Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Dense water needles flew toward Crocodile like raindrops. Even though Crocodile did his best to dodge, his elementally transformed body only increased the area that could be hit.
His sand-transformed body was soaked by the recondensed vapor, causing Crocodile’s expression to turn ashen.
Compared to Haki, water was what he truly did not want to face. Once his Devil Fruit ability was dampened by water, he would lose the ability to transform into sand, allowing enemies to strike his physical body.
However, on second thought, both of these girls could use Haki anyway, so the effect was actually less significant.
“Sea Phoenix: Phantom Needles.”
Under normal circumstances, Chloe would not use fire when coordinating with Yamato. Aside from Fireboy and Watergirl, these two attributes countered each other in most situations, and attacking simultaneously could sometimes have the opposite effect.
But pincer attacks like this were an exception. Even if the attack missed, Chloe could still use the resulting vapor to launch another attack.
“Why do you always attack first and shout the move’s name afterward? That isn’t cool at all!”
“Why are you paying attention to something like that…?”
“This is about momentum! Don’t you think an attack becomes stronger when you shout its name while using it?”
“I think that would only give the enemy time to react. I always attack first and say the move’s name afterward.”
In this regard, Chloe had gradually developed her own habits. She always felt that attacking while shouting the move’s name was strange, though she was not the only person on Fishman Island who did things that way.
Nereus often did not call out the names of his moves at all. That way, no one could tell whether he was launching an utterly ordinary attack or suddenly using a finishing move.
Alber, meanwhile, might shout the name of a slash while using a kicking technique instead, relying entirely on verbal deception. However, that only worked when both sides’ Observation Haki were evenly matched.
If the opponent was too weak, there was no need. If the opponent was too strong, they could not be fooled.
“That’s not important. I remember who this guy is now. He’s a Shichibukai—Crocodile, with a former bounty of 81 million Berries.”
“What a low bounty. And are all the Shichibukai this weak? How does he not even know Haki?”
Every word Yamato spoke felt like a blade stabbing into Crocodile’s heart. Unlike the two club strikes from earlier, her words caused no physical harm, yet they made him feel as though ten thousand arrows had pierced his heart.
An initial bounty of 81 million Berries was not considered low in this era. It was simply that Fishman Island mostly paid attention to pirates from the New World, where people with bounties in the hundreds of millions were everywhere.
Once he became a Shichibukai, Crocodile’s bounty had automatically been cancelled, so naturally it now appeared rather low.
“That shouldn’t be right. I heard he once fought Bullet to a draw.”
“Bullet? Then this Crocodile must be an impostor. There’s no way someone like Bullet could fail to beat a guy who doesn’t even know Haki.”
[Gurararara! Insolent little brat. Go train for a few more years!]
The painful memories of that time surfaced in Crocodile’s mind. Full of ambition, he had challenged Whitebeard, hoping to seize the title of the strongest, only to be repelled with a single blow.
The wounds on his wrist and cheek seemed to ache faintly, while Yamato’s words continued echoing in his heart.
“What… have I been doing all these years? To think I let the most important thing waste away…”
As one of the sea’s famously evenly matched fighters, Crocodile could trade a few blows with almost anyone. After achieving enlightenment in prison, he had even caught up with the changing times.
Now, Crocodile seemed to have realized his problem, or rather, Yamato’s two club strikes had knocked him awake again.
“Kuhahaha! I should thank you two brats. You made me realize that my body had unknowingly grown this weak! Now… it’s time for round two!”
A sharp gleam that had not been there before appeared in Crocodile’s eyes, as though he had returned to the spirited days of his youth.
These two children were indeed strong, but had he not also been a genius when he was young?
“I still think he got beaten stupid…”
Yamato’s muttering reached Crocodile’s ears, and the body he had just straightened seemed to slump once more.
“Desert Spada!”
Boom! Swish!
The desert beneath their feet seemed to split apart as four blades formed from yellow sand slashed toward Yamato. They were more powerful, faster, and even predicted where Yamato would dodge.
His older age gave Crocodile far more experience. After being awakened by Kaido’s personally taught “Awakening Club,” he had clearly regained some of what he once possessed. [TN: This is quite famous in Chinese fandom because Kaido was able to awaken Luffy with his club(kanabo).]
Whoosh!
“Be careful! This guy’s different now!”
The flame on Chloe’s back instantly went out. She flew to Yamato’s side at tremendous speed and pulled her away from Crocodile’s attack.
“I can feel it! We’ve got to get serious now! Namuji Glacier Fang!”
Carried into the sky, Yamato was like an attached weapon component, launching attacks at Crocodile from time to time. Even after remembering how to use Haki again, Chloe and Yamato were still far from easy opponents in Crocodile’s eyes.
Their Dual-Colored Haki, various troublesome abilities, and seamless coordination left him with no real advantage.
However, compared to Chloe, who could fly and was far more agile, Yamato was easier to target.
[Her defense is powerful when the flame is burning. When it goes out, her speed increases, but her defense seems to drop… In that case…]
“Sandstorm Burden!”
Crocodile unleashed an even more bigger sandstorm, and the desert beneath their feet seemed to come alive. He intended to use it to divide the battlefield ahead.
Afterward, Crocodile once again focused his attention on Yamato.
“Desert Spada!”
As expected, Crocodile saw Chloe attacking from the flank. As his golden hook became coated in Haki, traces of purple venom also seeped from it.
Slash!
Their figures crossed, and Crocodile left a wound on Chloe’s arm before immediately retreating, denying the two of them any chance to counterattack.
Using Yamato as bait to eliminate the enemy’s airborne unit first—that was Crocodile’s plan.
Chloe’s defenses were reduced in speed mode, allowing him to execute the plan successfully.
“Kuhahaha! You can’t move, can you? That’s venom from the stinger of a deadly scorpion found in Alabasta’s desert. Even a single drop is enough to make an adult—”
Boom!
“Thunder Phoenix: Cry.”
Chloe answered him with a sphere of lightning, instantly giving Crocodile a new hairstyle and applying a layer of charred black facial mask.
“What are you babbling about? What use is a cheap trick like that? No wonder you lost to Whitebeard.”
It was merely scorpion venom. Anyone who did not know better might have thought Magellan had come here and unleashed his ultimate move.
Pfft…
Crocodile suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest. Before he could say anything, however, his restored Observation Haki began frantically warning him of danger. Yet he had no time to react before a kick from the side sent him flying.
You can read ahead upto 45 chapters on my patreon and I’ve also activated (date to date) subscription model on my patreon.