"Where is your Captain?" Crocodile asked as he listened to the announcement being made by the Palace about the coming rain.
"He will be here in a while." Robin smiled as she looked at the Warlord, and then the ground under her feet started freezing up.
As if to prove something to the Desert King, she even froze the sand that was surrounding him, which made him lose control of it.
Crocodile did not show it on his face, but he had a sinking feeling in his heart as the sand that he had been controlling fell on the ground.
"I hope you are not here to fight. My brother told me not to kill you."
The smile on her face outright chilled his soul, and he did not doubt her words.
He was smart enough to tell from their brief exchange that this girl could kill him, and his powers were useless against hers.
The feeling of helplessness that he detested the most in his life surfaced again, but his pride did not allow him to back off.
He still kept utilising the power of his Devil Fruit, however, he wisely kept his mouth shut and did not give in to her provocation.
A few minutes passed, and sensing that the Warlord had no intention of speaking or doing anything, Robin grabbed the hands of Vivi and Nami and then led them inside the building together with Nojiko.
"You can wait for him outside." She told the man, not sparing him another glance, and Crocodile was rather relieved that she had let him go.
The reason he was here was to get a read on this Crew's strength, and even though he had received his answer, he decided to stay and wait for the young Warlord.
His presence grabbed a lot of attention on the street, and people happily approached them, thanking him for the services and protection that he had provided them, to which he simply nodded before walking towards the closest restaurant and taking a seat there.
Eventually, the people dispersed, having sensed that he was not in the mood to be disturbed.
Crocodile took his time as he stopped using his Devil Fruit Powers that had been in effect for a long time, sucking up the moisture from the air of Arabasta. His mind felt quite relieved as he stopped performing the taxing task, and a wave of tiredness washed over him.
He leaned back into the chair and closed his eyes, intending to get some rest to recuperate his powers. But his thoughts did not make it easy for him.
The game was over, and he had lost it at the very beginning. Now, there was no point to it, and pushing it meant throwing his life away.
A lot of thoughts flashed through his mind, and some memories that he did wish to recall, surfaced again. Those scars ached again, but then he did not know when, but he fell asleep.
A while later, a thunderclap jolted him back to reality, and when he turned to look outside the restaurant, his heart skipped a beat.
The sky was as dark as it could get during the daytime, and those storm clouds were raging, announcing the arrival of rain.
He could already smell the rain in the sea breeze that blew his way, and just like the citizens of Erumalu, he too walked outside and stood in the street, watching and witnessing the raw power of nature.
The power that only a God must possess.
Those certain scars ached again as he recalled someone who also possessed such monstrous powers, the man whom he hated with all his heart. The man who had destroyed his dreams and taken his hand from him.
But somewhere along the line, he lost himself to the beauty of the lighting that lit up the sky every couple of seconds.
Suddenly, the loudest thunderclap he had heard in his life sounded out, followed by the cries of the people who were now utterly terrified, but his eyes were fixed on the figure that had appeared in the sky, looking down from above as humans looked down at ants.
There was no mistaking it, and he could feel it, the presence of a Conqueror, which rained down on the people together with the droplets.
In this moment, he was indeed Invincible, insurmountable, and incomprehensible.
A few seconds was all it took before their fears were washed away by the rain, and the purest of joyous cries rose to the sky as people laughed and shed tears at the same time.
His years of effort and hard work were washed away too, and just in a matter of days, the young Warlord had won the entirety of Arabasta.
Was this the difference between him and a Conqueror?
Crocodile could not help but ask himself all those questions that he had been trying to deflect, but right now, they weighed heavily on his heart.
"If it isn't the man who battled the infamous Demon Heir to a draw and was responsible for his capture." He heard a sarcastic voice, and his heat slowed down when he found Sin standing right in front of him. "But with this weak Will, how did you even manage to grab that draw?" He curiously asked, and a wave of humiliation slapped Crocodile's heart. "Come."
He watched Sin enter the Icy building, and it only took him a few seconds to make up his mind before he followed the man inside it.
"You have impressive control over your Devil Fruit Powers, might I say, it's one of the finest I have ever seen." Sin laughed as he took his seat at a round table, and Crocodile walked over to sit across him, looking at the young man and trying to get a read on him. "You recalled your powers, and it did catch me by surprise when I came and sensed your presence in the city."
"You have a very sharp Observation." Crocodile took a deep puff and then indifferently kept looking at Sin.
"Be right back."
He raised his brow when the young man suddenly disappeared in a flash of lighting, and he only had to wait for half a minute before he returned, now holding a bottle of whisky in his hand and two glasses.
"So, tell me what happened to you. I want to know what caused you to lose your Will and strength." He said as he poured the alcohol into the two glasses and offered one to him.
"You sound a little too sure of yourself." He commented as he reached for the glass, hesitating a little, but seeing Sin down his, he too gulped it down his throat.
"It's not a guess. I am a little too blessed." The young man chuckled. "I can sense the Will and the state of people's Spirits. And yours has been slowly crumbling. You have grown weaker over the years, and I am sure you can't even use your Haki properly and for long."
His words cut deep into his heart, and the Desert King reached for the bottle and poured himself some more whiskey.
"You have looked into me, so, tell me, what else did you learn?" He asked back and watched Sin grin at him.
"That you are nihilistic yet ambitious, too prideful yet smart enough to sense death." He said. "Your strength got to your head, and when you faced the one enemy you had set as your target, you lost everything. It was Whitebeard whom you lost your hand to, and it was he who gave you this scar. And when you needed them the most, the crew you had trusted, left you alone to die against the Strongest man in the world."
Crocodile frowned as he could tell that to possess such details, Sin must have a very strong network of information.
"Tell me, did you start losing your Will after your loss, or after you killed those deserters whom you once trusted?"
"How do you know all this?" He narrowed his eyes, and Sin smiled at him.
"There are people out there who know these details, and one of them was kind enough to share them with me when I asked about you."
"What do you want?" He straightforwardly asked.
"Want to join my Crew?"
The question baffled him, and for the first time in a long while he failed to hide his thoughts in his expressions. However, he soon recovered from the surprise and then laughed.
"Kuh-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah uh-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah..."
He could not recall the last time he laughed from the bottom of his heart, and then he smiled, looking the young man in the eyes.
"I am not a man who submits to someone."
"Even the Kings must submit to one greater than them."
Crocodile briefly froze at the smile on Sin's lips and under the weight of his words.
"However, I won't force you. You have a few years to make up your mind."
He curiously raised his brow at those words.
"And to sweeten things up, I will even reward you with something that you have lost." Sin said as he glanced at his missing hand, where a golden hook existed in its place. "The day you decide to submit to me, you will get your left hand back."
To say that Crocodile was dismayed at his words would be an understatement. His mind just went blank trying to process those words.
"Also, start working on growing stronger. I won't accept you if you are this pathetically weak." The Devil grinned and stood up, and then patted his shoulder before heading upstairs. "I will see you around. And might even pay you a visit at the Rianbase before we leave for the meeting."