Six days later, at Alabasta's Nanohana Port, Lan Luo arranged the mission: "This time, I'm going to invite Nico Robin, who can read ancient texts. Nami needs to draw a world sea chart, so she must reach the final island, and deciphering ancient texts is essential. You can explore Nanohana. Most of the other cities are embroiled in civil war, rebel armies, and pirates, filled with dried-up cities."
Upon hearing this, the others weren't too keen on going. After buying a map of Alabasta in Nanohana, Lan Luo vanished in a flash of lightning.
Lan Luo also wanted to try out his new move, "Railgun," but Crocodile, with his Logia-type Devil Fruit, wasn't a good target.
Using the Rumble-Rumble Fruit's wide-ranging Observation Haki and speed, Lan Luo quickly sensed ancient ruins beneath a desert after half a day. Without much thought, Lan Luo cut a path with his sword and went down to make a rubbing of a Poneglyph. Lan Luo could now analyze and understand that the material of this stone was truly indestructible to his current self, but once he reached a certain level, he would definitely be able to damage it.
Without lingering, Lan Luo emerged from the underground ancient ruins and transformed into a bolt of lightning, heading straight for the Royal Tomb in Alabasta's palace. Soon after, Lan Luo located the Royal Tomb by sensing the underground space. Lan Luo directly controlled a localized burst of Conqueror's Haki; there weren't many guards around, and Lan Luo didn't want to stir up too much trouble.
When Lan Luo emerged from the Royal Tomb again, he had already obtained everything he wanted from this country. He was now going to retrieve Sausage Gun Lassoo, a gun that had consumed the Dog-Dog Fruit, Dachshund form. He wanted to take it back to analyze it and see if he could replicate it with current methods.
After checking the map and compass, Lan Luo headed straight for Rainbase.
Meanwhile, in Rainbase, a high-level meeting of Baroque Works was being held on the rooftop of Rainbase's largest casino. Their gathering also served to introduce their leader, Crocodile. Originally, Crocodile didn't want to expose himself too early, but according to Robin's investigation, the great swordsman named Lan Luo was definitely coming to Alabasta. He wasn't someone who listened to newspaper reports; they had complete intelligence sources.
That great swordsman hated evil like poison, had no particular stance, wasn't like the Marine, wasn't a pirate, and was more like the Revolutionary Army, but the Revolutionary Army wouldn't casually kill the king of an allied nation.
Therefore, this meeting was to gather the strength of Baroque Works' upper echelons, so that if anything happened, they would have the power to retaliate.
Nico Robin, sitting in the seat next to the head, spoke first: "According to the information from Mr. 13 and Miss Friday, Sivslie Lan Luo, known as the greatest swordsman in East Blue, arrived in Alabasta half a day ago. His purpose is unknown, so the Boss asked me to gather everyone, in case of any unexpected events."
Below the head seat was Mr. 1 Daz Bones, a Dice-Dice Fruit ability user. Countless swordsmen and pirates had died by his hand, and he was the first to speak: "What greatest swordsman in East Blue? East Blue is so weak, how could a great swordsman appear there? It must be false information. Haven't there been enough wrong reports over the years?"
Many Baroque Works members sitting below thought he had a point. Over the years, the news they saw in newspapers often differed greatly from reality. Not to mention distant examples, wasn't the Nico Robin right in front of them already an 80-million-Berries bounty at 8 years old?
In their hearts, no pirate in Paradise over all these years had been able to contend with Baroque Works.
"Then, can you introduce us to the Boss's identity now?" Miss Double Finger Paula, a Thorn-Thorn Fruit ability user and Mr. 1's partner, spoke next. They usually went on missions together.
"Then let me, too, see the handsome Boss." Mr. 2 Bon Clay, a Clone-Clone Fruit ability user, also spoke up at the right moment.
Below them, Mr. 4 Babe and Miss Merry Christmas were both impatient. Among the crowd were also Vivi and Igaram, who had just joined Baroque Works. They weren't supposed to be there, but Lan Luo had dealt with two of their organization's executives, Mr. 3 and Miss Golden Week Marianne, at Whiskey Peak. They were waiting for Lan Luo at Small Garden, but because Lan Luo used the permanent log pose from Drum Island, he perfectly missed them. There weren't many executives in Alabasta to begin with, so they had to pick the best from a bad bunch, which is why Vivi was present at this meeting.
This was also Vivi's purpose in infiltrating the organization. Her goal was to find out who was supplying weapons to the rebel army and using Dance Powder, which caused many areas to suffer from drought. All of this was the work of Baroque Works, but she didn't know who the Boss of this organization was, so she thought of infiltrating the organization.
Not long after, a man in a black fur-lined coat, with a golden pirate hook for a left hand and a horizontal scar across his face, walked unhurriedly to the head seat, a cigar in his mouth. He was none other than the current Shichibukai, Crocodile, with a bounty of 81 million Berries, the Desert King.
Seeing this, Vivi's pupils constricted. She had never imagined that the man hailed as Alabasta's hero was the one intent on destroying their country.
Crocodile, sitting at the head, spoke: "Before the meeting, let's take care of this Alabasta princess." He looked coldly at Vivi sitting below, wanting to establish his authority upon his arrival.
At this, Paula, seeing the Boss, said: "The Boss is truly ruthless." The other members fell silent, only Miss Merry Christmas spoke: "Babe, you idiots, hurry up and do it."
Babe then pulled out a baseball bat taller than himself and swung it forward. Vivi's eyes widened, and she stood there motionless, unable to move. She hadn't expected that the moment she saw the Boss of this organization would be the moment of her demise.
"Bang!" Igaram, next to her, blocked Babe's powerful strike for her, then turned and yelled at Vivi: "Princess, run!"
No one sitting there moved, because they knew no one could take a single step out of that office. Vivi knew it too, but she had no choice but to turn and run out. Before she had taken two steps, thorns grew from the floor and pierced through Vivi's feet.
"It seems our Princess won't be leaving today," Paula said coldly at this point.
Vivi tried to crawl towards the door with her hands, but Crocodile walked over, grabbed Vivi by the neck, and lifted her up: "What a foolish woman, to actually find her way here." With that, he slowly raised his left hand, the golden hook.
Vivi looked at the unconscious Igaram on the ground, shedding sorrowful tears, and kicked wildly, but it had no effect on Crocodile's Logia-type body.
Crocodile was also happy to show his subordinates the power of a Logia-type Devil Fruit, so he didn't immediately move to finish off Vivi.
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