"Gah—"
There was a busy tone from the Den Den Mushi. In the beautifully decorated study, Crocodile was smoking a cigar silently, looking at the Den Den Mushi in front of the table without saying a word, as if he had not yet recovered from the words of the Five Elders.
That’s right, the person he just spoke to was the highest authority of the World Government - the Five Elders.
"Save my life?!"
"Are you kidding? I'm Crocodile."
"Admiral Qu, can you still threaten me?"
"Even if Yoriichi Tsugakuni himself showed up in Alabasta, I wouldn't be afraid at all!"
Crocodile's low voice echoed in the study. He did not doubt the information provided by the Five Elders. It was actually very easy to verify such information. There was no need for the Five Elders to deceive themselves about such things.
It is the World Government that is actively seeking cooperation with him. If they want to reach a preliminary cooperation intention with him, they must demonstrate their own strength. If even the most basic intelligence work can go wrong, then the World Government will never be able to gain Crocodile's trust.
“Da—da—”
Crocodile tapped his fingers lightly on the table, a thoughtful look on his face.
He has no good feelings towards the World Government, and he cannot fully trust the Five Elders. At the same time, Crocodile is a proud man. Even though he knows that he is in danger and is about to face the Navy Admiral, he has no fear in his heart.
But then again, Crocodile also cares very much about the promise made by the Five Elders.
Shichibukai.
While everyone in this world focused all their attention on the Marine Headquarters and the New World, the Seven Warlords of the Sea, a new title that emerged a few years ago, was quietly developing.
Once the pirates recruited by the World Government are given the title of Seven Warlords of the Sea, they are qualified to engage in legal plunder.
It may seem like nothing, but in fact, the power behind this privilege is hard for outsiders to imagine.
The Seven Warlords of the Sea, who obey orders but not announcements, also have a great deal of freedom, and the privilege of legal plunder can also nourish the Seven Warlords of the Sea to develop their own power to the greatest extent.
If it were possible to avoid being hunted by the navy, I'm afraid no pirate would refuse the title of Shichibukai.
Even though the headquarters of the Navy has undergone drastic changes, the title of Shichibukai still has great value.
Crocodile went to great lengths to take control of the Kingdom of Alabasta in order to make this country his base and create his own ideal country of "independent autonomy".
He would never allow anyone to threaten his rule, not even the admiral.
"World Government."
"From what they said, it seems that the Holy Land has no way to restrain the actions of the Navy Admiral?!"
"Aokiji."
"Hmm"
After thinking for a long time, Crocodile finally made up his mind. He did not call the Five Elders back immediately and agree to cooperate with them.
He wanted to first confirm the true combat capability of the Navy Admiral.
If the appearance of Aokiji does not pose any threat to his rule, of course he would want to obtain the title of Seven Warlords of the Sea. After taking down Aokiji, he would have more bargaining chips to trade with the Five Elders.
The pirates who can win the war and the pirates who are forced to flee by the admirals have different prices in the eyes of the Five Elders due to their different strengths.
Waiting for the merchant to sell it.
Crocodile, who has been on this sea for many years, naturally understands this very well.
"MR.1!"
The scorching sun is burning the endless desert.
The golden sand dunes roll up and down like waves on the earth.
The sand grains sparkled brightly under the sunlight. There was not a cloud in the sky. Heat waves were steaming and surging on the ground, distorting the vision in the distance.
The hot wind blew, blowing up the yellow sand.
Little Luffy suddenly stopped, covered his eyes with his hands, and then he leaned forward, following Kuzan, and fell directly into the shadows behind him.
"ah--"
"It's too hot. I can't stand it."
"I feel like I'm going to melt. I can't take it anymore. I need to take a break!"
I don’t know if this is Luffy’s fake Nika Fruit. Under the scorching sun, his body actually developed the properties of rubber, and he became soft and weak.
The group had only been walking in the desert for a few hours when Luffy couldn't hold on any longer.
Although he is young, his physical strength and energy are simply beyond the reach of a child of his age. Normally, this intensity of travel would not make him feel tired at all.
After all, it is the surrounding environment that has a great impact on Luffy.
"Hey, Luffy, are you okay?!"
