Crocodile was already waiting on shore for Kairo D. Arashi!
A cigar hung from the corner of his mouth as he slightly raised his chin, looking coldly and arrogantly at Kairo and the three others who had jumped down from the Traveler.
Although Kairo had displayed tremendous strength aboard the ship, Crocodile remained completely confident once they were on land. After all, he was the King of the Desert. As long as his feet touched solid ground, even if there wasn't a desert around, he could create one himself. And within a desert, he was the absolute ruler!
Of course, it was precisely this excessive confidence that had once driven him to challenge Whitebeard and suffer a crushing defeat, leaving him in his current state. At present, Crocodile was indeed rather down on his luck. Although he had already taken the first step in his grand plan and secretly established Baroque Works, at the moment he was still little more than a commander without an army.
"I've changed my mind."
"If you lose, besides letting my little girl splash you with a bucket of seawater, you'll also have to learn something from me."
"Learn something?" Crocodile's eyes narrowed slightly. "What?"
"You've probably never heard of it, but that doesn't matter. If you lose, I'll teach it to you, and then you'll recite it from beginning to end."
Kairo smiled faintly.
"Simple, isn't it? That's a pretty good deal for you. After all, if you win, you can do whatever you want with me."
"Fine."
Crocodile had no intention of wasting any more time.
"Come on!"
The instant the words left his mouth, Crocodile bent down and slammed both hands onto the ground.
"Ground Secco!"
BOOM!!
A deafening roar erupted.
An invisible shockwave spread outward from Crocodile's body in every direction. Wherever it passed, whether it was the earth, rocks, or the vegetation growing across the grasslands, everything had its moisture instantly drained away before rapidly turning into sand.
In the blink of an eye, the ground within several hundred meters had become a desert, and it continued spreading outward at an astonishing rate.
"Wow! It really turned into a desert!"
Standing behind Kairo, Perona stared wide-eyed as the lush ground dried up and transformed into endless sand.
"No wonder he was so limited while fighting at sea."
"Hahaha! Here I come!"
Kairo laughed heartily before lowering his stance slightly.
Armament Haki and Observation Haki activated almost simultaneously.
Then his figure vanished.
When he reappeared, he was already directly above Crocodile.
The next instant, one of the Navy's Six Powers techniques—
Rankyaku!
A violent crescent kick packed with overwhelming force slashed toward Crocodile's head like a bolt of lightning.
Having already witnessed Kairo's terrifying speed, Crocodile naturally wouldn't give him another opportunity. The moment Kairo's kick descended, Crocodile's body completely transformed into sand and merged into the desert below.
But the instant he dispersed into the sand, Kairo's Observation Haki had already locked onto him.
As Crocodile's sand flowed beneath the surface, Kairo followed him like a shadow.
Then, withdrawing his Rankyaku, Kairo flicked a finger toward the swirling sandstorm.
"Finger Pistol!"
The moment the words fell, a faint piercing sound rang out.
Immediately afterward, Crocodile's sand body was forced back into human form and blasted out of the ground.
"You won't have the chance to use Desert Spada."
"A friendly reminder—you can only save your life now with Desert Greatsword."
Even as Crocodile was still flying backward, the long sword at Kairo's waist flashed from its sheath.
A dazzling sword slash bloomed across the sky.
"Ah!!"
The brilliant slash cut through the air before crashing down.
In an instant, the overwhelming sword wave split the newly formed desert in two, carving a massive canyon through the earth as it hurtled straight toward Crocodile.
Having just slammed into the ground, Crocodile looked at the terrifying slash rushing toward him with horror.
With no possibility of dodging, he reacted at unbelievable speed, instantly condensing a gigantic sword made entirely of sand before himself.
"Desert Greatsword!"
BOOM—!!
A thunderous collision echoed across the heavens.
The Desert Greatsword that had only just taken shape shattered into countless fragments.
"Urgh!"
At the same moment it broke apart, Crocodile could no longer suppress the blood surging in his chest.
He spat out a mouthful of blood before being blasted backward once again.
After flying another twenty or thirty meters, he crashed heavily onto the ground.
Spitting out another mouthful of blood, Crocodile raised his head to look at Kairo, who had already sheathed his sword.
His face was filled with disbelief.
"How is that possible?! You actually predicted my attack!"
What shocked Crocodile wasn't that Kairo had sent him flying with a single slash.
It was that before he had even used Desert Spada, Kairo had already anticipated exactly what he intended to do—and had even told him that Desert Greatsword was his only way to survive.
When Kairo's slash had descended just now, the only technique Crocodile could think of was Desert Greatsword.
Had he not used it to block the attack, he would already have been split clean in half.
Not only had Kairo predicted his move...
He had even chosen Crocodile's escape route for him.
This man was simply terrifying.
"You've lost, Crocodile."
After sheathing his sword, Kairo casually brushed the sand off his clothes.
"Now then..."
"Please accept the punishment for your defeat."
The moment Kairo finished speaking, Perona—who had long since been waiting impatiently—immediately rushed toward Crocodile carrying a bucket of seawater.
Still unable to recover from the shock of Kairo's bizarre yet overwhelming strength, Crocodile's eyes widened the instant he saw Perona approaching.
"Don't come any closer!"
"What? Afraid now?"
Perona didn't slow down in the slightest as she ran toward him, shouting,
"If you try to go back on your word, Kairo will kill you!"
"...!!"
Crocodile stared at Perona with an ugly expression.
If this had been in the past, he would undoubtedly have seized the opportunity to capture Perona and use her as a hostage against Kairo.
But now...
He had no intention of doing such a thing.
His instincts told him that if he made that choice, he would not live to see tomorrow.
Moreover, from beginning to end, he had never sensed any killing intent from Kairo.
It was as though everything that had just happened was nothing more than a game to him.
Of course, that didn't mean Crocodile intended to renege on the wager.
A loss was a loss.
It wasn't as though he had never been defeated before.
Taking a deep breath, Crocodile's tone softened somewhat.
"No need for you to splash me."
"I'll do it myself."
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