Nanohana, a mid-sized port city in southern Alabasta.
As a city driven by trade, the people of Nanohana led relatively comfortable lives. However, ever since the civil unrest began and rebel forces rose up, pirates would occasionally arrive to loot the burning chaos.
Fortunately, they had the "Guardian Deity," Crocodile. He exterminated every single pirate who dared to invade.
Furthermore, a powerful squad of Marines had arrived a few days ago. They had driven off the nearby pirate crews in passing, drawing applause and praise from the merchants of Nanohana.
At this very moment, the leader of that powerful Marine squad was investigating matters concerning this "Guardian Deity."
Noticing the shopkeeper's guarded expression, Tashigi gave a wry internal smile. She bowed politely and left the shop.
"Captain Smoker." The blue-haired girl with glasses saluted her superior, who was puffing heavily on a cigar. "Still no news of the Straw Hat Kid. And the owner of this shop, just like the previous ones, refuses to disclose anything regarding Crocodile."
As she spoke, Tashigi recalled the merchants' fearful expressions—afraid the Marines might do something detrimental to their Guardian—and couldn't help but smile helplessly.
"Is that so..." Smoker wore an expression that said he had expected as much. He blew a smoke ring, his peripheral vision subtly glancing at a few suspicious individuals secretly monitoring the Marines. He then ordered the surrounding troops, "Let's check somewhere else."
"Sir!" the Marines responded in unison.
In truth, the White Hunter had come to Alabasta solely because he had intercepted a fragmented communication record via a Black Transponder Snail. He had expected to run into the Straw Hat Kid who had escaped his grasp, but unexpectedly, Marine Headquarters had assigned him a new mission shortly after.
Investigate the truth behind Crocodile and the Alabasta rebellion.
The Seven Warlords of the Sea were "legal pirates" sanctioned by the World Government to counterbalance the Four Emperors. Unless absolutely necessary, the Marines could not unilaterally interfere with a Warlord's personal conduct. In other words, even if the Desert Crocodile was secretly doing something wicked, the Marine brass would turn a blind eye without irrefutable evidence.
However, the intelligence obtained from Little Garden revealed something that neither the Marines nor the World Government could tolerate.
Without going into the finer details, the gist of the intelligence was this:
Crocodile, unable to stand the evil rule of the Alabasta King, intends to ally with Dragon's Revolutionary Army to help the rebel forces overthrow the Alabasta regime and establish a new order.
Heh, doesn't that sound ridiculous?
A Warlord acting as a "Hero of Justice," throwing himself into a grand revolutionary cause for the sake of the suffering masses without looking back? It was the biggest joke in the world!
This was clearly a smear campaign!
The World Government thought so too at first. But because the identity of the Revolutionary Army was simply too sensitive, they sent agents to investigate.
The result? They discovered that Crocodile was indeed playing the role of a "Guardian Deity" in Alabasta, his reputation skyrocketing like the midday sun. This abnormal behavior attracted the attention of certain concerned parties, so they dug deeper, following the vine of information provided by that intelligence report.
They subsequently discovered that over the years, Crocodile had indeed been secretly purchasing arms and supplies from elsewhere to aid the rebel army. The recent defection of 400,000 Royal Army soldiers was also inextricably linked to the Desert Crocodile's private machinations.
Moreover, it appeared that the Devil Child, Nico Robin, was collaborating closely with him. Upon verification, while the news regarding the Revolutionary Army in the report was somewhat outdated, the specific details were all proven true...
This forced the higher-ups to overthink things! After all, Dragon's Revolutionary Army had already become a massive thorn in their side. If the Desert Crocodile really defected to the Revolutionaries, it would be a massive blow to the World Government—perhaps even causing indelible cracks in the entire Seven Warlords system.
And thus, a beautiful misunderstanding was born.
Crocodile could likely rack his brain forever and never guess that the glorious image he had worked so hard to maintain had become the very key to the higher-ups' suspicion.
"Seriously... I hate investigating things. Hina should be arriving soon; I'll just let her handle this when she gets here."
Marine Headquarters' orders were for Black Cage Hina to assist the White Hunter after she finished escorting the Hungry Wolf Pirates to the G-8 Base.
Smoker chewed on his cigar, his face full of impatience. As he led his gaggle of Marines down the bustling street, a restaurant with a crowd gathered in front of it suddenly caught the White Hunter's attention.
"That shop is noisy..." Smoker clicked his tongue, walking toward the crowd with mild curiosity. Seeing the Marines approach, the people quickly cleared a path, whispering amongst themselves:
"I heard he suddenly died while talking to the owner."
"He didn't accidentally eat a Desert Strawberry, did he...?"
Smoker walked into the small restaurant and found several empty plates stacked on the counter. A shirtless man was sitting there, maintaining his eating posture, but his head—topped with a cowboy hat—was buried face-first into a plate full of food. He was completely motionless, as if he were dead.
But the most striking thing was the tattoo on his back.
A deep purple skull emblem, with a mustache shaped like a crescent moon standing out prominently within it.
Smoker's pupils constricted rapidly, and his muscles instantly tensed. "I never expected to find such a big shot here..."
However, no one noticed that a rubber idiot, running like a starving ghost reincarnated, was sprinting toward this location at high speed, following the scent of food.
Outside Nanohana, aboard a massive Marine warship.
Sherlock sat in the captain's chair, rapidly flipping through the intelligence reports in his hands.
