On the green lawn in front of the Royal Palace.
"What is that scarlet light?" Smoker struggled to his feet, gazing down toward the plaza, his eyes flickering with uncertainty and shock.
The commotion caused by the God-Killing Spear—Gungnir was simply too massive; it was difficult for the White Hunter not to notice it. And inexplicably, the moment Smoker saw that blood-red beam piercing the heavens and the earth, a familiar name immediately popped into his mind.
Sherlock!
"Impossible... how could his strength be... cough, cough."
Perhaps due to the internal injuries inflicted by Crocodile's earlier attack, Smoker coughed up a mouthful of blood. He hurriedly reached out to wipe it away, his face turning even paler.
Luffy looked at the White Hunter, who appeared extremely withered in the pouring rain. He composed himself and asked with genuine concern, "Hey, are you okay? Do you need me to get Chopper to treat you? His medical skills are really awesome!"
"Treat me? Me?" Hearing this, Smoker's rugged face was filled with disbelief. "Why would you say that? You are a pirate, and I am a Marine. We are enemies, incompatible as fire and water!"
"Maybe so, but..." The airheaded captain flashed a big, bright smile. "I don't think you're a bad guy."
In Luffy's eyes, Crocodile was absolutely a villain beyond redemption. Therefore, the White Hunter who opposed Crocodile naturally had to be a good person. The way the simple-minded captain distinguished right from wrong was just that pure.
"Not a bad guy?" Smoker was stunned. He truly never expected that there would be a pirate in this world who wanted to help a Marine.
Should I say he's an idiot? Or is his heart just too broad?
Looking at the Straw Hat boy beside him, Smoker's expression was complicated.
Just then, a laugh resembling a night owl's cry suddenly erupted from the pile of rubble that had buried Crocodile. Amidst the clatter of the falling rain, it was utterly bone-chilling.
"Hahahaha! It's truly hilarious! I had almost forgotten... it turns out my blood tastes just the same as everyone else's!"
With a surge of shifting debris, Crocodile shakily climbed out of the ruins. His body, wrapped in a soaked overcoat, was wreathed in a terrifying, almost tangible killing intent.
Luffy and the White Hunter's expressions turned serious, and they immediately braced themselves for combat.
Crocodile wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, murmuring softly like the whisper of a demon.
"How many years has it been? I finally remember... the taste of being wounded."
Indeed, since arriving in this desert kingdom, the Sand Crocodile had never been injured. Even in his recent battle with Hisoka—a Vice Admiral whose strength was top-tier even among his rank—Crocodile had held the absolute upper hand. But now...
"Hahahaha..."
His laughter was rampant and filled with tyranny.
The thought of being beaten to the point of vomiting blood by a fledgling rookie caused Crocodile to laugh recklessly at the sky once more. It was unclear whether he was mocking his own carelessness or laughing at the Straw Hat boy who didn't know his own limits.
Or perhaps, it was both.
"You bastard crocodile, is your brain broken?" Luffy frowned, looking confused. He really couldn't understand why the Sand Crocodile would laugh after being beaten up.
"Something's wrong..." Listening to Crocodile's laughter, the White Hunter subconsciously swallowed hard, a nameless chill rising within him.
"Hahahaha... STOP JOKING AROUND!!!"
The rampant laughter came to an abrupt halt. Crocodile's tone shifted instantly. With his hair disheveled and a ferocious expression on his face, he lowered his head to glare at the two in the distance. The monstrous killing intent in his gloomy eyes was like that of a crocodile about to lunge at its prey—cold and tyrannical.
"This damn rain! These damn Marines! This damn Straw Hat kid! That damn Sorcerer! Damn it all..."
Muttering to himself as if possessed, the Sand Crocodile slowly placed his right hand onto the stone pavement, which was pooled with rainwater. Then, Crocodile let out a hysterical roar:
"All of you, just go to hell!!!"
—Ground Death!
Whoosh!
As if a switch had been flipped, an aura that defied description burst from Crocodile's body, spreading out in all directions. Immediately following that, the pouring rain, the puddles on the stone bricks... everything related to water was sucked away as if by an invisible sponge. Even the air, previously humid from the rain, began to turn dry.
Boom...
A deep, resonant rumbling echoed like heavy bass.
The grassy field in front of the Royal Palace suddenly began to tremble uneasily. The hard stone bricks cracked open with hideous fissures. The green grass on the lawn withered instantly after having its moisture sucked dry, transforming into drifting sand. It whipped up a turbulent hurricane, converging toward the man standing at the center of the sandstorm.
