One Piece Gunslinger

“I think you’re a smart man too,” Li Ang shook his head and smiled. “You must understand that although I hold a high position and have some ability, I’m nothing compared to the interests of the entire group. The conglomerate has spent a lot of resources and several years to cooperate with Alabasta. With such huge costs, adding me wouldn’t be a problem. I could easily become part of the cost of this plan.”

He even said it was nothing compared to the group's current interests, something that could be considered a cost at any time. Robin shook her head inwardly at these words. If something happened to Crocodile, the entire Revolutionary Army would probably turn on you. As the spiritual mentor of hundreds of thousands of Revolutionary Army soldiers, your value is greater than that of Alabasta. You're just taking advantage of Crocodile's ignorance of your identity, going ahead and exaggerating.

However, Crocodile couldn't hear Robin's inner thoughts and still believed Leon's words. He frowned deeply. If it were an ordinary person, their aura would have been halved the moment they saw him.

Especially after becoming a Shichibukai, apart from the great pirates and those in high positions in the World Government, everyone else was wary of his identity. Even Cobra, the king of Alabasta, treated him with great respect, which is why he was able to so easily obtain the most prosperous piece of land in Rain Country.

The so-called CEO of the Grandet Group remained unmoved, maintaining his rationality and composure. Even when threatened with death, he remained calm and unconcerned.

This guy is either insane, or as he said, he values ​​profit above all else, even his own life. Not only would the conglomerate sacrifice him, but he himself would be sacrificed for profit—a complete beast that exists solely for money.

Either they're confident in their own strength, like those great pirates and high-ranking officials, whose strength might come from their own abilities or from the powerful forces behind them. "I can beat you, what are you afraid of?" Just like the other Shichibukai or CP leaders aren't afraid of Crocodile.

So it's understandable that Robin couldn't handle him; no matter the situation, this kind of person is not easy to deal with.

"In that case, tell me the transport team's route." Crocodile was clearly losing patience.

The scenario he least wanted to see was the first one; madmen are always irrational. If Li Ang still refused to speak even unto death, then he was undoubtedly a madman, willing to sacrifice himself for benefits he couldn't take with him to the grave.

In fact, according to Crocodile's entire standard, most of the Revolutionary Army members would be insane. The Grandet Foundation, which also belongs to the Revolutionary Army, is indeed full of such madmen.

However, Li Ang's next words dispelled his doubts, at least proving that Li Ang was not crazy: "There's no need to keep this a secret, I'll tell you directly. But if you want to do anything underhanded with the fleet, you can forget about it. I guarantee that unless the Navy or the Four Emperors take action, no one can touch that fleet."

Although this proves that Leon isn't some kind of irrational madman, Crocodile can't be happy at all, unless a Yonko or the Navy intervenes? Just how powerful is your escort team?

"Oh? You mean, even I can't do it?" Crocodile was definitely not convinced. He dared to touch Whitebeard (although the ending wasn't very good), but he couldn't touch a mere conglomerate's fleet?

"Hahaha. If you're confident, you can give it a try." Li Ang laughed heartily. "Our consortium has spent a lot of money on this cooperation. We've reached the final stage. Do you think we'd be short a little money to hire more people? Although I didn't know how many people escorted me when I came out, I guarantee that their armed forces will definitely exceed the strength of a single Buster Call from the Navy."

Crocodile had heard of the Buster Call and knew its significance—it was second only to an Admiral's involvement. It consisted of ten naval warships, five vice admirals, and the rest elite soldiers.

Crocodile would have to be careful even in his home desert homeland of Alabasta, let alone at sea, where he might even perish.

Thinking about what Leon said carefully, Crocodile also felt that there was some truth to it. This project had already cost a lot of money, so they would definitely not be stingy with the last bit of the journey and would spend a lot of money to escort the fleet.

Crocodile was unaware that a top-tier escort was secretly working behind the scenes. Even if Crocodile risked his life, he wouldn't be able to harm the transport ships surrounding the center.

As for waiting until the desalination plant is completed before launching an attack, that would be suicidal. Not to mention that Cobra would definitely defend it fiercely, with hundreds of thousands of troops in the country, it is now the foundation of the nation, so sending 100,000 people to establish a military base there is not unreasonable at all.

Even if they succeeded, it wouldn't be like being at sea, where they could disguise themselves as pirates. Baroque Works would be instantly wiped out by Cobra's retaliation. The plan would be impossible to carry out. They might even be able to track him down, and given Cobra's position in the World Council, he would lose his hard-earned title of Shichibukai and be hunted by the Navy.

