Next Day,
Straw Hats ship reached the shore of the Rainbase. And, as soon as they reached there, Luffy jumped out of the ship and ran.
"Crocodile, I'm coming for you."
"Idiot, that's the wrong direction."
Nami shouted from the ship but Luffy had already gone too far. His idiocy was truly putting the team into problems.
"That idiot." Sanji's expression darkened and so did Zoro's. Luffy going missing would definitely hamper their plan. After all, Luffy would be the one to fight against Crocodile.
"Then, why don't we wait till he arrives?" Mikita suggested.
Bang!
Suddenly, a cannonball shot next to their ship. The ship lost its balance for a moment.
"Who is shooting us?" Nami shouted as she held the ship tightly.
"Marines! How did they know we are here?" Sanji quickly dashed toward the back and saw three marines ships. As soon as he saw that, he shouted.
"It must be crocodile." Zack said.
"Wait, you mean they are supporting crocodile?" Vivi asked. She tried to hide her anger but they could still feel it in her tone.
"Crocodile is a warlord, Vivi. Obviously, they would support him. But, I don't think that's the reason why they are here. Don't forget, we are pirates. If marines find us, then they will fight us."
"Crocodile just gave them the information about us. We are in his territory. Baroque Works are roaming all around this place." Zack explained.
Hearing his words, Vivi clenched her fist in frustration. This was her country. She was the princess and now it was completely controlled by a pirates.
How could she not feel frustrated by such a thing?
"Then, what are we going to do now?" Nami asked.
"All of you, follow the plan. Find your opponent and defeat them. As for Marines, let me and vivi take care of them. As for Luffy, don't worry about him. He might be an idiot but his instincts are always sharp."
"It would take a little while but he will definitely find Crocodile." Zack said.
Hearing his words, Nami shook her head immediately.
"No! Your condition isn't good. Right now, you need to focus on healing."
"Nami, don't worry about me. Besides, if I give up fighting just because I am injured, I will never be able to overcome the dangers in front of me. Before I didn't know my condition but now I know."
"I might not be strong as before but I know one thing and that is to adapt. I will adapt to this battle. So, don't worry about me, and give it your all in this battle."
"We can't rely on miracles to win." Zack shook his head and patted her shoulder as he smiled.
Nami bit her lips as she struggled to agree.
Bang! Bang!
Another two cannonballs struck the water near them. The ship became unstable.
"Now, leave! You must defeat Sir. Crocodile. Follow the plan! That's the only way we can stop the civil war and Sir. Crocodile." Zack shouted.
Hearing his words, Zoro jumped down from the ship, followed by Sanji, Mikita,Chopper, and Usopp. Nami still struggled to leave directly. She looked at Zack and said.
"If anything happens to you, I will never forgive you."
"Don't worry. I might not be the strongest or smartest person but I am very resourceful." Zack smiled as he patted his chest.
Nami finally jumped down from the ship.
Before saying " Vivi please take care of him."
Zack turned around and looked at three marine ships coming toward him. His eyes turned serious as he asked.
"Now, how am I going to fight them?"
.....
Somewhere far into the desert,
"Where the hell am I?" Luffy stopped and looked around. He didn't see anyone following him and all he could see was the desert. He was confused for a moment but eventually, an idea came to his mind.
"Zack told me that if I get lost I must run toward the place where I came from."
Saying so, he turned around and then started running.
.....
"Hey, so according to the plan, we must split right now." Nami said as they started to reach closer to Rainbase.
"Sanji, Zoro, we will leave everything to you." Nami, Usopp, Vivi, Mikita, and Chopper went a different way while Sanji and Zoro went straight.
After a while, they eventually reached in front of the bridge. Behind that bridge, there was a massive building which was the casino and Crocodile's base.
"Mosshead, it's your turn." Sanji looked at the group of people in front of him and said.
"Then, just sit back and watch, you pervert cook." Zoro smirked and rushed toward those people. He immediately unsheathed the swords but instead of using the sharp end, he used the blunt end.
