The Great Voyage: The Props Master on the Straw Hat Ship

bass! !

A figure flew out of the palace, his fists covered in blood.

"Cough cough cough, so much sand, ptooey ptooey ptooey!!"

After Luffy jumped out, he bounced around wildly in place, shaking off the sand off his body.

"That was so dangerous! I almost got sucked dry..."

Luffy patted his chest, looking still shaken.

"Thanks to Link for telling me about your abilities and weaknesses, otherwise this battle would have been really tough!!"

Luffy patted his cheeks, seemingly unaffected by his lack of energy, and remained in a fighting stance, waiting for Crocodile to emerge from the sandstorm.

"Link, the prop master? As expected, that guy really does know a lot about me."

Crocodile's figure slowly emerged from the sandstorm.

"No wonder he knew some of my past secrets, but I'm really curious how he found out..."

At this moment, Crocodile no longer had a cigar in his mouth.

He wore a black mantle and a black and yellow plaid shirt with fist marks printed on it.

The ruthlessness and domineering aura on his face were gone, and the demeanor of a tyrant was no longer there; instead, he looked somewhat disheveled.

Even though he was made of sand and gravel, you could still see dirt and dust on his body.

It's clear that he had suffered quite a few setbacks before.

"After I take care of you, I'll give him a good talking to!!"

Crocodile's eyes flashed with rage and extreme killing intent. "Today, none of you will escape!!"

"In the end, I'll definitely be the one to send you flying!!!"

Luffy roared and got into a fighting stance again, aiming his bloodied fists at Crocodile.

Upon seeing this scene, Crocodile's eye twitched slightly, and the spot where Luffy's fist had hit him was still throbbing with pain.

He is a user of the Sand-Sand Fruit. Apart from Haki and the ocean, the only thing that can counter his ability is liquids like water.

Because he is sand, and sand clumps together when it comes into contact with water, he cannot display his Logia-type abilities if he is splashed or hit by water.

The pirate in front of me wearing a straw hat is both a hothead and a ruthless individual.

At first, this guy seemed to be on high alert, showing no sign of taking out any water.

This made Crocodile think that his opponent was completely unaware of his weaknesses, and he became somewhat careless.

Little did they know, this was exactly Luffy's intention.

Having learned about Crocodile's abilities and weaknesses from Link, he had his own ideas.

When he first made contact with Crocodile, his fists were indeed unable to hit him, passing through Crocodile's elemental sand body.

This led Crocodile to taunt and belittle him.

Just when Crocodile's vigilance was at its lowest, Luffy decisively tore open a wound on his fist and spat out blood.

Then, seizing the opportunity, he delivered a series of powerful punches to Crocodile!

Before Crocodile could even react, Luffy's fist had already landed on his face.

By the time he realized he had been tricked, Luffy had already dealt him a significant blow, causing him considerable damage.

After all, Link had repeatedly reminded Luffy of the power of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and he himself had witnessed the earth-shattering slashes unleashed by Mihawk.

Therefore, Luffy dared not be the slightest bit careless or negligent when facing Crocodile.

Even though he said he was going to "knock Crocodile out of the water," every punch he threw was aimed at Crocodile's vital points; you could say he was going for the kill.

This resulted in Crocodile suffering significant injuries and falling at a disadvantage in their first encounter.

Later, although they managed to recover some of their losses thanks to the immense power and destructive force of their Logia-type Devil Fruits.

However, Luffy is the type who gets stronger the more he fights; not only has his speed and strength not decreased, but they have actually increased slightly.

This state reminded Crocodile of some giant warriors who had a similar fighting style.

He also vaguely saw some shadows of the giant race in Luffy.

It's really strange that someone who's only 1.74 meters tall looks like a giant!

Crocodile looked at Luffy, who was still full of energy, with a gloomy look in his eyes and some doubts in his heart.

Yes, back in Little Garden, Luffy took the [Efficiency Enhancement Pill]. Although he didn't learn [Power] and [Conquer], his body did gain some benefits in its own way while he slept.

On the rooftops nearby.

"Your boss (captain) is out, aren't you going down to help?"

Link and Robin said those words almost simultaneously.

After they finished speaking, they were both stunned, neither of them expecting to be so in sync.

Snap?!

Fortunately, the two were not stunned for long before a loud crashing sound came from the ground below.

In the blink of an eye, a square underground passage unfolded in a corner of this royal palace.

It must have been some flying debris, or Luffy and Crocodile, who unknowingly damaged or activated the mechanism, causing the passage to slowly open.

"that is……"

Robin and Crocodile both looked over at the same time.

