"Are you kidding me!!!"
Maybe it was because of Orin's words, or maybe that 1,6 trillion Belly figure was just too outrageous,
There's no way she would spend the rest of her life paying off some bullshit debt!!!
"Sandstorm!!!"
With a loud bang, she flipped the table. A ring of sandstorm rapidly took shape, shredding everything in sight.
From the outside, it looked like a sudden yellow sand curtain appeared, followed by a complete blackout.
"This concludes the report. For details, please refer to the World Economic News!"
...
Let's put aside the worldwide impact caused by this event for now.
Inside Rain Dinners at this moment,
A sky-full of sandstorms engulfed the entire building, turning it into fragments and dust.
The surrounding residents scattered in panic. Some unlucky ones who came to watch the show and didn't have time to flee were swept into the swirling vortex.
Buildings, houses, roads…
In Alabasta, there's a shortage of everything—except sand.
Outside the town, many people ran further away, while others, thinking they were already safe, turned around to look back—
Only to see a massive sandstorm towering all the way up into the sky!!!
Just one glance—
And people started running again.
Whoa, whoa, whoa...
Isn't that a bit much?!!
If anyone got caught in that, there's no way they'd survive!!!
Clang—
Boom—
Suddenly, with the ripping sound of a sword slash—
Next to the crowd fleeing, a massive, hundred-meter-long, emerald-green sword wave shot out from the center of the sandstorm!
Its sharpness split both earth and tall buildings smoothly in two.
A path was forcibly carved out from within the sandstorm.
It was a young man with a noble aura, wielding a blade.
"That kind of attack is still far from enough to defeat that man."
With those words, he didn't look back and calmly walked toward the outskirts.
Because Orin had said—
If there was to be a fight on this trip, he would handle it personally.
...
At the heart of the sandstorm, within the ruins of Rain Dinners,
Perhaps because it was the eye of the storm, the effects of the sandstorm here weren't as intense.
"So, are you trying to dodge the debt now, Little Croc?"
Orin looked across. Crocodile was now completely cloaked in swirling sand, her eyes cold and fixed on Orin. Her cloak had disappeared at some point,
Her long, sensual figure, paired with the apocalyptic sandstorm around her, gave off a bizarre contrast.
"You bastard... You were aiming for me from the very beginning, weren't you!!!"
Little Croc hit the nail on the head. Her face still brimming with anger—smart as she was, how could she not already understand the situation?
Even if she couldn't beat this detestable man in front of her, she absolutely wouldn't let herself be defeated without a fight.
At the very least, she had to try.
Someone like her—after all, even Whitebeard hadn't been able to take her in as a daughter.
"As expected of someone acknowledged as a genius. Then I'll be direct..."
With the sandstorm howling, Orin's coat flapped wildly behind him, though he himself stood unmoving. He wore a calm and confident smile and extended one hand.
"Become my—"
Tsss—
Before he could finish, a sharp spike formed of desert sand shot out without warning from the swirling sand around them,
Slashing straight toward Orin's waist!
But in the next second—
Something strange made Little Croc pause, and then her pupils shifted as she quickly scanned her surroundings.
Because that sand blade hadn't drawn any blood at all—it only sliced through an afterimage!
"You won't even let me finish my sentence? You really are different from the other pirates."
His figure appeared five meters in front of Little Croc. Orin's posture was still graceful.
"You're qualified to be on my crew."
"Come on, Little Croc. Let's go see the pinnacle of this world together!!!"
Even Orin felt pumped up by his own words.
If it were some random little pirate or hot-blooded fool, they might have been persuaded by Orin by now.
But unfortunately, Crocodile was neither of those.
She had the courage to challenge Whitebeard and still hadn't agreed to be adopted—there's no way she'd accept being beneath someone else!
"Tch... Looks like I'll just have to drag you back to settle your debt..."
Debt is debt—but now it's time to collect it.
Orin specialized in justified takedowns!
Facing a world turned to sand, red light burst forth from Orin's eyes as he slowly held his breath.
Clang—
Jet-black Armament Haki instantly coated his body, flowing like a living garment, allowing him to move easily through the desert.
"Armament Haki, huh? But you'll run out of strength eventually. Against this endless sand..."
A voice echoed from all around, laced with temptation and confidence, as if trying to shake Orin's will.
But Orin—veteran of many battles against Logia users—wasn't about to flinch over one large-scale natural attack.
He quietly sensed the changes in the surrounding sand and wind,
Slowly drew the longsword from his waist, black-red energy starting to coil around it—
Then that compressed, black-red lightning erupted with such intensity it seemed to slow the world itself.
"You should know this by now—if your Haki is strong enough, even elemental bodies..."
Spurt—
Before he finished, the figure clad in Ryuo and Conqueror's Haki suddenly appeared at the edge of the sandstorm,
Maintaining the posture of a strike, blood dripping from the tip of his blade.
In the blink of an eye, the blood vanished via teleportation,
And the sword was sheathed.
A bloodied figure, kneeling with her back to him, was in front of him.
"Got you."
Maybe it was to keep her from dissolving back into sand and escaping again—
Orin's Haki-wrapped hand locked around her slender neck and hoisted her clean off the ground.
"You bastard..."
Little Croc coughed blood, her expression pained and contorted. Still trying to sound tough (visual reference: Blackbeard choking Boa Hancock)—
But the next second, weakness spread through her entire body.
"You're really stubborn. Calm down a little."
Orin snapped his fingers.
A Seastone shackle appeared on Little Croc's ankle.
Though Orin couldn't directly touch Seastone, his Warp-Warp Fruit ability allowed him to manipulate the space of all Seastone within his Observation Haki range.
So Seastone had no restraining effect on him at all.
Unable to exert any strength and suspended in midair by her throat—
Little Croc's face quickly turned bright red.
"... Guess I used a bit too much force."
"Alright then... Let's head back. Time to set sail together."
Orin tightened his grip, slung her over his shoulder, and with the powerless Little Croc in tow—
Vanished from the scene in an instant.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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