"Die!"
On the golden battleship supported by the colossal sand pillar, a rampant, maniacal laugh twisted Crocodile's lips as he heavily pressed the death button on the golden base.
He could already foresee that in the next second, a lightning orb, brimming with terrifying energy, would blast out of the golden cannon barrel beside him, obliterating this so-called Marine rookie into scattered fragments of flesh. No, even his flesh and blood would be directly vaporized by that dreadful light and heat. Before the Pluton battleship, no Mythical Zoan, no Logia, could withstand the might of a single shot.
"This world will ultimately be ruled by me, Crocodile! I! Will become the Pirate King of this era! Hahahaha, ah hahahaha..."
High above the royal capital, a hundred meters above the ground, Crocodile's maniacal laughter was jarringly clear.
A crisp click sounded in his ears—the sound of the death button being pressed.
One second.
Two seconds.
The anticipated burst of lightning, the surging electrical light tearing through the sky and smashing everything in its path, did not occur.
Ten seconds, twenty seconds.
The cold golden cannon barrel remained motionless.
His unbridled laughter, which had been loud, gradually quieted and then stopped.
Crocodile's eyes showed a hint of bewilderment as he lowered his gaze to the golden cannon barrel below him.
Nothing.
Why didn't it fire that terrifying lightning orb again?
Had he pressed the wrong spot?
Crocodile scanned the only protruding hemispherical golden button in front of him, then reached out again and firmly pressed it down.
Click.
A crisp sound rang out once more.
The Pluton battleship remained unresponsive.
Crocodile's face became blank, his lips trembling as he murmured to himself: "What's going on? Why can't the Pluton battleship fire again? Is there some time limit on this ancient weapon's bombardment? Or did I not truly understand its firing mechanism?"
He couldn't help but look at the golden slab in his hand, hoping to glean some information from it.
While Crocodile was still bewildered, Vivi, standing in front of the golden battleship, couldn't help but let out a giggle.
That soft laugh made veins bulge on Crocodile's forehead. He sharply turned his head, glaring angrily at Vivi and Rorschach, who were floating in the air.
"What are you laughing at! Once I figure out how to operate the Pluton battleship, I'll..."
Before he could finish, Rorschach gently pulled the chuckling Vivi behind him, made a silencing gesture to Crocodile, and pointed behind himself, gesturing for Crocodile to look that way.
Crocodile followed his gesture, and his face twitched.
Hundreds of meters away, high above the royal capital, a clear light-and-shadow image appeared on the surface of a massive white cloud.
In the image, an arrogant figure, laughing wildly, spread his arms and declared his kingly disdain for everything.
"Hehehehehe, so what if the disasters within Alabasta were orchestrated by me? Yes, I am the president of Baroque Works. I had Dance Powder bought from other places, I instigated the rebel army, and I arranged for their weapons and warhorses to be sponsored. So what? Hahahaha, what can you do even if you know? This country, I can destroy with a mere flick of my hand!"
The man laughing wildly in that image—who else could it be but himself?
Not only that, his distinct, arrogant laughter echoed from several directions within the royal capital below.
Crocodile's face was ashen as he walked to the golden battleship's railing and looked down. He saw that atop the buildings of the royal capital, several Marine soldiers with distinctive uniforms held visual Den Den Mushi that were playing back his earlier words.
Rorschach snapped his fingers, drawing the attention of the grim-faced Crocodile back to him. A satisfied smile played on Rorschach's lips.
"See, I told you. Once a person gets too arrogant, they can't help but want to show off their outstanding achievements. This is a classic case of the villain dying by talking too much. Crocodile, the fact that you publicly violated the sovereignty of a World Government affiliated nation, engaged in various heinous crimes in the Alabasta Kingdom, and caused the deaths of countless innocent people, has now been personally admitted by you. Therefore, I represent the Marines, and to the esteemed Shichibukai, Sir Crocodile, I declare..."
"You are under arrest."
Hearing Rorschach's casual voice, Crocodile, on the golden battleship, did not get angry; instead, he laughed.
He exhaled a long stream of smoke, opened his right palm upwards, and a swirling miniature tornado appeared between his fingers. He coldly looked at Rorschach.
"I've seen many Marine brats, but I've never seen one as arrogant as you. Brat, don't think you're hot stuff just because you coincidentally killed a few old geezers who were eliminated by the times. A snot-nosed kid like you has no idea how cruel this world truly is!"
He violently swung his hand, unleashing the swirling miniature tornado from his palm towards Rorschach.
"Sandstorm!"
The howling yellow sand tornado rapidly expanded, swirling and pulling towards Rorschach and Vivi.
