Chapter 72: Killing Crocodile
Clang!
After blocking Lister's katana with Armament Haki, Crocodile revealed a sinister smile!
With a wave of his hand, countless grains of sand instantly gathered, eventually forming a sand blade.
"Crescent Cutlass!"
Crocodile waved his hand, and the sand blade swiftly slashed towards Lister.
This attack was not a physical attack, but a magical one. Anyone hit by it would have their moisture instantly drained, eventually turning into a dried corpse.
However, Crocodile's use of such a move against Lister would have no effect.
Lister's attack missed.
He very decisively chose to retreat.
Crocodile's attack hit empty air.
"Damn it!"
Crocodile couldn't help but curse in anger.
If Lister had a headache dealing with Crocodile's elemental form before, then now, Crocodile was extremely annoyed by Lister's speed.
Fighting this kind of person, the initiative was never in his hands. He could always attack, but he could never hit.
If it was just speed, it would be fine.
Crocodile was confident he could outwit him.
But Lister was not only fast, his perception was also extremely sharp, and he had awakened Observation Haki.
The combination of speed and perception was what truly drove Crocodile crazy.
However, Crocodile did not give up on attacking Lister.
The moment Lister retreated, he unleashed several more Desert Grande Spadas!
Unfortunately, these attacks failed to hit Lister.
They were too slow. Even without Overclock, Lister would not be hit by such an attack.
After retreating, Lister once again circled around Crocodile, constantly looking for an opening to attack.
"There!"
With a bang, Lister stomped on the air and exploded.
His whole body shot towards Crocodile like a sharp arrow.
Crocodile sneered, "I can't hit you, but don't think you can take advantage of me either!"
"Armament: Hardening!"
However, at this moment, Lister suddenly feigned a move.
"Swallow Return!"
Crocodile's Observation Haki had clearly not been cultivated to the point where he could foresee the future, nor could he read Lister's thoughts.
In the end, he was successfully deceived by Lister.
The jitte and katana fell at the same time. The jitte smashed into Crocodile's body, preventing him from turning into his element.
The katana instantly cut off the arm that was wearing the golden hook!
With a puff, blood gushed out wildly from Crocodile's severed arm.
Crocodile's arm fell towards the sand below.
In an instant, Crocodile's face became contorted and terrifying from the pain.
"Damn it!"
Crocodile furiously swung his only arm, punching at Lister.
But it was easily dodged by Lister.
Not only that, Lister noticed that Crocodile had lost his composure due to anger, and his movements were now full of openings.
Without hesitation, Lister continued to attack Crocodile from another direction.
The moment he got close to Crocodile, he used exquisite evasive maneuvers to dodge Crocodile's counterattack, and swung down his jitte and katana, hitting Crocodile at the same time, sending him flying dozens of meters out of the sandstorm tornado.
"Two Sword Style: Three Thousand Pound Phoenix!"
After Crocodile fell out of the sandstorm tornado, Lister didn't immediately go after him. Holding a sword in one hand and the jitte in the other, he faced the sandstorm tornado and swung with all his might!
Boom—!
A storm erupted, shattering the sandstorm tornado that Crocodile had created with absolute force.
Only then did Lister turn his gaze to Crocodile!
At this moment, he was climbing out of the desert, completely disregarding his injuries, and desperately flying towards the Money號.
"What's he doing?" Lister raised an eyebrow.
Seeing that Crocodile wasn't using a big move but instead was heading towards the Money號, he wasn't in a hurry for a moment.
It wasn't that he was looking down on Crocodile.
It was just that Crocodile's speed was nothing in Lister's eyes.
Even if he let Crocodile run for a few seconds, he was confident he could intercept him before he reached the Money號.
"Is his target Robin? Nami and the others?"
"He realized I'm stronger than him and has lost the will to fight, so he's trying to snatch Robin to find the whereabouts of Pluton."
"Or capture Nami and use her to threaten me?"
"Given Crocodile's obsession with Pluton, at this time, his target is more likely to be Robin!"
With that, Lister shot towards Crocodile.
With a whoosh, he cut through the void!
One second!
In just less than a second, Lister intercepted Crocodile two hundred meters away from the river.
"This road is blocked!" Lister looked at Crocodile coldly and said.
Crocodile's face instantly darkened.
Damn it, snatching someone in front of a speed-type ability user was not that simple.
In that case, let's fight!
With that, Crocodile once again swung a Desert Grande Spada.
"Getsuga Tensho!"
Lister also swung his sword!
A ten-meter-long flying slash shot out, destroying Crocodile's Desert Grande Spada with crushing force, and continued towards Crocodile with undiminished momentum.
Crocodile swung another Desert Grande Spada, this time infusing it with Armament Haki.
With a bang, it directly shattered Lister's Getsuga Tensho and flew towards Lister.
"Getsuga Jūjishō!"
Lister first swung his katana, then his jitte.
A cross-shaped slash wave appeared, blasting towards Crocodile's armed Desert Grande Spada.
