Pirate: Seeing Proficiency, I Became a Legend

"So it really was full-body Armament Haki?"

Dongze's expression remained unchanged, revealing neither joy nor sorrow. Inside, though, he was delighted.

His guess had been right. As a Sand-Sand Fruit User, Crocodile understood the desert far better than most people, and that could bring Dongze a handsome reward.

Without him noticing, his Erosion Sword Intent proficiency had reached 4,500/1,000,000 on the panel.

Just three moves had raised it by 3,000 points. To Dongze, Crocodile was an incredible training partner.

Dongze looked at Crocodile's grave expression in the distance, and his thoughts raced. He couldn't scare off such a valuable training partner. So he lightly bit the tip of his tongue, letting a thin streak of red run from the corner of his mouth.

Seeing Dongze injured, Crocodile laughed. As long as he could hurt him, he wasn't afraid of a drawn-out fight.

This was the desert, after all—his home ground.

"You little bastard. Know how strong I am now?"

"Why are you calling for your dad? Even wounded, your dad can still teach you a lesson!"

Dongze's tongue was as sharp as ever. Crocodile flew into a rage and resolved to make him pay.

This time, however, Dongze struck before Crocodile could.

He had to commit to the act. If he made it too obvious, Crocodile would see through him.

Forgotten Dust slid from its sheath, coated in Armament Haki.

The sword cut through the air, Dongze following close behind. As his attack gathered force, a black-and-white space appeared in the sky.

An Azure Dragon soared through the clouds, stirring killing intent on every side.

When heaven unleashed its killing intent, the stars shifted. When earth unleashed its killing intent, dragons and serpents rose. When man unleashed his killing intent, heaven and earth turned upside down.

This was Hundred-Pace Flying Sword!

Since mastering the technique, Dongze's understanding of it had grown deeper. He could now unleash or restrain it at will.

The supreme art of Vertical Swordsmanship bared its deadly fangs to the world once more.

A chill ran through Crocodile as the attack locked onto him. His feet suddenly felt glued to the ground. He couldn't take a single step.

Watching the sword hurtle toward him like lightning, he felt a rare flicker of fear. Being a Logia Sand-Sand Fruit User gave him no comfort at all.

"What the hell is that?"

The flying sword was about to reach him. His face twisted.

Inside, he roared, Move, damn it! Move! Move!

Forgotten Dust reached him. Its icy Sword Intent made his hair stand on end, and his body reacted on instinct, transforming into sand.

Dongze's final horizontal slash, aimed at his neck, struck nothing.

Dongze immediately sprang back, putting distance between them again.

Watching Crocodile reform nearby, Dongze narrowed his eyes. Just as he'd thought: if a Logia user transformed in advance purely to evade an attack, even Haki wouldn't make him easy to kill.

"Brat, now you've really pissed me off!"

"Erosion Cycle!"

Raining Blows on Crocodile, Counting the Gains

Dongze and Crocodile faced each other in the desert.

"Heh! You're wasting your strength, brat! I'm a Logia!"

"When I'm done, I'll turn you into a dried-up corpse!"

That terrifying sword strike had failed, and Crocodile's taut nerves finally relaxed.

He looked at Dongze in the distance and spoke with brazen confidence.

"Mr. Dongze!"

Robin had followed them. After witnessing that astonishing strike, she had begun to worry.

She had read that Logia Devil Fruit Users could transform into their elements and avoid almost any attack.

She had thought the books were exaggerating. Now that she had seen it herself, her astonishment was matched by deep concern.

Dongze's gaze shifted. With a quiet laugh, he decided to change tactics.

His proficiency didn't rise only when he took a beating. Attacking worked too—especially when his opponent was a Devil Fruit User who was practically the desert incarnate.

He coated both arms in Armament Haki again, along with Forgotten Dust.

Then he glanced at the Haki entries on his panel.

Observation Haki (Awakening): 325,000/1,000,000;

Armament Haki (Awakening): 335,000/1,000,000;

Conqueror's Haki (Awakening): 8,500/1,000,000;

"I hope you dodge every time," he said. "Whatever you do, don't die, Crocodile!"

The moment he finished speaking, he used Shave again. In the next instant, he appeared less than a meter from Crocodile.

Eight slashes, each more than ten meters wide, tore through the air with overwhelming force, sweeping away everything before them.

This time, Crocodile was shredded to dust.

He reformed dozens of meters away, but fear had entered his eyes.

That move, too, had carried the promise of death.

Dongze was so fast that Crocodile could barely track him even with his full attention. If he hadn't kept himself transformed ever since making that boast, the attack would have killed him outright.

Damn it! Where did this brat learn these moves? He's a monster. One slip and I'm dead!

As with Hundred-Pace Flying Sword, the slash had passed through his body. It felt like walking a tightrope thousands of meters above the ground. One mistake and it would be game over.

Dongze said nothing and vanished again.

