Chapter Header Serial: Lovesickness Turns to Illness 19, Bloom Again
Dragon turned around. Sander and Mari saw their elder sister pacing toward Stone Princess, while lightly grazing the tips of her slender fingers with a carving knife. A faint crimson line appeared, blood beads swirling with countless ouroboros-like tiny snakes. Hancock applied this blood onto the rough, petrified face of Tulip... The stone sculpture seemed to thaw; the rocky colors quickly faded, restoring life.
'What exactly… hit me…?'
Sand Crocodile was knocked flying backward in midair, his consciousness briefly blurred. All he felt was a fist.
An invisible fist.
An invisible fist capable of hitting him, a Logia Sand man who maintained elementalization…
And it was entwined with Haki! Almost as stunned as Crocodile was Tesoro, who sat beside him in the VIP seats.
"Hey hey, what just happened?"
Tesoro looked at the empty seat beside him. He had only heard a "bang" and then saw the Shichibukai suddenly fly out.
'Phew', the figure flying backward in the air, his body dissolving into sand dust, drifting suspended.
"That's Crocodile, right?"
"Why did the Shichibukai suddenly come flying out?"
"Could he want to join the fight too?"
The bustling crowd in the stands all looked up, some surprised, some confused, some questioning, pointing at the sandy figure floating in the sky. Suddenly, Crocodile's bloody mouth and his struggling figure in midair appeared on the big screen.
As the image clarified, the entire venue erupted!
People all over the world watching the live broadcast were also shocked: The Shichibukai Crocodile was hit!?
Who did it!?
What happened!?
Reporters on-site hurriedly raised their Den Den Mushi cameras, focusing on the silhouette above. The host was caught off guard, already struggling to commentate Mihawk and Amande's battle, now faced with this sudden emergency.
"It seems some unexpected situation occurred on site. The Shichibukai Crocodile appears to have encountered some problem... uh... Crocodile-san is still suspended in midair; specific details are unclear... By the way, Crocodile's ability to fly in the air seems to be the rumored Logia Devil Fruit power, Logia is considered one of the strongest Devil Fruits…"
The host spoke quickly, only to grow more headache-ridden.
Because the two on stage continued their match, seemingly unaffected by the commotion, sword exchanges back and forth. Mihawk swung his sword, and Amande clashed it with her blade entwined with Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki), unleashing astonishing sword energy.
"So that's why you rushed to start?" Amande glanced at Sand Crocodile floating in the sky.
"Not exactly rushing," Mihawk continued, drawing and swinging coldly, "Just that since I'm here, I don't want to quit halfway."
"True enough!" Amande charged forward with lightning-fast sword techniques.
Their sword blades opposed each other, clashing and tearing up the air in storms, comparable to the strongest strikes wielded by ordinary sword heroes at full power.
The duel between these two great sword heroes was so spectacular no one could look away, exhilarated.
But the Shichibukai's sudden predicament remained worrisome.
At this moment, a new development, someone at the edge of the ring suddenly jumped high into the air toward the swirling sand figure floating in the sky.
"It's Giorno!"
A spectator pointed and shouted from the stands, immediately recognizing him, this player had made a strong impression.
Especially when he leapt toward the sky...
"Chopper-na Giorno! What's he going to do!?"
Not only the audience onsite and offsite were confused, even the Marines following the tournament were shocked and puzzled.
"He's targeting Sand Crocodile!?" Kaki stared dumbfounded, "That's a Shichibukai after all, and this is in broad daylight..."
Gion found it absurd. "Are those two really going to do this? Dare to do this?"
Vice Admiral Onigumo, still with wounds bandaged, looked grimly at the broadcast screen showing the youth soaring upward with an iron rod in hand. "What a reckless, impulsive guy…"
"So it really is him!?"
Crocodile looked down from the sky, seeing Chopper-na Giorno rushing to counterattack. His head instantly ached.
Why did it have to be something taboo?!
That damn brat was still smiling, what was so funny? What on earth was he planning?!
Liam used Geppo to ascend, laughing and pointing beside the Crocodile Crocodile above.
"…?!"
Sand Crocodile glanced over, but it was just empty sky, there was nothing there.
"Mocking me?"
Empty… nothing…
Could it be!?
A familiar thought flashed through Crocodile's mind. He suddenly turned his head sharply again. From a dimension he couldn't see, the black battle armor sped over, legs entwined with Busoshoku Haki, spinning and striking!
Bang!
Crocodile felt a sharp pain in his shoulder and back, then a strong sensation of falling.
No good!
He forced his eyes open, seeing Giorno's wickedly smiling face rapidly approaching.
And that black iron rod was growing larger in his vision.
Bang!
