One Piece: The Cryo Doctor on the Straw Hat Ship

More importantly, he had just attempted to issue a summons to senior agents of Baroque Works.

Being inherently suspicious, treacherous, and cunning, he certainly wouldn't delegate all authority to Robin alone.

However, shortly after he issued the order, he received a reply from a senior agent that "the assembly is about to be completed."

All assembled?

Time? Place?

With whom will they gather?

What are we gathering for?

At that moment, Crocodile's mind went completely blank.

If he still didn't know that Nico Robin had betrayed him at this point, then all his years at sea would have been for nothing!

"Very well! Very well!" Crocodile bit down on his cigar and let out a series of sinister laughs.

Robin's sudden betrayal was like a poisonous thorn piercing his throat.

Over the years, he had never fully trusted this devil's child, but he never expected her to betray him at this critical juncture.

Crocodile quickly suppressed his surging killing intent and narrowed his eyes, staring at the sea chart spread out on the table.

The most urgent task at hand is not to immediately hunt down the traitor, but to get back on the reins of Baroque Works before the navy notices anything amiss.

He stubbed out his cigar, stood up, and walked towards the Den Den Mushi (snail phone) by the wall.

However, just as he was about to use his undercover connections to contact a high-ranking agent...

Suddenly, a violent tremor and roar came from the ceiling above Crocodile's head.

Faintly, one could still hear panicked shouts and the sound of shattering glass.

"Huh? What's going on now!?"

Crocodile's pupils contracted.

But before he could contact the casino manager, the entire Rain Banquet Casino suddenly began to shake violently as if it had been hit by an earthquake!

Crocodile looked up abruptly, and large cracks suddenly appeared in the decorative plasterboard above his head, which then collapsed with a crash.

boom……!

Smoke and dust billowed down from above.

at the same time.

"Rubber rubber—rocket launcher!!!"

A passionate roar, filled with fervent fighting spirit, pierced through the layers of buildings, accompanied by a blurry red figure that blasted through several floors like a cannonball, carrying fragments of concrete and steel bars, and crashed straight into the center of the office!

In an instant, gravel flew everywhere and dust billowed up.

Luffy leaps from the crater in his punching stance, his straw hat billowing in the blast of air. He grins his signature smile and clashes his fists together.

"Finally found you! Sand Crocodile!"

Almost simultaneously, a white plume of smoke swept over the falling rocks and ashes, gathering like a ghost around Luffy, eventually forming the figure of a man.

He put one hand in his pocket and gently brushed the dust off his shoulder with the other.

As he turned off the thermal imaging function of his prosthetic eye, a playful smile played on his lips:

Good afternoon, Crocodile.

"The outside is heavily guarded by the navy, so it's really not easy to see you."

"You are..."

Crocodile's face was ashen, his golden hook slowly rotating in his palm, his eyes sweeping over the two who had suddenly intruded.

Although it was their first meeting, he instantly recognized them.

"The Straw Hat Pirates... Straw Hat Boy Monkey D. Luffy, and Mecha-Cyclic V."

Crocodile's voice was hoarse and tinged with surprise.

V smiled slightly: "Congratulations, you got it right!"

"Unfortunately, the lollipops are sold out, so there are no gifts."

"Bastards, it was you guys!"

At that moment, Crocodile suddenly understood...

"You were the ones who orchestrated Nicole Robin's betrayal?"

His voice was deep, like muffled thunder rolling in the depths of the desert, each word carrying a dry, rough texture.

As a powerful figure who had traversed the seas for many years, Crocodile almost instantly pieced the fragments together:

Robin's disappearance, the unusual gathering of top agents, and the Straw Hat crew who should have been surrounded by the Navy fleet at sea...

The only explanation is that Robin has joined the Straw Hat crew, and has also relinquished control of Baroque Works.

The thought that his carefully cultivated hidden pieces, built up over many years, might be snatched away by two immature brats made Crocodile's eyes darken to the point of almost dripping with water.

