Chapter 29 : Crocodile Defeated, The Rain Begins
While Princess Vivi, the king, and the others discussed next steps, Koza arrived at the palace entrance panting heavily. The moment he saw Luo Lin, his emotions exploded—he drew his sword and charged.
"It's you! The bastard who wiped out 500,000 of us at the south gate!"
Robin's eyes widened in shock. 500,000 dead? She wasn't doubting Luo Lin's ability—she was shocked he would slaughter that many. He usually only killed the worst scum among the Marines who hunted them.
Luo Lin's face darkened.
"Hey, hey, hey! Don't spout nonsense! I just put them to sleep for a bit!"
Vivi quickly stepped in.
"He's telling the truth! The rebels only passed out—I can prove it!"
Koza froze. In the heat of battle, he hadn't checked whether the fallen were actually dead.
After a long talk between Vivi, Koza, and Cobra, Koza finally understood everything. He immediately declared surrender and wanted to rush to the plaza to warn everyone about the bomb and evacuate.
Vivi stopped him—spreading the news now would cause panic and reignite the fighting.
Final plan: Vivi and Koza would first convince the rebels to stand down, then head to the plaza together to stop the bombing. No panic, no renewed war—if successful, peace would return.
Cobra, injured and unable to fight, would take Luo Lin and Robin to the Poneglyph.
Everyone scattered to their tasks.
But calming the rebellion wasn't that simple—there were still Baroque Works plants in both armies. Without them, rebellion would've been much harder given Koza's relationship with the royal family.
Meanwhile, the Crocodile that Luo Lin had kicked out of the palace finally woke up in a crater. (The importance of finishing your opponent…)
Just as Vivi and Koza were about to convince the rebels, a sniper put several bullets in Koza's back. At the same moment, Crocodile whipped up a massive sandstorm, blinding both sides.
Baroque Works agents opened fire on the rebels. Confused and enraged, the rebels fired back—war erupted again.
Vivi sat helplessly on the palace wall, tears streaming down her face.
Crocodile appeared beside her and delivered the classic villain monologue.
Vivi realized—even if fighting had restarted, stopping the bomb would still save countless lives.
But she no longer had the chance.
Crocodile grabbed her by the throat, mocked her one last time, and threw her off the wall.
"CROCODILE!!"
"LUFFY!!"
"STRAWHAT!!"
In Vivi's despair, Luffy—carrying a huge barrel of water on his back—arrived riding Bell the falcon, swooped down, and caught her mid-fall.
Crocodile gnashed his teeth.
"Straw Hat…"
The rest of the Straw Hats gathered below the palace.
Luffy declared Crocodile was his fight—he'd already lost once and refused to lose again. He told Vivi and the crew to stop the chaos outside.
They trusted him completely and ran off to find the cannon site.
Luffy leaped onto the roof and smashed a fist straight into Crocodile's smug face, sending him flying.
"As long as you touch water, you can't turn into sand, right? Get up, Crocodile!"
Crocodile rose slowly, first chuckling darkly, then laughing maniacally.
"You think you can beat me?"
"Of course! I came here to kick your ass! You can't turn into sand anymore anyway!"
"Heh… true, you're observant. But there's still an unbridgeable gap between us! I'm a Warlord!"
"So what? I'm gonna be the Eight Warlord!"
Gum-Gum Pistol—dodged. Crocodile grabbed the arm and dried it instantly.
Luffy quickly drank water and recovered.
At first Luffy's tricks gave him the upper hand, but to Crocodile it felt like the ultimate insult.
After eating a Gum-Gum Rocket that sent him crashing through a building, Crocodile finally snapped—he turned everything around him into desert.
Luffy barely grabbed the edge of the roof, avoiding the sand pit, but Crocodile seized him by the throat.
Luffy spat water wildly—missed every time.
Crocodile stopped holding back, dried Luffy into a mummy, tossed him off the roof, mocked him as usual, then headed for the royal tomb.
Even now he was obsessed with the Poneglyph. Stubborn as a rock.
Mummy Luffy hit the ground—then all the water he'd spat earlier conveniently rained back on him.
Full HP revive.
