"Good morning!"
"You all woke up so early."
When Nami woke up, she saw that Ye Fan and her older sister were already up on the ship.
However, their appearance obviously couldn't be hidden from the two of them, and they couldn't see any intimate behavior between them.
Upon seeing Nami again, Nojiko felt a very strong sense of guilt in her heart.
She vowed to tell her when a suitable opportunity arose.
"No, we just woke up too."
"I'll go make breakfast, frying some of that fish."
Pan-frying that kind of fish, which has a very good texture, only needs a light fry and it will be done quickly.
Nami felt so refreshed after that sleep. Looking at the tangerines on the ship, she thought Belle-Mere would be happy too.
Just then, Ye Fan looked towards the rear of his ship. He sensed a ship approaching them.
He looked up at the sky; they had finally arrived.
And there were quite a few people. Ye Fan sensed the auras of many, with Old Sand likely being the leader.
"What's wrong?"
Nami looked at Ye Fan in confusion and asked. She saw him look towards the rear, but she saw nothing.
There was only the vast sea, nothing else.
"It's nothing, someone is following us. I'll go take a look. You two stay here; I'll be right back."
With Nojiko here to protect Nami, Ye Fan was not as worried now.
He had also set a Flying Thunder God Technique mark on the ship, so he could return directly later.
After saying goodbye, Ye Fan unfurled a pair of magnificent dark red wings interspersed with golden light behind him, looking very dashing.
Crocodile, who was chasing Ye Fan from behind, also sensed someone approaching, and very quickly.
Ye Fan could cover a great distance in just a few breaths, his speed was incredibly fast.
"We have guests."
Crocodile, slumped on the ship smoking a cigar, said with deep eyes, clearly very wary of the approaching people.
Their strength made him extremely cautious.
When Ye Fan discovered them, Old Sand hadn't noticed Ye Fan and the others; he only realized it when Ye Fan got closer.
It must be said that Old Sand didn't even know Haki, yet he managed to secure a Shichibukai position purely with his Logia Devil Fruit ability.
He had also developed the Devil Fruit's abilities very skillfully.
"Yo! Hello everyone!"
Ye Fan made a stylish landing on Crocodile's ship.
The members of Baroque Works looked at the handsome man who suddenly appeared, their eyes filled with wariness.
But since their boss hadn't spoken, it wasn't their place as subordinates to speak first.
Robin, however, looked at the appearing Ye Fan with curiosity. He was the person with that surname.
The first thing Ye Fan did after landing was to focus his gaze on Robin, not on Crocodile.
This made Old Sand very displeased. When had he ever been so underestimated?
He also recognized the other party as Ye Fan, the great pirate famous in East Blue, a pirate with an initial bounty of fifty million Berries.
"You guys are a bit slow. I thought you'd arrive last night, making me wait for you all day."
Facing a whole ship of opponents, Ye Fan appeared extremely calm, which stemmed from his confidence in his own strength.
A Logia Sand-Sand Fruit user would be greatly weakened on this sea.
"Is that so?"
Ye Fan's actions and words made Old Sand very unhappy; he clearly wasn't taking him seriously.
"Crescent-shaped Sand Dune."
Crocodile struck quickly, his enlarged arm transforming into a crescent-shaped sand blade, slashing at Ye Fan.
This Old Sand really liked to do things this way.
Facing the attack, Ye Fan dodged with a sidestep, causing little harm but great insult.
Ye Fan was very clear about the opponent's abilities and moves. This move was a terrifying one where anyone struck by the sand blade would have all their moisture sucked out.
To be honest, Ye Fan thought of Charlotte Smoothie, the Juice Minister of the Sweet Commanders of the Big Mom Pirates.
She was a Squeeze-Squeeze Fruit user, also a very powerful Devil Fruit ability, capable of squeezing out juice.
It is said that everyone's taste is different.
"Observation Haki."
As one of the Shichibukai, Old Sand was quite knowledgeable and immediately guessed that the other party possessed Observation Haki.
Did this mean the other party also possessed Armament Haki? After all, Armament Haki was the simplest of the three types of Haki.
It countered his Logia Devil Fruit, allowing him to hit its physical form.
Missing his first attack, Crocodile knew the opponent was not simple, and the opponent was also a Devil Fruit user, though he didn't know what kind.
Being able to freeze a large area, his strength was imaginable.
"What do you want with me?"
Although the opponent was troublesome, his expression remained unchanged.
His tone also became slightly more polite.
Seeing the other party become a little more compliant, Ye Fan really didn't want to make a move; he was a good person after all.
