Chapter 101: A New Legend
"Oh?"
Hearing this, Shane seemed quite interested. He leaned in a little closer. "What ancient secret?"
Yes, closer, a little closer. Just give me a little more time to prepare.
Rustle… rustle…
It was a sound only Crocodile could hear. Under his skin, countless grains of sand were flowing, gathering, and swirling—
"You think I've been active in Alabasta for no reason? That country is an ancient civilization with thousands of years of history. It hides an ancient weapon capable of destroying the world…"
Crocodile gasped as he spoke, his voice growing fainter and fainter.
By the time Shane had to lean his ear close to even hear him, a savage grin suddenly spread across Crocodile's face.
You fell for it, brat!
"Sandstorm: Gilded Rain!!!"
BOOM!
With a low cry, countless fine cracks appeared on the surface of the Sand Crocodile's skin.
Golden grains of sand erupted from the cracks, and in that instant, his entire body exploded!
This was no ordinary explosion. It was a self-destruct attack, compressing his sandified body to its absolute limit.
Countless grains of sand, each coated in Armament Haki, shot out like bullets, creating a terrifying shockwave of penetrating force at point-blank range!
Thwip, thwip, thwip, thwip!
The dense barrage of sand slammed into Shane's body with the sound of rain on a banana leaf.
Each grain of sand packed a terrifying punch. Even Shane was pushed back a dozen meters by the force.
He held his arms up to shield his face, his feet carving two deep furrows in the sand.
"Big Bro!"
"Captain!"
Cries of alarm came from The Curtain Call.
Nami was the first to vault over the railing, about to jump ashore.
But she had barely swung one leg over when Shane's calm voice came from within the swirling sandstorm.
"It's nothing. Stay where you are."
The dust settled, and Shane's figure slowly came into view.
His shirt was riddled with holes. He tore it off and tossed it aside, revealing his muscular upper body.
The terrifying sand bullets, which were powerful enough to pierce steel plates, had mostly just left a dense pattern of red dots on his skin.
Only a few spots on his chest, abdomen, and arms, where the impact had been most concentrated, were a bloody mess.
"Drew some blood, did you?"
Shane spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, glanced down at his injuries, and then looked up again. "Is that your newest move? It's finally getting a little interesting. Can you use it a few more times? I'd like to experience it again."
He grinned, completely unconcerned.
It was an innocent, friendly smile, but in Crocodile's eyes, it was as terrifying as a demon from hell.
"Cough, cough, cough, how boring…"
Crocodile struggled to turn over, lying on his back in the sand and staring up at the night sky. His trembling fingers fumbled in his coat pocket for a cigar. He stuck it in his mouth and, after several tries, finally managed to light it.
He took a long drag and exhaled a puff of smoke mixed with blood, a self-deprecating smirk on his blood-stained lips.
"Even a move like that doesn't work on you? What kind of monster are you…?"
His body was like a torn sack, sand leaking from all over, his aura growing weaker by the second.
Shane sized him up.
It was clear that if he didn't receive medical attention soon, Crocodile's life was about to end.
"Looks like you can't use it a second time," Shane said, a little disappointed, and crouched down. "A self-destruct move, huh? One use is enough to take you out. No wonder I've never seen you use it before."
"Before?"
Crocodile let out a puff of smoke and sneered. "What nonsense are you talking about, brat? This is the first time we've ever met. Don't talk like you know me so well."
Of course I know you well.
If only the marketplace would sell the One Piece anime.
I'd make him watch the episodes of gearless Nika beating him with water, just to see if he'd pass out from rage on the spot.
Speaking of which, his seemingly unguarded approach had actually been a feint. His guard had been up the entire time.
The way Crocodile had suddenly become so subservient and meek had felt completely wrong.
He was a conqueror of the seas, after all.
He might have been a bit weak, but he had dared to take on both Akainu and Whitebeard.
How could he possibly be so scared of losing to him that he would tremble like Coby?
If something seems too strange to be true, it probably is.
So, just before his opponent's self-destruct attack, he had pushed his Iron Body to its limit.
And the moment the sandstorm erupted, he had coated his entire body in a thick layer of Armament Haki.
Otherwise, there was a small chance that his opponent might have actually turned the tables on him.
"By all rights, I could just leave you here to die," Shane said. "But you guys have such tenacious life forces. I can't give you even a single chance."
"Spare me the hypocritical nonsense and just do it," Crocodile said, narrowing his eyes. "If our positions were reversed, I wouldn't have shown any mercy either."
"Not yet. Wait until you finish that," Shane said.
"..." Crocodile was taken aback. He looked at the cigar in his hand. "...Thanks."
Shane waited quietly until the Sand Crocodile had nearly finished his cigar before placing a hand on his neck.
"When you get to hell, don't hold a grudge against me."
