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With Crocodile joining Kyle's squad, their combat strength shot up overnight.
During the following half-month, Crocodile showed off the overwhelming destructive power of a Logia user—blowing through almost every pirate crew they came across. A thought summoned sandstorms, a flick of his hand whipped up sand tornadoes, and a single touch of his right hand could drain all the moisture from a target's body.
The Suna Suna no Mi was, without question, terrifyingly offensive and ruthlessly invasive.
But this former "Desert King," once a notorious pirate who prowled the seas, now behaved like a completely different person.
He was cautious and perceptive, gentle and polite to his teammates, and whenever they rescued civilians, he always showed unexpected kindness to children.
T-Bone, Evans, and the others were stunned every time.
No one could have imagined that a pirate with such a vicious reputation could, after losing his memory, practically be reborn as another man entirely.
Naturally, everyone on the ship had silently agreed never to reveal anything about his past.
One day, after finishing another rescue mission and returning to the warship, Crocodile finally couldn't hold it in anymore. Gathering his courage, he walked up behind Kyle and asked the question that had been bothering him for days.
"Commander Kyle."
"Why do those pirates recognize me?"
"They even said I betrayed the pirate way."
"Who… who was I before this?"
Kyle turned around. His expression was calm—no smile, no answer—just silent eye contact.
Only after a long moment did he speak.
"Little Croc."
"Does the past really matter that much?"
"No matter who you were or what you did… right now, aren't you living in the present?"
"Who you are now—that's what matters most."
He paused, and a hint of emotion flickered in his eyes.
"To be honest, I'm the same. I have no memory of anything before I was seventeen."
"But I'm doing perfectly fine now, aren't I?"
Crocodile froze. He stared at the superior he respected, trusted, and admired the most.
"You… you forgot your past too."
"Live in the present," Kyle said with a laugh. "Little Croc."
The confusion in Crocodile's eyes slowly cleared. He straightened, solemnly nodding. "Yes, sir."
"Good. Go train. Your physique and close-quarters combat still need work."
"Remember, Logia abilities are strong, but in a real fight, your own body decides the outcome."
Kyle patted him on the shoulder.
Crocodile turned briskly and rejoined Rosinante and the others, continuing that day's training.
Time slipped by. Two more months passed in a blink.
The seas had been chaotic ever since Roger became Pirate King, inspiring new waves of madness among pirates.
While suppressing these outbursts, Kyle's squad often heard updates about Kuzan and Sakazuki. Like him, they were active across the seas, maturing from fresh graduates into full-fledged Marine rear admirals. Borsalino, meanwhile, had apparently been assigned as deputy commander of a fortress somewhere, settling into a very "clock-in-clock-out" lifestyle.
The squad under Kyle grew stronger by the day, training constantly and fighting even more.
Worth noting was that after months of effort, Kyle finally managed to draw out the Armament Haki that had been dormant inside him, taking full control of it. It was faint, but enough to finally appear on his panel.
"Armament Haki, Lv 0+."
That simple line made Kyle grin.
It meant he could invest points in it.
Between the academy and months of battles, he'd accumulated fifty-eight system points. Without hesitation, he dumped them all into Armament Haki.
Instantly, it shot up to level fifty-eight.
A strange awareness washed over him—his own body, the air around him, everything felt different. At a thought, Haki coated the glove on his hand, spreading quickly until it wrapped around his entire arm.
"Armament Haki," he murmured, smiling.
Though it was inferior to seastone for restraining Devil Fruit users, it boosted both attack and defense and allowed physical contact with Logia bodies.
At level fifty-eight, he could coat himself from head to waist without trouble. He even found himself capable of using a very simple form of Ryuo, though not steadily yet.
"With this, I've got a lot more ways to deal with Devil Fruit users," he chuckled.
On the other side of the deck, Crocodile was chatting with Rosinante when his mind suddenly went blank. Fragmented images flashed through his head—running barefoot as a child, sailing excitedly for the first time, biting into a strange fruit.
All of it was disjointed and blurry.
But Crocodile instantly understood.
"My memories are coming back…? But they're way too scattered."
Rosinante noticed something off and asked, "What's wrong, Old Croc?"
"Nothing." Crocodile shook his head with a grin.
Mina looked up. "Come to think of it, we've been in tons of battles as trainees. We should be getting our official Marine status soon, right?"
The five of them had all once been pirates, but life as Marines wasn't bad at all. More importantly, their superior's attitude toward civilians—and toward the disgusting nobles they ran into—made them genuinely respect him.
Evans had once said privately that he thought their commander was actually the same kind of person as them.
"That'd be great," Crocodile said with a big grin.
"I like the 'Justice' cloak on Commander Kyle's back."
Evans laughed. "Some people wear the word 'justice' as an empty decoration. Commander Kyle's is the real thing."
"If I had that cloak," Crocodile said, "mine would stand for real justice too."
"Me too!" Rosinante yelled.
Everyone burst out laughing, the atmosphere warm and lively.
It was obvious—everyone on this ship held Kyle in deep respect. That respect came from witnessing, on countless missions, how he treated civilians and how differently he treated certain arrogant nobles.
The next day, a message arrived from headquarters.
"There's an extremely important mission for you."
Fleet Admiral Kong's tone was heavy.
"An important mission?" Kyle asked.
"It was originally meant for Sakazuki, but something came up for him. After discussing with Sengoku, we agreed that you—and the strength of your ship—are better suited."
Kyle could hear it plainly. Whatever this mission was, it was serious.
"You'll rendezvous with Sakazuki and take custody of a valuable item he's carrying."
"Then you'll transport it to Egghead Island and deliver it personally to Vegapunk."
Kyle listened quietly, then fell silent.
A moment later, his eyes lit up.
"Fleet Admiral Kong," he said, "I'm more than willing to take this mission."
"..."
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