Hearing this, Luffy suddenly stopped, stretched his neck, and looked at Robin with shining eyes, completely unaware that she was such a formidable wanted criminal.
Robin still didn't speak, but her hands, crossed over her chest, moved again.
"Smack! Smack!"
A fair hand simultaneously sprouted from Cobra and Luffy's chests, giving each of them a crisp slap.
Luffy clutched his face, looking wronged and confused, pouting as he shouted, "Hey! Why! Did you slap me!"
"I'm annoyed."
"Hey, hey, hey, am I invisible?"
Crocodile interrupted the interlude, his tone impatient, "Deal with them quickly, then we can slowly search for this country's Poneglyph. Didn't you always want that?"
Robin nodded silently, her eyes once again becoming indifferent.
Crocodile no longer delayed. He spread his hands, and between his palms, a miniature sandstorm began to rapidly spin and expand, emitting astonishing destructive power!
"Heavy Sandstorm!"
Tomioka could feel that the opponent in front of him was not so easy to defeat; he could no longer hold anything back… He took a deep breath, as if to draw all the surrounding oxygen into his lungs. His heart beat violently, blood began to surge and roar, and his body temperature began to rise sharply!
The familiar burning sensation re-emerged, and the familiar wave-like patterns subtly appeared on his cheeks.
Tomioka could even feel tiny water vapor evaporating from his body due to the high temperature, forming a faint white mist.
"For this country…"
The next moment, his figure vanished from its original spot.
It wasn't a true disappearance, but rather a speed so extreme that it left behind a slowly dissipating afterimage.
"What?!"
Crocodile only felt a blur before his eyes; the one-armed swordsman had already broken through the airflow stirred up by the sandstorm and appeared before him.
This guy, so fast! More than twice as fast as before!
"Water Breathing, Fourth Form: Striking Tide!"
The slash Tomioka unleashed became swift and fierce, layers upon layers of blade light, like a raging, explosive sea tide, cutting upwards fiercely towards Crocodile's chest and abdomen!
This time, the anticipated sensation of the blade cutting into flesh did not come.
"Clang—!!!"
A duller sound than any previous collision exploded!
A hint of surprise flashed in Tomioka's eyes. He could feel that his nichirin blade had struck something as indestructible as steel.
The recoil from the blade made his wrist numb, and that invincible slash was ineffective at this moment.
On Crocodile's chest and abdomen, where he was struck, was a layer of incredibly deep blackness. It was this peculiar thing that perfectly defended against his slash!
Unlike the sand ability from the Devil Fruit just now… but he had heard from Nami and the others that one could only possess one Devil Fruit ability; eating two would cause one to explode and die.
What exactly was this black thing… "Haha… Haha… Hahahahahahahahahahaha!"
Crocodile looked at the undisguised surprise on Tomioka's face and the bewilderment in his eyes, laughing loudly. He greatly enjoyed seeing his opponent reveal such an expression, from hope to disappointment.
"Never seen this before, have you… rookie!"
Immediately after, his arms turned to sand again, but this time, they formed four giant sand blades, "Desert La Spada!"
"Water Breathing, Sixth Form: Whirlpool!"
Tomioka didn't hesitate; his body spun rapidly like a whirlpool, and the azure blade light transformed into a massive, flowing vortex of water, protecting his entire body!
"Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!"
The four giant sand blades fiercely slashed into the vortex! This time, the collision was even more intense!
The slashes from the sand blades almost pierced through the vortex, but Tomioka's sword form still shattered most of the force. He used the recoil to float backward, landing steadily.
Crocodile looked at Tomioka, who was still unharmed despite his La Spada, and his expression darkened. This swordsman's troublesome nature exceeded his expectations.
He said coldly, "Someone like you… with such swordsmanship and power, to be on that idiot's ship, what a waste."
"Who are you calling an idiot!" Luffy immediately retorted angrily.
"Nico Robin."
Crocodile no longer intended to deal with Luffy and directly ordered Robin, "Restrain the one with the sword; ignore that Mugiwara idiot. I'll deal with him first!"
Robin hesitated, her gaze falling on Tomioka, whose aura was becoming increasingly profound and dangerous, then she glanced at the battle-ready Crocodile, her crossed hands trembling slightly, seemingly making a difficult decision.
She saw how powerful Tomioka was, but at the same time, she also saw that a serious Crocodile was not someone that a few bottles of liquid hidden in her pocket could deal with.
That dark defense just now, she… definitely had no way… But… she still hadn't even glanced at the Poneglyph here… Just then, Cobra, pinned to the wall, keenly caught Robin's fleeting hesitation!
He saw hope for a breakthrough, and using all his strength, disregarding the pain of his injuries, he shouted loudly:
"Don't attack! Nico Robin!!!"
His voice attracted everyone's attention.
"If… if what you seek is only knowledge! Only the Poneglyph! Then, I promise you!"
Cobra's gaze was fixed on Robin, with the demeanor and sincerity of a king, "By the name of Nefertari Cobra, the twelfth king of the Nefertari family of the Alabasta Kingdom, I swear!"
"As long as you defeat Crocodile, I will let you see the Poneglyph that this country protects!"
Although his words were somewhat hoarse due to his injuries, they clearly reached Robin's ears.
Tomioka saw that the woman who had always remained calm and detached froze completely when she heard Cobra's oath.
Robin's hands, which were about to cross over her chest, suddenly dropped weakly. Her deep eyes instantly lost focus, filled with incredible shock and bewilderment.
She stared blankly at Cobra, at the man pinned to the wall, yet now exuding the radiance of a king.
"I believe in your integrity as a scholar!"
Cobra was still shouting with all his might. He knew that at this moment, he had to try his best to pull the other party to his side to have a greater chance of defeating Crocodile.
"I don't know what you did in this organization before, but now, please help us! End this absurd war!!"
In the courtyard, for a moment, only the sound of wind and sand sweeping over the ruins remained.
All eyes were focused on Robin's face, while Crocodile's expression, on the other hand, was so gloomy it seemed to drip venom.