Chapter 43

Meanwhile, Luffy and his crew trudged through the scorching desert under the relentless sun.

"Water! I'm so thirsty!" Luffy groaned, using a stick as a makeshift crutch while his tongue lolled out from exhaustion.

"Vivi, how much farther do we have to go?" he asked, panting.

Vivi, walking behind Luffy, lifted the cloth covering her head, scanned the surroundings, and said, "We're not far now—just about half a day's journey!"

"Are we only halfway there?" Zoro groaned, glancing up at the relentless sun while pulling along a small raft.

On the raft, Chopper lay sprawled out, his thick fur making the desert heat almost unbearable.

Just then, a voice called out.

"Hey~ You all look like you're running low on water. Need some help?"

Sure enough, the figure approaching them was none other than Jack.

"Jack!!" The Straw Hat crew exclaimed in surprise upon seeing him.

"Haha, what a coincidence. Where are you guys headed?" Jack asked with a grin, tossing a water flask from his shoulder toward them.

"Mmmph mmmph—!!" Luffy, already gulping down the water, attempted to speak between swigs.

Jack's expression darkened. "Swallow first. Then speak human language."

Vivi, however, remained composed. She hadn't reached for the water—growing up in the desert, she was used to these conditions. The only ones frantically scrambling for a drink were Luffy, Usopp, and even a camel.

"We're heading to Rainbase," Vivi said firmly.

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Rainbase? Don't tell me—you're planning to take on Crocodile?"

Zoro glanced at Jack with suspicion. "You sure know a lot."

Jack chuckled. "I know more than you think. But if you ask me… you guys aren't ready for Crocodile yet." He smirked before adding, "Still, you might as well go and give it a shot."

Returning to Rainbase, Jack couldn't help but sigh at the fact that he had managed to get lost in the desert after walking only a short distance. If he hadn't run into Luffy and the others, he wasn't sure how he would have found his way back.

"Jack-kun, where are you headed?" Nami asked with a sweet smile.

Jack narrowed his eyes slightly. 'That tone… She's up to something.'

"Me? I'm heading to Alabasta's capital." He answered honestly but instinctively took a small step back.

With Nami, politeness usually meant trouble.

"Huh? Is Ace over there?" Before Nami could say anything, Luffy chimed in cluelessly.

Jack shrugged. "Nope. I lost track of him. Figured I'd try my luck in the capital."

"I see… Since Jack-kun doesn't have anything urgent going on, why not stay and have some fun in Rainbase?" Nami suggested, flashing a conspiratorial look at the others.

Jack blinked. "Fun? What kind of fun?"

Then it clicked. She wants me to stick around as backup in case they can't handle Crocodile.

The rest of the crew remained silent. Luffy, of course, didn't catch on. Sanji and Zoro, who did, would never admit they might need help.

Nami was about to explode in frustration when Jack suddenly asked, "By the way, I had one of my subordinates help you earlier. Where is she now?"

"I'm not sure. We originally planned to find the rebels, so we went to Yuba, but by the time we arrived, they had already moved to Nanohan," Vivi stepped forward and explained.

"I see… So my subordinates might have gone to Nanohana, the closest oasis city to Alubarna," Jack murmured, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

A plan began to form in his mind. If he contacted Marine Headquarters and reported Crocodile's actions, they would likely issue an order for his capture and revoke his title as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. That would allow Jack to officially intervene in Alabasta's crisis while also completing his mission faster.

But something nagged at him. The royal family of Alabasta wasn't as simple as they seemed. If the rumors were true, there were two Poneglyphs hidden within the kingdom—one containing information about the legendary warship, Pluton, and the other detailing events from the Void Century.

"Maybe I should just kidnap Robin… Without her, the Alabasta incident would still unfold the same way," Jack mused to himself.

Meanwhile, Nami and the rest of the crew had quietly turned away, huddling together as they whispered about how to trick Jack into helping them stop Crocodile.

Breaking his train of thought, Jack turned back to them. "I'm heading to the Marine base to report in. I'll be staying here for the night, so if you need anything, come find me. That is… if Luffy isn't afraid of getting captured by me."

He grinned at their stunned expressions before walking off toward the Marine contact point in Rainbase.

Jack finally managed to contact Lena. She had indeed arrived in Nanohana and encountered the rebel forces there. However, their deep-seated distrust of the Marines nearly led to a confrontation, forcing Lena and her troops to withdraw. With no other options, they decided to wait for Princess Vivi's arrival to mediate the situation.

After receiving Jack's call, Lena immediately reached out to Marine Headquarters to report the unfolding events. Before long, a response came through—Jack was instructed to gather concrete evidence of Crocodile's crimes. If necessary, he was authorized to arrest Crocodile, but under no circumstances could he allow him to successfully seize control of Alabasta. Additionally, the World Government issued a direct order: Nico Robin, currently in Alabasta, must be captured.

Up until this point, the World Government had regarded the Alabasta rebellion as nothing more than an internal uprising, not worth serious concern. However, Crocodile's complaint about Jack, coupled with Robin's capture, had raised suspicions. Upon reviewing Jack's report, the higher-ups quickly deduced Crocodile's true intentions. As a result, they wasted no time in ordering Jack to stop him.

Jack could easily imagine that, by now, agents from the Cipher Pol (CP) organization were already infiltrating Alabasta. Their objectives were likely aligned with Crocodile's, though they had previously refrained from acting—perhaps due to an existing agreement with the Nefertari royal family. But now that the opportunity had presented itself, they wouldn't hesitate to take action.

