Crocodile had only established Baroque Works to rake in money and gather intelligence.
After all, the ancient weapon Pluton might have lain dormant in some corner of the world for a hundred years.
The more powerful a weapon was, the more energy it would consume. And Pluton was a superweapon said to be capable of destroying an entire island with a single shot.
Considering his future plans and ambitions, ample funding was essential. That was why Baroque Works had come into being.
But if Crocodile really found Pluton and formed a new pirate crew, he would have no interest whatsoever in the members of Baroque Works.
He was a Shichibukai, and with an ancient weapon like Pluton in his hands, why would he bother recruiting crew members or officers from among the trash in the first half of the Grand Line?
The strength Yang Cheng had just displayed, however, had clearly made Crocodile recognize his potential.
That was why he had decided to graciously spare him and offer to recruit him.
Hearing Crocodile's words, Yang Cheng flashed a toothy grin. "I haven't had a chance to see what the big names in the New World are like.
"But at the very least, I don't think you, Crocodile, will ever become one of those so-called big names.
"If you want to know why, it's because the strong people I know wouldn't rely on something external like Pluton to fulfill their ambitions and dreams.
"A dream is only meaningful if you achieve it with your own hands. The moment you decided to rely on Pluton to compete with those big names, you'd already lost."
"Perhaps you're right. Since I haven't met many powerful people yet, I'm just a frog at the bottom of a well.
"But even a frog like me dreams of one day shattering an island with a single blow through my own strength, rather than relying on something external like Pluton."
Yang Cheng's resounding words left Crocodile frozen in place for a moment.
Once he recovered, however, his expression began to darken again.
Crocodile had roamed the seas for years. He hadn't even thought much of Whitebeard, one of the Four Emperors, yet now some ignorant brat was mocking him.
Worse still, he couldn't find a single argument to refute Yang Cheng's taunts.
"What an arrogant brat. You think having a little strength means you know how vast this sea is?
"When I first set sail, you were still playing in the mud somewhere. And now you think you can tell me what to do?
"Then let's see whether your strength is as sharp as your tongue!"
Yang Cheng's words had hit a nerve, and Crocodile completely lost his cool.
He no longer had any intention of holding back.
It would be best if Yang Cheng survived, but if he died, so be it. He had already given Crocodile definite information: the Poneglyph recording Pluton's whereabouts was somewhere in Alabasta.
As long as he proceeded according to plan, this kingdom would eventually fall into his hands, and then he would learn Pluton's secrets.
As for Yang Cheng, since he dared to mock him like that, Crocodile now had to show him whether he was qualified to compete with those big names in the New World!
"Desert Grande Spada!"
Crocodile transformed both hands into massive sand blades and swung them forward. Four enormous blades of sand instantly shot toward Yang Cheng as slashing attacks.
Though formed from sand, the blades were astonishingly sharp. As Crocodile swung them out, they sliced through the hard ground as easily as tofu, leaving deep furrows behind.
Even the buildings and rocks in their path were instantly cut in half as the sand blades passed through them, like a sharp knife slicing through cake!
"One Sword Style: Explosive Blade!"
Facing four sand slashes that raced through the ground like shark fins, Yang Cheng tightened his grip on his sword and swung it forward through the air.
An explosive human who had eaten the Bomb-Bomb Fruit could make even the air they exhaled explode.
By the same principle, a famous sword that had consumed the Bomb-Bomb Fruit through energy-conversion technology naturally wasn't limited to causing explosions through direct contact with its blade.
The slashes it unleashed could also activate the Bomb-Bomb Fruit's ability.
So when Yang Cheng's flying slash collided with Crocodile's Desert Grande Spada, another violent explosion erupted!
Although Crocodile's Taijutsu and Haki were lacking, his mastery of his Devil Fruit ability was already exceptional.
As he had said earlier, it was unrealistic to expect a swordsman's slashes alone to fully counter the Sand-Sand Fruit's ability.
But if Yang Cheng's slashes weren't powerful enough, he could simply make up the difference with a nuclear explosion.
The force of the blast instantly scattered the gathered sand.
At the same time, Yang Cheng rode the shock wave and closed in on Crocodile once again.
With the Sand-Sand Fruit's excellent battlefield control, fighting its user at long range was undoubtedly foolish.
Besides, only close combat would allow him to make full use of his advantages in swordsmanship and Taijutsu.
"Crescent Moon Sand Dune!"
Crocodile enlarged his arm, then transformed it into a crescent-shaped sand blade that swept toward him with a roar.
Compared with Desert Grande Spada, Crescent Moon Sand Dune had a shorter range, but anyone struck by it would have all the moisture in their body instantly drained away, leaving them a mummy.
Facing this sand slash, Yang Cheng didn't retreat. He didn't even block with his sword. Instead, he clenched his other hand into a fist and drove it straight into the attack.
At first, seeing Yang Cheng dare to meet his Crescent Moon Sand Dune with a bare fist, Crocodile wore an unmistakably mocking expression.
He could practically see Yang Cheng's miserable fate already, all the moisture drained from his body as he became a dried-out corpse.
But before Yang Cheng's fist touched his sand blade, Crocodile saw a layer of black substance with a metallic sheen coat its surface. His mocking expression instantly turned to shock.
Sand flew everywhere as the slash was shattered by Armament Haki, and Crocodile's sand-transformed left arm was forced back into its original form.
Still looking stunned, Crocodile hadn't yet figured out why Yang Cheng, a bounty hunter from the first half of the Grand Line, knew how to use Armament Haki when the sword in Yang Cheng's other hand had already-
-come slashing down toward his damned head.
Now that he knew Yang Cheng possessed Armament Haki, Crocodile no longer dared to arrogantly rely on elementalization to take the sword head-on. He could only raise the Golden Hook on his left hand again to meet it.
Boom!
The instant the blade collided with the Golden Hook, the Bomb-Bomb Fruit's ability activated again.
Amid the explosive storm, Crocodile had intended to repeat his earlier trick, using elementalization to ride the blast wave and put some distance between himself and Yang Cheng.
But a moment later, he discovered that chains formed from Azure Flame had somehow wound around his ankles, preventing him from elementalizing at all.
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