God of Sand's Gift!
"Father smashes my head - I'm terrified of him--" (Desert Spada)
Crocodile, who had quickly flown high into the sky, did not hesitate or waste any words. The Setsuna his upper body returned to human form, his right arm turned into a ball of violently vibrating sand and hurled a Sand Blade at the 'Black Mist' below who had not noticed him at all.
[Whoosh!!]
The Sand Blade, which grew larger with the wind, became enormous in the blink of an eye, and in the blink of an eye, it had already swept past the 'Black Mist', cleaving the massive body formed by the densely packed Kabane two, and also cutting through the two bare gray hills on either side.
[Boom----]
Only after all this happened did a deafening airburst sound rang out, followed by a surging wave of air rushing towards us—a side effect of a large amount of air being rapidly cleaved apart by the Sand Blade.
"."
The hundreds of soldiers on the city wall, armed with Steam Gun and Samurai with long swords, were completely stunned by what they saw, as if everyone had been put on pause.
No more screaming, no more trembling, no more fleeing. Even the cannons they called Defense Cannon stopped, just staring blankly as the terrifying 'Black Mist' collapsed to the ground in two parts, the huge gap at the cut revealing the view on the other side.
"God"
"Have the gods finally descended to save us?"
A soldier didn't even notice when his Steam Gun fell to the ground. Looking up at the tall figure surrounded by sandstorms under the blue sky, he slowly knelt down, tears welling in his eyes, and raised his hands to shout.
"My Lord God!!!"
"My Lord God!!!"
Having endured years of high-pressure threats and life-threatening conditions from the Kabane, the soldiers, whose long-suppressed negative emotions had found an outlet, knelt down one after another, shouting incessantly, their faces streaked with tears of excitement.
"Hey, what are those guys yelling about?"
Crocodile glanced questioningly at the noisy area behind him, but didn't dwell on it. He pursed his dry lips and sighed, "I should have brought some cigars, hmm?"
At this moment, he noticed that the 'Black Mist' that had been cut in half was rapidly closing up, and even the tattered limbs and fragments at the edges of the cuts were being glued to the new body by the surrounding Kabane.
"Roar!!!"
After the 'Black Mist' returned to its original form, it roared Wrath at Crocodile in the air. Feeling excruciating pain after being severely injured, it finally noticed the small cloud of yellow sand.
"What an interesting thing! It's clearly just a bunch of chunks of meat piled together, but the surface strength is comparable to that of a rock formation, and it even has clearly visible eyes and a mouth."
"But it's still too weak; Giants' bodies aren't that fragile."
Crocodile's fur coat billowed in the strong wind, but his flat eyes were filled with curiosity.
"Judging from its reaction, it even seems to feel pain and emotions, so it's probably related to that thing called the core."
At the same time, the 'Black Mist' stood up and swung its huge arm, covered in corpses and Kabane, fiercely slamming it towards the former.
[Boom!]
Its power is indeed impressive; a simple clapping motion produced a powerful air burst, no wonder it could easily smash down the high and thick city walls.
However, no matter how great the power, without Haki or other Natural Energy, it is completely meaningless to a Logia ability user who possesses elemental abilities.
Crocodile didn't even bother to dodge its attacks, letting it blast his body apart before it reappeared in human form amidst the sandstorm in another part of the sky.
Upon witnessing this scene, the people on the city wall became even more convinced that he was a true deity.
God of Sand!
"It seems that to deal with this thing, we either need to wipe out all the Living Dead on its body, or target its core."
With that in mind, he immediately used his Observation Haki to give the 'Black Mist' a 'true Kabane inspection,' sensing it from head to toe.
As expected, Crocodile sensed a source of intense energy deep within the latter's head. However, this also led Crocodile to discover something interesting.
"Such a strong mental fluctuation, filled with negative emotions such as fear, rage, and greed."
The moment his Observation Haki mental fluctuations came into contact with the mental fluctuations of the 'Black Mist' core, an image of a strange man even appeared in the former's mind, seemingly a memory of family.
"So this is its true nature, a special power originating from the heart, just like Haki?"
The next moment.
Just as the 'Black Mist' relentlessly lashed towards him, Crocodile opened his right palm, where a rapidly spinning Sand Tornado gathered.
"Then let me see what your core is like."
"Sa- Yagara Bull-- " (Sables)
As soon as he released the Sand Tornado, it instantly expanded into a massive Sables, first tearing the Daikoku hand that was coming at him into pieces, and then crashing into its 'chest'.
The 'Black Mist' and the 'Sables' collide head-on!
But the outcome was decided in a second; the former's 'body' was brutally torn apart by the raging wind and the razor-sharp sand.
Even the terrifying words "fragmented" fall short of describing the horrific state of the "Black Mist."
Under the live 'dissection', the surface of the head was scraped open, revealing a Kabane Living Dead with a heart and eyes emitting a ghostly blue light.
When the sandstorm that Crocodile had transformed into appeared before it, it revealed a ferocious and terrifying expression and roared Wrath.
A classic death throes, a cornered beast fighting for its life.
Because its 'body tissues' were unable to gather together under the continuous onslaught and cutting of the Sables, it was like a woman stripped naked, helplessly allowing Crocodile to scrutinize and do as he pleased.
"Ha ha ha ha--"
"Blue light, huh? You really go to great lengths to show off your uniqueness. But that extraordinary heart of yours must be quite valuable, right?"
Now that he had decided to join the World Government's Army, Crocodile felt that, as a matter of courtesy, he should bring a gift with him.
I can't just come back empty-handed after being out for so many days, or that bastard Bullet will probably laugh at me.
Thinking about this...
He reached out his right hand, grabbed the Blue-Light Kabane the neck, and forcibly ripped it off. During this process, the latter frantically tried to grab him, scratch him, and bite him.
Unfortunately, all its efforts were in vain; all it encountered was sand and gravel, and the former's powerful grip made it impossible for it to break free.
[Splashing sound]
When the 'core' was removed, the 'Black Mist' also disappeared, and countless Kabane and remains fell to the ground, a scene that made Crocodile frown.
His Devil Fruit ability hasn't Awakening yet, so he can't turn the ground into a desert; otherwise, he could sink all these things into quicksand.
However, it cannot be ignored.
The mining city behind him was, in Crocodile's eyes, a gift to him as a token of his appreciation; he couldn't let these things destroy it.
With these thoughts in mind, he poured more power into the still-lasting Sables, making the wind stronger and wider, lifting all the Kabane into the air, and then pushing them sideways in the opposite direction from Yatsushiro Station.
Where this Sand Tornado wrapped in a large amount of Kabane would 'go' was none of his concern.
A huge thank you to the reader "Du Yi Wangchao" for the 100 Qidian Coin reward! Thank you so much for your support and encouragement!