"Back then..."
Hina began to recall.
The first ten days after entering the Grand Line had been relatively uneventful.
Nearly every day, they would crush countless rookie pirate crews. After all, most of the pirates in that region were newcomers from the four seas, having just crossed Reverse Mountain.
There were hardly any Marines in the area either—
it was basically a pirate-hunting paradise.
In ten days, they had taken down 107 pirate ships and seized countless supplies.
Of course, every time Hina led an operation, it wasn't just about hunting pirates and securing funds for the base—
there was another key mission:
Bringing people back.
However, since these pirate crews had just crossed into the Grand Line, it was unlikely they'd already captured civilians or slaves.
So, despite the success, they rescued fewer than ten people.
With that in mind, Hina ordered Danaan to continue deeper, heading toward more densely populated regions where pirate attacks were more frequent.
Their destination?
The Kingdom of Alabasta.
At this point in time, Alabasta wasn't yet the war-torn land it would become two years later.
But the surrounding waters were flooded with pirates, and the kingdom itself lacked powerful defenders.
Although the royal army boasted hundreds of thousands of troops, they were mostly ordinary people—powerless against seasoned pirates.
To make matters worse...
Crocodile had already begun his secret manipulations behind the scenes. The kingdom was becoming unstable, and its forces were too divided to deal with the escalating pirate threat.
In fact, many of the so-called pirate attacks were orchestrated by Baroque Works, who disguised themselves as pirates.
So this period was, in truth, the most chaotic era in Alabasta's history when it came to pirate activity.
And that was exactly why Hina had chosen to go there.
Since they were already in the area and aware of the situation, why not clean house while they were at it?
They could eliminate pirates and rescue civilians—
choosing the right people to bring back to the base.
A perfect win-win scenario.
Unfortunately, Hina had no knowledge of the One Piece storyline, and thus didn't know Crocodile was operating in the shadows.
If she had, she would've been much more cautious.
---
After entering Alabasta's waters, Hina easily took down over a dozen pirate crews.
But something stood out—
half of those groups weren't real pirates.
They were part of an organized force pretending to be pirates.
This led Hina to suspect that someone was targeting the Kingdom of Alabasta.
It didn't make sense otherwise.
She decided to capture some of these imposters alive and interrogate them to uncover the force behind them.
The plan worked smoothly. By the very next day, she had the name:
Baroque Works.
But when she asked about their leader, no one knew.
Which was no surprise. Even two years later, the only one in the entire organization who knew the identity of the boss was Nico Robin.
So, what started as a pirate-hunting campaign had now become a full-scale operation to target Baroque Works.
---
Three days later.
Hina brought the Danaan to an uninhabited island.
The goal was to let everyone get some fresh air, stretch their legs, and rest for half a day before continuing.
Sure, the Danaan was spacious and well-equipped...
But staying inside for long periods was still suffocating.
However, just three hours later, more than ten warships suddenly emerged from the opposite side of the island—
executing a perfect flanking maneuver.
The island had blocked Danaan's sensors, making it impossible to detect the ambush in time.
Their sonar and radar systems simply weren't designed for this.
As the situation escalated, Hina immediately ordered everyone back aboard, personally staying behind to cover their retreat—
Blocking a barrage of incoming cannon fire.
In the end, before the warships could completely encircle them, the Danaan dove deep and managed to escape.
It was Hina's first ambush.
The second occurred just three hours later.
Hina had ordered the Danaan to rise to periscope depth to observe the nearby sea lanes.
There were a lot of ships around, mostly merchant vessels.
Nothing seemed out of place.
But as Hina was considering her next move, several of those "merchant ships" suddenly deployed cannons and opened fire in Danaan's direction.
Fortunately, the Danaan hadn't surfaced completely.
And in the world of pirates, those old-fashioned, front-loaded solid cannonballs lacked real power.
Even when hit three times, the shots had lost much of their momentum underwater.
The Danaan's outer armor suffered minimal damage.
Still, sensing something was wrong, Hina decided to return to base.
---
After Hina finished speaking, Luo Lan frowned deeply.
"Hina, during the first ambush—you guys could've easily wiped them out, right?"
"Yes, that was Hina's intention at first," she replied. "I launched a direct counterattack immediately, but... I was held back by one of their fighters. Couldn't break through him no matter what I tried."
"You know who it was?"
Hina shook her head.
"He wore a cloak. I couldn't see his face."
"But one thing's for sure—
he was a Logia-type Devil Fruit user."
"Even when I stabbed right through his body, there was no sensation of hitting anything solid. No injury, no blood—nothing. He was clearly intangible."
"And there was another guy beside him—
his entire body could turn into blades. He kept interfering."
"In the end, I had no choice but to withdraw."
Luo Lan had a pretty good idea who that was.
Crocodile, of course.
And the other one?
Daz Bones.
Truthfully, if Hina had gone all-out, she probably could've taken them both.
But just like Crocodile was hiding his true abilities, Hina had also been holding back.
She couldn't reveal her full strength.
And with the Danaan unarmed and vulnerable to pirates bombardment, letting those ships get too close could've spelled disaster.
That was the real reason she had to retreat.
But something still puzzled Luo Lan:
How did Crocodile track them?
Not just once—but twice?
What method was he using?
"Could it be... fishmen?"
Luo Lan murmured aloud.
Everyone in the room went silent.
Then someone spoke up—
And their words made everyone's eyes widen.
Fishmen.
Of course!
No one else would've been able to track the Danaan so precisely.
But the Fishmen...
That was a different story.
Most sonar systems would mistake them for ordinary sea creatures.
So if a fishman had been following the Danaan all this time...
They might never have noticed.