Chapter 62 The Imposter Mr. 0 Causes a Scene in the Rainy Day Conference Room"Yo-ho! Our special car's here! Don't just stand there, come with me to Rain Land and kill Crocodile! After that, I'll treat you guys to a life of luxury and we'll re-establish the Seven Warlords of the Sea!"
Mr. 2 and Mr. 5, the controlled guys, immediately cheered loudly, as if they were having a party.
Mr. 1 and his partner exchanged a glance and nodded helplessly.
Since they were already on this pirate ship, they could only go to Rain Land and see what the situation was like.
As the saying goes, when two tigers fight, one will surely be injured. They'd see who had the better chance of winning and then kneel before them. After all, it's just a job, so it doesn't matter who they work for.
Meanwhile, in Rain Land...
Robin stood by the enormous crocodile pool, reporting to Crocodile, who sat in a chair, "Judging by the timeline, they should already be on their way to this city called Rain Land."
"I've already arranged for that guy called Fatty Turtle to meet them. If all goes well, they should arrive in Rain Land tonight."
Crocodile lightly flicked the ash from his cigar, his gaze lowered, "That group of good-for-nothings ran away. Have you found replacements for the Billionaire Elders?"
Robin nodded elegantly, a professional, fake smile playing on her lips, "The personnel are all in place."
Actually, Robin also found it absurd. The group of Billionaire Elders she had originally gathered were utter oddities; they had collectively disobeyed orders and run away just to chase after a pirate named Ace.
"I've already had the scarf runner issue the orders regarding the new recruits' task assignments."
Crocodile took a deep drag on his cigar, the thick smoke obscuring half his face. "Very good, it seems everything is under control."
"Hmm..." Robin stared at the banana crocodile yawning not far away, her gaze somewhat unfocused.
"Hmph, even a mere billionaire dares to disregard my words. Looks like I've been too low-key lately; my intimidation factor isn't what it used to be."
Crocodile's face instantly darkened, the scar at the corner of his eye appearing particularly grotesque as his muscles twitched. He truly couldn't understand where those small fry got the audacity to defy him.
Hearing this, Robin involuntarily conjured up an image of a grinning figure wearing a straw hat.
"Nicole Robin, you should be a smart woman. You wouldn't be thinking of betraying me too, would you? Don't forget, I'm the one who pulled you out of the abyss of darkness to be my partner. The Poneglyph you've been dreaming of is right before your eyes."
Crocodile turned his head, his sharp, hawk-like eyes fixed on Robin.
"Of course not," Robin replied crisply, her expression flawless.
Just then, a guard's respectful report came from outside the door: "Lord Crocodile, Mr. 1 and the others have arrived."
Crocodile abruptly stood up, his cloak billowing. "Take them to the conference room!"
"Yes, sir!"
In a dimly lit room filled with a oppressive atmosphere.
Crocodile sat upright in the high-backed chair at the head of the table, his back to the long conference table, the embers of his cigar flickering.
Three years!
No one knows how he endured those three years!
He single-handedly built Baroque Works from scratch, perfectly concealing his identity like a ghost for the past three years. Aside from Mr. 1, the first person he recruited, no one knew that the mysterious Mr. 0 was none other than Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
Today, his moment to shine—to reveal himself to his subordinates and put on a grand display—has finally arrived!
Robin, dressed in a smart white denim outfit, stood quietly beside him.
As the door opened, Mr. 1 and the others filed in, their expressions varied.
At first, Robin maintained her aloof demeanor, until she saw Luffy swagger in, leading Miss Goldenweek, and then plop down in the chair opposite Crocodile.
Robin stumbled, nearly twisting her high heel and almost falling flat on her face.
Her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, her features contorted in a grotesque grimace, her mind screaming, "Holy crap! Why is this guy here?!"
Mr. 1 and the other agents didn't notice Robin's outburst; they were simply curiously observing the broad back turned to them.
Robin took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the turmoil within her, and tried to keep her voice steady: "Before announcing the final plan, I must first introduce you all. This is our company's supreme commander, the Boss who has never appeared before! Although I've always relayed orders on his behalf, from this moment on, that formality is no longer necessary, understand?"
As she spoke, Robin slightly turned her body, pointing her hand towards Crocodile in the main seat.
Crocodile elegantly raised his wine glass, gently swirling the amber liquid. His voice was deep and magnetic: "Simply put, the time is ripe. The final operation is codenamed—Utopia."
Crocodile slowly spun his chair, took a smug sip, and braced himself for the stunned gasps of the crowd when they saw his true face.
"Well said! Well said!!"
A deafening roar, accompanied by exaggerated applause, suddenly erupted in the hall.
