Because Rainbase had once been Baroque Works' headquarters, and had been operated by Crocodile for quite a long time.
So although this place had been a rare oasis in the country, and had been seen as a paradise, there hadn't been many permanent residents.
So most of the tourists had left after Drake had forcibly demolished Rain Dinners. Most of the entire Rainbase had transformed into a ghost town, as if it had been destined to become a battlefield.
Drake and Ace, Luffy, and Zoro had been standing on the highest clock tower in Rainbase, looking at the approaching crowd amidst the sand and dust that had been flying in the distance.
The mere Crocodile didn't count for anything to Drake, and Stella had been pulling Vivi and them to drink tea with peace of mind.
Usopp and Chopper naturally wouldn't join in on this commotion, and had naturally followed along together. And Sanji had naturally chosen the side with the girls, going to prepare snacks for them.
"This is really spectacular! But Crocodile has sent this many small fries over, and he's still thinking about relying on the advantage of numbers even now, that's really disappointing." Drake had said this.
If he had said these words out loud, most people on the sea would have felt that Drake had been arrogant.
Crocodile had been a Shichibukai after all, and who could have imagined that someone would completely put him in the position of a weak person to comment on him.
But it had mysteriously had a feeling of being a matter of course after Drake had said it.
Ace had folded his arms, saying, "So what are you planning to do?"
Ace had spoken of the reason why he had returned to the first half of the Grand Line this time before this, and it had been to pursue Marshall D. Teach, the Blackbeard who had killed his comrade.
Drake had finally decided to intervene in this matter, after all, this would become the fuse for the Marineford War.
Drake hadn't been interested in how this world would develop, but he had still wanted to let Ace live.
It wasn't only because Ace's death had been a regret in his past life, but it was also because Ace had had a brother who had been making him worry, and he had also had the resolve of an older brother, so it had made Drake have quite a good feeling towards him.
Actually, if Ace had wanted to pursue Blackbeard, staying by Luffy's side would have been the simplest method.
In the original plot, Blackbeard had indeed paid attention to Luffy after Luffy's bounty had soared after defeating Crocodile.
But Blackbeard should have been considering which pirate to use as a test of courage to exchange for the position of Shichibukai right now, allowing him to carry out his next plan.
If Ace hadn't been worried about Luffy, he would have already left to pursue Blackbeard at this time.
And according to Drake's memories, it would still be some time before Ace would catch up to Blackbeard, and Drake had had time to intercept Blackbeard first before that.
After all, Luffy and them's next stop had been Mock Town below Skypiea, and that had also been the place where Blackbeard had first appeared in the original plot. He had even said the very impactful statement of "a person's dreams will never end" there.
Drake estimated that the butterfly effect that he had caused hadn't affected Blackbeard for the time being, which was to say that he would roughly still appear there when Luffy had landed in Mock Town.
Whether it had been in Black Bull, or in Fairy Tail, or even in the Hestia Familia, what Drake had been firm on had been the path of protecting.
So he had been repulsing people like Blackbeard, who hadn't hesitated to kill his comrades for the sake of his ambition, from the bottom of his heart, and he couldn't sense any so-called charm at all!
He just so happened to have been planning to go to Skypiea, so he would take a look at what the most special Logia, which had been evaluated as the most vicious devil fruit, had been all about as well.
Thinking in his heart, Drake had replied to Ace, "There's no need to be in a hurry first, isn't there a marine force in Rainbase? They should protect a civilian like me from the criminal organization Baroque Works, right!"
Ace couldn't help but have a strange expression, and he had seen what expression that group of marines had had when they had left. You could imagine what attitude Drake had had towards them, but he wanted them to protect him at this time?
And... a civilian? Ace hadn't seen a civilian who had been as strong as a monster anywhere else!
Luffy had put his hand over his eyes, shading them, opening his mouth, saying, "Where's Crocodile? I'll definitely be the first to blast him away!"
Ace had pressed down on his brother, who had been too active, having a helpless look.
Drake couldn't help but smile knowingly after seeing this scene, opening his mouth, saying, "It must be hard to take care of a brother like this! I also have a brother, and he also always does things that make people worry, and I also often feel troubled because of him!"
Ace had nodded with a deep understanding, and the feeling of "misery loves company" had made him completely drop his hostility towards Drake.
Just as the group had been speaking on the clock tower, the people of Baroque Works and the marines had contacted each other outside of the town.
Although Baroque Works had been a criminal organization, they hadn't been the marines' enemy, and they had even had some cooperation in capturing pirates.
It was a pity that the marine officer in Rainbase right now had been Smoker, and he had been someone who had been called a troublemaker even in the main marine training camp.
