Luffy caught the thrusting left arm with his foot, applying his full weight to stomp it down.
He smashed the troublesome poison hook into the ground, snapping it clean off. Crocodile gritted his teeth in that instant. At the very least, he could no longer inject the venom.
Luffy kicked off the ground, backflipping away from Crocodile, who had instantly formed a blade of sand with his remaining right arm to retaliate.
But the moment Luffy landed, his expression—already pained—changed drastically.
Suddenly, his knees gave way, and his body convulsed violently.
It was not of his own volition. The scorpion venom injected by Crocodile's hook was wreaking havoc on his flesh. His complexion turned ghastly pale before one's eyes, strength draining from his limbs until he could neither stand nor even speak.
Without even an attempt to rise, he collapsed.
"Kukkuku... Kuhahahaha."
Crocodile laughed.
He had been a troublesome enemy, but this was the end. The settlement had finally been reached.
"I told you, Straw Hat Luffy. It was a matter of whether or not... you could beat me."
He looked down at the fallen boy with a smile.
Luffy's breathing was clearly ragged, the sound erratic, and the trembling did not stop. Paralyzed, Luffy desperately tried to turn his eyes toward Crocodile, but it was doubtful he could even see; lifting his heavy eyelids was the extent of his resistance.
It was impressive he had moved at all after taking the scorpion venom. But the more violently he moved, the faster the poison circulated through his system. This outcome was inevitable.
Observing him coolly, Crocodile gave him his due recognition.
"I'll give you credit for making me shed this much blood. For a rookie, the result is far beyond expectations."
His voice was triumphant, losing none of its composure, asserting the difference in their standing.
"But this is as far as you go. Looking at the result, nothing has changed."
"Gah... Cough...!"
A mere cough brought up blood. Luffy, having reached his limit, looked pitifully fragile.
Crocodile could have watched him die of the poison, but the boy's vitality was something to be feared. For the sake of the future, he decided he should end it permanently right now.
That he had made a Warlord of the Sea think this way was undeniably an achievement.
However, unable to move even a finger, Luffy could not utter a sound.
"You'll die regardless, but just to be sure. I will dispose of you with my own hands."
As he spoke, a knife blade sprang from the wreckage of the shattered poison hook.
Crocodile began to walk, closing in on the immobilized Luffy.
Was it a finishing blow, or was it mercy?
From the crumbling ceiling, a massive boulder fell.
Suddenly, it crashed directly onto Luffy, crushing him as if to swallow him whole. With a thunderous roar right before Crocodile's eyes, the boy vanished, leaving only a single arm visible.
Crocodile, who had been ready to deliver the final strike, felt his mood sour.
Wearing a look of boredom, he turned away quietly.
Turning his back on Luffy, he prepared to leave.
"Hmph... No matter. You couldn't move in that state anyway. Enjoy your final moments as best you can."
Unafraid of the collapsing mausoleum, he began to walk. After a few steps, he transformed his entire body into sand and vanished from the space. There was no telling where he headed.
Falling rocks threatened to bury the Holy Mausoleum completely.
The collapse was steadily progressing.
Miss All Sunday, who had used her powers to move and was sitting with her back against a wall, had watched the entire sequence.
Her usual smile was gone; she seemed to be thinking deeply about something.
Sometimes, people take actions they never expected of themselves.
For her, that time was now. Crossing her arms in front of her chest, she activated her ability.
Countless arms sprouted from the ground, attempting to move the particularly large boulder, while others gripped the single visible arm of the boy, pulling with strength. She was trying to save Luffy.
Why she was doing so remained a mystery even to her, yet she acted to save him.
Hers was a life she had already given up on. It wasn't that she wanted to salvage it now.
And yet, for some reason, she was performing the futile act of saving a stranger.
Finding it strange herself, Miss All Sunday did not stop using her powers.
It was a struggle, and it took time, but she managed to pull Luffy free. The hands lined up on the ground passed his body along one after another, delivering him to Miss All Sunday.
She laid him down next to her and checked his condition.
His eyes were closed, but he was breathing. He was still alive. She felt a strong will to live radiating from him, accepting that it was natural for a Warlord to be wary of such vitality.
She reached into her coat and pulled out a small vial. Inside was a liquid.
Just in case. She had kept the antidote to Crocodile's poison for herself. In the end, she hadn't needed it, which meant it could be used for him.
She pulled him closer, resting his head on her lap. Uncorking the vial, she poured the contents into his mouth.
Perhaps it was his will to live, but Luffy swallowed the liquid on his own.
Given a little time, he would likely be able to move again. Absentmindedly, she stroked his hair, which was matted red with blood.
He was shorter than she was. With such a small body, he had cornered that man, Crocodile?
