The vast, boundless Alabasta Rainbase Desert.
The dry air seemed to lick the scorching sand like flames, and the intense heat appeared to distort the air above the desert.
Tina, her face pale and her once luscious red lips now cracked from dehydration, was being supported by Vivi. Under the protection of a dozen Marine soldiers, they fled deeper into the desert.
Baroque Works' ferocity was higher than Tina had imagined.
That group of people was like an unending swarm of locusts, clinging tightly to them not far behind, using flintlock guns, crossbows, and other ranged attacks to constantly harass Tina and her group. This made the few individuals, who had been fighting and fleeing for over ten hours, somewhat exhausted.
Tina had traveled lightly for this investigation into the Dance Powder flowing into Alabasta, bringing only a dozen Marine soldiers and not making a big show of it.
This was because the Alabasta Kingdom was an affiliated nation of the World Government.
The Marines were usually not allowed to interfere in the internal affairs of affiliated nations.
Even if the matter was detrimental to that country, they could not.
Only when the World Government received a request for assistance from the affiliated nation and issued instructions to Marine Headquarters could the Marines openly enter the affiliated nation's territory to handle matters.
And such assistance, of course, was not free.
Affiliated nations had to pay a considerable price to receive Marine assistance.
Theoretically, if the price paid was sufficient, even a Marine Admiral could be moved.
"Lieutenant Commander Tina! Can you still hold on? Or, how about a few of us stay behind to hold off those hyenas for you and Princess Vivi? Just hold on a little longer, and Rear Admiral Rorschach will arrive!"
"Yes! As long as Rear Admiral Rorschach comes, let alone these hyenas from Baroque Works, even Crocodile himself will flee at the mere sight of him!"
A dozen warriors, holding flintlock guns that had long since run out of ammunition, looked with concern at Tina, whose face was devoid of color. They gritted their teeth, looking at the large group of figures hundreds of meters away, still pursuing them from a distance.
Tina glanced at her blood-soaked left shoulder, and her voice was weak as she reprimanded, "Tina said, you don't need to sacrifice your lives to block the enemy's harassment. Since Rear Admiral Rorschach and his group have received our request for aid, we just need to keep moving forward and await their arrival."
"But..."
The warriors looked at Tina's stubborn expression, wanting to speak but holding back.
The Rainbase Desert was located in the heart of the Alabasta Kingdom, a considerable distance from the Sandy Island port on the coastline.
Even if Rear Admiral Rorschach's warship was already in the waters near Sandy Island the moment they received their distress call, it would still be extremely difficult to reach them in a short time from Sandy Island and pinpoint their location.
However, apart from Rear Admiral Rorschach, who received the first distress signal, they couldn't find anyone else who could immediately help.
They had contacted Headquarters, but distant water couldn't quench immediate thirst.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku was also powerless, only instructing Tina to stay away from danger and try to buy time.
Vivi had been supporting Tina without speaking.
Her expression at this moment looked somewhat dazed.
She had never imagined that Crocodile, who had always been known as Alabasta Kingdom's hero, would be the mysterious mastermind behind Baroque Works, Mr. 0, as spoken by these Marine soldiers.
Vivi didn't want to believe it.
Just over ten days ago, she had been saved by the desert kingdom's guardian god from a vicious pirate.
However...
These Marines, who had also saved her, seemed to have no reason to lie to her about this.
Especially the strong and valiant female Marine beside her.
According to Tina's speculation, the Shichibukai Crocodile's long stay in the Alabasta Kingdom was likely due to his coveting the country.
And Baroque Works, notorious in Paradise, was very likely a force cultivated by Crocodile.
Otherwise, given Crocodile's ostensible identity as the kingdom's hero, he wouldn't tolerate a chaotic organization like Baroque Works being so arrogant within Alabasta for so long.
Just thinking about the desert guardian god, revered by the entire nation, possibly being the mastermind behind the kingdom's turmoil, Vivi's heart uncontrollably trembled.
Crocodile was a powerful Shichibukai, the master of the desert.
