Crocodile's Curiosity and Desert Gratitude

_________ POV Crocodile _________

... I can barely wrap my head around the message that Enel read out to me.

Too much I don't know about history, too many references I don't understand...

Maybe I should try and get in touch with Dragon and the rest. But how exactly? ... Baltigo's been erased.

I could ask Enel about their location. But something tells me he won't be so enthusiastic to give me that information... I'll have to visit Okama Land, I guess... Running into Ivankov won't be nice at all...

Gah! I hate that woman...

Yeah... I am one of the very few people that remember Ivankov's original gender. Not that it matters much nowadays, since he tends to switch it depending on his mood.

Sky King Enel seems to be more interested in the writings that were uncovered after he touched the Poneglyph. In all honesty, I had never heard of such a phenomenon...

I guess it reacted to his devil fruit? If that's the case I guess the message on it is a bit more personal.

No reason to expect him to translate it for me. I'll just wait for him outside as he contemplates everything...

My job in Alabasta is done already.

I may not have gotten to take out the Nefertari family, but that doesn't matter anymore.

It's a shame, but they would've only been a pain in my side while I was looking for this 'special' poneglyph.

I did somewhat wish to see Vivi's eyes fill with despair one last time before getting rid of her.

Crushing her will and that of her people would've been a nice way to wash away the shame of my former defeat in this small kingdom...

''Have some semblance of pride, you pathetic worm.'

Tsk... Why do I even bother remembering this monster's words...

He made a name for himself hunting weaklings as well... He's no better than me.

And yet... He is the one surrounded by powerful allies like Whitebeard and the Revolutionaries. While all I have are some weaklings that shouldn't even be on the first half of the grand line...

Well... Whatever.

It can't be helped. I'm not stupid enough to try and attack the territories of emperors yet.

Whitebeard seems weaker nowadays, but I can't take him and all his children on by myself...

Better find some allies, quickly...

Enel talked of war and choosing sides, but I'll have to look into this myself before making any major moves like that... Better build up a significant enough force to survive regardless.

Hmph... I think I'm better off just heading to my ship.

No use in wasting more time here.

The Poneglyph also turned out to be dud, but that's just par for the course at this point.

This whole journey's been a waste of time... Well, off to the New World now.

_________ POV Narration _________

Enel didn't bother saying goodbye to Crocodile.

Hell, the former warlord became more of an afterthought to the Emperor as he tried to search his mind for any island where he could find the tomb of Raijin.

In the end, nothing came to his mind.

'I'll have to ask Sengoku and the rest... They may have more knowledge of this.

I just hope the island wasn't erased by the World Government already, since that's always a possibility...'

Enel then placed his notebook back into his coat after scribbling down the last few words.

After he turned away, he could hear a few mechanisms turning inside the temple, which made him raise an eyebrow.

Without any hesitation, he disappeared from the temple, reappearing on his ship, starting it up and flying off.

It didn't take long for a large explosion to rise up in the distance, which made Enel feel a bit strange.

The smoke cloud rose up high, and a shockwave spread through the entire island as a sandstorm formed and threatened to cover the entire island in sand, including houses and what little crops they still had.

'... Did I trigger all of that with just a bit of electricity?'

Enel knew he needed to do something, so he decided to try his best and stop the dust storm at the very least.

He flew his ship above into the sky and started gathering up as many clouds as he could, thankfully his arrival to the island had already attracted quite a few, which made his job easier.

He then started doing something he hadn't quite attempted in the past... Drawing water from the energized clouds.

His lightning rained all around the island as well, and parts of the sea were raised to protect the people and towns nearest to the edge of the island.

And thanks to the water from the clouds, Enel was also able to put up a dome of energized water around the settlements from further into the island, including the castle.

Groups of people that were out and about were also covered, as Enel struggled slightly to keep everyone safe from what was essentially his blunder.

The sand and the water clashed, but the clash didn't last long, as the storm died down rather quickly as soon as the explosion died down...

Enel was able to see that an entire kilometre of land was turned into a large crater around the temple.

