"What?! How can this kid possess such powerful Conqueror's Haki?!" Faced with this sudden overwhelming pressure, Crocodile was genuinely shocked.
Noticing that Mr.1 beside him had collapsed unconscious without even a word of warning, Crocodile became even more furious, grinding his teeth in frustration.
When Teach and his crew had arrived at Level 6, they had openly caused chaos there, forcing prisoners to fight each other to determine who would earn the right to join their ranks.
Not everyone had responded to this recruitment. Some inmates had clearly sneered at the offer and taken advantage of the confusion to quietly escape Level 6 using their own methods.
However, many escapees hadn't fled immediately. Instead, they harbored their own ulterior motives and secretly observed how the situation would develop.
Thanks to the chaos already engulfing Impel Down's interior and the large-scale destruction of surveillance Den Den Mushi, some Level 6 fugitives had been able to easily conceal their movements without detection.
Only Crocodile had walked out slowly and fearlessly into the open.
The space inside Impel Down was vast. He had traveled for quite some time before reaching Level 4, searching for Mr.1 and the corresponding keys to his subordinate's restraints.
After rescuing Mr.1 and discarding the extra keys, Crocodile had taken his loyal follower and the prisoners who had voluntarily joined him on their escape journey.
Unfortunately, the area where Jerry's group was fighting blocked the staircase leading to the upper levels, leaving Crocodile with no choice but to confront them directly.
As someone who had once challenged Whitebeard, he wasn't afraid of facing powerful enemies.
Even though he had suffered a crushing defeat back then, Crocodile had witnessed the pinnacle of combat power in this world.
Therefore, he was extremely surprised that Jerry possessed such formidable Conqueror's Haki.
"Fifty-fifty odds, right?" Jerry's eyes were sharp as blades, shooting directly at Crocodile as he spoke with deadly calm. "If you don't back down, then after five moves, you'll need bandages for at least five months!"
Obviously, as time became more precious, Jerry was prepared to take decisive action.
Hearing such confident words, Crocodile felt nameless rage surging in his heart.
Once upon a time, when he had been full of youthful energy and ambition to conquer the seas, this kid in front of him had probably been playing in the mud somewhere.
Thinking of this humiliating comparison, Crocodile became incensed. "You arrogant brat! Bring it on!"
"Since you've asked so sincerely, I'll grant your wish out of pure mercy!"
After this declaration, Jerry transformed into a streak of light and appeared before Crocodile instantly, his speed so fast it was jaw-dropping.
Jerry coiled his body, planted his left foot firmly, twisted his waist, and swung out his right arm with tremendous force.
His fist seemed as deep as the night sky, yet appeared to be studded with shining stars of concentrated Haki.
"Maelstrom Abyss Breaker!"
Accompanied by a deafening roar of displaced air, terrifying wind pressure suddenly erupted, and Crocodile's pupils contracted instantly.
A barrier of sand suddenly materialized, only to be smashed in all directions by Jerry's devastating punch like dust scattered in a hurricane.
Crocodile suddenly appeared in mid-air, his arm transforming into a sharp sand blade as he swung downward.
"Desert Spada!"
A giant sand blade quickly took shape, splitting stone and carving a deep furrow in the ground with mountain-cutting force.
However, Jerry's figure had already vanished from that position.
There was a dull impact as Jerry's kick sent sand flying again, though he failed to connect with his target.
"Hmph! Raw attack power alone is useless against me!" A sky full of dust swept across heaven and earth as Crocodile's figure appeared higher in the air, staring down at Jerry with a sneering smile.
"Desert la Spada!"
In the blink of an eye, Crocodile's hands transformed into four massive sand blades, which he slashed downward in a cross pattern with thunderous force, attempting to completely eliminate his opponent's evasion options.
Seeing Jerry below being engulfed by the sand blades, Crocodile couldn't help but smile triumphantly.
"Victory feels wonderful, doesn't it? Unfortunately, your perception isn't that sharp!" A whisper sounded directly behind him, and Crocodile's heart suddenly contracted in shock.
Jerry's figure had appeared silently behind Crocodile, with crackling Haki lightning dancing along his arms.
The overwhelming Conqueror's Haki pressed down on Crocodile like a mountain, causing his movements to pause momentarily as if restrained by invisible bonds.
