BOOM!!!
When Crocodile turned around, he didn't see his sandstorm swallowing Lucci. Instead, he witnessed someone shattering the storm with a single punch.
More specifically... he saw a fist coated in a deep, ink-black sheen, hard as steel.
'Armament Haki...'
Crocodile's eyes narrowed, his expression becoming grave. Although he hadn't awakened Haki himself, he had spent time in the New World and had even clashed with Whitebeard. How could he not recognize Haki?
He knew exactly how great a threat Armament Haki posed to him.
"Who the hell are you? A branch in the East Blue couldn't possibly have someone who has awakened Haki!"
"Crocodile, my mission is merely to track and monitor you," Lucci said indifferently. "You can ignore my presence. If you have somewhere to go, feel free to continue."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Exactly what I said. I haven't received orders to capture or kill you, provided you don't force me to defend myself."
To Crocodile's ears, these words were an insult—an absolute, peak insult.
'Are you saying that killing me would be effortless, and the only reason you aren't doing it is because you lack the orders?'
'And because you're tasked with monitoring me, I'm expected to just ignore the fact that someone is stalking me?'
How could he possibly tolerate this? He was practically exploding with rage.
Seeing the look on Crocodile's face, Lucci simply shook his head. He pulled out a Den Den Mushi.
'Purupurupuru...'
"This is Sean!"
"Rear Admiral, this is Lucci. We've hit a slight snag."
"What happened?"
"The target's Suna Suna no Mi seems to allow for wide-range sensing within a desert. I've been discovered."
"I see. And the current situation?"
Sean didn't sound accusatory. He should have realized that since the Suna Suna no Mi allows for the manipulation of sand, the user could likely use that sand for detection and vigilance. It was essentially a domain made of sand; the moment someone entered and stepped on the surface, they would be flagged. It was entirely possible.
"I've informed him that I am only tracking and monitoring him and have no intention of fighting, but he doesn't seem inclined to let it go."
"Lucci, you're really something..." Sean was speechless. If he were Crocodile, he'd be driven insane by Lucci's attitude as well. "Tell him that I'll arrive in an hour. But if he insists on fighting you, then just kill him."
"Yes, Rear Admiral!"
Ending the call, Lucci calmly put the Den Den Mushi back into his pocket. Beside him, Crocodile, who had overheard the entire conversation, felt his rage spike to the absolute limit.
"Every single one of you is like this! I am Crocodile, a Warlord, not some nobody!"
"That Sean guy is coming, is he?" Crocodile sneered. "Fine. I'll use you as a warm-up before he gets here!"
"Desert Sunflower!"
In the next instant, a massive sinkhole of quicksand formed instantly around Lucci. Positioned at the center of the pit, Lucci's legs began to sink slowly.
"Hmph. This sinkhole wasn't created directly by my ability. Instead, I manipulated the flow of the water veins beneath the dunes, causing the sand to collapse naturally."
Crocodile smirked. "Even if you use Armament Haki, it's useless. Slowly experience the despair of being swallowed whole..."
While Crocodile's current strength might not be peak, he was still a man who had seen the world in the New World. He knew how to deal with Haki. If he used his Devil Fruit power indirectly, the attack wouldn't be countered by Haki.
It was like the difference between Ace using the Flame-Flame Fruit to attack with a direct blast of fire, versus using fire to heat an iron rod until it was glowing red and then attacking with the rod.
One was a direct application of the fruit's power; the other was an indirect effect. Indirect attacks didn't carry the "essence" of the Devil Fruit power in the same way, meaning Armament Haki couldn't simply negate the result.
As Crocodile explained, he hadn't "created" a sinkhole with his power; he had manipulated the environment to create one naturally. Over the years, he had put a great deal of effort into researching how to bypass Haki users to ensure his abilities could still deal damage.
However... he had only researched how to avoid the negation of Armament Haki. He had overlooked the fact that there were many other things in this world besides Haki.
Specifically, Lucci's current mastery of the Six Powers was such that very few known powerhouses in the entire ocean could decisively suppress him.
Crocodile laughed wildly, but Lucci remained expressionless.
Slowly, Lucci pulled his right leg out of the quicksand. Then...
BOOM!
It wasn't an explosion, but a sonic boom—the sound of air being violently displaced. The sudden crack was so loud it actually startled Crocodile.
When he looked back, Lucci was gone from the quicksand.
"Dammit, where did he go?" Crocodile muttered. "I can't even sense him on the sand. He couldn't have flown..."
As he spoke, Crocodile instinctively looked up. The rest of his sentence died in his throat.
There, hovering in the sky using Moonwalk, was Lucci.
There were many ways to escape quicksand, but Lucci had chosen a violent method that could only exist in One Piece.
He had simply yanked one leg free and then used that leg to perform an ultra-low altitude Moonwalk—nearly touching the surface of the sand—using the resulting reaction force to blast his entire body out of the sinkhole.
Of course, this was only possible because he had only sunk a few feet. There was still enough clearance to execute the move. Furthermore, it had to be Lucci; anyone else attempting a Moonwalk at such a limiting height would likely have failed.
Looking up at Lucci, Crocodile felt a surge of frustration.
He had no effective anti-air attacks.
If he didn't feel it was beneath his dignity, he really wanted to scream: "Come down here if you've got the guts!!"
'''
At the same time, inside the abandoned house in Yuba.
"Huh... how did I get back here again?"
"Luffy, are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Didn't I just go outside? How did I end up back here again?"
...
Sabo facepalmed. This guy was simply...
"Luffy, did you see anything after you ran out the door?"
"Huh? Let me think... I think I saw a fishing net, and then I was back here."
A fishing net? What on earth? Sabo was completely bewildered.
Ace, however, already knew who was responsible. After all, in the entire 16th Branch of the Marines, there was only one person whose abilities could be linked to a "fishing net."
If Sean were here and heard Luffy say that, he would definitely be complaining wildly. If it were that guy Sanji, he'd probably be in heaven—perhaps even wanting to be kicked a few more times.
As for Luffy... well, this single-celled organism wouldn't understand.
"I'm going back to check what that thing actually is!"
"Luffy, wait!"
After thinking for a long while, Luffy couldn't recall anything other than the fishing net. But since he couldn't remember, why not just go back and take a closer look? Why bother straining his brain?
His eyes lit up, and he bolted outside once more. Sabo tried to stop him, but it was already too late.
Not even a second after stepping out the door, Luffy's entire body... came flying back, even faster than before. He landed with pinpoint accuracy right back into the crater he had made earlier, kicking up another cloud of dust.
"'Cough, cough, cough...'"
"Sabo, I saw it clearly this time! It's definitely a fishing net!"
"But why would there be a fishing net outside the door?"