Chapter 101: I Have a Plan ABC!
Haki coated fists like pitch-black flowing fire, constantly burning, causing the pupils of the two watching to contract continuously.
Boom!
Two hands penetrated the smoke and flames. With just a grasp, a sound erupted, causing the surrounding smoke and flames to dissipate.
Smoke and flames drifted backward to the left and right, condensing into the figures of Smoker and Ace.
Ace assumed a stance and said gravely, "Hey, it's best not to get hit by him. Otherwise, it won't feel good."
Back in Nanohana, just one strike in that state had knocked him down.
That feeling of pain, he still remembered it now.
"No need for you to say," Smoker bit his cigar, exhaled smoke, his expression serious.
Although he hadn't seen this posture before, Smoker had also endured Sag's attacks and was similarly knocked down by one strike. He also understood that this guy was ridiculously strong.
Not to mention the Haki that almost became shockwaves, just being caught, in their current situation, would not feel good.
However…
Smoker looked at the guy lying on the ground, showing a fierce grin.
Too difficult!
This couldn't even be described as not being hit throughout the whole process; rather, they absolutely could not be touched by Sag. That power, which would definitely cause internal damage upon contact, was even more ridiculous than Haki!
"What? Not coming?"
Sag bared his teeth, smiling, flexed his hands. "If you don't come, then I'll go over!"
Just as he finished speaking, his figure flashed, instantly arriving in front of Ace. Amidst Ace's stunned expression, a huge fist smashed down directly.
Fwoom!
The fist struck into a mass of flames. The force contained within pressed the flames down. As the punch struck out, without even looking, he kicked sideways, hitting the jitte attacking from the side, creating a muffled sound, and sending the attacking Smoker flying.
"No martial virtue, playing sneak attacks. But it's meaningless against me, Smoker!" Sag laughed.
"Kenbunshoku?" Smoker, flying backward, landed on the ground, looking up provocatively. "Seems like facing us, you're not that relaxed either."
Kenbunshoku Haki, as one application of the power of heart and will, needed to be used under calm and rational conditions. It also required maintaining a certain degree of concentration. The higher the level of Kenbunshoku used, the higher the degree of concentration required.
Being able to block his sudden attack, this man wasn't as relaxed as he appeared. During battle, he was still focused and rational.
Sag shook his head. His palm suddenly swung out, activating a cluster of Haki, blasting away the flames striking from above, scattering them into sparks. Beneath the scattering sparks, a flame condensed beside Smoker, turning into Ace's figure.
"As long as we consume enough, that state can't be maintained for long, right?" Ace showed a confident smile.
Two people: one whose willpower had weakened, resulting in no Haki; one who didn't know Kenbunshoku. As a Logia user, he didn't even need Busoshoku Haki; it was equivalent to having none.
Against Sag who knew Kenbunshoku, they were indeed at a disadvantage. But as long as they wore Sag down until he was tired, and that Kenbunshoku couldn't be used, it would be difficult for him to dodge their attacks.
At the same level, without using Kenbunshoku, even with Haki, it was impossible to hit both of them. And the power of their combination was not low. Sag definitely wouldn't be able to defend against it then.
Sag sneered, "Worthy of being pirates, everyone's quite good at dreaming. But at your level, I still don't need to be that focused. That's extra power."
Kenbunshoku Haki, as one application of the power of heart and will, indeed, as they said, was instinctively used under calm and rational conditions, while requiring a certain degree of concentration.
But it was impossible for a person to maintain this state throughout the entire battle. Over time, one would definitely get tired, and the consumption of physical strength would also accelerate the depletion of mental energy.
No matter who it was, it was impossible to maintain this focus throughout the entire battle.
But Sag was different.
He wasn't focused at all. Dealing with these two people, he wasn't that calm or rational either.
Being able to react subconsciously and thus attack was purely because of…
Musō Insatsu (Thoughtless Shadow Kill).
'Musō Insatsu' within Hokuto Shinken was a technique that allowed one to use moves to fight the enemy unintentionally, without needing perception.
After mastering Kenbunshoku Haki, this kind of move naturally came out.
No need to maintain calmness in battle. As long as danger approached, whether he could perceive it or not, his body would instinctively react.
But once he reacted, could he still not perceive it?
