Chapter 204: Vivi: Father, What on Earth Are You Doing?
Just poisoned— that's all.
Nami's eyes instantly reddened.
"What nonsense are you talking!"
Without Nami's reminder, the doctor was already in position.
Chopper had long since opened the medical kit, using instruments to examine Vivi.
A few seconds later, his expression turned extremely grave.
"It's Deadly Poison."
His voice trembled, "The toxicity is very strong, it has already spread through the bloodstream. I... I can only use general Antidote to delay the onset, without the antidote..."
He didn't finish.
But everyone knew what that meant.
"It's okay... you all go quickly to save my father..."
"Don't speak anymore."
Chopper gritted his teeth and began injecting the medicine, "I will save you. I definitely can save you."
Vivi's eyelashes fluttered, she did not refute.
Just as Chopper focused on the injection, Sanji suddenly spoke, "Right now you have Vivi's face, so I won't hit you."
Everyone froze.
Sanji wasn't looking at Vivi.
He stared deep into the corridor, "Through Chopper's diagnosis, it proves you are truly poisoned."
"Opening up to us here, stalling for time, I believe you also had no choice."
"No matter what you did before, for the sake of our friendship, Chopper will do his best to save you."
He paused, "But I hope you will no longer be our enemy, and do not try to stop me from saving the real Miss Vivi."
"Otherwise—"
He finally turned his head, "I will definitely kick you to death."
"Bon Clay."
Dead silence.
Usopp's slingshot nearly slipped from his hand.
Nami stared wide-eyed in disbelief.
Chopper's hand holding the syringe stopped mid-air, he pulled off the cloth strip on "Vivi's" arm—sure enough, there was no mark they had agreed upon.
The "Vivi" on the ground stared blankly at Sanji, then
She raised her hand and wiped it across her face.
That delicate face instantly changed, appearing before everyone was Bon Kurei's heavily made-up face.
Bon Clay's eyes were filled with tears.
"I'm sorry..." His voice choked up, his shoulders trembling. "I'm so incredibly sorry..."
"I had already made up my mind to break with Crocodile... but he threatened me with Deadly Poison, to stay alive, I could only follow his orders..."
His tears finally fell, carving two streaks through the foundation.
"But you... you still treat me as a friend..."
He covered his face, crying like a child.
"For mere survival, I actually stood against my friends... I truly deserve to die a thousand deaths!"
No one spoke.
Chopper silently continued pushing the syringe.
He was a doctor; once determined to save someone, whether enemy or friend, there was no reason to give up halfway.
Usopp scratched his head, "Well... Bon Clay, you were just following orders. The real mastermind is Crocodile."
Nami sighed: "And your actions haven't caused us much harm."
"On the contrary, if you really want to apologize..."
She looked deep into the corridor:
"Go seek Vivi's forgiveness."
"After all, what you harmed was the country she protects."
Bon Clay lifted his tear-streaked face.
"I, I will!"
He nodded vigorously, "I definitely will!"
He felt the poison in his body gradually being suppressed under the Antidote's effect.
Then, fueled by friendship, fighting spirit reignited like flames in his eyes.
"I'll take you to the depths of the royal tomb right now!"
He scrambled to his feet.
"His Majesty the King and Princess Vivi are both there! Miss All Sunday has also turned against Crocodile!"
He clenched his fists:
"He's just one person, while we have a group of friends! There's no reason we should lose!"
Usopp looked at the high-spirited Bon Clay, but his legs began to tremble.
"Go now?"
He remembered Crocodile's elusive figure in the sandstorm just moments ago.
That was a Logia User—impossible to hit without Armament Haki.
"We don't have Lufia or Ralph's Haki..."
"Not necessarily."
A confident smile curled at the corner of Nami's lips.
"We still have a trump card, something Crocodile would never expect."
She didn't explain further, but her steps had already begun to move.
With Bon Clay leading the way, the group advanced deeper into the royal tomb.
In the innermost chamber of the tomb, candlelight flickered.
The air was thick with tension and despair.
