Watching the chaos in Alubarna spiral out of control, Diarmuid's brow furrowed.
War could break out in Alubarna, and all sorts of crises could emerge, and he could remain indifferent. But right now, he could no longer play deaf and dumb. If Alubarna were to become a dead zone after today, the repercussions would be catastrophic. That bastard Crocodile clearly had no intention of continuing as a Seven Warlords of the Sea.
After all, the damage caused by using such a weapon would be enough to incense the entire world. Mariejois would no longer protect him, especially now that they were finished using him as a "black glove"; there was no longer any reason to shield him.
If this phenomenon wasn't stopped, the million-strong army currently in Alubarna, along with the vast population of civilians who hadn't managed to evacuate before the war, would all die! No matter how cold-hearted Diarmuid could be, he could not sit idly by and watch this happen.
Furthermore, this would be highly detrimental to the Marines. After all, wasn't the source of this mass-destruction gas the work of the Marine Special Science Group? Even if Caesar Clown had defected, facts were facts!
Just then, Hina walked out from the inner room holding Diarmuid's Den Den Mushi. "Admiral, it's Dalmatian."
Diarmuid remained silent for a moment before picking up the receiver. "Hello?"
"Admiral!" Dalmatian greeted him quickly.
"Speak," Diarmuid responded concisely.
"From what I know, you should currently be within Alubarna, Admiral. I want to confirm the situation through you. Has a massive amount of poison gas broken out there? The kind related to the Science Group?" Dalmatian asked urgently.
"Correct," Diarmuid replied again.
Dalmatian fell silent on the other end for a while before continuing, "We have already apprehended that bastard Caesar. He has the antidote, but the quantity isn't enough. If the spread of this gas continues, the consequences will be unimaginable. Therefore..."
At this point, Dalmatian paused slightly, his tone becoming solemn. "Vice Admiral Dalmatian of Marine Headquarters hereby submits a request for support. I hope that you, Admiral, can intervene and stop the chaos in Alubarna from escalating. Please minimize the number of gas victims and buy us some time. We are heading to Alubarna right now!"
Diarmuid's expression remained unchanged, his voice calm. "I understand."
"Yes! Thank you very much, Admiral!" Dalmatian said hurriedly.
After hanging up the Den Den Mushi, Diarmuid looked at Hina. "So, I'll ask again. Did you bring my greatcoat?"
A smile played on Hina's lips. "Of course. Even for a trip, how could a Marine Admiral be without his coat?"
…
Meanwhile, on a sand dune outside the city of Alubarna, Crocodile watched the poison gas begin to spread. A cruel smile touched his lips. "Whether it's CP or the Seven Warlords of the Sea, you can all die here."
"Are you insane!?" Robin stared at Crocodile in disbelief. Before he could speak, she continued, "After doing something like this, Mariejois will never let you go. Do you not want your position as a Seven Warlords of the Sea anymore? Also, are you sure this gas alone can take them all out? Impossible! Once Doflamingo and the others react, you'll be torn to shreds by their fury!"
"Seven Warlords of the Sea? Hehehe... I have no more use for such a thing. As for whether those idiots will make it out of Alubarna alive... or if Mariejois will come looking for trouble? Tell me, if I kill three Warlords here and annihilate an army of a million, wouldn't that level of deterrence be enough to make Mariejois hesitate to act against me?" As Crocodile spoke, his powers began to surge around him.
Then, before Nico Robin's incredulous eyes, the desert behind them shifted once more. A long barrel the size of a warship gradually emerged from the sands. Even though it appeared unnaturally massive, Robin immediately had an ominous premonition. Is that... a cannon barrel?
"Do you know why I didn't stop you from searching for the Ancient Weapon: Pluton?" Crocodile said suddenly.
"You... you've already obtained Pluton?" Nico Robin asked, her eyes wide with shock.
"To be precise, a part of Pluton. I don't care about a 'ship'—what would I do with a ship? What I need is simply that overwhelming firepower. It is rumored that a single shot from Pluton can sink an island... I found its wreckage within this vast desert. Perhaps over thousands of years, the Nefertari family lost track of it. When I found it, only this massive cannon made of the finest materials was still functional. But that is enough," Crocodile said with a hint of sentimentality.
"You're going to... You're going to... The gas was just a distraction to cover your tracks. You're going to blow Alubarna off the map!?" Robin asked in terror.
"Exactly. This is the power I am about to show the world. Kuhahahahaha! Nico Robin, tell me, after witnessing this kind of power, who would dare not acknowledge my status as the King of the Desert?" Crocodile laughed maniacally, his tone utterly arrogant.
Then, through some unseen mechanism, without Crocodile even making a move, the massive barrel behind him began to gather and compress invisible energy. The underlying principle of this energy was impossible to guess. It wasn't a physical shell, but a projectile formed by the convergence of energy—or rather, a beam!?
A devastating aura continuously leaked from the barrel. Robin's expression changed drastically as she tried to contact someone.
Crocodile seemed to notice this, but he didn't care at all. He waved a hand dismissively. "Go ahead. Report everything you see to the people or factions behind you. Use their mouths to announce the story of what happened here to the entire world."
"You knew all along that I was a double agent?" Robin asked, her voice low.
"Perhaps. I simply never trusted you, that's all," Crocodile said softly.
Just then, Crocodile's Den Den Mushi rang. He answered it naturally. "How is it?"
