Chapter 54 - Cripple Him

A man with neatly slicked back black hair and pale skin sat at a large table. In his mouth was a cigar as he took a puff.

"Crocodile, all of our money in the casino has been taken! We need to go after those responsible!"

Crocodile was the man with the cigar in his mouth. He looked at the man talking to him.

"I read the message he left. This guy, you don't even know his name but you want me to go after him? I can care less about the money as its just a means to help get what I want. However, he knows about Utopia! This man cannot be left alone, it'll ruin all of my plans!"

Crocodile looked at a tanned man who was muscular.

"Mr. 1 find who is responsible for this and bring them to me!"

Mr. 1 nodded his head.

As he was leaving the room a slim woman with curly dark-blue hair followed him.

"Rebel army, Vivi and that pirate crew, and now this! All of them must fall!"

Bob didn't know what was going on with Crocodile, nor did he know that someone was tasked to go after him.

Instead he was travelling to Katorea town to meet with Koza the rebel leader.

He spent arrived in town after a few hours, but by the time he came it was already late in the day. Bob decided that everyone should rest up for now.

Bob rented rooms in an inn in Katorea town for the next few nights.

"John, did Kureha ever find a place?"

Bob asked John as the two of them were sitting down at a table waiting for their food to arrive.

"Yeah, Dick and Larry are with her. However, the building she wants cost a 150 million beli. It's old, and needs some work put into it, but she said it'll work wonders for what you two have planned."

"Alright, we'll buy it tomorrow then when we go back."

Bob chatted with John about a few things before calling it a night.

The other members that came along with the two of them were staying up late drinking and relaxing a bit. All of them except for Dalton who decided not to drink but instead take the time to rest.

The next morning Bob got up and showered, before he headed out into town.

On the first floor Bob saw everyone eating breakfast, he thought to join them but he wasn't really hungry.

"Once you guys are done, we'll head into town."

Bob said.

His words made everyone start eating faster than before.

It wasn't long before everyone finished their meals and were ready to go. There was one thing Bob didn't know, which was how should he come in contact with Koza. He only knew that they had a base here, it never stated where it was exactly in the town.

"Where to?"

Dalton asked Bob.

"No real idea, we'll just look around. I only recall that there is a wooden gate somewhere here that leads to their camp."

Bob answered.

Bob took his gang and started wandering around Katorea town. After thirty minutes of walking Bob found what he was looking for.

Bob walked up to the gate and some men who were standing guard pointed their weapons at him.

John had his hands on Amane ready to take action, as everyone else with Bob was also ready to get into a fight.

"Relax, i'm here to see Koza. We have a mutual friend, that I would like to talk about."

One man looked at Bob then looked at the gang of people behind him. He didn't know who this friend was Bob was talking about, but he was not going to let all of them enter the camp.

"You can enter, but the rest of them stays out here."

He told Bob.

"Alright."

Bob looked at the others.

"I'll be back, don't kill anyone."

Bob entered the camp where he saw a young blond man with a scar on his left eye seated on a crate.

"Who are you?"

The man asked Bob.

"A friend of a friend. Let's just say there's a certain princess we both know."

Koza's eye twitched.

"Vivi!? She's here?"

Bob nodded his head.

"She is."

Bob looked over at a man who seemed a bit nervous.

"You know Koza, instead of allowing people to join the army you should check them out. There are many spies. I happened to capture one of them, Mr. Love. He was pretending to work for you but he was actually passing along information to someone else?"

Koza was shocked.

"I don't believe you!"

Bob shrugged.

"Up to you. Just trust in my words. There seems to be a misunderstanding here with what you are doing. Have you ever heard of Pluton?"

"Pluton? What is that?"

"It's an ancient weapon capable of mass destruction. Some believe that it is hidden here in Alabasta. There is a man named Crocodile that is after that weapon, he's manipulating the people and you. He's hoping you will go after the king and try to overthrow him. He wants to sit on the throne for himself and have all of Alabasta under his command."

Koza clenched his fist.

"I knew something was off with him. But… why should I believe your words? You could be one of his men!"

"Because, i'm the person that's going to cripple him and his businesses. I've already stopped his largest source of income from operating. Trust me when I say i'm more an ally than an enemy."

One man looked at Koza.

"It's true Koza, there has been word that the casino was robbed yesterday. I never figured someone would actually claim they did it though."

Koza looked at his trusted friend and thought some things over in his head.

"I… I need time to think things through."

Bob sighed.

Did he not explain things thoroughly? What more was there to think about? They said Koza was a smart man and a leader, he should be able to understand what Bob was saying.

"Koza, i'd just hate for a war to happen when it doesn't need to. If you need me, i'll be staying at an inn nearby."

Bob said as he turned and left.

As Bob's figure left the base, Koza clenched his hand tighter.

"Koza. What are we going to do?"

Bob took his gang back to the inn.

He figured Koza should contact him later today or tomorrow sometime.

A few minutes after Bob left, one soldier in the rebel army camp was sweating hard. He had a baby den-den mushi on him and hoped he never had to use it.

He picked it up and dialed someone. Moments later they answered.

"Hello?"

"There has been a problem here in the rebel army. Someone named Bob came a few minutes ago, he claimed to be the one that took all of Crocodile's money. He said he would cripple him! He also spoke to Koza, he knows that Crocodile is manipulating the people! What should I do?"

The man could hear some chatter on the other side of the den-den mushi.

"Take no action for now. Mr. 2 is on his way."