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"Who's there!"
Crocodile spun around, startled by the voices. His Observation Haki hadn't picked up anyone.
(Some might argue that Crocodile's Vivre Card makes no mention of Haki — but that only means he appeared too early in the story.)
(P.S.: Haki hadn't even been conceptualized back then. The author simply gave it to him because he needed it. After all, he did challenge Whitebeard, didn't he?)
"Since you asked so sincerely!"
Kaito suddenly materialized, striking James's signature pose.
"Then I'll mercifully tell you!"
Rimuru materialized beside him, turning to face Crocodile.
"Prepare for trouble!"
"Make it double!"
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite all peoples within our nation!"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
"Kaito!"
"Rimuru!"
"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"
"Milim, That's Right!"
Milim materialized between Kaito and Rimuru right as the last line landed, completing the pose.
Crocodile stared at the three of them with a vein twitching on his forehead. Where had these clowns come from? And those capes billowing behind them — why did they look so absurd?
"Hmph! Nameless nobodies. Since you've shown yourselves, you can die right here!"
True to his reputation for letting actions speak louder than words, Crocodile immediately shaped the surrounding sand into a massive tornado and sent it screaming toward the three of them.
"Hey! No Fair!"
Whoosh. Just as the tornado was about to swallow Kaito and the others, a Goblin in a Security Force uniform flickered into existence directly in its path.
"[Flash Step: Extreme Slash]!"
The Goblin drew the long blade at his hip and unleashed a wave of sword energy more than ten meters wide straight into the tornado.
The collision tore up the ground all around them, pockmarking the earth in an instant. The tornado couldn't hold against the sword energy. It split clean in two and scattered into a gentle breeze.
The sword energy kept going, streaking straight toward Crocodile.
"What!"
Surprise flickered through Crocodile's eyes. He hadn't used his full power, but it still wasn't something just anyone could deflect, let alone break through entirely. Whoever this was, they were no ordinary fighter.
Before Crocodile could think further, the sword energy reached him. He didn't dodge.
It passed straight through his body and struck the wall behind him.
Boom. Crocodile turned to look. The wall had been carved open, a passage stretching over a hundred meters long.
"Elementalization."
The Goblin said it quietly, almost to himself, then fixed Crocodile with a steady look.
"Who exactly are you?"
Crocodile's expression turned grave as he looked back at the Goblin standing there with blade in hand.
"Jura-Tempest Federation, Academy City Security Force, Third Squad, Fifth Platoon Leader. Gobta!"
"Pfft!"
Crocodile said nothing, but Kaito, standing just behind Gobta, couldn't hold it in.
"Rimuru, when you named him, you weren't thinking of a beetle, were you?"
"Hehe! I just couldn't think of anything, you know!"
Rimuru rubbed the back of her head and stuck out her tongue, looking entirely unrepentant.
"Impossible. Someone as strong as you is only a platoon leader? That can't be right!"
Crocodile stared at Gobta and shouted, genuinely thrown off.
[Eye of Identification]!
Gobta
Loyalty: 100
Affection: 100
Abilities: Advanced Swordsmanship, Shadow Movement, [Shadow Strike: Absolute Slash]...
Overall Strength Rating: A+
Crocodile
Loyalty: 0
Affection: -10
Abilities: Sand-Sand Fruit, [Desert Spada], Elementalization...
Overall Strength Rating: A+
'Good heavens. Their strength is genuinely dead even.'
Kaito stared at the two ratings, quietly stunned.
"Believe it or not, I really am just a platoon leader."
Gobta looked at Crocodile with a thoroughly unimpressed expression.
"Hmph! Even if your strength is impressive, you alone can't protect everyone here."
Crocodile's gaze swept from Cobra to Kaito and the others. His expression was dark when he spoke again.
"Hey. You're testing my patience."
"Everyone from the Jura-Tempest Federation, come out!!!"
Kaito's voice rang out sharp and clear. Crocodile had just threatened him to his face. That wasn't something he was going to let slide.
At his call, figures seemed to appear from everywhere at once.
"Jura-Tempest Federation, Third Squad, First Platoon, reporting!"
"Jura-Tempest Federation, Third Squad, Second Platoon, reporting!"
...
"Jura-Tempest Federation, Third Squad, Fifth Platoon, reporting!"
"Jura-Tempest Federation, Academy City, Tokiwadai Middle School, Third Year, Class 2, reporting!"
...
"Third Year, Class 7, reporting!"
"Do-Nothing Organization member, Storm Dragon Veldora, reporting!"
Veldora's voice snapped Kaito back to something he'd completely forgotten.
"Veldora! Where in the world have you been!"
"Ha! It was Enju who told me that only those who survive being buried in the desert for twenty-four hours are worthy of being called true men!"
Veldora shot a deeply resentful look at Aihara Enju, who was standing at the front of the many girls of Third Year, Class 2.
"Hehe! How was I supposed to know you'd actually go and do it!"
Enju tapped the side of her head with one hand and flashed a cheeky grin.
"Where did all of you come from!"
Crocodile looked at the crowd closing in around him and shouted, and for the first time, there was a note of alarm in his voice.
If what Gobta had said earlier was true, then at least five of the people here matched his own strength. And the others didn't exactly look like pushovers either. He had a bad feeling about this.
While Crocodile was still working out how to slip away, someone else was already trying to do exactly that.
"Oh my. Where is this young lady trying to go?"
Kaito's eyes found Nico Robin moving quietly toward the edge of the group. He watched her with a calm, amused expression.
"I..."
"Or should I call you by your real name. Sole survivor of Ohara, Demon Child Nico Robin."
The moment Kaito said her name, Robin's whole body went rigid. A look of unguarded fear crossed her face before she could stop it.
"Are you people from the World Government?"
Cobra, who had been standing quietly to one side the entire time, looked up sharply at those two words.
The Alabasta royal family had never been on warm terms with the World Government, and the World Government had never been fond of the Nefertari family either.
Eight hundred years ago, the Nefertari family had refused to relocate to the Holy Land and given up their place among the Celestial Dragons. In the eyes of the Celestial Dragons, the Nefertaris had always been traitors, but because they were one of the Twenty Kings of that era, there had never been a clean way to move against them directly.
"Has the World Government finally run out of patience!"
Kaito frowned at Cobra's outburst and gave him a flat look.
"Oi, the only reason I'm not dragging you into my [Conqueror's Banner] right now is because you're Vivi's father."
"What has the World Government got to do with me? That's an insult."
"I am the Regent of the Jura-Tempest Federation and an Honorary Director of Academy City."
"Destroyer of Orcs. Annihilator of the Dark World. Founder of the Do-Nothing Organization. First Sealer of the Blanket Fort..."
Every person in earshot felt a cold sweat forming somewhere around their temples.
'That started out fine. Why does it keep getting stranger? Is the Jura-Tempest Federation actually a legitimate country?!'