Facing this rapidly expanding sandstorm tornado, Rorschach showed a playful smile and slowly extended his right hand.
Crackle!
Dazzling electric light emerged and surged from his body, continuously gathering and expanding in his palm, forming a shimmering ball of lightning that illuminated Crocodile's astonished face, making it flicker between light and dark.
This familiar electrical energy made him completely stunned.
"Fifty Million Volt Discharge! El Thor!"
Rorschach casually shot out the condensed lightning ball. With a whoosh, it plunged into the golden battleship's hull, transforming into thick lightning bolts that instantly pierced through the entire battleship from inside out.
The ultra-high intensity current transformed into terrifying high temperature.
The hard gold blocks that formed the golden battleship endured for only a few seconds under the lightning strikes before rapidly becoming red-hot.
The twenty-meter-long golden ship, like chocolate dropped into a hot pot, or ice cream on a scorching day, began to rapidly melt, turning into flowing golden water that streamed down from the top of the protruding yellow sand pillar towards the royal capital ground below.
Watching the rapidly melting golden battleship, Crocodile's newly inflated ambition and dreams, like a fleeting illusion, began to shatter.
The drastic rise and fall of events caused Crocodile, who couldn't accept it, to have a mental breakdown.
"No, no!! Stop it! You bastard Marine brat!"
Watching the battleship gradually turn red, with even the golden cannon barrel on the deck beginning to soften and melt, Crocodile let out a frenzied scream.
He went mad, his lower body transforming into rolling yellow sand, propelling his body upward. The golden slab was firmly clutched in his left arm, and a crescent-shaped arc of yellow sand extended from his right elbow, soaring towards Rorschach and slashing.
The crescent-shaped yellow sand compressed, instantly transforming into a gleaming blade that sliced through the air with a sharp whistle, aiming for Rorschach's face.
"Desert Spada!"
"Don't you understand?" Rorschach embraced Vivi, who was hiding behind him, and flashed a brilliant smile at the furious Crocodile. He then looked at the golden battleship behind him, which had completely collapsed and turned into a massive amount of golden water, like a golden waterfall rushing downwards. "That thing was never the Pluton battleship. Congratulations, you fell for it."
The sharp desert longsword, wielded by the furious Crocodile, cut towards his face.
Just then.
Boom!
A thick lightning bolt struck from the sky, its dazzling light blasting the flying Crocodile mid-air, turning him into scattered yellow sand that rained down below.
Whoosh!
Crocodile, shattered mid-air by the sudden lightning strike, transformed into rolling yellow sand that fell from a hundred meters high to the ground.
Below, it was directly above the royal capital of Alubarna's ruins.
The falling yellow sand swirled and gathered in the air, and Crocodile's grim-faced figure slowly reformed.
He tilted his head, looking at the golden water that had already pooled on the ground beside him, slowly beginning to solidify. His entire face was twitching and contorting.
At this moment, even if Crocodile was foolish, he knew he had been tricked.
He had been played from beginning to end by that Marine Rear Admiral Rorschach.
The Pluton battleship was fake.
The cannon shot was also meticulously planned.
Misleading him into saying those words was the opponent's true objective.
Crackling.
A faint electric arc sounded in his ear.
Then, a slender figure in a Marine sailor uniform appeared out of thin air in the open space before him.
Long earlobes, squinting eyes, wearing a Petty Officer Third Class Marine uniform.
"Petty Officer Third Class, are you kidding me!"
Looking at the ridiculous Petty Officer Third Class sailor uniform Enel wore, Crocodile felt a deep sense of humiliation well up within him.
The terrifying energy fluctuations emanating from this squinting man—weren't they precisely the lightning power that had emerged from the 'Pluton battleship's' cannon barrel earlier?
Could a Marine capable of transforming into a shimmering ball of lightning, hiding within a small cannon barrel, and blasting a hundreds-of-meters-wide crater in the desert, be a mere Petty Officer Third Class?
A Logia-type Rumble-Rumble Fruit user, no matter how worthless, would never become a mere Petty Officer Third Class new recruit after joining the Marines.
These Marines were clearly humiliating him.
The kind of humiliation that showed they didn't even consider him a Shichibukai.
Crocodile, already enraged beyond measure, could no longer tolerate it. He furiously swung his hand, sending a whistling spray of sand towards Enel.
A large clump of sand shot at him head-on. Enel could have ignored it, as he was a Logia-type user and could elementalize.
But remembering Rorschach, and how these Blue Sea dwellers seemed to possess the Haki power that could attack elementalized bodies, Enel chose to dodge.
