Seeing Robin's desperate, helpless, and hopeless expression, Crocodile immediately burst into laughter.
"Gwahahahahaha…"
"Straw Hat, do you know why every pirate crew that accepts this woman goes to ruin?"
"That's because… she is a… demon!"
"She survived by betraying those pirate crews again and again."
"And those pirate crews she betrayed, without exception, ultimately met their demise."
"This woman… will definitely lead your pirate crew to destruction!"
"Anyone who accepts this woman… will ultimately have only one outcome, and that is… death!"
"Gwahahahahaha…"
Crocodile laughed uproariously, his eyes filled with the pleasure of crushing Robin's hope.
This felt even more satisfying than killing Robin with his own hands.
And Robin, listening to Crocodile's words and his laughter, completely lost all hope of living.
Since she was eight, nothing she pursued had ever come true.
She had always lived a life of apprehension, barely surviving through betrayal and being betrayed.
She was tired of such a life.
She no longer had any aspirations for living.
Let her… die here!
Robin despairingly made this decision in her heart.
She slowly tightened her grip on the dagger in her hand…
However, just then, a low voice suddenly rang out.
"So what?"
Crocodile froze at the sound, stopping his laughter, and looked at Luffy, who had spoken, with confusion, saying.
"What did you say?"
Robin also looked puzzled at this moment, her hand holding the knife temporarily suspended in mid-air, as she turned to look at Luffy.
Then she saw Luffy's face darken, and he spoke angrily, word by word.
"I said…"
"What Robin was like in the past…"
"What the hell does it have to do with me?!!!"
In an instant, both Robin and Crocodile were stunned.
Crocodile looked at Luffy with a bewildered expression and said.
"Straw Hat!"
"Did you not hear what I said clearly?"
"This woman…"
Crocodile was halfway through his sentence when Luffy interrupted him.
24 Luffy no longer paid attention to Crocodile, but called out Robin's name.
"Robin!"
Robin looked at Luffy blankly, tears in her eyes.
Then she heard Luffy say seriously and earnestly.
"I don't care what you were like before!"
"Since I said I'd let you on my ship, then you are our companion."
"We will trust you unconditionally."
"So…"
Luffy paused, then suddenly turned to look at Robin, who was already tear-streaked, and said angrily.
"Entrust your life to me!!!"
"Don't do something so foolish!!!"
Upon hearing Luffy's words, Robin's body trembled uncontrollably, and even her spirit seemed to tremble.
Tears instantly gushed from her eyes, unstoppable.
She had never imagined that Luffy would care so little about her past, trusting her without reservation.
He even said something like "entrust your life to him."
At this moment, she deeply felt what it was like to be trusted!
And at this moment, she suddenly felt a renewed hope and motivation to live.
Clang!
With a crisp sound, the knife in Robin's hand fell to the ground.
And in that instant, she could no longer control herself; tears gushed from her eyes like a spring, and her body trembled violently from crying.
She looked at Luffy's figure through blurry tears, her heart filled with immense emotion and excitement, yet she couldn't utter a single word, only murmuring Luffy's name.
"Luffy…"
Crocodile, seeing this scene, suddenly turned cold.
Listening to Luffy talk about trust here made him extremely displeased.
He frowned, a look of disdain in his eyes, and snorted with a curl of his lip.
"Hmph! Utterly boring!"
"Those who talk about trust… are incurable fools!"
Unable to find the pleasure of seeing others despair from Robin, Crocodile shifted his attention to Vivi, who was currently by Cobra's side, tending to his wounds.
He had noticed Vivi since Luffy first appeared.
At that time, he had felt a sense of doubt.
However, at that moment, he was immersed in watching Robin's despair.
But now that Robin had emerged from despair, he finally set his sights on Vivi.
Crocodile looked at Vivi with a contemptuous gaze and a smile at the corner of his lips, saying coldly.
"I was just about to ask you, Princess Vivi!"
"Why are you here with Straw Hat instead of stopping the war?"
"And here I instructed Mr. 1 and the others to guard strictly and prevent you from entering Alubarna!"
"If you show up here, wouldn't all my arrangements be for nothing?"
Although Crocodile said this, he showed no sign of disappointment on his face; instead, his smile deepened as he spoke word by word.
"Princess Vivi, could it be that you've also lost hope of stopping this war?!"
