The Underground Mausoleum began to crumble, transforming into a death trap as rocks rained down from the high ceiling.
Amidst the destruction, they faced each other once more.
Crocodile stared at Luffy, who had appeared panting and breathless. He could not suppress his rage; the boy's sheer tenacity was infuriating. It was true that Crocodile had chosen not to deliver the final blow previously, but how in the world had he survived that situation? The inability to comprehend it made his blood boil.
"Why are you still alive...? You shouldn't even be able to move."
"Huff... huff... I ain't gonna die... until I blow you away."
Hearing these words, Crocodile furrowed his brow, his frustration mounting at the sheer absurdity of it.
Why go this far? He was just a pirate, unrelated to this nation.
"Why go to such lengths to challenge me? You've already realized the difference in our power. Unless you're a complete fool, you must understand by now—you cannot beat me."
Luffy gave no answer, simply staring at Crocodile in silence.
"Is it because she asked you to? Did she beg you to dispose of me?"
"That ain't all."
Crocodile assumed he was speaking of the princess, but Luffy denied it instantly.
That might have been the catalyst. But now, it was about more than that.
Fixing his eyes on the suspicious Crocodile with a burning intensity, Luffy spoke.
"I haven't got it back yet. The thing you stole from this country."
"Kuhahaha! I wondered what you would say. I hardly think that's a reason for a pirate to wager his life."
Crocodile laughed, dismissing it as nonsense, his expression dripping with scorn.
"And what is it you want returned? Money? Status? Honor? Or perhaps the rain? If it's things I've stolen, the list is endless. What could an outsider like you possibly want?"
"The Country."
The smile vanished from Crocodile's face. He could not grasp the intent behind the boy's words.
"The country...? You speak in riddles. The country is something I am about to take. By becoming its King."
"When we got here, it was already gone. Her country didn't exist anymore."
Luffy spoke with dead seriousness, Vivi's face etched in his mind.
She had stopped crying so she could fight. Because of that, he had never seen her tears. But he knew she often wore a pained expression, always worrying for her homeland.
The country she loved was not here.
Because the man standing in front of him had stolen it all.
"If this place was really her country—"
Luffy's gaze sharpened. He stomped the ground with force and broke into a run.
"—she ought to be smiling more than this!"
He screamed the words with raw emotion, unleashing a terrifying aura. A normal man would have been cowed by the pressure, but his opponent was a monster of a different breed. Crocodile was not one to falter at mere spirit.
Seeing Luffy lunge forward with a clenched fist, Crocodile moved to intercept him.
He countered the punch with his golden hook.
Blood sprayed from Luffy's fist, and his expression tightened in pain.
As Luffy landed, Crocodile immediately slashed with the hook again.
Luffy did not move from his spot.
He dropped his hips, bracing himself. Watching the approaching hook, he thrust his right hand—the one opposite his injury—forward. Of his own volition, he opened his fingers and let the hook pierce straight through his palm.
Bright red blood splattered onto his face, but his eyes did not waver in the slightest.
It was then that Crocodile felt something was wrong.
With his palm still impaled, Luffy gripped the hook, locking Crocodile in place.
Immediately, he balled his left hand into a fist and pulled back.
The punch he unleashed was wet and red with blood.
(This brat—!)
"Oooooohhhh!"
His left arm pulled taut, Crocodile's evasive maneuver was delayed. In that split second of shock, the attack connected.
Luffy's fist smashed squarely into Crocodile's cheek.
He hadn't let his guard down. He simply hadn't read the intent behind the boy's actions, and that delay had cost him. That was the cause of the hit.
His head swam. He planted both feet firmly, fighting to keep from falling as his posture broke.
Before the pain could even subside, he was yanked violently again.
This time, a fist buried itself into his face from straight ahead.
Unable to withstand the force, Crocodile's body was sent flying. The hook tore free from Luffy's right hand, scattering blood over Crocodile as he crashed into the rubble on the ground.
"Gah...?! You... I thought you had no water, but to think you would do that..."
