"This is just one of them. There's another chamber beneath this one of the same scale. And what I took back then? Only half of it."
Crocodile let out a cold snort, visibly annoyed by the stunned, wide-eyed faces around him.
"You bumpkins clearly haven't seen real treasure before. In terms of strength, Captain John may have lagged behind, but when it comes to wealth? He rivals any of the Four Emperors."
He sneered.
"I stumbled upon this treasure after my failed attempt to challenge Whitebeard. The clues left behind here helped me trace the origin of this hoard."
"Captain John died a fool's death, murdered by his own crew because he wanted the treasure all to himself. Idiot."
"But clearly, his treasure remained hidden despite his death."
"This is the legacy of the strongest pirate crew of its era, the one John, Whitebeard, and Golden Lion were all once part of. This is the wealth they amassed before they disbanded, plus everything Captain John hoarded for years afterward. That's how it reached this scale."
The Straw Hat crew was left speechless. What lay before them was only a fraction of the entire treasure?
"Why didn't you take it all back then?"
Even in front of overwhelming riches, Robin remained calm, eerily so.
Crocodile had been oddly cooperative on the journey here, actively explaining details of the treasure. Combined with the sheer magnitude of the hoard, Robin's wariness was only growing.
Zoro and Sanji clearly sensed it too. Ever since the Summit War, newspapers had been digging up Crocodile's deeds in Alabasta again.
His Logia powers and boldness in challenging Whitebeard aside, the man's true threat was his cunning and strategic manipulation.
Why was he playing nice now? What did he want from them?
"You think I didn't want to?" Crocodile scoffed. "This is the New World. Back then, I was even weaker than you lot are now."
"After my defeat at Whitebeard's hands, I couldn't wait to get out of the New World. And dragging a mountain of treasure with me? That would've made escape nearly impossible."
Sensing the shift in atmosphere, Crocodile gave a subtle nod, as if he was finally acknowledging that the Straw Hats weren't as naive as he thought.
"Ah, finally starting to catch on?"
"But this... this treasure, it was never really the point. Back then, I thought this hoard would help me build the ultimate assassin syndicate, topple a kingdom, realize my ambitions…"
He paused, eyes distant.
"But now I understand… relying on something like Pluton… it's meaningless."
Luffy, Usopp, Nami, and Chopper's eyes widened. They'd already heard from Robin what the Ancient Weapon Pluton was, but...
"Enel blew up his own homeland, but that was Skypiea. Why would information on Pluton show up here?" Nami muttered, brow furrowed.
"Wait… if Captain John's crew was the most powerful in the world back then… maybe they did know things we don't."
"And if even ancient weapons aren't the key to becoming the Pirate King… then what is?"
Nami trailed off, eyes growing wide with dawning realization. She turned to Robin, barely able to speak:
"No… it can't be…"
Robin's brows were still knit tightly together. But she nodded, slowly.
"Perhaps… it really is."
Crocodile arched a brow. "Looks like you've figured it out?"
Zoro, Sanji, Usopp, and Chopper were all deep in thought, their expressions darkening with understanding.
Crocodile stepped forward, past Luffy, who was still completely lost. With a wave of his hand, he activated his Devil Fruit power.
The solid wall eroded away under the force of the Suna Suna no Mi, revealing a dark passage.
Crocodile tilted his head slightly.
"Follow me. This is the second level I sealed off years ago."
"Information about Pluton, and something else I couldn't identify back then, are down here."
Luffy opened his mouth to ask, still confused, but Zoro cut him off.
"Let's go. Once you're down there, everything'll make sense."
As they entered the second vault, their eyes were immediately drawn to the massive red stone surrounded by mounds of treasure, an unmistakable monolith.
"As expected…"
"One of the Road Poneglyphs!"
"I can't believe it, one of the two missing Road Poneglyphs was hidden in this vault all along!"
"No wonder you need us… Robin's the only one left who can read these, right?"
The Straw Hats were in awe. This was one of the four stones that pointed the way to the final island, Laugh Tale—truly a key to becoming the Pirate King.
"This vault was built after Gol D. Roger's execution. I suspect the Road Poneglyph was placed here around that time," Crocodile explained.
He ran his hand across the cold, red surface of the stone.
"I was there in Loguetown when Roger was executed. A year later, I entered the New World and challenged Whitebeard. That's when I found this vault."
"The irony? Around that time, Captain John was betrayed and killed by his own crew."
Crocodile smirked bitterly, his expression twisted with a mix of contempt and self-mockery.
"I saw this Road Poneglyph for the first time twenty-three years ago. It still had the scent of seawater on it."
"I suspect Captain John tried to hoard not just the treasure, but this Road Poneglyph too, and it got him killed."
"I didn't know what this red rock was back then. But a seasoned pirate like Captain John? He knew. And to him, it was worth betraying everything."
The Straw Hats were silent, absorbing the weight of it all. As much as they hated to admit it, Crocodile's deduction made perfect sense. He hadn't wasted the last two years, his research had been thorough.
Chopper rushed forward and immediately began setting up his tools. From his bottomless bag, he pulled out ink, brushes, and sheets of parchment to make a rubbing of the Road Poneglyph.
No one questioned how he managed to carry so much in such a small pack.
"So, Straw Hat… Nico Robin… I've brought you the Road Poneglyph. Now, decode it for us," Crocodile said flatly.
He turned to face the crew, locking eyes with a now composed Luffy.
"This completes our deal."
Clap, clap, clap.
A cheerful voice echoed through the chamber.
Everyone froze, except Luffy, whose eyes lit up in recognition.
"Ace!"
"Long time no see, Luffy. Though… doesn't it kinda feel like we're making our entrance as villains here?"
A flare of flame burst from the hallway as Ace emerged. Behind him, a swirl of smoke condensed into the figure of Smoker.
"What nonsense are you spouting?" Smoker grunted, snow-white cigars clenched in his teeth. "We're here to round up a bunch of pirates divvying up stolen treasure. That's one of the standard entrance methods of the righteous Navy."
He swept his gaze over to Crocodile, scowling.
"Well, well, Sand Croc. Back again, are we? You've been lying low for two years, couldn't you have just stayed gone?"
"Vice Admiral Smoker, the 'White Hunter'! 'Fire Fist' Ace!"
"Damn it!"
—————————
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to my Patreon ——— patreon(.)com/JuanPiece [remove the parentheses ( )]
Note: This fanfic has been completely translated and is available on my Patreon.