"Are you giving up or not?" Oliver asked him again.
"Why would I surrender to someone like you?!" shouted the young man, who tried to slash him with a sword, but Oliver grabbed it, preventing him from pulling it out.
"Hey, you remind me of someone," said Oliver, thinking of Vivi. "If I had to guess, you're part of the Nefertari Family—your hair is identical to Vivi's."
The young man grew furious upon hearing that and began transforming into a humanoid bull form.
"A Zoan," said Oliver, seeing the form he had taken.
"This is for Alabasta!" shouted the young man, trying again to pull the sword back, but still couldn't.
"Calm down."
Oliver gave him a light punch to the stomach along with a burst of Electro, causing him to fall backward and return to normal.
"Hey, I'm not your enemy," said Oliver, watching as the young man didn't move. "Are you okay?"
The young man tried to speak, so Oliver leaned in to hear him.
"Die!"
He punched Oliver in the face, but Oliver didn't feel a thing.
"You really need to calm down," said Oliver, trying not to retaliate.
"W-Why should I listen to one of the bastards trying to destroy my kingdom?" said the young man.
"You've got it all wrong. I'm one of the good guys. Well… I'm not exactly 'good', but I'm not trying to destroy your country," said Oliver, remembering he was still a pirate.
"Can't you see? You're one of them..."
Before he could keep ranting, Oliver interrupted him.
"I came here with my crew and Princess Nefertari Vivi," said Oliver, causing the young man to go from angry to joyful.
"My sister?! Really?!" the young man said, beaming.
'He really is Vivi's brother. This change in the story sure is unexpected,' thought Oliver.
"And how is she?! Is Karoo with her?! Does she still remember me?! Where is she?!" the young man started asking excitedly.
"Whoa, whoa, slow down. No need to ask me so many things. Besides, there are more important matters right now," said Oliver as he heard an explosion in the distance.
"Right! First, let me introduce myself. I'm Nefertari Kael, youngest son of King Nefertari Cobra," said Kael with a smile.
"That's not what I meant. Vivi should be with the rest of my nakamas near the clock tower. Tell them everything's been taken care of," said Oliver, handing Kael the sword.
"Where are you going?" asked Kael.
"I have to go help my Captain. You go meet up with Vivi, and if you can help calm everyone down... then do it," said Oliver before running off. "Good luck!"
"I'm coming, sis!" shouted Kael as he headed toward the clock tower.
Oliver rushed toward where he remembered the entrance to Alabasta's Poneglyph was.
"It has to be around here," said Oliver, until he saw Luffy on the ground. He hurried over. "Luffy!"
He checked him and realized he was sleeping, despite all his wounds.
"I guess you still need time to wake up," said Oliver, relieved, before looking toward an open gate. "Maybe things will play out like in the original story, but... if Robin dies, it could all go down the drain. I'll try to make the fight easier for you."
He left Luffy sleeping and entered the hidden stairs of the temple.
--
--
Inside the temple, Nico Robin explained to Crocodile what was written on the Poneglyph, leaving out any mention of the Pluton weapon.
"I see... What a shame... You were an excellent partner for me, but I think I'll kill you here," said Crocodile, surprising her.
"The agreement we made four years ago ends here. That's what you said back then. You said if I led you to the Poneglyph, you'd give me information about the weapon. Your work in Baroque Works these past four years has been excellent in terms of intelligence and leadership. That alone is enough for me to say you were truly a useful woman. But in the end, you didn't keep your word!"
Crocodile lunged with his hook, trying to strike Robin, who barely managed to dodge it.
"This country's Poneglyph doesn't contain a single clue about Pluton. Or... were you planning not to tell me even if you found it? But I'm not angry with you. Do you know why, Nico Robin?" asked Crocodile in a surprisingly calm tone, with a slight smile.
"Fufu... What nonsense. We worked together for four years. Of course I knew you'd do something like this in the end!" said Robin as she pulled something from her cloak and threw it at Crocodile, who appeared relaxed.
"Water?" said Crocodile as he easily dodged the bottle—but Robin had made an arm bloom from his shoulder and grabbed the bottle.
Crocodile, alarmed by the arm catching the water, saw Robin charging at him with a knife in hand.
"If you get wet, a knife can pierce you, right?!"
But unfortunately for her, Crocodile turned into sand, dodging the bottle as it fell and shattered on the floor.
"He dodged it?! Where did he go?!"
Robin looked around frantically—but then was impaled by Crocodile's hook.
"I forgive everything, Nico Robin. Because I never trusted anyone in the first place," said Crocodile as he pulled his hook out, letting her collapse to the ground. "Now I know Pluton exists thanks to Cobra's reaction. I don't need to rely on this ancient stone. I'll find it on my own. Once this country is mine, it's only a matter of time."
Suddenly, everything began to shake, and rubble started falling from the ceiling, surprising and confusing Crocodile.
"What's going on? It's too early for the plaza bombing! Was this you? What did you do?!" Crocodile asked Cobra.
"I didn't do anything special. This underground temple is built in such a way that if you push one small column, the entire structure loses balance and collapses. You two will die here with me. As the twelfth king of the Nefertari family, I can't allow the kingdom of Alabasta to fall into your hands," said Cobra calmly, his brow furrowed, fully prepared to sacrifice his life for his beloved kingdom.
"You're a model king. Are you planning to die buried alive just to take me with you for your country's sake?! But you can't kill me. I can turn all these stone blocks into sand and escape from here. Only three minutes left! In just three minutes, with the fall of this sacred temple and the massive explosion in the plaza, everyone standing in my way will be wiped out in an instant! AT THAT MOMENT, THIS COUNTRY WILL BE MINE! Kuhahaha! You'll die for nothing, Cobra!"
Crocodile laughed mockingly and triumphantly while Cobra glared with a vein bulging on his forehead, and Nico Robin lay on the ground, bleeding out. Just as Crocodile turned to leave, Oliver stepped in front of him.
"We'll see if you can even get out of here conscious enough to use your devil fruit," said Oliver.
"You're part of Mugiwara's crew," said Crocodile, recognizing him from one of the photos sent by the Unluckies. "Are you trying to stop me?"
"Maybe," said Oliver as he took a fighting stance.
"How ridiculous. Your captain already fell before me, and you think you can defeat me?"
Crocodile mocked Oliver, but he remained calm, knowing Luffy was simply asleep.
"My job isn't to defeat you..." said Oliver.
Oliver, wearing golden gauntlets, used Soru to dash toward Crocodile and tried to punch him, but it didn't work due to Crocodile's Logia powers.
"You're just as foolish as your captain if you think you can beat me," said Crocodile.
"I told you—my job isn't to defeat you."
At that moment, Oliver pulled out a pouch and smashed it against Crocodile, causing it to burst and soak him completely with water.
With his index and middle fingers extended, he struck at high speed like a spear, piercing Crocodile's chest and making him cough up blood.
"My job is to hurt you as much as possible before my captain arrives," said Oliver with a grin.
"Y-YOU BASTARD!" shouted Crocodile, enraged.