"That's true. Although I don't know why you're so determined to find Nico Robin, Boss, our plan to take over Alabasta has reached a critical stage. Mr. 2's role is absolutely indispensable."
Mr. 3, whose hair was styled into the shape of the number three, spoke while quietly observing Crocodile's reaction.
Like his distinctive hairstyle, Mr. 3 was also the user of the Paramecia-type Wax-Wax Fruit and served as one of the senior officers of Baroque Works.
He had always considered himself an intelligent man with exceptional analytical skills, so he had secretly investigated Nico Robin on his own.
From everything he had discovered, Nico Robin was the sole survivor of Ohara. The World Government had branded her the "Devil Child" when she was still a little girl, placing a bounty of seventy-nine million Berries on her head.
In Mr. 3's eyes, Nico Robin was obviously far more than just an orphan from Ohara.
Otherwise, the World Government would never have offered such an enormous bounty on a child, nor would their Boss have repeatedly ordered everyone to search for her.
There's definitely something special about Nico Robin...
Mr. 3 silently studied Crocodile's expression while keeping those thoughts to himself.
Although Crocodile had stepped out from the shadows to personally lead Baroque Works, and had openly declared that his goal was to seize control of Alabasta, he had never revealed his true objective—the Ancient Weapon, Pluton.
As for Robin's true importance, the World Government's strict information blockade meant that neither Mr. 3 nor anyone else within Baroque Works could uncover the real reason Crocodile was so obsessed with finding her.
Taking a slow drag from his cigar, Crocodile exhaled a cloud of thick smoke that partially concealed the gloomy look on his face.
His gaze drifted toward Mr. 5 and Mr. 3, both of whom had objected to Bentham traveling to West Blue in search of Robin.
The irritation in his heart only grew stronger.
Seizing Alabasta was certainly one of his ambitions.
Compared to Pluton, however, that ambition was secondary.
Normally, even if Robin remained missing, Crocodile possessed enough patience to continue waiting.
But things had changed.
The moment he recalled the attack on the royal palace more than half a month earlier, a feeling of unease resurfaced.
There was no helping it.
Although Kaito had knocked Cobra and everyone else unconscious using Conqueror's Haki, he had also used Bell and Chaka as test subjects while verifying the Devil's Coffin.
As a result, Bell and Chaka had both died after their Devil Fruits were extracted.
And that wasn't all.
After taking the Devil's Coffin, Kaito had also broken into the royal mausoleum and stolen the Poneglyph hidden beneath it.
Naturally, the royal tomb was heavily guarded.
Although the guards knew nothing about the Poneglyph concealed beneath the mausoleum, they immediately reported the intrusion to Cobra after regaining consciousness from the effects of Conqueror's Haki.
When Cobra awoke and discovered that Bell and Chaka had both been killed, while the kingdom's inherited treasures and the Poneglyph had vanished, he was utterly devastated.
Especially the Poneglyph.
It was a secret that the Nefertari family had protected for generations.
If word of its disappearance spread, the consequences would be unimaginable.
The World Government alone would be enough to bring disaster upon Alabasta.
Because of that, despite his anger and grief, Cobra had no choice but to suppress the incident completely.
Unfortunately, his secrecy couldn't hide the truth from Crocodile.
Alabasta had long since become Crocodile's prey.
There was no way he hadn't planted spies throughout the royal palace.
Although only Cobra knew about both the Devil's Coffin and the Poneglyph, meaning Crocodile couldn't determine exactly what had been stolen, the fragments of information gathered by his spies—combined with Cobra's desperate efforts to suppress the news—made Crocodile increasingly suspicious.
He strongly suspected that the missing item was the very Poneglyph he had been searching for all this time.
After all, based on everything he knew about Cobra, only something as important as the Poneglyph would cause the king to conceal the incident so thoroughly.
Even though it remained only a suspicion, Crocodile couldn't dismiss it.
Once that seed of doubt had been planted, it constantly gnawed at his thoughts.
That lingering anxiety was precisely why he had summoned all of Baroque Works' senior officers for this meeting.
"What if we launched the rebellion against Albana now...?"
Crocdile suddenly asked.
The question immediately startled every officer seated around the conference table.
"It's still too early to begin the operation."
"That's right. Albana has a standing army of six hundred thousand soldiers. The rebel army isn't anywhere near strong enough to challenge them yet."
"Boss... did something happen?"
One after another, the senior officers voiced their objections, trying to persuade Crocodile to reconsider.
Even Daz Bones, the normally silent Mr. 1, couldn't help asking what had happened to make their Boss consider accelerating the plan.
According to the original strategy, the rebellion wasn't supposed to begin until the rebel army had grown powerful enough.
Only then would it possess the strength necessary to confront Albana's six hundred thousand royal troops.
Once both sides exhausted each other in battle, Crocodile would appear as the nation's savior, earning overwhelming public support by "rescuing" Alabasta.
Afterward, Cobra would be captured.
Bentham would use the Clone-Clone Fruit to impersonate the king, publicly announce his abdication, and hand the throne over to Crocodile, completing the peaceful takeover of the kingdom.
Only after securing the country would Crocodile force Cobra to reveal the location of the Poneglyph and finally obtain the Ancient Weapon, Pluton.
Although the officers of Baroque Works knew nothing about that final objective, even the first phase of seizing the kingdom was still far from complete.
Cobra's prestige among the people of Alabasta remained extremely high.
Although the worsening drought had caused widespread suffering, only a small portion of the population had joined the rebel army.
Under the repeated persuasion of his officers, Crocodile gradually calmed down.
They were right.
The rebel army still wasn't strong enough to challenge Albana's military.
Launching the rebellion prematurely would almost certainly result in failure.
However...
"Very well."
"We'll continue waiting before moving the rebel army."
"But as for Cobra..."
A cold gleam flashed across Crocodile's eyes.
"I'm going to take control of him first."
Hearing that their Boss had accepted their advice, the senior officers of Baroque Works quietly breathed sighs of relief.
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