If maintaining focused calm and rationality was the active state of Kenbunshoku, then Sag was maintaining the passive state of Kenbunshoku in all aspects.
Things like sneak attacks would never be effective against him. He would never encounter a situation like a certain so-called world's strongest man being suddenly stabbed from the front.
"Forget it…"
Sag looked at the two, his eyes slightly closed, then suddenly opened. A red dot appeared in his pupils. Combined with his ferocious body, he was oppressive like an evil ghost, causing the two to subconsciously break out in cold sweat.
"If you want me to focus so badly, then let me show you the true… power of Haki!"
Whoosh!
Just as his voice fell, his figure disappeared from the spot. In that instant, both were startled. One turned into smoke, the other into fire, about to scatter.
But just then, ferocious, thick palms suddenly appeared, penetrating into the smoke and flames respectively.
"Elementalization also has a substantial body! I can see it!"
Sag appeared in front of the two, showing them a fierce grin.
Bang!
Smoker subconsciously used his jitte to block, was hit on the steel rod by the extended palm, the giant force sending the smoke cloud oscillating, his body flying upwards from the smoke.
Ka!
And his other hand grabbed the 'flame'. A muffled sound echoed from within the flame. The flames scorched the Haki-covered hand, flowing open between his five fingers like a small stream of water.
"Tenha Kassatsu!"
Seeing this, Sag opened his five fingers, directly bombarding a cluster of Haki, penetrating into the flowing flames, knocking Ace's body backward, crashing into and collapsing a building.
Dong!
Just as his palm gripped and opened, Sag fiercely stomped the ground. As a circle of air waves rose, he quickly rushed towards Smoker who had just been knocked into the air, fiercely brushing over with his leg.
Smoker fiercely gritted his teeth, transforming with effort mid-air, bringing up the jitte with his numb arm, blocking in front.
"Do you know, Smoker? No matter how hard the material, there are many ways to crush it. The Breath of All Things on the realm level, Haki destruction on the skill level, or using higher-grade materials. And these…"
The strength of the Haki covering his leg naturally surpassed the hardness of the jitte's material.
The technique of internal destruction could smash this steel rod to pieces from the inside out.
And the pressure points of all things visible through the Breath of All Things allowed him to accurately attack the weak point of the jitte.
So…
Bang!!
"I've mastered them all!"
While blocking, he was hit by this leg kick like a giant whip. First, it broke into two pieces from the middle, then filled with cracks, shattering into countless pieces. Not even the handle was left for Smoker.
But just this momentary block from the jitte allowed Smoker to successfully elementalize. The leg kick only hit a cluster of scattered smoke. But just then, Sag revealed a smile. The leg kicking horizontally changed mid-air, slamming downwards.
"Tenha Kassatsu: Kokgetsu!" (Black Moon!)
Chih!
A crescent moon-like slash kicked out from his leg, hitting the rapidly moving smoke downwards, directly pressing it onto the ground. Besides rolling up debris, it revealed an extremely deep ditch.
Pa.
Sag landed from the air, his figure returning to normal at this moment. He picked up the cloak that had been blown to the ground due to his transformation, casually draped it behind him, turned his head, and grinned fiercely. "Have you witnessed it, you two?"
Smoker lay in the center of the ditch, his abdomen covered in blood, already unable to move.
Although the kick carrying internal destruction missed, the Tenha Kassatsu mixed with Rankyaku's slash destroyed the body tissue in Smoker's abdomen. However, the temporary Logia characteristic prevented him from being cut in half at the waist.
And Ace, lying on the ruins of the building, one leg limply paralyzed, his chest dented, continuously bleeding outwards.
The power of internal destruction, when Sag grabbed his leg, directly crushed it. And the subsequent Tenha Kassatsu also hit Ace's substantial body within the flames, thus causing destruction.
"No matter how great the power, if the user themselves isn't capable…"
Sag walked up to Smoker, pulled out a coiled snake cigar from his chest pocket, walked to the other side, brought the cigar close to a cluster of ignited flames, waited for it to light, then bit it in his mouth, beautifully exhaling a puff of smoke.
He grinned widely and laughed loudly, "It's meaningless to me! Ho-hahahaha!"
