Location: Rainbase, Rain Dinners Casino
Crocodile left to "prepare the banquet" (i.e., hide his humiliation), leaving Storm and Robin alone.
Storm looked at his new recruit.
"Didn't what you just said hurt Crocodile's feelings?"
"How could it be, Boss?" Robin smiled, her tone shifting effortlessly. "Besides, I've already resigned. I'm your subordinate now."
She leaned forward, her casual mask slipping for a second.
"Boss. The name you mentioned... Jaguar D. Saul?"
"Ah, yes." Storm grabbed a turkey leg from the table. "Sixteen years ago. The Buster Call on Ohara. Saul was one of the five Vice Admirals ordered to destroy the island. He chose justice over orders and defected."
"He was frozen by Admiral Aokiji," Storm said, watching her reaction.
Robin shuddered. The composed assassin vanished, replaced by a terrified child. "Aokiji... Kuzan... He killed Saul..."
"He didn't kill him."
Robin froze. "What?"
"Aokiji didn't kill Saul," Storm said casually, dropping the bombshell. "He used Ice Time Capsule. Saul survived. He went back to Elbaf with the books your scholars saved from the Tree of Knowledge."
"Saul... is alive?"
Robin covered her mouth, tears streaming down her face.
Storm shrugged, stood up, and walked away, giving her space.
When Robin rejoined them later, her eyes were red, but her aura was lighter. Cleaner.
"White Dragon." Crocodile glared at her, then at Storm. "What did you do to this woman?"
"It's a secret."
Storm checked his stats. The 6-Star Crocodile Trophy had been absorbed.
[Attribute Updated]
[Strength: ★★★★★★☆ (6.5 Stars)]
"By the way, Old Fish—"
"Don't call me Old Fish! My name is Crocodile!"
"Sure, Old Fish," Storm grinned. "Prepare a ship. Fill it with wine. We're leaving Alabasta."
"Where are we going?"
"Little Garden."
"Little Garden?" Crocodile frowned. "Why go to that prehistoric hellhole?"
"Because there are two Giants there. Two captains. We need muscle for the New World."
"Giants?" Crocodile scoffed. "Rumor says they are mindless brutes who have been fighting for a hundred years. I don't need idiots on my crew."
"Not just rumors," Storm chuckled. "They have been fighting for a hundred years. They are Dorry the Blue Ogre and Brogy the Red Ogre. The captains of the legendary Giant Warrior Pirates."
Crocodile paused. The Giant Warrior Pirates were legends. If they were really there...
"Fine. Let's go see these legends."
Location: Alabasta Coast
A massive ship set sail.
The Baroque Gustave. Crocodile's flagship. It was as large as a Marine battleship, with a golden banana crocodile figurehead.
Storm stood on the deck.
"Nice ship, Old Fish. But it's too slow."
He placed his hands on the deck.
[Ability: Clay-Clay Fruit - Ceramic Modification]
White clay flowed over the hull, forming massive propellers on the stern.
[Ability: More-More Fruit - 10x Speed]
VRRRROOOOM!
The propellers spun into a blur. The ship shot forward like a speedboat, the prow lifting out of the water.
"WHAT THE—?!"
Crocodile, who was trying to light a cigar, nearly burned his eyebrows off as the ship lurched.
"White Dragon! Slow down!"
"Faster!" Storm laughed. "We're going to Little Garden in half a day!"
The ship tore through the ocean, leaving a wake that looked like a tsunami. Crocodile's slicked-back hair was blown into a chaotic mess.
"MY HAIR! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"
Location: Little Garden
Normally, the trip would take a week. At 10x Speed, they arrived in six hours.
Storm deactivated the fruit powers as the prehistoric island loomed in the mist.
BOOM... BOOM...
Even from the sea, they could hear the rhythmic crashing of weapons. The giants were dueling.
"Old Fish, you guard the ship!"
Storm hopped onto his white dragon, launching into the sky.
"Like hell I will!" Crocodile gritted his teeth. He turned to Robin. "YOU guard the ship!"
Crocodile dissolved into sand and flew after Storm.
Robin sighed, watching her two monstrous bosses leave. "Giants... I wanted to see them too..."
Location: Center of Little Garden
Two titans clashed in the jungle clearing.
Dorry the Blue Ogre swung his sword. Brogy the Red Ogre blocked with his shield. The impact shattered the nearby trees.
"Gebababababa! Brogy! Look! A dragon is coming!"
Dorry laughed. "Gegyagyagyagya! Nice try, Dorry! I won't fall for that trick!"
ROAR—!
The Blue-Eyes White Dragon screeched above them.
Brogy looked up. "By Elbaf! It is a dragon!"
Storm leaped off the dragon's back, plummeting toward the clearing between the two giants.
Mid-air, he released an endless torrent of clay.
[Ability: Clay-Clay Fruit - Titan Mode]!
The clay wrapped around him, expanding, hardening, growing.
BOOM!
Storm landed.
But he wasn't human-sized anymore.
Standing between Dorry and Brogy was a White Clay Giant, towering over twenty meters tall, matching them eye-to-eye.
"Gebababa? Who is this?"
"A giant made of... mud?"
Storm's giant clay face grinned.
"Greetings, Warriors of Elbaf! I am Vongola Storm! I've come to stop your fight!"
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