"Crocodile, are you trying to meddle in everything? You're the true mastermind behind the Baroque Works. For all these years, you've been lurking in Alabasta, playing the role of some false hero. What exactly are you planning? What's your true purpose?"
Vivi's furious voice echoed beneath the desert sky.
"Guhahaha! Don't get so worked up, Miss Wednesday—or rather, should I call you Princess Vivi of Alabasta?"
The Warlord of the Sea, G. Locke Dahl, spoke with calm arrogance.
"As a former officer of Baroque Works, you should already know what the organization seeks. But at this point, talking about it makes little sense…"
His words trailed off as he shifted the subject.
"Still, Princess Vivi, I have to admit—you've gathered some impressive allies. I've been planning this for years, and thanks to your meddling, all of it is about to fall apart!"
"Since you understand how strong we are, why don't you just surrender? Maybe if you're lucky, you'll walk away with your life!" Nami shouted, her tone sharp with threat.
"Who do you think you're talking to? I am one of the Shichibukai! Now that you know my secret, none of you will leave this place alive!"
Locke Dahl's words cut like steel, his tone cold and final. Though his heart was unsettled, his posture betrayed no weakness. His pride refused to bend.
"Shichibukai? Then let me see just how powerful you really are!"
Erza's eyes blazed with fighting spirit, unshaken by Crocodile s intimidation.
"Wait, Erza."
In a flash of lightning, Sugisawa Yuuto appeared at her side, placing a steady hand on her shoulder.
"You've all worked hard enough. Head back to the ship and get some rest. Leave the finishing blow to me."
Yuuto's calm smile carried both reassurance and unshakable confidence.
"Yes, President!" Juvia answered sweetly, her tone obedient.
"President, you'd better beat that bastard into the ground!" Nami added, waving a small fist.
"Then we'll leave it to you," Erza said, suppressing her eagerness for battle.
Yuuto turned toward Crocodile , who stood tall upon the jagged outcrop of sandstone.
"Enough talk. Let's settle this."
Before Locke Dahl even registered his words, Yuuto's figure blurred—lightning cracking through the air as he closed the distance in an instant.
Startled, Crocodile reacted quickly, his hand sweeping forward to unleash a blade of whirling sand.
Boom!
The massive outcrop split cleanly in two. Yuuto's form seemed to be cleaved in half as well—yet no blood followed. What Locke Dahl had struck was nothing but an afterimage, lightning fading into the air.
"Desert Vajra Sabers!"
His arms and hands shifted into blades of hardened sand, four weapons gleaming under the sun. Spinning violently, he unleashed a flurry of slashing strikes in every direction.
Though made of sand, each blade carried the sharpness of forged steel, easily tearing through the solid rock walls surrounding them.
Then—
Boom!
A thunderous impact like war drums erupted as golden lightning clashed against the desert sabers. Yuuto's Thunder Fist smashed into Locke Dahl's blades, sending shockwaves through the rocky plateau.
For an instant, the two forces held. Then, under the overwhelming might of Yuuto's strike, one of the sand blades cracked, shattering with explosive force.
Locke Dahl was hurled backward, tumbling until he regained his footing atop a distant outcrop a hundred meters away. Arcs of electricity crawled across his body, leaving his muscles twitching in paralysis.
But with effort, he forced the lightning into the sand beneath his feet, grounding its charge.
"Good… good. Come on then, show me more! Let me enjoy this fight!"
Yuuto raised his right hand, lightning weaving into the shape of a spear that hummed with lethal energy.
He flicked it forward, the golden current lancing through the air in a blink, striking Locke Dahl in a violent burst of sparks and smoke.
As the sandstorm cleared, the warlord reformed his body, his expression twisted and grim, blackened with fury.
"Desert Storm!"
Roaring, he summoned a raging cyclone of sand. The tornado howled across the wasteland, swallowing entire boulders, grinding them to dust before hurling the fragments like bullets faster than the eye could follow.
Caught within such a storm, any ordinary human would be shredded to ribbons within seconds.
"As expected of a Shichibukai… his power is no joke," Erza muttered gravely.
"But it's pointless. Attacks like that can't even touch the President's clothes. No matter how strong, what use is a strike that never lands?" Nami said with cool confidence.
Yet her words froze in her throat when Yuuto suddenly charged headlong into the storm itself.
"President Yuuto! What are you—?!" Vivi's eyes widened in horror, panic written across her face.
"Relax, Princess. That's the President." Mirajane's lips curved into a gentle smile. "If he's going in, it means he's absolutely certain."
And she was right.
It had been nearly four months since Yuuto was drawn into this world of pirates. Locke Dahl was the first opponent of true caliber he had encountered—a foe worthy of facing him seriously.
For the first time, Yuuto wanted to savor the battle.
Inside the furious cyclone, Yuuto stood calm amidst the chaos. The gale tore his clothes, but not even the fastest shards of stone could pierce his body. Golden lightning danced across his skin like armor forged of thunder.
With a single thought, the lightning around him expanded outward in a dazzling storm, shredding the tornado apart in an instant.
He stood radiant, a living god of thunder, lightning exploding in every direction, the desert trembling under his unleashed power.
When the storm finally subsided, both combatants still stood—Yuuto, calm and composed, and Locke Dahl, his breath ragged, sweat beading on his brow.
"Haah…" Locke Dahl exhaled sharply, forcing down the tremors in his chest.
"That's enough," Yuuto said flatly, his golden eyes unwavering.
"Sand and thunder… our abilities cancel each other out. We can't decide a winner like this," Locke Dahl growled, though the unease in his voice betrayed him.