"Whew! That was close! I thought I was dead! Where'd Crocodile go? That way!"
And off he ran. (Maybe he's the most hard-headed one…)
…
Meanwhile, Luo Lin, Robin, and Cobra reached the royal tomb's funeral hall.
"I've been here. Found nothing."
Cobra: …I knew it.
"Of course, Mr. Luo Lin. A Poneglyph wouldn't be left in plain sight. Only the kings of Alabasta know its true location."
"Eh? (￢д￢.) Every other country just leaves theirs lying around!"
Cobra: …I don't want to talk to you.
Robin covered her mouth to hide a laugh—Luo Lin really was infuriating when he talked to others.
"Mr. Luo Lin, my arm is injured. Could you turn that statue counterclockwise?"
"Got it!"
As the statue rotated, a hidden passage opened.
"The Poneglyph is deep underground. Let's go."
Luo Lin took the lead.
"Before meeting you two, I thought no one left in the world could read the Poneglyphs. Who would've thought the two people who shocked the world 20 years ago would appear before me?"
Cobra already knew their full names.
"You haven't seen anything yet."
"True—even I still have much to learn."
They reached the bottom. Luo Lin looked around—no sign of a Poneglyph, just ritual carvings.
"It's behind that door."
Creak… creak…
The painful grinding of stone. The door opened.
There it was.
"It's real!"
Robin's face lit up. She kissed Luo Lin on the cheek and rushed forward to read.
Luo Lin, kissed: (｡⁼̴ ﹃ ⁼̴) ♡
Cobra silently scooted two steps away.
"Anything you were looking for?"
"Why ask me? Robin baby's the scholar—I can't read tadpole script!"
Cobra: …Shouldn't have asked.
Robin soon finished.
"Nothing else? That's all this country's secrets?"
"If that's all, then that's all. This is the only Poneglyph in Alabasta. I would've shown you more if we had it."
"Oh well. I just wanted the true history anyway. Let's go!"
"Roger that!"
Luo Lin had been admiring the wall reliefs—they were way prettier than the squiggles.
"Wait!"
Cobra raised a hand.
"What's up?"
"Have some consideration for an injured old man! I've lost blood, walked all this way—let me rest a bit!"
Luo Lin looked at Robin—she nodded. Nothing else to do anyway.
"Fine, rest up. By the way, King Cobra, you really need to exercise more. No queen and you're already this weak?"
Cobra: …
Veins bulging on his forehead, he stayed silent.
Robin tugged Luo Lin's sleeve—stop before you give the king a heart attack.
During the break, Luo Lin glanced outside.
He sensed a wild beast approaching.
Sure enough, ten minutes later—footsteps.
Crocodile strolled in.
"Truly a national secret. Without the mechanism, impossible to find."
"Crocodile!"
Cobra stared in disbelief.
Luo Lin just glanced over—he'd expected this.
"You've got guts coming back. Not afraid of dying?"
"Why would I be? We have no conflicting interests, no reason to fight. In 20 years, you barely killed any of the Marines hunting you."
Crocodile walked straight to the Poneglyph and stared at the text.
"So this is a Poneglyph. Can't read a damn thing."
He'd actually been hiding nearby for a while, hoping to overhear Pluton's location. When nothing came up, he revealed himself.
"Whatever. This country will be mine soon anyway. I'll find Pluton even without the stone!"
Luo Lin almost cleaved him in half for acting like he owned the place.
"I suggest you tone down the arrogance, or I really might kill you."
"HA HA HA! You won't tell me what's written anyway. No point staying. In a few minutes this country will be mine. As for you, Cobra—right now I can't kill you, but soon you'll be nothing but a stray dog, no longer king! HA HA HA!"
Classic villain monologue again. Luo Lin was sick of it.
Crocodile turned to leave—just as Luffy came crashing through the wall.
"Found you, Crocodile!"
"Straw Hat! You again?! How many times do I have to kill you?!"
"I'm gonna beat you this time and take back everything you stole!"
Luo Lin and the others stepped out.
"Yo, Luffy!"
"Huh? Luo Lin, you're here? Wait a sec—I'll talk after I crush this crocodile!"
