Starting in One Piece, I'll Build the Strongest Fairy Tail!

One day later.

The dream city of Rainbase.

Smoker, leading his troops, had finally arrived.

"Rain Dinners?!"

"So this is that bastard Crocodile's base in the Alabasta Kingdom?"

"I heard this place is supposedly the biggest casino in all of Alabasta?"

"Heh, it really does match his trashy status~"

Smoker held a cigar in his mouth, taking slow puffs, Puff, puff, as he sneered coldly.

"Dear Captain Smoker, Mr. Crocodile has been waiting for you for a long time. Please, follow me~"

Just as Smoker was mocking Crocodile to his heart's content, several burly men in suits and ties emerged from the casino...

As soon as they came out, they approached Smoker with fawning smiles, extending an invitation to him and the Marine soldiers accompanying him.

"It seems that bastard Crocodile understands deep down that we won't back down so easily."

Seeing this, Smoker let out a light chuckle and said coldly, "However, even if you were to hold your head and beg for mercy before us Marines now, Crocodile, it would be too late! You must pay the price for your actions. Prepare yourself."

With those words, Smoker led Tashigi and the dozens of Marine soldiers behind him, striding into the casino before them.

"Please, this way~"

"Mr. Crocodile is currently waiting for you in the VIP lounge."

After Smoker and his men entered the casino, another person greeted them and led them towards the so-called VIP lounge...

And then.

Smoker, along with Tashigi and all the Marine soldiers, was locked in a cage made of Seastone by Crocodile.

Of course, the reason Smoker and his men ended up in the cage wasn't because they fought Crocodile and lost...

It was because Smoker walked into it himself.

Let's rewind to about five minutes ago.

When Smoker was walking down the so-called VIP corridor, he was met with two paths.

Beside each path was a sign full of instructions.

The sign next to the path on the right read: 'VIP Customers, Please Go This Way'.

The other, leading to the path on the left, read: 'Gentlemen of the Marines of Justice, Please Go This Way'.

"Heh~"

"As gentlemen of the Marines of Justice, we will naturally go to the left."

The moment Smoker saw the words 'Marines of Justice', he couldn't hold himself back. Without any hesitation, he led his subordinates and strode towards the left path.

And that led to the current scene.

All the Marines were locked inside a cage.

"..."

At this moment, Smoker sat on a sofa inside the cage, a look of utter despair on his face. His expression was grim as he stared into space, lost in thought.

"Captain Smoker, how are we going to get out of here now?!"

"This Seastone is of very high purity, it's even harder than steel! My sword is completely unable to cut it..."

Tashigi gripped the hilt of her katana. She first took a deep breath, bringing herself to her peak condition, then forcefully drew the sword from her waist. She unleashed a beautiful silver flash of light, a textbook-perfect Iaijutsu slash. Unfortunately, her strike wasn't sharp enough; it failed to leave even a single scratch on the high-purity Seastone cage.

"Hah, hah, hah, hah..."

"Don't waste your energy. You're not getting out."

"This is a cell I specially built for you Marines."

"What's wrong? You're used to locking others up. Now that you're the one being locked up, the feeling isn't so great, is it? Dear Captain 'White Chase' Smoker?!"

Just as Tashigi was pondering how to escape the cell, a mocking laugh echoed out. A towering man wearing a large overcoat appeared outside the cage, his hair slicked back. Despite his build, his face had surprisingly refined features. He leisurely appeared and began to thoroughly mock Smoker and his group.

"Crocodile?!"

Smoker, who had been silently smoking, finally reacted upon Crocodile's appearance. He stood up from the sofa and roared, "You bastard, do you have any idea what you're doing?! You actually set a trap to imprison me, a Marine? This is a serious crime!"

"Hahahaha..."

Hearing this, Crocodile laughed instead of getting angry. He glanced at Smoker and said coldly, "Kid, didn't you already know what I was planning?"

"If that's the case, you should also understand that I no longer care about being a Marine or not, a Warlord or not."

As Crocodile spoke, veins bulged on his face as he roared, "Anything that dares to stand in my way! I will crush it without mercy!"

"So you're saying..."

"You really are plotting something sinister?"