"Those Rebel Army fools are utterly stupid; they get hot-headed and launch an attack on the palace with just a little provocation."
"The King's Army is leaderless; without the King, they can't even fight, and they were easily breached by the Rebel Army into the city."
"With two such armies, stopping either one sounds like a slim hope!"
"Gwahahahahaha…"
As Crocodile laughed, Vivi just bit her teeth in anger, tending to Cobra's wounds; this was her most pressing concern at the moment.
Meanwhile, Luffy casually said at this point.
"The war is over!"
At these words, not only Crocodile but also the citizens of Nanohana watching the live broadcast were all stunned.
Is the war over?
When did that happen?
After a moment of stunned silence, Crocodile was the first to react, suddenly sneering with a disdainful curl of his lips.
"Hmph! Are the King's Army really that weak?"
"They were defeated so quickly?"
Luffy merely shook his head faintly at the words, saying,
"No! This battle never even started!"
"The moment the Rebel Army stormed the town, this battle was already over."
Luffy's words stunned Crocodile and all the citizens once more.
It was over when the Rebel Army stormed the town?!
...
At Flower Shop Square!
The crowd quickly became agitated.
"Is the war really over?"
"I don't know! But Straw Hat says so..."
"Straw Hat isn't lying, is he? I tried to contact my family in the Rebel Army using a den den mushi, but I still can't reach them!"
"I can't reach them either!"
"Hey! Listen carefully to the sounds from the other screens; it seems there's no fighting anymore!"
Someone said this, and immediately, everyone pricked up their ears, listening to the sounds from the other screens.
Indeed, as that person said, there were no more of the roaring sounds heard at the very beginning.
At this moment, people suddenly noticed that the other screens were moving rapidly.
Only a few knew that the Straw Hat crew members in these screens, after ending their respective battles, were all moving towards the central square of Alubarna with their den den mushi.
And at this moment, just as everyone noticed this, the entire Straw Hat crew arrived.
Four den den mushi, from the four directions of southeast, northwest, from the rooftops downwards.
Completely projected the entire massive square.
Inside the square, there were countless people, a sea of humanity, piled one on top of another, lying haphazardly all over the ground.
Millions of Rebel Army soldiers were now all lying motionless on the incredibly vast square and the surrounding streets.
Such a scene astonished all the citizens of Alabasta, and indeed, the entire world.
...
Flower Shop Square.
"What... what's going on?"
"Why are all the Rebel Army lying on the ground?"
"Are they... dead?"
"No! There's no blood on the ground! They look like they're just unconscious!"
"How was this even done?"
Not only were ordinary citizens puzzled.
Even the world's Sengoku, Gorosei, Four Emperors, and Shichibukai, and all other major figures were filled with shock and confusion.
How was it done, to stop a war of millions without a single casualty?
Just then, everyone suddenly saw the fifth screen, which had arrived at the square, coming to the highest clock tower in the square.
Then, a figure appeared on the screen that startled all the people of Alabasta.
Kohza!
Then, everyone heard Kohza in the screen say,
"To all citizens of Alabasta, I am Kohza, the leader of the Rebel Army!"
"The truth of this country, I believe you have understood it just as I have."
"Regarding the reflection on this war, we will do that later."
"For now, I ask all citizens who have relatives in the Rebel Army or King's Army to prepare to contact them and inform them that the war is over."
"Currently, a large number of Baroque Works spies have infiltrated both the Rebel Army and the King's Army, and my words are no longer effective. They will attack me in the dark to prevent me from speaking the truth."
"Therefore, all citizens, please, together... end this meaningless war!"
As Kohza finished speaking, people in Flower Shop Square who had relatives in the King's Army or Rebel Army all took out their den den mushi.
At the same time, everyone worldwide noticed that a young girl with half-red, half-white hair had appeared beside Kohza.
Then, a beautiful and melodious song began to play.
And the next second, the entire world was completely shocked.
They saw from the other screens.
The millions of people in the square actually began to wake up one after another.
At the same time, countless den den mushi rang out in the square.
Soon, the truth spread throughout the entire Rebel Army.
Even if there were still spies mixed in, at this moment, a circle of people stood around each person, wary of each other, and no one dared to act rashly.
The same was true within the King's Army at the same time.
