"What?!" Vivi screamed.
"Vivi!" the others cried out in shock.
"Crocodile!" Luffy's pupils shrank. It couldn't have been anyone else. He must have noticed them leaving the basement and had come back. "Let her go!" Luffy immediately shot out a Gum-Gum Pistol, punching a hole through the arm that was holding Vivi and saving her. But his arm just turned to sand and quickly reformed.
"A Devil Fruit user," the others all thought, their hearts sinking.
"Straw Hat crew," Crocodile sneered. "You really have a knack for escaping from cages. But the show has already begun. How can I let you destroy it?"
At that moment, Robin also appeared. Her gaze fell on Moonlight, and her eyes couldn't help but shrink.
"Leave it to me," Crocodile said, and with a wave of his hand, a cloud of sand shot towards them. He was going to keep them all here.
But at that moment, a figure suddenly flashed through the air, cutting the sand with a single sword slash. The Pheasant Sword shone with a dazzling brilliance in the sun, and Moonlight, holding the sword diagonally, said with a slight smile, "How can I let you disturb our captain the moment I arrive?"
"Moonlight! We're leaving it to you!" the others all shouted. Luffy also nodded. They couldn't get bogged down here; they had to get to the royal capital as soon as possible.
"Are you the swordsman Robin told me about?" a cold light flashed in Crocodile's eyes, and he looked Moonlight up and down with a look of disdain. "Do you really think you can stop me? Today, I will turn all of you Straw Hats to sand." With that, he stretched out his right hand, and it suddenly turned into a massive sand blade. "Desert Spada!"
The blade was awe-inspiring, and the desert land was split open, revealing a crack that was several meters deep. The blade, full of a terrifying aura, shot straight towards Moonlight and the others. He was going to kill all of them, including Moonlight, with a single blow.
But Moonlight just raised the Pheasant Sword. "Three-Stage Cut!"
WHOOSH!
A crescent-shaped wave of sword energy shot out, hitting the massive sand blade head-on.
BOOM!
As if gunpowder had exploded, the sword energy surged, and the sand blade was suddenly cut off. The sword energy, not yet exhausted, shot across the sandy fault and slammed into Crocodile.
BOOM!
Crocodile's upper body was suddenly beheaded, and it turned into a sky full of sand, scattered all over. The sword energy roared, and an invisible wave swept away, and the surrounding sand seemed to have been severely cut, with sand pits everywhere, a frightening sight. Three-Stage Cut versus Desert Spada... Moonlight had won by a landslide.
But at that moment, Crocodile's beheaded upper body suddenly condensed, and his whole body, filled with sand, instantly recovered. "That was a powerful slash," he said, his face now grim. "No wonder Robin was so impressed. But you can't hurt me." Though it had only been a single blow, the strength Moonlight had displayed made him feel that this would be an extremely difficult fight. It even seemed that Moonlight's strength was greater than his own.
Moonlight ignored him and looked at Robin, extending an invitation. "Robin, what about it? I said we would meet again. What have you decided? Join us." Unlike Luffy and the others, his biggest goal was Robin. Now that he had the Poneglyph rubbing, he had to get her on board, no matter what.
But before Robin could speak, Crocodile laughed angrily. He stretched out his right hand, and a small sandstorm condensed in his palm. He threw it out, and it suddenly expanded into a massive, roaring, raging sandstorm. "In front of my face, you're trying to poach my subordinate? There's a limit to how much you can look down on people," he roared. "Sables!"
"A sandstorm?" Moonlight's heart suddenly became clear. "You can manipulate the sand freely, and your body turns to sand. It seems you've eaten a Devil Fruit that allows you to control sand freely. Then you are a Logia-type, a Sand-Man."
"That's right," Crocodile sneered. "I ate the Sand-Sand Fruit. I can turn my body into sand, so no matter how you attack, it will be in vain. Instead, you will eventually be killed by me."
Robin's gaze moved. It was the first time she had ever seen someone who could face Crocodile head-on, especially after he had so boldly invited her again. This man... why did he want her so much?
"No matter how I attack, it's in vain?" Moonlight said with a cold smile. "Crocodile, though you are one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, you're a bit too arrogant to be saying that." He enveloped the Pheasant Sword in his Armament Haki and slammed it down. "Sword Draw!"
A fan-shaped wave of energy, like a crescent moon, shot out, moving as fast as lightning, more than twice as fast as before. It was so fast that it was difficult to even react. The sandstorm in front of him was cut off at once, and Crocodile's body was sliced in two. Though he quickly recovered and reunited his body, this time, blood was shed. He was obviously injured.
"What?!" Robin couldn't help but be surprised. It was the first time she had ever seen Crocodile injured. Moonlight could actually hurt him, a Logia-type.
"Haki," Crocodile's pupils tightened. "I never expected you to have Haki, and such powerful Haki at that." He knew what Haki was, but he had never expected to find someone in this place who had mastered it to such a powerful degree.
"There are many things you don't know about in this sea, Crocodile," Moonlight said faintly, raising the Pheasant Sword again.
