Chapter 61: Alabasta – The Rebellion Ends & Luffy vs. Crocodile Begins
Kosa took the megaphone from Sol's hand and faced the rebel comrades behind him. His voice was heavy but resolute:
"Everyone… if everything is truly as Princess Vivi said—if this war is Crocodile's scheme—then we have indeed made a grave mistake! And among us… there really were Baroque Works spies. They've been fanning the flames, trying to make us kill each other!"
Uneasy murmurs rippled through the crowd. Someone shouted loudly: "But Commander, at this point, is there any way back for us?!"
Vivi stepped forward without hesitation. Speaking as the heir to the Alabasta throne, she solemnly promised: "As long as you stop this meaningless war right now, the royal family is willing to forgive everyone! My father has never given up on you. The future of Alabasta needs to be protected by all of us together!"
The citizens remembered King Cobra's benevolence. Their inner hesitation finally turned into determination. "Clink, clank, clink…" One after another, metal weapons hit the ground. The rebel soldiers silently dropped their arms, waiting for the kingdom's response.
However—
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!
From atop the city wall, dozens of cannon shells suddenly screamed through the air, blasting straight toward the now-unarmed rebel army!
"Courting death!" Sol's eyes sharpened. He spun instantly, arms wreathed in blazing flames like a dragon spreading its wings. "Fire Dragon's Wing Strike!"
The flames formed enormous fiery wings that intercepted every cannonball mid-air, gathering them into one mass before detonating in the sky with a deafening explosion! The scorching shockwave shook the city wall, but the rebels below remained unharmed.
"Who gave that order?!" Jaka roared as he charged toward the artillerymen on the wall, immediately ordering the rogue gunners to be restrained.
Sure enough, once exposed, those men resisted frantically—some even detonating explosives on their bodies. It took the sacrifice of over a hundred royal soldiers before they were finally subdued.
Jaka made a snap decision and ordered the entire army to check each other. Soon, even the "Million Elders" hidden among the high command were dragged out.
At that moment, Vivi and Sol brought Kosa back inside the wall. Having personally witnessed Baroque Works infiltration within the royal army as well, Kosa was finally completely convinced that the king had been framed!
"Vivi, I'll leave this place to you for now." Sol patted her shoulder, his gaze turning cold as he looked toward the central plaza of the capital. "From the interrogation earlier, Crocodile planted a bomb in the plaza powerful enough to destroy the entire city… I have to go deal with it first!"
With that, Sol bid Vivi farewell and headed straight for the central plaza.
——————
At the main gate of the palace, blood slowly flowed along the grooves between the stone bricks. Crocodile held King Cobra by the throat with one hand, slamming him brutally against the weathered wall. In his other hand, the iron hook gleamed coldly as it mercilessly pierced the king's shoulder. Blood trickled down the wall.
"Honestly tell me where Pluton is and you wouldn't have to suffer like this…" Crocodile's low voice carried cruel amusement. "Your subordinates wouldn't have to lie here like trash either."
Cobra's face was deathly pale, sweat pouring down his forehead like raindrops, yet he clenched his teeth tightly. His gaze swept toward the distance—Pell and the Falcon Unit warriors lay in pools of blood, their fate uncertain.
"Heh…" Crocodile released his grip, letting the king hang painfully from the hook. He spread his arms wide. "My goal has always been only Pluton! Once I obtain the most evil warship in history, I can build the strongest military empire right here! Making those pirates submit? Easy! When my power grows strong enough, even the World Government will bow to me! That's the country I dream of!"
Cobra trembled as he raised his head, voice weak but firm: "Delusional… The World Government will never allow such a thing…"
"That's exactly why I need sufficient power!" Crocodile spun back around, madness flashing in his eyes.
"I don't know where you heard that name," Cobra gasped, "but whether that thing even exists is unknown…"
"So that's how it is. You're right," Crocodile's words suddenly cut off. Before he could react, a water-soaked rubber fist smashed brutally into his face! "What the hell are you doing, you bastard?!!"
BANG!
Crocodile's body flew backward, but he turned into a sandstorm mid-air to dissipate the impact, reforming steadily not far away. He slowly wiped the blood from his mouth, his sinister gaze locking onto the figure ahead. "Straw Hat… brat…"
Not far away, Luffy was retracting his stretched arm while carrying a water barrel on his back. Under his straw hat, his eyes burned with raging fury: "Crocodile—I'm gonna send you flying to the edge of the sky!!!"
