invisible.
Luffy and Usopp were enjoying their water, saying how good it was and that they should take several buckets back for the others, when they sensed someone watching them. They saw Smoker and Tashigi staring at them. Their eyes nearly popped out, and they spat water all over Smoker and Tashigi.
"Run! Take the water too!"
"Okay!"
Without a second thought, Luffy and Usopp each grabbed two buckets of water and ran out of the shop.
"Damn it! I won't let them get away!"
Smoker wiped his face and immediately gave chase.
Tashigi was about to join Smoker in chasing Luffy and the others when the shop owner grabbed her.
It turned out Luffy and the others had drunk their fill without paying a single berry. So Tashigi kindly paid their bill.
Zoro and the others were resting in a shady spot. Sanji wondered if sending Luffy and Usopp to buy water was a bad idea.
Nami thought they were just buying supplies and would probably be fine.
Zoro said those two would likely cause a lot of trouble and they should be prepared.
Sure enough, no sooner had Zoro spoken than Luffy and Usopp came running back with a crowd of Marines.
Seeing the trouble, Zoro and the others immediately ran. When Chopper returned from relieving himself, the spot where everyone had been was empty.
As they fled, Zoro noticed many people holding photos and watching them from the streets and buildings. He realized they had been spotted by Baroque Works as soon as they entered Rainbase.
Their cover was blown. So Luffy decided to go straight to Crocodile.
With everyone together as a big target, they split up, planning to meet at Crocodile's casino.
Smoker's main target was Luffy. He hadn't seen Tom, nor had he seen Vivi, who was usually with Luffy. He found it a bit strange but didn't dwell on it, deciding to catch Luffy first.
Without Smoker, the other Marines chasing the crew had bad luck. For example, the ones chasing Sanji—when he saw Smoker wasn't following, he stopped running and beat them all soundly.
Zoro was about to stop and deal with the Marines when he saw Tashigi, and his fighting spirit instantly dropped to zero.
Zoro didn't want to fight Tashigi at all; they had already crossed swords before. But Tashigi said that last time, Zoro hadn't actually cut her, so they hadn't decided a winner.
So similar. Too similar.
The more Zoro looked at Tashigi, the more he thought she looked almost exactly like Kuina, whom he had known as a child. Unable to take it anymore, he covered his eyes and pointed at Tashigi. "Don't talk to me with that face!"
"Are you mocking me again? Or are you looking down on me again?!"
Seeing Zoro's attitude, Tashigi angrily drew her sword, ready to fight him right there.
But Zoro wouldn't give her the chance. Seeing she was about to attack, and having no way to deal with her, he turned and ran.
Nami and Usopp weren't targeted by Marines, but they were being chased by Baroque Works Billion-Fold agents. They ran into an alley. As they jumped over boxes and barrels blocking their way, they accidentally knocked them over, luckily knocking out the pursuing agents.
Luffy managed to shake off Smoker with some effort and ran into Nami and Usopp. As the three of them ran toward the largest casino in the city, they also saw Zoro, who had just cut down a large number of Billion-Fold agents.
Although Sanji and Chopper hadn't arrived yet, Luffy and the others decided to go into the casino to find Crocodile.
The moment they burst into the casino, Luffy shouted, "Crocodile! Get out here!"
Even though Luffy shouted loudly, the gamblers inside were too absorbed in their games to pay him any attention. He continued, "I came all the way from Yuba to beat you!"
Seeing that Luffy was about to keep shouting, Nami punched him on the head and told him to stop yelling. Usopp added that Crocodile was the country's hero, and Luffy's behavior would turn the people in the casino against them.
Since Tom and Vivi, who knew what Crocodile looked like, weren't there, Luffy and the others quickly discussed and came up with what they thought was a great idea.
"Crocodile, where are you?"
"Crocodile, where are you?"
Luffy, Usopp, and Nami stopped cursing Crocodile and started shouting in unison.
Zoro was about to tell them not to cause trouble when Smoker caught up again. Luffy and the others had no choice but to run deeper into the casino.
The manager noticed their strange behavior and sent some guards to kick them out. The guards went over, only to be sent flying by Luffy, who had been looking back at Smoker and hadn't noticed them.
Seeing Luffy and the others even beating up the casino guards, many people were scared. Chaos began to break out. The manager was about to send more men to stop them when he received word from Crocodile to lead the group to the VIP room.
Thus, Luffy and the others were warmly received by the casino staff and led to the VIP room.
Luffy and Zoro had no idea what VIP meant. Nami thought it was Crocodile's way of signaling them to come at him.
Zoro preferred straightforwardness. He thought Crocodile was being reasonable—at least they wouldn't waste time searching.