A thought crossed his mind—if he wanted to lure Robin out, there was one potential way. He vaguely recalled that Luffy had once fallen into an underground chamber where an ancient Poneglyph was hidden. However, there was one problem: Jack had no idea where that place was. On top of that, he had heard rumors that this particular event was an original addition from the anime adaptation rather than part of the manga's official storyline, meaning its existence was uncertain.

After contacting Lena and instructing her to mobilize all nearby Marine forces to rendezvous at Alabasta's capital, Jack set off toward the casino. By now, Luffy was surely causing chaos inside.

As expected, when Jack arrived, he found members of Baroque Works sprawled across the ground outside, and the bridge at the entrance had collapsed. Remembering that the entire structure was on the verge of caving in, he decided against going inside. However, just as he was about to leave, he caught sight of Sanji moving through the casino. Something clicked in Jack's memory, prompting him to follow.

Upon reaching an underground passage, a key suddenly dropped from above, landing right at Jack's feet.

"Is this the key to that massive Seastone cage?" he muttered, glancing down at Luffy and the others, who were trapped below. A smirk crossed his face—this was an unexpected bonus.

"Ouch~ Someone actually had the nerve to attack me?" Jack stepped forward, holding up the key as he looked between Sanji and Mr. 3, who were locked in a standoff.

"Jack~~~!"

Luffy and his crew cheered excitedly the moment they saw the key in his hand.

"Who threw this?" Jack scratched his head, glancing around.

"Him!" The entire group pointed at Mr. 3 in unison.

"Kid, where are you from? You'd better—"

Before Mr. 3 could finish his sentence, he collapsed to the ground. Jack, already holding the key, wasted no time unlocking the Seastone cage.

"Fast!" Sanji, who was standing beside Mr. 3, and Zoro, still inside the cage, muttered in unison.

"I told you—you're no match for Crocodile," Jack said with a smirk as he unlocked the cage, freeing Luffy and the others.

"Now's not the time for that! I have to take down that Croco-bastard with my own hands!" Luffy shouted, storming out of the cage and immediately unleashing his fury on the Bananawani.

Watching from the side, Vivi burst into tears—she had barely escaped being killed by the creature just moments ago.

"I'm taking this pirate with me. This whole place is about to collapse—we need to leave now! Also—" Jack hoisted Mr. 3 onto his shoulder, but before he could finish speaking, the glass ceiling above them shattered. A massive flood of seawater crashed down, engulfing everyone in its path.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Jack dove underwater and reached out, causing the massive Seastone prison to vanish upon contact. Then, grabbing the half-drowned Mr. 3, he swam back to the surface.

"Jack-kun! You finally made it out! If you had taken any longer, we thought you might've drowned!" Nami exclaimed, clutching his head to her chest in relief after he emerged, carrying Mr. 3.

Jack was momentarily speechless. Just as he was about to respond, Chopper arrived, riding atop a giant, fast-moving crab, signaling their plan to chase down Crocodile.

"Hey... how do you think this thing tastes?" Jack asked, eyeing the enormous crab with intrigue.

"We'll boil it over high heat, then toss the tied crabs into a steaming basket," Sanji muttered, exhaling a puff of smoke.

"Is this edible too?" Luffy asked, practically drooling.

The giant moving crab hesitated, resisting the urge to flee. Only after Chopper reassured it did it cautiously take a few steps back. It was, after all, a rather intelligent species.

"Ahh! Don't say such horrible things! We still need it to get to Alubarna!" Nami scolded, landing a punch on both Luffy and Sanji—but noticeably avoiding Jack.

"You guys go ahead. I'll catch up after dealing with this guy… and then I'll take advantage of your free ride," Jack said, hoisting Mr. 3 onto his shoulder.

Without further discussion, Luffy and the others climbed onto the moving crab, which immediately took off at full speed. Meanwhile, Jack headed toward the navy base, where he handed Mr. 3 over to the marines, instructing them to transport him to Nanohana, where their warships were stationed.

Glancing at the massive Seastone prison that now filled nearly half of his inventory, Jack smirked with satisfaction. It had taken considerable effort and merit to get a Seastone-equipped prison installed on his warship. Now, with this, his ship could securely transport pirates with devil fruit abilities.

After all, capturing pirates with special abilities wasn't easy, and their bounties were always high. Take Mr. 3, for example—his capture had just earned Jack 3,200 diamonds. That alone made the whole effort worthwhile and was precisely why Jack had followed Sanji in the first place.

Initially, Jack had only intended to test his luck, but he hadn't expected to actually walk away with Crocodile's Seastone Prison. As a bonus, he also earned 3,200 diamonds. With his total now surpassing 10,000 once again, he briefly considered drawing from the treasure lottery. However, realizing that such a sacred opportunity shouldn't be wasted on impulse, he decided against it.

As Jack hurried to catch up with Luffy and the others, he arrived just in time to witness Luffy's duel with Crocodile. However, Luffy made it clear that he didn't want Jack interfering. After exchanging a few words, Jack respected his wishes and instead set off in pursuit of Robin.

"Hey there, beautiful. Mind giving me a lift?" Jack greeted as he landed smoothly on the massive turtle-drawn carriage where Robin was seated, calmly sipping tea and reading a book.

Robin barely reacted to his sudden appearance. Without looking up, she replied coolly, "I'm afraid we may not be headed in the same direction."

"Is that so? Well, I happen to have some free information for you. If that doesn't change your mind, then I suppose there's nothing more to say." Jack shrugged nonchalantly.

Robin closed her book, shifted slightly in her seat, and took another sip of tea. Then, fixing her gaze on Jack, she gestured for him to speak.

--------------------------------

AN: Check out my P@treon For +30 extra chapters.

Thank You For your Support!!

www.p@treon.com/noviceauthor777