He was only standing there, yet it felt terrifyingly strong.
Under that suffocating pressure, like your life and death no longer belonged to you, sweat instantly covered Smoker's face. All the arrogance from a moment ago vanished without a trace.
Hina saw it too. The cigarette in her mouth slipped from her lips and dropped to the ground. But she really was the first to react.
"Saint Ozz!!!"
She snapped into a standard Marine salute, not because she was loyal, but because she knew that if she did not do this, everyone here might die.
Including the blasphemous Smoker.
Including the Marines surrounding the area.
Including the civilians watching with weapons in hand.
As if that warning had finally jolted them awake, the civilians dropped to their knees in a panic, trembling all over. Tashigi also saluted immediately.
Only Smoker, face ugly, refused to turn around for a long time. No matter how frantically Hina tried to signal him, he only slowly turned, staring at the tall figure with hands in his pockets, expression flat.
This was one of the people behind the scenes who had allowed Crocodile to destroy a country like Alabasta.
"Ozz…"
Smoker clenched his teeth. He had barely forced the name out before his words jammed in his throat. He had to swallow them back down.
A terrifying pressure slammed across his whole body.
Smoker jerked as if struck by lightning, bloodshot veins bursting in his eyes as he dropped to one knee.
He could not even trigger his logia intangibility.
His entire body was pinned down by that crushing force, head unable to lift, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.
"Honestly, I do admire stubborn tough guys like you."
A pair of black leather shoes stopped beside Smoker's bowed head.
Just that single step.
In the next instant, a horrifying black and crimson thunderstorm surged up from the ground and spread outward like madness, turning into something almost tangible as it pulverized earth and stone.
With Ozz's Conqueror's Haki at full strength, even an Admiral would not be able to take it cleanly.
So even though he was holding back…
Marines and civilians alike rolled their eyes back and collapsed across the ground.
Only because Ozz's control was absurdly precise did Smoker, Hina, and a tiny handful avoid blacking out.
Even so, they were barely different from the unconscious.
It felt like the pressure alone could crush them to death.
Their will cracked on the spot.
"So I won't kill you. I'll just teach you one thing."
"Don't be so stubborn when you're still weak. That's not bravery. That's stupidity."
Ozz strolled over to Crocodile's fallen body as if taking a casual walk through his own garden. He crouched and looked at that once imposing face, now utterly pathetic, eyes rolled back and mouth hanging open.
With his ultra fine Observation Haki and years on the sea, he understood immediately.
"Disease Disease Fruit. So he changed his gender, and his Haki got sealed by some bizarre illness?"
"And it's mildly contagious too…"
As Ozz touched him, he could feel a strange power faintly trying to alter his own body. But as long as it was not prolonged contact, it would not take effect.
"Still… that ice cold Croc would never let people touch him often anyway."
A thread of Haki flared.
The weird transformation sickness clinging to Ozz's hand vanished without a trace.
"But paying that kind of price just to change your gender…"
"What's the point?"
Ozz shook his head, utterly calm.
Then his Conqueror's Haki leaked out again, forming crackling thunder that slowly solidified, coiling around his hand.
Crack crack crack!!!
After a brief, harmless "wash" of Conqueror's Haki, the former big boss "Old Sand" changed back into the "Little Sand" Ozz remembered.
Still young.
Crocodile still did not wake.
Ozz stood, looked down at her, and the corner of his mouth curled into a smile.
"Well. Going to Impel Down for a bit of extra training isn't bad."
"We'll meet again soon anyway."
The moment those words fell, Ozz's figure dispersed like a breeze, fading away on the spot.
The terrifying pressure that had filled the area vanished.
Only then did Smoker grit his teeth and force himself up.
Tashigi and Hina did the same, faces pale, clearly still not fully recovered.
Smoker alone stayed silent for a moment, then called Marine Headquarters.
"Reporting to Fleet Admiral Sengoku. This is Smoker…"
…
"What?! Ozz actually appeared in Alabasta?!"
Nami and Usopp instantly snapped awake, mouths hanging open.
Chopper jumped and yelped like always.
Sanji's cigarette fell straight to the ground.
Only Zoro did not change much.
"I saw him. On the tower."
With Zoro confirming it, everyone accepted the truth.
"But… if my father came… why wouldn't he show himself?"
Sanji could not understand. After so many years, it was impossible not to miss him.
Nami, who had held a grudge against Ozz forever, immediately voiced the worst case.
"Could it be… he came to help Crocodile?"
"No. That's basically impossible."
Zoro shut it down first. Arms crossed, three swords resting in his lap, he spoke coldly.
"If my master really wanted to help Crocodile, then let me be blunt."
"We wouldn't be thinking about escaping Alabasta."
"We'd be thinking about where to bury ourselves."
"But judging from how things turned out… he probably planned to help neither side. After all, Crocodile used to be his companion and subordinate."
Usopp and Chopper, the two cowards, clung to each other, praying Ozz was not here to cause trouble, or that he had already left Alabasta.
Only Vivi, staring at Luffy who still had not woken up, looked heavy and grim.
"Vivi, what's wrong? You look really pale."
"…Yeah."
Hearing Nami's concern, Vivi finally decided she had no choice but to pass along Ozz's message.
"To be honest… when I was little, I met Lord Ozz once. Just once. So… we're acquainted."
"He asked me to tell the Straw Hat Pirates…"
Everyone froze, staring straight at Vivi.
"He said… he heard what Luffy said."
"And he'll be waiting for you, somewhere out there, on your future journey."
The instant those words landed, everyone except Chopper turned green.
Chopper, being the only one who did not remember properly, looked around in confusion.
"Huh? What did Luffy say earlier?"
Usopp's face twisted like he was about to cry. He grabbed Chopper's head and shook it, mouth wide open.
"Luffy… he said he was going to punch the legendary Lord Ozz into the sky!!!"
"Wha?!"
Chopper finally caught up, and his face instantly turned into pure terror.
Even Sanji and Zoro looked horrible now.
They had not taken Luffy's shout seriously because they thought there was no way Ozz could hear it.
But he really did.
And given what they knew about Ozz…
They were finished.
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