Chapter 562: Undercurrents of the Kingdom! (Two in One)

Little Luffy's arm stretched out quickly, and in the astonished eyes of the robbers. Luffy's little fist had already dropped on the face of a middle-aged bearded man.

"Bang!!"

Luffy's fist was extremely accurate, and he punched the robber's nose directly.

"Ouch!"

The robber, who was hit in the nose, subconsciously covered his nose with his hand, and uttered a painful cry.

Blood flowed out from the gaps between his fingertips. The robber staggered a step to stabilize his body, lowered his head slightly, looked at the blood in his hand in disbelief, and his eyes were instantly full of bloodshot. He roared to his partner beside him:

"Why don't you do it?!"

"Leave that kid to me, I want to kill him myself!"

At his call, the robbers immediately rushed up and rushed towards Luffy and others.

"Fire randomly~~"

Luffy's shout rang out in the alley, and dense fist shadows filled one side of the alley, directly knocking down the four pirates who rushed over. It was just a child, but the power of his fist was enough to knock down such an adult.

At the same time that Luffy took the lead, he clenched his fist, and the blazing flames instantly covered his arm. Just as he was about to attack the pirates on the other side, several arcs of lightning flashed past him.

By the time Ace reacted, the arcs of lightning had already hit the other robbers. The robbers who were hit by the arcs didn't even have time to scream in pain, and were directly knocked unconscious on the ground.

In just a few breaths, the alley was filled with the groans of the robbers.

"Devil Fruit ability users!"

"These kids are ability users!!"

The robbers who were knocked down by Luffy finally realized who they had met until this time.

Devil Fruit users.

For most ordinary people, this is synonymous with power. Although the robbers are fat and strong with fierce faces, they are still very afraid when facing the users, even though the users they are facing are just children.

Enduring the pain and getting up from the ground in a hurry, the robbers quickly threw away the blades in their hands and ran out of the alley, intending to escape the scene.

"Hey, wouldn't it be a bit impolite to leave like this!"

However, Kuzan would never give them such a chance. In this hot summer day, a layer of frost quickly extended from Kuzan's feet, freezing the ground and the wall. After extending for several meters, an ice wall rose from the ground and instantly blocked the robbers' way.

"Bang!!"

The robbers who did not give up knocked on the ice in front of them with their hands. Looking at the motionless ice wall in front of them, the robbers also looked back at Kuzan and others with panic, their pupils full of despair.

"Ordinary!!"

For the robbers who are at the bottom of society, dignity is meaningless to them.

The blocked robbers' knees softened and they knelt on the ground, begging for mercy and kowtowed to Kuzan's men:

"Don't, don't kill us!"

"We are forced to do it, and I don't want to be one either."

The robbers who realized the difference in strength cried and told their sorrows, fear shrouded their hearts.

There is no way, this is the way of the world.

People like them, if they accidentally offend someone they shouldn't, they will lose their lives. Thieves, robbers, pirates, it is hard to say who can live longer among these people.

If you are smart and beg for mercy quickly, you may be able to keep your life.

Robbers like them who have been "in the business" for many years are naturally well aware of this. As long as they can save their lives, they will not hesitate to kneel down and beg for mercy.

"I was forced to do this--"

"Oh, you really dare to say that!"

"Hey, you guys, do you know Crocodile?"

Kuzan himself is not a murderous person. Although he doesn't know whether these robbers have done something more disgusting in life, at least for now, Kuzan will not kill them all just because they intercepted him.

What's more, he has more important things to do on this island.

"Crocodile!!!"

When several robbers heard this name from Kuzan's mouth, their faces suddenly changed. Without saying anything, they all tacitly shrank their heads and were as quiet as quails.

"Huh?!"

Kuzan naturally saw from the other party's expression and tone that these people knew Crocodile. Seeing that the other party did not answer, his expression became cold, and a heavy sense of oppression fell on several robbers.

"Don't you know?"

"Then you are useless to me!"

