Whoosh—
Before long, that gust of sand whipped in, the massive volume of yellow sand swirling across the ground before rapidly coalescing into a human form.
"That's... Crocodile!"
Seeing the man manifest from the sand, Bege's heart skipped a beat, his expression turning somber.
Able to transform into sand, sporting a golden hook on his left hand, and wearing a black fur coat, it was none other than the former Warlord of the Sea, Crocodile. However, his face was ashen, his hair was disheveled, and there was blood at the corner of his mouth. His shirt was stained crimson over his chest, leaving him looking incredibly disheveled.
This shocked Bege. Who could have possibly injured this man so severely? Smoothie? Jinbe? Or Katakuri?
Clang!
Daz Bonez swung his blade-like arms, parrying an attack from several pirates. A shimmering flash of steel swept through the air, and in an instant, those pirates were cut down, their blades shattered, their bodies broken.
After finishing off the men nearby, Daz Bonez looked at Crocodile and couldn't help but frown, asking with a hint of surprise, "You look... rather beaten up."
Even as he spoke, many others were firing frantically at Daz Bonez. Rat-tat-tat-tat! A storm of bullets hammered into him, but apart from a cacophony of metallic pings and a shower of sparks, the only thing that hit the ground were deformed lead casings. They hadn't managed to scratch him in the slightest.
"Stow the chatter. I just caught a momentary lapse in focus," Crocodile said irritably, raising his hand to wipe the blood from his lip.
He had been dealt a heavy blow by that kick from Katakuri. Even his internal organs had suffered severe shock; otherwise, he wouldn't have been unable to stop the bleeding.
"Hey, am I seeing things?!"
"It's actually the former Warlord, Crocodile!"
"You've got to be kidding me! Why would a monster like that be here?"
"..."
Crocodile's reputation was well-known even in the New World. The members of the Fire Tank Pirates recognized him immediately, and a wave of shocked cries rippled through the crowd.
"A bunch of trash. You're too noisy!"
Crocodile's eyes sharpened as he turned his gaze toward the surrounding masses.
In the next instant, he abruptly raised his arm. It morphed into a blade of sand, which he swung forward, enlarging as it moved. The ground gave a sharp shing as it was carved open, the rift extending for hundreds of meters.
BOOM!
The earth split into a massive chasm, a perfectly straight line that nearly bisected the entire street. On both sides of the fissure lay severed corpses, followed by the agonizing wails of the wounded, their limbs hacked off, the ground soaked in blood.
"The… the street... No, the earth... the earth was split open!" Vito gasped, staring at the ruined street in horror.
"See? I hope your injuries aren't too severe," Daz Bonez glanced at Crocodile and said calmly. "After all, our opponent is also from the Worst Generation, on par with Straw Hat Luffy and Roronoa Zoro. The captain of the Fire Tank Pirates, worth 300 million berries, Capone 'Gang' Bege!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he waved his hand, his five finger-blades tearing through the air. Five sharp, whistling gusts of steel slashed forward, shing-shing-ing as they sliced through a dozen men and their firearms simultaneously.
Palm Shock Slash!
"Fire! Open fire!"
"Stop these two monsters!"
The crowd screamed in panic, unleashing a desperate barrage of gunfire at the pair. Some even lugged out rocket launchers, bombarding Crocodile and Daz Bonez with everything they had.
Rat-tat-tat-tat...
Bang, bang, bang, bang...
Boom, boom, boom, boom...
For a moment, bullets flew everywhere, and the sound of deafening explosions was relentless.
However, even though the bullets and shells tore holes through Crocodile's body, he restored himself in an instant, completely ignoring the onslaught.
As for Daz Bonez, his body was forged from steel; bullets couldn't penetrate, and shells couldn't bruise him. Even the most dangerous attacks were perceived by him in advance and sliced apart by his blades.
Meanwhile, the Kingdom's army, who already held the numerical advantage, saw that the Fire Tank Pirates' firepower was fully occupied by Crocodile and Daz Bonez. Their morale surged, and over a thousand men charged forward with wild shouts.
Since their numbers already exceeded those of the Fire Tank Pirates and their firepower was by no means inferior, they immediately suppressed Bege's men.
Watching this, Bege's brows furrowed tight. He said with a grim expression, "Damn it. Engaging this guy was not a wise choice."
"Godfather, what should we do?" Vito asked nervously, clutching two large-caliber revolvers.
Bege fell into deep thought, his brain racing. He recalled what Vito had mentioned earlier: the "gates" to the Mirror World, those eight giant full-length mirrors, had been destroyed by the Thunder God Enel. This meant the Chris Pirates intended to swallow the entire Big Mom Pirates fleet in one fell swoop.
Regardless of whether they truly possessed the strength to pull it off, it was clear that the Fire Tank Pirates were not in a position to fight to the death with Crocodile. His Castle-Castle Fruit wasn't suited for duels, especially against a Logia user who was a natural counter to his "human sea" tactics.
"Retreat!"
Having made his decision, Bege said in a low voice, "Conserve our strength. Fall back to the harbor. If we can link up with a few Charlotte family officers, even better!"
…
Royal Capital, Nakor.
Five hundred meters beneath the Palace Entertainment City, inside Aeridar's Treasure Vault, rows of stone statue guards stood on both sides of the spacious, dim corridor, and dozens of metal sculptures were perched upon stone pillars throughout the vault.
Moreover, in both the long, dark corridor and the massive vault, there were many surveillance bugs and red-eyed owls, both visible and hidden. Not to mention the mechanical traps; the security here was absolutely ironclad.
Unfortunately, when faced with someone possessing the ability to travel through the earth, these defenses were riddled with loopholes.
In a dark corner of the vault, two shadows emerged eerily from the ground. One was cloaked in black robes; the other was a middle-aged woman with a hooked "witch's nose."
"So, this is Aeridar's Treasure Vault?"
Catarina Devon looked around, taking in the dozens of mahogany shelves bolted to the floor. Each one held anywhere from a few to over a dozen items of varying sizes.
Diamonds, pearls, priceless paintings, crowns, scepters, gold and silver jewelry, antique swords... everything one could imagine. She was momentarily stunned. She had seen her share of the world and knew the value of rare things, but every item on these shelves appeared to be a treasure of the highest order.
"This is the Vault's 'Treasure Zone.' Every single piece here is a rarity you wouldn't see in the outside world," the cloaked figure, known as "Daren," said with a casual glance. His eyes were calm, void of any ripple, as if he were merely looking at stones on the ground.
"That ruby on this crown... it must be at least a thousand carats!"
"One of the 21 Great Grade Swords, Aoi no Michi!"
"A bone scimitar! A skull book! Could this actually be the legendary item belonging to the Skeleton King, Hyster Homans?!"
"..."
The dazzling array of treasures left Catarina Devon wide-eyed, her gaze filled with shock and greed.
At that moment, a silver angel sculpture, about 30 centimeters tall, sitting on a mahogany shelf, suddenly shifted its eyes, locking them tightly onto the figures of Catarina Devon and Daren.