In his previous life, One Piece fans had argued endlessly about how strong Crocodile really was.
But one thing was clear. After being crushed by Whitebeard, Crocodile stopped trying to improve himself and instead became obsessed with finding the ancient weapon Pluton. From that moment on, he had already lost the will of a true conqueror.
During this period, his Haki, a power that depended completely on a person's will, had already begun to decline.
All Crocodile could truly rely on was the Suna Suna no Mi.
Against weak opponents, the power of sand was overwhelming. He could wipe out entire groups with ease. Against strong opponents, even if he could not win, he could still escape without effort. With a single movement, his body would dissolve into sand and disappear.
In short, the Crocodile of this era looked intimidating, but his true strength was far from what people imagined.
Ash understood exactly why Crocodile would come all the way to Twin Capes to recruit people.
Sali and his group had been blocking the entrance for so long that both pirates and bounty hunters in Paradise had begun to disappear. Every major force was struggling to recruit new members, but the one suffering the most was Crocodile, who was secretly trying to control Alabasta.
Even though he still maintained the image of a hero in the kingdom, his influence was nowhere near as strong as it should have been. Without a steady flow of pirates entering the Grand Line, the heroic image he was trying to build was starting to fall apart.
Because of the blockade at Twin Capes, Baroque Works had barely recruited anyone useful. Most of the people they managed to bring in were weak and unreliable.
So if Crocodile could recruit the bounty hunters at Twin Capes, he would solve two problems at once.
Unfortunately for him, he never expected the people guarding the entrance to be strong enough to nearly bury him there.
The battle ended with Crocodile turning into sand and fleeing in panic. Whether he was injured or not was unknown, but one thing was certain, he had completely lost face.
Ash already had a feeling that Sali was about to make a name for himself.
And just as he expected, the news reached him before anything else did.
Before he could even think about it properly, a call came from Fleet Admiral Sengoku.
There was no small talk.
Sengoku immediately asked what relationship Ash had with Sali.
The senior leaders of the Marines were not fools. They knew that Ash had once ordered the same blockade at Twin Capes. Now that the Dawn Ship was traveling around the Four Seas, it was impossible to ignore the possibility that the group at Twin Capes still belonged to him.
In the past, when Sengoku needed to contact Ash, Marines had already visited Diwen Village and met Sali in person. Vice Admiral Tsuru had also carefully studied the photos of the young fighters who had once fought at Marine Base 175 in North Blue.
Half of those young fighters were now on the Dawn Ship, while the other half were still at Twin Capes. It was impossible for the Marine headquarters not to suspect something.
Still, Sengoku never sent anyone to Twin Capes to confirm it.
That alone was already an answer.
It meant that Sengoku knew the truth, and at the same time chose not to expose it.
When Sengoku spoke again, his tone was calm.
"So, do you have anything to do with the people blocking Twin Capes?"
Ash did not hesitate at all.
"No chance," he replied calmly. "Blocking the entrance to the Grand Line is just a coincidence. Great minds think alike."
He even pretended to sound interested.
"If you need help, I can head over right now."
Sengoku did not fall for it.
"That won't be necessary. Stay on Gourmet Island and keep eating."
Then the call ended.
Ash clicked his tongue.
"Old man, I know exactly what you're thinking."
Five days later, Sali contacted him.
The World Government had sent envoys to Twin Capes and invited Sali to become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
Ash immediately understood what had happened.
Sengoku and Tsuru clearly knew about his connection to Sali, but they had not revealed it to the World Government. Both sides were pretending that nothing was wrong.
Ash told Sali to accept the offer, but to keep their relationship completely hidden. From now on, they would simply be more careful when using the space gate.
The very next day, the World Economic Journal published the news.
A new member had joined the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
White Lion Sali.
His first bounty was five hundred million Berries.
For the year 1517 of the sea calendar, that number was unbelievably high. But the World Government had no choice. Ash already had a bounty of eight hundred and eighty eight million Berries, while his crew members Youki and Pini had bounties of three hundred million and three hundred and fifty million.
If White Lion Sali had received a lower bounty, it would have looked strange.
In the end, it was only a number. No one in their right mind would actually try to hunt someone worth five hundred million Berries.
The nickname "White Lion" came from the battle against Crocodile.
During the fight, Sali had briefly entered his half beast form, and a News Coo had captured the moment. The image of the white one horned lion head looked incredibly powerful. His beard, which originally resembled the White Sage Beast, was mistaken for a lion's mane.
Because of that appearance, and because he could use both ice and lightning, many people began to suspect that his Devil Fruit was a Mythical Zoan that had never been recorded before.
Even so, Sali was not satisfied with the nickname.
Unfortunately, he had no way to contact Morgans, so he could only accept it for now. One day, when the truth was revealed, the name would definitely be corrected.
One month after Sali officially became one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, new information reached Ash.
The merchant ship Cathay, which had been traveling through Paradise, had been attacked by the Kuja Pirates, and a fierce battle had already begun.