Crocodile transformed without a second thought.

Sure enough, another sword strike blew his body apart. A sweeping crescent slash then demolished the dunes for miles around. At the sight of its power, Crocodile fell silent.

The sensation of Armament Haki passing through him made his scalp prickle.

Damn monster!

Then came Heavenly Flying Immortal!

Beneath its dazzling beauty lay deadly intent. Sword energy scattered like flowers from a celestial maiden's hand. Crocodile nearly cried for mercy.

Next came One Sword Across the Ages!

This was a straight thrust. Unlike a Famous Sword, Forgotten Dust was a sword built for thrusting, and it could send sharp sword energy flying even faster than a quick-draw strike. Crocodile could no longer keep his cigar between his teeth. He spat the cigar he always carried onto the ground, his heart racing wildly.

Then came Hidden Light, Sitting in Forgetfulness! Blades of light filled the sky and surrounded him. After two full minutes of bombardment, a chill shot from Crocodile's feet to his head, leaving his whole body numb.

Robin stared, speechless. Attack after attack had shaved nearly fifty meters off the desert across an area miles wide. Dongze stood at its center, looking more like a god or demon than a man.

At sea, she had seen him split a ship with one slash. In the desert, she had seen him cleave the sky with one stroke. She had known then that Dongze was powerful.

Seeing him now made her heart pound. Even the Buster Call she had witnessed as a child could never have reached this level—and these were only a few moves.

She had once dismissed the stories she'd read about a single punch destroying a mountain, or a clash between powerful fighters leveling an island in moments. Now she suspected they were all true.

The battle showed no sign of ending. Crocodile had been frightened so badly that he no longer dared to stop transforming.

He had planned to catch Dongze off guard with Erosion Cycle, but he abandoned the idea.

One moment's carelessness would mean death. His coat and the Golden Hook on his hand were proof.

Half his coat was gone, and the hook had lost its curved end. Remembering how close he'd come made him nearly wet himself.

At last, he understood why Dongze had acted with such reckless confidence.

"Hey, brat! I take back what I said! How about we stop?"

Dongze acted as though he hadn't heard and swung his sword again.

With the proficiency on his panel climbing so quickly, how could he stop now?

"Hey! Don't push your luck, brat!"

The slash swept through Crocodile, scattering him into pieces.

"Brat! I'm a Logia! You can't even hit me! Are you sick in the head, wasting your time like this?"

Crocodile was beside himself. Dongze never said a word; whenever Crocodile reformed, a sword strike came at him, forcing him to turn into sand again.

It was absurd. At this point, he couldn't even leave.

Even if he burrowed deep underground, Dongze's sword would cut him back out. Every strike carried Armament Haki. If Crocodile failed to transform beforehand, one hit would finish him. What else could he do?

Time passed. The sun set, then rose again. Even Robin had grown numb from watching.

As for Crocodile, he was nearly out of his mind.

Eventually, he began hurling abuse.

"Are you out of your damn mind? I told you I'm done fighting! What's wrong with you?"

"I told you, I'm a Logia! You're wasting your strength! Have you lost your mind?"

"Curse you and every one of your ancestors! You're a lunatic!"

"..."

"Come on, man! Can we stop fighting?"

"I surrender, all right?"

"I'll join you! Just stop using those moves!"

Crocodile could hardly be blamed. Even when he'd challenged Whitebeard, he hadn't endured anything like this.

Whitebeard had shown some generosity: after beating him down, he'd simply cast him aside.

The man before him was inhuman. Every sword strike terrified him, every strike forced him to dodge, and every strike pushed his nerves closer to their limit.

After an entire day and night, Crocodile was nearly insane.

Then a voice reached his ears. Never had a voice sounded so beautiful to him.

"Who says I can't hit you?"

Crocodile reflexively turned into sand.

Before he could gather his thoughts, pain tore through him. A wound ran from his right shoulder to his left abdomen.

He cut me?

So he could hit me while I was transformed!

"You could hit me all along? Why the hell didn't you say so? I wouldn't have kept dodging! I—"

Then Crocodile, the Shichibukai known as the Desert Crocodile, finally lost consciousness.

Even unconscious, his body remained transformed into sand. Watching from nearby, Robin's eye twitched.

At last, Dongze sheathed Forgotten Dust and used Shave to return to Robin's side.

He looked at his panel again.

Observation Haki (Awakening): 395,000/1,000,000;

Armament Haki (Awakening): 405,000/1,000,000;

Conqueror's Haki (Awakening): 8,500/1,000,000;

Erosion Sword Intent: 400,000/1,000,000;

Seeing that tremendous increase, he nodded in satisfaction.

Not bad!

Crocodile alone had given him nearly a hundred thousand points across two types of Haki, plus four hundred thousand points of Sword Intent.

A new skill had also appeared beneath them.

Meditation (Beginner): 100/10,000;