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Chapter 133: The Truth of the Poneglyph
Seeing Robin staring intently at the stone stele, Luffy leaned over curiously to take a look.
He couldn't understand a thing.
Losing interest immediately, he turned his head to check on the fallen Crocodile again, only to realize with a start that the man was gone.
Rustle, rustle—
A faint friction sound came from the right.
Luffy jerked his head around, his right fist punching out almost instinctively, but his arm was caught by a hand.
Immediately, a terrifying suction force took hold.
Luffy felt more than half the moisture in his body being drained away. His plump rubber body became like a dried orange peel, instantly wilting.
"Luffy!"
Robin sensed the anomaly and turned around. Seeing this scene, shock filled her eyes, and she quickly crossed her hands in front of her chest.
"Don't try anything, Nico Robin. Or I'll turn this kid into a dry corpse right now."
Crocodile shouted coldly, gripping Luffy's arm and holding him in the air.
"You!" Robin bit her lip, her crossed hands freezing in mid-air.
For some reason, even though she wasn't very familiar with them—having only met them a few times—she had developed a great fondness for this group of rookie pirates.
"Good." Crocodile nodded in satisfaction, the madness in his eyes growing more intense. "You know what I want. The lives of these people are worthless to me. What matters is the content... on that stone!"
Robin's heart sank. This guy had gone crazy.
The tragedy was that the information recorded on this stele was not about the "Ancient Weapon Pluton" he dreamed of, but simply the history of the Alabasta Kingdom's founding.
In other words, Crocodile's years of planning were all in vain!
Tell him the truth? Robin dismissed the thought as soon as it appeared. Given Crocodile's current mental state, knowing the truth would make him completely lose control.
But if she didn't say anything...
"Speak!" Crocodile suddenly roared, his voice echoing in the empty underground space. "Do you all want to die here right now?!"
The dust trembled with his roar, and Robin caught the killing intent he could no longer hide in his eyes.
She smiled miserably, finally realizing that whether she spoke or not, he would kill both her and Luffy.
In that case, she would tell him the truth.
"Crocodile, you've plotted for years, spent countless efforts and resources, even lurking in this country for so long... In the end, you merely dug up another country's founding history."
She looked up at Crocodile, eyeing him with pity, and said faintly:
"There is no information about 'Pluton' on this. 'Pluton'—is not here!!"
The moment her voice fell, the entire space fell into a strange silence. Even the sound of rolling sand disappeared. The air seemed to freeze, leaving only Luffy's labored breathing.
It was like the calm before a storm; everything would erupt at any moment.
Crocodile's expression froze on his face.
He stared dead at Robin's eyes, trying to find a trace of a lie in those pupils. But Robin looked back at him unflinchingly, her eyes even holding a hint of mockery, staring at him with the same stubbornness and disgust as when they first met.
Crocodile was certain now. This woman was not lying.
So many years... so many years!
From the moment he learned that a Poneglyph might exist in Alabasta, he had meticulously planned everything. Becoming the hero of this country, secretly building Baroque Works, finding an archaeologist who could read the Poneglyphs... all the layouts, all the waiting.
It was all in vain.
"Ha..." Crocodile suddenly let out a short laugh, dry and bizarre. "Hahaha... I see... I see..."
His shoulders began to tremble, a precursor to an emotional collapse.
Suddenly.
His eyes were thoroughly dyed with a crazy blood-red hue. He threw the shriveled Luffy into the air. As the boy reached the apex and began to fall, Crocodile raised his left hand, the tip of his hook aimed directly at Luffy's falling trajectory.
Luffy, having been sucked dry, was powerless. His eyes were half-open, and he had no way to dodge.
"Treinta Fleur!"
Robin activated her ability almost simultaneously.
Dozens of arms sprouted from the ground, the walls, and even the air. They quickly overlapped and combined, forming a "wall of hands" in an attempt to intercept Luffy in mid-air!
Smack!
Crocodile backhanded Robin across the face, sending her flying.
The arms generated by her ability instantly crumbled into petals and dissipated into the air.
"No—!" Robin struggled to lift her head, blood seeping from the corner of her mouth.
She watched in despair as Luffy continued to fall, getting closer and closer to that lethal iron hook.
Clang!
However, with the sharp sound of metal colliding, a green figure flashed by. A blade firmly blocked Crocodile's iron hook.
Through the sparks flying between the blade and the hook, Robin saw the newcomer's face clearly.
Green bandana, three earrings, eyes sharp as knives.
—"Pirate Hunter" Roronoa Zoro.
"Warlord," Zoro held the sword with one hand. Having arrived in a rush, the blade wasn't even fully unsheathed. His arm muscles bulged as he steadily held back Crocodile's attack, his voice ice-cold: "What are you doing to my captain?"
Crocodile's pupils shrank slightly.
"You..."
He could feel that the man before him was no ordinary character to be able to stop his strike. But his nearly insane heart made him lose all reason; he only wanted to kill the Straw Hat kid who had repeatedly caused him trouble.
Whoosh!
He controlled the sand on the ground, forming a cone shape. The sharp tip stabbed towards Luffy.
But soon, another figure darted in. With just a mid-air kick, he shattered the newly formed sand spike.
