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

As they drew closer to the end of the road ahead, Usopp and Chopper each offered their opinions and questions.

"Why don't we split up?"

Link spoke rapidly, "While we can't rule out the possibility that both forks in the road ahead are traps, if only one is, then with so many of us splitting into two groups, at least one side can be guaranteed to be safe!"

"Luffy, which way are you going?!"

"Of course it's the pirates!!"

Luffy firmly stands on the side of his identity as a pirate.

"Then I'll choose VIP, let's go separately!!"

"Everyone chooses the side they feel is safe, and we split up."

Link had just finished speaking when he put distance between himself and Luffy on either side.

Then he saw that his friends, including Weiwei, had all followed behind him without saying a word.

As for Luffy, he was all alone.

Luffy:"???"

Link: "???"

The other Straw Hat Pirates members behind him said, "The weather is really nice today."

Smoker, chasing after him: "?"

“You guys!!”

Luffy was so angry he was jumping up and down, shouting, "We're pirates! We're pirates!!"

"Shouldn't pirates choose the identity of pirates?!"

"Of course we do."

The others nodded in unison, "But their status as VIPs didn't say we weren't pirates, did it?"

"Exactly! Even pirates can be VIPs!!"

"As far as Crocodile is concerned, we are both pirates, so maybe we really are his honored guests!"

"That's right, that's right!!"

A group of people responded, their steps steady, following behind Link.

Faced with this dangerous choice, would you feel safer following Luffy or Link?

Without a doubt, this is not a problem at all.

Although Luffy is their captain and has a lot of personal charm, but...

Sorry, I choose Link!!

In this situation, compared to the unreliable Luffy, he is so much more reliable and gives people a greater sense of security!!!

"you……"

Luffy grinned, wanting to say something more, but they had already reached the end of the road.

He pouted, stubbornly choosing the direction of the arrow pointing to "Pirate".

But as soon as I turned in, I saw that I was in a dead end.

Luffy:"……"

"Stop!"

What made Luffy's teeth ache the most was that the menacing-looking smoke-smoking man chasing after him didn't even glance in his direction.

With resolute steps, he chased after his companions.

Even Tashigi, the girl with black-rimmed glasses who looked like a cute and innocent girl, hesitated for two seconds before following him.

They followed Smoker closely, ignoring Luffy.

Luffy: "...But I'm the captain!!"

Why do I suddenly feel like the whole world has abandoned me?!

"Check it out!!"

He angrily tried to chase after him, but suddenly found that his feet had lost their footing.

The floorboards that were being stepped on suddenly parted, revealing a dark hole underneath.

"Oh!!"

Before he could even react, he fell to the ground.

Not only Luffy, but also Smoker and Tashigi who were chasing Link and the others, as well as the Straw Hat crew members who hadn't run far from the fork in the road, all stumbled and lost their footing.

One by one, they all fell into the dark hole below.

"Ahhhhh!!"

The screams of the crowd echoed throughout the empty house.

Fortunately, the fall wasn't too high.

After experiencing only a slight free fall, the group of people crashed to the ground.

Boom!

Several people landed on the ground one after another.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch..."

Despite its rubber body, it lay there howling in pain after falling to the ground.

I don't know if it was genuinely hurt when it landed, or if it was just complaining because it was upset.

"here it is?"

After landing, Smoker also looked around at his surroundings.

They were currently in a place that resembled a prison cell.

There was a clear iron fence directly in front of them, trapping them.

"Seastone, huh..."

Smoker stepped forward, intending to activate his smoke-elemental ability and squeeze through the gap in the fence.

As he tried to sense the power fluctuations emanating from the fence that made him feel powerless, his expression darkened, and he recognized what it was.

"Where is this?!"

Besides Luffy and Smoker, several other people also ended up here.

Sanji, Zoro, and Chopper also fell together.

They had been walking at the back to prevent the smoke-smoking man from launching a surprise attack.

