Chapter 173

Before departing, Crocodile lays out the impossible choices facing Vivi. She can chase the rebels, who are eight hours from Alubarna and unreachable in the time left, or try to free her friends, which means recovering a key now sitting inside the belly of a Bananawani that swallowed it. On top of that, the building is set to self destruct shortly. To twist the knife, he admits that he engineered the relentless sandstorms that buried Yuba's oasis and ridicules Toto's stubborn hope, a taunt that drives Luffy to beg Vivi to release him so he can settle the score.

The destruction mechanism then raises the water level in the Bananawani pool, and the beasts begin clambering out one after another to hunt Vivi, who only narrowly stays ahead of the powerful creatures.

As Crocodile and Miss All Sunday make their exit, his Den Den Mushi rings with a call routed through the line he uses for the Billions. The caller's voice and manner of speaking jog his memory of an earlier exchange, an unmistakable echo of Sanji, who is making secret contact after their first crossing of paths at Little Garden.

The chapter confirms it will take the Rebel Army eight hours to reach Alubarna and pins the room's flooding to a one hour deadline. Crocodile's admission ties him directly to Yuba's devastation. The Animal Theater cover shows cliff bears sharing a campfire fish dinner with Luffy.