After arriving in Alabasta, Smoker had keenly discovered the abnormalities in this country, and he had quickly thought that Crocodile had been manipulating everything.
But because of Crocodile's status as a Shichibukai, he hadn't been able to investigate directly. But he naturally wouldn't be polite when facing Baroque Works.
He didn't know what he had said to the people of Baroque Works, but the two sides had quickly had a conflict.
Don't look at how this was the great pirate era right now, but the marines were the strongest force on the sea.
And what the marines had been relying on to suppress the sea hadn't just been the marine admirals, who had been the strongest combat power that had been on par with the sea emperors, but had also been the countless elite marine soldiers.
In the soldier ranks, the marines, who had had a complete training system and resources, couldn't be compared to the pirates and other forces, who had been a rabble.
Baroque Works, who had been brandishing their power at the entrance stage of the first half of the Grand Line, and their quality had been far worse than the marines, who had undergone formal training.
So Baroque Works had fallen into a disadvantage at the start of the battle. And then the numbered senior agents had entered the stage.
The situation had directly reversed after the senior agents had joined the battle.
After all, what Smoker had been leading had just been the garrison marines of Loguetown, and he hadn't had enough strength to deal with the senior agents, who Crocodile had used a lot of effort to recruit.
Smoker, who had been a Logia ability user, had personally entered the stage, and had only then been able to hold off Baroque Works' attack.
Zoro's appearance had been very special, and the three blades that had been at his waist had been in the most suitable positions to take action, and he had also had a blade hanging behind his waist.
He had been scanning the entire battlefield, looking for an opponent who had been suitable for him. And then his gaze had been attracted by a battle.
One side of the battle had been a girl, and Zoro couldn't help but have his expression change after looking at that face, which had been strangely similar to his childhood friend.
Tashigi had been in a difficult battle right now, because her opponent had been Mr. 1, the Supa Supa no Mi ability user.
There had been a reason why Mr. 1 had called himself a swordsman killer, and the ability that he had had to transform any part of his body into a blade had been attached with a body that had been as defensive as steel.
Without comprehending cutting steel and becoming a great swordsman, any swordsmen could only be at his mercy. Tashigi naturally wouldn't have been an exception either.
But instead of pursuing the sharpness of cutting everything in two with one slash, the Supa Supa no Mi had developed defense, and it was no wonder that Mr. 1 could only show off in the first half of the Grand Line.
Zoro had sighed, opening his mouth, saying, "It's too boring to be watching here, I'm going down to move around for a bit!"
Drake had said, "It's fine, just act according to your own thoughts."
Zoro had nodded, jumping down from the clock tower directly, and had charged towards the location of Tashigi and Mr. 1 after landing.
He didn't know if he had been to save someone, or if he had taken a liking to his opponent.
Luffy had unexpectedly not followed, and it seemed that he had made up his mind to wait for Crocodile to appear.
And Drake and Ace had already begun to exchange tips on taking care of a bratty brother.
Logia ability users in the first half of the Grand Line were naturally an unsolvable thing, and Smoker had resolved most of the senior agents by himself.
In addition to Zoro stopping the strongest Mr. 1, Baroque Works' ranks had gradually begun to collapse.
But even after having fallen into a difficult battle, Zoro hadn't drawn out the new blade that Drake had forged, which had been hanging behind his waist, displaying his resolve as a swordsman.
Of course, he hadn't been far from the realm of cutting steel either, and Drake could sense that his aura had been becoming more and more calm, but had been becoming more and more sharp.
The conflict with the marines had been outside of Crocodile's expectations, so as Drake had expected, Crocodile had been forced to take action ahead of time.
Amidst the yellow sand that had been filling the sky, Crocodile had approached Smoker. The yellow sand and the smoke had been entangled for several seconds before separating, revealing the cold-faced Crocodile and the somewhat disheveled Smoker.
As expected, it really wasn't easy for that guy Smoker to win once.
Just as Drake had been feeling quite impolite towards Smoker in his heart, Luffy had also noticed the battle over there.
Luffy's arm had stretched out, catching the distant building, launching himself like a slingshot.
"Crocodile, I'm going to blast you away!"
The Luffy who had flown over had crashed through Crocodile's body all at once, landing on the ground. After seeing Crocodile recover his body, he had revealed an expression that had been filled with pure foolishness.
Drake had turned his head, looking at Ace, saying, "Did we tell him what Crocodile's ability was before this?"
Ace had covered his face, and his brother's thick nerves had really been a bit hard to put into words.
And with the confrontation between Luffy, Smoker, and Crocodile having ended, the true melee had begun.
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