Caught off guard, Crocodile was startled by the shout, his hand trembling, and he choked on his wine, coughing violently.
He frowned, his face contorted with murderous intent as he looked towards the source of the sound.
Luffy, like a mad monkey, clapped wildly and shouted, "What are you all standing there for? This is the great hero of Alabasta, the legendary Shichibukai Crocodile! Clap! Give him some face!"
Caught up in the atmosphere, Mr. 2 and several mind-controlled agents instinctively raised their hands and joined in the cheering.
Mr. 2 excitedly spun around, "Yay! That's awesome!"
Mr. 5 looked bewildered: "What's so great about it?"
Whatever, since Mr. 0 told them to cheer, they might as well do it too.
Crocodile's forehead veins throbbed. He stared blankly at Luffy: "Who the hell are you?"
Luffy, seeing Crocodile's questioning face, grinned, revealing a set of bright white teeth: "I'm Mr. 0."
"Bullshit! I'm Mr. 0!"
Crocodile roared in anger, completely losing his composure.
"Do you have any proof?" Luffy picked his nose and looked at him with disdain.
"Evidence? Do I even need evidence? My status as a Shichibukai is irrefutable proof!"
Crocodile laughed in fury, looking at Luffy as if he were already dead.
Luffy retorted with a look of utter disbelief, "Who doesn't know the Seven Warlords of the Sea are dogs kept by the Navy? Your authority is limited to legally robbing pirates. And now you dare admit you run the biggest criminal organization? Are you crazy?"
Crocodile sneered, "Hmph! The Seven Warlords are just a cover for my destruction of Alabasta. Do you think I'd really be bound by that empty title?"
But before he could finish, Crocodile suddenly realized what he was doing and roared furiously, "Wait a minute! What the hell am I supposed to explain to you?! Where did you even come from?"
"Moshi moshi? Did you hear that? Sengoku-sama? Look, I knew Crocodile was up to no good. This guy actually wants to wipe out Alabasta! A government-certified pirate using the title of Seven Warlords to steal a country! Can you tolerate this? Can the whole world tolerate this?"
Luffy suddenly pulled out a Den Den Mushi from his pocket and shouted passionately into the receiver.
Mr. 1, who had been hesitant about whether to "reform" again, instantly straightened up upon hearing the name "Sengoku," staring intently at Crocodile with a look that seemed to want to chop his boss into mincemeat to prove his loyalty.
That's Fleet Admiral Sengoku!
It seems Luffy's background is unfathomable; he can actually contact the Fleet Admiral directly. This is terrifying.
Crocodile scoffed disdainfully, "Playing tricks? You think you can contact Sengoku? Even a three-year-old wouldn't believe such a low-level lie!"
But after staring at Luffy's face for a few seconds, his brows furrowed deeper and deeper. He turned to Robin and asked, "Haven't I seen this kid somewhere before?"
Robin "kindly" reminded him, "During the Navy's live broadcast of the exercises..."
Crocodile's pupils constricted sharply, his gaze fixed on Luffy's face and the iconic straw hat on his head.
"Why are you staring at me like that? I'm not Brother Jie."
Luffy waved his hand dismissively.
At that moment, Crocodile finally saw the Den Den Mushi in Luffy's hand. It was wearing round glasses and had a seagull on its head—it was Sengoku's signature Buddha-shaped Den Den Mushi!
Holy crap! This guy is that bastard Garp's grandson!
"Why are you, a Marine, in my conference room?!"
Crocodile's expression changed drastically.
Sengoku's furious roar came through the Den Den Mushi at just the right moment: "Crocodile! You scum! You're using the title of Shichibukai to do this kind of dirty work! From this day forward, your Shichibukai title is stripped, and you're immediately back to being a wanted pirate! Luffy, if you can catch him, I'll promote you to Vice Admiral!"
"Alright!" Luffy slammed down the phone.
Looking at Crocodile, who looked completely bewildered and as if he had swallowed a fly, Luffy laughed and said, "See, you're not a Shichibukai anymore. By the way, which pirate crew were you in before? I heard you challenged Whitebeard and got beaten so badly you can't even take care of yourself?"
"And another thing, there's a rumor that you're actually a girl, turned into a man by Ivankov using the Hormone-Hormone Fruit. Is that a sure thing?"
Luffy grinned as he relentlessly rubbed salt into Crocodile's wounds.
"You're asking for it!! Desert Blade!!"
His carefully laid plan instantly collapsed, and Crocodile went completely berserk.
With a single swing of his hand, his entire arm transformed into a massive, razor-sharp sand blade, slashing straight at Luffy with the force to cut through anything!
Mr. 1 and the others paled, exclaiming, "What terrifying destructive power!"
