Crocodile actually didn't expect that Straw Hats would come to his place. He did hear the news that the Straw-hats had appeared on Nanohana with Ace but that was it. After that they disappeared. He expected the Straw-Hats to deliver the princess to the Capital and be done with it. Of course he wouldn't let that opportunity get away from his hands and catch Nico Robin who had been abducted.

He had sent all of the Baroque Works to the capital where the civil war would take place, and among all the chaos he would go and swoop away Robin. Robin was essential in deciphering the Poneglyph as he was obsessed with it. Only an ancient weapon would give him the power to go to the top and be the most powerful.

The reason he was outside was because he just had a meeting with an external help that showed up at his doorstep. He had gone outside the town to greet his new helpers that had appeared out of nowhere. After confirming the deal he was back with a happy mood.

It was decided that he would soon leave for the Capital as the rebel army was approaching the capital fast. But when he had returned he was welcomed by loud noise and laughs from the underground he turned sour. He went straight to the place where he had captured Smoker only to see the Straw Hats.

And of course among them was Nico Robin too, for whom he had been searching for some time now.

"Nico Robin, you are a tough woman to find."

"Boss!... It's been some time since I have seen you." Robin said with her usual calm and serene tone.

"You have done quite a good deed of bringing the enemies right at my place. Now we can go back to Alubarna and complete our mission." Crocodile said but in the next moment he heard a loud shout coming from the side.

It was Luffy.

Since he had been shouting all this time about beating Crocodile and now that he had laid eyes on him, he punched Crocodile right at the face. Crocodile didn't react at all and the punch just passed through his face as it turned into sand.

The attack had no meaning as his punch didn't even register for Crocodile. Crocodile turned around and said,

"Straw-Hat Luffy. The new supernova that had originated from East Blue. You have raised quite the buzz among the pirates." While Luffy looked at his hand and said out loud.

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"Ken, you were right. The Logia devil fruits are really disgusting."

Crocodile got irritated that Luffy ignored him and sent a flying sand blade towards Luffy. Luffy, who had just awakened the Observation Haki dodged the blade by jumping up in the air. After jumping in the air, his feet touched the upper ceiling and that allowed him to hang upside down with the help of his chakra.

"Ken, release Smoker and get away. The surrounding water will soon get inside and destroy this place." Luffy said. The underground hall constructed in the casino wasn't just a normal place. The surrounding walls were made with glass and on the other side of the glass was a huge pond which had the famous Bananawani a.k.a., the Banana Crocodile.

These crocodiles were huge and could tear a human flesh apart easily. Crocodile, being true to his name, kept them as pets in the pond and used his enemies to feed the crocodiles. Luffy, of course, had seen the surroundings and knew that fighting here would cause the structures around to be destroyed and thus he needed his friends to be away.

Ken nodded at Luffy and brought his Mjolnir. Crocodile who had been neglected in all of this felt more anger and released a sand storm towards Luffy.

Suiton: Suijinheki (Water Release: Water Encampment Wall)

A huge wall suddenly rose from the ceiling and stopped the small sandstorm that Crocodile had just raised. The most interesting thing about the wall was that it was made out of water so when the sandstorm struck the body of the huge liquid it just got negated within seconds. Crocodile was dumbfounded.

"What... What are you?"

He couldn't believe what he saw. He was sure that the water that just rose didn't come from the surrounding pond and must be something that the Straw Hat just did. He was sure that Luffy was someone with a Devil fruit so he couldn't understand how someone could control water. This went against the laws known to him about Devil fruits.

"I am Monkey D. Luffy, the person who is going to become the pirate king." Luffy shouted as he ran straight through the diminishing wall of water. It had already stopped the sandstorm so there was not much water left. His body got drenched in water.

With water all over his body, he extended his hand and punched Crocodile right at his face. Crocodile was still confused about what just happened and before he knew it, the punch had landed on his face and unlike last time the punch was effective.

Since his hand was doused in water, it made contact with his body and Crocodile was thrown away. Luffy might not have mastered the Armament Haki but he already knew the weakness of Crocodile so he didn't hesitate to use his tactics against him.

Vivi wanted to help Luffy but was stopped by Nami, she was fueled by hatred and that might prove fatal to Vivi. She might have powers now but Crocodile was still quite powerful. Meanwhile Ken had taken his Mjolnir and hit at the lock of the prison that held Smoker.

Smoker who saw all of this got more incensed when Luffy directed Ken to release Smoker. He felt insulted. Just like last time when they met. Ken and Luffy were turning to be his greatest humiliation and regret. If it was not for the sea stones he would have attacked right now.

"Why are you releasing me, Punisher?"

"Because it was the decision of the Captain and you are some of the few good marines left."