However, V's smile remained unchanged as he easily replied, "No, no, no, Robin has never been loyal to you, so how can you say she betrayed you?"

"Heh..." Crocodile's lips curled into a cruel smile, the glow of his cigar flickering in his eyes. "You've got some nerve."

"The navy has laid a trap outside, and instead of fleeing for your lives, you've come to my doorstep to die?"

"We're not here to die!" Luffy looked up, his face serious. "We're here to beat you up!"

He clenched his fist, his rubber arm making a slight stretching sound, and his eyes locked onto Crocodile: "V said you're a bad guy, you've almost killed this country and killed so many people!"

"Therefore, I'm determined to send you flying!"

"childish!"

Crocodile seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world, and his low sneer echoed in the empty office.

He slowly raised his right hand, palm facing up, and strands of fine sand appeared out of thin air, flowing and gathering between his fingers as if they were alive.

"You, Rubber Boy? And you, this cowardly cyborg?"

His gaze swept over V, filled with undisguised contempt. "You think you're qualified to challenge me just because you defeated a few nobody in the amusement park?"

"qualifications?"

V chuckled softly, pulling his hand out of his pocket. Pale white smoke, like living tentacles, quietly spread from behind him, quickly filling the corners of the room.

“We’re not here to ask for a challenge, Mr. Crocodile. We’re here… to liquidate assets.”

“Your Baroque Works, your assets, your ‘contributions’ to this country…” V’s tone grew colder, his prosthetic eye gleaming with a ghostly blue light, “Today, we take them all.”

"Arrogant brat!" Crocodile's eyes flashed, his patience completely exhausted.

The moment he finished speaking, the office floor, walls, ceiling, and all non-metallic surfaces began to rapidly turn into sand!

Since the casino had already been destroyed, Crocodile decided to go all out and destroy it.

This is his home turf, how could he allow outsiders to show off here!

"Desert sunflower!"

Crocodile gave a cold shout, and the ground beneath Luffy and V's feet instantly collapsed, forming a constantly spinning, all-consuming quicksand vortex.

"Whoa!" Luffy exclaimed.

The next instant, his legs suddenly stretched out, like two giant springs, bracing against the walls on either side that were not yet completely sanded, forcefully pulling himself out of the quicksand, his body suspended in mid-air.

V's reaction, however, was more direct.

The pale smoke billowing from his body instantly became thick and heavy, sinking downwards like a solid object. It not only counteracted the suction of the quicksand, but even briefly "frozen" the sandy area for a moment.

"Natural type, you're not the only one with that!"

V sneered, and the smoke carried him backward like a skateboard, avoiding the core area of ​​the quicksand.

"Is it really the same smoke ability as rumored?"

Crocodile couldn't help but frown.

"If I remember correctly, shouldn't that ability be in the hands of the Navy?"

"Looks like you're really well-informed!"

V tilted his head back, met Crocodile's gaze, and a meaningful smile appeared on his lips.

"But who says that two people with the same ability can't exist in this world!?"

"Like this..."

Before he finished speaking, pale smoke billowed from V's palm and quickly swirled around Crocodile.

Crocodile let out a disdainful sneer:

"No matter how much smoke there is, it can't harm me."

"That's not necessarily true!" V chuckled mischievously, then suddenly clenched his outstretched hand.

"White Burial... Explosion!!!"

Chapter 79: Fighting a war requires brains (Please read on!)

boom!!!!

V's voice suddenly rose in the billowing smoke, his fingertips snapping shut.

The pale smoke, which had been merely swirling and enveloping, suddenly collapsed inward, and then—

A blazing fire and a deafening explosion erupted where Crocodile was!

Crocodile's previously disdainful expression froze the moment the explosion occurred.

"What!?"

He subconsciously elementalized his body, attempting to transform into quicksand to avoid harm.

However, besides water, scorching high temperatures are also a natural nemesis of sand.

The violent shockwave, carrying a wave of high-temperature air, swept outwards, instantly tearing the remaining furniture and decorations in the office into pieces.