Upon hearing this, Crocodile could no longer maintain his previous confident demeanor and asked with a livid face, "So this is why you brought him here, huh? He's certainly a tough opponent."

Robin shrugged and said, "That's why I'm undecided."

As soon as Robin mentioned it, Crocodile automatically pictured Robin and Leon in the tavern, still exchanging questions and answers. Now, only he was the veteran; everything else was exactly the same. It was precisely because Robin had encountered the exact same problem that she had passed this difficult question on to Crocodile.

That's not true at all. The two were actually talking about life and ideals in the bar. Robin was just misleading Old Sandy through his words.

"Tell me your conditions." In the end, Crocodile sighed and had to abandon the methods of coercion and the use of force.

Chapter 222 Enraging

As the famous center Takenori Akagi once said, whoever controls the rebounds controls the whole game. In fact, the battle for rebounds is a battle for initiative; whoever has the ball has the initiative and the advantage.

The same principle applies to negotiations; seizing the initiative means controlling the entire negotiation. Li Ang, through a coordinated effort with Robin, launched a verbal offensive against Crocodile, turning the tables and gaining the upper hand. Only after successfully seizing the initiative on Crocodile's home turf could they proceed to the next step.

Poor Crocodile, he still doesn't know there are two rivals plotting against him in this room; he still thinks Robin is his teammate. Actually, the home-field advantage is greatly diminished the moment they meet.

"Don't worry, now that I'm here, I've come with sincerity," Li Ang said after taking a sip of water. "If I didn't want to talk to you, I would have already found a chance to slip away, wouldn't I? I don't want to lose my life for nothing."

Crocodile didn't delve into whether Leon could escape, and simply said irritably, "Alright, just tell me your terms."

Crocodile is now practically at the mercy of others, with Leon making all the demands and Crocodile having no choice but to agree or disagree. That's why he's so frustrated. He's almost never been in such a frustrating situation in his life.

Crocodile had already decided that if they couldn't reach an agreement, he didn't want to see this annoying Leon anymore. He would just suck him dry and feed him to the crocodiles to vent his anger.

However, Li Ang was not willing to make such simple demands. After all, discussing the desalination plant was just a pretext, and his real purpose was not there.

So Li Ang countered, "What conditions I propose depends on your needs. What exactly do you want to do?"

"I don't think I need to tell you what I want to do," Crocodile said, dissatisfied. He himself had only learned of Hades' location in Alabasta by chance and after much searching; how could he possibly tell others such a confidential matter?

Despite Crocodile's dissatisfaction, Leon shook his head: "Things aren't that complicated. Why go through all that trouble? I've thought about it, and it seems like sabotaging this cooperation or destroying the desalination plant won't do you any good. Since you care so much about it, you must have something else in mind. Why not just say it directly? Maybe we can save ourselves a lot of trouble."

"Oh, by the way, you can rest assured about the confidentiality. Regardless of whether our deal goes through in the end, we won't reveal your purpose. The Grandet Consortium has that basic integrity. Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to trade with various powers all over the world."

Unfortunately, Crocodile wasn't swayed by Leon's rhetoric. He slammed his hand on the coffee table, stood up, and stared at Leon, saying, "Stop talking nonsense. Either state your terms and see if there's any possibility of a deal, or I'll feed you to the fish."

Seeing Crocodile's anger, Leon showed no fear and remained calmly seated on the sofa, saying, "Hey, they say peace brings wealth, don't be angry. It's just a dream, just a goal, what's wrong with talking about it? If you don't tell me, I'll guess, um... do you want to become the Pirate King?"

"Hmph. Ridiculous. How could you possibly know my target?" Crocodile had intended to say that. Indeed, matters concerning Hades were not something ordinary people could know.

However, before he could even utter the words, Crocodile froze, realizing that becoming the Pirate King was indeed his goal. After his defeat at the hands of Whitebeard in the New World, he accepted the World Government's call to become a Shichibukai. This was partly to gain a legitimate status for his future actions, but his ultimate aim was still to become the Pirate King.

"Yes, becoming the Pirate King is the ultimate goal. When did I forget this goal? Or have I been a Shichibukai for too long?"

Li Ang saw Crocodile's expression change for a moment, then he laughed and said, "So what? Do you think you can trade the title of Pirate King? That would be too cheap."

