Chapter 100: So You Know Haki After All [23]

"Fine."

Hearing this, the crew knew Siano was about to hog everything again.

Since the captain intended to act personally, how could there be any share left for them?

Sister Sister Guyina sighed, her interest waning as she sheathed Wado Ichimonji and turned to be the first to walk back toward the ship.

The rest followed one after another with sighs and groans; surprisingly, not a single person throughout the entire process voiced any objection, nor did anyone remind Siano to be careful or anything of the sort.

This made Crocodile's brows knit together involuntarily.

What was wrong with this bunch?

Why were they reacting like this?!

Normally, shouldn't they be panicking in disarray, then encouraging each other, uniting to fight him to the death?

Most detestable of all was that orange-haired little girl; upon hearing Siano say he would handle it personally, she actually turned her head and looked at him with pity and sympathy.

What exactly are they up to?!!

Nameless fury rose in Crocodile's heart.

He considered that he had already taken this group very seriously, especially that Siano.

Having earned a bounty exceeding one hundred million right after leaving the East Blue, even Ghost Spider, a Vice Admiral of Marine Headquarters, had capsized in the gutter and fallen into this opponent's hands.

Indeed, he was a very troublesome kid.

Preparations had to be made; he could not be underestimated.

If not for this, why else would he have chosen this island as his battlefield?

—After all, more than half of Whiskey Shanfeng was desert!

And he, as the user of the Sand-Sand Fruit, was unquestionably the King of the Desert!

"No one has ever defeated me in the desert."

Crocodile's expression darkened as he slowly raised his right index finger. "Naturally, no one can escape my grasp within the desert either!"

A group of nobodies daring to look down on him would have to pay the price!!!

"Desert... Sunflower!"

The ground of the entire harbor suddenly began to turn into sand; within a few breaths, a massive whirlpool of quicksand instantly formed beneath everyone's feet.

At that moment, the crew had not yet reached the shore, and just as they were about to be swallowed by this whirlpool—

Moon Step!

Whoosh! Sister Sister Guyina, Zeff, Nojiko, Smoker... they all flew up into the mid-air; even Nami transformed into a firebird, flapping her wings to easily dodge the desert whirlpool.

"Wow, Nami!" Nojiko turned her head in surprise. "You can fly now? When did you learn this move?"

"I learned it long ago, but this technique consumes stamina heavily; I can't fly very far, so it's not as practical as Moon Step."

"That idiot Warlord is really asking for a beating; the captain already said he'd fight him one-on-one, yet he still insisted on attacking us."

"Indeed, all that nagging; if the captain hadn't forbidden it, I would have kicked him long ago..."

Thus, the group chatted and laughed casually while stepping through the air toward the deck.

They paid absolutely no attention to the terrifying whirlpool on the ground, nor did anyone spare a glance for Crocodile, whose face had turned iron-green.

"Does it feel like you're a bit of a clown?"

Siano's voice drew Crocodile's gaze over; the black-haired youth opposite grinned, revealing a mouthful of stark white teeth:

"It's fine, don't rush; you've only just arrived in Gotham."

Whoosh!

Before the words had even faded, the black-haired youth before his eyes had instantly vanished without a trace.

Where did he go?

Crocodile's expression changed slightly; not daring to be overconfident, he immediately activated his Logia transformation, scattering himself into a cloud of yellow sand, yet—

"Too slow."

A cold voice suddenly rang out from behind.

Crocodile felt a chill at the back of his neck; his entire body was seized by a large hand and violently slammed onto the ground!

How was this done?

Shock appeared in his eyes; he had clearly transformed into his elemental form, so logically he should not have been touchable at all...

Boom!

The back of Crocodile's head made intimate contact with the ground; his vision went black, a buzzing filled his ears, and his body, like a tattered rag doll, uncontrollably plowed a sand trail dozens of meters long.

But at that very moment, within his blurred and inverted field of vision, he saw clearly what was surging on Siano's hand, something resembling black ink—

Armament Haki?

How could this be! A technique mastered by few in the entire Paradise, yet a newcomer who had just crossed the Reverse Mountain wielded it with such proficiency?

"You seem quite surprised?"

Siano's indifferent voice came through. "Having dared not venture into the New World and staying in Paradise for so long, have you forgotten what it feels like to have your head punched askew?"

Crocodile struggled to climb out of the sand pit; fresh blood spilling from the corner of his mouth stained his collar and dyed his cigar red.

He spat out the half-consumed cigar to the side, and when he lifted his head, his eyes were already filled with killing intent.

"It is somewhat unexpected."

Lighting a new cigar, Crocodile said with a cold smile, "I didn't expect you to know this kind of thing as well, but Haki... in the final analysis, even small fries in the New World can master it; who doesn't know it?"

Hum!

The power he had not seriously used for many years was mobilized at this moment; his entire left arm, along with the golden hook resembling a scorpion's tail, took on a jet-black hue.

"Wow!"

Siano's tone carried not only mockery but also a hint of wonder. "So you know Haki too?"

His astonishment came from the depths of his heart.

"Nonsense!"

Crocodile's face darkened; he was a man who had fought Whitebeard himself, so how could he possibly lack both types of Haki!

"So... if you think mastering Armament Haki is enough to do me in, then you are gravely mis—"

Boom!

Before he could finish, the shadow of a fist rapidly magnified in his eyes; his pupils constricted sharply, and his head exploded an instant later—

The fist passed through, yet there was no sensation of striking a solid object, while the Sand Crocodile's body swiftly reassembled several meters away, revealing that face with a cigar clamped between its teeth.

"See that?"

Watching Siano's strike miss, Crocodile, though cold sweat trickled down his temples, burst into unrestrained laughter:

"Just now, my Logia transformation speed was too casual, that's why you caught me; but now that I'm on guard, what do you have left to locate my true body?"

"Is that so?"

A dismissive chuckle rose from the swirling sand and wind: "But my warm-up has only just ended; as for the next move, can you really react to it?"

In the night, the opponent's body suddenly crouched slightly, muscle lines tightening layer upon layer like a precise machine.

Crocodile inexplicably felt a sense of impending doom and immediately pushed his Observation Haki to the limit.

"Soru!"

The ground exploded with a roar, the figure before him vanished in an instant, and a flash of red light sparked in Crocodile's eyes as the corner of his mouth curled into a sinister grin: "Got you!"

The arm linked to the golden hook suddenly twisted and elongated in a bizarre manner; with a fierce flick, the hook's tip, wreathed in heart-palpitating black Haki, stabbed like a viper at the empty space behind and above!

(End of Chapter)