You can read ahead up to 30 chapters on my patreon https://www.patreon.com/marvel6395
Chapter Header Serial: Love-Sick, Part 17 – "Come With Me"
Hancock flung her cloak and led Dragon to where the Stone Princess resided. Kuma was just about to follow when, a startled cry rang out nearby. Bonney, overcome with emotion, lunged at him in tears…
The three Boa sisters paused and looked back, and even Dragon showed a rare expression of surprise…
…
As the Shichibukai assigned to hold down this island and lend prestige to the so-called "World's Greatest Swordsman Tournament," Crocodile naturally had access to all kinds of insider intel.
That rookie who debuted with a 100 million Belly bounty, who stole Caesar's Devil Fruit right in front of Morgan and others on a pleasure barge, who was chased by the Queen of the Red-Light District into the Calm Belt…
Everyone thought he had died in the Calm Belt.
Yet several years later, he reappeared, in South Blue, aboard that legendary ship from the all-female pirate nation!
That kid, who was supposed to be hunted down and lost in the Calm Belt, along with his so-called female captain, not only survived but blended into the Kuja tribe, and even learned some impressive Haki.
The chaos he caused in South Blue a year ago, others may not know, but Crocodile knows very well.
That guy with the frightening, mysterious ability didn't even bother to hide his intentions.
As if to mock the Marines, he swapped the Devil Fruits of two up-and-coming Marine Novas and just walked off like it was nothing.
Naturally, for Crocodile, anything that humiliates the Marines is something he wholeheartedly supports. He'd even give Chopperna Giorno a round of applause for it. But now that this brat and his female captain had shown up on this vacation island,
Crocodile was no longer amused.
He'd gotten word that when Giorno arrived, he not only clashed head-on with that Hawk Eyes guy and Big Mom's daughter without being overpowered, but even went ahead and signed up for Crocodile's own sword tournament.
And then, for reasons unknown, he took out an entire Fish-Man pirate crew on the street by himself, and then defeated a full Marine unit in direct combat…
That annoyed Crocodile even more. Even his cigar didn't taste good anymore.
It wasn't that he was afraid of this Giorno kid.
It was that Giorno's special ability to steal Devil Fruits made him extremely wary, especially at this critical moment.
It wasn't that Crocodile was fragile or that losing the Suna Suna no Mi (Sand-Sand Fruit) would make him useless…
In fact, at Crocodile's level of strength and experience, even if he lost the Sand-Sand Fruit, he could still focus on martial arts and Haki, or simply find or buy another Devil Fruit and regain most of his combat strength in a short time.
But, the Sand-Sand Fruit was essential to his upcoming major plans.
The thing he had dreamed of for so long was hidden inside an ancient desert kingdom, and he just so happened to be the Sand-Sand Fruit user.
In that country, his powers would offer unparalleled advantage.
Is there anything more fated than that?
Precisely because of this, Crocodile could not allow anything to derail his plans.
The moment he saw that cursed face of Chopperna Giorno today, Crocodile had a powerful impulse to just walk away on the spot, to avoid any possible risk.
Damn it… all because of that guy…
He paid way too much gold!
"Bang!"
The room's door was suddenly pushed open.
A green-haired man swaggered in, holding a Den Den Mushi, laughing loudly into it.
"...Come on, he's just a little punk in his early twenties, right? Hey, hey, Morgan, isn't this a bit overblown? The lineup of strong fighters on this island is crazy! That Chopperna Giorno guy? What's the big deal…"
Then he turned with a grin and said:
"Don't you agree, Mr. Shichibukai Sand Crocodile?"
The robust green-haired man flicked on the light, sat down on a nearby sofa, rubbed a cigar under his nose, and chuckled.
"Big News! Big News!" Morgan squawked from the other end of the Den Den Mushi. "The Marines got embarrassed again, I have to report this properly! I heard that Giorno used HQ Vice Admiral Onigumo's signature Life Return sword technique to defeat him?! Amazing! Truly amazing!"
"..."
Crocodile furrowed his brow, clearly annoyed, and shot a cold look at Tesoro.
"What are you doing here, Tesoro?"
"Haha, don't be like that!" Tesoro laughed. "With so many strong fighters showing up tomorrow, I'm way too excited to sleep!"
Crocodile was getting irritated.
He muttered with distaste, "All this, just to pay a pile of gold to bring in that stingy bastard Morgan, and even drag me, a Shichibukai, into this…"
"Hey, Crocodile!" Morgan's voice shouted through the Den Den Mushi in Tesoro's hand.
"You know I can hear you, right?! 'Stingy bastard'? That's too harsh!"
Crocodile snorted and didn't bother replying.
"Ah ah, come now, no need to argue," Tesoro said cheerfully. "You're both top-tier figures in the world… And as for me, I've always been curious to see how the so-called 'World's Best' swordsmen actually fight!"
"Want to try it right now?" Crocodile gave him a cold look, a swirl of sandstorm faintly forming in his hand.
"No need to get angry. I didn't mean to offend you."
Tesoro smiled nonchalantly, raised a hand, and snapped his fingers, immediately, a stream of golden liquid reversed from the table, quickly gathering and solidifying into two golden wine glasses.
Crocodile bit down on his cigar, eyes narrowing as he watched the scene unfold.
"Come, let's drink. Let's drink." Tesoro casually poured red wine into the golden goblets, crossed one leg over the other, and asked with curiosity:
"This Chopperna Giorno you've all been talking about… Who exactly is he?"
Morning light began to break, the darkness receding as the new day's sunlight slowly bathed the vacation island.
A pirate ship with a dragon-headed prow slowly docked at the port.
As the crew secured the vessel, one of them shouted:
"Hey! Captain! We're here!" From below deck emerged a red-haired man, yawning, clothes a mess, dragging flip-flops on his feet, sleepily adjusting the straw hat on his head.
"Ah? We finally arrived?" His breath still reeked of last night's alcohol.
The first mate, pipe in mouth, struck a match to light it. "Too bad… Registration for the tournament is already closed. We're late…"
A chubby crewmember, gnawing on a chicken leg, muttered: "It's all Captain's fault! Too many parties and too much drinking on the way, we ended up late…"
"What the hell did you say, Lucky?!" the red-haired captain pressed down his straw hat, grinning wide:
"As pirates, how could we ever miss a party?!"
"That's so like you!" the plain-nosed sniper laughed heartily.
"Hahaha!"
"Too true, Captain!"
The whole crew disembarked with joy, laughing and chatting all the way.
"Looks like the tournament starts this morning…"
"I heard that Mihawk, the one they call Hawk Eyes, is on this island too," the first mate said while puffing his pipe.
The sniper nodded thoughtfully: "Unlike Captain, that guy would never be late for something he takes seriously…"
"That's because Captain's a damn fool who doesn't even care about the tournament!"
"Hahahaha!"
"Forget it!" Red-Hair didn't care at all about the teasing. He flung his coat over his shoulder, flip-flops clacking, leading his crew as they strolled down the street like a bunch of cheerful rogues.
"First things first, let's go find some good food and tasty booze!"
The morning weather was perfect.
The streets of the vacation island quickly filled with excitement.
(To Be Continued…)
PS-"For every 100 power stones, I'll release one bonus chapter (Current-10)!"