Rear Admiral Drake knew what to do.
If he were to face a Shichibukai, especially the famous Desert King Crocodile. Rear Admiral Drake would feel a little pressured.
But...
Admiral Aokiji was behind him!
The confidence brought by an Admiral was very strong. At least Admiral Aokiji would be able to defeat a Shichibukai.
Once Rear Admiral Drake found Crocodile, he would let Admiral Aokiji directly support him. After they worked together to catch Crocodile, they could launch an all-out siege on the Baroque Works.
The only trouble was that the legendary ancient weapon Pluton in Crocodile's hands has not yet been given a clear statement by the World Government to the marine.
The Five Elder Stars of the World Government were somewhat ambiguous.
The response from the Five Elder Stars to Fleet Admiral Sengoku was that Crocodile should not have gotten the ancient weapon, so the marine would not have to worry about the threat of the ancient weapon.
Even if Crocodile got the ancient weapon, he should not have the ability to use the ancient weapon.
Even if Crocodile had the ability to use the ancient weapon, he should not be able to use its full power.
Can this be relied on?
This was really terrible.
It was like sending the marines to their deaths.
In fact, the marines were really sent to their deaths. The World Government needed to use the marines' lives to verify whether the Pluton was in Crocodile's hand.
The first time they heard the specific news of the Pluton warship, the World Government was very eager to confirm its validity. They also believed that even if Crocodile had the Pluton, he had not yet completely controlled it.
After the World Government's highest leader, the Five Elder Stars, received the news of Pluton.
In private, they immediately sent a Cipher Pol to Alabasta.
These people were still on their way to Alabasta.
This kind of thing could not be discussed with the marine.
Alabasta, the center of the desert.
Crocodile has yet to see the shadow of Pluton.
Crocodile worked hard to create a sandstorm here, making the whole Alabasta drier and reducing the prestige of the king of Alabasta.
The whole Alabasta had become the center of the whirlpool in the Grand Line's first half. Crocodile still didn't realize the future of crisis, and even now, he still did not know that he was going to encounter a big crisis.
Just as Crocodile raised his hand to create a sandstorm, a huge civet cat suddenly came out of the sand and opened his mouth to spew a wind cannon at him!
"What kind of monster is this!"
Crocodile's expression changed.
There were indeed many terrible poisonous insects and beasts hidden in the desert, but this was the first time that Crocodile had seen such a strange beast like this civet cat!
"Are you the Suna Suna Mi(Sand-Sand Fruit) person?"
The huge civet cat showed a strange smile, "I am Ichibi who is hiding in the desert and looking for the Suna Suna Mi(Sand-Sand Fruit) person to parasitize..."
The next moment, Crocodile only felt a piece of yellow sand fly out from the ground and turn into a pyramid that completely surrounded his body!
At this moment, Crocodile tried to urge the yellow sand to leave, but he found that the yellow sand was not under his control at all!
Then, the huge civet cat turned into a torrent of yellow sand and flew into his body, making Crocodile terrified!
"What the hell is going on!"
"We are one!"
Ichibi's voice came from the bottom of Crocodile's heart, and the monster's voice was a little harsh, "Hehehe... Let me see how much power we can exert after we combine!"
"Are you kidding me?"
Crocodile felt the strange movement in his body, and his face was a little stiff, "I won't allow others to invade my body!"
"That depends on your own will..."
The voice of Ichibi was still very bad.
After it borrowed its power to Crocodile, the yellow sand under Crocodile's feet began to rotate crazily!
Under the influence of the strong wind, the sand easily gathered into a sandstorm that covered the sky. This power was simply unimaginable to Crocodile!
After the terrifying monster appeared in Crocodile's body, he could easily control the sand. He felt that he could turn everything around into controlled sand. Perhaps this was the real power of the sand fruit?
This power was indeed strong.
But what the hell was going on?
Just when Crocodile was still in the desert and was surprised.
Uehara stood in Rainbase and whispered to the Den Den Mushi in his hand, "Crocodile has become Ichibi Jinchuriki. We can start preparing to support Rear Admiral Drake in his crusade against Crocodile."
Yes, the person who controlled all this was Uehara.
The ninja world thought that Uehara had Sage of the Six Paths' chakra on him, which indeed brought him a lot of trouble, but it also brought him a lot of conveniences.
