Chapter 34: This Trick Is So Much More Useful Than Haki!
As Crocodile was sent flying by Chen Long's punch,
Sand and dust billowed, and the battlefield fell silent.
Nico Robin's figure stood in the giant sand crater behind Chen Long, covering her mouth in shock.
"That Crocodile, he was actually..."
To be honest, her choice to betray Crocodile and cooperate with the other party this time was largely because Chen Long knew her true identity—she felt she had no other choice.
But deep down, she wasn't optimistic about this betrayal.
Because as Crocodile's partner and subordinate, she was well aware of his immense strength.
He was a member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, one of the three great powers specially selected by the World Government to maintain balance in the seas.
Crocodile was undoubtedly an extremely dangerous individual.
Especially his strength—in Robin's impression, she had never even seen Crocodile injured.
Anyone before him was as insignificant as a human facing a desert.
This was also why Robin, despite knowing Crocodile's plan in Alabasta and secretly disapproving, dared not openly resist him.
But now, this Seven Warlord, whom she considered almost invincible, was directly blasted away right before her eyes.
"This man..."
Her gaze unconsciously drifted towards that figure.
That being, from the organization named the Twelve Star Generals, codenamed Chen Long.
"A person rarely gets the chance to pursue their true value, yet misses it due to certain reasons, eventually having no choice but to hide away in a dark corner again. Is that what you pursue?"
She suddenly recalled those words the other party had said not long ago.
"My... pursuit."
In her heart, she unconsciously murmured.
But it was at this very moment—
"Hey, Miss Robin—if you have time to stare blankly, you might as well leave the battlefield quickly."
Chen Long's voice suddenly interrupted her thoughts.
The voice from beneath the mask was calm, but his words startled Robin.
Then, she immediately understood Chen Long's intent.
The battle was still ongoing!
"Whoosh!"
And as if to confirm his words—
Accompanied by a piercing slicing sound, a colossal sand blade instantly tore through the billowing sand and dust, flying out.
It swept past a weathered rock mountain, effortlessly slicing it in half instantly.
"Desert Treasure Blade!"
Faced with this incoming attack, Chen Long simply waved his hand.
Three massive ice shields reappeared, blocking the giant sand blade.
"Boom!"
But this time, the powerful sand blade successfully shattered two of the ice shields directly, its momentum only stopping at the third one.
At this moment, Chen Long's gaze was fixed on the figure emerging from the smoke and dust.
Crocodile.
His clothes on his left abdomen were completely tattered, revealing well-defined muscles and a clear, bruised fist print.
Near the fist print, there were also very obvious traces of frostbite.
A trace of blood still lingered at the corner of his mouth, making him look utterly dishevelled.
And at this moment, the arrogance and coldness that had been on his face had completely vanished, replaced by the ferocity of a wild beast thoroughly enraged.
"There really wasn't any Haki infused, and you actually knew?"
His eyes were locked on Chen Long.
Both Chen Long and Crocodile himself naturally understood what he meant.
"Of course, there wasn't any Haki infused."
So, Chen Long simply smiled.
He certainly wasn't going to say, "I haven't even learned Haki yet."
He simply raised his hand.
At this moment, on his hand, water droplets were continuously condensing.
"To deal with you, this thing is far more useful than Haki."
That's right.
Water—this was Crocodile's, or rather, the 'Sand-Sand Fruit's weakness.
Sand solidifies when it touches water, so if Crocodile's body is hit by water, that part of him cannot elementalize.
When it comes to countering Crocodile, the effect of water is even superior to Armament Haki.
And just now, Chen Long had attached water to his hand, which allowed him to send Crocodile flying with a single punch.
"Pitter-patter!" "Pitter-patter!" "Pitter-patter!"
And just as he was speaking—
From the sky above, rain had already begun to pour down.
"That's why I said—you can't beat me."
He calmly repeated his earlier words.
But this time, Crocodile no longer showed any disdain.
He merely gritted his teeth, looking at the increasingly urgent downpour from the sky, while feeling the sharp pain emanating from his abdomen.
He certainly wasn't averse to admitting a fact—that he had underestimated Chen Long.
Or rather, his long period of smooth sailing in Alabasta had indeed made him complacent.
He had always known that Chen Long was a 'Rain Caller', possessing some ability or technique to summon rain.
But he hadn't been overly wary of it.
He had always believed that no one knew his weakness, and he certainly hadn't expected Chen Long to immediately use water against him.
This directly led to him being in a perilous situation just now—if he hadn't realized something was wrong in time and used Armament Haki hardening to block most of the frost damage, that punch might have directly incapacitated him.
Chen Long's ability truly countered him.
Because of this, he felt a long-lost sense of crisis from Chen Long.
But even so, there was still no panic in his heart; instead, 'excitement' welled up within him.
How many years had it been?
Since his tragic defeat against Whitebeard in the New World, how long had it been since he'd felt this way?
He didn't like being outsmarted, falling into a disadvantageous position, or being forced.
But he did enjoy 'danger'.
"I am Crocodile!"
"If you think knowing 'water' is my weakness means you can defeat me, then you are mistaken."
At this moment, he bared his teeth and laughed ferociously.
"Yellow Sand Grand Curtain!"
As his words fell, the yellow sand on the ground that hadn't yet been dampened by the rain began to billow upwards.
It churned continuously, rising towards the sky, eventually forming a colossal curtain that completely blocked out all the falling rain and even the sunlight.
Just as he had said before, Alabasta was a kingdom of sand.
And in this kingdom—he was the sole 'king'.
Even the rain couldn't fall without his permission.
"Impressive."
Seeing the magnificent sight of the yellow sand spanning the sky, obscuring the rain curtain,
Even Chen Long couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, "He truly lives up to his title as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea."
He was genuinely impressed.
Even knowing the plot, and even knowing Crocodile's abilities and weaknesses, he hadn't expected Crocodile to actually have such a move to solve the problem of falling rain.
This trick was never used by him in the original story.
"He truly is a formidable opponent who survived until the final stages."
"If you don't have the protagonist's halo like big brother Nika, underestimating him is just asking for death."
He sighed inwardly.
Meanwhile, Crocodile naturally had no idea what Chen Long was thinking.
At this moment, this Seven Warlord simply looked at Chen Long and said, "Kid, I already know your abilities—summoning rain, freezing ice, water droplets on your skin... Although I don't know what Devil Fruit it is, you can manipulate the water vapor in the air, right?"
He raised his golden hook hand and once again pointed it at Chen Long.
"However, you've already missed your only chance to kill me."
"From now on, you won't have another opportunity to get water on me."
But after hearing his words, Chen Long let out a laugh.
"Really?"
He said, "I don't believe it."
(end of chapter)