However.
Faced with Bege's resounding pre-battle declaration,
Crocodile did not respond immediately. He merely took his right hand out of his pocket.
No one knew how he did it.
With a light rub of his thumb and forefinger,
a sandy-yellow cigar appeared out of thin air amid flickering electricity, its wrapper bearing Shukaku's logo and covered in dark blue stripes.
Its tip suddenly flared to life.
He took a deep draw on the cigar, then exhaled a thick cloud of smoke.
The rich, heavy scent of tobacco began drifting around Crocodile.
Then he let out his signature laugh, with its distinctive rhythm and mocking undertone.
"Ha—ha—ha—ha——"
His laughter echoed through the empty wasteland city.
Only after laughing did he look at Capone Bege again, his tone calm yet unmistakably condescending.
"So-called dreams..."
"...are a reality only those with strength have the right to speak of."
Crocodile tilted his head slightly, a cold sneer curling across his lips.
"You're still far from it."
"Bege."
The instant those words fell, an invisible yet oppressive aura spread outward from him.
It was not Conqueror's Haki, but it was no less impossible to ignore.
"We'll only know after we try!"
Capone Bege snorted and immediately activated the power of the Castle-Castle Fruit, trying to seize the initiative.
"Big Father!"
With a vigorous roar,
his body rapidly swelled and transformed amid the grinding, crunching sounds of stone rubbing together.
In the blink of an eye, he became a mountain-like castle fortress covered in gun ports and firing slits.
It was a living war bastion on treads, capable of both attack and defense.
And that was not all.
Two crimson lights flared simultaneously at the castle's core.
The Teigu, Godfather's Majesty: Flame Tank, and the Teigu, Gang Influence: Capone Gang.
As the abilities of these two