One Piece: Starting From Picking Up Red-Haired's Arm

"Got it."

Hearing this, the crew knew that Xiano was going to hog the spotlight again.

Since the Captain was going to handle it personally, there was no chance for them to get involved.

Kuina sighed, disinterestedly sheathing Wado Ichimonji, and was the first to turn and head back to the ship.

The others followed suit, sighing one after another. Surprisingly, not a single person voiced any objection, nor did anyone remind Xiano to be careful or anything like that.

This made Crocodile frown in confusion.

What was wrong with these people?

Why were they reacting like this?!

Normally, shouldn't they be panicking, encouraging each other, and banding together to fight him to the death?

What was most infuriating was that orange-haired little girl. After hearing Xiano say he would handle it himself, she actually turned her head and gave him a look of pity and sympathy.

What the hell was going on?!

Crocodile felt a surge of anger rising within him.

He had already taken this group seriously, especially that Xiano.

Just out of the East Blue, he already had a bounty of over a hundred million, and even Vice Admiral Onigumo of the Marine Headquarters had been outsmarted and defeated by him.

He was indeed a troublesome brat.

He had to be prepared and not underestimate him.

If it weren't for that, why would he have chosen this island as the battlefield?

—After all, most of Whiskey Peak was desert!

And he, as the user of the Sand-Sand Fruit, was undoubtedly the king of the desert!

"No one has ever defeated me in the desert."

Crocodile's expression darkened as he slowly raised his right index finger, "Naturally, no one has ever escaped my grasp in the desert either!"

A bunch of nobodies dared to look down on him? Then they would pay the price!!!

"Desert… Sunflower!"

The ground of the entire port suddenly began to turn into sand, and within a few breaths, a massive quicksand vortex formed beneath everyone's feet.

At this moment, the crew hadn't yet reached the shore and were on the verge of being swallowed by the vortex.

Moon Walk!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Kuina, Zeff, Nojiko, Smoker… all of them flew into the air, and even Nami transformed into a firebird, flapping her wings and easily dodging the desert vortex.

"Wow, Nami!" Nojiko turned her head in surprise, "You can fly now? When did you learn that move?"

"I've known it for a while, but it consumes a lot of stamina, so I can't fly very far. It's not as practical as Moon Walk."

"That idiot Warlord of the Sea is really asking for it. The Captain already said he'd handle him one-on-one, but he still had to attack us."

"True, he's so annoying. If the Captain hadn't stopped us, I would've kicked him already…"

While chatting and laughing, they all flew through the air toward the deck.

They didn't pay the slightest attention to the terrifying vortex on the ground, nor did they care about Crocodile, whose face had turned livid.

"Do you feel like a bit of a clown?"

Xiano's voice pulled Crocodile's gaze toward him. The black-haired boy grinned, revealing a row of sharp white teeth:

"Don't worry, no rush. You've just arrived in Gotham."

Whoosh!

Before the words had even fully left his mouth, the black-haired boy in front of him had already vanished without a trace.

Where did he go?

Crocodile's expression shifted slightly, not daring to underestimate the situation. Without hesitation, he activated his Elemental Transformation, dispersing into a swirling cloud of yellow sand. However—

"Too slow."

A cold voice suddenly rang out from behind.

Crocodile felt a chill run down the back of his neck as an enormous hand seized him and slammed him violently into the ground!

How was this possible?

His eyes widened in shock. He had clearly transformed into sand—by all logic, he shouldn't have been touchable at all…

Thud!

The back of Crocodile's skull collided with the earth. His vision went black, his ears rang, and his body, limp as a ragdoll, carved a long, ragged trench through the sand.

But in that moment, through his blurred and inverted vision, he caught sight of the dark, ink-like substance swirling around Xiano's hand—

Armament Haki?

How?! A technique mastered by so few in Paradise, yet this rookie who had just crossed Reverse Mountain wielded it with such ease?

"You seem surprised," Xiano's calm voice drifted over. "Too long hiding in Paradise, too afraid to venture into the New World—have you forgotten what it feels like to have your head knocked sideways by a fist?"

Crocodile struggled to rise from the crater, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, staining both his collar and his cigar.

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With a ptui, he spat out the ruined cigar and lifted his head, eyes brimming with murderous intent.

"A little unexpected, I'll admit," Crocodile lit a fresh cigar, sneering. "Didn't think you'd know this trick. But Haki… in the New World, even the small fry have it. Who doesn't?"

Hum!

A power long dormant surged within him. His entire left arm, along with the scorpion-like Golden Hook, darkened into an obsidian hue.

"Wow!" Xiano's tone was mocking, but with a hint of genuine surprise. "So you do have Haki!"

His astonishment was sincere.

"Of course!" Crocodile's face darkened. He was a man who had once clashed with Whitebeard—how could he not possess Two-Color Haki?

"So… if you thought Armament Haki alone would be enough to handle me, you're sorely—"

Bam!

Before he could finish, a fist blurred toward his face. His pupils contracted violently as his head exploded—

The punch passed through, meeting no resistance, while Crocodile's body reformed meters away, his cigar-clenching face reappearing.

"See that?" Crocodile laughed wildly, though cold sweat dripped from his temples as he watched Xiano's failed strike.

"Earlier, I was careless with my Elemental Transformation—that's the only reason you caught me. But now that I'm on guard, how exactly do you plan to find my real body?"

"Is that so?" A light chuckle carried through the swirling sand, utterly unconcerned. "But my warm-up's only just ended. The next move… can you really react in time?"

In the darkness, Xiano's body suddenly crouched slightly, his muscles tensing like precision machinery.

A sense of foreboding gripped Crocodile. He immediately pushed his Observation Haki to its limits.

"Shave!"

The ground exploded with a deafening roar as the figure before him vanished in an instant. Crocodile's eyes flashed with a red gleam, his lips curling into a sinister grin. "Got you!"

His Golden Hook-linked arm twisted and elongated unnaturally, lashing out with a sudden, violent motion. The hook's tip, coiled with terrifying black Haki, stabbed like a venomous serpent into the empty space behind and above him!

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