The golden giant's iron fists burned with searing heat capable of melting anything, while Rosen's fists carried the power to decay all matter. Their clash was not just a contest of brute strength.
"Hot!" Rosen could feel the scorching heat of the golden giant—even Armament Haki couldn't fully block it.
"Brittle!" In turn, Tesoro felt his golden arm weaken. He hadn't expected Crocodile to be this strong—far beyond his estimation.
Their battle grew fiercer by the second, not only testing strength but also experience and strategy. Their power was nearly on par, but Tesoro's awakened ability made him particularly troublesome.
Still, Rosen wasn't being suppressed. He had already landed several fierce counterattacks. However, victory would not come easily, and the longer the fight dragged on, the more destruction would spread across the capital.
"I must stay alert. You've mixed sand into my body during your attacks, haven't you? It's hindering my movement and agility," Tesoro said coldly. The two had already destroyed half the royal capital, the golden giant towering over the ruins.
As he spoke, Tesoro tore off the giant's damaged right arm and reformed it with new gold from the surroundings. But the effort drained his stamina considerably.
"You make it sound like you're not trying to trap me yourself," Rosen replied disdainfully. His body was faintly shimmering with golden dust—Tesoro's attempt to infect him. If he hadn't noticed early, his body might have been turned to gold despite his Logia nature.
"You really are hard to kill. But the result won't change," Tesoro growled as the golden giant launched a wild barrage of punches. Each blow carried explosive force, the resulting shockwaves shattering everything nearby.
"Then let's test that theory." Rosen raised his hands, and dozens of sand threads shot outward like beams, latching onto the few remaining untransformed parts of the city walls. In an instant, he summoned a massive sandstorm.
It wasn't easy to extend his sand beyond Tesoro's golden domain—he had been waiting for this chance. Without an equally massive body, facing the golden giant head-on would be a losing battle.
Size did matter sometimes.
A colossal sand giant formed in moments. Tesoro tried to interfere, but Rosen raised several vast sandstorms from the ground, crashing against the golden waves to stall his opponent.
Even without Haki, such attacks had value—they disrupted the enemy and shifted the tide of battle. A decisive strike was nearly impossible; both sides' defenses were immense, and even direct hits rarely crippled the other.
"Earth Collapse: Eruption!" Rosen's sand giant swung its fist, blasting Tesoro's golden giant across half the city's wall, demolishing everything in its path.
"Give it up already. If you surrender, I might spare your crew. How about that? I'm generous," Tesoro taunted.
He had realized brute force alone couldn't decide this fight, so he turned to psychological warfare instead—attacking the heart, testing Rosen's mental focus.
"The greatest mercy you can give me is your death," Rosen replied coldly.
"Hah! So you really care about your crew after all. I didn't expect that," Tesoro sneered, watching Rosen's eyes closely. It had only been a probe, but to his surprise, it struck a nerve immediately.
"Of course I care. Don't you care about your dead woman? What was her name—Stella, wasn't it?" Rosen's tone darkened. If Tesoro would fight dirty, then he had no reason to hold back either.
This was a battle not just of power and will, but of cunning and resolve. To win such a fight, every weapon—physical or psychological—was necessary.
"You… investigated me?" Tesoro's mocking grin vanished. Even through the golden giant's form, his fury was palpable.
Rosen ignored him, continuing to twist the knife. "What's wrong? Did you think no one knew you used to be a Celestial Dragon's slave? You think wealth and fame can wash that away? That poor woman—if she were alive, what would she think, knowing the man she loved now cooperates with the World Government?"
"Shut up! Shut up!" Tesoro roared in madness. His attacks became wild and unrestrained, the earth splitting beneath them as the battle expanded beyond the walls, threatening to engulf the entire island.
His heart had always been twisted. For years, he'd tried to bury his past beneath glitter and gold, convincing himself he had escaped it. But Rosen's words tore that illusion apart.
He remembered everything.
Captured by slavers, he'd once met Stella, another slave. The two fell in love, and Tesoro—then a petty gambler—vowed to change, to earn enough money to buy her freedom.
But just as he finally gathered enough, a Celestial Dragon appeared and bought Stella instead. In his rage, Tesoro shot at the Celestial Dragon—but nothing changed. He was captured and enslaved, while Stella remained in chains.
Two years later, he learned she was dead—killed by her captors.
Broken, Tesoro blamed not the oppressors, but himself—for being poor. He began to see money as the answer to everything, the only true power.
When Fisher Tiger freed the slaves, Tesoro escaped and eventually seized the Gold-Gold Fruit from Doflamingo's auction. With his obsession and genius, he turned it into one of the strongest powers in the world, building the world's grandest entertainment empire and becoming its king.
He dealt closely with the World Government—convinced that it was he who controlled them through wealth.
But now, Crocodile's words—"working with the Celestial Dragons"—cut deeper than any wound.
No. That wasn't cooperation. That was domination. He was in control. He used money to command them. There was nothing wrong with that!
Stella… would she be unhappy with him?
The buried memories blazed to life, vivid and cruel. Could she truly accept what he had become?
"No, that's not true! Damn you, Crocodile—die! Golden Divine Judgment! I am god's incarnation! No one escapes my dominion!" Tesoro screamed in fury.
Countless golden pillars rose and intertwined, forming sharp, missile-like spears—his strongest attack yet.
Boom!
The golden warheads launched with terrifying force and speed.
"What's wrong? Did I lie? Face it—money isn't the problem. People are." Rosen's sand giant condensed its entire mass into a colossal sword, Haki coating its edge, before swinging it forward.
In an instant, the heavens and earth collapsed. The shockwaves spread across seven or eight surrounding fortresses, and the royal capital itself was flattened—walls and buildings erased in a single strike.
(End of Chapter)