In the heart of Alabasta's desert lies the city of decadence and pleasure, Rain Base.
At the center of that city stands its grandest structure, a pyramid-shaped building housing the premier gambling establishment owned by Crocodile: Rain Dinners.
In the basement of Rain Dinners sat a group of men and women on either side of a long table, their faces matching the wanted posters Luffy's crew had shown to the rebels the day before.
"Thank you all for gathering. You've done well."
Standing beside the table, Robin addressed Mr. 1, Miss Doublefinger, Mr. 2, Mr. 4, and Miss Merry Christmas in turn.
Yet none of them paid attention to Robin; their tense gazes were fixed on the far end of the table instead.
"Until now, I've been issuing orders in the shadows as the boss's representative, but the company's final operation is about to begin, so that's no longer necessary."
"You see, the boss himself has come to see us."
Robin gestured toward the head of the table, where Crocodile was seated, puffing on a cigar of some sort as he looked over the agents.
"A Warlord... Wow, that's huge."
"Holy— this is unbelievable."
"Are you really our boss?"
"Why would a Warlord be involved in a company like this...?"
"So we're pirates' underlings?"
The agents, having confirmed his identity, blurted out questions in surprise.
"So... you have an issue with that?"
"...!"
"What I truly desire isn't money or status, but military might."
"From now on, I'll tell you the real purpose behind founding this company, and the secret hidden in this land."
Crocodile spoke to the agents who had fallen silent under his intimidating presence.
He drew on his cigar and, for a while, revealed to them the truths he had kept hidden until now.
"All this talk of a weapon… it really exists in this country?"
"So our goal was to seize both the kingdom and that weapon at once."
"The missions we've been carrying out were all in preparation for this grand plan."
"This is chilling…"
"If this goes off without a hitch, we're in for a meteoric rise."
The agents, initially tense, now glowed with ambition as they looked at Crocodile after learning the details of the plan.
"Every assignment you've completed was for this operation. If you succeed in the missions you've been given, the Alabasta Kingdom will bring about its own ruin."
"Then, when the people, having lost their home, wander with nowhere to go, Baroque Works will step in as the centerpiece to build a new nation."
"This is the ultimate plan of Baroque Works: the 'Utopia Operation.'"
Crocodile offered a faint smile as he looked at the agents, brimming with expectation, and at Robin, whose expression remained unreadable.
"Operation start is tomorrow at 7 AM. Good luck."
*****
One day after Crocodile assigned the agents their missions, the morning of the Utopia Operation arrived at 7 AM.
Mr. 2, who had appeared at Rain Dinners the previous day in heavy makeup and strange attire, now wore ordinary Alabasta clothes as he emerged in an alley of Nanohana.
Mr. 2 peered out from the alley toward the central plaza, and behind him stood fifty armed men huddled together.
"Heh heh heh, stay sharp, everyone."
"Remember, your acting should be realistic but not over the top, as briefed."
"Understood, Lord Bon Clay!"
The man called Bon Clay pressed his palm to his face, and in an instant, his features began to shift at incredible speed.
"How do I look, everyone?"
"You're exactly like King Cobra!"
"And with the proper clothes, nobody will suspect a thing!"
"As expected of the Copy-Copy Fruit's power!"
Mr. 2 Bon Clay was a Devil Fruit user who had eaten the Copy-Copy Fruit, allowing him to replicate the appearance, build, and voice of anyone he touched.
'The crux of this plan is that there truly exists someone with the Copy-Copy Fruit's power.'
'My mission is to show up in King Cobra's face and claim that I'm the one who stole the rain with Dance Powder in Nanohana, turning what had been mere rumors into reality.'
'Then, labeling Nanohana a corrupt city where Dance Powder was misused and setting it ablaze—our forces will do the arson—will trigger the rebels to erupt and ignite all-out war. It's a simple chain of causation.'
With that in mind, Bon Clay exchanged glances with his men and stepped out of the alley into the plaza.
Wearing Cobra's solemn visage instead of his previous frivolous expression, he appeared before the crowd, and the townspeople, stunned at what looked like their king's arrival, gradually gathered around them.
"Your Majesty, whatever brings you here...?"
"People of Nanohana! I wish to speak frankly today."