Regarding attack strength, Sag could tell. The power of the combined smoke and fire attack was very large. Simply using this move to attack, Sag spent considerable time resisting.
If it weren't for his extremely fast recovering Haki, he couldn't even withstand this move; the power of that technique surpassed his Haki strength.
But the power was sufficient, yet the quality of the main body's physique was too far off. Under the dual effects of his Haki and Hokuto Shinken, they couldn't even withstand a single blow.
The two people were like crispy skin in front of him, tearing apart with a single rip.
Especially under the premise of using Kenbunshoku to sense the opponent's next move, what Sag displayed was devastating destructive power.
No matter how many killing moves they still hid, like combination moves where smoke could heat flames, thereby causing the smoke to heat up as well – if they couldn't be used, then they were completely meaningless.
"Cough, cough cough!"
Smoker, lying on the ground, suddenly coughed several times, spitting out a large cluster of blood, which landed on his face, flowing down his cheeks. His rising and falling chest indicated he was still breathing.
"Oh? I thought you died first. Seems like you used elementalization at the last moment, barely erasing some damage."
Sag aimed one hand at Ace, the other at Smoker. Pitch-black, flowing fire-like Haki re-emerged. "Forget it, let's leave it at this. Tenha Kas—"
Just as he was preparing to continue the attack, a red light flashed in his eyes. Subconsciously, all the Haki wrapped around his hands covered his entire body.
High above his side, in the extremely high sky behind the Alubarna royal palace, an extremely bright white light suddenly appeared, carrying the power to shatter everything, crushing nearby buildings. The explosion's wind rolled up an extremely strong airflow, blowing fiercely towards him.
A bomb!
A high-altitude exploding bomb!
Clearly, the time wasn't up yet…
Under this white light, Sag even saw a figure flying upwards from below, like…
Crocodile?
Boom!!!
The bomb expanded from the sky. The dense white light almost made the sky blindingly bright. Even though it exploded at an extremely high altitude, the huge impact force revealed under this white light also destroyed a large number of buildings.
Including the huge royal palace, and the street entrance near the royal palace!
Although the explosion center was at an extremely high altitude, the impact force also completely destroyed the buildings near Sag.
Rumble rumble!
Messy building fragments impacted Sag's side, repelled by the Haki protection enveloping his body like black fire.
In just the blink of an eye, the position where he stood was already covered in ruins.
"Are you kidding me!"
At this time, he no longer cared whether Smoker and Ace were blown away or buried under the ruins.
As the red glow flashed in his eyes, he quickly rushed towards a ruin ahead, kicked open a rectangular building stuck in the ruins, reached his hand down into the ruins, found the familiar back collar, and lifted out a blonde, big-waved beautiful girl.
"Sa-Sag…"
Lily was still conscious, subconsciously protecting herself with her sword. On the rapier blade, the pitch-black color could clearly be seen still dissipating.
No time to talk to Lily. After putting her down, Sag continuously grabbed into the ruins, pulling out one subordinate after another. Compared to Lily, these subordinates had already been knocked unconscious by the impact.
After putting down the subordinates, he rushed out again without stopping. His figure turned into an afterimage, stomping out circle after circle of air waves in the low sky, using Geppo to shoot towards another location.
But just as he reached out his hand, the ruins were broken open. Marika, her whole body enveloped by hair strands like a cocoon, extended her hand, letting her hair return to normal, smiling at Sag, "Ara, Captain doesn't need to worry. I protected myself in time."
He turned around, grabbing around, similarly pulling out seven or eight subordinates. Then moved again, arriving at another ruin, and pulled out a pink-haired young form.
"Sag!" Renettia shouted loudly.
Sag didn't speak. After putting Renettia down, he again pulled out the subordinates on this side. Besides seven or eight subordinates, there was also Pearl, whose whole body was charred black, eyes rolled white, looking like he had been struck by lightning.
Finally, his Kenbunshoku Haki sensed Gin's location. When Gin was pulled out along with the subordinates, this guy was clearly suffering from considerable injuries.
"Captain Sag, I didn't fail. Mr. Sanji was blocked by me," Gin, also not unconscious, said weakly the moment he was pulled out.
"Who cares about that!"