"Princess Vivi is in our hands, but Nefertari Cobra is missing. It's highly likely he was taken by the CP agents," the person on the other end responded.
Crocodile went silent for a moment before saying, "Fine. It doesn't matter if we're missing one old man. Keep an eye on the girl; she might still be useful. At the very least, don't let the Revolutionary Army get her. If necessary... kill her."
On the other end of the line, a cold-faced Daz Bonez wiped the blood splatter from his face. He glanced at the corpses of the Revolutionary Army members around him and said expressionlessly, "Yes, Boss."
Indeed, at this stage, Crocodile's conspiracy had essentially been realized. The Nefertari family was finished, and the Revolutionary Army had been played in the end, Vivi had never actually been rescued by them. The Royal Army, the Rebels, the Seven Warlords, and the CP agents, all these forces from Mariejois and various other sides, were about to be wiped out in Alubarna.
In the entirety of Alabasta, there would be only one winner: Crocodile! And once he succeeded, the power he displayed in this war and catastrophe would be enough to deter any faction, buying him enough time to proceed with his next plan!
If there was anything Crocodile still lacked, it was perhaps... a bit of elusive luck.
Just as Crocodile was about to hang up the Den Den Mushi, he suddenly noticed dark energy bleeding out from within Alubarna. His expression shifted to one of slight surprise. What the hell is that?
Then, to his shock, the darkness spread at an incredible speed, quickly enveloping the entire city of Alubarna as if shrouding it in a veil. The poison gas, which was supposed to attract attention, was actually being absorbed by this mysterious dark power!
"Who is that?" Crocodile frowned. He sifted through his memories of experts who used darkness, but even after racking his brain, he came up empty.
After a brief pause, Crocodile smirked. "Perhaps it's the Nefertari family's final trump card? Truly worthy of a thousand-year royal bloodline... But in the face of absolute power and destruction, none of it matters!"
Crocodile let out a sudden, crazed laugh. Then, before Robin's horrified eyes, the massive barrel behind him unleashed a force that could destroy everything toward Alubarna.
The mere shockwave of the leaking energy made Robin feel despair, her legs turning to jelly!
It was a beam of energy, as thick as a giant warship. The gale it kicked up in its wake was terrifying. The beam didn't even touch the ground, it hovered about ten meters high, yet as it passed, the sand on the ground was instantly vitrified into crystal. One could only imagine the sheer power it contained.
As the Ancient Weapon: Pluton unleashed a roar from a thousand years ago, Diarmuid, standing on the roof of the Alubarna Oasis Hotel, looked toward the source. Then, surprise flickered in his eyes.
"What the hell is that thing!?" Diarmuid exclaimed, a rare lapse in his composure.
But it was only for an instant. Diarmuid's figure appeared on the massive city walls of Alubarna. At that moment, the light beam was hurtling toward the wall at extreme speed.
Diarmuid couldn't afford to care about much else. Alubarna itself didn't matter, but Hina was still in the city!
A look of grim determination crossed his face. He thrust out an arm toward the incoming beam. From a size perspective, it was undoubtedly like a mantis trying to stop a carriage!
But in the next moment, boundless darkness erupted from Diarmuid's arm. Though he couldn't turn into the element itself, the Dark-Dark Fruit was still a Logia power, possessing unimaginable energy!
In an instant, as terrifying as Kuzan freezing an entire sea, the dark power released by Diarmuid blotted out the sun. Like an abyss, it stood in the path of the beam.
"Abyssal Maw!" Diarmuid roared.
Then, he felt an incredibly horrifying aura of destruction slam into his darkness. For a split second, he nearly buckled, as if the output of this power exceeded the upper limit of the Dark-Dark Fruit's ability to absorb all matter.
It wasn't that he couldn't take it in, but that for one moment, the gauge was about to redline.
However, Diarmuid's face flushed red, his breathing became slightly ragged, and his eyes turned into voids of pure pitch-black. Slowly, he stabilized his stance. As long as the initial impact didn't shatter his darkness, the subsequent continuous stream of energy actually brought less pressure.
The powerful beam, which was enough to destroy Alubarna and the surrounding desert, was eventually swallowed into Diarmuid's darkness, failing to cause any further waves.
Meanwhile, in the desert, Crocodile's expression had completely collapsed.
He no longer had any of his previous "cool and arrogant" protagonist posturing. His eyes were wide as saucers, his mouth hung open wide enough to fit a fist, and the cigar he had been chewing on fell directly into the sand.
"IMPOSSIBLE!!!" Crocodile roared in disbelief.
That was a full-power strike from the Ancient Weapon: Pluton! It was enough to completely destroy and vaporize a small-to-medium-sized island! Not even dust should have remained!
And now, it had been blocked by someone!?
Yes, in that fleeting moment, with Crocodile's eyesight, he had seen a figure abruptly appear on the city wall. But at the time, Crocodile had only thought the man was seeking death...
Nico Robin, however, now wore a brilliant smile. Because of her ability, she had seen exactly who that figure was in that split second!
The man who turned the tide, Marine Admiral Rodriguez Diarmuid!
The man who took an Ancient Weapon head-on!
"Crocodile... this is what true, overwhelming power looks like... Do you understand now?" Robin whispered softly.
———————
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over here ——— pa-tre-on.c-om/AlexandrusTL [remove the hyphen for normal access]