The two clashed fiercely in the void, going back and forth for several breaths.
In the end, neither could do anything to the other, and they both dissipated.
Although Armament Haki could strengthen the hardness of objects and increase attack power, Crocodile's Armament Haki at this time was not at the top level.
It was only slightly stronger than the female warriors of Amazon Lily.
Moreover, that Desert Grande Spada had just shattered Lister's Getsuga Tensho, and its power had been weakened.
It was normal for it to be canceled out by Lister's Getsuga Jūjishō now.
After all, Lister's slash wave also had the power to cut steel.
After the two slashes were canceled out, with a whoosh, Lister disappeared from his original spot again, holding a sword in one hand and a jitte in the other, he rushed towards Crocodile at high speed!
"Desert la Spada!" Crocodile couldn't care less at this point and directly used his trump card.
Using his body as a sword, embellished with Armament Haki, and locked on with Observation Haki, in an instant, he burst out with unprecedented speed and stabbed straight at Lister.
Lister's pupils shrank violently, and countless thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant.
"So fast, so strong!"
"With my current speed, I'm not absolutely sure I can dodge it completely!"
"But do I have to dodge?"
Lister recalled the battle between Hawkeye and Zoro.
Sometimes, dodging is possible.
But sometimes, dodging is cowardice, fear.
"I won't dodge!"
Lister grinned, firming his resolve!
"When two paths meet, the brave one wins!"
"Come on, Crocodile, let's settle this with this one move!"
At this moment, Lister abandoned all other thoughts, his eyes only on his opponent, Crocodile.
Accelerate, accelerate, and accelerate again!
In an instant, two streams of light crashed into each other!
Bang!
A violent wave of air pressure rapidly spread out with the two at the center.
At this moment, everyone looked over.
Nami: ""
Robin: ""
Zoro: ""
Mr. 3: ""
Everyone was both nervous and expectant, witnessing the two of them decide the winner!
Lister and Crocodile were face to face, at close range.
Cough cough!
Lister coughed up a mouthful of blood.
He looked down at the Desert la Spada that had pierced his abdomen.
Then he looked up at Crocodile in front of him and smiled, "That was a powerful move. My body was pierced through!"
Crocodile stared blankly at Lister for a long time before he came back to his senses.
"This battle, you won!"
"Also, let me tell you another piece of news. Four hours ago, the Revolutionary Army crossed the Great River. They should have reached the capital by now and are at war with the royal army!"
"You'd better figure out how to clean up this mess."
Crocodile finished his words with great difficulty and then fell backward.
Only then did everyone see clearly that Crocodile's heart had been pierced by the Seastone, and his throat had been pierced by the katana.
The moment he fell, he died.
Lister was also pierced through the abdomen by Crocodile's Desert la Spada. The moment Crocodile fell, the Desert la Spada could no longer be maintained and turned into quicksand, constantly flowing out of Lister's abdomen.
"A Warlord of the Sea is defeated!"
"Crocodile is defeated?"
"What should we do now?"
All the members of Baroque Works were at a loss when they saw Crocodile fall.
In contrast, the members of the Money Pirates cheered one by one.
"The captain won!"
"Long live the captain!"
"Long live Captain Lister!"
"Akame, the captain won!" Sheele said happily.
"Yes, Crocodile is dead. The overall situation is settled. We've won," Akame smiled.
"Looks like we can't escape a banquet tonight," Nojiko laughed.
"Hmph, I don't seem to be surprised by this result at all!" Zoro's lips curled up slightly.
"Nami-san, the captain won!" The girls on the Money號 also cheered.
"Yes, Lister won. Go and have Michelin prepare the meat!" Nami said with a long sigh of relief.
"Yes!"
"He won, but Lister is injured like this. Is it okay?" Vivi and Robin, who had just joined the Money Pirates, said with worried faces.
"That's why I told the kitchen to prepare the meat quickly!"
"What do you mean?" Vivi asked, puzzled.
"Can Lister recover from his injuries by eating?" Robin guessed a possibility.
"That's right! For Lister, there's nothing that a meal of meat can't solve," Nami smiled.
Lister turned a deaf ear to the cheers from all over the sky. He glanced at Crocodile, a hint of pity flashing in his eyes.
"It's a pity. It's probably too late to perform a fruit burial now."
"I wonder who will benefit from this Sand-Sand Fruit in the end!"
Lister shook his head, deactivated his Overclock Mode, and then used the Six Powers to purify the sand in his body while using Super-Speed Regeneration to heal his wounds.
After doing all this, Lister felt a wave of weakness.
However, he did not immediately return to the Money號 to replenish his energy.
He turned his gaze to the two sides who had stopped fighting.
"All members of Baroque Works, surrender! This war should be over!"
Lister's voice instantly spread throughout the entire battlefield.
Everyone heard his words clearly.
When the people from Baroque Works heard Lister's words, instead of resisting, they let out a long sigh of relief, dropped their weapons one by one, and surrendered to the Money Pirates.
Especially Mr. 3, who was incredibly quick and decisive.
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