"Goo, hahahaha!!"
A gust of wind blew, and Crocodile appeared behind Igaram, who knew not when. He stared at Karoo running in the distance and laughed, "Sometimes I really admire the loyalty of people like you!"
"Hahaha!!"
His laughter was filled with mockery and ridicule.
"Hoo~"
He stopped laughing, turned his head to look at Robin, his eyes cold, and killing intent flared.
With so many of his subordinates here, it would be a ghost if Vivi managed to escape!
The killing intent in Crocodile's eyes made Robin's heart skip a beat.
She knew Crocodile suspected her, but she wasn't afraid at all. Because before she saw that thing, no matter what she did, as long as it didn't truly touch Crocodile's bottom line, Crocodile wouldn't do anything to her.
After all, she was the only one in the known world who could read what was written on that thing.
She turned her head and looked at Vivi, clearly understanding that letting Vivi escape was Crocodile's bottom line. If she didn't act, Crocodile might kill her right now.
There was no choice.
"Good luck to you! My foolish Princess."
Robin crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked at Karoo beneath Vivi.
"Six Petals: Whirlwind!"
As petals flew, Karoo in the distance suddenly grew six arms. They grabbed at Laboon's feet, wings, and neck.
With a series of "crackling" sounds, Karoo's feet got tangled together, and with a "thump," he fell to the ground.
His body, propelled by inertia, carved a long gully on the ground.
Seeing Karoo and Vivi fall into the dust, Robin released her hold. As petals danced, the arms on Karoo's body disappeared.
She was a user of the Superhuman-type "Flower-Flower Fruit," capable of making any part of her body grow arms like blooming flowers.
Her arms could grow on any tangible object within her line of sight and be used for attack or other purposes.
"Cough! Cough cough cough!!"
Vivi crawled out of the sand and quickly looked at Karoo beside her. Seeing Karoo lying on the ground, she hurried over, knelt down, grabbed Karoo's wings, and shouted, "Karoo, Karoo, are you okay!"
Hearing Vivi's cries, Karoo tried to turn his neck to look at Vivi, but he couldn't. His feet, wings, and neck had been completely dislocated by Robin's joint lock. Now, let alone moving, he couldn't even stir.
His head lay on the ground, his gaze fixed on Robin in the distance. If looks could kill, Robin would probably have been killed dozens of times over by Karoo's glare.
"Gaa—!"
It was this woman who had cut off their escape route, leaving them completely unable to flee.
"Karoo, Princess Vivi."
Igaram ignored Crocodile behind him. He looked anxiously at Vivi and Karoo, despair filling his pupils.
He knew that without a miracle, they would all likely die here today.
"It's like this, and you're still thinking about yourself!"
"Goo, hahahaha!!"
Crocodile withdrew his gaze from Vivi and focused on Igaram again. He reached out and grabbed Igaram's shoulder.
"Pitiable weakling! You can't even beg for mercy now!"
Saying that, he activated his ability.
"Desert Prison!"
"Ah... urgh!!"
Igaram's pained cry attracted the attention of everyone gathered there.
Under the gaze of numerous eyes, some fearful, some horrified, some excited, Igaram's body gradually shriveled.
Finally, as if completely drained of moisture, he became a mummy-like corpse.
"Dried up."
Mikita, holding her umbrella, gazed at Igaram, who was held by Crocodile. The exaggerated smile that usually adorned her face had vanished.
Gulp—!
She swallowed and stared at Crocodile, a look of reverence appearing in her eyes for the first time.
The other three high-ranking agents beside her also showed reverence as they looked at Crocodile.
Before, they didn't know much about Crocodile. But now, they finally understood.
With just this one move...
This technique that could completely drain a person, they couldn't comprehend it, nor could they resist it.
Crocodile had expected the reactions of those around him.
But he ignored them completely.
These subordinates, except for Robin, were all dispensable to him.
If it weren't for the sudden arrival of the silver-haired group, he wouldn't have brought these guys here.
If the silver-haired group's target was truly him, then these guys coming here would be cannon fodder he prepared for them.
Although cannon fodder couldn't defeat enemies, they could distract them. After all, the silver-haired group didn't just have Silver Hair as a strong fighter; they also had a great swordsman with a bounty of 250 million, "Blue Hair."
And there was a chef with a bounty of 500 million, "Wallace "Wally" Watson," who appeared from nowhere.
The fact that this guy's initial bounty was 500 million was enough to show how much of a threat Watson was to the World Government.
He was an old pirate. While he knew that bounty size didn't represent a pirate's strength, a sky-high initial bounty of 500 million meant that no fool would fail to take Watson seriously.
After all, even Silver Hair's first bounty was only 70 million!
This was why Crocodile was so tense and mobilized such a large force for the arrival of the silver-haired group.
Although he was confident in facing anyone in this boundless desert, it was still better to be cautious.
Otherwise, if things went wrong, where would he go to complain?
He wasn't like he was when he first set sail, when he was ignorant of the immensity of the world and dared to challenge anyone, even the world's strongest.
But now, at the age of 42, he had long passed the age of impulsiveness.
Although his confidence remained, why take risks when there was a better way?
Crocodile took a drag from his cigar, indifferently staring at Igaram. He loosened his grip, letting Igaram's shriveled body drift in the wind, finally falling to the ground like a piece of paper.
"Cough cough cough cough!!"
Igaram, who had fallen to the ground, had wide-open eyes. He lay on his side, his entire body curled up, his hands constantly clawing at his throat. He coughed incessantly, but not a single drop of water came out.
His entire body, all his organs, were crying out, emitting signals of extreme thirst for water, but... no one here could give him water.
"Weakling."
Crocodile, holding a cigar between his fingers, exhaled a smoke ring towards Igaram and then ignored him.
His eyes only saw the strong.
The weak didn't even have the qualification to be looked at by him.
Like Whitebeard, the world's strongest who had defeated him, or Barrett, who had fought him to a standstill.
These two were individuals he deeply acknowledged as strong.
As for others...
Either he hadn't fought them, or he simply hadn't had the chance to, so he didn't know.