It was as if a nuclear weapon had gone off there, which really went to show the extents to which his predecessor was willing to go in order to hide his message.

As a result of that explosion, the Poneglyph stone was now also gone... Well, mostly gone.

The explosion had started from somewhere within the Poneglyph, so it had managed to scatter pieces of it through the desert surrounding it.

Enel could feel quite a few pieces of it throughout the desert but knew that seeking them out was a waste of time.

Instead, he decided to return to the royal palace, where everyone was still reeling from the large explosion and weird weather phenomena that occurred...

The dome of water had also lost its sparks and fell down on the heads of the civilians like rain, well, it was more aptly described as a water bucket being dropped on their heads.

"W-what was that..." Cobra said as he spits out some of the dirty water he had taken into his mouth.

It had already been a while since he had water, so he had subconsciously opened his mouth and swallowed some of it, alas, the dust storm didn't leave the water all that clean.

"An explosion, I think... Stirred up quite the storm." Vivi muttered as she watched the desert in the distance with a pale face.

"And that water... I'm guessing Enel protected us..." Cobra coughed a few more times as he spoke.

After all, Enel was already quite well-known for his ability to control water as well as clouds. It was basically common knowledge for most that facing him at sea was suicide.

It wasn't uncommon for devil fruit users to affect the sea with their powers... Things like blowing it away, evaporating it, or even freezing it.

But controlling it was quite unprecedented, which was why it was quite memorable.

The people below were still confused, but they were a tad too busy restraining the still-collapsed soldiers of Crocodile, who the former Warlord had left behind without any worry.

Enel appeared behind the royal family after a few moments, tapping the two of them on the shoulder and startling them quite a bit.

Vivi turned around instinctively and got into a fighting stance, only to realise that she had no weapons and that she was stupid. She ended up just relaxing after seeing Enel's face and taking a few breaths.

Cobra was a lot calmer, already knowing that Crocodile wasn't stupid enough to go against an Emperor directly.

The Lightning Emperor towered over the two of them with a meter to spare, so he was essentially crouched down to speak to them.

"Sorry about the explosion, don't worry, I made sure no one was affected by it. Poneglyph turned out to be some old bomb. Crocodile's already on his way off the island too."

The emperor briefly explained the situation to them, not bothering to give them any details or tell them about the contents of the Poneglyph.

"I see... In that case, thank you for protecting my people. I also thank you for saving me and my daughter. We are truly indebted to you."

Cobra just nodded and bowed slightly, thanking Enel for helping his people.

Vivi also did the same, not wanting to be disrespectful to the man that had just saved their lives.

"No need to thank me, just doing what I felt was right."

Enel just waved at them to raise their heads, before sighing a bit and continuing.

"So... There's a lot to talk about regarding this now being my territory, but I'm guessing the two of you need some time to recover," Enel said as he smiled at the king and princess.

Vivi was glad to see that he was back, though she had to admit he did seem just as scary as Crocodile...

In a sense, Enel had just turned Alabasta into 'his' country anyway... At the very least they got to live, right? Maybe Enel wouldn't treat their people badly either...

At least those were the thoughts of the Princess, as she didn't have much knowledge of how Emperor Territories worked.

"Vivi... You can go rest if you wish. I need to discuss the terms with Enel..." Cobra himself needed the most rest, but he was quick to put assurance that his nation was truly safe above his own health.

"No father! I'd much rather stay by your side..."

The Princess was not the type to shy away from these types of discussions though... Which was exactly why Cobra had wanted her to rest.

'We can't afford to offend Enel in any way... Even if he's friendly now, we don't exactly know what his link with Luffy is, or why he's helping us...'

"I don't mind if the little princess is around. I'll keep things short and sweet since I'm also in a bit of a hurry."

Enel didn't want to stay too long in Alabasta. He had already gained a lot more than he had expected from the slight deviation in his journey.

Now he also had a Kingdom as his territory...

