"Stop right there, Crocodile!"
Like a human javelin, Luffy, still flying from Ray's kick, accurately smashed into the giant Desert Turtle's head, knocking it out cold.
Robin and Crocodile, being pros, just used their abilities to land gracefully on the sand.
Crocodile was very surprised.
'How is this kid still alive? Who saved him? Could it be...?' His crocodile-like eyes slid over to Robin.
But before he could ask, Luffy slowly stood up, brushed the sand off his straw hat, and plopped it back on his head, glaring.
"Have you prepared yourself for messing with Vivi's country?!"
"Straw Hat Luffy," Crocodile sneered, a mix of annoyance and anger on his face.
"A mere rookie. You think just because our bounties are the same, you can challenge me?" He was a Warlord, a guy who'd once challenged Whitebeard himself.
He wasn't about to be punked by some kid.
Luffy ignored the taunt, clenched his fist, and charged.
'A Marine technique?' Crocodile thought, surprised by Luffy's 'Soru'-like speed.
But he didn't even bother to move.
He just stood there and let Luffy's punch go right through him, turning his torso into sand.
Luffy, still charging, tumbled head over heels like a monkey.
The sand swirled and reformed.
"Your speed is decent," Crocodile drawled. "But not good enough."
Luffy just popped back up, grinning.
"A Logia Devil Fruit, huh? That's troublesome."
This confident reaction actually made Crocodile a little tense.
"I underestimated you, Straw Hat Kid. You actually know about Logia types. Hmm... well, that brat Smoker is also a Logia."
By this time, Robin had already backed off to a safe distance.
She knew that when Crocodile got serious, there was no safe place within a kilometer.
As she left, Crocodile's eyes followed her, full of suspicion and murder.
But he needed her to read the Poneglyphs, so he had to suppress his urge to kill her... for now.
His focus returned to Luffy.
The kid's confidence was unsettlingly familiar.
'Could this brat...?'
Before he could finish the thought, Luffy's form blurred.
"Gear Second: JET PISTOL!"
After his fight with Smoker and Ray's lectures, Luffy knew he needed more than just Haki.
He needed speed.
His steaming, Haki-coated black fist slammed into Crocodile's stomach before the Warlord could turn to sand.
"Guh~"
The Haki-powered punch completely negated the Logia defense.
The force bent Crocodile in half like a shrimp, sending him flying backward, vomiting blood.
…
Meanwhile, about a kilometer away, Ray, Mikita, and Gem were watching the fight.
Ray, completely hidden, nodded slightly. 'That's some improvement.'
But he also had a doubt.
'Is Crocodile really this weak? He's performing worse than Smoker did back in Loguetown. If this is all he's got... I could end this in three seconds.'
But Ray didn't move.
He decided to wait.
His senses told him Crocodile's aura was still strong.
Something was off.
…
Back in Alubarna...
Zoro, Sanji, and the others had finalized a new plan with King Cobra.
Mr. 2 was supposed to impersonate the King and meet the rebel leader, Koza, tomorrow to "negotiate" (and then assassinate him).
The plan required a mix of real guards and Baroque Works agents.
To find out which agents and where they were meeting, they needed to interrogate their prisoner, Mr. 2.
Nami and Usopp were currently... "working" on that.
The others were on standby.
Zoro looked up at the sky, worried about Luffy and Ray.
Not that he doubted Ray's strength, but...
'How are they going to keep Crocodile busy long enough for us to finish the rescue?'
If Ray got impatient and just ended Crocodile, what if the Warlord did something drastic as a final 'screw you'?
…
Back at the crocodile-hunting grounds...
Robin, hiding nearby, watched in shock as Crocodile went flying.
It was the first time she had ever seen him get hurt.
She'd known he'd try to kill her eventually and had a secret plan (water), but she figured her chances were slim to none.
But now... she saw a glimmer of hope.
'If this boy can hurt him... what about Ray, who's rumored to be even stronger? Maybe... maybe they can actually beat him?'
At that thought, her heart started racing.
'Wait... if Strawhat's here, does that mean Ray is nearby too?'
Driven by a sudden, desperate curiosity, Robin activated her ability.
Dozens of eyes sprouted from the sand dunes all around her.
"Found him~" she whispered, spotting Ray, Mikita, and Gem in their hiding spot.
"Hmm. To avoid suspicion, I'll just watch from a distance like this."
...
Ray immediately sensed the new "eyes" popping up from the sand and knew it was Robin.
He didn't react, just kept his focus locked on Luffy's fight.
…
At this moment, Luffy was going all out.
Crocodile was still airborne from the first punch, and Luffy didn't give him a second to recover.
He shot up into the air above him.
"Gum-Gum... JET GATLING!"
A relentless storm of steam-powered, Haki-coated fists hammered Crocodile mercilessly.
At first, it was working; Crocodile's injuries were definitely getting worse.
But as time went on, Luffy sensed something was wrong.
Punches that should have landed... just weren't.
He got that same weird feeling he'd had when fighting Smoker.
'This guy changed.'