"Sand hardens with blood too, doesn't it?"
Taking the hit was intentional.
He had devised an impromptu strategy to fight the Sand Human, using his own blood as a weapon.
He could have taken the water Karoo was carrying. But that would have been no different from before. If he used blood, it would flow from his own body; he wouldn't run out.
It was the best—and only—tactic available to him now. And he had no intention of stopping until he won.
Luffy glared at his enemy, his eyes filled with resolve.
Crocodile wiped the blood from his mouth with his right hand and regained his composure.
True, the boy had found a countermeasure, but it had limits. One cannot bleed forever. It was obvious that this decision would eventually be the noose around his own neck.
It didn't matter. He felt no fear at such a thing.
His demeanor still held a margin of superiority.
The ceiling crumbled further, massive boulders falling one after another. They slammed indiscriminately into the ground—some staying whole, others shattering—transforming the battlefield by the second.
The environment favored neither of them. It was simply a hellscape.
A massive boulder crashed between them.
Luffy broke into a run; Crocodile sensed him coming.
Crocodile dashed toward the obstruction, using his momentum to deliver a kick. Though barefoot, the impact shattered the rock, sending shards flying through the air like bullets. They assaulted him in unison, but his body turned to sand, letting the debris pass through harmlessly without him moving a single step.
What came next was Luffy. He was the problem.
The fist he clutched was coated in sticky blood.
Knowing full well that he could take damage, Crocodile dared to allow the close-quarters combat.
Luffy threw a punch. Crocodile dodged with minimal movement, as if he had read the future, and swung his hook in counterattack. Luffy relied on his reflexes to twist away. He couldn't dodge completely—his cheek was sliced shallowly, drawing blood—but it wasn't fatal.
He didn't retreat. He stepped in further to attack.
Crocodile, having evaded perfectly, moved with blinding speed to slash Luffy's shoulder.
Blood flowed again. Luffy's breath hitched for a second.
"Hah... Damn it!"
"Our foundational strength is different. Don't get cocky."
Their figures crossed. Stomping the ground to kill his momentum, Luffy turned and ran again.
It seemed his attacks were being read. Crocodile was dodging with precision, without wasting movement. Even in his breathless state, Luffy understood that this was going nowhere.
Acting on instinct, he reached for a boulder rolling on the ground.
"Nnnnngh—!"
He grabbed a rock larger than a human, pulled it close, and heaved it overhead with both hands. It was incredibly heavy, but he moved it with sheer willpower. He didn't care that the strain made blood spurt from his wounds.
Luffy hurled the massive boulder.
It wouldn't have damaged Crocodile anyway, but Crocodile raised his right arm.
"Oryaaaaa!"
"Hmph... useless."
He stepped forward and touched the rock with open fingers.
Using the Suna Suna no Mi's power of dehydration, he sucked the moisture from it in less than a second. The solid rock disintegrated into sand instantly, exploding into a cloud right before his eyes.
For a moment, his vision was filled with sand. But from beyond the veil, a leg extended.
Crocodile's eyes widened as a powerful kick slammed into his throat.
"Uoooooh!"
He dug his heels in, desperate to endure it, sliding backward across the floor.
His breath caught, he coughed violently, and his movement stopped.
Whether by design or chance, having robbed Crocodile of his cool, Luffy closed the distance rapidly, retracting his long-stretched arm as he reached him.
A punch utilizing the full tension of rubber slammed into Crocodile's stomach.
Crocodile's body lifted slightly off the ground, yet he tried to withstand it.
Then, Luffy's kick caught him in the side of the head.
At speeds that left no room for breath, thought vanished. His body moved to intercept the enemy before he could think, dodging on its own accord. He no longer knew if it was his own will or instinct.
But one thing was fact: Crocodile was not trying to run.
He bounced violently off the ground, using the momentum to spring back up, his eyes snapping to Luffy. The boy, showing no sign of stopping, was already winding up a fist.
Ignoring the blood filling his mouth, Crocodile bent his knees to meet the charge.
