Chapter 99

Luo En was well aware of this; he had just begun to activate Shave when the ground beneath his feet suddenly turned to sand and collapsed, threads of fine yellow sand winding around his legs.

Luo En surged qi through his legs, a powerful gust instantly scattering the fine sand that had been absorbing moisture from his body, but at this moment, the surrounding yellow sand had already surged toward him from all directions—so densely that even Shave could not fully evade it.

Of course, with the ground collapsing beneath him, Shave—a taijutsu relying on rapid foot strikes to achieve high-speed movement—could no longer be executed.

Luo En's eyes narrowed slightly as he reached out and grasped at empty air.

Before Crocodile's widened eyes, the black-haired boy drew a long blade from the void, its blade shimmering with Lei Guang.

"Water Breathing: Full Concentration, Sixth Form: Twisting Vortex!"

As the black-haired boy swung his sword.

A massive, twisted aquamarine vortex erupted from his body, transforming into a blade both sharp and enormous, instantly blocking all the yellow sand while a series of spiral cuts, like flowing water, slashed toward Crocodile.

Could it be… a swordsman?

Crocodile's eyes widened slightly, his heart deeply shaken.

When had such a young swordsman emerged from the seas?

There was no time for him to ponder further.

He immediately activated his ability.

"Sand Wall!"

A torrent of yellow sand burst forth from the cracked ground before him, forming an extremely thick and sturdy sand wall that blocked the spiral cuts.

When the Sand Wall crumbled back into fine sand, the black-haired boy had vanished from his original position.

A sense of danger flashed through Crocodile's mind; he instantly elementalized, scattering into streams of sand in all directions.

The next second.

A crisp flash of blade light appeared in midair.

Cutting swiftly through the dim moonlight, leaving behind an exquisitely beautiful blue slash.

"Water Breathing: Fifth Form: Heavenly Mercy Rain."

Crocodile's sand-formed body was cleanly sliced apart by that gentle, merciful blue blade light, scattering into yellow sand across the ground.

Luo En held Lei Qie, glancing sideways toward a direction.

Streams of yellow sand converged there, coalescing into Crocodile's towering figure.

He looked down at his left arm, where a wound had been sliced open, blood dripping from it.

Crocodile glared darkly at Luo En: "How did you manage that?"

"Even a Logia fruit user, if their elementalization is too slow, will still be wounded by a slash coated in Busoshoku Haki."

Luo En glanced at the crisp, clear blade of Lei Qie in his hand, then smirked at him: "Surely you, as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, aren't unaware of that?"

Luo En turned, facing Crocodile's dark and terrifying expression: "Compared to the Lightning Fruit user I encountered before, your elementalization speed is truly sluggish."

"Shut up!"

Crocodile flew into a rage.

"Desert Sunflower!"

He touched the ground with his right hand; the ground beneath Luo En instantly turned entirely to sand.

But before it could form a sinking, downward-flowing dune that would devour all life, Luo En, having sensed the danger in advance, leapt into the air.

92, Battle with Crocodile (Part 2) (4/5 Requesting Subscription!)

"Sand Bind!"

The yellow sand below transformed into massive sand serpents, lunging upward to bite at Luo En in midair.

Luo En raised his blade and slashed through the air.

Several flying slashes wrapped in Busoshoku Haki instantly severed the sand serpents, reducing them to scattered, unformable yellow sand that fell to the ground.

"Crescent Dune!"

Crocodile swung his sand-converted right arm toward Luo En in midair; the arm expanded into a colossal crescent-shaped sand blade, slashing down at the airborne Luo En.

Anyone touched by his sand blade would instantly have their bodily moisture sucked away.

Luo En in midair had no intention of dodging.

As he descended from midair, Luo En took a light breath; flowing blue waterlight appeared along the sharp, clear blade of Lei Qie, and with a vertical downward slash, he struck the ground.

"Water Breathing: Eighth Form: Waterfall Pool."

The fierce slash, wrapped in Haki and water, shattered the massive sand blade; the scattered yellow sand absorbed the moisture and fell entirely to the ground.

Immediately after:

Luo En charged toward Crocodile, Lei Qie wrapped in blue water, his body spinning as he continuously built up his slashes.

Like a nimble, writhing blue water dragon!

Water Breathing: Tenth Form: Continuous Flow!

Crocodile clenched his Yaguan, extended his palm, and squeezed hard!

"Sand Burial!"

The earth trembled violently!

The cracked ground on both sides of the 'water dragon' turned entirely to sand; yellow sand rose like an ocean, closing in to bury the 'water dragon' at its center!

But as the yellow sand neared, it absorbed the water vapor surrounding the 'water dragon' and suddenly grew heavy, plummeting to the ground.

"Damn it!"

Crocodile had never imagined his ability could one day be countered by sword techniques.

Gazing at the mighty, charging blue water dragon, his eyes grew dark and grim.

If you want to fight, then let's see what you've got!

Desert Blade!

Crocodile's intact left arm instantly transformed into a sand blade, slashing down from above toward the front with a violent chop!

The ground before him was split apart in an instant, and the massive, razor-sharp sand blade met head-on the blue water dragon condensed from that sword strike!

Clang!

Yellow sand and flowing water collided with each other in stark, unmistakable contrast!

Wild shockwaves surged out in every direction; nearby houses were either cleaved apart or corroded into sand.

On the parched, cracked ground.

The half occupied by Crocodile had been utterly sandified, while the half held by the black-haired youth was rapidly regaining its vitality.

When Nico Luo Bin slowly awoke, this was the very scene that met her eyes.

Her own boss—one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Crocodile—had his hand turned into a sand blade, a cigar clenched between his teeth, his face dark and grave, clashing head-on with that mysterious black-haired youth who had knocked her out, a long blade now in his grasp.

The two men's fierce, violent auras—visible to the naked eye—surged upward at breakneck speed, ring after ring of violent shockwaves spreading outward without cease, gale-force winds running rampant, yellow sand howling.

Even the worldly-wise Nico Luo Bin was, at this moment, a little dumbfounded.

What on earth… had happened?!

"A堂堂 Seven Warlord of the Sea, the Sand Crocodile himself—and this is all the strength you have?"

Luo En looked up at Crocodile, who towered far above him, and laughed, his expression easy and casual.

"Compared with the other Seven Warlords I've crossed blades with, you seem to be only a little stronger than Gecko Moria."

"Don't talk big, brat!"

Crocodile's eyes narrowed slightly.

In an instant, streams of quicksand on the ground wound their way toward Luo En.

At the same time, the golden hook fitted on Crocodile's other arm glinted with a cold light, tearing through the air as it descended upon him without mercy.

The tip of the hook carried a tinge of purple—clearly coated with deadly poison.

"Yare yare."

Luo En, treading on the ground that had once again grown hard beneath his feet, dodged that strike in an instant—and vanished from before Crocodile.

The next second.

Accompanied by a fierce gust of wind, a whip-kick of tremendous power and extreme speed slammed heavily into Crocodile from his left side.

Crocodile's towering frame instantly rocketed away like a cannonball, and under Nico Luo Bin's wide, horrified gaze, shot rapidly off into the distance.

From the empty lot at the eastern edge of Rain Dinners, he smashed through several houses in succession, then crashed into the desert outside the city, skidding several dozen meters more before finally coming to a stop.

"How could this be…"

Nico Luo Bin stared in the direction Crocodile had been kicked flying, finding it somewhat hard to believe.

That was one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea—the King of the Desert—a Logia user, Crocodile!