Starting as a pirate, he rose to become the strongest Shinigami in Soul Society.

Chapter 44 Dangerous Woman - Nicole Robin.

Alabasta is located on St. Tin Island in the first half of the Grand Line.

Saint-Denis Island is an extremely rare super-large island, almost like a continental plate.

This is why Alabasta has a very large land area. However, the island's topography and climate are not very good. Most of the island is desert and very arid, making it unsuitable for human habitation.

Even so, thanks to its vast territory, Alabasta is still a giant, with a very large population. The standing armed forces under the Neferutari clan number at least 600,000.

Keep in mind that these are full-time professional soldiers. A country that can support 600,000 professional soldiers already has more people than many countries in the world. What's more, Alabasta has been plagued by rebellions for years, with hundreds of thousands of rebels within its borders. It's truly terrifying.

It's no wonder that Alabasta is considered a top-tier military power in the world today.

In recent years, due to national turmoil and persistent drought, many oasis cities have perished, and the overall situation in Alabasta is very bad, with the economy also experiencing a severe downturn.

In this environment, a new and glorious city rose up within Alabasta: Rainland.

With Alabasta experiencing a nationwide drought, only the capital Albana and the Rainylands receive occasional rainfall. This has led to a large portion of the country's population migrating to these two areas, rapidly boosting the prosperity of the Rainylands.

Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, resides in Rainlands and runs a very luxurious casino there, attracting wealthy people from all over the world. Because the capital, Albana, is frequently attacked by rebels, many nobles in Alabasta have moved to Rainlands to settle down.

The reason is simple: Crocodile is strong enough to control the situation in the Rainlands. The rebels attacked the area several times but failed each time, and eventually stopped coming altogether.

Therefore, in the eyes of many nobles, this place is safer than the capital!

On the boundless desert slopes, a camel caravan stopped to rest.

In this caravan, there was a camel that was pure white and much more robust than the others, but it still looked a little tired because it was carrying Bane on its back.

In fact, Bane's height stopped growing after reaching about 2.3 meters, but his weight continued to increase as his physical condition improved.

A height of 2.3 meters sounds impressive, but in this world teeming with monsters, it's actually quite unremarkable.

"The cities we've traveled through have all been desolate, teeming with sand bandits. But now that we're near this rainy land, we've finally seen the prosperity of this ancient kingdom." Bane rode on his camel, looking down at a newly emerging city about three or four thousand meters away on the sand dunes.

That place is called Rainland. Caravans of camels come in and out of the city like ants. As far as the eye can see, there is only a patch of green in the boundless desert.

"The tradition of Alabasta is migration. Apart from the capital, there are almost no cities in this country with a particularly long history, because the yellow sand will eventually bury everything. The people here will always leave their homeland to develop new oases, and Rainlands is just one of them in this long history," Nico Robin said as she rode her camel to Bane's side.

Having lived in Alabasta for many years, she seemed to have gotten used to the scorching sun there, as evidenced by her wheat-colored skin. Thus, while Nami was bundled up tightly, Robin was still wearing her white trench coat and a stylish cowboy hat.

As for Bane and Zoro, it didn't matter. Bane's physique was not susceptible to sunburn. He was wearing brown cargo pants and a black vest, which made him look very strong and violent.

After arriving in Alabasta, they encountered Nico Robin, who had been waiting for them, at the port of Rapeseed Flower. Bane then dismissed his men and allowed them to roam freely in Rapeseed Flower until they needed to set sail again.

Then he set off with Nami, Zoro, and Robin, heading straight for the rainy land.

"I'm already here, and Crocodile didn't even bother to come and greet me," Bane said, grimacing unhappily.

"He said he'll be waiting for you at the Rain Banquet Casino," Robin said with a smile.

"But I'd be heartbroken if I broke things while I was fighting there," Bane said with a hint of helplessness.

He now considers everything Crocodile to be his own property. Who would choose to fight in their own home?

What? You mean Naval Headquarters? Never mind then.

After a slight pause, Bane turned to Nico Robin, who exuded mature charm, and asked, "Beautiful lady, is there any way to lure Crocodile out? We can take him out in this desert?"

Seemingly pleased by Bane's praise, Robin shook his head with a smile and said, "Unlikely, he's always been wary of you."

"Shouldn't it be in the desert? This desert is his home turf!" Bane cursed.

"The entire Alabasta is his home turf," Robin said with a hint of seriousness.

Then, before Bane could speak, Robin suddenly changed the subject, bringing up a new topic: "Do you know who designed the Rain Banquet Casino?"

"Who?" Bane was taken aback, not quite understanding why Robin would suddenly ask this question.

"It's me." Nico Robin said with a dangerous glint in her eyes, "When I first started cooperating with Crocodile, Rain Party didn't exist yet, and his influence in Alabasta and the Grand Line wasn't as great as it is now. Later, he chose Rain Party, wanting to build a luxurious casino here as his base."

"And then you designed the Rain Banquet for him?" Bane asked, stroking his chin.

Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!

"No, it was Gild Tesoro who recommended the designer. Crocodile gladly accepted Tesoro's offer, but I switched the final designs. The Rain Banquet was built according to my design." Robin revealed that charming yet dangerous smile and said, "Do you know why I did this?"

"You've been plotting how to get rid of him since then?" Bane thought for a moment and gave his answer.

"That's right, the upper three floors of Rain Banquet are indeed top-notch casino and entertainment venue designs, but the lower two floors are Crocodile's lair. To cater to his perverse tastes, I made some modifications there and built him a huge ornamental crocodile pool with enough water to completely submerge the lower two floors of Rain Banquet," Nico Robin said softly.

At that moment, Bane suddenly realized some details he hadn't noticed before. Crocodile's weakness was water; once he got wet, he couldn't transform into his elemental form. In the original story, Nico Robin had planned to use this weakness to ambush him.

However, it didn't succeed.

So here's the problem: Crocodile's weakness—no, the weakness of all Devil Fruit users—is seawater. And this guy keeps crocodiles in his lair, on the second basement level. If something goes wrong and the seawater floods in, he'll be dead!

This brilliant move was something Bane hadn't paid attention to before, his instinct from reading the story made him think it was perfectly normal. But now, after hearing Robin's explanation, he realized, wow, this was actually a foreshadowing Robin had planted for Crocodile, a killing move she had prepared for him.

It's just that in the original story, for various reasons, it couldn't be used!

Just as Bane was surprised and shocked by this, Robin still had that dangerous smile on his face and said, "So, now there is a very simple way to kill Crocodile. He will definitely meet you on the second basement floor of the Rain Banquet. As long as you are willing to take the risk, when you meet, I will come out and activate that small device that has never been used before, so that seawater will flood in and end all of this. You don't have to worry about causing too much damage to the Rain Banquet."

Upon hearing this, Bane first burst into laughter, then raised an eyebrow and looked at Nico Robin with a meaningful gaze, saying, "You know I'm also an Ability User, and you still give me this kind of advice?"

"So, you're afraid I'll drown you there too?" Robin asked softly, still smiling.

After a brief silence, Bane waved his hand and said, "No, I trust you, so let's do it your way!"

His decisive acceptance surprised Robin, who had been prepared for rejection.

For some reason, I felt a warm feeling in my heart. Is this what trust is?

(End of this chapter)