"Interesting…" The sand crocodile's bloodstained lips parted in a grin, his left golden hook glinting with lethal light. "Looks like I need to deal with this annoying little bug first." "I don't know how you found this place, Straw Hat…" Crocodile slowly raised his right hand. The swirling sand in his palm instantly formed a violent vortex. "But do you really think you're worthy of being my opponent?"
"Sandstorm!"
With a cold shout, the originally palm-sized sandstorm shot from his hand and rapidly expanded in flight. By the time it reached Luffy, it had become a ten-meter-tall tornado of destruction! The raging sandstorm swallowed Luffy's figure in an instant.
"Uwaaaaah— I'm flying!!" Luffy's startled cry came from inside the storm.
Crocodile narrowed his eyes. Suddenly he saw a black shadow falling from mid-air.
BANG!
Luffy landed flat on his back in the sand, but immediately did a kip-up and anxiously checked the barrel in his arms: "Good—it didn't break!"
"Falling from that height and still unharmed…" Crocodile's gaze swept over the boy's freely stretching arms. "And this bizarre body…"
"Because I ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi—I'm a rubber man!" Luffy proudly patted his chest. "All blunt attacks are useless against me!"
"Hehe…" Robin covered her lips with a light laugh, interest flashing in her eyes. "What an interesting boy."
"Rubber?" Crocodile's figure suddenly dissolved into flowing sand. The next second he reformed behind Luffy. "In the face of absolute power, it's just a ridiculous trick." In the next moment, his entire right arm instantly turned to sand and expanded into a five-meter-long giant sand blade!
"Desert Spada!"
Swoosh
Relying on animal-like instinct, Luffy jerked sideways. The sand blade grazed the tip of his nose and slashed down. The ground behind him groaned in pain as an unfathomably deep trench appeared!
"Phew… that was close~" Luffy patted his chest and stuck out his tongue in a goofy face. He quickly pulled a hose from the barrel on his back and poured water all over his fist. His skin instantly became drenched.
"Rubber Pistol!"
The wet fist shot out like a cannonball—but this time Crocodile was prepared. His left golden hook clanged and blocked the attack. Water droplets sprayed everywhere. The sand crocodile sneered: "Hmph, as long as I shatter that ridiculous water barrel of yours, you're finished, right?"
Before the words finished, he swung his right hand. Endless yellow sand instantly condensed into a three-meter-long sand greatsword that stabbed straight toward the barrel on Luffy's back with a piercing whistle!
"Waaah! No you don't!" Luffy let out a strange cry and began zigzagging wildly around the plaza with the barrel on his back.
The sand sword repeatedly pierced the ground, leaving terrifying deep craters in the palace stone tiles.
"Damn it, this isn't going to work…" Luffy scratched his head while running, then his eyes suddenly lit up. "Got it! Hehehehe!"
Under Crocodile's stunned gaze, Luffy directly hugged the barrel and tilted his head back, gulping down the entire contents!
Gulp! Gulp! Gulp!
"Buuurp!" Luffy let out a loud, satisfied belch. His belly instantly ballooned into a water ball, sloshing audibly with every movement. He tried jumping once and nearly spat water everywhere, hurriedly covering his mouth: "Mmph… guess I can't drink that much…"
Crocodile's temple throbbed violently, his golden hook trembling slightly with rage: "This brat… is he serious?!" The sand crocodile suddenly exploded forward. The entire palace shook with his furious roar: "You bastard—are you treating this battle like a game?!"
"Who said I'm joking? I've been dead serious fighting you this whole time!" Luffy spun around fiercely. His puffed-up cheeks puffed once—and a precise water ball slammed right into Crocodile's face. Then he stretched both arms long.
"Gomu Gomu no… Rocket!!!"
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The body crashed through three sandstone buildings in succession before finally coming to a stop. In the ruins, Crocodile dropped to one knee, blood mixed with sand continuously dripping from his mouth.
From afar came Luffy's booming battle cry: "Now you get it, right? My water-ball tactic is a life-on-the-line resolve!"
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