Then... what about Crocodile?" Mr.3 looked around, and the man was gone, but his voice still trembled slightly.
Buggy continued to scheme rapidly, putting on a tragic expression, his eyes even showing a hint of the tears he'd shed earlier when his feet were taken. He said in a mournful tone:
"A Seven Warlords of the Sea... he still has some strength. I... I rested in the East Blue for too long, and my strength hasn't fully recovered... so he trapped us here..."
"Smack!"
A slipper directly hit Buggy on the back of his head.
"Who hit me!" Buggy clutched his head and turned around, roaring in anger.
Nami stood with her hands on her hips in the cage, even shaking his foot. "Stop talking! Hurry up and do something! Otherwise, this place is really going to collapse! Buggy!"
"Don't call me Red Nose! No... you got it right this time..."
Buggy inexplicably roared, looking at his foot, then turned to Mr.3 and said, "So now... this, this room is about to collapse, and you need to open their cage!"
Mr.3, still sitting, pointed at the cage with some confusion: "Can't we just leave? Why do we need to bother with them?"
Buggy's mind started racing. He didn't want anyone to know that his feet were being held hostage, did he? That would be too embarrassing.
He immediately ran to the room's main door, pushed it hard, and found it wouldn't budge.
"Oh! Right! Right!"
Buggy had a flash of inspiration, pointing at the main door, "It's this main door! It's connected to the cage's lock! Listen, there's always the sound of machinery running in this room! As long as their cage door is opened, we two can also escape!"
He watched the hesitation still on Mr.3's face, feeling incredibly anxious.
He pressed his hands on Mr.3's shoulders and said with utmost seriousness: "And! I can't defeat Crocodile right now! Don't you want to take that guy down?"
"That guy just now had no intention of letting you live! Only by releasing the Mugiwara Pirates can we join forces and teach that Crocodile a harsh lesson together!"
Mr.3 had just woken up, his mind still not quite clear. Buggy's talk of joining forces and teaching the Crocodile a lesson quickly got his blood boiling. Remembering Crocodile's cold eyes, a surge of anger also rose within him.
"Crocodile!!!" He roared, as if having made up his mind, and stomped his feet towards the cage.
Buggy stood by, coaxing him like a child: "Yes, hurry, hurry and open it."
Nami immediately put on a sweet smile, assisting from the side: "That's right, Mr.3, we need to go defeat Crocodile together, please help us open it quickly."
Then Mr.3 walked to the cage, took a deep breath, and white wax liquid began to secrete from his hands. The wax liquid quickly took shape and solidified in his hands, and soon a cleverly structured wax key appeared in his hand.
He carefully inserted the key into the keyhole.
Click—
With a crisp sound, the lock sprang open! The cage door opened in response!
"Hooray! The door's open!" Luffy was the first to cheer and rush out.
The others also rushed out of the cage. As Vivi passed Mr.3, she even gently patted his shoulder and said, "Thank you."
However, at the very same moment the lock opened!
Rumble—
The floor on the other side of the room suddenly opened downwards, and seawater began to pour out! Along with the seawater appeared two enormous, yellow-green skinned giant Crocodiles with bananas growing on their heads!
Usopp looked at the two giant Crocodiles, so scared his voice changed pitch: "W-what are those!?"
Luffy, next to him, jumped up, excitedly shouting: "Crocodiles! This time they're real Crocodiles!"
Only Vivi covered her mouth, her eyes filled with shock: "Those are Banana Crocodiles... They are enormous, with incredibly terrifying jaw strength, capable of even crushing rocks..."
Then she paused, her voice trembling slightly, "And... they even feed on Sea Kings..."
"Sea Kings!!!"
Buggy couldn't keep up the act anymore and shrieked. He had just snatched his foot back and reattached it in the chaos, and now he immediately scrambled and crawled to the main door of the room, frantically pounding on it.
"Damn it! Why isn't it open yet! Why isn't the door open!"
Even Mr.3 was completely stunned, pointing at the main door and stammering: "Didn't... didn't you say that if the cage door opened, the main door would also open?"
Buggy, pounding on the door and sweating cold, immediately shifted the blame: "It's Crocodile! He tricked us! It's all that despicable guy's fault!"
Only Usopp, standing by the cage, couldn't help but retort: "Yes, yes, yes, right, right, right, it's all Crocodile's fault anyway."
Just then, one of the Banana Crocodiles' cold eyes locked onto the unconscious Smoker on the ground. It opened its massive maw, charged over, and then swallowed Smoker in one gulp!
"Oh no! He..." Nami covered her mouth, watching Smoker being swallowed just like that.
But when Luffy saw it, he had already rushed out and leaped into the air, striking a pose.
"Spit out Smoker!!!"
Then, with a roar, his arm rapidly stretched backward all the way to the main door!
"Gum-Gum Pistol!"
His fist, with a whooshing sound, slammed hard into the side of the Banana Crocodile's face! Its recently closed mouth involuntarily opened, and Smoker, not yet swallowed, was directly spat out.
However, the seawater had already reached Luffy's feet.
"Water! Water! Water!"
As soon as Luffy saw it, he was about to lose his strength again. Stamping his feet, he hastily picked up the dying Smoker and quickly retreated to the cage in the room, where the seawater hadn't reached yet.
Sanji stepped forward, his gaze directed towards the other side of the room, where new Banana Crocodiles were emerging from the seawater. "Luffy, forget about the Crocodiles! Hurry up and punch through that door! Leave these guys to me!" He raised his left leg towards the Crocodiles, his tone grave, "Otherwise, we really might end up dying here."
Nami watched the walls cracking faster and faster, along with the roaring of machinery and the constantly rising seawater: "That's right, the seawater keeps pouring in! That Crocodile, he's too despicable! Opening the door actually made it accelerate!"
Luffy heard Nami and Sanji's words and nodded: "Oh! Got it!"
Then he shouted at Buggy and Mr.3, who were still frantically pounding on the door, "Get out of the way! Watch me just..."
Just as Luffy was about to throw his punch!
Boom!!!—
That incredibly sturdy main door, which Buggy had pounded on without budging, was suddenly pulverized by a terrifying force! It shattered into pieces, then fell to the ground.
A familiar voice came from behind the shattered door, "Three-Sword Style: Raven Hunt."
Amidst the swirling dust and scattered debris, a figure slowly sheathed his swords, his green bandana fluttering. Zoro, and Chopper who followed him, had finally arrived at this place.
"Seriously, Luffy, where did you guys get lost? You gave me quite a search."