They collided at a speed invisible to the naked eye.
They attacked at the exact same instant.
Luffy's fist smashed through Crocodile's cheek, while Crocodile's hook gouged a shallow trench in Luffy's chest. Fresh blood sprayed from both bodies, painting the floor.
"Ugh—?!"
"Gah...!"
Both took damage, but it was Crocodile who fell. Blasted away by tremendous force, he tumbled across the ground, unable to break his fall.
His ingrained combat instincts forced his hand to the floor to push himself up.
But as he tried to rise, Luffy was already launching his next attack.
"Huff... nnngh... Gomu Gomu no...!"
Though Crocodile's eyes tracked him, his body couldn't react in time.
"Gatling!!"
Countless punches, unleashed at high speed, hammered Crocodile's entire body.
Even though he reflexively crossed his arms to defend, the power was unimaginable. The pain felt far more intense than their previous battle.
Unable to escape, forced to endure the barrage, Crocodile vomited a massive amount of blood.
Only now did he realize.
Luffy looked worse for wear, bloodier by the second, yet his movements were faster, his blows heavier.
Luffy was getting stronger during the fight.
The final blow pierced Crocodile's cheek with crushing force. Spraying blood, his massive frame was sent flying.
He slid across the ground, and this time, it took time to stand.
His composure was fading, however slowly, and the accumulated damage was undeniably tormenting him.
It should have been the same for Luffy, yet inexplicably, the boy's movements were improving drastically. With every step, with every blow he landed, his intensity grew.
"Gomu Gomu no~!"
He wasn't given a moment to stand. He tried to turn his body to sand, but perhaps due to the constant contact with blood-soaked fists, the transformation failed.
Closing the distance instantly, Luffy stepped in deep and retracted both elongated arms.
"Bazooka!!"
Twin palms slammed into his stomach, blasting Crocodile away.
Flying through the air like a fired bullet, he crashed into the Poneglyph with wind-shearing speed. A flower of red blood bloomed across the stone's surface, and the massive, heavy monolith shifted slightly from the impact.
He slid down to the base, sitting slumped, motionless with his head hung low.
Seeing this, Luffy judged it wasn't over. He kept his fists raised.
Something had changed. The atmosphere around Crocodile was different than before he was blown away.
Feeling something prickling against his skin, Luffy didn't move.
Eventually, moving with agonizing slowness, Crocodile stood up. On his lifted face hung a dark, dangerous smile.
"Kukkuku... Kuhahahaha. Very well. I'll acknowledge you as my 'enemy.' From here on, I've decided to fight for real."
Saying this, he touched his hook and removed the casing. From beneath the golden cover emerged another hook of the same shape, but radiating a far more sinister aura.
Luffy looked puzzled.
Holding the hook aloft, Crocodile smiled a terrifying smile.
"As a pirate."
"It came off... What is that?"
"Poison."
Luffy nodded, accepting the short answer. He had no other reaction.
"I see."
"You seem to have some resolve. Pirate battles are wagers of survival. The word 'cowardice' doesn't exist."
The ceiling crumbled. There wasn't much time left before total collapse.
There, they faced off.
Ignoring the destruction around them, their eyes, steely with resolve, reflected only each other.
"No interruptions. One on one."
They locked gazes, enveloped in a brief silence.
The moment a massive falling rock crashed between them, cutting off their line of sight, they moved.
They broke into a run simultaneously.
Luffy sprinted straight ahead. Crocodile quickly sent a blade of sand along the ground, slicing the rock in two, forcing Luffy to jump.
Leaping into the air, Luffy stretched his right arm, grabbed the falling rock, and pulled himself toward it to change trajectory.
He was coming head-on. Convenient, Crocodile thought. He readied the slender poison needle, intending to give the boy a taste of scorpion venom.
Luffy sensed it too.
It was an attack he likely couldn't afford to take. Not even a graze. Because he sensed this, his wariness of the poison needle was far greater than it had been for the hook. He was forced into a situation where he had to be constantly hyper-aware.