'I'm sorry to those who would fight unknowingly… but I refuse to keep running every time a Warlord glares at me.'
"Let it be known that I alone am responsible for stealing the rain of this country."
"W-What...?"
"It was I who robbed the rain with Dance Powder so it fell only in Alubarna."
As Bon Clay, in the form of Cobra, delivered his statement, the crowd gasped in horror.
"Gotcha, you fraud!"
"Ke-ehk! Khe-ehk!"
"Bon Clay… no, Your Majesty!"
Suddenly, Luffy grabbed Bon Clay by the back of the neck with one hand and lifted him off the ground.
Bon Clay, struggling for air, turned his head just in time to see Koza and the rebels emerge out of nowhere and subdue him.
"Koza! Commander of the rebel army!"
"Did you come because you heard he was here, Your Majesty?"
"Wait, Koza! There must be some explanation...!"
"Look! The king's face—look!"
The townspeople, already bewildered by the rebels' sudden arrival, stared at Cobra's face with even greater shock.
"Who are you?!!!"
Bon Clay's appearance had abruptly reverted back to his own face instead of Cobra's.
"How did my power…?!"
"Who freed him? I did," Luffy declared.
Immediately after Luffy nullified Bon Clay's ability, Koza and the rebels stepped into the plaza and shouted:
"That scoundrel who tried to deceive everyone with the king's face belongs to that conspiracy! He used a Devil Fruit power to alter his appearance."
"They started by framing the royal family for stealing the rain with Dance Powder, then today attempted to turn suspicion into certainty through vile tricks!"
"Who the hell plotted such a vile scheme?!"
"Tell us at once, Koza!"
"The culprit is the Warlord Crocodile!"
"Crocodile? But he's the country's hero!"
"Why would a Warlord do something like this?"
"Does he bear some grudge against the king?!"
"What he wants is Alabasta's downfall! He stirred up this war to devour the ruin he'd cause after a full-scale battle between the royal army and the rebels!"
"Crocodile has been plotting here in Alabasta, aiming to create a state of outlaws beyond the World Government's control!"
"So at least it wasn't His Majesty who did this."
"I knew it! How could His Majesty ever commit such deeds?"
"Of course not! The day the king betrays us will never come!"
"Koza, we trust only you! Go smash that Crocodile right away!"
"The royal line cannot be toppled! If it falls, it will mean the end of us all!"
Luffy found himself in the alley with Bon Clay lying bound and gagged beside him.
He watched the Alabasta people, enraged by Koza's words, shouting and pounding the ground.
"This is terrifying... ."
"Hey, why're you zoning out all of a sudden?"
"Ah, right… Now's not the time for reflection."
'Bon Clay's real name is Bentham. Before coming to Alabasta, the original Luffy met this guy instead of Anne and Romeo.'
'After saving him from drowning, they became friends until Luffy revealed he was an enemy; they fought in Alabasta, and he even helped Luffy's group escape from the Marines.'
'And that's not all: when the original Ace was imprisoned in Impel Down and Luffy went to rescue him, Bentham helped ensure they escaped safely—truly a character who straddled good and evil in One Piece.'
"Got more to say to me?"
"Or suddenly fallen head over heels after seeing my true face?"
"I'm deciding whether to kill you or spare you."
"P-please spare me!"
"..."
"I—I didn't know Crocodile was the boss! If I'd ignored my orders, I'd have been killed or marked and forced to flee—there was no other choice!"
"So now you're going through a sob story about having your reasons, you were actually a good guy, that kind of thing."
"But you did have a choice. Every choice carries responsibility."
"I can't claim I'm all conscience, but I did have my reasons... I guess."
"Why didn't you just run away? Then nobody would have gone after you... ."
Bon Clay looked up at Luffy, who was poised to kick lightly above his head.
"You've been marked by me."
Wham!
Luffy flicked Bon Clay's neck with a swift kick, sending him crashing down.
'Maybe I... might have fallen for him just a bit...?'
As his vision blurred and consciousness slipped away, those were Bon Clay's final thoughts as he fell unconscious after taking one last glimpse of Luffy's form.
'I would have killed him under normal circumstances... but sometimes it's okay to make exceptions.'