Crocodile was slammed so hard that half his body was driven straight into the deck, head first, buried all the way to his waist.
A sharp, metallic scent of blood filled the air. That one blow had definitely injured him.
Cuts and bruises marred his face and body, inflicted by Jason's brutal strike.
There's a saying: in a space barely a meter wide, strength can rival an entire nation. Jason's power was immense. When he got close, ordinary opponents didn't stand a chance.
Especially now, Crocodile hadn't yet mastered his Devil Fruit powers to the extent he would later. His hand-to-hand combat skills were still lacking. Facing Jason up close, he couldn't even begin to fight back.
"Damn it!"
With a low growl, Jason's eyes flickered. He bent his knees and leapt back in a burst of speed.
The moment Jason's hands left Crocodile's body, Crocodile's form disintegrated into sand, fine grains swirling into the air.
Whoosh!
A sandstorm swept forward, closing in on Jason in the blink of an eye.
Blinded by the sudden storm, Jason stumbled backward, sand whipping at him from every direction.
The deck itself was rapidly crumbling, disintegrating into sand under Crocodile's power. Even the wooden planks were turning to grain.
"Can't see a damn thing!"
Jason blinked furiously, but wind-driven sand invaded his eyes, stinging and swelling them. Tears began to stream down his cheeks.
From within the sand, a golden hook shot forth, gleaming coldly as it lunged straight for his neck.
"Die!"
Crocodile's vicious voice rang out, and the hook slashed forward with lethal intent.
Clang!
The sound of metal clashing echoed sharply. Crocodile's eyes widened in shock.
A massive force had struck his hook, knocking it from his grasp. It spun through the air and landed with a thunk in the deck behind him.
A sword followed, the blade sharp and aggressive, blooming with a flourish as it slashed toward Crocodile's neck.
Crocodile's body tensed. In an instant, he turned to sand and retreated over ten meters before re-materializing.
"Seawater again!"
His eyes narrowed coldly as he stared at the sword in his opponent's hand.
He didn't say another word. The bounty on these two attackers was proof enough of their power. Though wary, Crocodile showed no fear.
As a Logia Devil Fruit user with grand ambitions, he had more than just confidence, he had audacity.
An average pirate, faced with two opponents whose combined bounties topped a hundred million, would be panicking by now. Few would still have the will to fight.
But not Crocodile.
If anything, his repeated failures had only fueled his anger, and with that, his desire to win.
"This is the first time I've met opponents this interesting," he muttered.
"If I can defeat you, my bounty will skyrocket. Then, I'll be one of the most feared pirates in this whole sea!"
His eyes burned with ambition. Crocodile slammed his hands forward.
"Dry and Split!"
The moment the words left his mouth, the deck beneath them let out a loud crack.
In the blink of an eye, deep fractures raced forward. The wood visibly dried and cracked, breaking apart into floating grains of sand.
The speed of the effect was terrifying. By the time it reached Jason's feet, his shoes had already disintegrated, shattering into dust and flying into the storm.
"Move, now!"
Rojen's expression changed. He grabbed Jason and, with a Shunpo, vanished from the spot.
Several flashes later, they were safely back aboard their own ship.
Jason rubbed his eyes quickly, trying to clear out the stinging sand. His vision blurry and swollen, he squinted toward the opposite ship.
And what he saw made his expression freeze in shock.
"Did... did he do all this?"
The two ships were barely ten meters apart. Under the pale moonlight and the flickering torchlight from the other deck, Jason could clearly see the bow of the enemy ship had transformed into a sea of sand.
It was as if a sandstorm had materialized out of thin air, fine grains of sand floated densely above the ship's bow, undulating in the air with a constant whirring sound.
That storm of sand began to rotate slowly, stirring heavy gusts of wind. Yet strangely, it remained confined to the ship's bow, steady and ominous, refusing to disperse.
Crocodile stood calmly in the eye of the storm. His dark cloak flapped in the wind, and though his face was bruised and bloodied, he exuded a deadly calm.
As he walked through the swirling sand, not a single grain touched him. It was as if he were a king among sand, the very particles parting respectfully in his wake.
"Bounties over a hundred million, huh?" he said coldly. "Let's see what you're really made of!"
Without warning, Crocodile spread his arms wide and lunged forward.
BOOM!
The sandstorm exploded into motion, a violent torrent of sand surging straight toward The Logan.
"Captain!"
Jason's face turned pale. The reach of this sandstorm was massive, Crocodile's attack had already disintegrated nearly a quarter of his own ship's deck.
If that sandfall reached The Logan, the damage would be catastrophic.
WHOOOSH!
The air shrieked as wind howled and golden sand filled the sky. In an instant, the space in front of Rojen and Jason was consumed, visibility lost in a sea of swirling dust.
"Jason, fall back!"
Rojen's eyes burned red. His black tomoe spun rapidly as he shouted. His body blurred, and in a flicker, he had launched himself into the air.
Raising a single hand, he extended his palm and thrust it downward.
"Tathagata Divine Palm!"
The air vibrated.
With a low hum, a massive golden palm materialized in midair and came crashing down with divine force.
BOOM!
The colossal palm slammed into the 20-meter-wide sandstorm, as if solid and weighty despite its ethereal glow. It crushed countless grains of sand, pressing them down into the sea below.
THUMP!
The golden hand, nearly 30 meters long, plunged into the ocean at an angle, sending enormous waves rippling out in all directions.
Crocodile's expression shifted.
His pupils shrank as he watched.
He knew better than anyone, on land, his power was nearly limitless. He could turn entire battlefields into sand, using the terrain itself as an infinite source of strength. On solid ground, he was virtually unstoppable.
But on the ocean?
His greatest advantage became his greatest weakness. Even his sandification ability was limited to the materials on his own ship.
Up above, Rojen flickered again, appearing right over Crocodile's ship.
Crocodile's heart pounded.
"Raise anchor, we're leaving!"
He barked the order. The startled crew snapped out of their daze and rushed to the helm to steer the ship.
But a calm voice rang down from above:
"Trying to run? You think it'll be that easy?"
The crew looked up.
Their faces turned to panic.
What they saw was a massive golden palm descending from the sky, crashing down in an instant.
(End Of This Chapter)
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