Crocodile (2)

"What I do is none of your business."

"It became my business when you forced a friend of mine to cry and run in fear. She had to travel and live among the most vile people just so that she could save her country. We are pirates, we don't do that. You broke the code."

"Hahahaha.... Codes? Hahahaha.....You talk about code? There is no code in pirate book. They plunder, they loot, they kill.. they do whatever they want... You don't even know what it is to be a pirate."

"Oh! At least I am not a running slave of the government." That counter attack from Ken was enough to let him hear that Crocodile had clenched his teeth his anger. He could hear the teeth grinding on itself.

"Some people have forgotten who I am."

"Don't worry we will remind you of your place. We will come for you."

"Then come. Let me see what you are made of."

"By the way what you are looking for doesn't exist in Alabasta." With those words he disconnected the call. His last words were a hint for him. And it was done to make him doubt about the real reason he was trying to take over Alabasta, to read the Poneglyph. Now he just lost Nico Robin. He must be fuming.

Rainbase, the small casino that Crocodile had built for himself.

Crocodile wanted to call the number back. But his pride was high enough to not do so. He didn't know what Ken meant with those last words but he wanted to find out.

"Punisher Kenny.. Haa.. Let me see what worthless piece of shit are you."

The three officer agents had finally had relief after the call ended. Talking so boldly with a Shichibukai meant that this guy was really serious with the bet and didn't seem to care about the ferocity nor the power of the Shichibukai. This was the first time. But then again his Wanted Posters spoke more volumes.

"Go back and hide for a few days until you can show up." Ken said and the three nodded their heads. They packed the remaining things up that hadn't caught fire and left. The two giants had already stopped duelling and calm was retained on the island.

After a few minutes, the three officer agents vanished in the forest and almost ran towards the shore where they had anchored their ship. Ken just stood as their silhouettes disappeared and just looked up and sighed.

"You can come out. There is no need to hide.."

"..."

"Vivi. I know you are here with Caroo."

After a moment of silence, there was movement on the east side of the forest which was filled with bushes. A woman with long blue hair emerged while sitting on the yellow duck. From far Ken could tell that she had small tears on her eyes.

"You.. You knew that I was here?"

"Of course I knew. You could have come long before too. Why are you roaming alone?"

"Uhhh... The giants were fighting so Nami-san said that we should move further and also try to gather some food for the ship. Everyone is now actively hunting some beasts to feed the people of the ship."

"Oh. Did you kill anything?"

Vivi got embarrassed a bit and looked at the porch on the side of Caroo. From the size of it, she probably had caught two hares. This wouldn't even fill the teeth of Luffy.

"You don't have to work so much. You are a guest of the ship. Just sit back and enjoy."

Vivi just shook her head and said she wanted to contribute to the crew.

"Let's head back to the giants. I want to meet them." Ken said and walked towards the giants, while Vivi followed. After a few minutes walking, Vivi finally got the courage and asked.

"Ken-san, do you really consider me as a friend?"

"Of course I do. I think the other crew members do the same."

"I.. I... Thank you."

"We are friends, you don't need to say that."

"Then Miss All Sunday is your friend too?"

Ken stopped in his tracks and looked at her. Vivi got scared a bit and didn't know what she should do. She had seen how easily Ken had let the officer agents go but she also saw how he threatened Crocodile, so she wasn't sure why Ken acted in a very contradictory way.

"Robin had a very miserable life. Much more miserable than most of us. She had lost everything. Her mother, her friends.. Everyone who had come close to her had died. What she was doing with Crocodile has nothing to do with taking over your country. You can think of her as someone who was trying to stop Crocodile while being under him. For that reason she had allowed you to follow him so that you could uncover his plans and maybe miraculously get some help."

Vivi was petrified when she heard that. She thought that Miss All Sunday was just like another officer agent and wanted to help Crocodile take over her country but now Ken was saying that she was a spy. But why?

"She is a spy?"

"You can say so. Spying and assassination is her forte."

"Then she must be working for someone. Why are we keeping her then if she is a spy?"

Ken just smiled at it and said "You will understand what organization she works for, once I show you."

Vivi nodded her head and chose to believe Ken. She didn't know what life Miss All Sunday had but from the words of Ken it must be very tragic. Ken had a sadness in his eyes when she spoke of Robin. She didn't see that before on Ken.

Ken then proceeded to kill some dinosaurs and animals that came along the way and kept their bodies in the magical pouch. Having the pouch was a boon for the crew as they could take more food with them unlike before.

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Read 35 more chapters on my p@treon.com/thelightedghost and expect 4 chapters on weekend if there are more than 1000 power stones