Luffy and the others had arrived at Rain Dinners, where they fell into a trap and were caught in a cage along with Smoker.
"Look, I'm Sanji. Did you eat all the meat?!" said Luffy, imitating him while Usopp cried with laughter and clapped.
After being locked up for a while, they started to get bored, so Luffy and Usopp began to distract themselves with anything.
"Act like prisoners! HOW CAN YOU BEHAVE LIKE THIS IN SUCH A SERIOUS SITUATION?!" Nami yelled angrily, hitting Luffy and Usopp.
"We're bored because we can't get out of here!" said Luffy.
"THIS IS SERIOUS EXACTLY BECAUSE WE CAN'T GET OUT! We'll end up dead if we don't do something!" Nami shouted, until she saw Zoro sleeping. "AND WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING SLEEPING?!"
Nami punched him in the head, making him wake up.
"Is it morning already?" Zoro asked.
"IT'S NOON!" Nami screamed, frustrated at how carefree her crewmates were.
"You're a very energetic young lady," said Crocodile as he took a sip of wine.
"Enjoy being so calm while you can! When these guys get out of here, they'll kick your butt and send you flying into the clouds! Right, Luffy?" said Nami, while Zoro fell asleep again, Usopp crouched holding his head and trembling, and Luffy shouted.
"HELL YEAH, YOU DAMN BASTARD!" yelled Luffy, fired up.
"Seems like you're a trustworthy captain, Mugiwara no Luffy. Trust... Kuhaha! That's the most unnecessary thing in this world," said Crocodile, mocking them.
"HOW DARE HE MOCK US?!" shouted Nami furiously.
"St-stop. You're only going to make him angry," said Usopp nervously, sweating heavily as he tried to calm Nami.
At that moment, Miss All-Sunday arrived, bringing Vivi as a prisoner.
"CROCODILE!" Vivi shouted with anger in her voice, catching Crocodile's attention.
"Vivi!" they all said at once as Smoker watched in silence.
"Welcome, Vivi, princess of Alabasta. Or should I call you Miss Wednesday? I'm surprised you managed to dodge our assassins and make it all the way here," said Crocodile with open arms, welcoming her.
"I would go to the ends of the Earth to find you! That's how badly I want you dead, Mr. 0!" Vivi yelled furiously.
"I'm afraid the only thing you'll see die is your worthless little country, Miss Wednesday," said Crocodile with a smile, enraging her.
"IF YOU HADN'T COME TO THIS COUNTRY, ALABASTA WOULD STILL BE AT PEACE!" Vivi screamed, running toward Crocodile with her peacock blades spinning.
"Wait, Vivi! Get us out of this cage!" Luffy asked, but she didn't listen.
"Kujaku Strong Slasher!" Vivi shouted, launching one of her blades like a stinger, while Crocodile calmly lit a cigar—until Vivi's attack struck, destroying his head and the top of his chair.
Luffy, Usopp, and Nami were shocked that Vivi had blown up Crocodile's head.
"It's useless," said Smoker, knowing what Crocodile's Devil Fruit was.
In an instant, Crocodile's body turned into sand and moved behind Vivi.
"Satisfied? Miss Wednesday? As a citizen of this country, I'm sure you already know I have the power of the Suna Suna no Mi," said Crocodile, reforming behind her, grabbing her face with one hand while his hook held the arm she attacked with. "Do you want to become a mummy?"
"H-he's a sand man!" said Usopp.
"HEY, LET GO OF VIVI! I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS!" shouted Luffy, but Crocodile ignored him and forced Vivi to sit down.
"Sit down and stop threatening me. It's time for the party to begin, am I right, Miss All-Sunday?" Crocodile asked his partner.
"Yes. It's seven o'clock sharp," said Miss All-Sunday, checking the clock.
Crocodile revealed the plan that had already been put into motion, then laughed triumphantly in front of Vivi and the crew.
"It's begun," said Zoro, while Crocodile continued laughing uncontrollably.
"It's a horrible plan," he said, sweating, while Luffy clenched his teeth tightly.
"What do you think, Miss Wednesday? Do you like it? The operation you once took part in has finally taken shape. If you listen carefully, you'll surely hear Alabasta's howls. And everyone's thinking the same thing: Protect Alabasta. Protect Alabasta. Protect Alabasta," said Crocodile in a mocking tone, showing his cruelty as a pirate, which made Vivi burst out in frustration.
"STOP! HOW CAN YOU BE SO CRUEL?!" Vivi screamed, truly distraught, while Crocodile laughed at her misery.
"Hahaha! It's heartbreaking, isn't it? Love for the kingdom will be what destroys it," said Crocodile with a mocking smile.
"'Depraved' is the perfect word to describe this lunatic," said Zoro, surprisingly calm.
"Bastard! If it weren't for this cage, I…!" Luffy shouted furiously, feeling helpless because he couldn't reach Crocodile.
While the crew was in a desperate situation after learning about Crocodile's plan, Oliver was at the casino.
"COME ON! COME ON! BLACK TWO!" Oliver yelled as the roulette spun.
"Black two," said one of the casino staff.
"THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!" Oliver shouted triumphantly.
Oliver had been gambling in the casino for quite some time, as he wanted to relax a bit, and he knew nothing would happen to them just yet.
"One, two... 10 million Berries. That's a good profit. I think I should go cash out."
He headed toward the counter to exchange his chips when he noticed some movement among the guards.
'So it's the same here,' Oliver thought.
When he reached the exchange counter, he felt a hand on his back.
"Excuse me, but we need to speak with you," said a guard.
Oliver was silent for a few seconds and then smiled.
"Alright."
Oliver followed them, observing the surroundings to figure out how to get to the area where everyone was trapped.
'I know Sanji is pretending to be a member of Baroque Works to trick Crocodile, but I can't remember if they showed the stairs leading to them.'
He was so focused he didn't realize he was now standing in front of a door.
"Go in," one of the guards told him.
Oliver obeyed, and the guards also entered without hesitation.
"We just want to ask you a few—"
Before the guard could finish, Oliver punched him in the face, knocking him out.
"One down."
He hit the other two guards in the stomach, leaving them unconscious.
"No matter where you go, casinos are still casinos," said Oliver as he touched the guards' heads and gave them an electric shock.
He looked around the room, then set his eyes on the door.
"I think I could spend the tokens I've got before going to rescue them."
--
--
Something happened that I want to share with you.
I haven't been reading the comments lately for various reasons, but when I did, I came across some rather strange—or better said, contradictory—people.
There were those complaining that the story is just a copy of the manga and that there's nothing interesting to read. Others said it doesn't make sense to add extra scenes or additional enemies exclusively for Oliver. Then there are those asking why Oliver doesn't fight the major enemies in the Sagas, and so on, and so on.
Coming across things like that has left me pretty confused about what some people actually want, but I'll keep doing what I've been doing and trying to improve how I tell the story.
And that's all.