Just as Sand Crocodile caught sight of the Blue-Eyed White Dragon.
At the same moment, the Blue-Eyed White Dragon perched atop the Rain Banquet Pyramid also detected the presence of Sand Crocodile.
The white dragon spread its wings, and a fierce wind surged.
The Blue-Eyed White Dragon flapped its wings and flew rapidly toward Sand Crocodile's location.
"Is it really a dragon?"
Sand Crocodile furrowed his brow tightly, casually tossing aside the treasure on his shoulder, his right hand instantly transforming into flowing grains of sand.
"Or perhaps... a Devil Fruit user who enjoys playing tricks!?"
Crocodile looked at the approaching Blue-Eyed White Dragon, taking up a defensive stance.
However, his "Desert Treasure Sword" had yet to be drawn.
The Blue-Eyed White Dragon opened its massive maw and unleashed a thunderous—
[Dragon Roar]! "Roar—"
The earth-shattering dragon's roar, accompanied by a powerful explosive shockwave, rushed toward Sand Crocodile like a bolt of lightning.
"What!?"
Crocodile's pupils constricted in an instant.
Caught off guard, he had no time to mount any effective defense before the [Dragon Roar] shockwave struck his body.
Boom! The powerful shockwave hit Crocodile squarely.
The renowned "hero" of Alabasta was blasted into endless sand under the bright sun.
As the [Dragon Roar] shockwave passed.
All that remained was a pair of incomplete "crocodile legs"! But upon closer inspection, one would notice that what flowed from the broken ends of these "crocodile legs" was not crimson blood, but yellow grains of sand!
The wind continued to blow.
The sand surrounding the "crocodile legs" began to coalesce under an inexplicable force, reshaping into a human form.
Moments later.
Unscathed, Crocodile reappeared in his original spot.
As a user of the [Logia-Type Sand-Sand Fruit], Crocodile could transform any part of his body into sand.
This was the powerful ability of every Logia-type Devil Fruit user to be "immune to general physical attacks"!
Although Crocodile's body remained unharmed.
His spirit, however, had taken a significant blow from that last [Dragon Roar].
"You bastard!"
Crocodile's eyes burned with fury as he transformed his right hand into a sand blade and swung it heavily toward the Blue-Eyed White Dragon.
"Desert Treasure Sword!"
The sand blade, initially only the size of a human arm, rapidly expanded and grew larger once it left Crocodile's arm.
In an instant.
The sand blade had transformed into a super sword several meters long.
The Desert Treasure Sword sliced toward the Blue-Eyed White Dragon with incredible speed, effortlessly cleaving through the desert ground.
Facing this unstoppable Desert Treasure Sword.
The Blue-Eyed White Dragon did not flinch or evade; the layer of porcelain-white dragon scales covering its body shimmered brilliantly under the blazing desert sun.
Clang—
Accompanied by a crisp and pleasant sound of collision, the Desert Treasure Sword struck the massive body of the Blue-Eyed White Dragon.
The dragon's flight speed momentarily faltered.
However, the effect of the Desert Treasure Sword's attack was limited to that.
Crocodile looked closely.
His sword, powerful enough to cut through the desert, had failed to break the Blue-Eyed White Dragon's scales! The Desert Treasure Sword struck the dragon's body.
But it was as if it had crashed against a reef.
Not only did it fail to affect the opponent, but it also shattered itself into pieces! "This white dragon..."
Crocodile's expression turned grave.
The Blue-Eyed White Dragon flapped its wings, shaking off the residual effects of the Desert Treasure Sword, and continued to charge toward Sand Crocodile.
Crocodile, relying on the physical immunity of the [Sand-Sand Fruit], stood his ground, not flinching or dodging.
At the same time, he raised his right hand once more, transforming his arm into a crescent-shaped sand blade.
As the Blue-Eyed White Dragon flew in front of Sand Crocodile, it suddenly unleashed—
"Giant Dragon Impact"! The massive size of the Blue-Eyed White Dragon brought forth an overwhelming force, directly crushing Crocodile's body into dust.
Yet Crocodile did not forget to swing his right hand at the dragon that had come to him.
"Crescent Dune!"
This sand blade was not like the previous "Desert Treasure Sword."
The crescent-shaped sand blade of "Crescent Dune" struck the Blue-Eyed White Dragon's body but did not directly inflict damage.
It merely siphoned the "moisture" from the dragon's body! This was a terrifying technique that, upon hitting, would drain all moisture from the enemy's body! The wind and sand swirled, gathering once more.
Crocodile reappeared in his original spot.
He turned to look at the retreating Blue-Eyed White Dragon, focusing on the area where "Crescent Dune" had struck.
He saw that the once pristine and glossy dragon scales of the Blue-Eyed White Dragon now exhibited a strange dryness, resembling land that had not been watered for years.
