Chapter 621: Divine Authority

What is a natural disaster?

Ancient words say:

This is…

The authority of the gods!

Only the supreme, ethereal deities of this age can control and command natural disasters.

The authority of the gods is the manifestation of natural disasters.

Only gods can command disasters.

Now,

Crocodile, who possesses a Nature-type Devil Fruit, effectively holds a portion of divine authority, gaining the terrifying power to manipulate nature.

Manipulating the desert…

Creating natural disasters!

This is Crocodile's strength.

He alone can destroy a nation!

Every Nature-type Devil Fruit user is equivalent to a walking disaster.

In a desert environment, Crocodile is disaster upon disaster.

The disaster he creates…

Can effortlessly annihilate over a million subjects of a small nation!

As long as he is in the desert,

He is omnipotent!

He is the god who controls the desert!

At this moment,

Crocodile, using his Sand-Sand Fruit and combining it with two Devil Fruit abilities, forcibly conjures a sandstorm nearly capable of destroying heaven and earth.

A sandstorm in the desert…

Is no different from a massive whirlpool in the sea!

Anyone caught in this terrifying natural disaster is certain to die.

The immense sandstorm greedily absorbs surrounding sand, swirling countless grains of dust through the air as if dancing "zero-eight-three," forming a breath exhaled by a desert dragon.

The sandstorm stretches over a hundred meters into the sky…

Faintly,

As if even the cloud layers are subtly disturbed and slowly drawn toward it.

Wherever the sandstorm passes,

All ruined architectural ruins shatter and collapse.

Crushed on the spot,

Turned to sand, merging into the sandstorm.

Strengthening this sandstorm.

Imagine,

Just how terrifying the destructive power of this sandstorm truly is.

If it enters a human city, within half an hour it will reduce the entire city to unrecognizable ruin.

Burying every living thing within the city beneath the terrifying force of the sandstorm.

And this is Crocodile's true strength.

This is the very foundation of his pride.

Controlling the Sand-Sand Fruit…

He is confident no one can defeat him in a desert environment!

But right now,

What did he see?

Someone, instead of dodging or retreating from the horrific sandstorm he created, was charging straight into its apocalyptic fury?

What does this mean?

"Suicide!"

"The Fist Demon, this monster, will surely die!"

"He must be insane."

"Does he dare to oppose a natural disaster with mere human strength?"

"Can this even work? Impossible!"

"Does he truly believe he is strong enough to withstand a natural disaster?"

"This is the authority of the gods!"

"He is but a mortal, a bare-handed mortal—what right does he have to oppose the authority of the gods?"

"He is dead!"

Crocodile drew a deep breath, his heart trembling violently.

Though he had already concluded,

That Lu En, who dared to enter the sandstorm, would surely die,

He had to admit,

He was still frightened by Lu En's actions.

I've never seen it before.

Someone dared to charge alone into the sandstorm he had created — a natural disaster.

Right now, today.

He saw the one and only example.

The first unprecedented case ever!

This scene made Crocodile's heart race and his skin crawl.

He had never seen such a reckless person before!

He lifted his head,

his eyes filled with horror, watching Lu En charge toward the sandstorm.

Then,

he turned to look again at the sandstorm he had created and controlled.

The terror of the sandstorm kept escalating.

Its destructive power grew ever more horrifying.

He had a premonition.

It wouldn't be long before this sandstorm slipped beyond his control!

Once the sandstorm continued to grow, it would eventually break free from his control entirely.

At that point…

Even though he possessed the Sand-Sand Fruit and could command everything in the desert, he could never fully control such a massive natural force in the south.

At its initial stage, he could still control and guide it.

But as the sandstorm slowly grew more terrifying…

Even he…

would lose control over the sandstorm.

When that point came, this sandstorm would become a true, genuine natural disaster!

A catastrophe capable of destroying heaven and earth.

It could wipe out a city at will.

Even,

annihilate an entire kingdom!

Kill millions of innocent civilians.

This is the terrifying nature of natural disasters.

If their destructive power weren't so horrific, natural disasters wouldn't inspire such widespread fear.

And now,

the sandstorm Crocodile had created was about to slip beyond his control, growing ever more monstrous.

At this moment,

even he found it extraordinarily difficult and exhausting to manipulate the sandstorm.

If he let the sandstorm go unchecked…

then,

the Alabasta Kingdom would soon face a cataclysmic, horrifying disaster.

And this, of course, was not what Crocodile wanted to see.

But even now, no matter how hard he tried to control it, he could only steer the sandstorm's direction — he could not forcibly dispel it.

Yet under these circumstances…

a sandstorm he himself was about to lose control over…

faced a mortal challenger!

"Madman!"

"That madman, Fist Demon Lu En — he's practically begging for death!"

Watching Lu En charge into the sandstorm, Crocodile thought to himself.

In his view…

Lu En was certain to die.

He was already a cold corpse.

No one could stand against a natural disaster.

Unless…

the opponent was also a Logia user!

To counter a natural disaster with another natural disaster.

That was the only rational approach.

To stand against a natural disaster with mere mortal flesh?

To try to defy a natural disaster with bare fists?