"In your dreams," Crocodile sneered. "I'll remember this in my next life. I couldn't even accept being defeated by Whitebeard. How could I possibly forget the shame of being beaten by a rookie?"
"But," he said, staring at Shane and exhaling one last puff of smoke, a wild laugh escaping his lips, "to think that there's a guy like you in the new generation? The more I think about it, the more outrageous it seems. The future of this sea is about to get interesting. Those old geezers in the New World who are so used to being on top… I don't think their peaceful days will last much longer!"
Shane raised an eyebrow and grinned back.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence."
Crack. Crocodile's head was twisted to the side. His already-weakened body completely lost its life force.
…
After confirming that the Sand Crocodile was dead, Shane clapped his hands and slowly stood up.
The sandstorm gradually dissipated, and the crew, who had been holding back, jumped from the ship and gathered around him.
"Big Bro! Are you okay?"
Nami rushed forward and fumbled in the first-aid kit that Nojiko was carrying, pulling out bandages and disinfectant.
But when she looked up to treat his wounds, she froze—
The bloody gashes on Shane's body had already completely healed. In the moonlight, there wasn't even a scar.
"That's strange," Nami said, scratching her head. "Was I just seeing things…?"
"No, it wasn't a hallucination," Smoker said, walking over with a cigar. He looked at Shane's uninjured upper body and sighed. "It's Life Return. The captain's Life Return must be at its absolute peak. Of all the people I've seen, no one can compare… not even the Admirals."
Shane just ruffled Nojiko's and Nami's hair and smiled, saying nothing.
But in his mind, he was rolling his eyes at the "White Chase" who was pretending to be an expert on the Marines.
What nonsense.
Of course the Admirals' Life Return can't do this.
Because this is the effect of the 'Regeneration Serum'!
"Not even the Admirals can compare?" Nami, however, took him at his word. "Whoa," she said, her eyes wide. "Then how strong are you now, Big Bro? You beat that Warlord without even breaking a sweat! Are you really on the same level as a Marine Admiral?"
"What are you talking about?"
Shane laughed and flicked Nami's forehead. "You really think your brother is invincible? I'm still a long way off."
When he had first set sail, he hadn't really known his own strength.
But after fighting Onigumo and the Sand Crocodile, he now had a much clearer idea.
Compared to the other Warlords, he was definitely in the upper tier. Most of the Marine Vice Admirals would be no match for him.
But he was still significantly weaker than the top commanders of the Emperor's crews in the New World, each of whom had their own unique and powerful abilities.
And compared to the Admirals and the Four Emperors, he was more than a single level below. Take Kaido, for example. If he were to be thrown into Wano, he wasn't sure how many hits he could take.
He still had a long way to go to reach the level of those top-tier monsters.
…
The Curtain Call officially dropped anchor.
The bounty hunters who had been hiding nearby still didn't dare to approach the port.
In fact, during the fight, they had run even farther away. Now, they were all hiding behind the giant cactus mountain.
They were smart, and Shane had no intention of going after them.
It was peaceful this way, with both sides keeping to themselves.
A bonfire was lit on the sandy ground near the port. The crew sat around the warm flames, holding a brief debriefing.
"Crocodile is usually active in the Alabasta Kingdom, which is quite a distance from here," Shane said, holding a cup of hot coffee. "That means he received the request from Marine Headquarters to help hunt us down at least a week ago, which is very close to the time of the Loguetown Incident. It seems Marine Headquarters is taking us very seriously. They want to use all their resources to nip us in the bud here in Paradise."
"But in the end, the captain's strength was beyond their expectations," Zeff said, bringing out plates of food from the kitchen and placing them in front of everyone. He sat down cross-legged and continued with a smile, "They'll be in for a big shock when the news of Crocodile's death gets back to them."
"Ha! I can just imagine the looks on their faces! First a Vice Admiral, then a Warlord. If you ask me, if they get desperate enough, they might just send an Admiral after us!"
Smoker picked up his plate and shook his head. "Not necessarily, Mr. Zeff."
"The Admirals are the highest-ranking military power at Headquarters, and they're quite busy. They have to keep an eye on the New World, and one of them always has to be stationed at Headquarters. So, generally speaking, unless they have a precise location, they won't spend a lot of time leading a team to track down pirates in Paradise."
"So, does that mean we have to be more careful and keep a low profile when we get to a bustling place with a lot of people?" Zeff asked, stroking his chin. "Tsk, otherwise, an Admiral could show up on our doorstep while we're still strolling around town."
"We will have to be more careful then, but that's still a long way off. Our next stop, Little Garden, is a deserted and remote place. We don't have to worry too much," Shane said with a smile. He looked at Nami. "How's the Log Pose? How long will it take to set?"
"It's already a fifth of the way there, Big Bro! That's pretty fast!" Nami said, quickly swallowing the food in her mouth. "At this rate, we can rest and resupply tonight, and we should be able to set sail by noon tomorrow!"
