One Piece: Hashirama Template

Link remained frozen in place for a long time. Only after Vivi had vented all her emotions did the young woman in his arms finally let go.

"Thank you, Link."

Vivi looked up at Link, her eyes red as she thanked him again.

"You're welcome. Let's head to Rainbase first."

Fearing the sentimental scene would continue, Link quickly waved to Carina and Nami. "Carina, Nami, let's go!"

"Hee hee hee... Alright."

Carina and Nami, who had been watching with schadenfreude, immediately trotted over with smiles on their faces.

Carina sized up the unscathed Link, her face full of amazement. "Link, you defeated one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea without a single scratch?"

Seeing that Carina had thoughtfully changed the subject, Link immediately smiled and went along with it. "The weakness of the Logia-type Sand-Sand Fruit is water. My ability allows me to make the surface of trees seep with water, and I can even spit out large amounts of water from my mouth.

"Unless he constantly attacked me with sand tornadoes from a distance, he was bound to lose in a close-quarters fight with me."

"So amazing, as expected of Lord Impaler!"

Carina and Nami immediately put on expressions of adoration, speaking in a fawning tone.

When they joined other pirate crews, they liked to flatter the pirate captains like this to satisfy the vanity of those foolish pirates.

When Nami first met Link, she had done the same, but she was 'scolded' by Link.

But this time, although their actions were exaggerated, their words came from the heart.

Link made it sound easy, but having witnessed that giant sand tornado and the natural disaster-like scene with their own eyes, the two women knew what a powerful enemy Crocodile was.

To be able to defeat such an enemy so easily, Link's strength filled Carina and Nami's hearts with a sense of security.

They had already developed a feeling of admiration for their captain.

Vivi also looked at Link with a face full of admiration.

As a victim who had gone undercover in Baroque Works for two years, Vivi understood Crocodile's power and terror even more clearly than Carina and Nami.

Because of this, when Vivi saw Crocodile's defeat, besides deep gratitude, she felt an even stronger sense of admiration for Link than the other two women.

Looking at Link's smiling profile, Vivi suddenly remembered the payment for his services and couldn't help but ask, "Link, what is your condition?"

Hearing this, Carina and Nami also looked at Link, curious about the 'reward'.

To this, Link just smiled and said, "I'll tell you after we take care of Baroque Works and help you quell the civil war in the Alabasta Kingdom."

"Okay!"

Hearing this, Vivi's attention was indeed diverted. She nodded firmly, her expression resolute. "No matter what your condition is, I will agree to it!"

"You said it. You won't be allowed to refuse then," Link said with a meaningful smile, making the three women even more curious.

None of them thought Link would harm Vivi, which was why they were all the more curious.

But they also knew Link's personality, so they didn't pester him with questions.

"A clash between top-tier Logias? How exaggerated!"

As Link and the others continued towards Rainbase, a picture of the clash between the sea of trees and the giant sand tornado appeared in Robin's hands.

Looking at the photo in her hand, Robin sighed with emotion, a trace of fear flashing in her eyes.

The clash of top-tier Logias clearly reminded her of the volcanic bombs and the frozen giant at Ohara—the power of fire and ice.

Akainu and Aokiji were nightmares that had woken Robin from her sleep on countless nights.

Swoosh—

At this moment, a sound pulled Robin back to reality.

A vulture flew in through the window.

On the vulture's back sat a raccoon-like creature wearing sunglasses.

A camera hung around the creature's neck.

When the vulture landed on the windowsill, the creature immediately took out a photo and handed it to Robin.

Taking the photo, Robin smiled. "Thank you for your hard work, Mr. 13 and Miss Friday."

The creature and the vulture nodded in a human-like manner, then flew away from the window again.

Before the "Utopia Plan" began, apart from Mr. 1, who was a senior agent personally recruited by Crocodile, the other senior agents had never met Crocodile, only hearing his voice through a Den Den Mushi.

The person usually responsible for contacting them was Robin, the vice president.

Unless Crocodile contacted them personally, they would only take orders from Robin.

After watching them leave, Robin looked at the new photo in her hand.

The next second, her beautiful blue-black eyes instantly constricted.

A long while later, the corners of her lips finally curled up slightly as she murmured to herself, "This result... is truly unexpected!"

In the photo was Link—to be precise, a Wood Clone of Link—carrying a tightly bound Crocodile.

In Robin's eyes, it was possible that Link would defeat Crocodile, and it was also possible that Crocodile would kill Link.

But in her opinion, the possibility of Crocodile killing Link was greater. After all, she had seen the Encyclopedia of Devil Fruits and knew how much of an advantage a Sand-Sand Fruit user had in the desert.

The desert was a land where life withered. The Forest-Forest Fruit's power would be greatly reduced when fighting in the desert. Normally, growing a large tree might only consume a little stamina, but in the desert, it would consume several times more.

The more trees he grew, the more stamina he would consume.

In contrast, the Sand-Sand Fruit, with a simple sandstorm that might only consume one minute's worth of recoverable stamina, could continuously strengthen in the desert, eventually forming a giant sand tornado capable of destroying a city.

For Link and Crocodile to fight in the desert, Link was essentially giving Crocodile a handicap of half his stamina.

Under such circumstances, Link actually managed to defeat Crocodile, and without a scratch.

This result greatly surprised Robin.

If not for her obsession with history being above all else, and a little bit of confidence that she could escape unharmed, Robin would be thinking of fleeing the Alabasta Kingdom right now.

Faced with such a top-tier Logia user, all of Baroque Works combined would be utterly crushed.

But at the same time, Robin was in a very cheerful mood.

Link had won, which meant Crocodile's plan to usurp the country had failed. This was a good outcome.

If she could also obtain the historical text, that would be even better.

Thus, Robin began to act, organizing the chain of evidence, preparing to wait for Link's arrival.