Because there were also spies mixed in, Uta had trapped them in the World of Music before the Rebel Army stormed the city.
...
An island in the New World.
When Shanks and his crew saw Uta's figure appear on the screen, everyone instantly became incredibly excited.
"Look, it's Uta!"
"Ten years unseen, that little girl Uta has grown so much!"
"Time passes so quickly! I remember when we parted, that girl was only this big!"
"Luffy seems to have taken good care of Uta!"
"Hmph! If Luffy hadn't taken good care of Uta, our boss would be going to settle accounts with him with his sword right now!"
"Hahahaha..."
Listening to the jokes of those around him, Shanks' eyes showed excitement and happiness, and he murmured,
"Long time no see, Uta!"
...
Funeral Hall!
When Crocodile heard Luffy say that the war ended the moment the Rebel Army stormed the town, he immediately sneered coldly.
"Hmph! That joke isn't funny at all, Straw Hat!"
"A war of millions, what do you have to stop it?"
"Moreover, I've planted a large number of spies in both the Rebel Army and the King's Army."
"As long as someone tries to stop the war, they will attack."
"Under such circumstances, stopping this war is absolutely impossible."
Saying this, Crocodile even specifically took out a den den mushi from his pocket, saying confidently and proudly,
"Do you see it? This den den mushi!"
"Currently in the square, hidden, is a pair of my subordinate executive commanders, Mr. 7 and his partner Ms. Father's Day."
"They are the ones I arranged to be responsible for launching the cannonballs and bombing the square this time."
"And I also gave them an important task, which is to contact me immediately and report to me if any emergency occurs."
As he spoke, Crocodile's lips curved upwards, revealing a confident and proud smile, and he said,
"Now, do you still think I'll believe your joke, 247 Straw Hat?!"
"Guhahahahaha..."
Crocodile let out a proud, triumphant laugh.
It was a kind of confidence and pride that could only be displayed when everything was completely under control.
However, just then...
"Pururururururu..."
The loud sound of the den den mushi echoed throughout the entire Royal Tomb, creating reverberations.
Crocodile's laughter stopped abruptly the moment the den den mushi sound rang out.
And the smile on his face looked so stiff.
He slowly recovered from his rigid smile, frowning, his eyes filled with nervousness and unease.
He looked up at Luffy, finding him looking as if he was waiting to see a joke.
Immediately, anger flared in Crocodile's eyes.
He shifted his gaze to the den den mushi and answered it.
As soon as it connected, an urgent, panicked voice came from the other end.
"Something terrible has happened, Boss!"
Just hearing this first sentence, the expression on Crocodile's face instantly became incredibly ferocious and angry, as if the rage in his eyes could spew out.
But he still maintained his composure without exploding, merely saying in a deep voice,
"What happened?"
The voice on the other end was still panicked.
"Boss, the war has been stopped by someone!"
Hearing that it was actually true, just as Luffy had said, Crocodile could no longer hold back and immediately roared in fury,
"You bastard!!!"
"Didn't I tell you to contact me immediately if there was any emergency?"
"Why are you only reporting now?"
"Do you want to die???"
Crocodile's voice was incredibly furious, and even through the screen, countless people worldwide couldn't help but tremble, fear showing in their eyes.
Mr. 7 on the other end of the den den mushi was clearly also frightened by Crocodile's tone, and he said in a trembling voice, almost on the verge of tears,
"It's not our fault, Boss!"
"You don't know!"
"Ms. Father's Day and I were hidden in this clock tower, waiting to watch the show of the Rebel Army and King's Army fighting."
"But who knew the King's Army didn't come out to fight at all; only a strange young girl walked over from the direction of the palace."
"And on the Rebel Army side, we don't know what happened, their leader also came over alone first."
"After they said something, that Rebel Army leader looked very shocked."
"Then, just as we were about to report this to you, the million-strong Rebel Army arrived."
"That Rebel Army leader wanted to stop those people, but our spies mixed in among them shot at that leader to stop him."
"Then that strange girl suddenly started singing, and we don't know what happened, but after hearing that song, we found ourselves in a strange world, and the den den mushi couldn't connect either."
"It seems that girl sang another song just now, and that's why we returned to the clock tower."
"And then I immediately called you."
"Boss, it really wasn't our fault!"
"It was all that strange girl's doing..."