Defeat Crocodile

At the entrance to the Funerary Hall in the Royal Tombs.

"Charge, brothers! Rescue King Cobra and defeat Crocodile!"

"Charge! Drive the Shichibukai who deceived our country out of Alabasta!"

Pell drew his rapier and swept it toward the Funerary Hall. "Brothers, the time has come to defend our homeland! The Shichibukai Crocodile deceived our entire country for the sake of his plans! All of this was his doing! Charge! Rescue King Cobra and drive Crocodile away!"

Chaka said, "I will lead the charge."

"Charge! Charge!"

Hearing the clamor outside, Crocodile's gaze darkened. "It's all that damned Kaido's fault. If he hadn't come, everything would have gone smoothly. There wouldn't have been all this trouble."

Then he turned to Cobra. "A truly worthy king. What a pity. I can't let you live. Now that I've found what I wanted, you can die."

As he spoke, he raised his hook and brought it down toward Cobra's head.

Clang!

"I won't let you hurt the king! I swear it on my life as Chaka, guardian deity of Alabasta!" At the last possible moment, Lone Wolf Chaka blocked the fatal blow.

Pell also charged inside with his men.

"Leave Alabasta, Crocodile, or we won't hold back," Pell declared forcefully.

Crocodile withdrew his hook and kicked both Garu and Cobra away. He looked scornfully at Pell and the Royal Army closing in around him.

"Sables!"

A miniature sand tornado formed above Crocodile's right hand, and he hurled it at the men surrounding him.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Fierce winds instantly swept through the cramped Funerary Hall, sending sand flying everywhere. The little tornado he had thrown grew enormous in an instant and moved toward the entrance.

It swept everyone surrounding him into its vortex and carried them outside.

Crocodile turned to Nico Robin. "How long will you need to translate the inscription on the stone?"

Without turning around, Nico Robin kept her eyes on the inscription and said, "I need half an hour, and I must not be disturbed."

Crocodile's eyes flickered. He took a deep drag on his cigar. "Focus on translating. I'll hold them off. I hope you aren't planning any tricks, Nico Robin. If I find out you are, you won't want to know the consequences."

With that, Crocodile walked outside, intending to dispose of the Royal Army there.

"Desert Spada!"

Five enormous blades of sand hurtled toward the Royal Army below.

Suddenly, a girl's furious shout rang out.

"Stop, Crocodile!"

A figure riding a duck came running from nearby, with Luffy and the others following behind.

As the attack was about to crash into the Royal Army's ranks, Vivi wept in desperation and screamed, "No!"

"One Sword Style: Lion's Song!"

"Mutton Shot!"

"Gum-Gum Rocket!"

"White Smoke Launcher!"

"Shigure Slash!"

The five appeared in front of the Royal Army in an instant, their voices ringing out together. Luffy and the others blocked the Desert Spada.

"Crocodile, surrender!"

"Vivi is someone I've accepted as a friend! If you bully his country, you're bullying the Straw Hat Pirates! Just wait until we send you flying!" Luffy walked over to the crying Vivi and placed his straw hat on her head for the time being.

Turning toward Crocodile, they flexed their fists, their knuckles cracking sharply. Their fighting spirit blazed like fire, and their eyes brimmed with excitement and eagerness for battle!

"Hahahaha! Are you trying to make me laugh myself to death? What can a few small fry like you possibly fight me with? I'm a Logia Devil Fruit user! Apart from this white-haired Marine who's also a Logia, can any of you even hit me?" Crocodile said arrogantly.

Luffy and the others looked at Smoker and chuckled, while Smoker's face had already darkened.

Fine, fine, fine. Can't hit you, huh? I'll let you experience how I felt in a moment, Smoker thought, tightening his grip on his weapon.

"Stop laughing. Go!"

The moment the words left his mouth, Smoker charged first.

Seeing this, Luffy and the others all followed him, attacking Crocodile.

"White Vine!"

Smoker turned his arm into smoke and lashed it at Crocodile like a whip.

But Crocodile paid it no mind. They might both be Logias, but there were still differences in strength. What could mere smoke do?

He extended his palm and threw a small tornado at him.

"Sables!"

"One Sword Style: Lion's Song!" Zoro overtook Smoker, and a flash of his blade scattered the sandstorm.

Smoker seized the opening and lashed at Crocodile's crotch.

Crocodile's pupils contracted. His indifference and contempt vanished, leaving nothing but disbelief in his eyes.

"You're a Marine, yet you fight so shamelessly! You're a disgrace to the Marines." As he spoke, he prepared to dodge.

But something unexpected happened.

"Gum-Gum Two Guns!"

A short distance away, Luffy attacked his chest with both arms at once.

Just as Crocodile was about to ignore him and continue evading Smoker's attack-

Luffy's fists suddenly turned black, so black they gleamed.

Crocodile's gaze darkened, and the corner of his mouth twitched as he stared fixedly at Luffy's fists.

"Fuck, a sneaky bastard!"