"Still trying to escape? Fists of the Sea King!"
A thunderous roar spread in all directions as Jerry unleashed a devastating aerial punch with incredible power.
"How is this possible..." Crocodile's face turned grim with confusion and disbelief.
Before he could complete his thought, blood erupted from his mouth as Jerry's strike sent him flying like a falling meteorite.
Finally, he crashed to the ground with a tremendous impact, raising a massive cloud of dust.
At that moment, the "Jerry" who had been sliced apart by Crocodile's attack slowly dissolved into a pool of water and disappeared without a trace.
The few prisoners who had witnessed the entire battle from a distance—those who hadn't yet been overwhelmed by Jerry's Conqueror's Haki—were already in an uproar, discussing the shocking display with amazement.
"That was Crocodile, right? How could he..."
"Who is that young man? Why is he so terrifyingly strong?"
"His name should be Leviathan Jerry. When I was captured, he already had a bounty over one billion..."
"Incredible... absolutely terrifying..."
The Impel Down personnel observing the battle couldn't help but gape in astonishment.
Crocodile's battles were always loud and destructive, but the sound of his defeat was noticeably more thunderous.
Even the ongoing fights between Magellan, Blackbeard, Zoro, and others were briefly interrupted by the spectacle.
At this moment, Jerry hovering in mid-air commanded everyone's attention, the powerful aura he radiated impossible to ignore.
Without sparing Crocodile another glance, he suddenly turned his head and locked his gaze on Catarina Devon from across the battlefield.
After their initial coordinated assault, Zoro had requested that Brook step aside to allow him a one-on-one duel.
As a serious criminal who had been imprisoned in Level 6 and emerged victorious from Teach's recruitment battle royal, Catarina was not an opponent that Zoro—still inexperienced in New World combat—could match alone.
After the two sides had exchanged attacks for some time, Zoro gradually showed signs of disadvantage and was being pressed back.
Recognizing this situation and the fact that time was running short, Brook had decisively rejoined the battle to fight alongside Zoro.
Even so, they had only managed to inflict superficial wounds on Catarina, and the outcome remained uncertain.
Jerry's lips moved silently, and his body flashed like lightning, rushing toward Zoro's position at astonishing speed.
"Devon! Run!" Teach's desperate roar came from the other side of the battlefield.
But that was all he could manage. He didn't dare ignore Magellan's presence to attempt a rescue.
"I don't care who you are—you're not escaping!" Jerry said with cold determination.
His figure materialized beside Catarina just as she was about to retreat strategically after dodging Zoro's sword strike.
Jerry gripped tightly a dark-colored fishing rod that had appeared from nowhere, his Armament Haki suddenly erupting with visible force.
He dragged a trail of afterimages as the fishing rod traced a perfect arc through the air, accompanied by a thunderous explosion of Haki that captured everyone's attention.
"Water Blade: Dragon's Tail!"
At this moment, in Catarina Devon's perception, it seemed as if space had frozen and time had stopped completely.
A bone-chilling cold suddenly rose from the soles of her feet and rushed straight to the top of her head.
"I'll fight you to the end!" Catarina roared, attempting to mount a counterattack.
However, she had already missed the optimal opportunity to resist or dodge.
Under the shocked gazes of Brook and Zoro, Jerry's fishing rod swept into Catarina Devon's body with unstoppable force.
The rod, which appeared cylindrical and blunt, struck like a razor-sharp blade, leaving a wound deep enough to expose bone.
Immediately afterward, a massive cutting force followed like divine retribution, crushing through Catarina's body and finally striking the thick stairwell wall, leaving a crack with an impossibly smooth edge.
"You two head upstairs and regroup. I'll be there shortly." Without waiting for the others to recover from this shocking display, Jerry's voice drifted gently toward Brook and Zoro, who stood frozen in amazement.
The next second, adhering to the principle that real heroes don't look back at explosions, Jerry's figure quickly blurred and vanished from the spot.
His next target was already clear as he approached the final confrontation.
"I've heard that your Dark-Dark Fruit causes double the pain, right?" Jerry's voice carried across the battlefield as he prepared to face Marshall D. Teach in what would undoubtedly be the most dangerous fight of the day.
The question hung in the air like a promise of the agony to come, as Jerry moved to settle old scores with the man who had betrayed Whitebeard and captured Luffy.