Garen leaped through the air with extraordinary agility and speed, using nothing but his feet to evoke the sweeping grandeur of an eagle soaring through the skies.
No matter how much the flying sand accelerated, it could not catch him.
Crocodile watched Garen's retreating back and gritted his teeth as he cursed in a low voice:
"I'd like to see how much longer you can keep flapping around up there!"
Even if he had never eaten pork, he had seen pigs run. Crocodile had even been to the New World, so he naturally recognized the technique Garen was using to stay alive as Geppo, one of the Rokushiki.
But Geppo consumed an enormous amount of stamina. Even the Navy's most renowned officers could not use it continuously for long periods.
It was fine for temporarily evading attacks or launching surprise assaults, but using it to escape the prolonged pursuit of a Logia user was nothing more than a fool's dream.
After all, for Crocodile, who possessed the Sand-Sand Fruit, flight was practically a basic ability that required no effort at all.
However.
Crocodile had been eating Garen's dust for nearly a minute, covering almost half the distance across the Royal Capital, yet Garen showed no sign of stopping.
Not only was Garen not exhausted from using Geppo for so long, but through constant practice, he had deepened his understanding of it. He became more elusive and swifter with every leap through the sky.
Just as Crocodile faintly sensed that something was wrong, Garen suddenly stopped.
Crocodile instinctively descended back to the ground as well.
After their aerial chase, they had somehow already flown out of the Royal Capital and landed atop a golden sand dune in the boundless desert.
The endless sands of the desert were all at Crocodile's disposal,