"Don't get ahead of yourself," Crocodile sneered. "Just because you have Haki doesn't mean you can beat me. Don't dream." He suddenly pressed his hand on the ground. "Desert Girasole!"
The sand at Moonlight's feet began to flow quickly, and a sunflower-shaped quicksand pit, ten meters in radius, formed beneath him. The sand flowed extremely fast, and Moonlight was immediately entangled, his body sinking down. But the next moment, the sand burst, and another sword slash shot out from the sand, splitting the quicksand in two and slashing towards Crocodile. He was cut again, and the sand flow slowed, and Moonlight took the opportunity to jump out. Every time Moonlight made a move, he couldn't avoid it at all, and his sword energy was incredibly fast. He was injured again.
"Go!" But this time, after he recovered, he immediately turned into yellow sand and, grabbing Robin, quickly fled. The man in front of him was too powerful; he couldn't do anything at all. If he stayed any longer, he was afraid he would really be killed.
"He's worthy of being a Logia-type Devil Fruit user," Moonlight said, shaking his head. "It's really hard to kill him. Unless you can kill him in an instant, his terrifying recovery ability is enough to recover in an instant." He didn't pursue him. It was very difficult to completely kill a Logia-type user. At least, with his current Haki and sword skills, he couldn't do it yet. He immediately set off for the capital. Luffy and the others were one step ahead; at their speed, they were probably almost there now.
When he arrived in the capital of Alubarna, the entire city was already engulfed in the flames of war. Everywhere, people were desperately fighting, and the sound of killing shook the sky. "Crocodile... this is all because of you," he muttered to himself. Though he had been reborn as a human, and he knew that in this world, in this sea, human lives were the most worthless thing, to experience it personally... his heart trembled violently. The people who were constantly dying in front of his eyes were all living people, fresh lives. A murderous intent began to boil in his heart.
"Luffy, Vivi, Nami..." Moonlight couldn't help but shout. But the only answer he got was the terrifying sound of fighting. He immediately extended his Observation Haki, and a large net of perception, centered on himself, covered the entire city of Alubarna. He immediately saw a lot of things. Usopp and Chopper were fighting hard, Nami was in danger, Zoro was desperately fighting against an enemy, and Sanji was relaxed, but still maintaining his advantage. Luffy and Vivi were at the commanding heights of the king's palace, fighting a life-and-death battle with Crocodile, who was overlooking everything that was happening below, while Robin was leading the king in a certain direction.
"Fortunately, everyone is fine," he breathed a sigh of relief. He then immediately headed in the direction of Nami. Among all of them, she was the weakest. And at this moment, she was in a life-or-death situation.
Nami was holding a weather staff made by Usopp and fighting a life-and-death battle with an enemy. This was her weapon. Along the way, as she had encountered more and more dangers, she had begun to think about her own fighting style. Even if she couldn't defeat the enemy, she couldn't hold them back. So, she had talked to Usopp, and the Clima-Tact had been born. But the woman with a blue wavy head in front of her was too powerful. Her body was covered with extremely sharp thorns, and Nami's body was already covered in wounds. She was at her limit.
"Miss Doublefinger is too powerful," Nami thought to herself. "Her sharp thorns are like steel. I'm no match for her at all. But no matter what, this is the last blow." She seemed to have made up her mind, her eyes firm.
Stab!
At that moment, a sharp, long thorn penetrated the wall where she was, and broke out of her chest. She was penetrated all at once.
"It's useless. You're just an ordinary person," Miss Doublefinger said, looking at her with a joking expression. "How can you be my opponent? I am a user of the Spike-Spike Fruit, and I can become extremely sharp, comparable to the hardness of steel." The gap between a Devil Fruit user and an ordinary person was like the gap between an elephant and an ant. In front of her, Nami was an ant. She had been playing with her from the beginning.
"Really? If you think so, you're wrong," Nami said, trying to endure the pain of being pierced. She suddenly smiled, a look of triumph on her face, and the weather staff in her hand suddenly began to dance. A dark cloud appeared silently above her head.
Zzzzt!
A faint flash of lightning flickered in the dark clouds.
"What is that?" Miss Doublefinger asked, curious.
At that time, Nami had already forcibly broken away and escaped. The next moment, a bolt of lightning fell, and Miss Doublefinger was struck. "Aaaah!" she screamed, and fell to the ground, trembling. Seeing this, Nami was relieved. She had tried her best. If she couldn't defeat her opponent, she was afraid it would be over.
But at that moment, Miss Doublefinger suddenly stood up. Though the lightning strike was fierce, she was a person with the power of a Devil Fruit. Though the lightning had hurt her, it couldn't take her life.
"You!" Nami couldn't help but despair.
"I never expected a mere ant to be able to do this," Miss Doublefinger said, her face now savage, even a little mad. "But that's as far as you go. The gap between you and me is really too big. In any case, there will be no possibility of a comeback. Now, I will send you on your way." She had almost fallen for Nami's trick. The ant she had been playing with had almost turned the tables on her. Now, she would no longer talk nonsense. Her body was full of thorns, and she was going to