A flash of electricity cracked, and Enel's figure instantly vanished from in front of Crocodile.
His speed was even greater than Crocodile's reaction time.
In the next instant, behind him, electric light gathered, forming Enel's tall figure. He beckoned to the golden water nearby, and strands of it floated up. Under the influence of his lightning power, they quickly transformed into a golden spear, which Enel grasped and, with lightning speed, thrust into Crocodile's back.
Puff!
The sharp golden spear effortlessly pierced through Crocodile's back, emerging from his chest.
Crocodile was initially shocked, then breathed a sigh of relief.
This golden spear was not covered in Armament Haki.
It seemed this Rumble-Rumble Fruit user had not awakened the power of Armament Haki.
However, the opponent's speed was indeed too fast.
A face grew on the back of Crocodile's head. His body, pierced by the spear, twisted. His back became his front, and he instantly spun around. His right hand's yellow sand extended, forming a yellow sand crescent blade that slashed towards Enel, who was holding the spear.
"Crescent-Shaped Dune!"
Whoosh!
The yellow sand crescent blade passed through Enel's body, which he had actively split into upper and lower halves, without touching him at all.
Watching Crocodile, who was completely unharmed despite being pierced by him, and then recalling the yellow sand that had scattered everywhere after he blasted him earlier, Enel's brows immediately furrowed.
Another Logia user!
Are there really so many Logia users in the Blue Sea?
There's the one who can turn into fire, on Rorschach's ship there's one who can turn into clouds, and now there's one who can turn into sand.
How did his once invincible elementalization ability suddenly become so common?
However, despite some surprise, Enel showed no fear.
His powerful Observation Haki, amplified by his lightning power, quickly allowed him to determine that this Logia user, both in speed and internal energy intensity, was far inferior to himself.
With this thought, Enel completely unleashed himself. He pushed his hand, which was holding the golden spear, forward.
Zizzzz!
Flickering electric light crackled and shot towards Crocodile's face.
The violent lightning pierced through the air, transforming into a large bird of lightning with flapping wings.
"Thirty Million Volt Discharge! Lightning Bird!"
Crocodile's face changed slightly. He raised his left arm, which wore the golden hook, and blocked in front of him.
Boom!
Dazzling electric light instantly engulfed his entire being.
The terrifying lightning shattered his body, sending sand flying everywhere, leaving his body riddled with holes.
And the golden hook that had been blocking was instantly melted by the high-intensity current, turning into molten gold that dripped down.
In a battle between two Logia users who haven't mastered Armament Haki, the winner is determined by who has stronger stamina and can withstand repeated elemental disintegrations.
Seemingly invincible without Armament Haki or counter-abilities, Logia users cannot elementalize indefinitely.
Repairing a body after large-scale damage consumes a certain amount of stamina.
That's right, Logia users' elementalization is not without cost.
This cost is stamina.
The stronger the stamina, the more times one can elementalize.
Furthermore, if even an elementalized body is directly vaporized and destroyed by pure energy, then the Logia user will also die.
Otherwise, Sabo, who ate the Flame-Flame Fruit in the manga, would have no reason to fear Im's Mother Flame attack.
Enel's lightning surged out, flowing through the golden spear, and blasted furiously into Crocodile's face.
"Sixty Million Volt Discharge! Lightning Dragon!"
Rumble!
The thick lightning transformed into a colossal, menacing dragon that slammed into Crocodile, who couldn't dodge in time, instantly shattering his riddled body.
Yellow sand scattered everywhere, then gathered into a large hand that pressed onto the ground below.
"Desert! Spada!" (Desert La Gorda!)
The power of the Sand-Sand Fruit spread wildly, rapidly corroding the royal capital's ground. In an instant, the land and buildings within a hundred-meter radius transformed into countless grains of sand, like waves of yellow sand, swiftly converging towards the large hand.
The towering yellow sand pillar nearby also collapsed with a roar, turning into surging sand that covered Enel's body.
Crackle!
Enel's body moved like lightning, dodging from the covering, endless yellow sand. He flew dozens of meters into the sky, holding the golden spear in his left hand, and spreading the five fingers of his right hand, unleashing a dazzling burst of lightning towards the boiling, surging sand waves below.
"One Hundred Million Volt Discharge! Amaru!" (God's Judgment!)
Below, the boiling sand waves condensed into a large face, over ten meters across. Crocodile roared, pulling in endless yellow sand, which surged like a turbulent tsunami, rising dozens of meters high, and slammed towards Enel in the sky.
"Desert Girasol!" (Desert Tsunami!)
Boom!
