A single "Divine Departure" slash was already more than Crocodile could endure. After all, just Conqueror's Haki infusion alone was a technique that was crushed across tiers.
And when combined with the technique of "Divine Departure"? Captain Rosen honestly worried that Crocodile might not be able to take it.
As for why he used such a terrifying move naturally, it was to display the captain's majestic might.
Having never struck before, Captain Rosen's own hands itched unbearably.
Besides, with a ship full of monsters destined to stand on their own in the future, if he didn't reveal some true strength, there'd be no way to keep them in check.
And then there was this sand crocodile. Left to his natural course, he'd eventually fall to Whitebeard. But Rosen had no intention of letting him crawl into the Whitebeard Pirates in the first place.
Thinking of Ace's attempt to challenge Whitebeard it was the sort of "capture Meng Huo seven times" scenario. That method wouldn't work here. Crocodile would never mistake your concessions for kindness.
(T/N: "Capture Meng Huo seven times" means to persistently overcome challenges by winning loyalty through patience and mercy rather than force.)
So Rosen chose to shatter his pride with absolute force. The best way to deal with someone utterly confident in his own strength was to beat him down, leave no chance to rise again, and pin him until he submitted.
Only then would he learn that the biggest fist makes the rules.
Even someone as obstinate as Douglas Bullet had obediently boarded Roger's ship after meeting him.
Speaking of Bullet… Rosen's thoughts drifted again…
Countless thoughts in his head, but outside it was still just a moment.
At this instant, Crocodile, charging upwind and rain from below, felt a threat slashing down that could tear apart heaven and earth.
Black-red lightning filled his vision. Every bolt radiated destruction.
He knew of Conqueror's Haki and firmly believed he possessed it as well, only not yet awakened.
But under the pressure of this all-encompassing will, Crocodile's nerves went numb. It was like being locked in the gaze of some legendary beast.
Survival seemed impossible.
At this brink of life and death, amid the stormy sea, cold sweat broke across his brow.
No he couldn't take it head on! It would kill him!!
His Observation Haki screamed warnings. In that moment, it felt like his Observation had leveled up on its own. He saw it clearly what would happen if he dared block that slash.
He couldn't die here!
Crocodile roared inwardly.
Whoosh—!
Faced with mortal crisis, his body was wrung dry for potential, every cell seeking a path to survival.
At the instant before impact
Crocodile completed elementalization. Even in such a split second, he forced his body into sand. That, too, was a form of breakthrough.
Just like at Marineford, when Aokiji preemptively turned to ice to avoid Whitebeard's strike. No one could believe Whitebeard lacked Haki.
Pre-emptive elementalization Logia users transforming part of their body into element ahead of time, then shifting elsewhere, leaving only empty air where the strike would land.
But such a trick demanded terrifying mastery over one's fruit, and, even more, precise Observation Haki. Predicting exactly where the attack would fall—otherwise, the result would be laughable.
And so, even in this torrential rain, Crocodile forcibly invoked his Sand-Sand Fruit. In that instant, both his mastery and his Observation advanced.
"Divine Departure" was something you had to dodge.
But a slash infused with Conqueror's Haki wasn't aimed at a single point. The entire space Crocodile occupied was its domain.
All he could do was scatter the damage reducing a fatal strike into one merely "enough to be fatal." Which meant… maybe there was still a chance to survive.
BOOM!!
"GRAAAAAHHHH!!!"
Crocodile's scream tore out.
In the storm, his yellow sand body burst apart under the slash, then slowly reformed into human shape only to crash lifelessly toward the sea.
Whoosh!
Captain Rosen flickered forward. One hand seized the unconscious Crocodile, holding him aloft.
The clouds, which had split wide in advance, now seemed disappointed—"What, that's it? I even got ready for nothing…"
"!"
The Conqueror's Haki that had just raged across the sea—black-red lightning filling the sky, a slash strong enough to crack the heavens.
Every movement Rosen made shook the sea itself.
Such terror left Moria, Shiryu, and Mihawk slack-jawed.
Yes even Mihawk, always stoic and unmoved, had his mouth gaping wide, forgetting entirely to hide his lapse.
"Kehehe… heheheh… so this is the captain's strength? A complete monster! Shiryu, could you take that strike?"
Moria managed a twisted laugh. Compared to everyone else, who all eclipsed him in strength anyway, another blow to his worldview hardly mattered.
"Hmph!"
Shiryu snapped out of his shock at Moria's jab, but could only snort coldly to keep his cool.
He'd always believed Rosen was stronger but not this much stronger.
Back during his duel with Mihawk, Rosen had effortlessly defused their final clash. That had already told Shiryu Rosen's power was beyond his imagination.
He'd thought Rosen was Admiral-level. After all, for someone long in the government, Admirals were the ultimate ceiling.
But now
This was beyond Admirals.
An unmatched dread. A crushing pressure of annihilation.
The sea quivered. The sky itself cracked.
"So this is the confidence he had when he said he could pull Admirals off their thrones?"
Shiryu recalled Rosen's words when he recruited him.
Mihawk, too, finally steadied himself.
That someone could unleash such a monstrous slash…
And he, having spent his life immersed in swordsmanship, knew
This was not Rosen's limit.
He had clearly held back. There was no killing intent in that blow. To Rosen, perhaps, it had been no more than a casual strike.
Realizing this, Mihawk smiled.
If the title of "World's Greatest Swordsman" came too easily, life itself would grow dull. Only strong enemies at one's side could forge an even sharper self!
…
Near Reverse Mountain
The storm still howled, raising towering waves.
The dark sea devoured all who dared defy it.
But the torrential rain had ceased
Because Rosen's single strike had torn the clouds asunder.
The oppressive stormfront dispersed, the raging heavens now stilled.
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T/N:
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