Conqueror Of All

In a majestic and large room were two people sitting facing each other.

"Miss All Sunday, are you prepared? I will be leading you to the Poneglyph in two days. At that time, you will tell me everything about the Ancient Weapon – Pluton." The middle-aged man said.

He had black hair, a green cloak on top of his shoulders, brown shirt and black jeans. Crocodile had also a large scar going from one side of his face to the other side and his left hand was replaced by a golden hook.

Crocodile was one of the Royal Seven Warriors, therefore the Marines and the World Government would let him do as he pleased. With this in mind, Crocodile had been planning on taking over Alabasta to find the Poneglyph for the whereabouts of an Ancient Weapon – Pluton.

On the opposite side of Crocodile was Miss All Sunday. Nico Robin had silky black hair reaching down to below her shoulders. She was wearing a skimpy cowboy outfit consisting of a purple cleavage-exposing corset and a matching miniskirt, both with white ornaments hanging from them, a white fur-lined coat paired with a purple cowboy hat and white high-heeled boots.

"Of course." Robin nodded in reply as she thought otherwise "How can I let someone like you get your hands on an Ancient Weapon?".

After the two stayed quiet for a while, Crocodile opened a newspaper in front of him and groaned as a frown appeared on his face.

"What is it?" Robin asked as she was curious to know what could make Crocodile act like that. Because Robin knew that Crocodile was arrogant, prideful and self-a.s.sumed, there were very little things that could make Crocodile frown.

"Look." Crocodile snorted as he threw the newspaper towards Robin.

Robin managed to catch the newspaper and read through it. Only one thing did manage to catch her eyes, a new pirate crew has emerged – The Heavenly Pirates.

A pirate obtaining a 100 million Berry bounty for his first bounty is very rare. But the thing Robin was focused on was what the Marine wrote about them. One thing Robin knew, was that the Marine and World Government would manipulate the news for their own winning.

"It"s only written that Heavenly Izan docked his ship at Loguetown and caused a ruckus before leaving." Robin was deep in thought. "It means he was on the island for a minimum amount of time, he wouldn"t have been able to purchase stock on food. Wait, doesn"t that mean that Heavenly Izan plan was the Marines all along?!"

Robin was shocked by that thought, but she made sure of not showing any expressions in front of Crocodile. "Doesn"t that mean that Heavenly Izan plan was to let the Marines and the World Government know about himself? Because even if he beat a Captain of the Navy, he shouldn"t have gotten a 100 million bounty. Then, the only conclusion is that the Marines wishes to deal with him as fast as possible because of his threat…!"

Nico Robin was utterly shocked by finding out that someone was openly causing a fight against the Navy and the World Government. "The Heavenly Pirates should already be in the Grand Line. If, if luck has it, will Heavenly Izan come to Alabasta…?"

"If this "Heavenly" Izan wants to disrupt my plans, I will end him…" Crocodile said with a gloomy tone as he didn"t like anyone destroying his future plans of obtaining the Ancient Weapon Pluton.

"I hope that my wishes may be answered…" Nico Robin sighed deeply in her heart as she closed the newspaper before standing up to leave the room. "Call me when we"re going to the Pone Glyph." With that, Nico Robin left without glancing back.

Somewhere at the sh.o.r.es of Alabasta

"Oh, so great to be on land!" Izan said with a smile as he landed on the ground.

"Heh, you"re right." Nojiko landed at Izan"s left side as she replied with a smile on her face. "But, isn"t it hot here, and the island seems to be a desert…" Nojiko glanced around to only see sand, sand and even more sand…

With silent movements, Jiutian landed on Izan"s right side. Jiutian shook her head slightly as she answered Nojiko. "Don"t you remember what Izan told us, it seems like that a certain "crocodile" is the cause of this."

"Still." Nojiko pouted slightly as she was annoyed by the bright sun shining upon her. "This will be bad for my skin." A long sigh escaped Nojiko"s mouth as she shook her head.

Both Izan and Jiutian rolled their eyes.

"Crocodile is like a virus, he will only be inflicting people with harm. Even if I don"t care that much about civilians, I will at least not harm them without a good reason." Izan narrowed his eyes slightly.

"There is also the information about the Poneglyph and a few more things. There are a lot of reasons for us to be here, we can"t let this chance escape our hands." Izan said in a firm tone as he glanced at Jiutian. "Jiutian, how far is the capital city – Alubarna from here?"

Jiutian raised an eyebrow as she continued smiling. With a wave of her hand, a map over the Alabasta Kingdom appeared. Jiutian glanced shortly at the map before answering Izan. "Three days if we go slowly and two days if we hurry."

Izan had no idea when things would become rough, therefore Izan decided upon going faster would be better. "Then we are going fast, one day earlier is a factor we can"t let go off." With that said, Izan glanced at Jiutian and Nojiko.

Nojiko could only helplessly smile as she nodded. She knew that it was important for Izan, therefore she couldn"t complain at all.

Jiutian smiled softly and lifted her right hand, pointing towards somewhere. "That"s our direction." Jiutian"s smile turned into a grin. "How about we try exercising here too. How about we say, let"s run to Alubarna?"

A grim expression appeared on Nojiko"s and Izan"s face as they shuddered. Even if they knew that doing this would benefit them, they utterly hated to run in the desert with the sun scorching them.

Izan glanced at the sun and he could only bitterly laugh as he nodded towards Jiutian. "This could actually be a good opportunity. Strength and stamina are good, but we should also focus on our will."

After Izan said that, Jiutian smiled in return as her plan was to temper Izan"s will into someone who"s not afraid of anything.

Nojiko understood quickly and nodded. "Let"s go for it then, it"s only a short "run" of two days…" Nojiko wanted to ease her heart, but only ended up devastating herself even more after reminding herself that it will take them two whole days.

"Let"s get moving then." Izan shrugged as he got ready by relaxing his limbs for a short moment. Izan took deep breaths before starting to walk, not even a couple steps in, Izan started jogging.

Jiutian and Nojiko was running side by side with Izan, all three of them had solemn expression on their faces as they focused on their stamina and strength.

Their jogging turned into running after a couple of minutes. The heat started affecting them as sweat drenched their clothes. Still, none of them complained or stopped for a break.

Slowly but surely, Izan, Nojiko and Jiutian got closer to Alubarna…

The sun went down, darkness and coldness shrouded everywhere. In the desert, three figures could be seen running side by side.

From time to time, they would drink a bottle of water and a piece of meat. But, they wouldn"t stop for a break.

"One more day…" Izan muttered in a hoa.r.s.e voice, but a smile crept on his face as he thought of what"s going to happen.