Kuzan's words revealed a dangerous atmosphere.

Useless.

For these robbers, the meaning of this sentence is really obvious. In their "circle", all the useless people are dead!

"I know him! I know him!!!"

Finally, someone answered the expanded question directly, and the bearded man whose nose was broken by Luffy also answered repeatedly.

When the other three saw him talking, their faces turned pale and they wanted to stop him, but they didn't dare to speak under the pressure of Kuzan.

Crocodile.

This name is known to everyone in their Alabasta Kingdom.

No one knows when this person came to their Alabasta Kingdom. They only know that 5 years ago, an underground society called B.W appeared in the Alabasta Kingdom, and the president of that underground society was Crocodile.

In just two years, Crocodile swallowed up almost all the underground forces in the Alabasta Kingdom and became the real "Dark Son" of the Alabasta Kingdom.

On the surface, B.W is a large enterprise that controls oil, grain, and shipping, and the group's boss Crocodile is also a shrewd businessman.

But in fact, Crocodile's business war is plain and simple

The senior officials of the Alabasta Kingdom also have a relatively deep interest connection with Crocodile. Because of this, even a wise King Cobra was deceived and concealed by the people below, and he didn't know that such a huge evil force had appeared in his country.

Crocodile's B.W Society really came to the surface two years ago. At that time, the Navy Headquarters and the World Government focused all their attention on the big pirates in the New World, and no one cared about Crocodile.

After several years of operation, Crocodile's power has also infiltrated the army.

Just when the Navy Headquarters gathered its forces to attack the new navy some time ago, Crocodile's B.W Club finally broke out, overthrowing the royal power in one fell swoop and firmly grasping the control of the kingdom.

Crocodile's ideal is to transform the Kingdom of Alabasta into a military government that is not bound by the World Government.

Use absolutely powerful military force to deter all forces at sea to ensure absolute peace.

Although his methods are tough, his ideas are also recognized by some senior officials. At the same time, Crocodile, as a natural sand-sand fruit ability user, has extremely strong strength. Under his intimidation, the maritime threats faced by the Kingdom of Alabasta are indeed much smaller.

Although the security on the island has become worse and worse due to the mixed relationship between the foreign population, the upper-level officials and nobles have also been fattened by the profits from selling arms.

Under Crocodile's reforms, the only ones who are hurt may be the most basic coolies and the upper-level royal family.

The barrier to information is actually very strong. The lower the level, the more closed the information you can get.

These news are widely circulated in a certain circle, but people outside the circle may never have heard of them.

Although these robbers are not of high level, the information they know is relatively detailed. Although it is superficial, for Kuzan, they can also have a preliminary understanding of Crocodile and his forces.

"Is the force so strong?"

"It's a bit troublesome"

Kuzan froze the robbers with a wave of his hand. The scorching sun was swaying, but there was a cold chill in the alley.

He thought he was dealing with a pirate who was a little powerful and dared to rob the royal family, but after a simple understanding of the situation, he also realized that this matter might not be as simple as he imagined.

Crocodile's power has eroded this country so deeply that if you want to uproot it, you may bring out a lot of dirt, and it may even affect the people's livelihood and economy of this country.

"Brother Kuzan, what should we do next?"

Although Ace is precocious, he is not sensitive enough to this kind of information.

He did not have the opportunity to teach the robbers a lesson, and he was also holding back a lot of anger at this time.

"Hmm"

"If Crocodile's power is really that deep, then there are only two ways to solve this matter."

"One is to spend some time to investigate their power and members, and then mobilize the navy to catch this criminal organization in one fell swoop."

"But in this way, the time it takes is difficult to estimate, and it is not easy to find out the details of that organization."

"I am afraid we don't have so much time to deal with him."

"As for the other way, it is simple and rough."

"Just find Crocodile and capture him, and then slowly after the capture is completed. Investigate criminal forces."

"But if we do this, I'm afraid many people will hide."

