Luffy got up from the ground, his Straw Hat was askew, he straightened it and grinned.
His eyes looked different than they had a day ago.
After being defeated, poisoned, and nearly killed by Crocodile, he unexpectedly discovered things he had never imagined before.
Although he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was, Crocodile began to notice some details as he attacked with the Sand-Sand Fruit.
Before Crocodile throws a punch, the direction of the sand grains changes by an extremely small amount.
When the sandstorm is concentrated on the right hand, the elementalization of the left hand will be delayed by less than a fraction of a second.
These subtle patterns gradually became clearer in his perception. Although it was not yet true Observation Haki, it already allowed him to predict things to some extent in advance.
Luffy pushed off with both feet, launching himself like a cannonball towards Crocodile.
There were no fancy moves, no unnecessary actions, just a simple charge.
Crocodile instinctively raised his hand to unleash a sandstorm, but Luffy suddenly veered to the right at the last moment.
It wasn't a pre-planned change of direction, but rather an instinctive reaction of the body when it sensed abnormal movement of the sand.
Crocodile felt a chill run down his spine.
This kid—is he learning in battle? The sandstorm grazed Luffy's left shoulder, crashed into the wall, and exploded into a cloud of dust.
Luffy seized the opportunity and punched Crocodile in the chest with all his might.
Crocodile once again turned into sand to evade, but he noticed that Luffy's attack choices had become smarter.
Each punch was timed precisely during the intervals when he activated his elemental transformation, with the error decreasing smaller and smaller, as if it could predict when he would turn into sand and when he would revert to solid form.
Roy transmitted his voice. "Did you notice? He's almost at the threshold of Observation Haki."
You should put some pressure on him now, forcing him to cross that threshold.
Crocodile's inner turmoil of curses could circle the Grand Line if laid end to end.
He had to control his strength to avoid killing Luffy, while simultaneously putting pressure on Luffy to help him break through, and also maintain his 'tragic' appearance after being hit by Luffy.
One person does the work of three.
Despite the scolding, the work on their hands wasn't delayed at all.
Crocodile elevated the Sand-Sand Fruit's power to a new level, creating a high-speed vortex of sand that trapped Luffy in the center of the hall.
The sand grains spun at high speed, turning into tiny blades, each one cutting into Luffy's skin.
Tiny streaks of blood seeped from Luffy's entire body. They weren't many, but they were densely packed, making him look like he had just crawled out of a barrel of blades.
Luffy stood in the center of the sandstorm, his vision obscured by the sand and dust, feeling the sand particles interfering with his vision.
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to sense Crocodile's location amidst the swirling dust.
The sand stung his face, and the wind howled in his ears, but beneath the noise, he could vaguely sense something.
It's not sound, not images, but a more primal sense—where the danger comes from, and from which direction the next attack will come.
"Left."
Luffy closed his eyes and tilted his head slightly.
The sand blade flew past his ear, severing a few strands of hair, which fell in a crooked and erratic trajectory.
Crocodile unleashed over a dozen sand blades in quick succession, each one meticulously designed in terms of angle and speed—just enough for a newcomer Awakening Observation Haki to barely dodge without making it too easy.
The level of control required is even higher than when he fights a powerful opponent of the same level.
If too much force is used or too much speed is used, it would be disastrous if the blade were used to kill the person in one blow.
If the water-giving is too obvious, Roy will start nagging again via telepathy.
Luffy dodged left and right in the rain of sand blades, but more and more small cuts appeared on his body.
But the corners of his mouth curved into a smile.
In this deadly sandstorm, he laughed like a child who had just found a new toy.
I felt it.
Luffy suddenly opened his eyes, his body swayed in place, and dodged the three sand blades that attacked him at the same time from an extremely strange angle.
He raised his arm and wiped the blood from his face, then grinned at Crocodile.
That smile, combined with his face covered in blood, looked rather frightening.
" Gum-Gum-- "
Luffy compressed his legs to their limit, his body like a rubber band stretched to its limit.
His gaze was fixed on Crocodile, and the feeling of being locked on sent a chill down Crocodile's spine.
"--Rocket Bazooka!!"
His body shot out so fast that it left a trail of afterimages.
Crocodile instinctively tried to turn into sand, but the moment Luffy's palms touched his chest, they were covered in blood from his own wounds.
Wet.
Crocodile's pupils constricted slightly.
This kid—he used the blood flowing from his own wounds to break through the sand's defenses!
The blood-stained rubber hand was firmly imprinted on Crocodile's chest, with the force of a raging bull, sending him flying.
Crocodile's body flew through the air across the entire hall, smashing through two stone pillars before crashing into the relief wall at the deepest part of the hall.
Gravel rained down, burying him halfway under the rubble.
As the dust settled, a sliver of moonlight shone through a crack in the ceiling, illuminating Luffy and the collapsed relief sculpture.
Luffy stood there, panting heavily, his palms covered in his own blood and dust.
The wound on his arm reopened from the exertion, and blood dripped from his fingertips, leaving tiny red specks on the stone slab. But his smile was brighter than ever before.
"He was beaten to a pulp."
In the ruins, Crocodile lay on his back amidst the rubble, looking at the crack in the ceiling and the moonlight filtering through it.
His chest still ached faintly, and a trace of blood lingered at the corner of his mouth. But when he closed his eyes, the corner of his mouth involuntarily curled up slightly.
The performance is over.
Although the process was tortuous, the ending was right.
Luffy's solution of breaking the sand formation with his bloodied fist was even more perfect than any scenario he had envisioned.
Roy's voice whispered in his ear, a hint of amusement in his tone.
"Thanks for your hard work.
I'd give this scene a 9 out of 10.
The reason you lost one point is because your final expression of surprise was a bit exaggerated.
Crocodile closed his eyes and silently thought two words: Get lost.
Then he heard Luffy being dragged away by his crew, and he heard the little reindeer crying and saying, "Luffy, you mustn't do this again!"
I heard Nami crying and cursing, and I heard Zoro say in a low voice, "Well done."
The equally battered Straw Hat Pirates surrounded their captain and ran towards the exit.
The entire casino began to shake violently.
The battle just now damaged the supporting structure, and this ancient ruin is rapidly collapsing.
Huge stones fell from the ceiling and crashed to the floor with a dull thud.
Cracks spread from the walls to the ground, like a spider web.
Crocodile lay in the ruins, feeling the tremors around him and watching the cracks in the ceiling widen.
The Sand-Sand Fruit's power automatically spread around him, turning all the falling pebbles into sand.
"My mission... is over!" he murmured, then closed his eyes, letting the sandstorm completely envelop him.
Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea from Baroque Works, officially took his final bow amidst the deafening roar of the Alabasta Royal Mausoleum collapsing.
Above the clouds, Roy withdrew his Observation Haki and turned to fly towards the direction of Ace's aura.
The Alabasta drama has ended, but the more important show is just beginning.
Ace is chasing Blackbeard, while Blackbeard is fleeing from Ace.
The end of this chase will be the turning point for everything.