Dragon came back to his senses, shook off whatever thought had seized him, and stood up while folding the newspaper.
"No... it's nothing."
He then walked out and turned into a light breeze that vanished from sight.
The two men looked at each other.
Lindbergh scratched the back of his head. "What was that about?"
* * *
Grand Line, Alabasta.
Rainbase, the basement of the Rain Dinners casino.
Robin was in the office, calmly reporting about the casino's finances and Baroque Works' current operations to Crocodile.
After listening for a while, he waved his hand.
"Enough with the useless details. How is the rainfall across Alabasta now?"
Robin closed her notebook, then answered, "Except for the capital Alubarna and the nearby towns, all other regions have stopped raining. The plan can begin, Boss."
Crocodile's expression shifted slightly. "Yeah... it can begin."
He had spent more than ten years plotting this. Victory was right in front of him. But the closer it came, the calmer he became. Until the final moment, no one knew what might happen…
He leaned back in the chair. His right index finger tapped the armrest in a steady rhythm while his thoughts sharpened.
"Go send people to secretly spread rumors and guide public opinion. Point everything toward the royal family. Get in touch with the rebels as well, but make sure not to expose your identity."
Robin nodded. "Yes."
He dismissed her with a wave, and she left respectfully to carry out her orders.
Once the door closed and she was gone, a faint smile grew on his lips, as if he had remembered something pleasant.
"Pluton..."
* * *
Florian Triangle.
The territory of one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Gecko Moria.
Years ago he sailed the Thriller Bark into the fog-covered sea and built a zombie army with the help of his partner, the genius surgeon Hogback.
He planned to rise again and take revenge on Kaido… but after losing his spirit, that idea became somewhat childish.
Even so, he remained a powerful pirate. Every year, nearly a hundred ships that wandered into the Triangle vanished without a trace. By the time people found them, only broken ships remained. The crews were gone.
Yoho~ hoho~ yohohoho~
The eerie singing echoed across the foggy sea.
On a damaged ship, a skeleton with an afro stood at the railing and leaned forward.
"Ah! Forty-three degrees!"
He slid onto the deck.
Whoosh!
A faint slicing sound cut through the air, causing the skeleton to jump up and look around.
"Hmm? A hallucination?"
* * *
Thriller Bark.
From the outside it looked like an island, but it was actually Moria's ship.
Said to be the largest pirate ship in the world. The Florian Triangle's thick fog and the ships mysteriously disappearing over the years were all Moria's work.
This enormous ship and its zombie army captured almost a hundred ships every year so he could steal shadows and create even more zombies.
The fog existed to keep anyone whose shadow was stolen from touching sunlight and dying, which would erase the shadow.
Whoosh!
Carlo's figure appeared.
The sound Brook heard wasn't his imagination.
He scanned the area with Observation Haki, confirmed the rough location, and teleported away.
* * *
One of the Mysterious Four. The commander of the Soldier Zombies and General Zombies and user of the Clear-Clear Fruit, Absalom.
He was leisurely lying on his bed, holding the latest edition of the World's Most Beautiful Women magazine and flipping through it.
"Hmm, this one is nice. This one looks good too. Oh~~~ this one is even better!"
Absalom was extremely lecherous. He often used his fruit ability to hide himself and search for his "ideal bride," then…
Whoosh!
Carlo appeared directly before him. Both hands were coated in Armament Haki as he grabbed the pirate's mouth and neck.
His arms bulged with strength, and a cracking sound filled the room. He crushed Absalom's jaw and throat before he could scream.
Whoosh!
The two vanished from the castle on Thriller Bark.
* * *
High above the distant fog-covered sea far from the ship, Carlo appeared, holding the broken body.
Suddenly, energy surged at both sides of him. Absalom had hidden rocket launchers in his hands with his fruit ability, and they fired.
Carlo's pupils shrank.
His Observation Haki had not sensed those hidden launchers. They only showed themselves when Absalom activated them.
He let go of the ruined jaw, pulled out the Devil Fruit Extractor, stabbed it into Absalom's body, and teleported away.
Boom!
Two rockets collided in midair and exploded. The deafening blast echoed for a long time, even alarming Moria inside the giant ship.
Inside Absalom's room.
A few ghost-like creatures drifted in, followed by Perona.
"Horohorohoro... hm? Where did he go?"
* * *
Grand Line, a remote island.
Carlo threw away the mangled corpse in his hand and pulled out the extractor.
Through that brief test just now, he'd confirmed that this man's Clear-Clear Fruit could even block Observation Haki's perception.
No wonder Admiral Sakazuki wanted him dead in one strike.
He shook his head and stopped lingering.
Whoosh!
* * *
New World, Egghead Island.
In a hidden lab, Carlo appeared.
The lab held a row of enormous pods, each marked with numbers. The top read "Seraphim."
A small robot was busy working in front of a huge monitor.
Carlo smiled and asked, "Where's Dr. Vegapunk, Edison?"
He knew this little robot called Edison was also one of Vegapunk's clones.
It was a bit strange, but scientists always had odd habits.
The robot snapped out of his concentration and turned.
"Ah! Mr. Carlo. The main body is in the underground smelting room working on a new alloy."
Carlo gave a nod. "I see. Keep working then. I'll go find him."
The robot nodded quickly.
"Yes, Mr. Carlo."
Then went back to work.
"Ideas, ideas... so many ideas... not enough hands!"
* * *
Underground smelting chamber.
A giant bear, modified into a living machine, opened its mouth as ore and metal were tossed in again and again. It chewed them and spat out new synthetic metal moments later.
This bear had been fed the Munch-Munch Fruit and modified into a smelting furnace.
Vegapunk picked up the metal and placed it under an instrument, continuously analyzing and recording.
Whoosh!
Carlo suddenly appeared and spoke. "Dr. Vegapunk. I got the Clear-Clear Fruit."
Vegapunk turned at the abrupt voice, surprised and excited.
"Oh? You got it? Excellent. Come with me!"
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