Big Helmet didn't know what Weiwei was planning. Even with a long knife pressed to his throat, he was still trying to save his life.
He rambled, "Boss Teabeard is about to enter the New World! If something happens to me here, he'll definitely lead the fleet to avenge me in the first half of the Grand Line! You should know that, right? Among pirates, Boss Teabeard is one of the most loyal! Let me go… You don't want to provoke him, do you?"
Weiwei had done her research. She had seen Teabeard's bounty — 80 million Berries. These days, any pirate with "beard" in his name seemed to be a monster. Just by looking at the numbers, Teabeard's bounty was almost on par with Crocodile's 81 million.
Of course, Crocodile's bounty was from 20 years ago, when he first made his name, while Teabeard's was current. The gold content between the two couldn't compare. But Weiwei knew that most pirates didn't think that deeply — they only looked at the numbers. To them, Teabeard and Crocodile were on equal footing.
Excellent. Weiwei was pleased. She had been worried that Crocodile's title as a Shichibukai might scare potential enemies away. But now that there was a seemingly "equal" pirate in Teabeard, she didn't have to worry.
The real challenge was luring Teabeard to Alabasta. Weiwei looked at Mr. Big Helmet, who was bowing his head in submission, clearly hoping to be spared.
She used to think his face was disgusting, and that ridiculous Japanese samurai helmet made him look even more absurd. But his 36 million bounty had made him a worthwhile target. Now… now she found him rather useful. A textbook lackey.
Killing him outright would be wasteful. Turning him in for the bounty would be a shame. He could still be used.
Weiwei seized Mr. Big Helmet's ship and crew. Then, with venom-laced sarcasm, she mocked Teabeard and Big Helmet for a while, making sure to boast about her powerful backing — none other than the Sand Crocodile, Crocodile of the Shichibukai. In the end, she acted like a blind fool and let Mr. Big Helmet go, full of resentment but too afraid to retaliate.
A clown like Buggy, paired with a thug like Teabeard — could they fight Crocodile? Of course not. As one of the World Government's measures to balance power on the seas, the strength of the Shichibukai had already stood the test of time.
If you were serious about it, facing Crocodile without Haki was suicide. Teabeard and Buggy didn't even have Armament Haki. No matter how strong your crew or how many ships you had, without Haki, it was meaningless.
Weiwei didn't have any surefire plan — all she could do was provoke them and drag them into a trap.
Big Helmet had been an eye-opener. It was like discovering the secret formula for stirring chaos. From that day on, she began to actively insult pirates with powerful backers, pulling hatred toward Alabasta like a magnet.
---
"What? You're the navigator of the Rossio Pirates? Your captain is Executioner Rossio with a 42 million bounty? Trash. Tell your captain that as long as Mr. Crocodile, the hero of Alabasta, roams the Grand Line, a bug like him has no future! Executioner? He should go back to his village and farm!"
"What? You're the third mate of the New Era Pirates? Your captain is Bellamy the Hyena with a 55 million bounty? A dog is still a dog — no matter how fierce it looks. Tell your captain Mr. Crocodile said his stupid face is disgusting. He should go to some backwater town and become a tailor. He's so ugly that every time Crocodile sees his bounty poster, he wants to laugh."
Weiwei kept sailing from one end of the sea to the other, spreading slander about Crocodile's enemies — all to stir up hatred against him.
When Teabeard finally gathered ten pirate ships, along with small scattered pirate crews, and launched a full-scale assault on Alabasta, Weiwei quietly snuck into the background to watch the show.
Crocodile, forced to maintain his image as the national hero of Alabasta, had no choice but to act.
To keep his identity as the head of Baroque Works a secret, this time he didn't use his bounty hunters. Instead, he stood alone in the port city — facing a joint fleet of Teabeard, Buggy the Clown, Executioner Rossio, and Bellamy the Hyena.
With his back to the setting sun, not even a dog at his side, Crocodile's figure looked strikingly lonely and tragic.
The battle broke out in the port of Yuba.
In the very first exchange, Crocodile turned over 200 pirates into dried corpses. Teabeard — a massive man nearly six meters tall with a thick black beard — tried to challenge him, but was instantly defeated and killed.
Crocodile demonstrated the true power of his Suna Suna no Mi — flying sand and moving stone. A massive sandstorm swept across the battlefield, blotting out the sky. Few could even react, much less resist.
How could mere humans fight a sandstorm? The pirates realized that their swords had no effect on Crocodile's body. In the end, their only role was to exhaust his stamina. If his stamina were infinite, Crocodile alone could've wiped them all out.
Such was the overwhelming might of the Shichibukai.
---
"The gap is huge… My speed can't match his. Even Armament Haki might not help..." Weiwei observed from a hidden house near the battlefield, hiding alongside her loyal duck, Karoo.
She was the only one observing. Karoo had zero interest in battles. He sat to the side reading a newspaper, proudly presenting himself as a 'cultured duck.'
To avoid exposure, Weiwei didn't send Karoo to pick up combat attributes this time. Instead, she quietly analyzed the fight, making notes in her travel journal.
There was a big difference between manga and reality. Luffy defeated Crocodile with nothing but grit, water, and persistence — but most people couldn't replicate that feat.
Conqueror's Haki wouldn't work on Crocodile. Weiwei knew that clearly. Her only chance was to develop her Armament Haki and swordsmanship. But even with both, it would be extremely difficult.
She estimated her own strength was at the level of a marine officer — maybe a Commander. Not bad, but definitely inferior to someone like Smoker. Against Crocodile, she was still leagues behind. If she wanted to defeat such a powerful enemy, she'd need more training — and most of all, a strong Devil Fruit.
Watching Crocodile mow through the battlefield with ease, Weiwei lost interest. There were plenty of pirates, but they were basically cannon fodder. Aside from fertilizing the lands of Alabasta with their corpses, they contributed nothing.
If Crocodile had a system like those in novels — one that gave him experience points for kills — with all these "mobs" to farm, he could probably reach Yonko level in just a few days!