"I'm here to cooperate with you. I know what you want."
With Ye Fan's discerning gaze, Crocodile didn't know who the other party was, or why he understood him so well.
In Alabasta, his true goal was to obtain information about the ancient weapon Pluton.
"And in exchange, I only ask for a reward of one billion Berries. How about it, a great deal, right?!"
Ye Fan said with a smile, after all, the information about Pluton for one billion Berries was very cheap.
That was an ancient weapon capable of destroying an island with a single shot.
"How do I know what you're saying is true?"
One billion Berries was indeed cheap, but Old Sand wasn't a fool; how could he know if what the other party said was true?
Apart from Robin, no one else knew what they were discussing.
Just from the earlier exchange and their boss's behavior, they knew this man was not easy to deal with.
Robin kept observing Ye Fan. The noble aura he unconsciously exuded at all times made her more certain that he was the survivor of that surname.
A surname forgotten by the world.
Just like Ohara Island, it was forcibly destroyed and erased by the World Government to prevent the historical truth of 800 years ago from being discovered.
"I have no reason to lie to you, and that place has already been infiltrated by the World Government's direct secret intelligence agency CP9."
"As a Shichibukai, you should know this."
These were things Ye Fan knew, and when he mentioned CP9, he also paid attention to Robin's expression.
The other party clearly trembled, but at this moment, everyone's gaze was on Ye Fan, and no one noticed.
Ye Fan spoke to him but looked at Nico Robin, clearly knowing her abilities.
A precious talent capable of deciphering Poneglyphs.
Their eyes met, and it was clear the other party wasn't joking, but this CP9 was still quite troublesome.
Although he was a Shichibukai, if the World Government knew his intentions, they would definitely not ignore it.
He didn't care whether he had the Shichibukai title or not, but being targeted by the World Government was not a good thing.
"Why wouldn't you go for such an important matter yourself and tell me instead?"
Faced with the temptation of Pluton, even the Four Emperors and the World Government wanted it. Crocodile didn't believe Ye Fan wasn't tempted.
If that was the case, then why would the other party tell him? He was very confused.
Such mysterious conversation left everyone else very puzzled as to what they were talking about.
"Hahaha!"
Ye Fan laughed loudly, then said: "
I have no interest in that; after all, it's just a warship."
As for such a thing, Ye Fan remembered that Wano Country already had a ready-made one, while Water 7 only had blueprints, and it would take a lot of time to build.
Besides, Ryugu still had a Sea King, and she was a great beauty, which was even more tempting to Ye Fan.
His next step was to go to Ryugu to bring Fish-Man Island under his control.
Although Fish-Man Island was currently Big Mom's territory, it wouldn't be for long.
Thinking of the opponent's strength, Ye Fan felt he still needed to improve his strength and draw some prizes to have greater confidence.
Or perhaps he could cooperate with that Straw Hat, Luffy; he had the protagonist's halo.
As long as Fish-Man Island could develop better, it didn't matter whose territory it was.
"You all stand down first."
Crocodile waved his hand, signaling his subordinates to retreat first. This news was indeed very important to him.
His subordinates were all very sensible and retreated upon their boss's command.
Only Robin remained, clearly aware of what the two were discussing.
"Hmm?"
Crocodile looked at Robin in confusion. Why hadn't she left?
Robin looked at Ye Fan and asked, "Sir, do you know where Pluton is?"
Seeing this woman, who wasn't yet at her most beautiful mature state, speak up on her own, surprised Ye Fan.
"Of course, I do. Nico Robin, would you like to join my pirate crew?"
Such a talent naturally had to be recruited early, not left for Straw Hat.
Recruiting in front of him, Crocodile looked at Nico Robin. In truth, he had never fully trusted her.
He only trusted his own strength.
Facing Ye Fan's invitation, Nico Robin looked at Crocodile, first needing to confirm if he would agree.
Ye Fan saw her concern and said, "Old Sand, how about you make a sacrifice? I can tell you the location of Pluton for free."
That one phrase, "Old Sand," made Crocodile's CPU almost burn out; it was the first time anyone had called him that.
His mind temporarily short-circuited, but exchanging the other party for information about Pluton was not a loss.
"As long as Miss All Sunday is willing to leave, I won't stop her."
Crocodile shrugged and said casually.
He didn't trust her; if he hadn't valued her ability to decipher Poneglyphs, he wouldn't have kept such a disloyal person by his side.
Ye Fan looked at Robin, awaiting her answer.
"Alright!"
She also wanted to see what was different about the people of his family.