As soon as the Going Merry docked, Sherlock had left Luffy and the others to head for the Marine encampment. For a Sorcerer capable of invisibility, infiltrating a warship guarded only by ordinary Marines was all too easy.
"After receiving my 'little gift,' the Marines have prepared quite a nice return gift for me..." Satisfied, Sherlock stored the thick stack of intel into his Mirror Dimension and pushed up his glasses with a calm expression.
The intelligence Black Cage Hina had obtained from the Hungry Wolf Pirates' ship back at Little Garden had been provided by Sherlock. It contained parts of the investigation results Princess Vivi and Igaram had gathered over two years, mixed with some secret intel regarding the Revolutionary Army. Sherlock had then used his wild imagination to embellish the story.
He had frantically smeared the Desert Crocodile, framing him as an aspiring idealist determined to overthrow the World Government's corrupt rule, even dragging in the Revolutionary Army, who had absolutely nothing to do with it. His goal was to force the World Government and the Marines to take the rebellion in this country seriously.
Now, it seemed the effect of this "little gift" was even better than Sherlock had planned. The Marines' intervention not only effectively hindered Baroque Works' secret operations but also helped Sherlock collect a lot of useful intelligence, saving him considerable time.
After all, gathering intelligence had been a habit of Sherlock's for many years.
Sherlock had never been naive enough to believe that the Marines alone could stop this rebellion. Without an unforgivable reason, the "evidence of crimes" Vivi collected would not be enough to make the Marines and World Government turn against a Warlord. By the time Crocodile finally revealed his dagger, it would be too late.
"These Marines still aren't radical enough. Is it because their high command plays it too safe?"
Sherlock closed his eyes and thought for a moment, then exhaled a long breath of turbid air.
Sherlock's assessment was correct. The current Fleet Admiral was Sengoku the Resourceful General, who followed the doctrine of "Reigning Justice." Therefore, even if the Marines deeply mistrusted the Desert Crocodile, they would not take drastic action without irrefutable evidence. (PS: If this were two years later with Akainu as Fleet Admiral... heh.)
Putting a piece of roast meat from a plate on the desk into his mouth, Sherlock chewed slowly while thinking silently:
(It looks like to drag the Marines into the water, I must create an irresistible 'reason' for them...)
(Though I have to say, the Marine rations are actually quite good, even if they're far inferior to Sanji's cooking.)
Just as the Sorcerer was stealing the Marines' rations with absolutely zero psychological burden, a series of footsteps suddenly echoed outside the captain's quarters. Sherlock's expression shifted slightly, and he observed the movement outside through a projection mirror.
(Why are all the Marines on watch leaving for the city? And fully armed, too...) Sherlock narrowed his eyes. Suddenly, the image of a certain heartless, grinning captain flashed through his mind. He instantly understood and his forehead darkened with imaginary lines.
(Making that idiot have the self-awareness of a wanted criminal is truly too difficult...) The Sorcerer held his forehead in extreme helplessness. He silently offered a prayer for the Straw Hat crew restocking supplies in the city, then composed himself, walked out of the cabin, and stepped onto the now-empty deck.
The somewhat salty sea breeze blew through Sherlock's messy black hair, allowing his constantly taut nerves to relax slightly.
Even though he appeared as calm and composed as usual, Sherlock was actually quite tense inside.
To be precise, aside from the Straw Hat Kid who was always brimming with confidence, everyone in the Straw Hat Pirates felt as if a giant boulder were pressing down on their hearts. They were full of pressure.
After all, their enemy this time wasn't some random nobody—it was one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, the Desert Crocodile, Crocodile!
"Vivi..." Sherlock involuntarily recalled the heartbreaking expression the blue-haired girl had worn back at Whiskey Peak while trying to act strong.
(Have you really been enduring this for two whole years? Vivi. But it doesn't matter. The nightmare will end soon.) Sherlock's expression shifted slightly, and a determined light flickered in his eyes behind his lenses.
However, just as Sherlock intended to leave and regroup with Luffy and the others, an abrupt voice caught the Sorcerer's attention.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Tied to the mast and unable to move, Mr. 11 looked in horror at the gun barrels pointed at him. "I am a Billions! You can't do this!"
"Stop talking nonsense!" Three Millions, who had sneaked onto the Marine warship while no one was around, wore expressions of mockery. "We need you to vacate a command position for us!"
Finishing his sentence, one of the Millions laughed savagely and gently pulled the trigger of his pistol.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three crisp gunshots rang out in succession.
"Ugh..."
Believing himself dead, Mr. 11 instinctively closed his eyes and his body shook violently. However, after a moment, he realized he didn't feel the imagined pain. Confused, he slowly opened his eyes.
"This..." Looking at the three corpses lying in pools of blood, a look of wild ecstasy appeared on Mr. 11's face. "I actually survived?!!"
"Hey~"
A clear, magnetic male voice came from behind him. A bespectacled man slowly materialized, three long-barreled muskets floating beside him.
"They just said you are a Billions of Baroque Works?" Sherlock looked at the middle-aged man with two patterns painted on his face, pushing up his glasses calmly.
Mr. 11 hurriedly suppressed his excitement. "Yes, yes! Please, untie me quickly. I will definitely repay you well!"
"Is that so? That's wonderful..." Sherlock smiled faintly. "The Marines really are polite; they've prepared another excellent 'gift' for me."
"..."
Looking at the perfect arc curling at the corner of the stranger's mouth, Mr. 11 felt an inexplicable chill, and a terrible premonition rose in his heart.
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