The title of Pirate King is something countless pirates strive for but cannot attain. There are four Emperors of the Sea in the New World, but none of them are Pirate Kings. This shows that such an ultimate goal is beyond the reach of a mere conglomerate.

Of course, Leon wasn't saying he could definitely help Crocodile become the Pirate King; that was impossible, even if the Revolutionary Army exhausted all their resources. Leon was simply using this to test Crocodile's reaction and pave the way for his next move.

"Oh? I knew it." Li Ang nodded and said, "Then may I ask why you want to become the Pirate King, and what you will do after becoming the Pirate King?"

"Are you here to ask a bunch of questions, or to discuss a deal?" Crocodile was furious. He had lost his composure and realized he couldn't simply resort to force. Even after Crocodile surrendered and made it clear he was open to any terms, he still wouldn't get to the point.

Seeing Crocodile's expression, Leon sighed inwardly, realizing he couldn't continue asking questions like this, or he'd get into a fight. It seemed the reason Crocodile wanted to become the Pirate King remained a mystery.

"To become the Pirate King, one must pay a heavy price and face countless enemies. We can't simply make someone become the Pirate King outright. But..."

Li Ang paused here before continuing, "We can provide some assistance, such as ships, weapons, and even... even something like Hades."

"What?!" Crocodile was shocked. When did news about Hades become so worthless? And judging from Leon's tone, he knew that his target was Hades.

Crocodile immediately suspected Robin, turning to look at her to see if she had betrayed him.

Of course, there was definitely betrayal, but Crocodile turned his head and couldn't see what it was, and Robin also had a surprised expression on her face.

It's not that Robin is a good actor, but that Robin never told Li Ang about this, yet Li Ang knows about it now, and this wasn't even in the plan. There's something wrong with the script.

According to the script, a more gentle approach should be used here, taking things slowly and gradually; this line shouldn't be spoken at this time.

That's just how Li Ang is. He can just read the script and be done with it, but sometimes he needs to be flexible and not always act according to the script. When Li Ang mentioned Hades at this moment, it was because he felt that this was the right thing to do, so he did it.

"How did you know that? And how much do you know?!" Crocodile could no longer remain calm, after all, this was his biggest secret, and now it was being casually revealed by a stranger.

"Relax, I know it's because of our superior intelligence network. There are many things that are hard to find, but we can always find some clues. Then, after some sorting and speculation, we can naturally think of some possibilities. So, the only reason we can think of is that a great pirate would willingly become a Shichibukai and leave the sea to settle down somewhere else."

Li Ang is lying through his teeth; it's not like that at all. He's just read the comics.

"As for how much we know, of course we know everything. What you know, we also know; what you don't know, we also know."

Leon was deliberately being pretentious, his aim being to create the illusion for Crocodile that he had a powerful backer. Okay, not an illusion, it really was powerful.

"Hmph! This is far beyond the capabilities of a small conglomerate. CEO of the Grandet Conglomerate? Just who are you?"

"Hey, I told you, don't get excited." In contrast to Crocodile, Leon remained the same. "That's not important. What's important is that we can offer you a lot. You just need to understand that for now."

Li Ang continued, "Look, you want weapons, we'll give them to you. You want ships, we'll give them to you too. And all you have to do is help us with a few things. Think about it, is it worth it?"

If there were an experienced driver from Yunnan, he might buy a ticket and sing in the back, "Let me think about it, I'll say it's worth it for me too."

However, Crocodile was no fool, nor was he an experienced operator! He immediately saw through the trap: "Are you kidding me? It sounds reasonable—give me weapons and ships, and I'll do your bidding? But wouldn't that make me your lackey?"

I'll give you guns, money, and a boat, and then dump all the dirty work on you. This is basically recruiting henchmen, not a real transaction. With Crocodile's intelligence, this kind of low-level trap wouldn't fool him at all.

"Huh? You actually figured it out?" Li Ang praised, feigning surprise. "This is the first time someone has discovered this trick. You're really clever." What do you mean, the first time it's been discovered? This is the first time, for crying out loud!

However, Leon was not joking about this. This is what it means to subdue someone. If you want to subdue Crocodile into the Revolutionary Army, this is the final result.

Upon hearing this, Crocodile could no longer contain himself. His face contorted with rage, veins bulging, and he roared, "I think you're courting death!" With that, his lower body transformed into sand, and he launched himself at Leon from mid-air, across the narrow coffee table.