A deafening roar followed, dust billowing everywhere. The luxurious conference room on the second floor of the Rain Banquet Casino was instantly cleaved in two, reduced to ruins.
Mr. 1, staring at the dust-filled scene, swallowed hard. "That Luffy... is he dead?"
However, when the dust settled, Luffy's unharmed figure appeared before everyone's eyes.
The strange gourd behind him had transformed into a giant sand sphere, completely enveloping him from all sides.
Absolute Defense!
It was like a self-defense mechanism formed by Gaara's mother's guardian spirit attaching herself to the sand after her death!
As long as the attack speed couldn't outpace the guardian spirit's will to manipulate the sand, any attack would be perfectly intercepted.
And the sand, tempered by special chakra, was even harder than steel!
Crocodile's techniques, capable of cutting through desert rock layers, couldn't penetrate this defense at all!
"How is this possible!" Crocodile's jaw nearly dropped in shock. "How can you control sand?"
"You dare call yourself a sand manipulator?"
Luffy peered through the gaps in the sand sphere, looking at Crocodile with disdain. "I'm just standing here, come and kill me if you dare!"
Seeing Luffy's extreme arrogance, Crocodile's eyes practically blazed with fury: "You brat, you've successfully provoked me!"
Crocodile transformed into a raging sandstorm, charging directly at Luffy.
"Hey, don't be so aggressive. What's most important in the 21st century? Harmony!"
Luffy calmly pulled a still-intact chair from the rubble and sat down. "We're all experts at playing with sand, you're just embarrassing yourself. Let me show you what a real sandstorm like Gaara is like."
Luffy casually waved his hand, and a violent wave of sand suddenly rose from the ground, wrapping around Crocodile like a living thing.
"What the hell is this?"
Crocodile frowned, not even having time to react before he was completely enveloped in sand.
"Sand Burial!"
Luffy clenched his right fist.
Immense pressure exploded instantly, crushing Crocodile's body into a cloud of flying sand.
"Really?!"
Mr. 1's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. He'd just instantly defeated the boss?
Crocodile's physical form was nowhere to be found at the scene.
However, the scattered sand slowly gathered, reforming into Crocodile's shape, though his face was pale: "You actually tried to use sand against me?"
Crocodile gave Luffy a look of utter disbelief: "I'm a Sandman who ate the Logia-type Sand-Sand Fruit! I can instantly turn any part of my body into sand! Trying to kill me with sand? That's a pipe dream!"
"Desert Diamond Blade!" Crocodile roared.
His hands instantly transformed into four even sharper, gleaming sand blades, which he slashed fiercely at Luffy again.
"That's it?"
Luffy's lips curled into a mocking smile. His right hand grasped at the air, and the sand on the ground rapidly gathered, instantly transforming into a gigantic monstrous arm, its textures clearly visible.
The Sand Monster Arm!
This arm, formed from high-density sand, was not only as hard as steel but also contained terrifying monstrous strength!
The gigantic sand hand, following Luffy's will, clashed head-on with the Desert Diamond Blade.
Boom!
The sand blade and the giant hand collided violently, a violent shockwave whipping up a cloud of dust. Crocodile's attack once again failed.
"Any other tricks up your sleeve? Show them off! You're not a sandman, you're a sand sculpture!"
Luffy beckoned to Crocodile with a provocative gesture.
"You brat...!"
Crocodile slowly retracted his sand-like arm, his eyes turning icy cold.
"A Devil Fruit user?" Crocodile stared at Luffy expressionlessly. "While I don't know your exact ability, I'll show you the power of a true Grand Line warrior!"
Mr. 1 and the others were completely bewildered. Crocodile was clearly at a disadvantage in the current battle, and they didn't know what his so-called power was.
"His hand turned black!"
Mr. 1 and the others were astonished to find that Crocodile's arm had suddenly been covered in a layer of jet-black metallic sheen.
"You know what? This is called Haki, a power specifically designed to counter Devil Fruit users! I originally intended to make you suffer a painful death using only your Devil Fruit ability, but I didn't expect you to be a Devil Fruit user too."
"Although I don't know what trick you used to control the sand, against Armament Haki, all your fancy little tricks will be exposed!"
Crocodile lit another cigar, took a deep drag: "Die! Straw Hat Luffy! I'll make you regret being born!"
Crocodile's fist, wrapped in Armament Haki, slammed straight towards Luffy with a whooshing sound.
Thump!
A muffled sound rang out as the absolute defense sand shield in front of Luffy was smashed into a deep crater.
"So hard!"
Crocodile stared at the sand wall with a grim expression. His fist was only a hand's width away from Luffy's face, but he couldn't go any further.