Luffy and the others decided to go to the VIP room to find Crocodile. But when they entered, they found it split into two paths. The left sign said "VIP," and the right sign said "Pirates." At first, Usopp and the others wanted to take the VIP path, but Luffy said pirates should take the pirate path.
So they went right. But after walking a short distance, they found a dead end.
Smoker, chasing from behind, wondered where they had gone. Then, the next moment, he fell down with Luffy and the others.
"I didn't expect to fall for this."
"Whenever I fall into a trap, my urge to swim kicks in."
"No! I hate this!"
"What's going on?!"
The voices of Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, Nami, and Smoker echoed, but their figures were swallowed by darkness.
A few minutes later, Luffy and Usopp stood grimly in a cage.
"What a clever trap."
"Yeah. They're too cunning. Can't be helped."
Luffy and Usopp spoke seriously.
"We could have avoided this if we'd been paying attention. Now we've played right into the enemy's hands. Don't you agree?"
Nami couldn't take it anymore. The enemy had used such a simple trap, and they had all been captured together.
Luffy didn't want to stay cooped up, but since earlier, he had felt weak all over. He was about to collapse.
Usopp thought Luffy was just hungry, but that wasn't the case.
Smoker, sitting behind them, took out the Jitte from his back and attacked Luffy.
"Luffy, watch out!"
Weak and powerless, Luffy was easily knocked down by Smoker.
Seeing Smoker attack, Zoro and the others tensed up, their bodies trembling with nervousness.
Smoker pressed the Jitte's prongs against Luffy's chest. Luffy felt completely powerless, as if he had fallen into the sea.
"What did you do to him?!"
Nami asked Smoker.
"Attached to the prongs of this Jitte is a substance called Seastone. It's a mysterious mineral that only exists in certain seas. Though there are many unknowns about it, it emits the same energy as the sea. You could think of it as the sea in solid form."
Smoker's words explained why Luffy was too weak to resist.
According to Smoker, all the prison bars at Marine Headquarters were made of Seastone to prevent Devil Fruit users from escaping. The bars of the cage they were in were also made of Seastone.
That was why Luffy, who had touched the bars earlier, felt weak. Even Smoker, who could turn into smoke, couldn't get out.
They were all in the same cage now. Smoker didn't attack Luffy again.
After being locked up for a while, Luffy and Usopp got bored and started playing games.
"Imitate Sanji!"
Luffy mimicked Sanji's smoking posture, his tone, and even his expression. "Did you eat the meat?!"
Seeing Luffy's impression, Usopp clapped happily, laughing so hard tears nearly came out.
"Now imitate Tom!"
Luffy imitated Tom, who always got lost. He sat on the ground, rubbing his chin. "Time to throw a stone."
"But there's no stone here."
Usopp spoke up.
"Then use hair instead."
Luffy imitated Tom's tone and manner, speaking naturally.
"Great idea! If Tom were here, he'd definitely do the same."
Usopp was laughing so hard he nearly fell over.
Then Luffy plucked one hair from his head, and one arm hair and one leg hair from Usopp. Then he looked troubled. "Four directions need four hairs of different lengths. But we're still one short."
"Oh, I know."
Luffy had another idea. Using Tom's usual tone, he asked Nami, "Can I borrow an eyebrow?"
"Hahaha! You really understand Tom!"
Usopp's stomach hurt from laughing.
"You two... be serious!"
Nami's lovely eyebrows twitched. Finally unable to take it anymore, she punched the two troublemakers into a pulp. "We've been captured! Do you not understand the situation?!"
"Because we can't get out, we're bored and need something to do."
Luffy held the bump on his head and said to Nami.
"You've got it wrong! The fact that we can't get out is exactly why the situation is serious!"
Nami said to Luffy. "At this rate, we might all be killed!"
Suddenly, loud snoring was heard. Nami immediately punched Zoro, who was fast asleep. "And you! How can you sleep at a time like this?!"
"Oh, is it morning already?"
Zoro rubbed his sleepy eyes, a bump on his head, and spoke.
"It's already noon!"
Nami said to Zoro, exasperated.
"Such an energetic young lady. You mentioned a man named Tom earlier, didn't you?"
A low, slightly hoarse voice came from nearby. Luffy and the others were startled. Smoker, who had been resting, heard the voice and his face darkened immediately. "Crocodile!"
"What? Crocodile?"
"He's one of the Seven Warlords?"
Luffy and Zoro remained relatively calm upon learning Crocodile was there, but Nami and Usopp's jaws dropped.
"Is Tom... is he okay?"
Nami calmed herself and asked.
"He's dead. I buried him myself in the desert. How about that? Wasn't I merciful?"
As Crocodile spoke, he turned his chair to face the cage, looking at Luffy and the others inside. His words rang clearly in everyone's ears.
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T/N :
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