As she was lost in sentiment, Luffy opened his eyes, looking in pain.
Finding her face directly above him, he likely realized he had been saved. Moving a mouth that was still paralyzed and sluggish, he managed to thank Miss All Sunday.
The state of being near death moves the human heart more than one might expect.
Meeting his gaze, Miss All Sunday was washed over by a strange sensation.
"Hah... Cough... Thank... you...!"
"Think nothing of it. It was merely out of curiosity."
She wasn't exactly unharmed herself, having been stabbed through the chest. But compared to him, her wounds were far lighter, so she naturally took the lead.
Rocks continued to crash into the ground one after another, playing a cacophony of destruction.
The Poneglyph, too, would likely sleep here, unseen by anyone else. There was a certain loneliness in that thought.
Though she couldn't take it with her, she found herself hating the idea of it being buried without witness. When she realized this, Miss All Sunday felt a sense of dissonance.
Why had she pulled the pillar to cause the collapse?
She had thought it was to bury her own corpse here.
Whether she died from the stab wound or was crushed by rocks, she intended to be buried here. With the Poneglyph. She had believed that until moments ago, but now, something was slightly different.
She thought it lonely that the Poneglyph would be buried.
That sounded as if she alone intended to escape this vast grave.
I thought I wanted to be together with it.
She, who had felt nothing regarding her own death, was now confused by the shift in her own thoughts. Come to think of it, saving Luffy was an odd thing to do as well.
Hearing a wet coughing sound, she noticed Luffy's distress. Since he was lying on his back facing up, the blood welling up couldn't be expelled; it was bubbling and stagnating at his lips.
Without a second thought, Miss All Sunday pressed her lips to his.
She sucked out the blood and spat it onto the ground nearby.
After repeating this a few times, Luffy's breathing settled, and he opened his eyes dimly once more.
She touched her fingers to her own lips, looking at the blood adhering to them.
What strange things I am doing. Why am I trying to save him?
She didn't know the reason. But for some reason, she couldn't abandon him now.
She even found herself wishing for him to escape this hole. Without voicing that wish, she spoke to him.
"May I ask something?"
"Hah... Cough. Hah..."
"Why do you fight? You, who bear the name of D."
Peering into his eyes as she asked, she saw only confusion on his weakened face.
"D...?"
Hearing his strained voice, she concluded he didn't know.
She didn't ask about it again.
"Can you... beat Crocodile?"
" Cough... Next time... I won't lose...!"
"I see."
Seeing a rock fall right beside them, Miss All Sunday made her decision.
"I shouldn't have looked at you. If I hadn't, I wouldn't be feeling this way."
Miss All Sunday stood up and hoisted Luffy onto her back.
She thought it was a foolish action. But following her intuition, she wanted to see the future. That moment was also the moment she affirmed her own will to live.
She began to walk, turning her back on the Poneglyph she had sought for so long, carrying Luffy away.
She didn't know what would happen next. But before she knew it, a soft smile had returned to her lips.
Having exited the Underground Mausoleum, Crocodile first climbed to a high vantage point to check the plaza in front of the Royal Palace.
Confirming that it hadn't been blown away, he wore a grave expression. It was a face he showed to no one, but now that he was alone, it was exposed.
According to the original plan, it should have been obliterated by now. True, he hadn't felt the shock of an explosion while underground, so he had suspected as much, but he wasn't pleased.
As he predicted, he must have stopped it.
His grim expression did not soften.
It was a contingency he had anticipated. He shifted his mindset surprisingly fast.
His eyes changed, instantly reverting to his usual self.
"Foolish man... getting influenced like that."
Muttering this, he jumped down, falling with gravity before turning into sand in mid-air to land safely.
He began walking toward the plaza.
He had meant to polish it to perfection. If there was a catalyst for change, it was only one thing.
He thought he had discarded such sentiments, yet here he was thinking about it.
His vision hallucinated a scene from days gone by.
Obtaining the Ancient Weapon and taking the nation was not the end. He had eyes on a greater ambition beyond that. He had been preparing from the start with that in mind.
The "Masterpiece" was a tool meant to achieve that goal.
Eventually, it would become a war asset capable of countering threats far greater than Alabasta. By that time, both "Awakening" and "Haki" would have been perfected.
In short, leaving the weakness to water, and the fact that he didn't know Haki, was all based on the assumption of a temporary departure.
When he returned, the completion would happen. That was the intention.
"Let's settle this. This is the end."
Whether the plan had collapsed, or it only appeared that way, there was no answer yet.
Either way, he would accomplish the takeover of the country. That was decided and would not waver.
Crocodile hurried toward the plaza, putting strength into his steps to end it with his own hands. His eyes had regained the sharpness of his days as a mere pirate, and he marched forward, clad in an extraordinary intensity.
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