Bam! Bam!

Both fists struck Crocodile squarely in the chest.

Before he could even cough up blood, a sharp surge of pain shot through his dick. In disbelief, he turned his head mechanically to look at Smoker.

Then blood rushed to his face, turning it scarlet. Veins bulged, and blood mixed with white froth spilled from his mouth. He cursed inwardly as a sense of foreboding rose within him.

These sneaky bastards know Haki!

He gritted his teeth again, forcibly enduring the pain, and said hatefully, "So what if you all know Haki? I can turn into my element beforehand to avoid damage."

At those words, everyone's expressions grew stranger.

They all felt a sense of familiarity, as though they had heard that somewhere before.

Crocodile's eyes turned utterly dark, his expression gradually twisting until he could no longer conceal his killing intent.

"Since you all know Haki, I won't fight you up close! This is the desert! Even if I have to wear you down, I'll grind you all to death!" Crocodile roared. The power of the Sand-Sand Fruit swept up the yellow sand filling the air, and a terrifying sandstorm formed nearby.

"Sables!"

"Desert Grande Spada!"

Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Smoker, and Tashigi did not dodge. They chased Crocodile and attacked, giving him no chance to escape.

The two sides exchanged blows in a fierce battle. Whenever Crocodile stopped for even a second, he took several slashes, punches, or kicks.

Crocodile could not stop moving to fight back at all. Even in the brief moment it took to form and throw a sandstorm, he would take several hits. The longer the fight continued, the more stifled he felt.

Smoker truly could not suppress his grin. He muttered to himself, "Having Haki feels amazing. Liu Qing was right. Only Haki can stand above everything."

Then he attacked with even greater enthusiasm.

Crocodile's eyes were bloodshot as he roared, "Enough... You forced me to do this!"

"Erosion Cycle!"

He pressed both hands against the ground, setting the surrounding sand in motion and turning it into quicksand. It slowly spread outward, engulfing Luffy and the others.

"Turn into dried corpses!" Crocodile roared madly.

Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!

As five sounds of Haki coating rang out, Crocodile completely lost his temper.

"Fuck! How the hell am I supposed to fight this? Who bullies someone like this? Think you're great just because you outnumber me? Fight me one-on-one if you've got the guts! I'll bleep your bleeping bleep!" After venting-

He pointed at Smoker and roared, "Especially you! You keep aiming below the belt! Is that how the Marines taught you to fight?"

Before he could keep cursing, five voices rang out again.

"Gum-Gum Rocket!"

"Three-Sword Style: Black Rope Dragon Twister!"

"Extra Hachis!"

"Shigure Slash!"

"White Gale!"

The five unleashed the strongest attacks they currently possessed straight at Crocodile.

"Desert Grande Spada!" Crocodile refused to give up just like that and still intended to make one final attempt. This time, he poured all his remaining stamina into this single move.

Desert winds swirled wildly around him. He thrust his right hand forward, and five terrifying sand blades formed out of thin air, sharper than any of his previous attacks.

The compressed sand no longer looked like sand, but rather like five real broadswords.

Boom! Boom!

The five attacks met the five blades made of sand. A constant sizzling filled the air as yellow sand was blasted away. The violent shock waves tore apart the sandy ground beneath their feet, creating bottomless ravines.

After a few seconds of stalemate, the Desert Spada shattered, and the attacks continued toward him.

Crocodile's pupils shrank sharply, and his expression changed drastically. Before he could react, all five attacks struck him at once.

Blood splattered, his chest caved in, and his face swelled into a round shape.

Crocodile's eyes rolled back as he spat blood and fell straight backward. He landed with a thud, raising a cloud of sand.

Dead silence fell over the scene. Amid the dust filling the air, the entire battlefield was soundless. Not one of the hundred-odd thousand soldiers watching the battle made a sound as they stared at the sight in shock.

"Wonderful! They defeated the Shichibukai!"

Coming to their senses, the Royal Army cheered in unison.

Smoker stepped forward, took out his Jitte, and tied it to Crocodile with a rope, preventing him from using his Devil Fruit powers so he could not escape if he woke up.

"Straw Hat, I'm taking him away. Next time we meet, I'll arrest you." Without waiting for anyone to speak, he dragged Crocodile away.

Tashigi glanced at the swords at Zoro's waist and said, "I'll leave those three swords with you for now. Next time we meet, I'll defeat you and take all three of them." With that, she jogged after Smoker.

Zoro looked bewildered, but still replied, "Those are my swords! Since when were they yours? I'm not going to lose to you, so forget it!"

Princess Vivi ran over, smiling through her tears. She returned Luffy's hat, then hugged him. "Thank you, Luffy, all of you. Even though the Rebel Army didn't carry on, I still have to thank you."

Luffy grinned goofily. "You stayed on our ship for so long, and when Nami got sick, we only found a doctor because you showed us the way. We already thought of you as our friend. Isn't helping your friends what you're supposed to do?"