They were currently on the passage connecting the back of the casino to the front hall. Since there was seawater on both sides of the passage, Crocodile didn't want to fight Tom in such a place, so he tried to lure Tom outside.
In all his years, Crocodile had never seen anyone who, after being drained dry by him, could still fight. Though surprised, he didn't take it to heart.
After all, Tom was his defeated opponent, and only from the day before. In just one day, how could Tom turn the tables?
Crocodile didn't know what method Tom had used to burst out with even greater power than during their previous fight after becoming a mummy. But Tom's state was like a rampaging beast—fierce, but without threat.
The only thing that bothered Crocodile slightly were the green stripes on Tom's body that seemed to writhe like living things. He could vaguely sense that deep within those eerie purple pupils lurked madness, as if wanting to destroy everything in the world.
"You never learn. Even if you go all out, you can't hurt me."
As soon as Crocodile said this, Tom plucked several withered hairs from his head.
Crocodile, rich in combat experience, was still taken aback when he saw Tom actually pull out a few hairs as if to fight him.
He had thought Tom was going to launch a fierce attack, but instead, he seemed to want to attack with hair. It was like seeing a child pick up a pebble thinking he could kill someone. Crocodile found it amusing. "You're not going to use those things against me, are you?"
"Just watch, monster. You won't be laughing for long!"
Tom's voice was hoarse. The few dry, straw-like hairs in his left hand, after coming into contact with the green stripes on his arm, seemed to absorb nutrients, gradually regaining their luster and slowly growing longer.
"So you're a Devil Fruit user."
When Crocodile fought Tom yesterday, he hadn't seen him use any special abilities. Only now did he realize Tom had eaten a Devil Fruit. In truth, Tom was using his Devil Fruit ability to simulate a growth environment, making the few hairs he had plucked grow as if they were still attached to a person's head.
Just as Crocodile was about to strike first, Tom thrust his long rod into the ground and threw a "True Punch" toward the water surface beside him.
With a bang, the water on Tom's right side seemed to explode. The splashing water droplets quickly rose into the air. Tom grabbed the rod stuck in the ground and swung it through the water curtain rising from the surface. Then, while stepping back, he spun his body rapidly.
Before Crocodile could figure out what Tom was doing, Tom, spinning as he retreated, threw the few hairs he was holding in his left hand. The water droplets that had clung to the rod in his hand were all flung toward Crocodile.
Only when Crocodile saw those hairs, thrown by Tom, being wrapped by the water droplets that followed them did he realize what Tom was trying to do with those hairs.
A single drop of water couldn't completely cover a strand of hair, but when enough water droplets joined together, it was entirely possible.
Yes, Crocodile saw it clearly. Those water droplets, like transparent pearls, clung to the few strands of hair, flying toward him at a speed much faster than bullets.
As the water wrapped around the hairs, it not only straightened them but also gave them powerful force. Hearing the sharp whistling cutting through the air, Crocodile finally understood why Tom was using hair to attack him.
Because hair, with enough force, could be like needles—possessing strong penetrating power, easily piercing through a body!
Ordinary hair, Crocodile wouldn't fear. But hair coated with water and with power far exceeding bullets—he had to dodge.
And although Crocodile ultimately dodged Tom's attack, his foot was still grazed by the last hair flying toward him, leaving a bloody scratch.
In over twenty years of fame, Crocodile had naturally suffered many injuries. Looking at the insignificant scratch on his foot, he realized he had never been wounded by someone's hair before.
Though it was a minor wound, Crocodile felt extreme humiliation. Yesterday he had beaten Tom to the point of helplessness. Today Tom had wounded him. If a few more years passed, Tom might surpass him.
Yesterday, when Tom had made Crocodile's nose bleed, it had been due to Crocodile's carelessness. But today Tom had genuinely wounded him with real skill. And in Crocodile's eyes, Tom was just an unknown little pirate, someone already reduced to a dried-up mummy—practically dead. For someone like that to wound him, how could he not be furious?
"It seems you really have some skill."
Crocodile noticed that the hair he had dodged had actually pierced deep into the thick stone wall behind him, causing noticeable cracks. If the water-coated hair had actually hit him, he wouldn't have come out unscathed.
What surprised Crocodile most was that Tom, in his current state, was still exploiting his weakness during the fight. That wasn't something a person who had lost their sanity would do.
How could Crocodile know that what happened yesterday was the greatest blow Tom had suffered since setting sail? His impression of Crocodile was extremely deep—so deep it was branded into his soul. With such strong obsession, even in his berserk state, many things related to Crocodile remained clear in his mind, like Crocodile's appearance and his weakness.
"You alone—I will never let you off!"
Tom attacked Crocodile again.
Seeing Tom charge at him again, Crocodile, though filled with killing intent on the surface, remained calm. He casually turned into sand and floated into the air. Then Tom leaped up, also reaching the sky.
Just then, Sanji, who had been waiting for an opportunity, quickly ran onto the passage. He had seen Tom fighting someone earlier and heard Tom call him "Sand Monster," guessing it was Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. He decided to hide with Chopper and observe first.
When he finally saw Crocodile and Tom both jump into the air, he didn't hesitate. After saying a few words to Chopper, he ran toward the passage as fast as he could, intending to cross it.
"Another little mouse trying to play tricks."
Crocodile immediately noticed Sanji trying to run inside. His face darkened. Keeping an eye on Tom's movements, he said to Sanji below, "Who are you?"
"I'm Mr. Prince. You're Crocodile, aren't you?"
As Sanji ran forward, he looked up at Crocodile floating in the sky and shouted to Tom, who was starting to descend, "Stinky fisherman, hold him off for me!"