A web of fine cracks spread across the dragon's body, looking quite horrifying.
Strangely enough.
With each movement of the Blue-Eyed White Dragon, fine dust fell from the cracks, as if it were shedding powder.
"Strange..."
Crocodile frowned and clenched his fist, watching the Blue-Eyed White Dragon continuously "shed powder."
"Is this dragon... really a living creature?"
If Crocodile had to evaluate it.
At this moment, the Blue-Eyed White Dragon looked like a dehydrated, cracked dragon statue.
Crack—crack—
The dry, cracked Blue-Eyed White Dragon flapped its wings again, but its violent movements caused further disintegration of its body.
Large chunks of dehydrated clay fell from the Blue-Eyed White Dragon, resembling a snake shedding its skin.
Once the Blue-Eyed White Dragon actively separated those parts of its body that had lost moisture and could no longer function, it regained its agility.
However, the entire dragon's form appeared to have shrunk significantly.
"What the hell is this thing!"
Crocodile's brow furrowed tightly.
He increasingly felt that the white dragon before him was no longer a normal creature! "I should just kill it directly!"
Crocodile transformed his right arm into a crescent-shaped sand blade again, taking the stance for "Crescent Dune."
But just then, a strange voice sounded from behind Crocodile.
"You are..."
In the previous moment, the voice seemed to come from a hundred meters away.
But in the next instant, the voice rang out right behind Crocodile's head.
"Sand Crocodile, huh?"
Crocodile was startled and hurriedly turned around to see the enemy's appearance.
But just as he turned, he felt a sudden darkness before his eyes.
A black, haki-imbued right hand covered Sand Crocodile's entire line of sight!
Smack! Storm's right hand clamped down on Crocodile's face like a vise.
With the enhancement of [Armament Haki], he successfully grasped the true form of this "Sand Crocodile"!
Before Crocodile could react.
Storm seized the Sand Crocodile's head as if it were a ball and slammed it hard into the ground beneath him.
Boom! A deafening roar erupted.
The entire earth was instantly smashed into a massive pit several meters wide under Storm's monstrous strength.
Crocodile, bleeding from his mouth and nose, lay in the center of the pit, looking utterly disheveled.
Storm stood at the edge of the pit, looking down at Crocodile from above.
"Sand Crocodile, you rely too much on your Devil Fruit powers!"
"Haki..."
Crocodile fought to suppress the dizziness in his head.
He opened his eyes to look outside the pit, and in the backlight, he could only see a white coat.
"Marine?"
"Have you lost your mind?!"
Storm scoffed, waving his hand toward the Blue-Eyed White Dragon.
The Blue-Eyed White Dragon immediately flew back to his side, transforming into a small dragon and curling up on his shoulder.
Crocodile stood up, shaking his head vigorously to finally regain his senses.
He looked at the young "Marine" who had just used [Armament Haki].
Only to find that the other party was just an excessively young stranger.
What made Crocodile feel even more humiliated was...
The white coat the other wore was not a "justice coat" of the Marines.
It was just an ordinary, unremarkable white coat...
"You brat!"
Crocodile was furious, truly furious.
"Who do you think you are?!"
The moment the words fell.
Crocodile suddenly activated his [Sand-Sand Fruit] ability, sinking into the ground like quicksand.
Seeing this, a sharp red light flashed in Storm's eyes, and [Observation Haki] silently unfolded, searching for enemies.
In Storm's perception through Observation Haki.
Crocodile was like a man-eating crocodile diving beneath the "sea of sand," rapidly charging toward his location.
In the next instant.
Crocodile leaped out from the "sea of sand," his right arm transforming once again into the shape of a sand blade, slashing toward Storm with lightning speed.
"Desert Greatsword!"
Crocodile's "Desert Greatsword" came at Storm with a fierce momentum, as if it aimed to cleave Storm in two.
But having already anticipated Crocodile's attack trajectory, Storm would not be hit so easily.
Storm raised his right hand, hard clay surged forth, enveloped in [Armament Haki], and slammed down heavily!
As if foreseeing the future.
At the moment Crocodile's "Desert Greatsword" burst from the ground.
Storm's haki-imbued fist struck Crocodile's sand blade directly.
Crack—
The seemingly indestructible Desert Greatsword instantly shattered under Storm's haki-imbued iron fist, breaking into two pieces.
Crocodile was momentarily dazed.
Storm seized this fleeting opportunity, retracting his right fist slightly before delivering a heavy blow forward.
Bang! Storm's haki-imbued iron fist ruthlessly struck Crocodile's head.
The infamous "King of the Desert," under this merciless iron fist, instantly had his eyes glaze over.
[Diamond Trophy: Sand Crocodile]
[Trophy Star Rating: ★★★★★★]
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