Ace had a felt hat on his head. Seeing Luffy lying in the sand, he quickly came to Luffy, squatted beside Luffy and carefully checked Luffy's condition.
Unlike Luffy, Ace was not affected by the hot environment at all. He even did not sweat after walking for such a long time under the scorching sun.
Ace's ability to adapt to the environment is far beyond Luffy's reach.
As for Sabo, he was holding a popsicle in his hand and was sucking the moisture on the popsicle happily. Seeing Luffy collapsed on the ground, Sabo came to Luffy's side and stuffed the popsicle in his hand into Luffy's mouth, while stuffing it in and asked with a smile:
"Is it cooler now?"
Several children and Ku Zan traveled together, and they did not need to worry about replenishing water even in this desert, which the locals called the scorching Dead Sea.
The ability of the Ice Fruit shows unparalleled value in such a Jedi.
"Ice wall!"
Kuzan stopped and waved his hand, erecting three ice walls around him. At the same time, a thick ice roof appeared above everyone's heads, covering them.
The appearance of the simple ice house immediately caused the surrounding environment temperature to drop by dozens of degrees.
Luffy sat up from the sand, grabbed the popsicle in his hand and started chewing it.
“Hiss~~~”
“Comfortable!”
Luffy took a deep breath and felt like he came back to life. Lying on the sand, a bright smile suddenly appeared on his face.
"If we keep stopping and starting like this, how long will it take us to cross this desert?"
"Luffy, you're too slow!"
Kuzan came to Luffy and sat cross-legged. They took a short rest in the ice house. Luffy acted a little pampered along the way, or it could be said that his dependence on his two brothers and himself was too strong.
But although he can understand that a child of Luffy's age should not suffer such hardships, he hopes that Luffy can possess the precious quality of not fearing difficulties and be independent and self-reliant like his grandfather.
Luffy is a little snotty.
"Hey, Kuzan."
"Can you make an ice skating rink?"
"If we skate on the ice, we can get there faster."
I have to say that Luffy's little brain is still very flexible.
Lying on the sand, he thought of Kuzan's ability to create an ice road on the sea, and this gave him an idea of how to speed up his journey.
“Ice rink.”
Kuzan's eyes twitched slightly when he heard this, and he couldn't help but sigh softly.
Creating an ice rink? This kind of thing was naturally not a problem for him. He could even freeze an erupting volcano with his ability, let alone a "mere desert".
But the reason why he took several children across the desert was because he felt that this was a rare opportunity and he wanted to give these children some experience in an extreme environment.
If you skate while traveling, doesn't that defeat the purpose of gaining experience?
"Luffy, don't have such thoughts."
Kuzan reached out and tapped Luffy's forehead, his tone filled with both care and reprimand.
"Luffy, stop being so delicate like a girl."
"Be strong and be brave!"
Ace was standing in the same line with Kuzan at this time. Although he was scolding Luffy, in his actions, Ace grabbed Luffy's arm from behind and helped Luffy to get up from the sand.
Seeing that Luffy was about to collapse to the ground again, Ace hugged his younger brother, patted Luffy on the back, and encouraged him: "The old man hopes that you can become a real man, so don't let him down, Luffy."
The old man that Ace mentioned was naturally referring to the lost Garp.
When Luffy heard this, a gloom flashed across his eyes, and then he quickly cheered up and nodded heavily at Ace.
When people face difficult circumstances, the support and encouragement of their family can often bring them great energy.
To be honest, Luffy's talent cannot be compared with Ace, who was able to awaken the Conqueror's Haki at the age of 8, but Luffy's advantages are also very outstanding. He will try his best to respond to the expectations of his family and friends. Similarly, he will try his best to protect his family and partners around him.
It is precisely because of this kind of "talent".
Only then can Luffy unleash his potential in crisis after crisis and help himself overcome difficulties.
Perhaps it is precisely because of this quality that it was chosen by the Nika Fruit.
In other words, only those who possess this quality can awaken the Nika Fruit.
"call--"
Outside the igloo, the wind was howling.
A sandstorm brewed in the desert without warning and was rapidly heading towards the ice house of several people. It hit the wall of the ice house, making a rustling sound. A lot of yellow sand poured into the room through the hole that Kuzan deliberately left.
