"What kind of monster did he turn into?"
"Are you kidding me? For nothing more than a broom and an orange, he's tearing this place apart! Doesn't he know this casino belongs to Mr. Crocodile?"
The casino staff, emerging from their hiding places after the commotion, heard the words shouted by the completely insane Tom. Their jaws dropped.
No one would ever think that someone would come looking for trouble with Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, over a broom and an orange. It was utterly ridiculous.
In the eyes of those people, given Crocodile's current status and position, dealing with a madman over a broom and an orange was simply beneath him.
But judging by the voice of the mummy-like Tom, he seemed to have a life-or-death grudge against Crocodile. This puzzled the casino staff. Could that broom and orange be some kind of rare treasure?
Otherwise, why would such hatred exist that he would come knocking on the door?
But those people had no idea that Tom, having lost all reason, came to Rainbase and happened to see Vivi and Robin together entering the casino. He subconsciously associated the things he cared about—a broom and oranges—with them, leading to the misunderstanding.
The casino was in shambles, destroyed beyond recognition. In the huge building, not a single intact item remained. Countless gambling chips were scattered on the floor, some embedded in the stone walls. Many of the guards who usually maintained order lay unconscious on the ground.
Rain Dinners, the largest casino in the city, had collapsed. The golden crocodile statue outside, symbolizing Crocodile, lay shattered into several pieces, looking utterly miserable.
A large crowd of people fled the casino with terrified screams. The already crowded streets became even more chaotic. Almost everyone in the city noticed the abnormality.
Sanji and Chopper had been trying to figure out how to get into the casino to find Luffy and the others when they saw a man wielding a long rod—his face withered, his body emaciated beyond belief, covered in blood, looking completely insane—charge toward the casino. Without a word, he split the massive building in half. The two were stunned.
"That's Tom!"
Chopper twitched his nose and said.
"Are you sure that mummy-like guy is him?"
Sanji asked in surprise.
"Yeah. Even though he has a strong bloody smell on him, I recognize his scent. It's exactly the same as Tom's."
Chopper said confidently.
"What the hell happened? How did he end up like this?"
Sanji remembered that when Tom had just charged into the casino, not only was his robe tattered, but it was also stained crimson with blood. From a distance, he could smell the strong stench of blood coming from Tom, thinking he had suffered severe external injuries and lost a lot of blood.
Would losing all his blood make him look like a dried-up mummy?
Sanji, who knew nothing about medicine, made this guess, but Chopper, a professional doctor, immediately dismissed it.
In fact, the blood on Tom's robe wasn't his own—it came from the giant beasts he had torn apart with his bare hands.
That was why Tom had such a strong bloody smell. When he charged into the casino, some people standing close to him caught the pungent odor and even vomited on the spot.
With the nauseating stench of blood emanating from him and his ghastly appearance, Tom looked like an evil ghost emerging from hell. The moment he appeared, everyone in the casino thought he was a demon.
Meanwhile, as Tom was rampaging through the casino, Hina was leading her subordinates toward Rainbase.
Hina came to Rainbase because she had received information that Smoker had gone there, so she followed.
She knew Smoker very well. He wouldn't listen to her advice. And Smoker's target was the Straw Hat crew.
Smoker's intuition for chasing pirates was always accurate. Hina knew this well, so she followed Smoker's trail to Rainbase, hoping to capture Tom alive.
But on the way to Rainbase, she discovered numerous beast carcasses scattered across the desert, along with a large group of giant lizards fleeing.
The lizard corpses were torn apart, their blood staining the yellow desert red. Limbs and body parts lay strewn across the ground like a bloody slaughterhouse. One look was enough to be horrified.
"Captain, what happened here? How did they end up like this?"
A Marine soldier asked in a trembling voice.
"They must have been torn apart alive by someone with immense strength."
Hina carefully examined the wounds on the corpses. She found that the wounds were extremely irregular, not like those made by a sharp blade, leading her to this conclusion.
Meanwhile, after confirming that Tom was still alive, Crocodile decided to deal with Tom himself. He said to Luffy and the others in the cage, "I'll bring that fool who's so eager to die to join you. I hope you won't mind if I bring back his corpse."
Luffy and the others treated Crocodile's words like farting.
Before leaving the underground meeting hall, Crocodile also released the banana crocodiles he had been keeping in the pool and opened the seawater valve, causing water to pour in continuously. Soon, the place would be flooded with seawater, becoming a feeding ground for the banana crocodiles.
"Let's play a game."
Crocodile took out the key that could unlock the cage holding Luffy and the others and, in front of everyone, tossed it into the banana crocodile nest—the pool.
The moment the key was thrown in, one of the banana crocodiles swallowed it in an instant. Many crocodiles swam around in the pool. Soon, Vivi couldn't tell which one had swallowed the key.
"Do you like gambling?"
Crocodile looked down at Vivi from the stairs. "If you want to abandon your comrades, now's your chance. But if you want to stop the rebellion, you'd better leave here now."
After releasing a giant banana crocodile from the pool, Crocodile continued, "A million innocent citizens, or a futureless pirate crew. Your country or your comrades. Which will you choose? The stakes are your decision. But no matter which you choose, the survival rate for both sides is zero. Hahahaha."
"How despicable!"
Nami saw that Crocodile was using them and the impending war between the rebels and the royal army to threaten Vivi, putting her in an impossible situation. She was furious and wanted nothing more than to punch Crocodile into a pulp.
Although Crocodile gave Vivi a choice, that didn't mean he would let her live. Just to be safe, before going outside to deal with Tom, he knocked Vivi unconscious and left her near the banana crocodiles. Then he walked out of the underground meeting hall unhurriedly with Robin.