"After we leave, these people will emerge one after another, regroup a huge force, and regain control of the country."

"What Crocodile established is not a loose organization like the Pirate Group."

"It is a huge interest group. Even if Crocodile is arrested, this interest group will still exist, and a new leader will be born within the group."

Although Kuzan is facing young kids like Ace and Sabo, he also tries to teach these young people through this matter.

These children are regarded as the future of the navy by Kuzan, and he hopes that these children can grow up quickly under the influence of their ears and eyes.

Although Ace is smart, he only half understands what Kuzan said. Sabo is much better. He has received aristocratic education since he was a child. After leaving the Navy Headquarters, he has also studied all the cultural courses seriously. He can understand the key points that Kuzan said.

As for Luffy.

Well, no one expects Luffy, who is young and single-celled, to understand these things.

"The power of the Navy Headquarters is extremely limited. Admiral Kuzan's original mission was to patrol the East China Sea."

"Changing the route to the Kingdom of Alabasta is also a temporary decision."

"At present, it seems that only the second method can be chosen."

"The rest will probably be handed over to Admiral Sakaski."

Sabo is very smart and sees the problem very clearly. He quickly found the most suitable route for them from Kuzan's two methods.

Hearing this, Kuzan smiled and patted Sabo's head:

"Yes, you are right."

"The most urgent task is to confirm whether King Cobra is still alive. If he has been destroyed by pirates, we must protect the heir of the kingdom."

"Let's go and see the situation in the palace first."

The place where Kuzan and others landed on the island is a coastal town of Alabasta. Alabasta has a very large land area. If you want to go to the capital, you need to cross a desert called "Scorching Dead Sea".

Kuzan briefly reported his situation to Zefa on the ship, and asked Zefa to lead the fleet to meet him in the open sea first, while he himself took Ace and other children and headed towards the capital.

"Hehehe!!"

"I didn't expect it, I really didn't expect it!"

"A pirate like me actually has the opportunity to talk to all the big shots."

"Then may I ask, what do you want to tell me?"

In the palace of the Kingdom of Alabasta, Crocodile, wearing a neat suit, was sitting on a gorgeous throne.

In his left hand, there was a sharp golden hook, and in his right hand, there was a glass of wine with a mellow aroma.

On the desk in front of him, there was a white Den Den Mushi.

Crocodile leaned slightly in front of the Den Den Mushi, his tone full of teasing, without the "respect" in the content of the words.

"Crocodile, we hope you can become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea and directly obey the orders of the World Government."

"As long as you can, the World Government will acquiesce that you control the Kingdom of Alabasta."

"Not only that, we will also give you some help."

A low and hoarse voice came from the other end of the Den Den Mushi.

Crocodile smiled even more after hearing this:

"Oh?"

"Your World Government is in such a big trouble, but you still have the leisure to pay attention to the Kingdom of Alabasta?"

"The Seven Warlords of the Sea are really good bargaining chips."

"But. Does the World Government really have the ability to command the Navy Headquarters?"

"I have received news that the ships of the Navy Headquarters have now appeared in the waters outside the Kingdom of Alabasta."

"I think the patrol ships of the Navy Headquarters have noticed the abnormality of the Kingdom of Alabasta?"

"Hehe, do you think I am afraid of the Navy Headquarters?"

After Crocodile's voice fell, the other end of the phone fell into silence.

After a long time, a low and hoarse voice continued to come out from the receiver:

"You don't need to worry about whether our World Government has the ability to command the Navy Headquarters."

"You just need to know that we can save your life."

"The warship that appeared in the Kingdom of Alabasta is not the patrol ship you mentioned at all."

"Admiral Aokiji and former Admiral Zephyr are on that ship."

"Their target is you. Without the protection of our World Government, the Kingdom of Alabasta that you worked so hard to obtain will eventually return to the hands of others."

"Crocodile, think about it carefully."

"When you think it through, use Den Den Mushi to notify us!"