One Piece: My Crew Uses Zanpakuto

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"Nami! Nojiko! You're okay!" Vivi exclaimed, looking up in surprise as Nami and Nojiko descended on the one-eyed manta ray transformed from Nojiko's Minazuki.

At that moment, the sword in Nami's hand had transformed into its Shikai state - Gonryōmaru had become a western-style blade crackling with electricity. Vivi realized that the purple lightning that had struck Crocodile was the power of Nami's Zanpakutō.

"We're fine," Nami called as she leaped from the manta ray. While still in mid-air, she used Gonryōmaru to strike another lightning bolt at the sand tornado. "It's you we were worried about!"

Hit by both ice and lightning simultaneously, the sandstorm finally collapsed despite Crocodile's efforts to maintain it.

Seeing this, Vivi gave Nami a thankful nod. Meanwhile, Nojiko, having spotted Crocodile reforming from sand into his human shape, directed the one-eyed manta ray straight toward him.

"Damn you! What now?!" Crocodile spat out a mouthful of blood, glaring at the approaching Nojiko. Although lightning couldn't effectively neutralize his sand powers, the previous attack had still injured him.

Seeing Nojiko controlling the strange creature heading toward him, the furious Crocodile transformed his hands into sand and swept them toward her. "Desert Dagger Storm!"

As Crocodile roared, the sand from his hands formed four massive blades that rushed toward Nojiko. Boulders in their path were instantly sliced apart.

"Return, Minazuki!" Nojiko commanded, and the manta ray transformed back into a sword which she caught in her right hand. She immediately coated the blade with Armament Haki while her body began rotating rapidly, generating a powerful water vortex.

"Water Breathing, Eighth Form: Waterfall Basin!"

The spiraling water vortex created a powerful counter-slash that collided with Crocodile's sand blades, halting their advance.

"What? This woman also has Armament Haki?!" Crocodile exclaimed. "And another water technique... Could it be that she also—"

He looked toward Nami, only to see that her blade was similarly enshrouded in Armament Haki's black coating. Trailing purple and golden lightning, she had closed the distance to less than a meter from him in the blink of an eye.

"Curse you!" Crocodile roared, his body transforming into sand as he darted diagonally backward, narrowly avoiding Nami's slash. Though her attack didn't incorporate water, the Armament Haki alone was enough to make Crocodile wary.

'What's happening with these three women?' he thought frantically. 'This level of power shouldn't exist in the first half of the Grand Line! And their swords—one summons ice, one controls lightning, and another transforms into a strange creature? That man Ikki must be coming here too...'

With this realization, Crocodile touched the wounds Vivi had inflicted during his moment of carelessness and decided to retreat. Even a single opponent like Vivi had proven difficult to handle while injured. With two additional women of unknown strength, Crocodile wasn't confident he could prevail.

'Damn them all! I'll pay back this humiliation someday,' Crocodile cursed inwardly, finally deciding to flee.

However, just as his body drifted a few meters away, a familiar voice called out:

"Hey, isn't this the sewer crocodile himself, Mr. Crocodile? I finally found you—where do you think you're going?"

Crocodile turned toward the voice, his eyes widening instantly. There was Ikki, running toward them at incredible speed. He drew the sword from his waist and swung it forward, releasing a black crescent-shaped slash that raced toward Crocodile's position.

"Armament Haki... projected outward?" Crocodile was stunned, realizing too late that he couldn't escape. He could only summon several Desert Swords to try blocking Ikki's attack.

BOOM!

With a deafening sound, the Desert Swords were mercilessly shattered by the black crescent slash, which continued on to strike Crocodile's body. The external Armament Haki made his elemental transformation useless.

Blood sprayed through the air as Crocodile's body reverted from sand to human form and plummeted toward the ground. Across his chest was a massive wound that nearly bisected his entire body.

"Damn it! If I hadn't been injured earlier, I would never have—" Crocodile clutched his chest in rage.

Suddenly, he spotted something below that made his eyes widen further. On the ground, Vivi knelt on one knee, with Sode no Shirayuki tracing a beautiful arc.

"First Dance: Moon White," Vivi intoned. "Let it end here, Crocodile."

