The Blind Brawler [ Roronoa Zoro X OC]

Chapter 41: Crocodile

My crewmates all stood at the bars of the prison cell. The Marine Captain sat on the opposite side of the back of the room from me, silently watching everything unfold. Anger and anxiety thrummed in the air, putting me on edge. My fingers were laced behind my head as I leaned back against the wall to appear at ease. However, I was ready to draw my swords if the opportunity appeared to use them.

Crocodile was taking his time to get on with his explanation, drinking in Vivi's dread as he spoke, "Let's start from the beginning, shall we dear? It's always best to tell a story in order."

"I already know about the dance powder incident in Nanohana two years ago," The princess snarled at him.

The Warlord answered her with a coy and slimy voice, "Oh, but Miss Wednesday, my plans for your kingdom had begun even before that," Vivi growled in anger as he continued, "You see, I came to this country three years ago. You may recall that as the time the rains in Alabasta began to fall erratically and only in the capital city of Alubarna. That was merely the beginning of my plan and the birth of my Baroque Works organization.

"As one of the Seven Warlords, I was able to come to your country without fuss. No one questioned me and I began to earn the fragile faith of your people by doing away with invading pirates near the shoreline. All the while, I had men in the capital burning small handfuls of dance powder about once or twice a month. Erratic and small enough for no one to notice a pattern, but immediately creating a shift in the desert climate and stealing the rain from the rest of the oases."

He paused to take a long sip from his wine glass. I could tell he was barely drinking any of the alcohol, however. It was just a power move to toy with us and stir up our anger further. I heard Kaori let out a low growl and glanced briefly at the blind woman. Her fists were trembling at her sides and I knew that the silence was driving her mad.

Crocodile looked over the edge of his glass at the princess with a grim smile, "A few months of that and I made the rainfall more predictable. A set schedule of every four days, far more than normal for even the capital. Suspicions began to arise among the people and that's when I staged the Nanohana incident."

Vivi's face scrunched in rage as she closed her eyes and bowed her head with a roar, "I already know all this! Just get to the point already!"

The sandman set down his wine glass and placed his hand over his heart as if hurt by her words. His smile never faltered, however, and his tone was a mocking representation of insult, "Now, Miss Wednesday, you shouldn't be so rude to my other guests," He gestured to the cage and I scowled darkly at him, "I'm sure your friends are deeply intrigued by this tale or at the very least I'm sure Captain Smoker is curious to hear how this all played out."

The Marine Captain let out a warning snarl and crossed his arms, but said nothing. He was almost chewing on the ends of his cigars as he patiently waited like the rest of us. Crocodile merely grinned as he glanced at us out of the corner of his eye. He was relishing in the little mind game he was playing and thrilled that the princess was falling for it.

The blue-haired woman glared up at him with death in her eyes. Her jaw trembled as she bit her bottom lip to keep herself from screaming out. Crocodile nodded in delight before picking up his wine glass and lazily swirling it around. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back while idly tapping the point of his hook on the table, "Now then, where was I?" His face broke into a wicked grin as he looked down his nose at the woman, "Ah, yes... Nanohana.

"I sent a rather large shipment of dance powder to the capital by way of Nanohana and purposefully let it be discovered so the people would suspect their beloved king had stolen the rain away," He sent a sideways smile back toward the cage as he eyed Smoker, "Luckily for me, the government took no action to investigate the incident despite the large quantity of illegal dance powder discovered," He chuckled darkly as the marine nearly hissed in rage. Crocodile turned back to Vivi and gave her another one of his smug grins that I was quickly growing to despise, "After that, I cut all use of dance powder in the capital and instead had ships burn the powder along the coastline of the country, away from the port cities. Every drop of the country's rain was stolen by me and I collected it on those ships as well! I had it transported in small batches to this city and made a small fortune, enough to buy this casino without anyone the wiser."