Great Sea Route, Alabasta.
The First King's Tomb.
This is the final resting place of all the kings of Alabasta, next to the capital, Alubarna.
Other than for special religious events, no one comes to bother this holy and grand tomb.
But now, the tomb's quiet is broken by some careless people.
They are pirates.
More exactly, pirates running for their lives!
...
"Huff... huff! Captain, I can't go on, I can't run anymore!"
"Move it! Do you want to be killed!"
The pirate captain pulled up his crew member and looked back in fear. "That man is really in this country!"
The first mate, gasping for air, said:
"No, it's more like, that man could have caught us a long time ago. Why is he forcing us to come here?"
This was also what the captain was wondering, but they couldn't think about it anymore.
Around them, sand moved and slowly formed a human shape.
A tall man with a black fur coat and a scar across his face appeared in front of the pirates.
His left hand was missing, replaced by a big, golden hook.
The man was one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, once with a bounty of 81 million Berry, Rocks Crocodile!
The pirate captain saw the First King's Tomb behind him, with no way to run. So, he stepped forward.
"Hey, Crocodile, we give up. Do what you want with us, but don't hurt my crew!"
Crocodile just grinned darkly and lit a cigar.
Suddenly, the sand moved, and a sharp sand blade cut across the pirates' chests.
The Sand-Sand Fruit power activated, and the water in the pirates' bodies was sucked out instantly, leaving them near death on the ground.
"Heh heh heh, I'll leave you some life, because a 'national hero' can't be too cruel."
Crocodile walked past the pirates, muttering to himself.
"But, thanks to you running fast, I could use chasing you as an excuse to get close to this tomb that only Alabasta royalty can approach!"
His real goal was the shocking secret hidden behind the Alabasta Kingdom -
The ancient weapon, Pluto!
Crocodile reached out his right hand, and the Sand-Sand Fruit's erosion power activated, rotting a small crack in the outer wall of the tomb.
Then, his body turned into sand and went inside.
Inside the tomb, Crocodile turned on a flashlight and lit up the area.
He saw a path going down, but it was blocked by a stone door.
But that couldn't stop a Logia Devil Fruit user.
Following the path, Crocodile arrived in the underground of the First King's Tomb, and his face darkened.
This was really a tomb of unusual size.
Even though the flashlight could only show a small part, Crocodile had never seen a place so grand.
But, he didn't see the "ancient writing" he wanted.
"Tch, it's not here?"
Crocodile thought for a moment and shook his head. "Oh well, I haven't found anyone who can translate the ancient writing anyway. At least I can rule this place out."
But just as Crocodile turned to leave, a strange feeling suddenly locked onto him!
"Who!"
Crocodile broke out in a cold sweat and quickly turned around, but saw nothing.
Even though it was daytime, it was still in the tomb underground, and feeling watched like that -
Even Crocodile felt uneasy.
He looked around, found nothing, and decided to go back the way he came.
But then, the area around him suddenly began to rumble, and one light after another turned on, instantly drowning out his flashlight's weak light!
Crack!
A cracking sound rang out.
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack...
Then came more and more cracking sounds.
Crocodile looked up and saw that a nearby wall was covered in cracks!
Countless golden lights poured out, hurting his eyes a little.
Crocodile felt the growing power in front of him, and his eyes widened.
Not good!
He quickly turned his body into sand, sticking to the ground.
Then, the wall exploded, and a suffocating feeling spread through the entire tomb!
Crocodile was even more shocked.
That was... Conqueror's Haki?
This was deep in the tomb, and Crocodile was the only living person here.
But he had never heard of a dead person being able to use Conqueror's Haki!
He dimly saw a figure slowly walking out from the golden light behind the wall.
Who?
Crocodile narrowed his eyes, and as the golden light faded, he finally saw the person.
It was a "person" wearing golden armor, with dark purple ribbons around the waist, neck, and wrists, and a bird-shaped helmet.
The style was like Alabasta's traditional clothes, but with some differences.
Crocodile stayed in sand form, watching the other person.
The "person" seemed confused, looked around, and suddenly locked onto Crocodile!
Observation Haki?
Crocodile's scalp went numb. He didn't know that Alabasta's First King's Tomb hid a monster who could use two, or even three, types of Haki!
But Crocodile always had his own way of doing things -
Strike first!
While the "person" was confused, Crocodile quickly got close and swung a sand blade.
Swish!
It hit!
The blade cut through, but something Crocodile never expected happened.
The power that should have sucked all the water out of the other person was useless!
Then, the "person" spoke.
"Sand-Sand Fruit power?"
His voice was hoarse, like he had been sleeping for a long time, his mouth dry.
"That's not right, I should be the Sand-Sand Fruit user..."
Suddenly, he noticed Crocodile's appearance, and his voice became very surprised.
"You are... Crocodile? 'The Sand Crocodile'?"
"Heh heh heh, if you know me, you're not a ghost."
Crocodile spun his left hand hook. "Are you here to rob the tomb? The dryness ability didn't work, are you a Logia user?"
Swish!
Crocodile waved his hand and summoned a sandstorm, blowing it toward the person.
The power of this attack could flatten a dune!
Even if the other person was a Logia Devil Fruit user, this attack would force him to turn into his elemental form.
But the strange person just reached out his right hand.
Whoosh...
The sandstorm instantly disappeared, fading into nothing.
Crocodile stood there, stunned.
He was sure it was "disappeared," not "canceled out" by some other attack!
The next moment, several figures suddenly appeared around Crocodile.
They were "human soldiers" made purely of sand, each holding a sand spear!
Swish!
Several spears instantly pierced Crocodile. He didn't have time to dodge, and couldn't defend!
The person grinned and said:
"Watch closely, this is how I use the Sand-Sand Fruit."
A few drops of cold sweat ran down Crocodile's forehead.
He wasn't sure if the other person "couldn't" use Armament Haki, or "didn't want" to use it.
If it was the latter, he would have been dead long ago!
Crocodile stepped back slightly. The situation was far beyond what he expected!
Sand-Sand Fruit, the tomb, Alabasta - questions he couldn't answer.
He looked at the other person carefully and tested, "Who are you?"
"Me?"
The person touched his chin, suddenly wiggled his fingers, and the sand soldiers instantly disappeared into sand.
Then, the area around the tomb began to rumble, and the walls cracked, opening up an exit for the closed tomb as if they were alive.
The sunlight of Alabasta shone on both their faces.
The person slowly said:
"I am Ryan Rowan."
"The first emperor of the Alabasta Empire, the former Sand-Sand Fruit user."
"Oh, right -"
The man walked over and found his staff by the side. He pulled it out of the ground.
He looked at the sun in the sky.
"I think I died eight hundred years ago."