"It vanished all of a sudden? What happened?"
The sand twister's eerie disappearance made the trailing Crocodile pause in surprise.
His plan had been to wipe out Yami's group with a sandstorm, then make a grand entrance to "rescue" Robin, using force and his crew to coerce her into becoming his subordinate.
Just as Yami had recognized Robin at a glance, Crocodile recognized her instantly as well.
Yami had probed first, then used mind-reading to confirm Robin's identity.
Crocodile needed only a hurried glance to be sure.
Crocodile had been searching for Robin all along; with underworld eyes in West Blue, he knew what she looked like as an adult.
Had Robin not entered the Grand Line this year, Crocodile would have gone to West Blue to find her after completing his secret survey in Alabasta.
As it turned out, he didn't need to go—his target delivered herself.
Crocodile certainly wouldn't let that chance slip.
As for the people around Robin, he didn't spare them a thought.
To be precise, pirates of the Four Seas and the first half of the Grand Line were beneath Crocodile's notice.
Logia users are habitually arrogant.
"Brat, where did you hide Nico Robin?"
With his lower body turned to sand to skim low over the desert, Crocodile swept up to Yami.
He saw only Yami; Robin and the two girls were gone.
Having temporarily lost his Haki, Crocodile couldn't sense their presence at all, so he growled at Yami, "Hand her over and I'll spare your life."
"Spare my life?"
Yami looked at him as if he'd heard a joke. "Are all Warlords of the Sea this arrogant? And all Logia users this blind?"
"...Brat, who are you?"
Crocodile's eyes narrowed; he finally took Yami seriously.
He'd recognized a Logia user at a glance, yet the kid showed no fear—only utter confidence.
Not an idiot—a strong one.
So which was he?
A second later, Crocodile's face changed; he had his answer.
"You're not qualified to know my name—Dark Vortex!"
Even more brazen than Crocodile, Yami raised a hand and barked the technique.
Invisible gravity became an unseen giant hand, yanking Crocodile toward him.
"Gravity?"
Crocodile was caught off guard.
The next instant, he understood what that force was doing.
He turned his right arm to sand and slashed at Yami from a distance.
The moment the sand left him, it swelled into a massive sand blade, keen enough to cleave the ground, scything for Yami.
Yami only smiled, a plot fulfilled.
Amplify—Thirtyfold Speed—Soru!
He cut off Dark Vortex and vanished in an instant.
When he reappeared, he was behind Crocodile.
"Dark Vortex!"
Gravity seized Crocodile again, and before he could react Yami's hand clamped onto his shoulder.
The lower body that had been sand and afloat instantly returned to flesh.
More terrifying, his Logia Suna Suna no Mi powers were gone.
He couldn't elementalize; he couldn't turn to sand at all.
Even so, Crocodile struck on instinct, jabbing his left-hand golden hook at Yami.
Clang!
A bizarre sight filled Crocodile's eyes.
Yami neither dodged nor blocked.
The poison-tipped hook struck his body; it didn't pierce, didn't even leave a mark—only rang like metal on metal.
It was as if Yami's body wasn't flesh at all, but steel.
"That was Rokushiki... are you CP?"
Stripped of his fruit and unable to injure Yami, Crocodile blurted, "I am a Warlord of the Sea—you can't kill me!"
"Too bad. I'm not."
Yami grinned. His hand on Crocodile's shoulder was like an unbreakable lock; pain lanced through him and he couldn't break free.
Thud!
Yami didn't injure him; controlling his strength, he chopped him once and knocked the now-mundane Crocodile out.
To be sure Crocodile was truly unconscious, Yami used his other hand to read his mind and check his state.
Confirming he was out cold, Yami opened an air door and let Carina, Nami, and Robin out of the pocket space.
"A Warlord of the Sea?"
They looked at the unconscious Crocodile, his powers still sealed by Dark Vortex.
Nami clicked her tongue. "One of only seven sanctioned great pirates on the seas, and he went down that easily?"
"Ufufufu... it's not that he's weak—Master's too strong," Carina laughed. "Anyone who's a Devil Fruit user and doesn't know Master's intel will be caught off guard by Dark Vortex."
"True. Ability users are used to fighting with their fruits; suddenly losing them, no one can adapt," Robin nodded.
When Yami grabbed her and stripped away the Hana Hana no Mi, she'd felt even more helpless than Crocodile.
Dark Vortex was that absolute—and that nasty.
Ace, Luffy, Whitebeard, even Hancock—at their first encounter with Dark Vortex, each had suffered for it.
If not for Rayleigh's timely save, Hancock might have perished.
Now Crocodile, like Hancock in the original tale, had been ambushed and one-shotted by Yami's Dark Vortex.
"A Warlord showing up in a member nation but not in the capital Alubarna—he must be plotting something," Yami said.
He looked at Robin and asked, knowingly, "Robin, you seem to be his goal. Do you know him?"
"I don't know him. Maybe he wants to hand me to the World Government. He is their lapdog, after all," Robin shook her head.
In truth, Robin faintly guessed his purpose.
Not to curry favor by turning her in, but for the ancient weapons of legend.
"Mm. Not knowing is fine."
Yami nodded, then looked to Carina. "Carina, I've got two options. Want to hear them?"
"Options?"
Carina asked curiously, not understanding why the topic had suddenly shifted to her.
Nami and Robin also looked at Yami in silence.