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He raised his left arm, the golden hook reflecting a cold, hard gleam in the dim light-a sheen as black as ink quietly coated its tip.
That was the color of Haki.
"Poison Sting."
The golden hook became a golden afterimage, stabbing straight at the back of Luffy's head.
Swift, precise, and bearing the power to break through any elemental defense.
Even if he could turn into lightning, this strike had already sealed off every possibility of evasion.
The deadly poison coating the hook might already have been unnecessary; the destructive force of the thrust alone was enough to shatter a skull-
"Shoulder Charge!"
Another figure cut in from the side, his leg chopping like an axe at the arm wielding the golden hook.
Ripples burst through the air behind Luffy's head.
Something invisible was tearing through the airflow.
The instant a black boot sole struck the golden hook, a muffled boom rang out like a boulder falling into a deep well.
A blast of air erupted, grains of sand spraying like **.
The hook veered off course, but the figure who had materialized out of thin air flew sideways and crashed into a dune.
As he landed, a series of fine cracks came from his right leg-as though someone were crushing a handful of dried beans through a burlap sack.
By the time the sound stopped, that leg had twisted to an unnatural angle, buried in the scorching yellow sand.
"The bone's broken."
The cigar's ember flickered in the wind.
Crocodile narrowed his eyes.
The blond-haired boy in the skintight black suit clenched his teeth without letting out a single **.
The silhouette of that outfit stirred some vague recollection, but there was no time to examine it.
A rubber fist was already rushing at him again with