If the Alabasta Kingdom truly confronted such a covetous individual, it was hard to imagine what dark future awaited them.
The more Vivi thought this way, the more the smiling face of Crocodile she had seen in Rainbase over ten days ago became blurred and monstrous in her mind.
If, if Crocodile truly was the hidden hand behind all this chaos...
Then who could save this country?
"If Rear Admiral Rorschach comes, even Crocodile will flee at the mere sight of him!"
"Rear Admiral Rorschach is our Marine's strongest new generation powerhouse; even those veteran Vice Admirals are no match for him!"
"He's a super powerhouse capable of single-handedly defeating a twenty-thousand-pirate fleet!"
During these desperate hours of escape, the most frequent words Vivi heard were these few phrases from the Marine soldiers.
They were about that seemingly exceptionally young Marine rookie, Rorschach.
It seemed that just speaking his name could give them immense confidence.
The perceptive Vivi noticed that it wasn't just the Marine soldiers who felt this way.
Even the powerful female Marine, Lieutenant Commander Tina, felt the same.
She truly wondered what kind of person this Marine Rear Admiral named Rorschach was, to instill such confidence in these Marines.
Bang, bang, bang!
Bang, bang, bang!
Short, intense gunshots, like popping beans, rang out again.
Those damned hyenas had resumed their harassing attacks.
Tina and the others paid no attention, simply quickening their pace silently.
At a distance of a hundred meters, the flintlock guns in their hands couldn't hit anything; they were just trying to scare them, to intimidate them mentally.
The ground rumbled, and the desert sand beneath their feet shifted and rolled.
The Marine soldiers' faces changed dramatically as they looked back. They saw plump, bloated crocodiles, swinging their wide, monstrous tails, opening their gaping maws, and charging excitedly towards them, driven by a group of Baroque Works members.
"Run! It's Banana Gators!"
The warriors dropped their flintlock guns, gripped their long swords, and formed a line behind Tina and Vivi.
"Princess Vivi, please take Lieutenant Commander Tina and go first! We'll handle this!"
With that, without waiting for Vivi and Tina's reply, the dozen Marine soldiers gripped their swords without hesitation and charged towards the colossal Banana Gators that were charging, wagging their tails.
"You're no match for those beasts; you'll only throw away your lives for nothing."
Tina sighed, pulled away from Vivi's support, took a cigarette from her pocket and put it in her mouth. She smiled at Vivi and said, "Princess Vivi, from now on, you'll have to make your way back to the capital alone."
"Lieutenant Commander Tina..." Vivi was stunned. She watched as Tina, biting the unlit cigarette, swayed and rushed to the front of the Marine soldiers. She extended her arms left and right, and two black iron cages rapidly extended from her palms, coiling around the three massive creatures that were charging abreast.
Boom, crackle, crackle, crackle!
Three Banana Gators, each over ten meters long, crashed into the black cages released by Tina.
The enormous impact force immediately twisted and bent the two black cages, whose hardness was comparable to steel.
Tina, standing in front of the Banana Gators, paled and spat out a mouthful of blood.
But the charging Banana Gators stopped in their tracks, their forelegs firmly bound by the black cages extending from her hands. With several thuds, they collapsed onto the yellow sand, kicking up a sky full of swirling dust.
"How impressive. I never thought a mere Marine Lieutenant Commander, after losing so much blood and being physically exhausted, could still possess such strength. Even I'm somewhat impressed by you, beautiful Marine lady."
On the back of the middle Banana Gator, a plump, snot-nosed fat man emerged, holding a thick baseball bat, with a dachshund whose hindquarters were made of firearm parts following at his feet.
"Watch out! That's Mr. 4 of Baroque Works."
Vivi took out her Peacock Slasher from her sleeve, assuming a combat stance. She did not follow Tina's advice to leave alone.
"Lasso."
The fat man, Mr. 4, sniffled, mumbled a word, and then raised his two thick arms high, swinging his baseball bat down heavily.
