Conquering The World With One Piece

Gazing from the deck of the ship, I could see the silhouette of a large island. It was the summer island, Sandy Island, which housed the desert kingdom of Alabasta.

"Vice admiral Leo, we'll be docking in Alabasta Kingdom soon. Rainbase won't be too far from your location!"

"Hmmm… Good, carry on!"

The marine saluted me and left. I stroked my chin and recounted everything I knew about Crocodile's operation.

Crocodile was a scheming, cunning individual who portrayed himself as a hero to the people, while he set up Baroque Works secretly to take over the kingdom of Alabasta. Although his operations were perfect, he miscounted the emergence of Luffy who figured out his weakness.

Thuk, Thuk… Vivi walked towards me and stood besides me. She gazed at the distant kingdom with moist eyes and said, "Alabasta is such a beautiful kingdom with beautiful people… but why must so many suffer because of the ambitions of one man? I'll risk my own life, but I'll stop Crocodile at all costs!"

I nodded at Vivi's words and turned towards her with half-lidded eyes.

"Your bravery and loyalty for your country are surely commendable; however, you won't be much of a leader if you can't even get help from its people. For someone with just your skills, risking only your own life to stop Crocodile is just a pipe dream…!"

"N-No, bu-but…"

Vivi bit the bottom of lips and tried to offer a retort, but she couldn't think of any. Instead, she felt deep within her that I may be right.

"So, which branch of Baroque Works do you want to be dropped off at," I asked, looking Vivi straight in the eyes.

After thinking for some time, Vivi clenched her fists and answered, "I'm going to guide you to Rainbase and see your fight through! Even if you lose, I'll go back to the capital and gather more people to defeat Crocodile at all costs!"

I couldn't help but smile gently and pat her head. "What a smart, brave kid!"

Vivi's face flushed a little red, and she stuck her tongue out at me. "I-I'm not a kid! I became 14 just last month! You are Mr. Blind Marine!"

Soon we journeyed through a large river, flowing through the center of the kingdom, and docked our ship near Rainbase. In the hope that our operations would be a little more secretive, the people accompanying me were just Tashigi, Nami and Vivi.

…

We began our journey towards Rainbase in the scorching deserts of Alabasta. Our group wore white robes that covered our bodies to protect our skins. Well, except for me, since my lightning body didn't get affected by the heat at all.

Currently, dark circles had formed under Nami's eye. She couldn't help but keep asking me questions in worry.

"Leo, do we really have to fight a Shichibukai?! Not only could we die, we'll lose our Marine titles for the dereliction of our duty for sure!"

"Just relax… Remember that we've already informed headquarters that we're here to investigate the illegal use of Dance Powder."

I just yawned at the thought of Marines taking actions against us and continued walking.

Tashigi c.o.c.ked her head beside me and asked, "How does that help?"

"It means that, at the very least, we can blame our fight on Crocodile once he's defeated. It's not like we came here to take him out or something…"

Tashigi's and Nami's eyes widened, and they nodded in understanding.

'Sigh… The World Government will probably still be angry for disrupting the 'balance' regardless,' I thought with a slight frown on my face.

In the background, Vivi had tuned into our conversation with open ears. A dimpled smile formed on her face, as she thought that these Marines were going so far to stop Crocodile.

"Listen, everyone! We can take a bit of a detour first to get Karoo and the Super Spot-Billed Duck Troops. They're the fastest troops in the kingdom!"

Nami ran up to her and hugged Vivi happily. "Hahaha, this heat was making me tired already… Also, how much money will your kingdom pay for taking out Crocodile?"

Vivi could only scratch her head and smile wryly at Nami's question. This kingdom wasn't doing so well with money after all.

Tashigi and I agreed to Vivi's suggestion, and we were about to leave when…

"Fufufufufu, I see that the princess herself wants to help takeout Crocodile."

A tall and slender young woman with shoulder-length black hair, rocking an all-purple cowgirl look, appeared in the distance. Currently, she was hiding her eyes under her hat when talking to us.

Vivi recognized the woman and glared at her. "I know you, Miss All Sunday! You're the one responsible for all the harm to our nation!"

With a slight smile on her face, the woman inspected Vivi and then her attention finally turned towards me.

"Fufufufu… You're vice admiral Leo, right? I see you found out about Crocodile's operation here, but you should all turn back before he kills you."

"I think you're being awfully nice to us then, aren't you? We have the princess and the knowledge of your entire operations, yet you're here just to warn us eh…"

The woman's eyes blinked; she didn't think someone would call her nice of all things.

At the same time, Vivi also went into deep contemplation at my words. It would surely make more sense for Crocodile to eliminate our group at all costs here and now.

"Huh, aren't you being a little too smart? Who's to say that I've not set up a deadly trap that will cut you to pieces later," the woman said.

I monitored the woman's face and smiled with sadness. "Sigh… First, drop the act…! Nico Robin!"

Robin's eyes went wide, and she tilted her hat up, revealing to us her complete beautiful face.

Nami recognized her infamous name, and she stepped back to hide behind me.

"W-Wait, is t-that really the Nico Robin?"

"Who is Nico Robin?" Tashigi asked, her face blank with confusion. Vivi also focused her gaze in interest at our conversation.