"Three Swords Style"
"Tatsu——Maki"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
"Ahhhhh!" "Ahhhhhh!" "Ahhhhhh"
The people who were caught inside the tornado started screaming. But, after the tornado died down, most of the people from the ground started standing up.
"You bastards! Who are you?" One person who didn't get caught in that tornado took out a sword and rushed toward Zoro while shouting.
Suddenly, Zoro's eyes glowed. He changed the sides of his swords and with three swords, he once again rushed toward those people.
"Three Swords Style"
"Tatsu——Maki"
Splash! Splash! Splash! Splash!
This time, those who were standing got slashed by his swords. All of them fell down except one or two.
Sanji walked in front of a man who was still standing and said.
"Your boss is inside, right? Go and tell him that Straw Hats are waiting for him outside. In less than half an hour, Princess will spread the information to the whole country."
The man was trembling when he heard that. He immediately nodded his head and while bearing the pain of the slash on his chest, he ran toward the building.
"Let's leave, stupid cook!" Zoro put the swords inside the sheaths and ran away.
"Don't tell me what to do, you bastard. Besides, we are going different ways. Don't get lost on the way." Sanji also ran but mid-way, he changed his direction.
"You…." Zoro wanted to curse but Sanji had already left. He looked at the sky and when his eyes fell on small birds that were moving with him, he narrowed his eyes.
At this moment, he started to recall the plan that Zack made in the morning.
"What? You mean if we defeat Crocodile, the rebel forces would stop?" Vivi looked at Zack with shock as she asked.
"Not directly but yes. The reason why they are rebelling against your father is because of the rain. While Crocodile might not be the reason behind the disappearance of the rain, he is the reason why there is no rain in your country for three years."
"He is monopolizing the entire rain by using dance power. So, our main purpose is to defeat him. Although dance power is causing the rain disturbance, his devil fruit is partially related."
"So, if we defeat him, then we will be able to destroy the bases that he uses for causing rain. Rebel forces will strike the capital tomorrow. After we defeat crocodile, there will be rain."
"When it starts raining, you with me will broadcast everything that Crocodile did to your country and use your forces to capture the traitors in your army. So, if we stop Crocodile today, there will be no civil war and there will not be bloodshed." Zack explained.
Hearing his words, Vivi's eyes turned red. The goal that she had been trying to achieve was within her range. In her mind, she would do anything for her country but she will not allow anyone to shed their blood.
But, at this moment, Vivi clenched her fist. Her body trembled a bit as she spoke.
"But...."
"Vivi, stop!" Luffy suddenly spoke. When he spoke, everyone looked at him with surprise. He looked into Vivi's eyes and asked.
"Aren't we friends?"
Vivi's eyes got moist as she nodded her head.
"Then, why are you afraid of putting our lives on the line?" Luffy looked into her eyes and shouted.
Vivi's moist eyes started releasing tears.
'Sigh! He was still ahead of me.'
Zack didn't see this coming. He totally believed that Vivi wasn't hesitating anymore. But unlike him, Luffy could still feel her emotions.
"We will follow Zack's plan. I will kick crocodile's ass." Luffy shouted as he clenched his fist.
An hour later,
Luffy completely forgot about the plan and ran off toward the desert on his own.
After another half an hour,
"Didn't I go back where I came from? Then, why is there no ship here?" Luffy stood at the shores and looked around. He didn't see the single ship here.
But, suddenly his eyes turned to the stone nearby. At this moment, two marines wearing white shirts came out while holding guns in their hands.
"Monkey D. Luffy, follow us. We will take you to Mr. Crocodile."
They said and ran toward the Rainbase.
At this moment, Luffy was left stunned and confused.
"Why are marines leading me?"
Two seconds later,
"Who cares? Right now, I need to kick that crocodile's ass"
"CROCODILE, I'M COMING FOR YOU."
A few Minutes Ago,
"How am I supposed to fight them? I do have some ideas but I wonder if these marines are just normal." Zack muttered as he stood at the back of his ship.
