"W-what?"
Teach watched helplessly as the swamp domain he had created was eroded and swallowed by the desert at an astonishing speed.
It was then covered and assimilated by even more yellow sand, crumbling under the assault and retreating step by step.
Fury and shock surged through him, and a low growl squeezed out from deep in his throat.
In a flash.
Teach suddenly realized that although he had developed the Swamp-Swamp Fruit to the awakening stage in just three short years.
Crocodile had spent decades immersed in the powers of the Sand-Sand Fruit!
That insurmountable gap of time, something that could never be shortcut, had become tangible pressure at this moment.
But he absolutely could not allow the desert to completely seize the battlefield.
Otherwise, he definitely would not last long in this fight.
"Zehahahaha—"
"No helping it!"
Teach suddenly burst into wild laughter.
Yet that laughter carried undisguised ruthlessness and confidence.
"If one power isn't enough to contend with him, then I'll add another!"
"My path won't end here!"
As soon as the words fell, he spread his palms and raised both arms.
At once.
Crocodile, standing opposite him, sensed an aura erupting from Teach that was utterly different from the swamp's dampness, decay, and stickiness.
It was a strange power that was darker, more polluted, more evil, and carried the scent of the ocean.
Teach's body began to undergo drastic changes, his frame continuously swelling and enlarging.
His skin took on a dark hue like the deep sea.
Pitch-black tentacles, thick and long, covered in suckers and thrashing wildly, grew from his back.
Similar tentacles appeared on his face as well, only far thinner.
When Teach revealed this inhuman, terrifying form on the battlefield.
The army and navy officers watching the battle immediately fell into shock.
"W-what