Even with Crocodile's excellent self-control, he would still fly into a rage after being lectured by Leon, and would not care about anything else, only wanting to suck Leon dry.

Chapter 223 Until Death Do Us Part

"What's going on here? We were talking fine, and suddenly Leon has enraged Crocodile and is ready to fight. What happened to trying to reason with him and appeal to his emotions?"

Seeing Crocodile leap towards her, Robin was caught off guard and couldn't help but feel a bit of fear. After spending some time with Crocodile, Robin also came to understand how formidable he was.

The plan that Leon and Robin devised in the tavern stipulated that fighting was the worst possible option; a peaceful resolution would be ideal. However, Leon clearly deviated from the expected strategy in the latter part of the plan, deliberately provoking Crocodile instead.

If Robin spends enough time with Leon, she'll discover that Leon frequently overturns his own plans. This has been a recurring problem within the Revolutionary Army, causing them considerable distress.

However, Leon did not make this decision casually, but rather after careful consideration and meticulous observation before choosing to provoke Crocodile.

The reason lies in Crocodile's strange behavior when Leon asked him again, "Why did you become the Pirate King, and what will you do after becoming the Pirate King?" He dodged the question.

While not all pirates talk about becoming the Pirate King as often as Luffy, having a dream is nothing to be ashamed of. Crocodile's reaction after Leon mentioned his dream of becoming the Pirate King is indeed quite intriguing.

However, this doesn't prove anything; after all, everyone has an eccentric personality. Li Ang only had some speculations, without any evidence.

Afterwards, Leon decided to deviate from the script and preemptively revealed that he knew Crocodile needed Pluton and what his purpose was in coming to Alabasta. He wanted to uncover Crocodile's hidden secrets.

If Li Ang's guess is correct, then it will undoubtedly play a significant role in future negotiations with Whitebeard. Not making a profit is equivalent to losing money; a large profit is always preferable to a small one. Li Ang is choosing to take a risk out of greed.

Of course, it's normal for Old Sha to be surprised afterwards. After all, everyone gets a little emotional when their secrets are revealed.

But after Li Ang said, "I know everything," Old Sha's mood plummeted. The way he stared at Li Ang seemed to Li Ang like he was looking at a dead man.

Now that things have come to this, Li Ang no longer cares about the script; it's clear there's no way to salvage the situation. If he wants to appeal to emotions and reason with them, he should first explain the greatest truth in the world (physics).

In other words, no matter what Leon says at this point, the conversation is definitely over. Crocodile only wants to extract some information from Leon before planning to kill him. As for the desalination plant, Crocodile plans to figure out a solution later.

What does this mean? It means that Crocodile's secret is more important than Pluton. Pluton was a crucial weapon Crocodile meticulously planned to use in his quest to dominate the seas and become the Pirate King. Keep in mind that he had previously adopted a stance of offering whatever terms he wanted, prepared to bleed heavily, but now he's turned on him without warning.

Therefore, we can simply conclude that: Any condition < One Piece < Secret.

It's unbelievable that someone's secret is more important than their dream of becoming the Pirate King. That can only mean one thing: that everything they do is serve the purpose of becoming the Pirate King, and Crocodile's dream of becoming the Pirate King is actually also serving that mysterious secret.

As for what this so-called secret is, Li Ang is only making a bold guess at the moment. If he wants to get confirmation, he needs to get through this hurdle first.

Seeing Crocodile launch a sudden attack, Leon was not like Robin. Having understood the situation, he had already been on guard, and even leaned back in his chair instead of sitting forward.

This narrow coffee table isn't even as wide as Crocodile's attack range. If Leon stays in front, he'll be right at Crocodile's optimal attack range once he launches an attack.

At least he still had the motion of trying to turn his lower body into sand and lunge forward, giving Li Ang a tiny bit of reaction time. And that reaction time was enough.

Crocodile swung his right hand, sending an arc of sand slashing towards Leon's body. However, the arc of sand didn't look like it was cut; it looked more like it was scattered.

This crescent-shaped sand dune attack looks like a blade, but it doesn't cause any real damage. Instead, it drains the moisture from the body of the person it hits. It appears to be a physical attack, but it's actually a magical attack.

This section of sand is actually Crocodile's right hand, but it extends the attack range by using this slender shape. The principle is the same; it's essentially an upgraded version of the "Desert Prison".