"I'm not interested in that 'Nezumi' you mentioned."
Hearing Hina bring up Captain Nezumi from the East Blue, and before the fight broke out, Tom asked, "Marine Branch 16 in the East Blue... have you rebuilt it?"
"Marine affairs... Hina believes are not for a pirate to inquire about."
"I don't want to bother with your Marine troubles either. But near that Branch 16, there's a village. I'm just concerned about that village's situation. If you diligent Marines hadn't cracked down hard on pirates... and something happened to the people there... someone would be very unhappy."
"A pirate like you... actually encouraging Marines to deal with pirates... Hina finds it laughable."
"Laugh all you want. I don't care about the lives of pirates unrelated to me. I just hope the new Captain you sent to Branch 16 is a loyal, duty-bound soldier. Otherwise... I might just dismantle Branch 16 again."
"Hina asks you... was it because you were dissatisfied with Branch 16 that you completely destroyed it?"
"I was just helping you Marines clean out some incurable parasites."
"You... a heinous, heavily wanted criminal... Hina does not wish to speak with you further."
"You're the soldier, I'm the thief. We truly have no common language."
Tom and Marine Headquarters Captain Hina hadn't spoken for long before they fell into an awkward silence. Then the looks in their eyes toward each other quickly turned sharp. Clearly, they both wanted to fight.
Actually, the reason Tom was chatting with Hina was mainly to buy time.
He still hadn't found an opportunity to shake off these Marine pursuers. Mainly because the sea was currently calm and windless, so his glider was useless.
Moreover, when Hina didn't deny she was specifically here to arrest him earlier, he had already confirmed a fact: for some unknown reason, he had been targeted by the World Government, that colossal entity. This gave him a feeling of 'a thousand grass-mud horses stampeding through his heart.'
His bounty was now thirty million, hence the Marine Headquarters sending a Captain after him. If he got even stronger, who knew if the Marines would send a Vice Admiral or even an Admiral after him next time? That would be game over.
So Tom quickly decided: first, appear weaker to the enemy, then plan later. Therefore, he no longer wanted to fight Hina to the death here. Rather than exhausting himself defeating Hina, it was better to give the Marines the illusion that Hina was still capable of handling him, buying some time.
Having a Marine who could still theoretically handle him chasing him was better than being relentlessly pursued by a Marine against whom he had no chance of resistance. So when Tom fought Hina, he focused solely on self-defense, already holding back thirty percent of his strength.
It seems I need to get much stronger in a short time. Otherwise, if the World Government seriously decides to deal with me, with my current abilities, ten lives wouldn't be enough!
As Tom thought this, he was already swinging the fishing rod in his hand towards Hina.
"Enemy is a criminal with a thirty-million Berry bounty! Fall back! I will deal with him personally!"
Hina adjusted her gloves. Her pretty face was cold and stern. Alone, she moved to meet the attacking Tom, obviously wanting to capture him alive.
When Hina engaged Tom, she remembered the first requirement of the orders from above: capture Tom alive. Therefore, after exchanging blows with Tom and finding him far less formidable than she imagined, she also held back somewhat, not going for the kill.
However, Hina was a Cage-Cage Fruit user. At first, Tom didn't know her ability and suffered a setback.
"What's with your body? It actually locked onto my weapon!"
Tom saw his fishing rod tightly locked by rings that had appeared from Hina's arm, unable to break free. He knew this woman's body was definitely strange. As Hina's other hand attacked, he hurriedly extended the fishing rod in his hand and retreated, avoiding her attack.
"Just give up!"
"That's right! Those shackles are harder than steel! Bow before Captain Hina's beautiful and powerful figure!"
Fullbody and Jango, the moment they saw Hina attack Tom, became very excited, their eyes turning into red hearts as they spoke to Tom.
"Is that so? Thanks for telling me her Devil Fruit ability."
Tom, seeing Fullbody and Jango actually voluntarily told him Hina's ability, thought to himself, Good comrades.
"Hina commands you to shut up!"
Hina, with a darkened face, directly ordered Jango and Fullbody, who were staring at her infatuatedly.
