Chapter 33: Let You See the Difference in Our Abilities! (Bang!)
Chapter 33: Let You See the Difference in Our Abilities! (Bang!)
In Alabasta, what do people think of when 'nature' or 'natural disasters' are mentioned?
The answer is undoubtedly clear.
In Alabasta, where over seventy percent of the nation's territory is 'desert'.
Be it nature or natural disaster, what they refer to is always the same thing—the yellow sand that covers the entire country.
At this very moment, the location of the former 'Spider Cafe' was undoubtedly displaying the power of 'sand'.
"Rumble!"
One could only see at this moment that the yellow sand-covered ground, like a living creature, began to swallow everything on its surface.
The yellow sand was its mouth, its teeth, and its claws.
And at this moment, the entire 'Spider Cafe' had already been dragged beneath the ground by it.
The entire ground now held only a circular sand pit, over dozens of meters wide, resembling a sunflower. Within this pit, quicksand ceaselessly devoured everything it could.
Above the ground, Crocodile's figure drifted with the gusts of wind in the desert.
"Desert Sunflower."
His lower body had completely transformed into a swirling mass of yellow sand.
This was also what he relied on, the ability that allowed him to stand at the pinnacle of this great sea—the Logia Type Devil Fruit, the Sand-Sand Fruit.
"Hmph!"
He silently took out another cigar, tore off its wrapper, and lit it.
"Puff."
Exhaling a puff of smoke, his gaze fell downwards.
"Dragon, and that Drunken Chicken, they should be related... Members of the same organization or Pirate crew?"
He speculated thus in his mind.
"And also, Nico Robin..."
His expression was somewhat gloomy.
His 'Utopia Plan' itself, besides usurping Alabasta, had the most important objective of obtaining information about the Ancient Weapon Pluton within Alabasta.
Nico Robin was originally an indispensable part of it.
But now, he had no choice but to kill her, which naturally vexed him greatly.
Of course, Crocodile naturally wouldn't regret it because of this—trusting traitors was a fool's decision, and he knew this better than anyone.
"Fine."
So in the end, he just thought calmly: "First, seize Alabasta. Regarding deciphering the Poneglyphs, other methods can be considered later."
"The priority now is to first ascertain the life or death of the others."
"I cannot lose my Warlord of the Sea identity for now, so I need new agents—if they are all dead, then the plan will need to be temporarily halted for a period, until enough powerful individuals are found to allow the company to recover its strength, then it can restart."
Crocodile thought calmly while turning to leave.
But...
"Hmm?"
He had just taken a step when he seemed to sense something, frowning.
He then stopped and turned back around.
His gaze fell upon the giant pit in the desert before him.
One could only see at this moment
"Click! Click!"
From within the quicksand, a crisp sound came—that was the sound of sand freezing.
"Huh?"
Thus, Crocodile's eyebrow twitched.
The next moment.
"Boom!"
The sand within the entire giant pit completely stopped flowing, then
Shattered!
After that, Crocodile saw the figures of Dragon and Nico Robin again.
One could only see at this moment that the latter's expression clearly showed fear and surprise.
As for the former, he slowly walked out of the deep pit.
"What's wrong, Crocodile?"
"I heard you once fought Whitebeard when you were young; although you were beaten badly, you've seen the world—you wouldn't seriously think that attack just now could finish me off, would you?"
He looked at Crocodile, a mocking voice coming from beneath his mask.
"..."
And after hearing his words, Crocodile's expression became even gloomier.
The disastrous defeat he suffered against Whitebeard back then was one of the things he least wanted to be reminded of.
"Indeed—after all, a sneaky guy like you, always hiding his head and showing his tail, looks very weak."
But it was obvious that, as a warlord of the great seas, Crocodile's verbal prowess was not to be outdone.
"What a coincidence."
Hearing this, Dragon smiled: "This is also what I wanted to tell you—Croc, you can't win against me."
As his words fell.
"Hmph."
Accompanied by a sneer, Crocodile's figure instantly dissolved into a mass of yellow sand and dispersed.
And just a moment later, his figure reformed and appeared beside Dragon.
The golden hook on his left hand gleamed with a cold light, and with a sharp whistling sound, it aimed for Dragon's head.
But immediately after.
"Clang!"
In the air, an ice wall suddenly appeared, and Crocodile's golden hook struck the ice wall, its tip instantly embedded itself.
"Ice creation... So you escaped 'Desert Sunflower' just now with this too?"
Thus, Crocodile's pupils suddenly contracted.
But before he could pull out his golden hook, he saw that Dragon had already moved.
"There's still a lady here beside us, let's fight somewhere else."
He chuckled and whispered, while his fist was already clenched.
"Iron Body: Steel Fist!"
Then
"Boom!"
Crocodile then saw that the opponent's fist had already swung out, heading straight for his abdomen.
"It's Iron Body from the Six Powers!"
Crocodile instantly recognized this punch. Of course, he didn't find it strange—it was still the same old saying: although the Six Powers were techniques created by the Marines and the World Government, their spread across the entire great sea was very wide.
What truly concerned him was
"No Haki attached?!"
At this moment, his Observation Haki had already sensed that the opponent's punch had no Haki attached to it.
And as everyone knew—for a Logia Type Ability User, an attack without Haki was equivalent to not existing.
"Idiot."
Thus, Crocodile came to a conclusion.
He did not dodge—just like those rookie Pirates who faced 'Paradise' in the past for many years.
"Let me show you the difference in our abilities... Ugh!"
But Crocodile's smile hadn't even fully formed when the next moment, he let out a muffled groan.
The confidence on his face instantly froze.
Because at this moment, he had already perceived—the sensation was wrong.
The opponent's fist had not passed through his sand body.
In fact, quite the opposite!
"Bang!"
As if he had been directly struck by a wild beast, Crocodile's body violently caved in!
Hot fresh blood uncontrollably gushed from his mouth, and his body was sent flying backward like a kite with a broken string.
"Crash!"
He was like a cannonball, smashing into the rocks on the ground, then heavily crashed into the desert, kicking up a vast cloud of swirling sand.
And at this moment, Dragon slowly withdrew his fist.
"Sorry, I didn't quite catch that."
"What was it you said you wanted to show me just now?"
(end of chapter)