The violent lightning struck the dozens of meters high sand sea, instantly shattering the boiling yellow sand, causing it to explode in mid-air.
The terrifying lightning energy also generated scorching heat, melting large swathes of sand into huge blocks of glass and crystalline chunks.
The one hundred million volts of lightning clearly surpassed the power of Crocodile's boiling sand sea.
Even the waves of sand surging high into the sky couldn't withstand the bombardment of the tree-like lightning pillar. They were pierced through layer after layer, striking towards the large face in the center of the sand sea below.
"Sand Armor! Desert Encierro!" (Desert Spada!)
Crocodile roared again. Yellow sand from a hundred-meter radius howled and converged, instantly forming a hemispherical arched dome that enveloped his entire body.
The next moment, dazzling lightning struck from above.
Boom!
Crackle, crackle, crackle!
The hemispherical yellow sand dome lasted only three seconds before a large hole was blasted through it by the terrifying electrical light.
From the shattered opening of the dome, spiral-twisted sand spikes whizzed out, shooting towards Enel in the sky, heading straight for his head.
"This guy doesn't have Armament Haki either."
Enel smirked, not dodging, allowing the spikes to pierce through his body, passing through his chest and flying higher into the sky behind him.
His body, meanwhile, instantly dropped, directly plunging towards the sand sea below.
At this moment, Crocodile, who had already corroded the ground within a several hundred-meter radius into desert, saw Enel diving towards him, and a surge of anger also rose within him.
The fleeting thought he had entertained of turning into yellow sand and fleeing was now completely dismissed.
The endless yellow sand swirled, transforming into a sky-high sandstorm tornado. Crocodile's body rapidly expanded and grew taller, and in an instant, he had transformed into a dozens of meters tall giant made entirely of yellow sand. He raised a large hand, over ten meters long, following behind the sandstorm tornado, and slammed his fist towards the diving Enel.
In the desert, with his Sand-Sand Fruit ability, he was truly the undisputed Desert Emperor!
And even outside of a desert environment, he could use his ability to create a desertified environment in a short time to amplify his power.
This was the terrifying destructive power of a Logia user, capable of widely altering terrain.
It was precisely because of this that when Gulliver came to Alabasta a few years ago to spar with him, he failed to defeat Crocodile.
Even though Gulliver possessed advanced Armament Haki.
The desert home ground would amplify Crocodile's power dozens of times over.
Seeing this, Enel, who was descending like lightning from the sky, also grew in size, transforming into a giant wrapped in lightning.
"Two Hundred Million Volt Discharge! Raijin!"
The two giants collided with a thunderous boom, tearing through the atmosphere and echoing far across the royal capital.
At this moment, the entire royal capital of Alubarna trembled and hummed from their clash.
On the rooftops of distant houses, the Marine soldiers who had intended to intervene watched, dumbfounded, at the boiling, chaotic sand sea and thunder, feeling the terrifying energy fluctuations, their hearts pounding uncontrollably.
"So strong! As expected of the Thunder God of Skypiea, to be able to push the Sand Crocodile like that. That's a Shichibukai!"
Pamela, holding his thick steel fishing rod, felt a surge of eagerness to join in.
But as soon as he heard the rumbling lightning noise, he felt his muscles twitch and cramp as if being shocked.
No, intervening in Enel's battle was no different from being tempered by Rear Admiral Rorschach's high-intensity electricity.
He couldn't intervene in that kind of battle.
Pamela turned to look at Law, who was standing beside him. "Lieutenant Colonel Trafalgar, aren't you going to join the fight? You've awakened Armament Haki; you should be able to intervene in their battle."
Law simply watched silently, then said calmly: "I can't intervene either. Armament Haki isn't omnipotent. Against energy attacks of this level, my level of Armament Haki wouldn't be able to defend."
He was referring to the violent lightning released by Enel.
Against Crocodile, Law was confident he could fight using the Op-Op Fruit's fast movement.
But Enel's Rumble-Rumble Fruit ability was too overwhelming.
Fast, wide attack range, powerful destructive force.
Even he wasn't confident he could defeat this ruler of Skypiea.
The current Enel was probably the strongest person on the Kirin, aside from Rorschach.
If he wanted to defeat him, Enel would have to be careless and allow a direct hit from an Armament Haki attack.
Hundreds of meters away from the battlefield, at the exit of the ruins, Rorschach, who had landed gracefully with Vivi in his arms, showed no intention of ending the battle. Instead, he turned his head, looking with interest at a desert dancer who had just emerged from the ruins passage.
"You're Nico Robin, aren't you?"
(End of Chapter)
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