From this detail alone, it was clear that in their first clash, Crocodile held a significant advantage!
"Hmph, with strength like yours, being just a branch colonel is a real waste," Crocodile scoffed. Yet, even as he spoke, he withdrew some of his earlier contempt. From the clash, he realized that Smoker wasn't someone who could be defeated so easily.
"White Fist!"
Smoker also realized that his Armament Haki was slightly weaker than his opponent's. So, with a sharp shout, both his arms and legs instantly transformed into smoke!
Once his limbs were fully smoke-like, he extended them with a whip-like motion and fired a barrage of powerful punches and kicks toward Crocodile.
In an instant, four smoky attacks shot toward Crocodile like projectiles!
"Sand Wall!"
Crocodile showed no sign of panic. Calmly, he stretched out his right hand and slammed his palm onto the ground.
In the next moment, as the smoky attacks were about to reach him, a small sand wall surged up in front of him, forming a barrier just in time!
Each of the four smoke attacks collided with the sand wall. The wall collapsed instantly under the impact, but at the same time, the smoke attacks were forced back, returning to Smoker's body.
Once again, the two ended up evenly matched.
Not far off, Renji Kai, who had been watching all along, couldn't take it anymore. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted toward Crocodile.
"Hey! His Logia Devil Fruit lets him turn into smoke. Your sandstorm can blow his smoke apart!"
Even though Smoker was a Logia Devil Fruit user, his fruit had some glaring weaknesses—specifically against wind and fire.
Renji Kai could have easily possessed a ninja to deal with him, but now that he had loyal followers, he didn't want to dirty his own hands. Besides, defeating Smoker wouldn't earn him much reputation at this point.
After hearing Renji Kai's shout, both fighters paused in the middle of their clash.
Smoker, in particular, suddenly had a look of concern on his face—it was obvious that Renji had nailed his weak point.
Crocodile, on the other hand, immediately raised his right hand.
In the blink of an eye, a small sandstorm began spinning rapidly in his palm.
"I heard you're afraid of wind. Then go to hell—Desert Storm!"
Crocodile let out a cold grunt and hurled the miniature sandstorm from his palm.
As the sandstorm rushed toward Smoker, the wind speed increased dramatically, and the storm expanded rapidly.
Smoker knew right away he couldn't rely on elemental transformation to escape this attack.
If he turned into smoke to try and dodge, the wind and sand would tear him apart instantly!
So, with a swift sidestep, he dove out of the way.
But in doing so, he completely exposed the group of Navy soldiers behind him to the incoming storm.
None of them had expected their superior officer to dodge so suddenly. In the critical moment, no one even thought to run.
Only when Smoker moved did they start to panic.
"Ahhh!!"
In the next second, the sandstorm crashed into the helpless Navy soldiers. Dozens of them were blown violently in every direction.
And just as the storm passed through, Crocodile's figure appeared from behind it.
It turned out that after unleashing the sandstorm, Crocodile had hidden in its wake, waiting for a perfect opportunity to strike.
Seeing that Smoker's focus had shifted to the soldiers behind him, Crocodile seized the opening. With his poisoned hook at the ready, he charged forward in a sudden leap.
Smoker quickly re-armed his weapon with Armament Haki and met the incoming attack head-on.
This time, as their Haki-infused weapons clashed again, a faint smirk appeared on Crocodile's lips.
In the next moment, he transformed his arm into a massive crescent-shaped sand blade and swung it toward Smoker.
This wasn't just an ordinary attack—the blade was fully infused with a dense coating of Armament Haki.
Because his arm was already wrapped in Haki, and the sand blade was just an extension of his limb, it naturally carried the Haki as well.
Smoker tried to retreat, but his weapon had been tightly caught by Crocodile's poisoned hook.
This delay caused him to miss the perfect chance to dodge.
Seeing no other option, Smoker raised his left arm in an attempt to block the incoming slash head-on.
The sand blade struck his body—yet surprisingly, it didn't seem to leave any visible damage.
Smoker frowned deeply.
He knew the attack had hit him squarely, so why wasn't there any injury?
But within seconds, he felt something was wrong.
He could feel the energy in his body draining rapidly.
At the same time, his throat became unbearably dry.
Realizing something was seriously off, Smoker panicked and immediately lashed out with a kick aimed at Crocodile's abdomen.
But Crocodile had already let go of Smoker's weapon, and with a light step back, he easily dodged the attack.
"Feeling a little dry and parched right now, aren't you?" Crocodile said with a cold smirk as he steadied himself.