The ice arc suddenly erupted upward, forming a cylindrical pillar of ice that seemed to connect with the sky, freezing Crocodile within it.

"How... could... I... die... at the hands... of this country's... princess...?" Crocodile managed to move his eyes toward Vivi, his final thought before the ice cylinder shattered with a crisp sound, causing his body to break apart with it.

"Well done, Vivi," Ikki said, sheathing Zangetsu and walking over to pat her shoulder proudly. "Compared to when we met just days ago, you've really grown stronger."

"It's all thanks to you, Captain Ikki. Without your help, I could never have defeated Crocodile," Vivi replied.

"Haha, I just swung my sword. You showed the greatest strength in this battle, Vivi."

"Even so, if it hadn't been for that strike you made just now, Captain, I probably wouldn't have had the opportunity to finish Crocodile," Vivi insisted, shaking her head.

Although her Armament Haki was only at the basic level, from what Ikki had taught her, Nami, and Nojiko, Vivi understood the power and application methods of each Haki level. The projected Armament Haki that had successfully struck Crocodile had dealt significant damage.

"Regardless, your performance was outstanding," Ikki said with a smile. "I'm proud to have a crewmate like you. Of course, Nami and Nojiko did excellently as well."

The corners of Vivi's mouth turned upward, but as she began to relax, her body suddenly went limp from the exhaustion of continuously using Sode no Shirayuki's powerful techniques.

Seeing Vivi falling backward, Ikki quickly reached out to support her waist.

"Are you alright, Vivi? Are you injured anywhere? Do you need me to treat you?" Nojiko asked worriedly as she rushed over.

"I'm just a little weak, don't worry, Nojiko," Vivi assured her. Then, turning to Ikki: "Captain Ikki, you handled the bomb in Alubarna, right? Has the conflict between the rebel army and the royal army been resolved?"

"Yes, I took care of the bomb, and the civil unrest has subsided," Ikki confirmed, gently stroking Vivi's hair. "The battle is over, Vivi. Rest now. When you wake up, you'll see your father."

Vivi smiled faintly before slowly closing her eyes. Within seconds, her breathing became even and steady.

"She fell asleep so quickly. Vivi must be truly exhausted," Nami observed.

"It's our fault. If we hadn't been blown away by Crocodile at the beginning, we wouldn't have left Vivi to fight him alone," Nojiko added, guilt flashing in her eyes as she looked at Vivi's sleeping face.

"Regardless, the outcome is good," Ikki said, carefully shifting Vivi onto his back. "Let's go, Nami, Nojiko, Alubarna awaits. After all this fighting, I'm starving—let's try some royal cuisine!"

Hearing this, Nami nodded immediately and followed alongside Ikki. "Since Vivi's father is the king, he must be very wealthy," she mused. "For helping resolve such a major crisis, he should reward us with some Berries."

Nojiko smiled and gently tapped Nami's forehead. "Vivi is our crewmate, Nami. It seems a bit inappropriate to ask her father for Berries like that."

"That's true..." Nami conceded, touching her chin thoughtfully. "But Vivi will be going to sea with us in the future. As a father, he would never let his princess daughter leave without taking anything..."

Ikki adjusted Vivi on his back, smiling at the conversation between Nami and Nojiko. Then he turned his head to look at a spot in the desert to their left, where a glass reflection was flickering.

'A reporter?' he thought. 'Well, we're not pirates anyway—let them take their photos.'

Shaking his head, Ikki told Nami and Nojiko to pick up the pace, and they quickly disappeared from sight.

Meanwhile, at the position Ikki had glanced toward:

"Are...are they gone?" a man whispered, his hand trembling as he held a camera. "That man must have seen me just now."

The man, dressed in Alabastan civilian clothes, wiped cold sweat from his forehead, fear evident on his face.

"The photos! I still have the photos!" he exclaimed, checking his camera. After confirming he had indeed captured images of Ikki and the others, he sighed with relief.

"Thank goodness I got them. The Sand Crocodile was actually killed by the princess of Alabasta! This will be front-page news for sure."

The reporter climbed onto a camel waiting nearby and took out a Den Den Mushi, dialing a number.

"Hello, Chief Editor? It's me. I've got Big news—Shichibukai Crocodile is dead, killed by the princess of Alabasta..."