Crocodile's head buzzed with heat, numbness spreading through his skull. His vision spun wildly, a faint red tint overlaying everything, and finally, with a heavy tremor, he realized he had collapsed to the ground…
On the big screen, the bloodied Shichibukai lay on the cracked ground at the edge of the ring. Everyone was stunned by this sudden twist.
"That's the Shichibukai…"
"This Giorno's crazy… what is he even doing?"
"Awesome!"
Many in the stands turned their gaze to the sky, seeing that upright figure who had knocked Sand Crocodile down, holding the iron rod as he rapidly descended.
"Big News! Big News!"
Far away in the New World, Morgan, president of the World Economic News Agency, excitedly spoke into his Den Den Mushi, "What a surprise scoop! Hawk Eyes and Amande are still fighting, right? We can't miss their match, but also split half the broadcast for this. Get the news birds on the island, track and film together! This Giorno is really interesting…"
The Birdman president chuckled.
"Bastard…"
The person lying on the ground transformed into a thick cloud of yellow sand, which then condensed back into the tall figure of Crocodile standing firmly on the ground. His face was covered in blood, eyes bloodshot, glaring furiously at Liam who had just landed.
"What do you want to do?!"
"Nothing much, just want to borrow your Devil Fruit powers for a bit," Liam explained.
'Bullshit!' Sand Crocodile cursed in his heart. That's not borrowing!
His gaze drifted around Liam. In the air... there was an invisible presence, another person unseen by the naked eye. Was it Giorno's special ability? Or an ally of his?
How wicked!
Crocodile bitterly hated that both Giorno and that invisible guy could use Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki), and both could attack his elementalized sand body…
But he couldn't see that invisible thing at all!
"Don't worry, it won't hurt much. Very quick," Liam said with a grin, slowly walking forward.
Half of Crocodile's body turned into yellow sand. Blood flowed from his face as he sneered, "You seem to think you've got me figured out!"
"Hm…" Liam weighed the iron rod on his shoulder, his steps steady, calmly replying, "Kind of."
At that moment, a fierce slash came flying in from behind at an angle!
Clang!
Liam stretched out the iron rod, its body entwined with Busoshoku Haki, glowing entirely black, blocking the sharp slash.
Shiryu of the Rain approached angrily, sword raised, cigar clenched between his teeth: "Kid, I should be your opponent!"
Shuā!
The famed blade Thunder Rain's sword light swept past, slicing through the air as if cutting it horizontally, directly aiming for Liam.
Liam casually tossed the black rod aside.
An invisible ghostly hand grabbed the iron rod midair. As Liam's grip loosened, the dissipating black Haki quickly spread again, enveloping the entire rod.
Clang!
The black-armored figure with narrow eyes glowing white caught the black rod and blocked the incoming blade behind Liam's back, stopping Shiryu's attack.
Whoosh, the wild wind surged, swirling in all directions!
Liam handed off responsibility to B.I.B., but in front of him he saw Crocodile's palm summon a miniature sandstorm, like a scaled-down sand whirlwind, then fling it toward him.
Sables, Sandstorm!
Where the small sandstorm passed, the earth was torn apart; rocks shattered, and flying sand and stones mixed in, growing the storm stronger. It howled like a yellow dragon rushing toward Liam.
The raging airflow created a heavy, oppressive atmosphere in the air. The crowd in the stands felt tense but also thrilled.
Meanwhile, on the ring, Hawk Eyes and Lady Oni were still fiercely sword fighting; below, Giorno and the Shichibukai Crocodile were locked in a deadly standoff. Giorno's iron rod was even more unbelievable; it floated on its own, fiercely clashing ding ding dang dang with Shiryu of the Rain, who was supposed to be Giorno's next opponent in the ring.
"I don't even know what's happening, but this ticket was totally worth it!"
Someone in the stands shrank their neck excitedly, "Wow, a small sandstorm just appeared out of nowhere! That's the Shichibukai's power, huh?"
"Sure enough, Shichibukai is Shichibukai. There's no way he'd be defeated so easily!"
"Only thing is, this place is getting dangerous…"
"That sandstorm looks terrifying! It's power's so strong, it feels like it could tear Giorno apart!"
Liam felt the same.
Crocodile really knew how to use his Devil Fruit powers. The Sables, Sandstorm roaring at him, was fierce; even with his iron body, he felt tingling numbness wherever the wind hit.
A sand bath, for sure…
Flying sand and stones, whirling fierce winds, Liam was blinded and couldn't open his eyes.
Crocodile lightly breathed out, his right arm turning into a huge sand blade, slashing toward the blurry figure in the center of the storm.
Desert Spada, Treasured Blade of the Desert!
The massive sand-formed slash cut the sandstorm in two, unstoppable as it fell.
The ground was sliced open by the immense Desert Spada, a bottomless ravine tearing open, the cracks spreading lightning-fast toward the ring…
(End Of This Chapter)
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