"Buzz!"
The snow-covered forest trembled and fell into complete stillness.
Crocodile's pupils shrank as an inexplicable fear rose in his heart. Beside him, a subordinate let out a dull thud as his face slammed straight into the ground, embedding in the snow and becoming completely motionless.
Crocodile turned his head and saw the rest of the pirates with their eyes rolled white, collapsing one after another.
"Damn it! What's going on?!" Crocodile said in a trembling voice as cold sweat formed on his forehead.
At that moment, his entire body felt weak. He couldn't muster the will to resist; it was as if he were being suffocated. An invisible pressure locked him in place, leaving his body stiff and his head spinning. He could barely stand.
When he turned around again, the young officer had disappeared.
A fierce gust of wind slammed into him. A fluttering white cloak filled his vision as snow was kicked up into the air. Crocodile instinctively raised his head.
The young officer appeared out of nowhere, his gloved right hand clenched into a fist as he dove straight down for a punch.
"It's useless! I can become an element!" Crocodile thought to himself and a mocking smile formed at the corners of his mouth.
Though he had no idea what that oppressive aura was, this Marine officer was still too young.
However...
In the next second...
A steel-like fist struck his cheek with overwhelming force.
BANG!
Stars exploded in his vision, and his entire body was sent flying. He smashed heavily into the snow-covered ground.
The other side of his face crushed the snow beneath it. The ground collapsed and split apart, and a crater over ten meters wide abruptly appeared.
At that instant, his consciousness scattered, plunging into darkness.
Kojin stood beside the massive crater, momentarily stunned. He looked down at Crocodile, whose head was buried in the ground and lying completely motionless.
"He's not dead... is he?!"
He wasn't sure how strong Crocodile was, so he hadn't used his full strength for that punch; it relied purely on physical power.
And even then, he'd only used about thirty percent of his power.
After all, with the Seastone gloves suppressing him, a Logia user shouldn't be able to exert any power at all.
T Penn and the others quickly rushed over. Seeing the pirates sprawled unconscious on the ground and Crocodile, whose life or death was uncertain, they exchanged silent looks but weren't particularly shocked.
"Senior officer, you hit him way too hard. His head didn't explode, did it?" The shipwright, Slo said speechlessly.
He could clearly see the part of the ground where Crocodile's head was embedded rapidly turning red with blood.
Fortunately, after Evans and the others examined Crocodile, they quietly let out a sigh of relief.
"He's not dead."
"This guy's skull is ridiculously tough. He actually withstood Senior Officer Kojin's Iron Fist, but his skull is cracked."
The rest of the cleanup was much simpler.
T Penn contacted nearby Marines to arrest the unconscious pirates while Crocodile was slung over Rosinante's shoulder and carried back to the battleship.
At Kojin's instruction, Mina treated Crocodile's injuries and bandaged his head.
"Let's hope he wakes up. If he ends up a vegetable, I'll just have to give him another punch." Kojin sighed inwardly as he spoke.
He had made two mistakes: first, he had underestimated the power of his Seastone-enhanced punches, and second, he had overestimated Crocodile's durability.
Still, the fact that Crocodile remained standing under the impact of his Haoshoku Haki alone showed that he truly was special.
...
Five or six days passed before the first ray of light finally appeared in Crocodile's pitch-black world.
When he slowly opened his eyes, he was greeted by a vast blue sky and seagulls flapping their wings and crying as they flew past.
"Where... is this?"
"And who am I?"
A sense of confusion swept through him. Supporting himself with his arms, Crocodile slowly sat up.
"You're awake?"
A straight-backed figure wearing a Justice cloak stood ahead of him. That man's voice came from behind the cloak.
For reasons he couldn't explain, the moment he saw that back, a primal sense of fear rose within him. It made him tense, and at the same time, a sharp pain exploded in his head, forcing a muffled groan out of him.
"Who... are you?"
He forced his mouth open with great difficulty. His throat was dry, and his voice came out hoarse.
"My name is Kojin."
Kojin turned around. He stared at Crocodile, a trace of doubt rising in his heart. Something about Crocodile's condition felt off.
"Koj... in?"
Crocodile repeated the name softly. It sounded vaguely familiar, but he didn't recognize it.
After a moment of silence, he lifted his head again, still looking lost.
"Then... who am I?"
Kojin froze. He could tell that the man wasn't pretending.
To be absolutely sure, he glanced at Evans, who was wiping down his gun nearby. Evans nodded seriously in response.
"Did I really smash his brain with that one punch?" Kojin was a little stunned.
Then, he laughed. This actually seemed even better!
"Listen up, kid!" He looked at the utterly confused Crocodile in front of him and spoke. "You were rescued by me from a group of pirates. Your current identity is..."
"A trainee Marine on my ship!"
Hearing this, Crocodile looked around once more.
Everyone else was staring at him curiously.
"I... Crocodile... Am I a trainee Marine?" Crocodile murmured to himself.
He seemed to have lost his previous memories, forgotten who he really was. Yet aside from that, everything else was fine, he clearly understood what a trainee Marine meant.
Slowly closing his eyes, a vague figure surfaced in Crocodile's mind, making him instinctively shrink back in fear.
He tried hard to recall it…
A fluttering white cloak. And a fist clad in a pitch-black glove. When he opened his eyes again, Crocodile looked at Kojin's right hand.
It was exactly the same as the black glove in his memory.
"Maybe… what he said is true. I only remember things related to him. That must be because I admire him." Crocodile thought quietly to himself.
And so, from that day on, Crocodile… who had failed before he even truly set out and had his head shattered first began living happily as a trainee Marine aboard Kojin's ship.
…
In just five days, the young Crocodile had grown familiar with Rosinante, T Penn, Evans, and the others.
At the same time, his own Sand-Sand Fruit abilities sparked intense curiosity among everyone on board.
"Wow, wow, wow… this ability is amazing!"
"You're actually immune to all physical attacks… that's incredible!"
"You're really strong, Crocodile! Even without using your Devil Fruit, you can fight Evans in close combat!"
Rosinante shouted excitedly.
On this ship, the twelve-year-old Rosinante was basically the mood-maker… lively, cheerful, and full of energy. T Penn, meanwhile, was sparring with Kaien Jūbei using swords, quickly developing a sense of mutual respect and becoming close friends.
Kojin folded his arms and watched as Crocodile rapidly bonded with everyone, a faint smile appearing on his face.
"Sand Crocodile… after losing his memories. It seems he's gradually discovering a new kind of joy. Maybe one day, he'll even be grateful for that punch."
(End of chapter)
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