Crocodile stood before a massive Poneglyph, his face ashen.
His voice was nearly a roar:
"I want information on the Ancient Weapon Pluton! Not the history of the Alabasta kingdom!"
He glared fiercely at the woman standing before the stone tablet:
"I want to know where the legendary Pluton—capable of destroying an entire island with a single shot—is hidden!"
Nico Robin's face was pale, but her voice remained eerily calm.
"This Poneglyph only records the achievements of Alabasta's successive kings and the rise and fall of the kingdom."
She said, "There is no information on Pluton's whereabouts."
"Liar!"
Crocodile grabbed her by the collar, "Cobra's expression proves this Poneglyph must be related to the Ancient Weapon! Do you think I'd believe such nonsense?"
"You don't have to believe it."
Robin met his gaze directly, "But that is the truth."
Crocodile stared at her.
Those eyes were too honest.
Honest enough to show no fear of life or death?
Three years.
Three years of planning, orchestrating everything.
Dance Powder, drought, rebels, the plot to seize the kingdom—
Every step meticulously calculated, every piece used to its fullest.
For what?
For this moment.
To stand before the Poneglyph and obtain the power that would allow him to rival the Four Emperors and the World Government.
And now, the truth was right before him, yet he couldn't grasp it.
"...I see."
Crocodile released his grip and took a step back.
"Hah..."
He began to laugh, first a low chuckle, then growing louder and more maniacal.
"HAHAHAHAHA—!"
The candlelight trembled from the force of his laughter.
"So," His voice grated from his throat, "All my efforts, my three years of scheming here, have come to—"
In an instant, the smile vanished from his face.
Replaced by a chilling, all-consuming killing intent.
"—nothing?"
His conspiracy exposed, his plan to seize the kingdom failed.
The clue to Pluton was right before him, yet this woman refused to translate it.
But trying to manipulate me? Not a chance!
"Then all of you—"
His golden hook rose, aimed straight at Robin's heart.
"—will die here!"
At that very moment—
"You won't succeed!"
A petite figure suddenly burst forth.
Princess Vivi, bound by ordinary ropes.
In an instant, she transformed into a pool of pink liquid, slipping free from her restraints.
The next second, that pink liquid surged toward Crocodile.
Princess Vivi—a secret Devil Fruit User who had consumed the Beta Beta no Mi.
"What—?!"
Crocodile attempted to use Elementalization to evade.
But it was too late.
The liquid had already seeped along his arm, infiltrating his sandy body.
Then—
It solidified.
The grains of sand were glued together by the viscous fluid.
Crocodile's eyes widened.
His body could no longer undergo Elementalization.
"Now!"
Sanji's low shout echoed from the shadows.
His figure erupted from the darkness, his right leg slicing through the air with a sharp whistle, aimed directly at the back of Crocodile's head.
At the same time—
"Fire Star!"
Usopp's pellet shot precisely toward Crocodile's face.
"Kokutei Roseo Metel!"
Chopper's hooves left afterimages in the air, striking Crocodile's back in rapid succession.
"Clima-Tact!"
Nami wielded her Clima-Tact like an ordinary staff, smashing it down on Kuro's head!
"Okama Kenpo!"
Even Bon Clay seized the chance to deliver a knife-hand strike to Crocodile.
A series of attacks exploded within the narrow tomb chamber.
It seemed only one person had not anticipated such a reversal.
Cobra stared blankly at the stone pillar he had just pushed over beside him.
The security measures of the Alabasta Royal Tomb were simple and unadorned.
All it took was toppling a specific stone pillar to trigger the tomb's self-destruct mode, causing it to collapse completely and bury all its secrets beneath the yellow sand.
Now, Crocodile, having suffered heavy blows, crashed heavily to the ground.
Princess Vivi, who had emerged from his body, reformed into her human shape.
Hearing the rumbling sounds and watching the tomb begin to shake and crumble.
She stared in shock at her father!
What are you doing?
Cobra looked utterly bewildered. He understood his daughter's expression, yet he was equally helpless.
I didn't expect a reversal either!