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"My goal was never money or power."
Back in the secret room, Crocodile's voice echoed out.
Completely unaware that the entire meeting was being broadcast live.
Maybe because the plan was finally reaching its end, Crocodile let his guard down a little — pride getting the better of him.
At that moment, he was fully lost in his own fantasy.
As if the plan had already succeeded — as if he already had the Pluton mentioned in the Poneglyphs.
Now, all that was left was to find it...
Then he could finally kill that man.
The man who had branded him with a humiliation he could never erase.
Crocodile ran his hand along his golden hook, rage building inside him.
His voice grew more and more intense:
"There's only one thing I want!"
"What lies buried beneath this kingdom — powerful enough to reshape the world itself—"
"The Ancient Weapon — Pluton!!!"
"Koza! Did you hear that?!"
"King Cobra — he didn't abandon us after all!!!"
Back in Yuba, in the rebel army's square, an old man shouted toward the rebel leader.
He was Koza's father.
From the start, he had opposed Koza leading the rebellion.
Because he knew — King Cobra would never hurt his people.
"Commander... could this all be a trick?"
Some of the people around Koza hesitated, even suggesting the whole broadcast was staged by the royal family.
"Don't be ridiculous!"
Before Koza could respond, another squad leader cut in.
"Even if it was just a few lines... I'm sure of one thing."
"That voice — it was Crocodile."
He hesitated after saying that, turning toward Koza, unsure what to say next.
If the whole Dance Powder incident really was Crocodile's doing...
Then they weren't fighting against a tyrant.
They were... committing treason.
And he wasn't the only one who realized that.
Koza had already come to the same conclusion.
But he quickly stood up.
Facing his confused and shaken troops, he shouted:
"You heard it, didn't you?!"
"We found the real culprit, didn't we?!"
Koza's voice was full of emotion:
"I know what you're all thinking — but remember why we formed this army in the first place!!"
He pointed to the sky.
"To punish the one who truly deserves it, right?!"
"Is there really anything left to hesitate about?"
By now, a lot of people had already figured out what Koza was getting at.
They stood up one by one, eyes burning with excitement as they looked at him.
"It's time to make that bastard Crocodile pay!!!"
"YEAH!!!"
At that moment, all 300,000 rebel soldiers were ready for war.
But then—A voice suddenly echoed from the sky:
"STOP!!!"
A giant bird swooped down… transforming into a man mid-air.
It was Pell.
He flapped his wings one last time before landing, then looked up at the rebel army—those same people who, just half a month ago, were dead set on going to war with the royal family.
A wave of emotion passed through him.
If it hadn't been for Princess Vivi and her friends… who knows how far this war would've gone?
The rebels were visibly awkward seeing the vice-captain of the royal guards.
They didn't even know how to greet him.
Luckily, Pell got straight to the point.
"Princess Vivi sent me."
Koza's expression shifted when he heard that. There was a hint of guilt in his eyes.
After all, he and Vivi used to be great friends when they were kids.
But now… here he was, planning to kill her father.
"Princess Vivi knew you'd go after Crocodile."
"So she asked me to come here and stop you."
"What?!"
The entire rebel force, including Koza, shouted in disbelief.
"You're no match for Crocodile."
"Alabasta doesn't need you guys to throw your lives away."
"Lay down your weapons. Come back home. Be part of this country again."
Pell added:
"Those were Princess Vivi's exact words."
"Alabasta doesn't blame you—in fact, it's the opposite."
"This country desperately wants you back."
Clang. Clang. Clang...
One by one, weapons hit the ground.
And just like that—
The 300,000-strong rebel army… rejoined the kingdom.
"Can I ask something?"
Koza spoke up.
"Vivi… Princess Vivi wants to stop us from fighting Crocodile."
"But as far as I know, even the royal army isn't strong enough to beat that guy, right?"
Koza looked genuinely confused.
Pell smiled.
"Don't worry. Crocodile's gonna get what he deserves."
"Those guys… they're really strong."
He turned his gaze toward Rainbase.
"If I had to guess, they've already made it there by now."
Rain Dinners, the biggest casino in Rainbase.
"Damn it! What the hell is going on?!"
A bunch of Baroque Works agents, all high-ranking members, were gathered near the front entrance.
Due to "special circumstances," the casino had already been cleared of any outsiders.
Everyone left inside now was part of Baroque Works.
But just a moment ago, they'd all gotten hit with a bombshell of a revelation:
Their boss—was none other than a Warlord of the Sea, Crocodile.
And apparently, the true purpose of Baroque Works… was to take over Alabasta's government?
And even aim for the ancient weapon, Pluton?!
Honestly, for these mid-level bounty hunters who hadn't even cracked 10 million berries, this was a lot to take in.
Still, after the initial shock wore off, one thought came to everyone's mind:
Wait, how the hell did all this get leaked already?!
They were just getting ready to start the final phase of the plan—
And now it's all been live-streamed to the world?!
Now what?
They figured maybe it was time to go tell the boss about all this.
Just as a few of them were finally wrapping their heads around the situation and starting to head into the casino—
"Hey, who the hell are those guys?"
Someone pointed toward a group of figures walking up from a distance.
They were moving in a straight line, slowly, but every step was steady and confident.
"They're not part of the royal army, are they?"
"No uniforms. Doesn't look like it."
"Maybe just a bunch of idiots who heard the news and came to pick a fight with Crocodile? Hahaha!"
The group burst into laughter.
"No way. There's no way anyone's that dumb."
After learning their boss was a Warlord, they all started feeling pretty cocky.
In their minds, even if the plan got exposed, Crocodile would take care of everything.
So these guys walking closer and closer?
Total idiots.
"Hey! You losers better turn around and scram!" someone shouted.
"Screw it, just shoot 'em! Then we can go report back to the boss!"
Another guy went straight for his gun.
He raised it, aimed at the person in front—and pulled the trigger.
BANG!
And then—
The shooter froze. Like, literally froze. Eyes wide. Mouth hanging open.
The rest of them were just as stunned.
Because that guy—
caught the bullet.
With his bare hand.
On the other side—
Luffy lowered his straw hat with one hand and opened the other, letting the bullet slide off his glove.
He stared at them, stepped forward with his right foot, and said in a cold, calm voice:
"You talk too much."
BOOM!!!
A sudden blast of Conqueror's Haki exploded from him!!!
"....."