He was looking at the several cannonballs coming toward him. At this moment, his eyes suddenly narrowed. After a while smoke puffed out of the main ship, a man walked out of that ship's cabin.
His lower body transformed into a white smoke as he flew toward Zack's ship.
Zack immediately reached out into his pockets and took out a pair of gloves. He wore those gloves and stared at Smoker.
"Where did your crew member go? Where is straw hat and what with the girl?" Smoker landed a few meters away from him and spoke with a hoarse tone.
"Captain is out to defeat Crocodile and so is the crew. The girl is the princess of Alabasta whose kingdom is being controlled by crocodile and we are helping her. Are you sure you want to interfere, smokey? You should be aware of everything Crocodile is doing to this country, right?" Zack asked.
"What are you trying to say? You bastards kidnapped the princess." Smoker thrust his rod toward Zack but Zack easily caught it. The tip of the rod struck his glove and didn't weaken him.
"Kidnap the princess? Ask her " Vivi nodded in confirmation , Smoker released his hold . Zack continued "Smoker, don't lie to yourself! Do you think we have any reasons to kidnap a princess? You stayed in the country for a while. You are a marine. You know how much this country is suffering because of you, because of your marine."
"Marines don't capture pirates? Pffttt! A world-class joke. Do you think you are justice? Don't make me laugh, Smoker? You watched thousands of people suffer in the hands of a pirate."
"This is the country that hadn't had rain for three years and it's because of a pirate. You marines only know how to bully the weak. You call yourself justice? I would rather spite on your justice than on the ground."
"You bastard!"
When Smoker started hearing too much from Zack, his anger burst out. His body turned into smoke as he moved toward Zack. He clenched his fist and punched.
But, Zack easily caught his punch. Although Zack wasn't allowed to fight, he hadn't lost all of his strength. And, with these gloves, he had no problem-fighting logia devil fruit users.
"I know you are angry but you are not angry at me, are you? I know you, smoker. I researched you. You are angry and helpless because of how weak you are. I know a lot about you, Smoker."
"You also despise this warlord system. Your justice is indeed good but you are weak to properly implement it and that's why your justice is weak. You can't even save the people suffering in front of you."
Zack continued to deliver those heavy words. At this moment, he wanted to cooperate with Smoker but this guy won't listen to that easily. He was hell-bent on capturing pirates.
"Smoker, I don't want you to just leave without fighting me. In fact, we can fight later. But, right now, I am in the middle of liberating a kingdom along with the princess here from the hands of a pirate and stopping the rebel army, the job that is supposed to be yours."
"So, will you stand in my way or help me?"
Smoker's expression was still darkened. But, he eventually pulled his rod and asked.
"You are asking a marine to help a pirate?"
"Aren't you already doing that?" Zack asked.
"Tell me how!" Smoker's expression eventually changed to normal looking at the plead look of vivi as he asked.
"Dance Power! Crocodile is using it in different parts of this country to make it dry. While my crew is out there to stop him, three of us can destroy these bases and protect her till she broadcast the truth. But of course, not just that."
"Baroque Work is an organization with over two thousand people. Your marines can help us by suppressing those people. And, let me tell you this one more time, if you don't agree, you will regret it for the rest of your life." Zack said.
At this moment, Smoker's veins on his fists were popping out. He was really angry so angry that he wanted to kill Zack. But, his mind was still calm.
He was able to understand the situation pretty well. And, that's why he was getting mad. Because even though he knew this situation, he couldn't interfere. His hands were tied.
After a long silence, he released his smoke and said.
"Pirate, let me tell you this one last time. This is not cooperation. We just have the same objective."
Zack slowly smiled and said.
"Of course! Why would pirates help marines?"
"You.... I will send two of my ships to the Rainbase." Smoker said.
"Hey, then it wouldn't work." Zack spoke as he shook his head.
"What do you mean?" Smoker looked into his eyes and asked.