For example, the nine Bijuu were very obedient.
When Uehara mentioned letting Shukaku enter a person's body to make that person the Ichibi Jinchuriki, Shukaku directly agreed.
In any case, this period of time would not be too long.
Moreover, the process of Crocodile becoming Ichibi Jinchuriki was rough, and he didn't even have a seal. Crocodile didn't know that Ichibi could deprive him the control of his body at any time.
This was actually a big pit.
With Ichibi's jumping and brutal temperament...
Who knows what that guy will do...
However, it had to be mentioned that Crocodile had at least got a lot of sand control skills, which were also greatly strengthened and allowed him to control the power of his own fruit more smoothly.
On the other side.
According to Uehara's information, Rear Admiral Drake stepped into the desert alone. As for Kabuto and Uehara, they were sent by him to encircle the other people of the Baroque Works.
Before leaving, Rear Admiral Drake contacted Aokiji and got Aokiji's exact guarantee that he could support him at any time.
What's there to worry about?
Crocodile also received Nico Robin's Den Den Mushi. His vice president informed him that something had happened. The marine somehow found Alabasta as the active place of the Baroque Works from the caught members.
"Mr. Crocodile, maybe Kisame also leaked the news."
Nico Robin said with a little nervousness in her voice, "At least one Rear Admiral sneaked into Alabasta privately, and he came to make trouble for us.
And the Rainbase suddenly encountered an attack from the marine. They claimed that they have abolished your position as Shichibukai... "
"I will go back immediately."
Crocodile hung up the Den Den Mushi in his hand, and there was a gloomy smile on his face, "Well, a Marine Rear Admiral, then I can use him to test the power I just got..."
If he didn't get the Pluton Warship before, he really needed the Shichibukai position to let him continue to stay in Alabasta.
Now, Crocodile suddenly got another powerful power today, and can already ignore the threat of the World Government.
Just as Crocodile was on his way back, he encountered Rear Admiral Drake, making Crocodile wonder if World Government wanted to do something.
After seeing Crocodile, Rear Admiral Drake was relieved. Seeing Crocodile here, there should be no mistake in the plan.
Everything was going smoothly.
What was left was the most difficult battle!
Drake pulled out his sword and looked coldly at Crocodile in the desert, "Crocodile, you secretly control the Baroque Works to harm the sea. I will strip you of your position as Shichibukai in the name of World Government..."
"What rules can pirates have?"
Crocodile sneered, "I already know, it was Kisame who leaked the news of me!
But it doesn't matter. If it were before, maybe I still need this position. Now I just need a ready-made living target!"
"Sand Bullet!"
Under the control of Crocodile, countless sand gathered in the air and shot toward Rear Admiral Drake like bullets!
"Huh?"
Drake's arm was directly pierced by the sand.
This Marine Rear Admiral immediately realized his trouble.
Drake's body suddenly swelled up and turned into a huge Allosaurus, trying to resist the attack of the yellow sand with his hard body!
However, after Drake turned into Allosaurus, he still couldn't resist the attack. The next moment, countless yellow sand wrapped around his body and buried him alive!
The battle had just begun...
Rear Admiral Drake was directly defeated by Crocodile.
At this moment, this Rear Admiral finally realized the horror of a Shichibukai and how stupid it was to fight with Crocodile in this desert environment.
Uehara, who had been monitoring the battle, was also a little dumbfounded. He thought that the two sides would fight for at least a few minutes... This Rear Admiral Drake directly lost?
"Kabuto, is this Rear Admiral acting?"
Uehara couldn't help but look at the juice in his hand, "The juice in my hand is not chilled yet... Rear Admiral Drake is already cold? Is this all that our future commander can do?"
"No, that's how Rear Admiral Drake is."
Kabuto couldn't help but smile. He pushed up his glasses and whispered, "Maybe Naraku-sama's strength is too strong and think that an ant can at least have the strength of one finger..."
"Let Aokiji hurry up and support him!"
Uehara shook his head speechlessly. He then took a sip of juice, sighed, and said, "When it's about time, you can bring Kisame, Sasori, and Deidara to participate!
Let Mr. Crocodile know that in the whole Baroque Works, except for Nico Robin and me, everyone else in the world betrayed him... "