Sag said irritably, kicked off with both feet, rushing straight towards Alubarna's highest clock tower. As continuous air waves rippled out, in just about ten minutes, he arrived at the position of the large bell placed on the clock tower.
At this time, the clock face had already been opened, revealing an empty hole. Inside was a blue-haired woman, tear-streaked but with a resolute face, and a man wearing a white robe dotted with many black four-cornered symbols.
And beside them was a huge cannon barrel, its caliber only slightly smaller than this giant clock.
Sag landed inside, glanced at the blue-haired woman, then glanced again at the man and woman dressed in frog suits lying on the ground.
The ones Lao Sha mentioned, seemed like the agents responsible for detonating the bomb, but now…
"You did it?"
Sag looked at the man (Pell).
The moment he appeared, this man had already shielded Vivi behind him, staring at Sag as if facing a great enemy, but didn't reply.
This man, he certainly recognized him; the bounty poster had reached the royal palace long ago.
Sag glanced at the cannon barrel. This thing had clearly shifted direction, not the originally intended direction aiming at the square.
And the blue-haired woman was covered in injuries, while this somewhat strong man was actually unscathed.
Then it could probably be deduced. This woman came first to stop the explosion, fought a melee with the two agents, clearly didn't win, but seemed to have made these two guys advance the cannon firing time.
Next, that man appeared, dealt with the two agents, but clearly didn't have time to stop it, so the explosion happened.
But it should have been during the explosion that he moved and raised the cannon's firing direction, making it fire further, which was why it didn't reach the original position.
So…
"Quite capable. Called Vivi, right… the princess of Arabasta."
Sag tutted. "Lifted it towards the royal palace? Because of the war, only there were few people. Rather destroy the royal palace than injure the populace. Very bold."
"The populace is the country!"
Vivi wiped her tears, stood up from behind Pell, and shouted firmly, "The royal palace gone can be rebuilt! Four thousand years of history is also composed by the populace! As long as the populace exists, the country exists! Even… even if I am no longer a princess, as long as the country exists, it's fine!"
"Who cares about you!"
Sag rolled his eyes, didn't bother with them, turned around, dropped from the clock tower, and used Geppo to rush towards a location.
He just came to confirm why the explosion time was advanced. As for exactly how, he didn't care.
Instead, Crocodile was the one he should care about!
"M-Mr. Crocodile!"
"Why is Mr. Crocodile lying here?"
"Wait, why did he appear in the royal capital…"
Here was a small square, where a melee of nearly several thousand people had gathered. Although the huge explosion didn't affect this side, it also made them stop fighting.
And Crocodile, appearing from underground, also attracted their attention.
At this time, Tashigi led a group of Marines through the center of the melee, towards Crocodile lying on the ground, and said gravely:
"President of the secret crime organization 'Baroque Works', Ōka Shichibukai Crocodile! For conspiring to use Dancing Powder to subvert the country, I hereby, in the name of the World Government's direct subordinate Marine HQ, deprive you of the power granted by the government, and arrest you!"
Subvert the country?!
The surrounding people were uniformly stunned.
A rebel soldier said tremblingly, "It was Crocodile using Dancing Powder? Then, this war…"
"Yes. After our confirmation, it was Crocodile who has been using Dancing Powder and framing the King of Arabasta, with the purpose of inciting your war, thereby seizing the country. Now there is no need for war anymore."
Tashigi gripped 'Shigure' tightly, pointed the blade towards the sky, and shouted loudly, "The war… is over!"
Boom!
Perhaps it was the influence brought by the high-altitude explosion, perhaps some other reason. Under the yellow-sand-filled bright sun sky, a huge dark cloud gathered. Following her shout, a thunderclap descended.
After the thunder, fierce winds suddenly rose, rainwater fell, starting an extremely exaggerated storm.
And as the thunder descended, a figure abruptly fell from the air, standing beside Crocodile.
That person's head of white hair danced with the surrounding blowing storm, bringing the black, red-tipped fur cloak on his body fluttering as well. And that extremely gloomy face was currently looking down at Crocodile.
"Natural Disaster!"
Tashigi's pupils contracted, shouting, "This country has stopped the war, will not continue fighting! Your conspiracy is finished!"
As soon as these words came out, the nearby King's Army and Rebel Army who heard subconsciously raised their weapons, all aiming at the white-haired man.
