Fight Them Until They Submit

Looking at Crocodile sprawled on the ground after being beaten down by him, Gato felt an inexplicable sense of satisfaction.

After all, Crocodile was someone he acknowledged, vastly different from those small fry. Beating someone like that naturally felt different.

"Hehe, so? I'm strong, right?"

Crocodile was still dizzy and disoriented. Hearing what sounded like Gato showing off his martial prowess, he was instantly angered awake.

"You bastard, die!"

Crocodile turned both hands into yellow sand and grabbed at Gato. It had originally been nothing more than an attack to vent his anger, and he had not expected to hit Gato. Yet Gato neither dodged nor evaded, letting one of his feet get caught.

At first, Crocodile was merely stunned, but he quickly came to his senses.

"Hahaha! Idiot."

Crocodile possessed the terrifying ability to rapidly drain every drop of water from an enemy's body, though he needed to make contact first. He had thought he would never get such a chance. It seemed things were not that bad after all.

"Erosion Reincarnation!"

He immediately unleashed his most damaging and widest-range technique. With the terror of this move, even rock could be eroded into sand, let alone a person.

Gato had gone to great lengths to subdue Crocodile. He had deliberately let Crocodile catch him, intending to take one of his ultimate attacks head-on and thoroughly crush his arrogance.

Several dozen seconds passed, yet Gato still stood ramrod straight where he was, without the slightest abnormality. His muscles looked just as full as before.

Gato stared at Crocodile with a faint smile that was not quite a smile, making Crocodile's skin crawl.

"Got any other moves? This one of yours doesn't seem very effective."

Crocodile's expression had changed from the wild delight of catching Gato to one as ugly as if he had eaten shit.

"How could this happen?! Impossible!"

"What's impossible about it?"

Gato swung his other, uncaught leg like a whip, lashing it across Crocodile's head.

The poor Sand Crocodile was sent flying once more.

That kick seemed to knock some sense back into Crocodile, and he began forcing himself to calm down.

"Who are you? What do you want?"

Gato had had several chances to kill him just now, so there had to be a reason he did not want to kill him. Besides, Crocodile did not remember ever making an enemy of someone this strong. He could not possibly have come all this way simply to torture him.

Perhaps this terrifyingly powerful man wanted something from him.

"Smart! You finally asked the right question. Crocodile, I admire you. Come aboard my ship. I can make you my first mate. My name is Gato. Remember the name of your future captain."

Crocodile had considered countless possibilities, but the one thing he had never expected was that Gato wanted to recruit him. The pride of a great schemer made him instinctively want to refuse.

"Are you joking? Demon, I'm Crocodile, the Sand Crocodile! What makes you think you—"

Before he could finish, Gato already knew what he wanted to say. He stepped forward and delivered another vicious kick, knocking the rest of the words back down his throat.

"Get your situation straight, Sand Crocodile. Have you been living in comfort for so long that you've forgotten the law of the strong ruling over the weak? Even if you don't want to join my crew, you have no right to call me Demon! If you're not convinced, I'll beat you until you are."

If looks could kill, Gato would have been glared to death by Crocodile a hundred times over. He was the renowned Sand Crocodile—did he not have any pride?

"I'm deeply disappointed, Sand Crocodile. If you can't even grasp such an obvious situation, then you really aren't like yourself. What good does it do you to glare at me like that? You've lost the spirit you had when you first set sail. Now you're just a pitiful wretch who plays with schemes and conspiracies. Since when did you stop trusting your own strength? Was it because of Whitebeard?"

Gato mocked him mercilessly.

"Shut up, you bastard!"

Veins bulged on Crocodile's forehead. If he could beat Gato, he would have carved this bastard into a thousand pieces by now.

His defeat at Whitebeard's hands was the greatest hatred of his life. It was not as though it could never be mentioned, but if anyone said he had been scared witless by Whitebeard, he definitely would not let that person die easily.

"Heh, isn't that the case? If you truly believed in your own strength, then why would you go to such lengths to find that so-called Pluton?"

"You! How do you know?" Crocodile's face filled with horror. This was his deepest secret, known only to Nico Robin. But Nico Robin's every move was currently under his control; there was no way she could have leaked it.

"Don't worry about how I know. There's no point asking. I'm not interested in Pluton either, because I know that relying on something like that alone will never make you One Piece."

"One Piece? You want to become One Piece?" Crocodile sneered this time. "Hahaha! Don't make me laugh. Do you even know what kind of monsters stand in the way of that position?"

Gato replied indifferently, "I know. The Four Emperors and the Marines, right? Looks like Whitebeard really scared you out of your wits. If setting sail isn't for the sake of becoming One Piece, then what's the point?"

"Hahaha! Demon, you really dare to say it. You have no idea how terrifying Whitebeard is! Someone at your level—believe it or not, he could blast you into scraps with a single hit."

"So what? If you're afraid, it only proves that this is all you amount to. I ran into one of those monsters you're talking about not long ago."

Gato no longer cared about Crocodile calling him Demon, because Crocodile's words reminded him of the helplessness he had felt when facing Garp. Indeed, every person at that level was monstrously strong.

"When I was still in East Blue, I withstood Garp's attacks and made it all the way to Reverse Mountain. I even survived after my ship was destroyed. You know Garp, right? Garp the Marine Hero. Does he count as one of the monsters you were talking about?"

"..." Of course Crocodile knew who Garp was, but Gato's experience sounded far too fantastical for him to believe. Hunted down by the Marine Hero before even entering the Grand Line? What kind of treatment was that?

Gato pulled out a wanted poster—the one with his own bounty on it.

"Take a look. Two hundred million. That was my bounty back when I was still in East Blue. By now, news that I escaped from Garp should have reached Marine Headquarters, so it'll definitely rise by a huge amount. I have no reason to lie to you. You should be able to see it in a few days. It's true—monsters like Garp and Whitebeard are terrifying. If I get even a little too close, they can blast me into scraps with a single punch. But so what? I still have the courage to face them. Crocodile, is this all you amount to? After being defeated by those strongest at the top, was your will crushed too? Instead of staying here searching for that illusory Pluton, why not come with me and turn the world upside down!"