"Huff..."
Luffy's right hand clenched, and rings of high-density sand coiled around Crocodile's fist like pythons.
"Is it because he's imbued with Armament Haki that he can't escape by transforming into his elemental form?"
Luffy stroked his chin, examining Crocodile's arm like it was a lab rat. "As expected, someone who's been through the New World and fought Bullet to a draw, how could he not know Armament Haki?"
Crocodile looked at Luffy's calm expression, his heart skipped a beat. "Judging from your expression, you don't seem surprised at all?"
Luffy stared at him like he was an idiot: "I'm Garp's grandson! You don't really think the title 'Iron Fist' Garp is just because he has big fists, do you?"
"Unfortunately, I also know a tiny bit of Armament Haki."
Luffy smiled and slowly stood up, his entire right arm instantly turning a jet-black metallic sheen—Armament Haki Hardening!
"Hmph! So what if you know it? Without that turtle shell, you're just a snot-nosed brat." Crocodile sneered, feigning composure.
"Is that so?" Luffy smiled, looking down.
He suddenly threw a punch at Crocodile from a distance.
Crocodile was stunned, then revealed a disdainful expression: "A punch from this distance? Are you scared out of your wits?"
"Gum-Gum...Pistol!"
Luffy's arm suddenly extended, trailing a black light, and slammed into Crocodile's chest.
Bang!
Crocodile was sent flying backward, coughing up blood.
Impossible! How could someone change their body shape while their Armament Haki is hardened?!
Crocodile stared at Luffy in shock.
Normally, when Haki covers the body, the form is fixed, making it impossible to stretch and contract like rubber.
But what he didn't know was that Luffy's Human-Human Fruit, Nikka form, possessed precisely this most illogical ability.
That rubbery property ignores many laws of physics; this "Armament Haki stretching and contracting" technique alone would later leave even Doflamingo and Kaido completely baffled.
"Tsk tsk, still pretty resilient." Luffy watched Crocodile get back up and remarked in Versailles, "Looks like I need to work on my Armament Haki. Should I train with Katakuri on Observation Haki, or learn Ryuo from Hyogoro, or maybe learn Conqueror's Haki Entanglement from Kaido? What a dilemma."
Luffy shook his head. As everyone knows, Rayleigh, the "fake teacher" in the original story, took two years to teach Luffy even the basics of Haki.
The other three—Katakuri learned to foresee the future in three hours, Hyogoro taught Ryuo in a day, and Kaido taught Conqueror's Haki Entanglement with a single blow—seemed far more reliable than Rayleigh's two years.
Crocodile spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, his eyes fierce: "So what if you know Haki? Your Haki is barely scratched the surface. You're a hundred years too early to beat me!"
"Oh? I can use external Haki too."
Luffy casually raised his hand, and the countless grains of sand floating in the sky suddenly turned pitch black: "Armament Haki: Sand Rain!"
Instantly, a black rainstorm descended from the sky, countless hardened sand bullets raining down on Crocodile.
Crocodile: "..."
Faced with the dense black sand rain, Crocodile remained completely unfazed, instead revealing a cold smile: "This kind of area-of-effect attack is utterly meaningless to me with my Observation Haki."
Crocodile strolled leisurely through the dense rain of bullets, his body occasionally partially transforming into elemental forms, easily dodging all attacks.
"So strong! Such a dense barrage of attacks couldn't even scratch him!"
Mr. 1 and the others were ashen-faced, their hearts pounding in their throats. "If even Luffy loses, what will become of us...?"
Miss Twofinger nodded desperately, "Given Crocodile's ruthless nature, he would never let any traitor go unpunished."
"Then let's all go!" Mr. 2 twirled and danced ballet, "For true love! Let's help Mr. 0!"
"I advise you not to move."
At this moment, Robin made a strange gesture, and two slender arms instantly grew from behind Mr. 1 and the others' necks, tightly gripping their throats.
"Miss Twofinger?! What are you doing! Mr. 0 is on our side!" Mr. 2 Bon Clay shouted excitedly.
Mr. 1 and Twofinger stared speechlessly at this hypnotized idiot. Are you stupid? Luffy, this Mr. 0, is obviously an imposter!
Luffy glanced at Robin and waved to the others, "I don't need your help."
The others watched Luffy's retreating figure with emotion.
"If you all die, who's going to work for me and make money?"
Everyone: "...(╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻!"
Luffy turned to Crocodile, a slight smile playing on his lips: "Who told you my Sand Rain is for attacking?"
Crocodile froze, then looked down abruptly, only to find that the black sand that had fallen to the ground had somehow become tightly wrapped around his ankles.