"War? Who the f*** cares about that kind of thing!"
Sag's eyes glared forward, a scarlet glow flashing within his pupils, causing the falling fierce wind and storm to momentarily stagnate. The entire space seemed to be smeared with a layer of black-red.
Whether it was the surrounding armies or the Marines behind Tashigi, at this moment, all their eyes rolled white, mouths unconsciously opened as they fell to the ground.
Plop!
Tashigi knelt on the ground, the sword in her hand rolling aside. She gasped heavily, wanting to pick up the sword again, but her outstretched hand trembled, unable to grip it tightly.
What was that?!
Why did she feel dread?!
It was like being pressed down by a mountain peak, like being swept into the sea. Even the air she breathed seemed to stop at this moment, giving her the illusion of suffocation.
"Haoshoku…"
Suddenly, a voice sounded from the ground.
Crocodile opened his slightly cloudy eyes, looked up at Sag. "Turns out you're a man with the aptitude."
"Good that you're awake."
Sag said, "Hey, hurry up and leave with me. Don't get caught here. That Shichibukai thing, you don't care that much about it, right?"
Crocodile defeated?
That kind of thing originally didn't matter!
At this time, he was going to activate his Plan B!
Plan A was reminding Crocodile and letting his plan proceed smoothly, thus also allowing Sag's plan to succeed. After all, if the person succeeded, then the investment plan would be more stable.
And Plan B was the contingency plan targeting Crocodile being defeated.
Seizing this country, Sag had no interest. The first half of the Grand Line was fundamentally unsuitable for doing this kind of thing. He himself wasn't a Shichibukai, and Crocodile's plan was not his plan either.
If he failed, then just go to sea with him. As long as he wasn't caught and thrown into prison, then everything was negotiable.
After all, the person was here, business could still be done, investment was still possible. What he wanted were Crocodile's business channels, and that head (brain) that could make money!
Out at sea, he was still a pirate!
"Ah…"
Crocodile looked at the dark clouds in the sky, letting the storm wet his body. After murmuring a response, a strange brilliance emanated from his eyes.
Failed.
Failed again…
After failing the challenge against Whitebeard in the New World, he retreated to the first half of the Grand Line. Because he felt his strength wasn't enough, he instead focused his gaze on 'Pluton'. With that power, he should be able to establish a strong military nation, thus continuing to advance into the New World.
Wasting so many years, the result was still failure…
The strong remained strong, but he, Crocodile, was defeated by a fledgling kid…
Had his heart and will weakened to this extent?
From extreme anger and unacceptance, to now being defeated, his heart was already without waves (calm/resigned).
Retreat again?
Retreat where?
East Blue?
That kind of boring thing…
"It doesn't matter anymore."
Crocodile closed his eyes. "I have no interest in anything now. Let it be."
Sag glared at him, gritting his teeth. "You have no interest?! What about our cooperation?!"
Crocodile no longer replied, just lying on the ground spread-eagled, his face gradually calming.
Sag was so angry that blood vessels started to fill his eyeballs. "You motherf***er!"
What was the difference between this guy and waiting for death? If before he was just rotting, now he was completely rotten!
This kind of person, even forcefully taking him away was useless!
"Sag!"
Lily, Marika, and Renettia appeared in the small square, startled to see Crocodile lying on the ground.
"Hey, how did he fail?" Renettia asked in surprise.
"Indeed surprising." Marika's smile also stopped slightly. "This is a Shichibukai…"
"Sag, if he failed, what happens next?" Lily looked towards Sag.
Sag took a deep breath, calming his mood slightly. "Don't care about that rotten guy anymore. Did you guys rob any treasure?"
"Treasure…"
Lily pursed her lips. "Our people fainted. Gin is organizing there. The surroundings have also become ruins. The collected treasure was all buried. Now there's no manpower to find it."
Can't even rob this little bit of money?
Did he come to Alubarna just to watch fireworks?
Sag's just-calmed mood rose again somewhat.
But he also knew that searching further wasn't realistic.
There were still many armies here. Even if the city hadn't received support reaching a million troops, there were definitely tens or hundreds of thousands. If these people reacted, it would really be too late.
Not to mention the continuous stream of reinforcements arriving from outside.
