Pirate: I was just slacking off, do you really think I'm bad?

In the first half of the Grand Line, Crocodile, the Rain Land of Alabasta, successfully established himself in Alabasta after being recruited as a Shichibukai, thanks to the power granted to him by the government.

Using pirate heads and the looted pirate wealth, he built a magnificent casino in the Rainlands, which he named Rain Banquet.

However, Crocodile was not in a good mood at the moment, and he angrily smashed the cup on his desk to the ground.

"It won't work again?"

"You bunch of useless trash! You can't even find a single clue about a little girl!"

The employees of Baroque Studio, who were being angrily berated, were quite helpless.

This is no ordinary little girl.

He is the sole survivor of Ohara and the son of a devil with a bounty of 70 million Berries on his head from the World Government.

It's not that easy to find.

Since Ohara was destroyed, Crocodile has been extremely anxious to find news of Robin.

Because he knew that the only people in this world who could still read the Poneglyphs were the demon sons from Ohara.

He had no choice; Crocodile was unwilling to be just a lackey of the Navy. He was a man who wanted to be the King of the World.

He wouldn't have accepted the position of Shichibukai if he hadn't been beaten half to death by Marine Raleigh.

After arriving in Alabasta, he meticulously searched for the secret to becoming stronger.

Finally, his men discovered that Alabasta possessed a mysterious weapon with the power to destroy everything.

The clues are in the king's hands.

Over the past few years, Crocodile has obtained what he wanted through force and cunning: the Poneglyphs of Alabasta.

However, to his great dismay, he couldn't understand the text at all.

Not only did he not understand it, but even King Neferutali Cobra of Alabasta couldn't understand it.

He said it was a very ancient form of literature, known as ancient literature.

Only scholars in Ohara have studied this script.

Unfortunately, Ohara has already been destroyed.

Crocodile's only hope rested on Robin, the devil's child who had escaped.

"Boss, I don't think we need to be fixated on the weapons recorded in the Poneglyphs."

"We are now very powerful."

Mr1 said.

"That's enough, Bonnie."

"You are my most capable subordinate, you should know that."

"The original purpose of the Barrot Works was to find the Devil Child, Robin!"

"Besides, you don't understand at all. No matter how strong you are, you're useless in front of that man!"

Crocodile seemed to recall that suffocating feeling of helplessness, and his hands clenched tightly.

His face turned pale, and his eyes were filled with anger.

"Mr. 1, don't push me to the limit. Take your men and keep searching!"

After realizing that his boss was indeed angry, Mr. 1 did not stay in the office any longer, but instead quickly led his men to where Robin might be.

After everyone had left, Crocodile kicked over the table in front of him.

"Christine Raleigh, one day I'll make you kneel and beg me!"

Crocodile's face contorted in a ferocious expression, like that of a demon.

Meanwhile, Raleigh, whom he had been talking about, had already arrived in Alabasta.

"Rayle, why does Alabasta feel different than before?"

Gion stretched out her hand, sensing the atmosphere around her.

She had been to Alabasta before.

As the forefront of the Grand Line, Alabasta is a place where almost all the Marines and pirates choose to resupply.

However, Gion now clearly feels different from a few years ago.

Moreover, this change is a worse one.

Although Alabasta used to have a desert climate, people still had smiles on their faces.

But now, the people of Alabasta have no expression other than bitterness on their faces.

"That's strange. I remember the World Government recruited a group of Shichibukai, and one of them, Crocodile, is here."

Did he not resist the pirates? Otherwise, this situation wouldn't have occurred.

Raleigh looked up at the sun, then pulled out a parasol and held it over his and Gion's heads, saying...

If we want to know the answer, why don't we just ask a passerby?

After hearing Raleigh's words, Gion felt that they made a lot of sense.

Without hesitation, she stopped a father and daughter.

"Hello, we are from the Navy. May we ask you some questions?"

The little girl's father looked like an honest man, and he was a little scared when he was suddenly questioned by two naval officers.

Seeing this, Yuan spoke again:

"We're not bad people, we're a righteous navy officer, we're just asking some simple questions."

