"What a calm and collected decision. I'm impressed, Miss Wednesday," Crocodile said with a faint smile. "But I'm afraid you won't get the chance to act on it!"
As soon as he spoke, Crocodile shifted into his sand form and lunged towards Princess Vivi and Koza.
"Did you forget something?" Ryu appeared suddenly in front of Vivi, delivering a punch straight to Crocodile's face, sending him flying.
This sudden intervention stunned not only Vivi and Koza but also the wounded King Cobra and the recently revived Chaka.
"You Marine… Are you looking to die?!" Crocodile stood up, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, rage flashing in his eyes.
"If it weren't for wanting Luffy to see the gap between him and real power, do you think I'd let you babble on in front of me?" Ryu clenched his fist, looking down on Crocodile with disdain.
Crocodile, lacking the mastery of Haki, was clearly a character nerfed to give the protagonist a fair shot. Ryu had no real intention to defeat him himself; he saw this as a perfect opportunity for Luffy to gain experience. Once Luffy's bounty was high enough, Ryu could spar with him, perhaps even earn some rewards along the way. Who knows, he might even get his hands on an advanced secret technique!
"Alright, leader of the rebel forces. Now that you know the truth, it's up to you to halt the fighting on both sides. Leave the rest here to me," Ryu said with a confident smile.
Koza glanced at Vivi, who nodded reassuringly. Without hesitation, he turned and dashed out of the palace to fulfill his task.
With that settled, Ryu wasted no time and charged directly at Crocodile, saying, "Shave! Finger Gun!" If Luffy didn't arrive in time, and Crocodile ended up beaten here, that would just be his bad luck.
"Boom!" "Crash!"
Panting, Crocodile, now with blood trickling down his forehead, called out, "Nico Robin! Take the king and go. I'll meet you once I'm done here."
Robin simply smiled and, with Cobra in tow, quickly exited.
Princess Vivi moved to intercept Robin, but Robin launched an attack that would have left Vivi unconscious had Ryu not stepped in to help, giving Crocodile a brief moment to catch his breath.
"Sorry… I'm just useless!" Vivi bit her lip, feeling a deep sense of frustration as she looked at Ryu.
"Don't say that, silly. Your duty as a princess, to protect and serve your people, is already your greatest contribution. Leave the fighting to us professionals." Ryu patted her head with a reassuring smile.
In his rush to protect her, Ryu had sustained an injury on his arm from Crocodile's hook. Knowing it was laced with poison, he resolved to end this battle quickly.
"Guhaha! Marine, my hook isn't so easy to handle—it's coated with a deadly poison!" Crocodile laughed as he watched Ryu.
"Hmph, pathetic tricks. Giving you the Warlord title was a waste of a spot," Ryu scoffed. He quickly applied pressure to points on his arm to restrict blood flow and began using his inner energy to neutralize the poison.
"Crocodile!" Just as the Sand King prepared to attack again, a familiar voice called out from the sky.
"Luffy?!" Princess Vivi shouted in surprise, looking up to see Luffy riding on Pell's transformed back, soaring through the air towards them.
"Ha! Still alive? You're a persistent little ant," Crocodile sneered with a faint smile. "But I don't have time to play with you all. Farewell!" With that, he leapt from the palace and transformed into sand, swiftly flying off.
Just as Ryu was about to give chase, Luffy jumped off Pell's back, shouting, "Vivi! I'll handle Crocodile. You go and stop the rebel army!"
At that moment, Vivi looked outside and saw the war, which Koza had initially paused, had reignited once more.
"This guy actually dared to ignore me!" Ryu muttered, frowning in frustration.
"Marine, please! We need your help!" Princess Vivi urgently appealed to Ryu.
Ryu glanced in the direction Crocodile had fled, then sighed. "Princess, it's not that the Marines don't want to help, but we're stretched too thin. With just our forces, it's still impossible to stop the fighting completely."
"Please, Marine, do whatever you can!" Vivi insisted, her voice unwavering.
"All right, I'll track down my troops and have them temporarily follow orders from the Nefertari royal family," Ryu relented, nodding. Using Moonwalk, he darted off in search of his subordinate, Lena.
Just outside the palace, Ryu spotted a collapsed building and amidst the rubble lay Mr. 1, Daz Bonez.
"Just as I thought," he muttered, picking up the unconscious Daz Bonez and continuing his search for Lena.
Soon after, he found Lena at a hastily established aid station. Dropping Mr. 1 at her feet, he instructed, "Lena, all Marines are to temporarily obey the Nefertari royal family's orders. Do your best to assist them! I'll round up the Baroque Works agents. Make sure none of them escape!"
"Yes, sir!" Lena saluted, acknowledging the command.
Once Ryu had captured the remaining Baroque Works officers, the system rewarded him with a bounty's worth of diamonds for each of his captives.
"Now, should I go after Crocodile or search for the bomb?" Ryu pondered briefly. In the end, he decided on Crocodile. The bomb was an essential piece in Vivi's plan to stop the conflict.
When Ryu arrived at the underground chamber, he found Crocodile and Luffy locked in a fierce battle, with Robin lying injured nearby.
"Shave! Finger Gun!" Ryu wasted no time, swooping in to intercept Crocodile and taking over the fight.
"Ryu! He's mine!" Luffy shouted in protest.
"You handle getting the king and Robin out of here. Vivi needs you up there, and the bomb is in the clock tower!" Ryu called out, hoping to steer Luffy toward helping Vivi locate the bomb in time.
Luffy hesitated, looking between Crocodile and Ryu, but ultimately turned and ran to the king, lifting both Cobra and Robin onto his shoulders to carry them out.
"Did I say you could leave?!" Crocodile growled, blood streaming down his forehead as he glared menacingly at Luffy.
"Your opponent is me now!" Ryu declared, unleashing a flurry of Dragon Palm Strikes. "Dragon Subduing Palm: Regret of the Furious Dragon!"
"Flying Dragon in the Sky!"
"Hidden Dragon in the Fields!"
With a series of three powerful moves, a colossal dragon head formed and transformed into a golden dragon, hurtling toward Crocodile.
"Desert Spada!" "Erosion Cycle!" "Desert Tornado!"
Crocodile, unwilling to be overpowered, countered with his own techniques, unleashing a whirlwind of sand that clashed with Ryu's dragon.
Emerging from the underground chamber, Luffy glanced back just in time to see a magnificent golden dragon collide with the massive sand tornado Crocodile had summoned, a spectacular clash of raw power and energy.