Chapter 99: Oh, So You Can Use Haki?
"Well, then."
Hearing this, the crew knew that Shane was going to hog all the fun for himself again.
If the captain was going to fight, what was there left for them to do?
Kuina sighed, sheathed the Wado Ichimonji with a look of disappointment, and was the first to head back to the ship.
The others followed with sighs of their own. Not a single one of them objected, nor did anyone tell Shane to be careful.
This made Crocodile's brow furrow.
What is wrong with these people?
Why are they reacting like this?!
Shouldn't they be panicking, encouraging each other, and banding together to fight me to the death?
And the most infuriating of all was that little orange-haired girl. After hearing Shane say he was going to fight him alone, she had actually turned and given him a look of pity.
What the hell is going on?!!
A nameless rage began to bubble up inside Crocodile.
He had thought he was taking this crew seriously, especially Shane.
A rookie from the East Blue with a bounty of over a hundred million, who had even managed to take down a Marine Vice Admiral like Onigumo.
He was definitely a troublesome kid.
He had to be prepared, and he couldn't underestimate him.
Otherwise, why would he have chosen this island as the battlefield?
—Whiskey Peak was more than half desert!
And he, as a Sand-Sand Fruit user, was the undisputed king of the desert!
"No one has ever defeated me in the desert," Crocodile's face darkened, and he slowly raised his right index finger. "And naturally, no one has ever escaped from my grasp in the desert!"
A bunch of nobodies, daring to look down on me? Then you will pay the price!!!
"Desert… Spada!"
The ground of the entire port suddenly began to turn to sand. In a few breaths, a massive whirlpool of quicksand formed at their feet.
The crew hadn't even reached the shore yet, and they were about to be swallowed by the vortex.
Moonwalk!
Swish, swish, swish! Kuina, Zeff, Nojiko, Smoker… they all leaped into the air. Even Nami transformed into a firebird, flapping her wings and easily dodging the desert whirlpool.
"Whoa, Nami!" Nojiko said, turning her head in surprise. "You can fly?! When did you learn to do that?"
"I've known how for a while, but it uses up a lot of stamina, so I can't fly very far. It's not as practical as Moonwalk."
"That idiot Warlord is so annoying. The captain said he was going to fight him one-on-one, and he still attacked us."
"Yeah, what a windbag. If the captain hadn't stopped me, I would have kicked him a long time ago…"
The crew chatted casually as they flew back to the deck.
They paid no mind to the terrifying whirlpool below, nor did they spare a glance for the ashen-faced Crocodile.
"Feeling a little like a clown, are we?"
Shane's voice drew Crocodile's attention. The black-haired young man grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.
"Don't worry, don't be in such a hurry. You've only just arrived in Gotham."
SWISH!
Before he could finish his sentence, the black-haired young man had vanished.
Where did he go?
Crocodile's expression changed. He didn't dare to be careless. He immediately activated his elemental form, dissolving into a cloud of sand, but—
"Too slow."
A cold voice suddenly came from behind him.
Crocodile felt a chill on the back of his neck. His entire body was seized by a large hand and slammed into the ground!
How did he do that?
His eyes widened in shock. He had already turned into sand; in theory, he shouldn't have been able to be touched…
THUMP!
The back of Crocodile's head made intimate contact with the ground. His vision went black, and his ears rang. His body, like a rag doll, was dragged through the sand, carving a trench dozens of meters long.
But in that moment, in his blurred, upside-down vision, he saw the inky black substance flowing over Shane's hand—
Armament Haki?
How?! A technique that so few in Paradise have mastered, and a rookie who has just crossed Reverse Mountain is already so proficient in it?
"You seem surprised," Shane's calm voice came. "Have you forgotten what it feels like to have your head knocked crooked by a fist, after staying in Paradise for so long and not daring to go to the New World?"
Crocodile struggled to his feet from the sand pit. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, staining his collar and his cigar.
He spat out the half-smoked cigar and looked up, his eyes filled with murderous intent.
"I am a little surprised," Crocodile said, lighting a new cigar with a sneer. "I didn't expect you to know a trick like that. But Haki… in the New World, even the small-fry can use it. Who can't?"
Vwoom!
A power he hadn't used seriously in many years was now activated. His entire left arm, including the scorpion-like golden hook, was coated in a dark, inky sheen.
"Whoa!"
Shane's tone was a mixture of teasing and genuine surprise. "Oh, so you can use Haki too?"
His surprise was genuine.
"Of course!"
Crocodile's face darkened. He was a man who had even clashed with Whitebeard! Of course he could use two types of Haki!
"So… if you think that just because you've mastered Armament Haki, you can do anything to me, then you're sorely mista—"
BAM!
Before he could finish, a fist filled his vision. His pupils constricted, and his head exploded a split second before the punch landed—
The fist passed through, but there was no feeling of impact. The Sand Crocodile's body quickly reformed a few meters away, the cigar still dangling from his lips.
"See?"
Looking at Shane, whose punch had missed, Crocodile let out a wild laugh, even though cold sweat was trickling down his temples.
"That was just because my elementalization was too slow at first. Now that I'm on my guard, what are you going to do to find my real body?"
"Is that so?"
A nonchalant chuckle came from within the sandstorm. "But my warm-up is just getting started. The next move… are you sure you can react in time?"
In the darkness, his body suddenly crouched slightly, his muscles tensing like a finely tuned machine.
Crocodile had a bad feeling. He immediately pushed his Observation Haki to its limit.
"Shave!"
The ground exploded, and the figure in front of him vanished. A red light flashed in Crocodile's eyes, and a savage grin spread across his face. "Got you!"
The arm with the golden hook suddenly twisted and extended in a bizarre way. With a flick, the tip of the hook, coated in a menacing black Haki, shot out like a venomous snake, striking at the empty space above and behind him.
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