"You—you can ask."

The man licked his parched lips and trembled as he spoke. The little girl he was holding also had chapped lips from lack of water, and her eyes were fixed on the water jug ​​at Gion's waist.

Noticing the little girl's gaze, Gion reached down and took the water bottle from her waist, waving it in her hand and saying:

"Just answer a few questions for me, and this pot of water is yours."

"Yes, sir, I will answer any questions you may have."

The man immediately agreed upon seeing the water.

"Was Alabasta attacked by pirates? Your demeanor seems very different from before."

The man shook his head:

"No, that's not true. We have the hero Crocodile, who led his men to repel many pirate attacks."

"No pirates dare to cause trouble in Alabasta now."

"Um?"

Gion was a little surprised; she hadn't expected such an answer.

She initially thought it was Crocodile's shirking of responsibility, but now it seems that wasn't the case.

On the contrary, this Crocodile was so outstanding that he was hailed as a hero by the people of this country.

Why does it feel like your lives are getting worse?

The man looked up at the sun and then said;

In recent years, Alabasta has experienced decreasing rainfall, consistent with historical records.

Alabasta is experiencing an extremely long period of high temperatures and a significant decrease in rainfall, making our lives more difficult than before.

Gion nodded, asked a few more questions, and then handed the water bottle to the man.

After taking the water bottle, the man carefully gave water to his daughter.

After her daughter finished drinking, she tightened the cap tightly, but she only swallowed and didn't drink any herself.

"I advise you to take a sip first," Raleigh said calmly. "The people around you are already watching you."

If you don't drink it, someone else might take the water from this pot.

After saying that, the man suddenly realized what was going on and quickly looked around at the people around him.

Those people all stared intently at the kettle in his hand.

The man gritted his teeth, opened the kettle, and took a big gulp before handing the kettle to his daughter.

The two didn't leave until they had finished the entire pot of water.

Why can't we lend a hand to help them?

Only after the man and his daughter left did Gion speak, asking...

Raleigh looked at Gion with satisfaction.

Gion has grown a lot now, and her biggest advantage is that she doesn't immediately object after Raleigh makes a decision.

Only after no one else was around did she ask Raleigh the question that had been bothering her: "We have a lot of fresh water on our warship, but this fresh water is for our naval soldiers."

"Although there is some surplus, it is definitely not enough for the people of Alabasta to drink."

We could give the father and daughter more water, but they don't have the strength to protect them.

Raleigh stopped there, because the garden already understood the first meaning.

The meaning beyond that is rather dark, and Raleigh doesn't want Gion to become that kind of scheming person for the time being.

If the two of them open this door, then a steady stream of Alabasta citizens will come to ask the navy for water.

Giving or not giving will both cause problems, so it's better not to give in the first place.

Besides, if the goal is simply to make it rain in Alabasta,

Then either Raleigh or Enel are both fine.

Their abilities are sufficient to control a small portion of the clouds; while they can't create rain out of thin air, they can still bring a heavy downpour to Alabasta.

However, the root of the problem lies with Crocodile. If he hadn't been causing trouble behind the scenes, Alabasta would have quickly returned to normal. 'Where do we go next?'

Gion linked arms with Raleigh.

Next, we'll head to the Rainlands to assess Crocodile's mission performance over the past few years.

"The Seven Warlords of the Sea can't just do nothing. If they're useless, then it's better to replace them with someone else."

"I can say that," Raleigh said calmly.

They didn't have any special mission this time, so they didn't choose to lead the naval soldiers, but instead went to the rainy area as a couple.

After a day of travel, the two finally arrived at a place known as the "rainy land".

This place is indeed different from other parts of Alabasta; the air is noticeably more humid.

"The people here seem happier."

Gion commented.

"Where do we go next?"

Raleigh pointed to the magnificent, golden building not far away and said:

"Since we're here in Rainland, we must visit this Rain Banquet."

"casino?""

Gion frowned; she had never been to a casino before. "Almost, just to experience the local customs."

After explaining the situation, the two of them walked over.