"Could it be that……"

Upon realizing a certain possibility, Crocodile's previously gloomy eyes widened instantly, and for the first time, Robin's face showed a look of emotion.

Scream!

Even at the risk of being hit by Luffy's fist, Crocodile transformed into a whirlwind of sand and drifted towards the four-sided cave.

As he went in, he didn't forget to shout to the sky:

"Have you forgotten our initial goal in working together, Nicole Robin?!"

Crocodile never expected Robin, a woman who had betrayed him many times, to truly serve him.

What he really wanted was Robin's ability to read ancient texts!

Only Robin could decipher the inscriptions on the Poneglyphs and clearly explain the details about Pluto to him! Therefore, he wanted to remind Robin not to forget her purpose!

Seeing this, Robin's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and then he leaped out in an instant.

For her now, the Poneglyphs are the most important thing!

"Don't run away, Crocodile!!"

With a roar, Luffy and Robin entered the underground passage one after the other.

"What a troublesome guy..."

Link stood alone on the roof, shaking his head.

"Link, what happened? Is Luffy alright?!"

The other crew members also crawled out from under the collapsed building next to them and asked Link questions.

"Nothing much, Luffy went after Crocodile."

"Wait? Did he run off by himself again? Is he alright?!"

"Don't worry, I'll go with you and take a look. You guys leave here first and find a safe place to heal your wounds and rest up." With that, Link leaped into the air and headed towards the underground passage.

"That's it..."

As soon as Link said he would go and take a look, the worry in the eyes of the others immediately disappeared.

"Since Link is going, we don't need to worry. Let's go back and rest... Chopper, get me some medicine and some wine. My knife wounds still hurt a bit."

"Huh? Me? Oh right, I'm a doctor!! And why do you have to drink alcohol when you're injured?!"

"Phew~ I didn't even feel anything after fighting such a battle, and it's already over. I even prepared myself mentally. Oh well, as long as I can defeat them, I'll take a hot bath and relax properly."

"Then leave the warm meal during the bath to me. I will personally deliver this lovingly prepared meal to you, Miss Nami!!"

0. Requesting flowers........

"Hey, Sanji, shut up your drool, it's splashing all over my clothes! Hey, can't you hear me? Usopp, the King of Snipers on Sniper Island, is talking to you! Can't you hear me?!"

Amidst the commotion, everyone obeyed Link's orders and left.

And so, soon, this ancient palace, now a devastated battlefield, finally returned to peace.

At least, that's how it is above ground.

Inside the underground passage, stretching endlessly into the depths of the earth.

This downward staircase corridor is very long, and at the end of the staircase, there is also a straight corridor.

The place it leads to is the burial temple where the kings and royal families of Alabasta have been buried throughout history.

It is also a place that the royal Nefertari clan must protect.

Because something extraordinary is hidden here.

"Is this the Poneglyph?!"

Crocodile stood directly in front of a huge, square, dark blue stone monument.

Looking up at the stone tablet and the unreadable ancient characters on it, the antiquity and vicissitudes of history conveyed a profound sense of weight.

"This is the historical record documenting the whereabouts of the ancient weapon [Pluto]..."

Crocodile used the golden hook in his left hand to forcefully scratch the stone tablet, but it didn't leave a single mark.

"As expected, it's as hard as the rumors said; this is undoubtedly the Poneglyph!!"

Crocodile felt a surge of pleasure as his target suddenly and unexpectedly appeared before him.

but?

"Crocodale!!!"

When he heard Luffy's noisy shouts coming from behind him, his face twitched and his expression instantly darkened.

"Straw Hat Boy..."

He turned around expressionlessly, facing Luffy, who had been jogging down the street to catch up with him.

"Even if you run here, you still can't escape, Crocodile!!"

The single-minded Luffy exhaled two puffs of white breath from his nostrils, "Come on, this time I'm going to completely blast you away."

"Straw Hat!!!"

Crocodile, veins bulging on his forehead, roared at Luffy, who kept yelling that he wanted to knock him away:

"Are you really going to oppose me to the very end?!"

Luffy didn't reply, but his determined gaze and the stance he adopted said it all.

"You guy..."

Crocodile felt like his temples were about to pop out.

"Don't you want to know why I seized this country?"

He suppressed his anger, "Don't you understand my purpose?!"

"Who cares about you?!"

Luffy said, completely unconcerned.

"All I want to do right now is to knock you away!"

Crocodile: "..."

There's absolutely no room for negotiation here!!

blah blah~

Just as Crocodile was about to hurl some more nasty words at Luffy in his annoyance, the sound of high heels clicking on the ground was exceptionally clear in the empty underground shrine.