However, they were too late and ended up trapped in the same cell as them.

despair!

Outside the cell, Link, Vivi, Nami, and Usopp lay on the ground.

"Is this Crocodile's lair?!"

Usopp landed face-first, seeing stars from the impact, but he didn't even rub his crooked nose.

He quickly stood up, looking very alert and nervous, and surveyed his surroundings.

"Luckily we were with Link..."

Nami patted her own magnificent spot and breathed a sigh of relief.

If they had followed Luffy, or even a little slower, they would probably have ended up in jail too.

"Crocodile..."

After landing, Weiwei kept her eyes fixed on the long table directly in front of her.

At the far end of the table, behind an executive chair with his back to them, wisps of cigar smoke drifted out.

"Princess Vivi, this might be considered our first meeting, right?"

(Wang Dehao)'s deep voice slowly echoed in the room.

As the executive chair spun around, Crocodile, dressed in a black mandarin jacket and a yellow and black striped plaid shirt, with a prominent scar on his face, appeared before everyone.

"As a princess of a nation, to personally infiltrate my organization to gather intelligence—based on that alone, you are far superior to those idiotic royals I've encountered in other countries..."

Crocodile spoke words of praise for Vivi, but anyone could hear the casualness and disdain in his voice.

It was as if he were watching a play and casually offering a compliment to an actor who performed reasonably well, showing no particular concern.

"Crocodile..."

Seeing the culprit standing so blatantly in front of her, Weiwei felt like she was about to grind her teeth to dust.

"Crocodile!!"

Compared to Vivi's hatred, Luffy's dislike is much more straightforward.

He shouted angrily, trying to pry open the iron fence and rush out, punching Crocodile in the face.

But ~

"I have no strength left..."

As soon as Luffy's hands gripped the iron bars, his body went limp and collapsed to the ground.

"This is Seastone, which possesses the energy of the ocean. It's essentially a solid form of the ocean, and its effect on Devil Fruit users is the same as that of seawater!!"

Smoker slowly explained, "Don't bother. If I could get out, I would have already."

"Moreover, its hardness is comparable to that of a diamond, so destroying it is not an easy task."

Seeing that Sanji and Zoro were still stubbornly trying, Smoker gave them this warning and then stopped looking at them.

He continued to scrutinize the stern-faced crocodile.

Crocodile 109, I really don't know your secret~

Tashigi, standing next to Smoker, held a knife and protected him.

Novel group 856323613

His eyes still showed a wary and defensive look, fearing that these pirates might harm him while Smoker was unable to use his powers due to their restrictions.

But she was clearly overthinking it; everyone else's attention was focused on Crocodile, who had turned around.

Seeing Vivi's expression of utter hatred towards Crocodile, Crocodile completely ignored her and didn't even glance at her.

Instead, he slowly turned his gaze to Link, who was standing there quietly observing him without any expression or movement.

"Link, the vice-captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, the prop master..."

Crocodile's tone was very calm. "I have ordered my men to go to the East Blue to gather as much information as possible about you."

"Whether it's Captain [Straw Hat Boy] Luffy, or Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro, or even your navigator and cook, we can clearly find their hometowns and traces of their past activities."

"But only you..."

A glint of light flashed in Crocodile's eyes.

"I found no trace of your past in the East China Sea!!"

Crocodile's Baroque Works has a strong intelligence gathering capability.

When Zoro first became famous in the East Blue, Baroque Works sent people to recruit him, but Zoro killed them.

The reason is that Zoro replied, "If you let me be the boss, then I might consider it."

That guy, who seemed to be Mr. 12 or something, was about to attack Zoro, but Zoro turned the tables and killed him.

Crocodile's subordinates have discovered some of the birthplaces of Luffy and Zoro, as well as some traces of their past lives.

Just like the native people of Donghai, there is no difference.

Only Link~

He seemed to spring out of a crack in the rock, appearing out of thin air on the sea.