"Hello, do you two have an appointment?"

A security guard from Balotelli Studio, dressed in a black suit, stepped forward.

Since Raleigh and Gion had changed into local Alabasta clothing, he felt that Raleigh looked familiar, but couldn't quite place him.

"We didn't make an appointment, we just wanted to come and take a look, is that not allowed?"

Although Raleigh was easygoing, he had served as a lieutenant general for several years, and his words carried a hint of authority.

The security guard broke out in a cold sweat and quickly said:

"No, sir. Guests with reservations can play in the private rooms, while those without reservations can only play in the lobby."

"Since you don't have an appointment, I'll take you to the lobby."

Stealthily wiping away cold sweat, the security personnel walked ahead of Raleigh and Gion.

The moment the door was pushed open, a cacophony of sounds flooded into Raleigh and Gion's ears.

The sounds of clinking glasses, placing chips on tables, and gamblers celebrating filled the air as scantily clad bunny girls carried trays of drinks through the crowd.

Raleigh had seen it all, so he wouldn't be distracted by something like this.

On the contrary, Gion, although somewhat shy, was encouraged to boldly look at all the new things around her with Raleigh by her side.

Luo Li mentally gave Yu Yan a score of 85.

If Crocodile didn't care about his status as the so-called pirate overlord, he could still rise to the top through his casino business.

"Tsk, what a pity."

"What's a pity?"

Gion turned her head curiously and asked.

It's nothing, I'll go get some chips for us to play.

Raleigh changed the subject and went to the front desk to exchange his chips for five million Berries.

"What should we play first?"

Gion, holding the chips in her hand, asked in surprise.

There were so many things to do that she was overwhelmed with choices.

"Let's guess the size, it's easy."

Raleigh led the garden to a huge table.

The rules of the game here are no different from those in my previous life. You can choose the size of the three dice and either the size with lower odds or the size with higher odds.

"Ladies and gentlemen, you may now place your bets! Congratulations on your fortune today!"

The croupier was calling out.

The gamblers placed their chips on the table.

Gion placed a bet worth 500,000 yen on the area representing the largest area.

"Place your bet now, place your bet now!"

Gion watched the dice in the dealer's hand with nervousness.

"Open, open, open!!!"

The gamblers around him stared bloodshot at the dice cup in the dealer's hand.

"open!

"Three, five, five. Big!"

"Congratulations on your fortune, sir!"

The dealer smiled and took back the lost chips, then placed some of them in front of the winning customer.

Gion excitedly shook Raleigh's arm, "Raleigh, look, I won!"

Raleigh clapped and said:

"You're so amazing, Gion."

Gion said smugly:

"But I'm the God of Gamblers!"

Gion didn't really understand what the God of Gamblers represented; she just overheard people around her saying it and wrote it down.

Excitedly, she continued to bet her chips on the big side.

However, she didn't notice the glint of excitement in the dealer's eyes.

This is a sign that they've encountered a fat sheep.

She's naive and rich, and it's her first time in a casino. The dealer is confident she'll lose so much money she won't be able to leave the hall.

Gion didn't notice, but Raleigh did, and he was speechless.

Sure enough, casinos everywhere are places that prey on people without spitting out the bones.

If Raleigh and Gion were just ordinary people today, they might have been completely exploited by the casino.

Unfortunately, Raleigh has the ability to flip tables, but he doesn't want to do it right now.

It's a rare treat to bring Gion out for a trip, so of course we have to have a great time!

Moreover, he was also curious about what Crocodile's expression would be if the disturbance drew him out. At this moment, Crocodile in the office felt a chill down his spine, but he didn't take it seriously.

Instead, they continued to plot their own schemes.

Robin, the son of the devil, is someone he absolutely must have; the ancient weapon Pluton must be in his hands; and the King of Alabasta—if there's a chance, he'll depose him and take his place. Although Alabasta is currently in trouble, the King's authority remains, so he can't rush things.

Crocodile has purchased a large quantity of dance powder through underground channels, intending to frame the king.

Let the people of this country form a rebellion against the king's guard.