Luffy stopped his attack and backed off, needing to figure out what was happening.
Crocodile, meanwhile, was reeling.
His mind was blank. 'This is the first half of the Grand Line! He's a rookie! How does he have Haki?! How can he hit me?!'
As Luffy's Gatling rained down, fragmented memories flashed through Crocodile's mind.
Back when he was a rookie in the New World, he'd learned Haki, too.
He'd beaten countless enemies, even other Logia types.
Then, he ate the Sand-Sand Fruit.
From that moment on, he was a god.
Bullets couldn't hurt him.
Anyone without Haki was a joke.
He got arrogant.
He got the title of Warlord.
He got so confident, he challenged the strongest man in the world, Whitebeard.
And he got crushed.
That defeat broke him.
He realized that no amount of effort could beat a monster like Whitebeard.
So, he gave up on training.
He came back to the Grand Line, obsessed with finding an Ancient Weapon, an external power, to win.
For three years, he'd been ruling this sea, crushing weaklings without even trying.
His Haki... he hadn't used it once.
It had gotten rusty.
Feeling that long-forgotten sting of pain, his dormant Haki finally woke up.
His Observation Haki let him see Luffy's attacks just before they landed, and his Logia body let him morph around the Haki-coated fists.
Crocodile spat out a mouthful of blood and stood up.
"Straw Hat Kid," he growled, "you've pissed me off. Today, I'll make you understand what an insurmountable gap feels like. The kind of gap that effort can never bridge."
…
The moment Crocodile stood up, Ray, watching from a kilometer away, got serious.
He could feel the dormant power in Crocodile finally reawakening.
After assessing it, Ray shook his head.
'I could probably win, but it would take too long. It all depends on how long Luffy can stall.'
He glanced back at Mikita and Gem. "Got the water and meat ready?"
Mikita snapped to attention.
"Yes, Ray-sama!" (She had a giant bag packed with dozens of water barrels.)
Gem nodded, hefting an equally large bag of meat.
Ray knew Crocodile's arrogance.
He wouldn't just kill Luffy; he'd want to crush his spirit, relying on his Devil Fruit.
That pride was the opening.
Ray's plan: let Luffy get beaten, then use his insane resilience (and lots of food) to get him back up, over and over, until time ran out.
The only condition was that Luffy didn't suffer a fatal blow.
…
Luffy's eyes were locked on Crocodile.
He could sense the change in his aura.
He steamed up into Gear Second again, deciding to test the waters.
"Gomu Gomu no... JET WHIP!"
He launched his Haki-coated leg like a whip at Crocodile.
Watching this, Ray knew Luffy messed up.
'He's only coating the striking part. Too little Haki.'
Sure enough, Crocodile just split his body into sand.
He let the Haki-coated part of Luffy's calf fly right through him, while reforming his upper body to grab the unprotected part of Luffy's thigh.
"Crescent Dune!"
A sand-blade slashed across Luffy's leg.
Luffy's leg instantly went numb.
When he retracted it, all the moisture was gone.
It looked like a mummy's leg, just skin and bones.
This was the Sand-Sand Fruit's scariest ability.
The loss of fluids made Luffy dizzy, and he wobbled on his one good leg.
But Gear Second was still pumping, and within seconds, fluid from the rest of his body replenished his leg, restoring it.
He was noticeably thinner, though.
He shook his head, forcing himself to focus.
'Okay, lesson learned. Ranged attacks leave openings. I have to go in close.'
Without hesitation, he charged.
The brawl began.
…
From afar, Ray watched.
In pure hand-to-hand, Luffy was actually doing better.
Crocodile was rusty, and Luffy's non-stop training with Ray gave him the edge in technique.
But Crocodile's Logia evasion was frustrating, and Luffy had to constantly dodge that terrifying right hand.
It was a stalemate... for about an hour.
Then, the tide turned.
Both were exhausted. Luffy's Gear Second wore off, his Haki fading.
In his fatigue, he slipped up.
Crocodile's right hand shot out and seized him by the throat.
Robin, watching from her hiding spot, broke into a cold sweat.
She knew exactly what that right hand did.
Crocodile laughed, lifting Luffy off the ground.
"Hahaha! I was right! Devil Fruit abilities! This is true strength! Haki? Combat skills? Where's all that fight now, Straw Hat?"
Crocodile had been holding back.
He wanted to prove that even half-assing it, he was on another level.
He reaffirmed his belief: only external power mattered.
(To Ray, this was just the sad self-deception of a weakling who'd given up.)
…
Hearing the taunts, Luffy mustered his last dregs of strength, coated his fist in the faint remnants of Haki, and punched Crocodile in the face.
It was a feeble hit, barely turning the Warlord's head.
"It's over, Straw Hat Kid. You were never on my level."
Crocodile activated his ability.
A second later, Luffy was a dried-out, mummified husk, tossed aside like trash.
Crocodile called for Robin, woke up his fainted Desert Turtle, and resumed his march towards Alubarna.
Out in the desolate wilderness, the 81,000,000-Berry rookie, Monkey D. Luffy... Condition unknown.