"Sandstorm?"
The sky outside was already covered by yellow sand, and the scorching sun had been obscured by the yellow sand. Kuzan turned his head to look outside the house, but his brows were furrowed.
Ace and the others were looking outside in astonishment. The day had passed so quickly, and they, the kids, had never experienced anything like this before.
"It's not just a simple sandstorm."
"You guys, protect yourselves, you must..."
Before Kuzan finished speaking, he suddenly realized something and rushed directly towards Luffy and Ace. In this small ice house, Kuzan's figure instantly appeared in front of Luffy and Ace, picked up the two and left the place.
And just the next second after the figures left their original place, a sharp sand knife pierced directly out of the sand surface.
If Kuzan had moved a little slower, Luffy and Ace would have been pierced through the chest by the sharp sand knife like candied haws on a string.
"There are enemies?!"
This sudden scene startled everyone in the ice house. Sabo let out a low cry. The next second, he seemed to have noticed something and immediately lowered his head to look at the ground, but the attack from the ground was too sudden.
A sand knife also appeared silently under Sabo's body, directly cutting Sabo's body in half.
“?!”
Sabo's severed upper body swayed slightly and fell quickly onto the sand.
Kuzan had also noticed Sabo's movements, and his pupils shrank upon seeing this. Frost instantly spread from beneath Kuzan's feet, freezing the sand beneath him into a solid surface in the blink of an eye.
The yellow sand was churning under the ice, but there was no way to break through Kuzan's defense in a short time.
“Zizi—”
There were bursts of electric sounds in the ice house. Sabo, who was cut in half by the sand knife, turned into two lightning bolts. The lightning bolts condensed together in mid-air. After a while, Sabo's body condensed again.
“How dangerous!”
"He was just a smidge away from death!"
Sabo patted his chest with some fear, glanced down at the churning yellow sand under the ice house, and showed an indifferent smile on his face.
On the contrary, Kuzan breathed a sigh of relief after seeing Sabo's elemental body re-condensed.
He was so worried that he forgot that Sabo was a person who had eaten the Thunder Fruit when he was attacked.
Compared to Sabo's fake fear, Kuzan was really scared.
If Sabo was not a user of a natural devil fruit today, the attack from a group of strong strangers would have probably taken his life.
Seeing that Sabo was safe and sound, Kuzan looked outside the house with a serious face.
The sandstorm that covered the sky and the sun came and went quickly. In just a few seconds, the sky outside was clear again.
"rustle--"
There was a sound of footsteps coming from outside the house. Kuzan, upon hearing the noise, waved his hand, removed the ice walls around him, and then looked in the direction where the footsteps came from.
Several figures appeared on the sand dunes not far away.
The leader was a scarred young man wearing a tan suit and holding a golden hook. On either side of him stood three young men: a burly man with a crew cut and his arms crossed over his chest; a strange man with weird makeup and a short skirt; and a man with glasses and a weird hairstyle.
Hmm.
A very distinctive group of people.
Kuzan looked from afar and recognized the young man in the lead, who was about his age and holding a golden hook - Crocodile!
"Admiral Aokiji!"
"I never thought a big shot like you would show up in Alabasta."
"It really surprised me."
Crocodile stood on the sand dune, lowered his head and looked at Kuzan who was with three children. He greeted him politely, but a hideous smile appeared on his face.
His eyes swept over Kuzan and the others, and then his gaze stayed on Sabo for a few seconds before turning back to Kuzan.
"Sand crocodile, Crocodile."
Seeing that Crocodile recognized him, Kuzan also protected the three little ones behind him, put his hands in his pockets, and looked at the other party with a calm expression.
A powerful aura burst out from both of them and rushed towards each other.
In the sea of sand, strong winds suddenly appeared and swept in all directions.
Kuzan didn't think it was a coincidence to meet Crocodile and others in such a place. He thought that he was discovered when he landed on the island.
However, if he knew that he had been discovered by the other party, then he would probably have to reassess the other party's influence in the Kingdom of Alabasta.
unless
Someone in the Marine Headquarters tipped off Crocodile!
(End of this chapter)
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