Sanji landed steadily, exhaling a puff of smoke. When he noticed Robin covering her cheek on the ground, his face darkened.
Another one!
Crocodile felt his patience reaching its limit. He just wanted to kill Straw Hat to relieve the resentment in his heart—was it that hard?
After Sanji kicked the sand spike, a long nose popped out from behind him, catching Luffy from the air. He supported him as they stood on the ground.
"Oi, Luffy! Are you okay? Why is your body like this?!"
When Usopp caught Luffy, he felt that he was exceptionally light.
"Sanji... I... I want to eat..." Luffy said weakly, addressing Sanji.
"Where am I supposed to cook for you in this situation? I don't even have ingredients," Sanji replied.
"Coincidentally, when I came down just now, I happened to meet a giant scorpion digging a hole." Suddenly, a voice rang out from behind.
Immediately after, a freckled young man wearing a cowboy hat walked over, carrying a giant, roasted scorpion.
"Meat!" Seeing this, Luffy's eyes lit up. He lunged forward and buried his head in the charred scorpion, eating voraciously.
"Eat slowly, Luffy. I didn't bring a canteen; it wouldn't be good if you choked," Ace said, watching his brother eat with smiling eyes.
Not bad. He was as energetic as ever.
At the same time, his gaze swept over Sanji and Usopp, as well as Zoro, who was confronting Crocodile. He was extremely satisfied.
"You must be Luffy's crewmates, right?"
Ace took off his hat and bowed politely.
"Nice to meet you. I'm his brother, Portgas D. Ace."
"Uh... H-hello, brother," Usopp bowed back subconsciously.
Sanji also relaxed his guard slightly and nodded. "I'm Sanji, the cook of this ship."
Zoro didn't turn back but said in a low voice, "Roronoa Zoro."
"Haha, no need to call me brother," Ace laughed at Usopp's address, putting his hat back on. "Just like Luffy, call me Ace."
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Ace stepped forward, observing the surroundings before looking at the silent Crocodile.
"Crocodile, you've already lost, haven't you?"
His gaze fixed on Crocodile. With his eyesight, he could naturally tell that the opponent was a spent force; only madness was keeping him standing.
"I lost? Impossible! How could I lose to you brats who know nothing!!"
Crocodile seemed to be ignited by this sentence. Sand surged all over his body.
Immediately after.
With Crocodile as the center, a sandstorm erupted!
The entire underground space began to shake violently. Walls cracked, rubble and sand rained down from the ceiling, and the ground churned like ocean waves. The world seemed to be collapsing at this moment.
Zoro's pupils trembled slightly. Having a bad premonition, he quickly retreated.
Sanji rushed to Robin, who was still dazed on the ground, scooped her up by the waist, and retreated away from Crocodile.
"What is he doing...?" Usopp asked in disbelief, his mouth trembling.
"Not good. Run!" Ace narrowed his eyes, shock gradually filling them. "This guy wants to take us down with him and bury us all underground!"
Saying this, he quickly pulled up Luffy, who was still gorging himself, and took the lead, rushing towards the sand tunnel they had come down from.
He really didn't expect Crocodile to go crazy. How big of a blow had he taken?
Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp followed closely behind.
"Die here, all of you!!"
Crocodile's insane voice came from behind.
Then the pit shook. The ground sank, and countless rocks and sand blocks fell from above.
"Fire Fist!"
Ace made a prompt decision, throwing a punch violently towards the ceiling. Under the wide-eyed gaze of Luffy and the others, a massive orange-red flame fist surged upward. Wherever it passed, rocks melted and sand vaporized, forcefully blasting a straight passage through nearly a hundred meters of soil!
Light from the outside world spilled down the tunnel.
Hmm? Why is it suddenly raining outside?
He was puzzled but still pulled Luffy along, leading Luffy's three crew members as they rushed out of the sand pit.
Crocodile obviously wouldn't let them leave so easily. He controlled the yellow sand, surging it towards them from behind, attempting to drag them all back down.
Such attacks naturally couldn't affect Ace; any sand that got close was quickly swallowed by flames.
But Zoro, Sanji, Usopp, and Robin couldn't hold out easily. They currently had almost no means to deal with this Logia ability.
"Celestial Shower!"
Just then, a blue figure descended from the sky, holding a condensed ice bead in her hand.
In an instant, countless ice shards and cold currents shot out from the bead. In just a few seconds, the entire surging sea of yellow sand was frozen solid.
Everyone was finally safe.
However, that petite blue-haired figure seemed to have lost all strength, falling from the sky.
"Miss Ganyu!" Sanji was frantic seeing this, but with Robin in his arms, he couldn't get away.
Zoro, beside him, didn't hesitate. He stomped heavily on the ground, leaping into the air and catching the falling blue-haired girl with one arm against his chest.
Then, after holding her for just a moment, he shifted her... slinging the girl onto his shoulder. Carrying her on his shoulder, he landed steadily on the ground.
"Bastard! Don't be so rough when catching someone! That's Miss Ganyu! Wait, no—who let you hug Miss Ganyu anyway!!!"
Sanji roared from below, anxious and angry, leaving the others speechless.
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