Dust to dust, earth to earth...
Ground Death. Through the touch of his right hand, Crocodile could instantly absorb the moisture from any object, turning it into endless sand.
"Not good!" Smoker looked on in horror at the demon-like figure of the Sand Crocodile. He shouted anxiously to the equally stunned Luffy beside him, "Run! Straw Hat!"
However, the White Hunter's warning seemed a bit too late...
The entire stretch of land, along with the adjacent buildings, had their moisture drained by Crocodile's right hand, turning into boundless yellow sand. Driven by the violent winds characteristic of the desert, the sand flew and swirled continuously. Under Crocodile's control, it formed a massive tornado of sand, intensifying as it was constantly replenished by the sand nearby.
"Die!"
Crocodile let out a fierce shout. The dragon-like sand tornado expanded on command, the raging sandstorm spreading everywhere. The merciless yellow sand instantly swallowed Luffy and Smoker whole.
"Ah!!! Water! My moisture is being..."
As Luffy's voice grew faint, his body shriveled up within the overwhelming dust storm. Together with Smoker, he turned into a "mummy," falling stiffly onto the sand-covered ground.
Perhaps because he hadn't fully vented the rage in his heart, Crocodile, surrounded by churning dust, looked up at the rain clouds in the sky, a trace of madness flashing in his eyes.
Whoosh!!! The wind curled, and the dust rose!
Countless grains of scattered yellow sand gathered once more, surging like an ocean. Under Crocodile's mental command, this endless sand suddenly transformed into a giant dragon composed entirely of sand. With an exaggerated momentum that defied imagination, it soared into the sky.
"You die too! This damn rain!!!"
The sand dragon let out a piercing shriek. Its long body twisted and turned recklessly in the skies above Alubarna, forcibly grinding the rain clouds into powder. Then, the sandstorm exploded again like a detonated bomb of grit. The yellow sand scattered madly in all directions, dyeing the entire sky a dusky yellow. By the time the dust settled, the artificial rain created by the Dance Powder had come to an abrupt stop.
Alubarna's Weather: Torrential Rain → Heavy Smog
As expected of a highly developed Logia fruit; its world-shocking power could actually change the weather!
"Phew..."
Letting out a long breath, the Sand Crocodile looked at the sun, which had reappeared but was now blurred by the heavy smog. He frowned and muttered to himself:
"That was a bit impulsive. If the Marines arrive now, it will be troublesome."
Even for Crocodile, forcibly changing the weather with his Devil Fruit ability consumed a vast amount of energy and stamina. But in his earlier fit of rage, he hadn't thought that far ahead. Now that he had calmed down, the Sand Crocodile felt a slight twinge of regret.
"In any case, I can't waste any more time."
After pondering for a moment, Crocodile smoothed back his somewhat messy hair. Without even checking on the status of Straw Hat or the White Hunter, he transformed directly into a gust of yellow sand and whistled away in the direction of the Royal Tomb...
Meanwhile, with the Straw Hat crew in the plaza.
Looking at the dim, yellow sky, the Coward Trio—Usopp, Chopper, and Nami—were so shocked their jaws nearly hit the floor.
"The rain stopped... it was stopped by that sandstorm just now!" Zoro lowered Wado Ichimonji from his mouth, his eyes filled with disbelief.
"Did Crocodile do all this?" Sanji licked his lips, which were feeling a bit dry. The sandstorm earlier seemed to have sucked the moisture right out of the air. Even though they were some distance away, they still felt the scorching dryness in the air. It didn't look like it had just rained at all.
"Sherlock! You can't eat any more!" The little reindeer shouted anxiously at the Sorcerer. "Even though the side effects of Insamona have been reduced, I don't know what the consequences of such frequent consumption will be!"
"I have to eat it."
Completely ignoring Chopper's warning, Sherlock resolutely tasted that hellish flavor once again. His spirit instantly surged, and his eyes, which had been weary after using the God-Killing Spear, suddenly lit up with a strange, divine light.
"Luffy was fighting Crocodile just now!"
—Mirror Entity!
—Mirror Fusion!
Whoosh! A magnificent flying carpet appeared instantly. Sherlock grabbed the little reindeer, jumped onto the carpet, and transformed into a streak of black light. Like a sharp arrow soaring into the sky, he flew rapidly toward the Royal Palace.
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