As they closed in, the moment arrived.
Crocodile leaped, swinging his arm down, but Luffy rotated his body in mid-air like a somersault. He kicked the extended arm from below, dodging and simultaneously breaking Crocodile's posture.
A split second in the air. The faster one wins.
It was Luffy who landed the next blow first.
Spinning, his punch slammed into Crocodile's gut. A shockwave shuddered through Crocodile's body. Blood was forced from his mouth, raining down onto Luffy.
Then, another blow. Luffy swung his right arm with everything he had.
Catching the cheek again, Crocodile was blown back, crashing headfirst into the ground.
Even if his strength wasn't draining away, being solidified by liquid repeatedly was taking its toll.
Turning into sand was becoming difficult. It wasn't impossible or sealed, but it was a massive handicap. In a battle where milliseconds mattered, he was lagging. He knew his weakness was exposed, but he hadn't expected to take this much of a beating.
Even now. Normally, his sand body would disperse the impact of crashing into the ground. Now, it didn't.
Pushing himself up with his hands, he felt an exhaustion deeper than he predicted.
As he lifted his torso and looked back, Luffy was already diving at him.
He tried to react, but he was too slow.
Flying in with tremendous momentum, Luffy spun and drove a heavy kick into Crocodile's face.
"Uoooooooh—!"
"Gah, hah...?!"
No matter how much pain he inflicted, the brat kept moving. What was his athletic ability? Was his mental fortitude abnormal?
Crocodile didn't think the boy was smart. But that wild, instinctual movement was toying with him.
It was a matter of incompatibility. Against Crocodile, who planned with a brilliant mind and sought perfection, Luffy acted on whim and instinct. This reflected heavily in their combat. The result was a terrible matchup for the Warlord.
If Crocodile kept his cool, he could overwhelm Luffy. But allowing even a single hit let Luffy turn the tables with sheer momentum and spirit.
In terms of skill, Crocodile was superior. But Luffy possessed a heat that surpassed skill.
Luffy chased after Crocodile, who had retreated again.
He couldn't let up. He had to kill Crocodile's momentum.
Crocodile chose to attack before standing.
From his prone position, he swung his right arm, sending a blade of sand racing across the floor.
It was effective; Luffy's expression changed slightly.
"Guh... Desert Spada!"
Recognizing the power to sever the human body, Luffy dodged immediately. Knowing the attack traveled in a straight line, he jumped sideways to create distance.
In that gap, Crocodile stood up.
The moment Luffy started running, the right arm—turned to sand again—swung with full force.
"Don't underestimate me!"
This time, it wasn't just one blade. Multiple blades raced along the ground simultaneously.
Watching the incoming attack, Luffy made a judgment. It was instantaneous, without hesitation. He realized the range was too wide to dodge easily.
So, he dared to jump low.
Jumping too high would create an opening, making him bait for the poison needle. He judged that to be the greater danger.
He leaped, barely skimming the attack. He couldn't avoid it entirely; the sand blades grazed his skin, gouging shallow trails of flesh and sending blood spinning into the air.
It was no longer about logic.
Seeing this reckless figure, willing to choose any means to win, Crocodile's expression grew grim.
They engaged in close quarters once more.
Seeing Luffy approach low to the ground, Crocodile swung his arm up.
In a momentary offense and defense where there was no time to think, they were willing to sacrifice their own bodies.
"Ooooh...!"
"Nngh...!"
Luffy ducked under the poison needle Crocodile swung down.
Stepping in, he delivered a blow. The ferocious fist smashed into Crocodile's stomach. Again, a tremendous shockwave tore through him, but this time was different. He had intended to take it.
Crocodile's right hand clamped onto Luffy's left arm.
Holding him fast, he swung the poison needle down, slashing deeply into Luffy's right shoulder, gouging the flesh.
For a second, as a spray of blood danced in his vision, Luffy's face went blank.
Crocodile didn't intend to end it there. He moved further.
