Rocks and dirt flew everywhere. The pitch-black Tempest Kick tore through everything in its path, carving a smooth trench before crashing into the flying sand and forcing Crocodile to reform his body and tumble to the ground.
A wound had appeared on his left arm, blood trickling from it.
"Damn Armament Haki."
Crocodile's face paled. Gritting his teeth, he shot forward again.
The man who had killed Dragon Horn Jax was far beyond what he could handle right now.
But he had barely made it ten meters before a pitch-black leg swept toward him. Chaos had appeared ahead of him at some point, hands still in his pockets, his face full of disdain.
"Desert Diamond Treasure Blade!"
Crocodile roared, both hands turning into enormous blades of sand as he slashed at Chaos's sweeping kick.
There was no earth-shattering collision like he'd expected. Instead, the attack was utterly one-sided.
The Diamond Treasure Blade held out for only a moment before being brutally kicked apart. At the last possible instant, Crocodile Elementalized, barely managing to dodge.
Before he could steady himself, though, Chaos appeared out of thin air on his left and kicked again.
Crocodile's face twisted at once. His body curled up like a shrimp, his ribs cracking one after another as blood gushed from his mouth.
The ground was torn apart in an instant. Crocodile flew backward and landed in the ruins, utterly unable to fight back.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Chaos's afterimages kept bursting into view, flickering unpredictably from side to side as he closed in at terrifying speed.
"Desert Greatsword!"
Unwilling to give up, Crocodile slapped his bloodied hands against the ground. Blades of sand formed and surged toward Chaos, but Observation Haki made the attacks impossible to hide.
Every one of the blades cut through nothing but Chaos's afterimages.
The sound of someone moving at high speed tore through the air. Crocodile glared, blood vessels bulging in his eyes.
He was the strongest Logia user, yet this was the second time someone had driven him to such a desperate state.
But no matter how furious he was, it changed nothing.
Chaos flashed into view right in front of him and swept his leg across in an ordinary-looking attack. Crocodile only had time to raise both arms in front of his face before his whole body exploded into sand and fled.
Rumble!
Explosions boomed and spread outward. Crocodile's body emerged from Elementalization, his face contorted in pain as he crashed to the ground. The earth caved in across a fifty-meter radius, forming a huge crater in an instant.
Chaos stood at the crater's edge and lightly pressed down with his index finger.
The sky boomed. Ten golden blades, spears, swords, and halberds plunged from a thousand meters above, all aimed at Crocodile. They exploded in midair, becoming a vast cloud of golden powder that blanketed the entire crater.
Crocodile could only watch helplessly. His body wouldn't recover anytime soon; all he could feel was pain and numbness.
As the golden powder dyed Crocodile gold, Chaos took out a cigar and pinched his index finger and thumb together. His index finger glowed like a red-hot iron, and the cigar touched it and lit with a puff.
A new application of Finger Pistol.
Very flashy!
And very trendy.
It was a dazzling way to light a cigar, one that not just anyone could think of—or pull off.
Chaos lit the cigar, blew on his index finger, and watched as it cooled back to normal.
Then he casually beckoned. Crocodile, half-buried in the dirt, began floating uncontrollably toward him.
The remaining golden powder fused together again, turning into several blades, spears, swords, and halberds that hovered upside down around Chaos.
"What did you do to me?!"
Crocodile was panicking now.
Chaos didn't answer. With the cigar in his mouth, he casually swept both hands to the sides. Crocodile's limbs spread wide in midair, leaving him like a piece of meat on a chopping board, helpless to resist.
Chaos reached out, and a Golden Longsword dropped into his hand. He coated it with Armament Haki and thrust it toward Crocodile's heart without hesitation.
The threat of death surged over him. Crocodile felt as if his very soul had plunged into an icy cellar.
He was going to die!
He really was going to die!
"Boom!"
Crocodile's will to survive was fierce. He exploded into fine sand that scattered across the ground, but escaped only five meters before he could no longer maintain Elementalization. He was forced to reform his body, then dropped to one knee and coughed up blood.
He was badly hurt.
"Divine Control really doesn't work."
Chaos frowned as he looked at the golden powder scattered across the ground. It had clearly been expelled from Crocodile's body.
Ever since developing Divine Control, Chaos had been able to control the life and death of any living being whose body the golden powder invaded.
In truth, Chaos had already considered the possibility that this technique wouldn't work on Logia users. After all, Logia users could Elementalize and expel the golden powder from their bodies.
Chaos's Divine Control worked by using the golden powder that had entered a person's body to control them. If the powder could be expelled, then the ability would naturally become useless.
It probably wouldn't work on people with powerful Armament Haki, either, or on experts who could use Life Return.
He'd only tested it just now to avoid making a mistake in the future.
"Clink, clink!"
The blades, spears, swords, and halberds collided, forming Chains of Heaven. Chaos held one end while the other shot toward Crocodile like a venomous snake, quickly turning black and gold. Even when Crocodile Elementalized again, the chains forced him to reform and bound him tight.
Standing before Chaos once more, Crocodile's heartbeat slowed for a few beats.
Wasn't this guy trying to recruit him?
Why had he just tried to kill him?
He could feel it for certain: if he hadn't Elementalized just then, he would have died.
"Two paths. Choose one yourself!"
"Ten seconds!"
Chaos blew a smoke ring from his nostrils, then turned sideways and gazed into the distance, thinking about what to do next.
Crocodile's slicked-back hair was a mess atop his head. His mouth was bloody, his face deathly pale. He glared at Chaos's profile, burning with rage. The man wasn't paying him the slightest attention. It was no different from ignoring him completely.
Two paths.
Live or die.
What should he choose?
Crocodile gritted his teeth. His heart was full of rage and resentment, but reality remained as cruel as ever.
He couldn't change the outcome.
"Come on, tell me what you've decided!"
Nearly five minutes later, Chaos came back to himself and looked at Crocodile.
He'd gotten so caught up in his thoughts that he'd given Crocodile a few extra minutes.
Little did he know, those extra minutes had only made Crocodile suffer more.
"Aren't you afraid I'm only submitting for now?"
Crocodile still wanted to struggle a little, hoping to turn the tables in the long run.
"I like scumbags with ambition, viciousness, and a rebellious streak. Forcing people like that to submit is satisfying. So let me give you a piece of advice: never try to kill me unless you're absolutely certain you can do it. Otherwise, the consequences will be brutal!"
Chaos grinned, his white teeth glinting coldly. Though he was smiling, Crocodile couldn't help feeling a chill.
This guy was either crazy or an arrogant fool.
Maybe both.
"You'll regret this!"
Crocodile snorted.
He could almost see the light of hope. Arrogant, conceited people usually didn't live long.
"You don't understand."
"My whole life is about thrills and heart-pounding excitement!"
"Old Sand, your horizons are too narrow."
Chaos looked at Crocodile with pity. He had a feeling of being lonely at the summit of a snow-covered mountain.
He wondered when he would finally meet someone who understood him...
Before you continue