"Fine. But I'll say this now... Our kingdom is too poor currently to pay you any tribute. We simply cannot afford it without starving our people completely." Cobra's lips trembled as he spoke, and Enel shook his head.

"That's fine, I don't need any tribute. Not much you could give me anyway."

Cobra's eyes widened in disbelief at that. It did feel quite odd to hear that a pirate was rejecting money.

Vivi just smiled when hearing that, realising that Enel was like Luffy... Well, he seemed more intelligent thankfully.

Cobra didn't even get to comment on that, before Enel opened his mouth again and continued.

"I don't exactly have a Jolly Roger, if I ever get one I'll send it to you and all that.

For the most part, it's impossible to announce to the world that this is my territory, but I'll take a transponder snail from you, and you may contact me on it if you run into any trouble."

Enel just waved his hand dismissively as he realised that declaring Alabasta as his territory was impossible without any mainstream news to carry the word around to the rest of the world.

It was going to become a well-known fact on Alabasta, and maybe some nearby islands. But for the most part, it was going to be hard to deter pirates from attacking.

"T-thank you... I believe we can deal with most things ourselves... Food is really the only thing we have a problem with currently." Cobra smiled as his eyes lit up.

Thankfully, Alabasta could still protect itself. Its people were strong enough to stand up to some measly pirates.

They had already proven themselves, revolting against Crocodile twice... Well, they didn't exactly win, but they still had become stronger as a result of those struggles.

As long as the likes of Crocodile didn't roll in town, they'd be just peachy.

Well, peachy but starving. Food was really the only thing they were having issues with currently.

"So food is your only issue? I was guessing that the rampant piracy in the world would be the problem..." Enel tilted his head, his long earlobes slightly tilting as well, which somewhat startled Vivi.

'Holy shit... They're almost as long as I am!' The princess blinked a few times before shaking the thoughts out of her head and continuing to listen to the conversation.

"You'd think, but it is quite difficult to sustain a desert country without any imports... Fishing is currently our main way of gaining food, but it's not quite sustainable and is extremely dangerous." Cobra just shook his head, he did have some semblance of hope though...

His envoys were sure to return, hopefully, the nearby countries would help them through that crisis...

"Fine..." Enel just blinked a few times. The skies rumbled and shook, clouds gathering up once more and turning black, as the waters around Alabasta's port towns seemed to become alive while lightning rained down on them.

"I'll give you a small helping hand. Consider it a parting gift, since I should be on my way soon."

"A-a small hand?" Cobra blinked a few times as he looked at the clouds with a bit of fear in his eyes.

Enel just smiled as he raised the waters further, this time pulling as much fish as he could from nearby.

He also struck searched for some Sea Kings with his radar, striking them down and pulling them to Alabasta.

"Fishing is pretty easy for me. Your port towns should be stocked with fish and Sea King meat now." Enel waved his hand around once more as the storm he had created died down.

Cobra's eyes widened once more, as did Vivi's. It was a bit difficult to believe but at the same time...

'That's an emperor for you, huh...'

An issue that had plagued them so much was solved in a few seconds.

"Well, I'm off now." Enel stepped onto the railing of the balcony and clapped his hands.

"A-already? At least let us throw a party in your name." Vivi said as she perked up, both she and her father turned to see Enel's back slowly turning into lightning.

"On any other occasion, I'd stay. But as I've said, I'm in a hurry.

I've already grabbed a snail, I'll contact you all later so you know where to call me." Enel waved his hand as he disappeared.

His ship was waiting for him in the desert, where he had parked it after the sand storm had died down.

He wasted no time in starting it up and heading for the Sky Islands once more.

'Well... That was certainly a nice detour... Might've finally found a clue for my awakening...'

Enel just smiled widely as he looked into the horizon.

__________________________________________________________________

Hope you liked the chapter!

Random explosion go BRR

But hey, the old Raijin testing his successor felt nice enuff to add ;))

If u want to support me look up VeganMaster(Vegan Cult) on Patre_on, you'd also get 10 chapters in advance (or 5 depending on tier)