Luffy was thrilled but laser-focused on Crocodile.
"Need help? I held back earlier because I figured you'd hate it."
"Nope! This is my fight. Just watch—and don't interfere!"
"Got it. Kick his ass!"
Luffy and Crocodile exchanged trash talk, then charged.
"No matter how hyped you are, refusing help and bringing no water? Beating me is a pipe dream!"
BAM!
Luffy's foot smashed straight into Crocodile's face, sending him flying into a wall.
"What?! He hit me without water?!"
Before Crocodile could process it, Luffy was already there—another punch, same wall.
"Heh heh heh… From the rainforest to the palace to this underground tomb—twice I sent you to hell and you crawled back. And you still dare challenge me alone?!"
Crocodile slowly removed the golden cover from his hook, revealing the poison stinger beneath.
"Then let's end this for good. This time you won't survive!"
Luffy got into stance.
They clashed—Crocodile mostly ate punches. His hook barely grazed Luffy.
"See, Robin baby? This is why physical training matters! That idiot can't even touch Luffy! I tried so hard to get you to train and you still refuse! I wouldn't teach just anyone, you know!"
Luo Lin used the fight to roast Robin lovingly, complete with perfectly aggrieved expression.
Robin wasn't having it.
"No way! Too rough! That's why I have you—you're strong enough to protect me!"
Luo Lin's invisible tail shot straight up. Being relied on by his wife felt too good!
Fine, no training then. Robin reverse-roasted successfully!
Crocodile, unable to land solid hits and poison taking too long, started panicking.
"There's nothing in this country you want! Why throw your life away for unrelated people?! Why are there idiots like you?!"
Luffy, dizzy from poison but still the king of trash talk:
"You don't get it at all! Vivi said she didn't want anyone to die, yet she was ready to sacrifice herself for everyone! She's my friend—we won't let her die! As long as she hasn't given up on this country, we won't stop fighting!"
"Even if it means dying?!"
"Sometimes you gotta die—nothing you can do about it!"
Crocodile froze. He couldn't understand. To him, crewmates were disposable.
Cobra's eyes widened too.
Eventually the poison dropped Luffy. Crocodile gloated again, revealing his backup plan: even if the cannon was stopped, the bomb in the plaza would still go off—everyone dies anyway.
"That's too despicable, Crocodile!"
"Hm? I thought you'd praise me for being thorough. Isn't war about preparing for the worst? I always plan for every possibility!"
"Luo Lin, you sure you're not stepping in? He's really pissing me off."
Even Robin was fed up.
"Nah. Luffy hasn't lost yet. He won't be smug for long."
Luo Lin wanted to jump in, but Luffy was still fighting—interfering would make the kid mad.
But the expected explosion never came.
Up above, Bell had carried the bomb into the sky and sacrificed himself to contain the blast.
"You can't beat me! I'm gonna be the Pirate King!"
Luffy struggled to his feet and roared.
"Heh heh heh… How childish. Anyone who knows this sea even a little wouldn't say that so easily."
Crocodile charged—one clash later, his poison hook shattered.
"No matter how much I know—I'm still gonna be Pirate King!!"
Two more punches.
"Why do you keep getting up?! Die already, you nobody brat! Do you even know who I am?!"
A dagger extended from the broken hook and stabbed at Luffy—dodged. Luffy kicked him skyward.
"DIE! Desert Storm!"
The entire underground hall crumbled.
Luo Lin held Robin tight, dodging debris effortlessly.
Luffy looked up at Crocodile in the air, took a deep breath, and leaped.
"Gum-Gum Gatling!!"
The impacts shook the underground palace. Rocks shattered, the ground above trembled, and finally the ceiling exploded upward.
Crocodile was blasted into the sky, unconscious.
Above ground, the royal army and rebels were still fighting in the dust.
But as Crocodile lost consciousness, his fruit powers vanished.
Rain began to fall.
The downpour washed away the sand and dust.
Both armies felt the drops, slowly lowered their weapons, and stopped fighting.
The plaza fell silent.
"PLEASE STOP THIS MEANINGLESS FIGHT!!!"
Princess Vivi's voice echoed across every corner of the square.
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