Nami gulped loudly and answered, "At the young age of 8, Nico Robin had sunk 6 Marine sh.i.p.s. She already got her first bounty of 79 million Berrys at that point."

Swallow… Tashigi immediately took out her sword and prepared herself to face her. If her bounty was so high at such a young age, how threatening would she be now?

"Get the hell away from here, Marines!"

Robin gave an icy stare towards us and prepared to unleash her powers upon us.

Hahahahahahahaha…

A loud laughter from me interrupted the tense atmosphere that'd befallen here. Robin pressed her lips together in wariness; she could tell I was the strongest here.

"What is it, Leo?"

"We should capture her and inform the headquarters already!"

Nami and Tashigi couldn't tell why I hadn't captured her already. I usually wasn't the one for conversations before a fight after all.

"Nico Robin, you're free to leave. We won't be reporting you to the headquarters at all…"

"No, Leo! We can't let he-"

I raised my hand to signal my group to be quiet. They understood my seriousness and stayed in silence, trusting me to handle this situation appropriately.

Robin narrowed her eyes at me, ready to unleash her powers at any moment. No way she would believe the words of a Marine.

"I know your bounty exists because you're the last survivor of Ohara, capable of reading the ancient Poneglyphs, and not because of some lies made up by the World Government!"

"Wha-"

"Also, I don't think it would be too far to say that Oharans were all innocent."

Robin's eyes froze; after all, there wasn't a soul who trusted their innocence, let alone a Marine.

"Isn't being able to read the Poneglyphs enough for you to arrest me?!"

I shook my head in disagreement and answered, "Hahaha.... For the sake of this world, I can only hope you succeed in your journey. Or at the very least, not get prosecuted for being the great archaeologist you are…! Sigh… The least I can do is get out of your way."

Tashigi walked up to me and put her hands on my shoulder. "If you're willing to say that the World Government's justice was wrong here, I'll believe your justice Leo."

Nami nodded and agreed with Tashigi's words. With a broad smile, I continued, "While I won't do anything to move against you, I have to take out Crocodile now for his crimes… Let's head out everyone!"

All of us walked towards our destination, without confronting the dazed Robin anymore.

Robin watched us leave with a complicated expression on her face. She couldn't help being angry at the Marines but intrigued by that man at the same time. The man was brave and believed her just like another former vice admiral she used to know.

…

Later, we were more than halfway through the desert towards Karoo and the other troops.

Vivi squinted her eyes at me and said, "I know you had your reasons to let her go, Leo… but she isn't innocent with her part in Crocodile's plans."

"Yeah, just like you trying to kill Marines for achieving your goals."

Vivi pursed her lips into a pout, but she didn't say anything anymore. I was about to encourage the kid in some way when…

Drrrrrr… A giant scorpion popped up ahead of us and charged.

Nami ran behind me and bared her teeth at Vivi.

"Why didn't you tell us about all these dangers of the desert?! We may have already reached Rainbase if we didn't take this detour with all these beasts in it…"

Vivi could only forcefully laugh at Nami's words. "Ah, I forgot about the dangers of this detour. Just hold on a little longer, the duck troop is stationed just a few minutes away!"

Meanwhile, Tashigi unsheathed her Shigure and Woosh… rushed at the Giant Scorpion with Soru.

Shinn… The scorpion was easily cut in half. With a face-wide smile, Tashigi started to swagger back to us when...

Drrrrrrr… At that moment, tens of more giant scorpions popped up from the ground and stared at Tashigi. The latter just stood dumbfounded as the group of scorpions charged at her angrily.

Without delay, I created 5 large thunder eagles and summoned them from my fingers. They each broke into a lightning army of birds and flew towards the approaching scorpions. Zappp… The scorpions stood no chance as they were electrocuted and cooked alive by the army of lightning birds.

Vivi's jaws completely dropped in shock, unable to believe the extent of my powers just now.

I was about to signal everyone to move again; however, I suddenly had a very bad premonition. Buzz… I traveled at lightning speed towards the area of my worry.

**

Inside a large room, several stories below the main casino building of Rain Dinners, the top two agents of Baroque works were having a conversation with each other.

A tall man with a wide c.h.e.s.t, broad shoulders, thick neck, and a deep-set, heavy-lidded eyes was smoking a thick cigar. He raised his gold hook towards Robin and interrogated her.

"This Marine I've never even heard of before has wrecked half our fleet and is heading straight towards us. He's clearly confident about my identity… and you're the only intelligence leak I can think of…!"

Beads of sweat rolled down Robin's face, and she argued, "I've worked for you for the past 2 years. Don't go blaming me for this…"

"Hmmm… Your commanding abilities and intelligence has been a great asset for me in these past 2 years, but it's better for me to take out anyone suspicious. After all, I never trusted you to help me with Pluton any-"

Shooo… Before Crocodile could finish, Robin threw a flask of water towards him.

Unfortunately for her, Crocodile quickly turned into sand and avoided the water. Robin glanced around the room to find Crocodile, but… Puchi… she was easily stabbed in the shoulder by Crocodile.

Robin took one last look at this world and lost her will to live. But before she could be taken care of by Crocodile, Buzz… a man materialized in front of her eyes.

"Whew, just in time again!"