Reincarnated Into The One Piece World With The Zushi - Zushi No Mi

Amid the raging hot desert of Alabasta, in the middle of nowhere, I was standing still and on the lookout for someone.

In my hands, there was a briefcase of doc.u.ments that contained some valuable information on the movements of the royal army.

Rustle-Rustle-

From the distance, a figure of a man wearing indigo robes and a head cloth appeared. He was the stationed Baroque Works spy assigned to meet me it seemed.

"Where's the intel?" He asked, his voice plain and nonchalant.

I stared blankly at the man and handed him the files without saying anything.

Before I could begin to leave, the man raised his voice and said, "Mr.0 has left a message for you.'

"Okay…"

The man handed me a folded piece of paper, which I immediately opened up to check its contents.

'Huh, nothing?' My lips pressed together into a frown. It was just blank paper.

Then, I immediately looked at the man and yelled, "Are you blind, or is your brain empty like this paper?! What's the meaning of th-"

Whoosh…! Desert Spada…!

All of a sudden, a ground torpedo, splitting everything in its path, sliced towards me from the sand. At the same time, a golden hook targeted me from the back. It was attached to a string of sand and was floating towards me at a high speed.

'Goddamn Crocodile!' I used my observation Haki to the utmost limit to predict the trajectory of the two attacks. Also, I simultaneously used Kami and Geppo to flexibly dodge into the air.

Swoosh…! All of this happened in less than a blink of the eye.

At the end of this encounter, the man wearing the indigo robes disappeared and was replaced by Crocodile. On the other hand, I was descending from the air with nothing more than just a small scratch to my arm.

"Hahaha! Who would have thought that Crocodile was nothing more than a dog who would sneak attack?!"

With a mocking smile on my face, I looked Crocodile into the eyes.

Who knew this arrogant man who dared to fight Whitebeard would actually use such a despicable move on me?

An ugly scowl developed on Crocodile's face as he replied, "Don't fool yourself; I was just saving time from playing around with a traitor like you… Your Devil-Fruit powers are very useful at running away after all."

I gazed at Crocodile with a little bit more cautiousness. It seemed that the cat was out of the bag… He had finally caught on to my movements.

"You were a sensible recruit, perfect to my cause. I thought you would realize the gap between us and truly submit to me eventually. Yet you turned out to be a bigger fool than I thought. Your betrayal was unfortunate, but nothing I can't get ov-"

"Cut your bullshit and fight!"

I began to channel the forces of gravity near me. Even though Crocodile had an advantage in this desert environment, I was still confident in my chances.

Nevertheless, Crocodile had different plans…

Instead of facing me like I thought he would, he just instantly turned himself into sand and disappeared from my view.

"I don't need to waste any more time on a dead man like you..."

These words echoed in my ears, resulting in me grimacing in confusion.

"Ugh!" Right then, I detected a throbbing pain in my arm. It began to spread rapidly from the scratch and to the other parts of my body.

'Poisoned Hook!' My eyes opened wide in surprise.

Despite my body being in pain from the poison, I gritted my teeth and yelled, "I am not done celebrating our reunion yet, Crocodile!"

Up in the sky, tens of meteors were suddenly seen descending to the ground at tremendous speeds. Very soon, -Boom- they crashed into the ground and created massive explosions.

The pure force of the strikes compressed sand vey quickly and began to turn it into glass.

Crocodile could only click his tongue and reveal himself to dodge the barrage of meteors I had summoned.

He was now in the open. But I didn't bother chasing anymore and just gazed onto his leaving figure…

"We'll fight again, Crocodile." I murmured.

Next, I took out an antidote injection from my belongings and injected myself immediately. The antidote's molecules instantly initiated binding to the toxic molecules present in the poison and neutralized it effectively.

After taking a deep breath and checking my conditions, I left the deserted area.

**

Back at the throne room in Alabasta, I was standing in front of the king and relaying the order of events that took place in the desert

Standing on each side of the king, the royal guards, Pell and Chaka were engaged in heated discussion.

"It's enough now! We've led too many skirmishes against Baroque Works, yet it refuses to die. I'll lead the royal army tomorrow and kill Crocodile in battle at Rainbase!"

"I understand your pain, Pell… But we're helpless to attack Rainbase."

Pell was arguing for action, while Chaka insisted patience.

I took a large yawn away the view of these people. These arguments have occurred enough times over the past two years.

Soon King Cobra raised his hand and then yelled, "Enough! We will not attack Rainbase with the royal army… not until we're willing to lose everything. Till then, we need to find a way to defeat Crocodile and expose the truth at the same time."

I nodded internally and agreed with King Cobra.

Over the last two years, due to me leaking Crocodile's plans, the royal army was trying to find a way to inhibit Crocodile's plans from the get-go.

Even so, his Baroque Works had rooted themselves too deep in the nation for them to be truly removed.

At the same time, Crocodile had sensed this hostility and become a bigger hero to the people. He had installed water pipes that would take filtered water from Rainbase and supply it to rebel areas that were hit worst by the draught.

If the royal army truly chose to attack Crocodile at Rainbase itself, the rebel army was sure to think of the King as a tyrant and be provoked into war. And of course, someone benevolent like King Cobra wanted to avoid innocent bloodshed like that at all costs.

"Also, do we even have anyone that is capable of defeating that Shichibukai?" In the next instant, the king squinted his eyes at me and continued, "You may not belong to the royal army, but you're our best option, Magnus. Do you think you're willing to risk your life to face him?"

"I…" There was a hesitation in my voice for unknown reasons, but I was able to quickly remove it by logical resolve. "I have enmity with Crocodile and wish to kill him… Yet I'm very prepared to escape if I find my life at risk in battle."

Pell's and Chaka had their jaws clenched; however, King Cobra quickly spoke over them.

"I appreciate your support, Magnus… Now, you three can continue your skirmishes at the Baroque Works bases we've marked. Good luck!"

Clenching my fists tightly, I bowed to the king and left the room.

All of us could feel the tensions from the beginning of the end approaching…

**

A few days later, I was floating across the sea of Grand Line in a wooden raft.

Presently, I was performing routine patrols and targeting any Baroque Work sh.i.p.s and bases spread in the vicinity of Alabasta.

The next base I had to attack was mentioned to be Whiskey Peak… 'Wait, that sounds familiar!' I thought with a c.o.c.ked head.

In time, my confusion was completely cleared.

It was when I came across smoke and rubble at Whiskey Peak, and a small ship with a Straw-Hat Jolly Roger and a sheep figurehead having left port.

Following it was giant Sea Turtle that belonged to Nico Robin, who had boarded the Going Merry and seemed to be engaging in some dialogue.

"Mhm, interesting…"

I immediately changed the gravity affecting my raft in the direction of the Going Merry Ship.