"Okay, Second Apprentice Brother! Watch me exorcise the demon!"
Tom felt that Sanji was very familiar, but his mind was in chaos. He had no energy to think about anything else. He said whatever came to mind.
"What did you call me?"
Sanji couldn't help but ask as he ran forward.
"I got it wrong."
Tom saw Crocodile about to attack. In mid-air, he swung his rod and turned Crocodile's body into scattered sand. While Crocodile was reforming, Tom shouted to Sanji below, "I should call you Pigsy Apprentice Brother!"
"What did you say?!"
Sanji didn't know what "Pigsy" was, but anything with "pig" in it couldn't be good. He immediately got angry. "Say that again!"
Vivi, just as she ran out from inside, saw Sanji and was about to happily run over. Then she heard Sanji arguing with someone.
"Then listen carefully."
As Tom spoke to Sanji, he didn't give Crocodile a chance to reform. He swung his long rod at the floating sand in the sky and shouted to Sanji below, dragging out the words, "Pig-sy Ap-pren-tice Bro-ther. Got it?"
"I'll kill you!"
Sanji heard Tom dragging out the words and felt he couldn't take it anymore. But before he could lose his temper, he was grabbed by the arriving Vivi. "Don't be like that, Sanji. He's not himself right now. You should go help the others first!"
Vivi, who had grabbed the about-to-explode Sanji, saw that Tom's face was withered, his body emaciated beyond recognition—almost no flesh left—his skin showing a dark purple, completely different from before. Her heart filled with even more worry.
The moment Sanji saw Vivi, his attention immediately shifted to her. "Vivi-san! I'm so glad to see you're okay!"
"Sanji, listen to me. Luffy and the others—"
Vivi glanced at Tom, who was still fighting Crocodile, and wanted Sanji to focus on the priority. But before she could finish, Sanji said, "When I saw the stinky fisherman earlier, I was worried about you. I'm so glad you're okay. Otherwise, I'd definitely make him pay—"
"Sanji! Nami is in danger right now!"
Vivi saw that Sanji was going on and on, even talking about putting medicine on her forehead wound. She felt that if this continued, it would never end. So she had no choice but to bring out the big news.
Sure enough, when Sanji heard that Nami was in danger, his expression changed. Without another word, he ran inside without looking back, his eyes turning into hearts. "Nami-san! Your brave knight, Mr. Prince, is coming to save you!"
Meanwhile, as Vivi was talking with Sanji, Tom, just as he was about to land back on the ground, wet his rod with water and, while spinning in the air with one hand on the ground, sent Crocodile flying with a powerful swing.
It wasn't that Crocodile was slow to react, but that Tom's speed was too fast for him to react.
Tom had been able to stay in the air for a relatively long time because most of his body's moisture had been drained by Crocodile, making him much lighter than usual. That was also why his attack speed was several times faster than before.
Crocodile, relying on his experience from yesterday's fight, had strengthened his defenses but still suffered greatly.
After Tom sent Crocodile flying with one swing, he jumped onto the badly damaged casino roof and chased in the direction Crocodile had flown.
After Vivi finished talking with Sanji, she found that Tom had disappeared. Then she saw Chopper.
"We need to find Tom quickly."
Chopper said to Vivi anxiously. "Judging by his condition, the poison has already penetrated deep into his body. If we don't treat him soon, he'll—"
"Is he really poisoned?!"
Hearing Chopper's words, Vivi also became anxious. Only then did she confirm that the antidote Robin had given her might be real.
"Yes, I'm sure of that. But without a proper examination, I don't know what kind of poison it is. So we have to find him immediately!"
As Chopper said this to Vivi, he was already following Tom's scent with his nose.
If Tom hadn't been moving so fast, Chopper would have tried to stop him earlier.
Vivi felt that with Sanji's skills, dealing with the enemies inside shouldn't be too difficult. So she decided to go with Chopper to find Tom.
Meanwhile, the people who had just escaped from the casino hadn't even caught their breath when they, along with those drawn by the commotion, saw a figure fly out from the casino.
That figure flew almost across half the city before its momentum finally stopped.
When those people clearly saw that the person flying overhead wore a black fur coat and had a gleaming golden hook on his left hand, their eyes nearly popped out.
"That's Mr. Crocodile!"
"Why is he flying through the sky?"
"Did someone send him flying?"
The people on the ground stared blankly at the golden arc left in the sky, their jaws hitting the ground.
Crocodile had indeed been hit by Tom, but aside from the pain, he wasn't seriously injured. However, the feeling in his heart right now was different.
Yes—humiliation.
Since coming to the Alabasta Kingdom, Crocodile had lived in Rainbase for many years. The locals all recognized him. His prestige and status here were unparalleled.
But now, he had been sent flying from his own casino in plain view of everyone, flying almost across the entire city. How could Crocodile not be furious?
Although Rainbase was a small city, that meant almost everyone in the city—men, women, the elderly, children—had witnessed his embarrassing state. His rage instantly flared up.
"I will crush you to death, you damned ant!"
After landing back on the ground, Crocodile watched Tom jumping toward him from the roof, his face twisted with rage and ferocity, looking exceptionally sinister.
The nearby residents saw Crocodile like that and couldn't help but feel afraid.
In the past, when they saw Crocodile, even though he rarely paid them any attention, he always appeared before them with a dignified bearing. His behavior, while not particularly friendly, had never shown such a dark, twisted expression of rage.
"Exposed your true colors, have you, you acting Sand Monster?!"
Just as Tom caught up to Crocodile, excruciating pain shot through his entire body. His figure swayed a few times, and he coughed up a mouthful of dark purple blood...
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T/N :
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