The dachshund named Lasso spat out a dark cannonball, which was hit by the descending baseball bat and shot with a bang towards Tina.
"Four Hundred Pound Home Run!"
Tina bit her cigarette, loosened her grip on the black cage with her right hand, and a black spear emerged from her palm, shooting out with a whoosh, piercing the cannonball before it reached her body.
Boom!
A huge explosion erupted about four or five meters in front of her.
The scorching flames and chaotic impact made Tina, who was already severely exhausted and injured, even paler.
However, Mr. 4 did not stop. He continued to rapidly swing his bat, sending all four black cannonballs spat out by the dachshund flying towards her.
Bang!
Bang, bang, bang!
Four black cannonballs zipped towards the swaying Tina.
"Lieutenant Commander Tina! Danger! Dodge quickly!" Vivi's face changed dramatically, and she cried out urgently.
"Lieutenant Commander!" The warriors gasped in alarm.
The cannonballs were too fast; with their strength, they couldn't block them at all.
Crack!
Suddenly, a thick bolt of lightning, extending from the distant horizon, like a branch of an ancient towering tree, infinitely extending and branching in the air, struck down from above Mr. 4's head.
RUMBLE!!
The dazzling electric light instantly enveloped and pierced the large fat man swinging the baseball bat, along with the dachshund at his feet, and the three Banana Gators that were struggling to get back up.
The terrifyingly high-intensity current instantly carbonized their bodies into unrecognizable charred remains.
And the four cannonballs flying towards Tina also exploded in mid-air, turning into four bursts of fire.
The sudden change stunned everyone in the field.
The Baroque Works members who had been approaching with menacing grins in the distance all stared in astonishment at this scene.
Someone subconsciously looked up at the sky.
Tina, Vivi, and the others also looked towards the distant horizon.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
A violently roaring storm echoed between heaven and earth, propelling a blue warship with billowing seagull sails across the sky.
A blurred, mighty figure, moving ahead, crashed onto the desert in front of the Baroque Works members from several hundred meters high, like a meteorite.
The terrifying impact instantly sent the yellow sand beneath everyone's feet rolling away in all directions like waves.
Amidst the swirling yellow sand, a monstrous, terrifying figure, like a mountain, stood silently in the dust, coldly looking at the hundred-plus Baroque Works members armed with flintlock guns and swords.
With just one glance, these hundred-plus people seemed to be simultaneously struck by a surging tsunami, spitting blood, their eyes rolling back, falling like cut wheat.
A huge swath of them dropped instantly!
The substantial Conqueror's Haki impact blasted over a hundred people over ten meters away, scattering a large expanse of swirling yellow sand on the desert beneath.
Only then did the hundred-meter warship, roaring through the air, arrive directly above Tina and the others.
It spread its massive wings like an ancient beast, pushing down endless wind and sand.
"ROOM!"
A spherical barrier, three hundred meters in diameter, descended from the sky, encompassing the descending warship.
The next instant, the massive light blue warship vanished abruptly in mid-air, reappearing suddenly on the open desert ground to Tina and the others' right, landing steadily without stirring up a single grain of dust.
"Big Sister Tina! Are you alright?"
An anxious, clear voice rang out from the warship.
Then Vivi felt her vision blur as a beautiful, sweet-faced Marine girl instantly appeared in front of Tina, supporting the weakened Tina.
From the huge warship, Marine soldiers with solemn expressions surged down like a tide.
But at this moment, all of Vivi's attention was fixed on the formidable figure resembling a demon god directly in front of her.
Amidst the swirling yellow sand, the demon god, who had appeared in such a breathtaking manner, turned and stepped forward.
As he walked, his incredibly oppressive, massive body gradually shrank.
When he walked out of the swirling sand and appeared before Vivi, he had transformed from his previous demon-god-like form into a tall, slender Marine youth with barrier-like, armored muscles, long silver hair flowing over his shoulders, and eyes as blue as the sky.
A voice as hard and cold as iron came from his mouth.
"Where is that bastard Crocodile?"
(End of Chapter)
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