He's Killed a Celestial Dragon

"So you recruited a few pirate brats as soldiers?"

"Too bad a thief is still a thief. Put him in a Marine uniform, and he's just an ape wearing a crown."

Evens and the others' expressions changed at once.

"Picking trash out of a garbage heap. You've learned to do it well."

"I heard Vice Admiral Garp picked you up back in the day, Xia Le."

Sakazuki turned to face him again.

Xia Le said nothing, watching him with calm eyes.

Behind Xia Le, grains of sand floated up around Crocodile, gathering rapidly into the shape of a blade pointed straight at Sakazuki.

"You scum within the Marines have forgotten Marine justice completely!"

"Scum should be purged!"

"Changing your uniform doesn't erase your crimes!"

As Sakazuki spoke, half his body suddenly glowed red, magma churning beneath its surface.

Xia Le's eyes were cold, but he kept watching him.

Crocodile suddenly shuddered. Sand rippled around him as scene after scene flashed before his eyes.

There were so many images this time that his mind nearly seized up.

At last, the images froze on a sight that made his pupils contract.

On a silent street, countless civilians knelt on the ground. He was among them. Not far away, a man wearing a bubble helmet walked slowly toward them.

Directly across from him lay a narrow alley.

At some point, a figure had appeared in the alley, dressed in a Marine coat and idly tossing a fingertip-sized stone up and down.

The instant the Celestial Dragon reached the spot in front of him, time and space seemed to freeze. Blood burst out and splashed across his shoulder.

The figure tossing the stone had vanished without a trace.

Crocodile raised his head in a daze. Before him stood a headless body, blood pouring from its neck.

It was the Celestial Dragon's!

Later, some three thousand meters behind him, he had found a bloodstained stone.

And he had committed the stone-throwing Marine's figure to memory.

The vision vanished. Crocodile stared at the figure standing ahead with his back to him. His body began to tremble, the shock plain in his eyes.

"He..."

"He was that Marine from back then?!"

Fragments of memory rushed together, bringing back his past—especially what he had witnessed two years ago.

Shock, horror, disbelief—so many emotions filled Crocodile that he could not keep them from showing on his face.

The Marine who had thrown the stone and Xia Le, standing before him now, became one and the same.

Crocodile never would have dreamed that his superior officer had such a past.

Gurgle!

The temperature soared. Sakazuki no longer bothered to hide the killing intent on his face.

Since setting out to carry out missions at sea, he had never shown pirates mercy. In his eyes, a pirate who became a Marine was still a pirate!

The sudden swell of heat left everyone present on edge.

Sakazuki had become a volcano on the verge of eruption.

"If you want to stop me, then try!"

"If you can!"

Sakazuki's words were cold, a sneer glinting in his eyes.

He knew all about Marine Headquarters selecting three Devil Fruits. The man before him had been given first choice of the three, yet he had turned it down.

That was why the fruits had gone to Sakazuki, Kuzan, and Borsalino.

Two years had passed in the blink of an eye.

He and the other two had made tremendous progress developing their fruits, and their strength had grown with them. As for Xia Le, after two years at the Navy Academy, he had probably made no progress at all.

So Sakazuki moved.

Scalding magma erupted from his arm like a volcano. With a swing, he shaped it in an instant into a vicious hound.

But just then—

Hum!

A violent, domineering force swept outward. Sakazuki shuddered. On the warship behind him, every Marine standing there except two went limp and collapsed unconscious.

"You think I'm still who I used to be?"

"Xia Le, you're too naive!"

"Of the four of us, you're the only one who's stood still!"

Sakazuki grinned savagely. The magma on his arm burned hotter as he swung it forward.

"You're the naive one!"

Xia Le's voice was cold.

He clenched his right fist. Power wrapped around it as he punched.

Bang!

A dull impact rang out. The blow carrying that scalding magma stopped dead and could advance no farther.

"Armament Haki?!"

Sakazuki's pupils contracted in shock.

He stared at Xia Le, stunned that he had already mastered Armament Haki.

Then a gale swept past. Xia Le vanished from in front of him.

"Behind me!"

Sakazuki spun around.

At that instant, a large hand shot toward him, fast as lightning. Like an iron clamp, it seized his throat.

Sakazuki went weak all over. His Devil Fruit power rapidly ebbed away.

"Don't overestimate yourself, Sakazuki!"

"And don't forget how a trace of my power once knocked you unconscious."

Xia Le lifted him, his even tone carrying an unmistakable sense of superiority.

Sakazuki could not muster a shred of strength. Then he noticed the black glove on Xia Le's hand.

"Damn it!"

"Seastone!"

Fury and frustration burned in him.

Xia Le had Armament Haki and wore Seastone Gloves. He had come prepared to face a Devil Fruit user.

"Hand over the mission item."

Still holding Sakazuki up with one hand, Xia Le looked toward the two Marines left standing.

"Yes, Superior Officer Xia Le!"

The two glanced at Sakazuki and answered at once.

They did not dare get involved in a dispute between their superiors.

A moment later, they brought over a locked wooden chest. Evens stepped forward and accepted it with both hands.

"The mission item has been transferred."

"Until next time, Sakazuki."

Xia Le released his throat. Sakazuki crumpled to the deck, gulping air.

"You should be grateful we're fellow Marines."

The cold words reached Sakazuki's ears. He jerked his head up, but saw only Xia Le's back and the warship turning away.

"Damn it!"

He slowly clenched his fists, his face dark with frustration.

He had thought he had surpassed Xia Le, only to find himself behind him again!

"Next time!"

"Next time, I'll be stronger!"

"Xia Le!!"

Sakazuki roared inwardly.

On the other warship, Xia Le took the wooden chest from Evens and fell into thought.

His conflict with Sakazuki did not concern him. He was far more curious about what was inside the chest.

What could be so important that headquarters would go to such lengths to have him deliver it personally?

He was still only a rear admiral, but the higher-ups knew his strength far exceeded that of the three young monsters.

He had noticed something else, too.

Xia Le raised his head and looked at Crocodile, who had been acting strangely ever since that moment.

"Little Sand."

"Did you remember something else?"

At those words, Crocodile shuddered, then lifted his head.

"Two years ago, at the Sabaody Archipelago. That person was you?"

The abrupt question caught Xia Le off guard. Then his pupils contracted sharply.

Rosinante and the others standing nearby suddenly felt as if the air aboard the ship had frozen.

He Killed a Celestial Dragon ### Silence.

Aboard the warship, every sound seemed to vanish.

The darkness on Xia Le's face was plain to see.

Crocodile stared at him. Right now, he wanted only an answer.

His shattered memories were merging with the person he had become, and some of his old ambitions were surfacing again.

Pirate? Marine?

Everything shattered, then came together as the face of the young Marine before him.

After a long silence, a sea breeze stirred the cape behind Xia Le. Only then did the darkness leave his face, replaced by a faint smile.

"You remember your past?"

Crocodile nodded. "Not much. But I'm starting to understand who I used to be."

"So you were there that day two years ago?"