Smoker seemed to have caught the key phrase in Crocodile's words. He raised an eyebrow slightly and continued to bait him.

"So you didn't know?"

"Forget it. Since I've already shown my hand..."

"In that case, what's the harm in telling you?"

"Yes, it was I who used Dance Powder, causing Alabasta to go without a single drop of rain for three years."

"It was also I who secretly supported the rebellion, constantly pressuring them and exacerbating the conflicts between the different classes within Alabasta."

Crocodile paused for a moment, then sneered, "Ha, ha, ha! The world calls me a hero of the Alabasta Kingdom? No, what I want is to become the new king of Alabasta. I will turn this place into the strongest nation, an absolute utopia!"

"Crocodile, you've completely lost your mind."

After hearing this, Smoker gave Crocodile a deep look and said just that.

"You say I'm insane?"

"It's this world that went insane first..."

"Hah, hah, hah, hah..."

Crocodile laughed coldly, turning his back on Smoker and Tashigi.

However, before Crocodile could leave, he heard an 'argument' break out from the cage behind him.

"Captain Smoker, this is all your fault!"

"If you had chosen to go to the VIP lounge, we wouldn't be in this mess!" Tashigi glared at Smoker and scolded him angrily.

"Idiot! We are the Marines of Justice, how could we compromise so easily?!"

Smoker retorted, rapping his fist on Tashigi's head. "Remember, never question my decisions! After all, I'm the Captain."

"..."

Crocodile, who had heard their entire exchange, suddenly fell silent. Actually, is it possible that both paths were wrong?!

Whether it was the VIP lounge or the Marine lounge, did they all ultimately lead to this cell?

For a moment, Crocodile began to wonder if it had really been necessary to capture Smoker and his men directly.

With the intelligence of these idiots, fools, and morons, even if he had let them investigate freely, they probably wouldn't have been able to find the connection between Baroque Works and him, right?

"A miscalculation."

Crocodile shook his head forcefully and quickly walked away. It seemed he was unwilling to stay in the same room with fools for too long, as it might affect his own intelligence.

"So... it's just as we thought."

"Crocodile has betrayed the World Government and the Marines."

After Crocodile left, the previously frantic Tashigi and Smoker suddenly became normal...

Smoker, in particular, took out a special, government-issued Den Den Mushi from his coat, which had been active the entire time, and reported as such.

"Ara ra~"

"I understand."

"You have a free hand. Do what you must."

"I'll take care of the fallout."

On the other end of the Den Den Mushi...

A certain man with an eye mask on his head, blinking his drowsy eyes as if he hadn't fully woken up from yesterday's sleep, gave a slight nod.

"That's what I was waiting to hear."

After getting the answer he wanted, a smirk appeared on Smoker's lips. Without any hesitation, he hung up the Den Den Mushi.

"Tsk?"

"Hanging up on me as soon as you don't need me anymore?"

"You're so heartless, my dear brother Smoker~"

"However... Nico Robin, just what are you mixed up in with that Crocodile fellow?"

"You'd better not disappoint me!"

"If you've truly walked down an evil path, then I'll have no choice but to... kill you with my own hands."

The man sat in his office, staring up at the ceiling as he spoke.

"Admiral Kuzan, Fleet Admiral Sengoku is looking for you."

It wasn't until a soldier entered the office to report to him that he snapped back to reality, saying softly, "Ara ra, I know."

Yes, this man was one of the World Government's strongest military assets, a Marine Headquarters Admiral, one of the Three Admirals—'Aokiji' Kuzan.

Meanwhile.

On the top floor of the casino.

All the high-ranking officers of Baroque Works, along with their president, Crocodile himself, had gathered.

"Now then, let the meeting begin!"

With a cigar in his mouth, Crocodile directly revealed his identity to his senior officers.

"Sir Crocodile?"

"Our boss is one of the Seven Warlords?"

For a moment, all the high-ranking officers were stunned. This was the first time they learned that their boss was the infamous Warlord of the Sea.

BOOM!

Just as everyone was in shock...

With a deafening roar, a man in a dark blue coat, accompanied by a pink-haired boy, a blue cat, and a girl with orange hair whose eyes were streaming with tears, muttering, "I'll kill you, I'll kill you!"—crashed down from the sky.