"We are not cooperating, remember? I can't trust you. If you go with your whole ship that is. So, how about this? Clear one of your ships and we will go together in our own ships. As for other members, send all of them to the Rainbase." Zack said.
Hearing his words, Smoker clenched his fist. But, he didn't disagree. He said.
"Alright!"
"And, I also need one thing from you."
"I said, this is not a cooperation." Smoker roared at him.
"I know this is not a cooperation between you and me but we still have the same objective, don't we? Crocodile still needs to be defeated. And, only one person can do it. But, there is a slight problem."
"He has gone in the wrong direction. So, I want you of your men to stay here until he arrives and then take him to the Rainbase. That's all I am asking for." Zack said.
Smoker heavily sighed and said.
"Alright! But, can he do that?"
"Smoker, my captain might be an idiot and easygoing. He would laugh most of the time and always remain carefree. But, when it comes to his friend, he is hundred percent serious. He would put his life on the line for his friend." Zack narrowed his eyes and spoke.
"So, that's why you follow him? Well, it doesn't matter." Smoker said and his legs turned to smoke. He floated in the air and moved toward his ship.
After he left, Zack heavily sighed.
'That's good. I might not be able to convince Smoker like Luffy but I still have my own ways. It's not like I particularly need his help but for the sake of the current situation, I need to avoid clashing with him.' Zack thought to himself.
"Get ready for the action" said Zack getting a nod from vivi.
After ten minutes, two of the marine ships moved away from the shores. One marine ship went to the front. Zack quickly set the sails and followed the marine ship.
"So, where is that place?" Smoker asked as he stood on the deck.
"It's a bit far from here. Instead of running on the desert, I thought going through shores in our ship would be much easier." Zack said.
Actually, Zack would much rather avoid heat due to his current situation.
As the ship slowly sailed away, they eventually reached the point where they needed to move on. Zack and Smoker jumped down from their ships.
Though Smoker parked his ship a bit far away from Going Merry.
But, as soon as they started to walk away, two figures suddenly jumped out of Smoker's ship.
"Marine and Pirate working together. Captain Smoker, do you have any idea what you are doing?" Three of them were wearing white suits and masks.
"Who are you?" Smoker's body started to release the white smoke as he asked. He didn't even realize that someone was on his ship all this time. But, suddenly his mind triggered a memory.
"Wait, are you CP agents?"
"They are. But, something doesn't add up. Why would CP agents follow a Captain? Unless.." Zack asked. He was stunned by their appearance because he never expected them to appear here.
After all, they didn't appear in the Alabasta arc. They only appeared in Dressrosa Arc and that's because of Doflamingo's identity.
"A small pirate like you know about us. It seems like we must kill you here." One of them spoke.
At this moment, Zack's heartbeat rose.
'Wait, they didn't appear here out of nowhere. This is a Warlord's matter after all and this place is Alabasta, one of the twenty kingdoms. They obviously sent these CP agents here.'
'But, then why didn't they send anyone in the original? Is it because of me or is it because Oda didn't show them before? Damn it! No point in thinking about that right now. I need to convince smokey to help me.'
Zack clenched his fist and raised his hands.
"Smokey, I know you said that this wasn't cooperation but I believe you don't want to die here. These CP agents are trained dogs of the world government. They will definitely kill you after killing me."
"Or, even if they didn't, then they would still tell your cooperation with pirates to the marines. I am not telling you this to help me. Just make sure what you do next doesn't make you regret it."
Hearing his words, one of the CP agents spoke.
"Cooperating with a pirate means you have betrayed marines. You must die here."
'So, you want to dig a hole for yourself, huh?' Zack couldn't help but cheer from inside. He gestured Vivi to hide behind.
Smoker slowly raised his rod and put it on his shoulder.
"This is the first and the last time a marine would fight together with a pirate."
Zack clenched his fist and several cards appeared in front of him.
"This isn't the first time, smoker. Then again, this isn't a time for a history lesson."
