Crocodile's Breakdown

"Sables!"

Crocodile struck first. A sandstorm materialized out of thin air and rushed toward Lorne, growing larger and larger as it flew.

"Seriously?" Kid cried out.

"A sandstorm can just appear out of nowhere?" Beli asked in confusion.

Lori explained to the two of them, "He's an extremely rare Logia Devil Fruit Ability user. Crocodile appears to have eaten the Sand-Sand Fruit. Every Logia Devil Fruit Ability user is incredibly powerful. The Navy's three monsters are all Logia Devil Fruit Ability users."

"The Navy's three monsters?" Beli asked. Because of Carter, Beli had a fairly positive impression of the Navy. Hearing Lori mention the Navy's three monsters made him curious.

"That's right. Three Navy vice admirals are called monsters because of their immense strength. Every one of them is a powerhouse, men with strength close to that of a Marine Admiral. Marine Admirals keep all pirates suppressed."

"Suppress all pirates?!" Beli, Kid, and Killer exclaimed at the same time.

Ryan covered his entire body in Armament Haki and reached out to touch the incoming sandstorm. Everyone watched as the sandstorm relentlessly battered Ryan's body, determined to destroy him there.

Unfortunately, Ryan had already trained his Armament Haki to an advanced level. A sandstorm of this caliber would not knock him down so easily. In the end, it grew smaller and smaller until it vanished without a trace.

This was Ryan's first time fighting a Logia Devil Fruit Ability user, so he remained cautious. He had tested its power with his body.

The terrifying power of Logia Devil Fruits did not merely come from their ability to turn their users into elements. Once developed to a certain degree, every Logia Devil Fruit Ability user possessed world-destroying power.

It could be said that as long as one was a Logia Devil Fruit Ability user and put in even a little effort, one could become a powerhouse in their own right. That was the innate advantage of Logia Devil Fruits.

But precisely because Logia Devil Fruits were too powerful, many users relied too heavily on their Fruit abilities and neglected their own strength. There were quite a few such people in the pirate world.

The Crocodile standing before Ryan was one of them.

"He blocked the boss's attack with just his body?" Robin exclaimed.

Crocodile himself stared at Ryan with a dark expression. He had not expected Ryan to be more than merely a powerful swordsman.

Ryan looked at Crocodile and smiled. "Come on, entertain me with your full strength, Crocodile!"

Crocodile was also proud and arrogant. At the age of twenty, he had fought nineteen-year-old Douglas Bullet for three hundred rounds without a victor.

And now, some rookie brat was looking down on him. How could he tolerate that? Absolutely not.

Crocodile pressed one hand against the ground, draining the moisture from it. The ground slowly cracked apart and turned into sand, spreading outward with Crocodile as its center.

"Get out!" Ryan roared at everyone. Snapping out of their daze, they hurriedly ran outside. If they did not flee, they would end up like the buildings that had just turned into sand.

Watching everyone flee, Crocodile burst into laughter. "Too late. Die!"

The moment he finished speaking, the entire Castle turned into yellow sand that filled the sky. Ryan and the others were wrapped inside what seemed like an enormous ball of sand, with nothing but the sound of grains colliding around them.

"Now this place has become my home field!"

"You're celebrating too soon. One Sword Style: Iai, Instant Tiger."

With a crashing sound, sand began to rain from the sky. Ryan's sword had split the sand sphere in two from within.

By then, many people had gathered outside the Castle. They had just seen a streak of sword light flash past, followed by sand rain falling from the sky.

"Who is Lord Crocodile fighting?"

"I can't see! The sand around us is blocking everything!"

"Look, someone's coming out!" Beli emerged from the endless yellow sand with the others.

"Berserker Beli—it's him! Then the one fighting Lord Crocodile must be Bloody Swordsman Ryan." Someone had already recognized Beli.

Within the Castle, which had become endless yellow sand, Crocodile and Ryan had already exchanged blows. Crocodile swung the golden hook on his right hand straight at Ryan's chest.

