Rainbase rose from the desert like a mirage that had decided to stay.
Gold and glass. Marble and laughter. Water everywhere—fountains spilling lazily into canals, palm trees fed by pipes no one could see. The city smelled of perfume, liquor, and money. It was obscene in its abundance, and that was precisely the point.
Luffy felt it the moment his foot crossed the city line.
Not danger.
Control.
"Don't spread out," he said, voice low. "Stay loose, but close."
The streets were crowded. Too crowded. Men leaned against walls pretending not to look. Women laughed a little too loudly. Shopkeepers smiled without warmth. Flyers fluttered in the breeze—sketches of faces the crew recognized immediately.
Their own.
"Yeah," Zoro muttered, eyes half-lidded. "They know."
Vivi pulled her hood tighter. "Rainbase is Crocodile's city. If he wants to know something, he knows."
Luffy nodded once. No surprise there. He had expected a net. He just hadn't expected it to feel this clean.
"Sanji," he said. "Water. Take Chopper. Move like locals."
Sanji hesitated. "You sure?"
Luffy didn't look at him. "I'm sure."
Sanji exhaled, then nodded. He turned, hand on Chopper's shoulder. "Stay close, buddy."
As they vanished into the crowd, Luffy shifted his attention forward.
The casino dominated the skyline.
Rain Dinners.
A palace pretending to be a playground.
"Well," Usopp said weakly, staring up at it, "that doesn't look ominous at all."
They moved.
The closer they got, the quieter the street became—not empty, just… observant. Eyes tracked them from behind tinted glass. Reflections in polished stone showed figures slowing, adjusting their paths.
Zoro leaned closer to Luffy. "We're being herded."
"Yeah," Luffy replied. "Toward something."
They crossed the casino threshold.
Inside, the noise exploded.
Dice clattered. Coins rang. Music drifted thick and lazy through the air. Men in tailored suits laughed with the kind of confidence that came from never having to look over their shoulders. Women in glittering dresses moved like they owned the floor beneath their heels.
No one screamed.
No one panicked.
That bothered Luffy more than an ambush would have.
"VIPs this way," a man in a tuxedo said smoothly, stepping into their path.
Another joined him from the other side. "Pirates, this way."
Two hallways. Two signs. Same smile.
Usopp swallowed. "Captain…?"
Luffy glanced at the signs, then smiled faintly.
"We're pirates."
They turned right.
The hallway narrowed. Carpet muffled their footsteps. The walls gleamed, polished so clean Luffy could see his own reflection—eyes calm, mouth flat, lightning necklace catching the light.
The floor vanished.
For a heartbeat, there was weightlessness.
Then impact.
Zoro landed on his feet. Luffy did too. The others weren't so lucky.
Metal bars slammed down.
Sea Prism Stone.
Smoker stepped into view, smoke curling from his shoulders, jitte resting casually against his back.
"Well," he said, exhaling slowly. "That saves me some running."
Luffy sat on the bench inside the cell as if he'd planned it that way.
"Took you long enough, Smokey."
Smoker snorted. "You always did talk too much."
Before either could say more, a voice drifted in from the shadows.
Calm. Smooth. Amused.
"So this is the pirate everyone's been whispering about."
The light shifted.
A man sat behind a wide desk, one hand propped against his chin, scar cutting across his face like a permanent sneer. His coat was open, sand-colored, lined with gold. A cigar smoldered between his fingers, smoke curling upward in lazy spirals.
Crocodile.
Vivi stiffened.
"Welcome to Rainbase," he said pleasantly. "Straw Hat Luffy."
Luffy met his gaze without standing.
"So you're the one making it rain here."
Crocodile smiled. "Observation without understanding is a dangerous habit."
He leaned back, fingers steepled. "You came all this way chasing rebels and hope. How quaint."
Vivi stepped forward despite herself. "You're the one behind the drought. The civil war. The Dance Powder."
Crocodile's eyes flicked to her.
Then softened.
"Princess Vivi," he said. "Alive after all."
Her breath hitched.
"I was hoping you'd make it," he continued. "It's much easier to break a symbol when it's standing in front of you."
The room felt smaller.
Luffy's fingers drummed once against his knee. The Sea Prism sapped the hum beneath his skin, dulled the lightning to a distant ache. Annoying—but not frightening.
"You talk a lot," Luffy said. "For someone hiding behind bars and Marines."
Smoker bristled. "Watch it."
Crocodile laughed quietly. "No, no. Let him speak. Confidence is adorable at that age."
Luffy tilted his head. "You're not wrong about one thing."
"Oh?"
"I did come chasing something."
Crocodile's smile widened. "Enlighten me."
Luffy's eyes hardened—not with rage, but with focus.
"I came to see what kind of man thinks a country is something you use."
Silence fell.
Crocodile studied him now—not as a nuisance, not as a bounty, but as a variable.
"A legend in the making," Crocodile mused. "You remind me of myself. Once."
Luffy shook his head. "No."
Lightning crackled faintly—barely audible—but the air shifted all the same.
"I don't want your throne," Luffy continued. "I don't want your city. And I don't care how clever you think you are."
Crocodile's eyes narrowed.
"But I don't let people break my friends."
A beat.
Then Crocodile stood.
"This cell," he said calmly, "is made to hold monsters. You will sit here while the world outside finishes tearing itself apart."
He turned away. "When the dust settles, history will remember me as its savior."
Luffy watched him go.
Then smiled.
"Smokey," he said casually.
Smoker didn't look at him. "What."
"You ever notice," Luffy continued, "how people who talk about history usually end up on the wrong side of it?"
Smoker clenched his jaw.
Somewhere above them, thunder rolled.