"Let's see if the new mode works. I call it…"
[Teen Patti- Team Battle Mode]
"Those bastards." The Crocodile who just got out of the casino was enraged. He stared at the man in front of him in anger and released a slash with his sand.
Splash!
After killing that man, Crocodile turned his head at Robin and asked.
"What kind of game do you think they are playing?"
Robin thought for a moment and said.
"If I am not wrong, they want us to be separated. That means they want to have an individual battle. From what we know, their Captain wasn't with them. So...."
"Crocodile, you bastard!"
Suddenly, a roar came from afar. Robin paused and then continued without even looking toward that noise.
"Send the top officers of Baroque Works to find them and kill them individually to find Princess Vivi. As for him, I suppose you can handle it."
Saying so, Robin turned around and left.
"Where are you going?" Mr. 1 stopped her and asked with a serious tone. It seemed like Robin was running away from the battle.
"Mr. 1, let her go! She has a different task. As for all of you, find those bastards and kill them."
Crocodile spoke with a deep voice. Hearing his order, everyone immediately left. He turned his head at Luffy who was running toward him.
"Tch! A newcomer who hasn't even lived in Grandline for more than a month dares to challenge me."
Luffy was still far away from him so he didn't hear what Crocodile was talking about. At this moment, he was just focusing on reaching closer to Crocodile.
Upon reaching closer, Luffy instantly extended his fist and tried to punch him. But, Luffy's punch pierces through him, without actually hitting him.
"Oh! I forgot that normal punches don't work on him."
Luffy suddenly realized it and withdrew his hand. But, how could Crocodile let him leave that easily?
"Desert Slash"
Crocodile gathered sand in front of him, turning it into a sharp slash, and threw it toward Luffy. Seeing this move, Luffy contracted his fist and upon reaching closer to it, he punched down.
Bang!
His fist burst through the desert slash, breaking it into sand dust. It fell on the ground.
"So, you have greater strength, huh? So, what?"
Crocodile condensed three giant spears made out of the sand and threw them at Luffy.
"Desert Spear"
Luffy saw those attacks coming and extended his arms. He extended his arms as much as he could but suddenly he turned around and realized that his hands were stuck on metal bars.
"Ah-oh"
Just when he retracted his hands, he found himself flying back like a slingshot. His hands escaped from the metal bar but he flew several miles away from Crocodile.
"Damn that boy!"
Crocodile didn't find it funny. Instead, he was bursting with anger. But, he quickly calmed down and thought.
'I don't need to waste my time right now. Let's torture the king first and then get to the place where poneglyph is.'
Thinking so, Crocodile turned around and left. After a few minutes, Luffy finally reached this place and looked around with an ugly expression.
"Where did that Gator go? No, if I fail to take him down fast, Zack will definitely blame me. I have to find him soon."
Luffy murmured to himself with a pale expression but suddenly, his eyes fell on the ground as he noticed the sand slowly leading him in a certain direction.
At this moment, a rare light bulb appeared in his head.
...…..
Somewhere far from Casino,
A man holding three swords on his waist was waiting with his back to the wall. Next to him, there was a girl with Orange Hair.
"They finally arrived. So, I guess I got to say goodbye now." Nami spoke as she took out a strange weapon. This weapon was a small metallic pipe with two big circular ends.
Holding this weapon, she rushed toward two people. But, she didn't even look at the man instead her target was the woman.
Seeing her rushing toward them, Mr. 1 and Miss Doublefinger were confused. But, her speed was quite fast. Miss Doublefinger instantly shared her fingers as she rushed forward.
"It seems like you really want to take us individually but don't think that you can defeat us."
Nami instantly swung her weapon and several small red bubbles coming out of the metallic pipe.
[Hot Air Barrage]
These red bubbles moved toward her and struck her. But, it was nothing more than warm bubbles. Initially, Miss Doublefinger stopped herself but seeing that these weren't dangerous, she rushed forward.
"No, wait!"