"Too slow!"

Ryan easily dodged the golden hook and countered with a slash.

Crocodile swiftly turned his body into sand, intending to evade Ryan's attack that way. But he quickly discovered just how horribly wrong he was.

A figure flew straight out of the Castle and crashed into the crowd outside, sending several people flying in the process.

The person on the ground slowly stood up and touched the wound on his chest.

"Lord Crocodile, are you all right?!" Everyone finally saw who had risen. A sword wound so deep the bone was visible ran across Crocodile's chest.

Ryan then slowly emerged from the yellow sand, dressed in pristine white and looking utterly carefree.

Crocodile clutched the wound on his chest. "Why can you hit me?"

"Armament Haki." As he spoke, Ryan showed off the Armament Haki covering his entire body.

"Haki... I always thought that stuff was useless. Cough, cough." As he spoke, Crocodile spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Desert Spada!" A blade made of sand appeared where Ryan had just been standing.

"Young man, that's no way to fight. Sneak attacks?" Ryan said slowly as he appeared in another direction.

"Argh!"

Enraged, Crocodile slashed at Ryan more than a dozen times with Desert Spada. Then, panting heavily, he sat on the ground and looked at Ryan, who had appeared somewhere else again.

"Why can't I hit you?"

Ever-helpful, Ryan answered, "Observation Haki."

Crocodile: "..."

"Still want to fight? If not, I'm taking Robin with me." Ryan looked at Crocodile with a smiling expression.

Seeing Crocodile completely suppressed, the crowd shared his grief.

"It's over. Even Lord Crocodile can't defeat this enemy."

"Come on, Lord Crocodile!" a child said quietly.

Seeing this, Beli looked at the crowd. "Are we the villains now?"

Words of encouragement—telling him to keep going and not give up—constantly reached Crocodile's ears. Is this as far as I go? Can't I defeat him? No, I can definitely defeat him!

Crocodile stood up again, madness gleaming in his eyes as he looked toward Ryan.

"Since I can't hit you, I'll destroy everything here. Let's see where you can still hide."

"Ground Secco!"

In an instant, all the surrounding buildings turned into yellow sand, forming a vortex that spread in every direction. Many people were swept into the sand, and Ryan watched as those wrapped in it instantly became dried corpses.

Just as Ryan was about to make a move, someone he had not expected stepped forward and said to Crocodile, "Sir, please stop. This is far too vicious."

Crocodile looked at the blind man before him and laughed. "Even a blind man dares to act presumptuously before me now? Hah!" A Desert Spada shot toward the blind man.

Seeing Crocodile attack, Ryan could not help sighing at his luck. He had casually picked a fight with someone he could not afford to provoke.

Ryan could barely bear to watch what came next, because he knew Crocodile was about to get beaten into doubting his entire life.

That blind man was the future Navy admiral: Issho Fujitora!

"I merely came to persuade you to stop!" Issho said somewhat angrily after dodging the Desert Spada.

Several more Desert Spadas flew toward Issho.

"In that case, I can only offend you."

Then Crocodile saw Issho coat the blade in his hand with Armament Haki. He immediately lay on the ground without resisting—Armament Haki and Observation Haki again.

Then another blade wound appeared on Crocodile's chest, echoing the earlier sword wound and forming a perfect X.

Crocodile: "That's right, I'm the man who will become the Pirate King!"

Ryan walked over to the withdrawn Crocodile and smiled. "I'll be taking Robin, then."

Crocodile lay on the ground in silence.

Ryan turned to Issho Fujitora. "Mr. Issho, care to have a drink?"

Issho paused, then asked, "How do you know my name?"

Now it was Ryan's turn to freeze. Damn, how did I forget that Issho isn't famous yet?

Ryan blinked at Issho. "Guess."

Issho fell silent. "How am I supposed to guess..."

Seeing Issho say nothing, Ryan quietly slipped away with the others, Robin following behind them.

After hearing no sound for a long while, Issho asked, "Are you there?"