Knowing the nature of Hina's Devil Fruit ability, Tom understood that close-quarters combat with this woman would only lead to disadvantage, because her body was covered in shackles. A moment of carelessness and he'd be locked up, unable to escape.
But his weapon was still locked by Hina. Tom didn't want to just abandon his fishing rod; he needed to find a way to get it back. He secretly felt fortunate he had drawn his weapon during the exchange. If he had attacked empty-handed, he'd have been in real trouble.
Tom noticed the wind was starting to pick up on the nearby sea. His heart leapt with joy. Seeing a long black pillar extend from Hina's palm towards him, he, gripping the fishing rod with one hand, sidestepped Hina's attack. Hina then swung the black pillar in her hand to the right, making it sweep towards Tom with force.
Seeing the area swept by Hina's black pillar—the surrounding Marines who hadn't retreated in time were passed through by it and without exception locked onto it, each tightly locked and dangling beneath the black pillar, looking like goods hung on a black pole—Tom felt this was no way to continue. He quickly thought of a good idea.
Since his weapon was still deadlocked by Hina, Tom grabbed the fishing rod with both hands. Extending it to its maximum length, he suddenly lifted the rod upwards, swiftly swinging it around in the air.
"If you don't let go of my weapon, I'll have no choice but to throw you and your subordinates into the sea for a bath."
As Tom said this to Hina, who was being swung around in circles above him, he jumped powerfully upwards, avoiding attacks from the surrounding Marines. Then, before Hina could react, he, holding the rod with both hands, forcefully slammed the long rod downwards.
"Ugh!!!"
Hina, seeing Tom smash her and the fishing rod towards the sea, in her desperation just before hitting the water, had no choice but to release the shackles locking Tom's weapon. Using another black pillar extending from her other palm to embed in the ship's deck, she steadied herself, avoiding falling into the sea.
After retrieving his weapon, as Hina landed back on the ship, Tom quickly jumped onto the opposite warship—the Marine vessel.
"Such terrifying brute strength."
Hina hadn't expected Tom's arm strength to be so strong, capable of bursting forth with force several times greater than before in an instant, catching her off guard and allowing Tom to succeed.
Actually, a month ago, Tom's arm strength indeed didn't have such explosive power. But his recent intensified training had shown obvious results.
"Not bad. Because you were really too heavy, I had to use both hands to lift you. Really took a lot of effort, hahahaha."
To deceive Hina, Tom very naturally said this.
"You bastard! What nonsense are you spouting?! Captain Hina's figure is excellent!"
"Daring to insult Captain Hina with your words! I will never forgive you!"
Fullbody and Jango, hearing Tom's words, immediately became angry. Jango even took out his bladed ring tied to a thin string and began swinging it towards Tom on the other ship. "Watch this ring in my hand closely. When I count to three... you will fall into a deep sleep."
"Is he trying to hypnotize me?"
Tom, standing on the warship, said this as he watched Jango swing the ring.
Just as Jango, with his heart-shaped glasses, was about to count to three, a strong sea breeze blew past. Tom joyfully turned his head, looking towards the sails. Then Jango, who successfully activated his hypnosis at the count of three, hypnotized both himself and his friend Fullbody beside him. The two, in the blink of an eye, fell onto the deck, snoring loudly, leaving the surrounding Marines dumbfounded.
What game is this 'Trick-Eye Hunter' playing?
Hina was momentarily very puzzled. She vaguely felt Tom's strength wasn't as superficially simple. During their fight just now, Tom was almost entirely on passive defense, hardly initiating any attacks.
"You want to escape using our Marine ship? Hina won't give you that chance."
Hina thought for a moment but still decided to capture Tom first. Just as she was about to lead her subordinates back to the warship, she saw Tom toss something over and heard him say, "Sorry. I'm a pirate. I really don't like riding on warships. Let's end our game here for now. I'm escaping."
As Tom said this, he had already with one strike broken the warship's thick main mast. Then, before Hina could reach him, he used the bent fishing rod to launch himself high into the air.
"What's that? Looks like a big bird!"