He couldn't possibly fight a million troops alone just for that little bit of money, right?
He'd die of exhaustion before he could kill them all. Even squeezing out Haoshoku Haki until he bled wouldn't be enough.
"Relax! The plan hasn't failed! I still have Plan C!"
Sag shouted, "Go to Rainbase! Go rob again!"
No matter what, his original plan was to rob Rainbase and Alubarna. The later events were temporary additions after encountering Crocodile.
Now it was just returning to the original plan.
He hadn't failed!
As for Alubarna…
"You guys take the men outside the city and wait for me. See if those Bananawani used for transport are still around. If not, rob a few more camels. There's melee outside the city too, plenty of camels," Sag said.
"Then you…" Lily asked.
"I'm not reconciled! I'll go see what Cobra has there! I can't leave Alubarna having robbed nothing!"
Kenbunshoku… he could still perceive a relatively strong aura, underground not far away.
The only one who could defeat Crocodile was probably that guy!
Inside the Royal Tomb, Cobra sat collapsed to one side, looking at the continuously scattering gravel around, then looked at Nico Robin, who had been pierced through the chest, surprised. "Why didn't you tell Crocodile the truth? You actually know Pluton's location, right?"
Robin closed her eyes, smiling bitterly. "I have no interest in that kind of thing, and never thought of telling Crocodile. What I want to know is only the true history."
"The Poneglyph here isn't the true history either, but it doesn't matter anymore. This is already the last hope."
Tears began to accumulate beneath her long eyelashes. She opened her blue eyes, murmuring:
"Dying here like this suits my intention. I'm tired… On the road of my dream, the enemies are too numerous."
"If they're too numerous, just kill them all!"
A voice sounded from above. "Dreams, of course, will have obstacles! Like me, for example, there's never a f***ing moment when things go smoothly!"
Cobra, who was about to speak, paused. He saw someone suddenly dash down from the empty hole above.
Sag landed on the ground, swept his gaze around, glanced at the Straw Hat boy lying on the ground gasping, then looked at Cobra.
"Natural Disaster…"
Cobra said gravely, "What are you doing here now? Are you here to avenge Crocodile?"
"I have no interest in avenging that rotten guy. Besides, we have no grudge. Cobra, oh, tell me, where is your treasure? Don't tell me the royal palace; the royal palace is gone," Sag said.
"The royal palace is gone…"
Cobra paused, lowered his head, and smiled. "I see. The explosion sound just now, was it trouble at the royal palace? Luckily, there was no one left in the palace. Everyone was outside. Gone is gone…"
"If the royal palace doesn't have it, then there's no treasure. This country suffers drought year after year, there's no money either. Our money was all taken to pay the Celestial Tribute. The country is poor."
He looked up at Sag and said:
"If you really want something, that Poneglyph behind you should still have some value. You cooperated with Crocodile, wasn't it for this? Pity, what you want isn't here…"
Sag turned his head, looked at the square stone block as tall as three people, covered in text even more incomprehensible to him.
Not here…
Sag paused, then remembered.
"Isn't it Pluton? That thing is in Wano Country, not in Arabasta at all! This kind of broken stone block…"
He clenched his fist, fiercely smashing it forward. "…is worthless! What use is it!"
Bang!
The Haki-infused fist bombarded the stone block but didn't leave a single trace.
Very hard…
"You-you, why would you know?!" Cobra and Robin, who already had the will to die, were both startled, staring wide-eyed.
Could he also read it?
"Speaking of which…"
Cobra noticed something, glanced at Sag, then at Robin. "Aren't you two too similar…"
If resemblance at sea was normal, but knowing this information meant he could read it.
Able to read and looking similar…
Robin also showed an unusual color in her eyes, staring at Sag with suspicion and uncertainty.
Although she felt the resemblance when she first met Sag, she hadn't paid it much mind.
Ohara… she was certain only she was left.
Sag knocked on the stone block there, pondering, "The hardness is very good. This thing seems like it can be used for training…"
Saying this, he finally looked at Robin and said Lightly, "Of course we're similar. Speaking by blood relation, Nico Robin, you are my older sister…"
●●●
● 24 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
● https://www.patreon.com/c/Devmaya
(Just remove the hyphen to access patreon normally)