The thought of killing with poison had fallen away. He aimed for the neck, intending to kill with the strike itself.
"Die!"
"Nngh... I won't!"
Trapped by his left arm, unable to escape, Luffy arched his back to dodge the needle aiming for his jugular. Immediately after, he raised his right leg and kicked Crocodile in the torso.
Crocodile vomited blood, but he didn't let go.
Discarding the option to drain Luffy's moisture, he focused entirely on stabbing him to death.
"Uoooooooh!"
Luffy, switching to offense, slammed a punch into Crocodile. Taking it on the side of the head, Crocodile's vision wavered.
His legs were trembling violently, but he ignored it.
Crocodile swung his arm with all his might, but in close quarters, the momentum belonged to Luffy. Luffy ducked, dodging, and drove a right hook into Crocodile's waist. Each blow was surprisingly heavy, sending waves of agony through his body.
Stomping the ground, Luffy's fist smashed into Crocodile's face.
At the exact same moment, the swiftly swung poison needle sliced across Luffy's flank.
Blood surged up from his stomach and burst from his mouth. But Luffy gritted his teeth, and he, too, grabbed Crocodile's right arm, refusing to let go.
Both screaming, they slammed their full power into one another.
The moment the needle gouged deeply into Luffy's chest, a terrifying punch struck Crocodile's chest. The impact blew both of them apart.
They landed awkwardly on their backs, slid slightly, and sprang to their feet with explosive force.
Vomiting blood, they didn't stop moving forward, launching attacks again. A clash of will against will, accompanied by massive amounts of blood, burning their lives fiercely without pause.
Luffy's fully extended arm connected a punch to Crocodile's cheek.
In exchange, Crocodile's right arm turned into a sand blade, slashing Luffy's abdomen.
Their staggering bodies fell simultaneously.
Both were exhausted beyond limits, yet neither tried to stop moving; both tried to stand immediately.
Watching this figure, Crocodile's anger swelled.
Not about ability or the situation. Why go this far? If it was for his friends, he rejected that philosophy as idiotic.
After standing, they faced each other and stopped.
"Huff... Wheeze... Why go to such lengths..."
Because Crocodile had started speaking, Luffy strangely waited for his words.
" 'Nakama' are the most unnecessary things in this world. Are you planning to throw away your life for others? Since you became a pirate, you must have an ambition of your own. Do you intend to discard your true purpose too?"
"You... you don't understand a thing..."
Luffy's mutter made Crocodile's brow twitch.
Crocodile continued.
"If you had abandoned your friends, you wouldn't have to die. Even a princess is nothing but a troublesome spark. That woman you picked up is the ultimate example of that."
"So, you're saying I should dump them?"
"You don't understand anything about her. Used correctly, she could be a terrifying weapon to upset the balance of the world, but the risk is immense. Even if you take her with you, you'll regret it eventually. The day will come when you wish you had abandoned her. She is too much for you to handle."
Hearing this, Luffy fell silent for a moment, as if choosing his words.
Listening to the sound of the collapse, Crocodile refrained from any foolish, sudden attacks.
Eventually, Luffy looked him in the eye and spoke with absolute seriousness.
"Those guys... they say they don't want people to die, but they're the first ones to throw away their lives to save others. If I leave them alone, they'll die. And they won't stop doing it."
"Incomprehensible fools. That is exactly why you should discard such burdens quickly—"
"I won't let them die... because we're nakama!!"
At Luffy's scream, Crocodile stopped speaking.
Shoulders heaving with every breath, Luffy spoke quietly again.
"I will never abandon my friends... No matter who I have to fight, I'll protect them."
"Even if it kills you...?"
"If I die, then I die."
The Mausoleum was collapsing.
The surroundings changed one after another, and amidst it all, the two figures stood still.
The talk was over. It seemed they could never understand each other.
Glaring with intense eyes, they measured the timing to move.
And the moment a particularly massive rock fell, hitting the ground and splitting perfectly in two—
They broke into a run.
-------------------------------
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