"It's the Trick-Eye Hunter! He's flying away!"
The Marines saw Tom soar into the air and not come back down. Instead, as the strong sea wind blew incessantly, he rode the large glider farther and farther away...
"Were you really... escaping?"
Hina caught the Marine coat Tom had tossed over earlier—the one that had fallen off her when Tom swung her into the air. Her gloved hand clenched tightly. Watching Tom gradually recede in the sky, a few strands of her light pink hair brushed against her face by the sea wind, her expression full of reluctance. "Hina feels... so humiliated!"
"Repair the ship at maximum speed! Our mission is not yet complete."
Hina glanced at the warship's destroyed mast, then said to her subordinates. She put back on the Marine coat with "Justice" written on the back and looked again in the direction Tom flew away. "Heading to Alabasta? On the honor of a Marine Headquarters Captain... next time, Hina will definitely arrest you there!"
As for Tom, after shaking off the Marines, he was in high spirits. Just as he was about to ride the fiercely blowing sea wind all the way from the sea to the shore, the strong wind that had been whipping up small waves on the sea suddenly stopped.
That's right. It was like someone enjoying a smooth bowel movement... suddenly getting constipated. Tom, on the glider, lost wind support and began to fall rapidly. His face instantly fell. "What's going on today? Nothing but chaotic troubles."
He could already see land. Looking down at the blue sea, just as Tom was about to try something, he saw behind him a man with a flame-patterned hat and a bare upper body standing on a small yellow sailboat, speeding towards him at an extremely fast speed. Moreover, the boat seemed to be on fire. His eyes nearly popped out in shock.
But before Tom could get a clear look, as he was about to hit the water, he didn't even make a sound before being sent flying into the sky by the rapidly approaching boat, in the blink of an eye turning into specks of starlight in the sky.
"Hmm? Did I hit someone just now?"
The man on the small yellow sailboat looked sleepy-eyed, looked up at the perfectly clear sky, saw not a single human shadow, and murmured, "Wonder if Luffy has reached Alabasta yet... really want to see him soon."
"That reckless jerk! Who was that? Doesn't look where he's going?!"
Tom, unfortunately sent flying by someone, after landing back on the ground, said very annoyedly.
"But... where is this?"
Tom looked at the desolate desert before him. A cold wind blew, swirling the surrounding yellow sand into a dance across the sky. He immediately couldn't tell east from west.
"I remember Vivi said to have Luffy dock the ship at the city called Nanohana... so I'll go to Nanohana to find them."
After confirming his destination, Tom, completely unsure which direction led to Nanohana, didn't think twice. He randomly picked a direction and without hesitation started walking.
Anyway, he didn't know the way. Rather than waiting stupidly where he was, might as well try to look.
Sometime later, walking in the stiflingly hot and high-temperature desert had left Tom parched. As he thought about finding water, he noticed a lot of noise ahead. Then he saw what seemed to be a small town. He immediately ran towards it. "Is that Nanohana? I'm here!"
But when Tom reached the small town, he found it in disarray. Many injured people lay on the ground. He also saw several people dressed as pirates but emaciated like mummies lying there, unconscious or dead.
But more people were there shouting loudly words that made Tom stunned speechless.
"Desert King Sir Crocodile long live!"
"Alabasta's guardian deity!"
"Thank you for always helping us, Crocodile! You are our Alabastan hero!"
"We will always love you, Lord Crocodile!"
Tom saw people in the town, some standing, some half-kneeling. Regardless of gender or age, without exception eyes filled with gratitude, faces full of worship and adoration as they looked at the man standing on a tall tower not far away. Some were even so excited tears streamed down their faces, cheering passionately.
"Hahahahahaha! Foolish people! Call me whatever you like. I'm just here to clean up the pirates causing trouble in Alabasta."
The man standing atop the high tower had a glittering golden hook on his severed left hand. Just as he was laughing triumphantly, he suddenly heard a voice:
"Hey! You're one of the Warlords of the Sea, Crocodile, right? Stop putting on that act! I'm about to vomit from watching! Get down here now! I'm going to beat you to a pulp!"
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T/N :
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