Mr. 1 tried to stop her but before he could even make her stop, the hot air bubble suddenly exploded. Although the explosion wasn't enough to destroy her, it was still enough to make flames in the air.
"Humph! Do you think this would be enough to kill me?" Miss Doublefinger easily overcame the explosions. She was only burnt a little.
"Do you know what happens when the air gets hotter and flies up?" Nami's words resounded in her ears when she saw Nami swinging her weapon toward her.
[Whirlwind Blast]
The massive bubbles of cold air burst out of her weapon and in an instant, it changed into a huge hurricane of cold air. Naturally, the cold air flew toward the empty space to fill it up and when it did, its speed was immense.
Bang!
The massive flow of cold air blasted Miss Doublefinger away. At the same time, Nami suddenly sensed death. The arm that was shaper than most knives appeared in front of her.
"You made a mistake. We are assassins."
Mr.1 appeared in front of her to kill her. As his arm moved forward, Nami panicked. But, suddenly, familiar words rang in her ears.
"It seems like you aren't a true swordsman."
Ding!
A katana struck his arm and Mr. 1 retreated instantly.
Bam!
Nami swung her body and slammed a punch at Zoro's head.
"Can't you attack him from the start? I almost died."
No wonder, she was so angry. While fighting Miss Doublefinger, Zoro was just watching it from behind and due to this, she was almost killed by her enemy.
"Sorry about that! I didn't expect him to be a cheap assassin. But, it doesn't matter. You should chase after that woman and confirm that you have defeated her."
Zoro almost got angry because of her punch but suddenly realized his mistake and apologized.
"You are Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro." Mr. 1 stared at him and spoke with a serious expression.
"From what I've heard, you can change your body into steel. That means if I cut you down, I will be one step closer to my dream."
Zoro took out a sword and took a deep breath. He knew that he still wasn't at the point where he could cut Steel. So, he was memorizing everything that would help him progress.
'There are swordsmen that can cut nothing.'
Only now, he was starting to understand its meaning. A swordsman who uses his sword but still doesn't cut anyone means that his control is immense.
So, he must reach this level. Cut things that he must cut and not cut things that he mustn't cut.
'This level….. I need to feel the breath of the sword.'
At this moment, he remembered the time when he asked Zack to straighten his posture and not make the wrong posture while training.
Soon, another memory came to his mind. The memory of when he couldn't cut the wax.
Now, he finally had a chance to become someone who can not just cut wax but also steel.
"Humph! It seems like you can't cut the steel which means I will defeat you before you can learn it."
For a moment, Mr.1 was shaken but when he heard that Zoro can't cut Steel, he finally calmed down. Although he wasn't sure why Zoro had so much confidence in learning to cut steel in this battle, he won't let him.
He changed his arms into blades and his foot also changed into sharp knives. His foot changed into skate toward Zoro while Zoro was immersed in his own thoughts.
At this moment, he remembered the words that his master once told him.
'You need to accept the fact that you are not the best and put all of your Will to continue moving forward.'
'I am not the best. I can't cut steel. I can't sense the breath of the sword. But, I have been training. I have been getting stronger. I won't lose. I am the swordsman of the team. I am the combatant that must solve most of his enemy.'
Suddenly, he opened his eyes and held the hilt of the sword. He took a deep breath and his body flashed forward. Holding the sheath with another hand, he pulled out his sword.
At this moment, all of his training, all of his Will, and spirit poured into a single strike. His ears became the source to hear the breath of the sword. His mind went blank to focus all of his energy on one single strike.
[One Sword Style]
[Shishi Sonson / Lion Song]
Splash!
Mr.1's eyes widened when he appeared behind Zoro. Not only his attack was blocked but his steel body was cut apart. He coughed out blood and fell to the ground.
Zoro put the sword back into his sheath and spoke.
"I am the combatant of the team. You are not the only enemy we need to defeat. But to show my respect to you, I used my strongest attack to defeat you."
"If you survive, let's meet again Mr. Assassin."
[Zoro Vs Mr.1]
[Zoro wins]