"Noon tomorrow? So about sixteen or seventeen hours?" Shane nodded. That was indeed fast for the Grand Line.
Every island in the Grand Line had a different magnetic field, and the time it took for the Log Pose to set varied.
The fastest ones might only take an hour or two, but the slower ones could take days, or even years.
"Alright, everyone get some rest. Gin slept during the day, so he'll be on watch tonight. Tomorrow morning, we'll resupply in the town, and then we'll set sail for our next stop!"
This was his final order as captain before dismissing the meeting.
No one had any objections.
Only Gin let out a mournful howl—Hey, boss, a little nap on the deck counts as sleeping during the day?
Can we get another pet? I'm not even an adult yet! You can't just keep working one guy to the bone, right?
But he didn't dare to protest in front of his master. He could only wait until Shane had turned and walked away, and then he secretly peed on his master's elongated shadow in the sand to show his displeasure.
…
The night passed without incident.
The next morning, the crew split up to buy food and water from the shops in the town.
As for the shop owners, who were still scared out of their wits and hadn't returned?
It didn't matter. The Curtain Call Adventurers had their principles.
Since they hadn't attacked them, they would pretend not to know they were bounty hunters and would conduct their business as if they were normal merchants, leaving the market price in cash on the counters.
As for Shane, he had finished cleaning up the battlefield and had also done some "wool-shearing."
[You have sacrificed Mr. 5's sunglasses and received 120 points.]
[You have sacrificed Miss Valentine's parasol and received 80 points.]
[You have sacrificed Crocodile's hook and received 2700 points.]
[Remaining points: 44,000]
Crocodile and Mr. 5 were dead.
But Miss Valentine, who had been nearly burned to a crisp, had only passed out. In the morning, after Nami shook her awake, she slowly came to.
When she saw her partner's mummified corpse, the teenage lemon-themed girl nearly fainted again.
She immediately collapsed into Nami's arms and began to sob.
She said she didn't want to be an agent anymore, that fighting was too scary, and that all she wanted to do was go home and open her own little café.
Nami actually felt a little guilty. She comforted her with kind words, untied her, and sent her on her way, even giving her some of the food and water she had bought.
Shane watched all of this.
Apart from sighing at his sister's naive and kind heart, he didn't intervene.
Nami had defeated her, so it was Nami's decision to make. He wouldn't interfere.
Of course, the main reason was that Miss Valentine was too weak… Whether she was really scared and wanted to retire or not, her pathetic strength was no threat at all.
Her Kilo-Kilo Fruit ability? In his eyes, she was just a flying dumbbell.
Why get worked up over a piece of gym equipment?
…
Noon arrived in the blink of an eye.
The Log Pose was set. Under the watchful, hidden gazes of countless eyes, The Curtain Call finally sailed out of the port of Whiskey Peak and headed for its next destination.
Only when the ship had become a small black dot on the horizon did the bounty hunters who had been hiding behind the cactus mountain dare to come out.
"They're gone… they're really gone this time…" a hunter in a cowboy hat said, collapsing onto the sand. The binoculars in his hand fell to the ground with a thud. Only then did he realize that his back was soaked in cold sweat.
In a tavern, a few of the braver hunters were gathered around the bar, whispering.
"Hey, last night… was that really the Warlord Crocodile?" a young hunter asked in a low voice.
"What do you think, you idiot!" a bearded hunter next to him said, taking a large gulp of his drink, his hand still trembling slightly. "The entire port was turned to sand… who else could it have been? Someone has already found his body. Damn, I've been working this island for over a decade, and I've never seen anything like it."
He wasn't the only one.
Remembering the terrifying battle they had witnessed from a distance under the moonlight last night, many of the bounty hunters still felt as if they were in a dream.
—That was the great Warlord of the Sea, the famous Crocodile!
And he's… dead?
Even though he had displayed the terrifying power of his Devil Fruit, even though he had nearly turned half of Whiskey Peak to sand… he was still no match for the captain of the Curtain Call Pirates, Shane!
Just how terrifying is this monster rookie, who has a bounty of over a hundred million before even entering the Grand Line?
"The newspapers will probably be here soon. When the news gets out, Captain Shane's bounty will probably skyrocket, right?" the young hunter said, his eyes full of envy and admiration. "He's already famous all over the seas, and he's only in his teens… Even though I'm a hunter, if I could have a bounty that high and be that famous, I'd become a pirate in a heartbeat!"
"Get lost," the bearded hunter said, kicking him. He picked up his drink and sighed. "Damn, actually, we were the lucky ones this time."
"Not only did we survive without a scratch, but we got to witness the rise of a new legend of the seas. When we're old and back in our villages, we'll be able to tell our grandkids about this for the rest of our lives, right?"
A new legend…
The other hunters looked out at the sea, and the image of that ridiculously young face flashed through their minds. They all subconsciously nodded.
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