Pirates: Your emperor has returned!

The pirate captain, new to the Grand Line, had heard of this name from several islands he had visited before; it seemed to be a business alliance spearheaded by a superpower.

At first, the pirate captain was quite dismissive of the news.

They're pirates, aren't they? Their job is to kill, burn, and plunder.

Pirate captains love doing this kind of thing.

A business alliance? To them, it's probably just a slightly tough piece of meat!

However, as more information came in, the pirate captain gradually became wary of the name "Four Seas Alliance".

After all, every piece of news he heard said that one should never try to mess with the Four Seas Alliance, and any pirate who dared to provoke the Four Seas Alliance would pay an unimaginable price!

"I heard that their merchant ships have fishmen as guards!"

"I heard he's a Devil Fruit user?"

"I know, he's a minotaur!"

"No, no, it's a birdman!"

"You're all wrong, it's a kobold!"

"..."

"I heard that he is a Logia-type Devil Fruit user."

"..."

Upon hearing this, the entire room fell into a deathly silence!

Finally, the group of pirates who had gathered together to discuss the matter all reached a common conclusion—

Never provoke a ship flying the flag of the Four Seas Alliance!

Although the hot-blooded young pirate captain said he didn't believe it, he secretly made a mental note of it.

When it comes to sailing, it's best to keep things simple.

But no matter how much he planned, he never expected that he would be so unlucky as to stop on the shipping route of the Four Seas Alliance just because he thought the weather was nice and stopped to sunbathe and fish!

And more importantly...

The pirate captain turned around and caught a glimpse of the sandstorm surging on the ship's deck.

Natural Sciences?!

The rumors are true; he's a Logia-type Devil Fruit user!

The pirate captain urged his men on.

"Run if you want to live!"

Unfortunately, the speed of ordinary pirate ships is no match for that of the ships of the Four Seas Alliance.

Those are standard ships of Alabasta. As a superpower, their performance is second only to naval vessels!

Before long, the pirate ship was caught up.

A sandstorm leaped up from the deck of the ship and onto the pirate ship.

The pirate captain looked at the man in the black fur coat and recognized him.

Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea!

Clang!

The sword he had just drawn fell to the ground; the pirate captain couldn't muster the slightest courage to resist.

"Please, please, let me go!"

He hasn't had enough fun on this vast sea yet!

But to the pirate captain's surprise, his steel sword, which had fallen to the ground, slowly floated up, supported by the sand, and then plunged straight into Crocodile's body.

"what."

The blade pierced his body, and Crocodile let out a calm and perfunctory "scream".

"It hurts."

Clang!

The steel blade fell to the ground again, and Crocodile's body was covered in a "wound" filled with gravel.

He flicked his cigarette ash, looked up at the pirate captain, and said with a sinister smile, "Since I've been attacked so 'dangerously,' I have no choice but to retaliate, don't I?"

Before he finished speaking, the surrounding sand and gravel began to stir restlessly.

The pirate captain was so terrified he wet himself, retreating repeatedly and crying, "No, no, I don't want to die!"

Swish!

Sandstorms raged.

In addition to the screams, Crocodile's voice was also exceptionally clear.

"If you're afraid of dying, don't go to sea!"

……

According to the old rules of the Four Seas Alliance.

Three people survived, and they will spread the existence of the Four Seas Alliance to the entire ocean.

Back on the ship, Crocodile took a deep breath, feeling refreshed. He clapped his hands and gave the order:

"I'm going back to my room. Call me if you run into any pirates."

I estimate I'll be able to return to Alabasta in another day.

However, just as Crocodile turned around, a strange presence suddenly appeared behind him.

"who!"

Crocodile turned around abruptly and saw a tall, muscular man with a backpack on his back, shirtless.

This person is not on the pirate ship, and it is even less likely that he is one of their own.

A stranger suddenly appeared on the deck of the Four Seas Alliance.

His speed was so fast that no one could react in time, or even see how he got up there!

Swish!

In an instant, Crocodile transformed his right hand into a scimitar, ready for battle.

The accompanying guards were in the same boat, their weapons pointed at the burly man, their expressions extremely tense.

Logically, with a reliable sand crocodile present, the guards shouldn't have needed to react so strongly, but the man standing before them was anything but "friendly."

He was a guy who, just by standing there, seemed perfectly suited to be a pirate.

His face was fierce, and his muscles were visibly bulging with ferocity!

A scoundrel—that's the perfect way to describe him.

Seeing this, Barlow quickly waved his hand, took out his Justice Cloak from his backpack, and shook it to reveal the word "Justice" to everyone.

"I'm a Marine, on my way to Alabasta. I saw you were being attacked by pirates, so I came to help."

The more he spoke, the less confident he became, since even now he wasn't sure whether the group in front of him had been "attacked by pirates" or "attacked pirates."

Well, all in all, it's great that no innocent people got hurt!

Thinking of this, Barlow smiled from the bottom of his heart, a very happy smile.

"Hehe, hehehehe..."

Crocodile, meanwhile, was wondering why he had encountered a madman in the navy!

He looks more like a bad guy than I do, but he talks like an idiot.

And he's a crazy navy guy with a cloak of justice on his head!

and many more……

This guy said he's going to Alabasta?

This is such a hassle! I really don't want to travel with a navy officer!

So Crocodile casually replied, "It would take about a day to get from here to Alabasta if the ships travel at full speed gradually."

"Okay, thanks!"

Barlow nodded his thanks and prepared to disembark.

Crocodile then realized that Balo's "boat" was actually just a small raft!

The navy... going out to sea in small rafts?

Crocodile was increasingly confused.

"You're going to use that to go out to sea?"

Barlow nodded, but then suddenly slapped his forehead. "Oh, right, you reminded me, the small raft isn't really suitable!"

Crocodile: "..."

Afterwards, Barlow put the Justice Cloak back into his backpack and muttered to himself, "Luckily, the backpacks issued by the Navy are waterproof."

Crocodile: "?"

What does he mean? Doesn't he want to hitch a ride to Alabasta?

But what Barlow said next stunned Crocodile.

"If it takes a whole day by boat, it will take me about a day to swim there, which is much faster!"

Before Crocodile could confirm what the other person had said, Balo leaped into the sea.

Even after several breaths, Crocodile still couldn't react.

That crazy navy guy... he's going to swim all the way to Alabasta?!

Purple Pen Literature

[76. Chapter Seventy-Five: Key Requirements]