Seeing the banana crocodiles start crawling toward the unconscious Vivi, Luffy and the others were frantic, shouting her name to wake her up.
But no matter how loudly they shouted, Vivi showed no response. She remained unconscious.
"There's no other choice. Let her try my Stink Bomb Star."
Usopp quickly estimated the gap between the prison bars. He took a stink egg from his bag. The size of the stink egg seemed to match the gap perfectly.
Nevertheless, Usopp used his slingshot to shoot the stink egg precisely beside Vivi, waking her up with the smell.
The moment she opened her eyes, Vivi saw the banana crocodile crawling toward her.
Those banana crocodiles were not only huge but could also swallow ordinary Sea Kings with ease. Against a banana crocodile larger than a small mountain, Vivi had no chance of winning.
Even so, Luffy, trapped in the cage, was cheering her on. "Go, Vivi! Beat it!"
"Hey, that's way too much to ask! It's huge! Vivi can't beat that."
Usopp said to Luffy, then shouted to Vivi, "Run! But you have to come back and save us!"
"Isn't that even harder for her?"
Nami felt that Luffy and Usopp's demands were ridiculous. She immediately said to Vivi, "Leave here first. Find Sanji and Chopper. They're still outside. If you find them, they can save us."
Nami, knowing Tom well, realized something was wrong when she heard him call her "orange." That's why she told Vivi to find Sanji and Chopper. She didn't know exactly what condition Tom was in, but she could vaguely sense that he had truly gone mad.
Vivi knew she couldn't handle the banana crocodiles. She didn't hesitate and ran toward the stairs. But just as she reached the stairs, the banana crocodile behind her lunged, its sharp teeth bared.
With a crash, the stairs were bitten off. Fortunately, Vivi dodged quickly. She looked down at the ferocious banana crocodile and shouted to Luffy and the others in the cage, "Everyone, hold on! I'll find Sanji and the others and come back for you! I will never abandon you!"
After saying this, Vivi ran out of the underground meeting hall without looking back.
Outside, Sanji had originally planned to lure Crocodile out of the casino using Baroque Works Billion-Fold agents. But before he could put his plan into action, Tom, having completely lost his sanity, charged straight into the casino. This drew Crocodile's attention toward Tom, so Sanji's plan changed accordingly.
"Chopper, let's sneak inside while there's chaos and find Luffy and the others."
Sanji saw more and more people pouring out of the casino and said to Chopper.
"What about Tom? I'm worried about him."
As a doctor, Chopper could see at a glance that although Tom's face and body were covered with green stripes that seemed to crawl like living things, his dark purple skin was clearly a symptom of severe poisoning. Judging by Tom's condition, Chopper guessed that Tom had used the method he had mentioned before, forcing out his potential.
That also meant Tom was in grave danger. He could die at any moment from the effects of the poison.
"That stinky fisherman is obviously going after Crocodile. He's not normal right now. If we recklessly approach him, we might make things worse."
Sanji remained relatively calm. After weighing the pros and cons, he said to Chopper, "Here's the plan. I'll go find Luffy and the others. You observe the stinky fisherman from hiding. If you get a chance, help him."
"Remember, his power is much stronger than usual right now. Be careful when you get close to him. Don't get hurt by accident."
Sanji had seen earlier that when Tom split the casino with one swing of his rod, the crack in the ground extended all the way to where he was standing. And he was nearly a hundred meters away.
Tom's swing had such power. Sanji had fought Tom many times and knew that normally, Tom couldn't have that much strength. That's why he gave Chopper this extra warning.
Just as Sanji and Chopper started moving, Tom, still charging into the casino, ran into Crocodile.
Seeing his casino nearly reduced to rubble by Tom, Crocodile's face darkened. "I didn't expect you to still be alive, even after being poisoned and buried in the sand. Are you that eager to die with your comrades? They're waiting for you in a cage behind me."
"Them?"
Tom's mind was in chaos. All he could feel was excruciating pain throughout his body. But when he heard Crocodile's words, he somehow managed to say, "What did you do to Meat Hat, Slingshot Nose, Algae Sword, Pervert Brow, and Little Reindeer?!"
"I have no idea what you're talking about. But if you mean your comrades, they won't live much longer. Just like you. I can guarantee that."
Crocodile still had a large cigar in his mouth. As soon as he finished speaking, Tom charged toward him. The slightly dim purple pupils in his eyes gradually deepened in color as he swung his rod.
Just as Tom and Crocodile began to fight, Vivi, who had escaped from the underground meeting hall, ran into Robin.
"Miss Sunday!"
Vivi stopped, watching Robin, who had her back to her, with wary eyes, gritting her teeth.
"Take this."
Robin didn't say much. She simply handed Vivi an object.
"What is this?"
Vivi didn't know if Robin was trustworthy. She hesitated, not taking the antidote.
"The rebels all over the country have already started marching toward the capital, Alubarna. By tomorrow at the latest, seven hundred thousand rebels will gather there. Do you want to watch the rebel army and the royal army slaughter each other? Do you have time to hesitate?"
Robin smiled gently. "Hehe. Do you really think I'm helping you?"
"Why are you telling me this? What are you trying to do?"
Vivi couldn't figure out what Robin was planning.
"I don't care about countries or people. I'm just searching for my own reason to exist. Can you understand what I mean?"
As Robin spoke these words, her beautiful face was gentle, but her tone carried a hint of desolation, giving her an added air of mature mystery.
Vivi hesitated for a moment, then finally took the antidote. When she looked up again, Robin had already vanished. Just then, from outside came Tom's hoarse roar:
"Be crushed under the Magic Mountain-Supporting Pillar for five hundred years, then die, Sand Monster!"
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T/N :
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