There is no point in worrying about why Crocodile and others appeared in the desert and finding them accurately.
Kuzan felt an unusual aura from these people. After so many years in the navy, there were not many pirates who could give him a sense of oppression, and there were almost no such pirates in the first half of the Grand Line.
And Crocodile and others.
"You three, take care of yourselves."
"Ace, Sabo, Luffy is in your hands."
Kuzan tilted his head slightly and gave instructions to the three children behind him. His attention was always on Crocodile and the others, not daring to be careless.
Crocodile is a man who was able to escape unscathed from the Whitebeard Pirates. When facing such an enemy, one must be careful.
"Haha, General Aokiji."
"I think you don't need to be so nervous."
"I came here this time just to say hello to you."
"And I hope to invite you to visit me."
"Don't worry, I will treat you well."
"Speaking of which, although I am just a pirate, I am valued by the World Government and they hope that I can become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea."
"Strictly speaking, we will still be a family in the future."
Crocodile was smiling, and judging from his expression alone, it was impossible to imagine that he was the one who had just killed Luffy and Ace.
The emotions on the surface were completely different from what he was actually doing.
"Shichibukai"
Hearing a familiar name from Crocodile's mouth, Kuzan's face also showed a solemn expression. Kuzan had never received any news about Crocodile becoming a Shichibukai. If this news was true, then the attitude of the Navy Headquarters towards Crocodile would need to be reconsidered.
Kuzan didn't know what kind of agreement Tsugikoku Yoriichi had reached with the World Government. From the day Yoriichi ascended to the position of Admiral of the Navy, the entire Navy Headquarters was shrouded in a fog.
Kuzan knew very little about what happened on the Island of Origin. In his mind, Yoriichi Tsugakuni, who was able to become the Admiral of the Navy, must have been recognized by the World Government, otherwise Marshal Sengoku, Sakaski and other high-level officials would not support Yoriichi Tsugakuni as unanimously as they do now.
All I can say is that reality is far more outrageous than he expected.
The only reason why Tsugikuni Yoshiichi was able to reach the position of Navy Admiral was because various forces had their own calculations.
This is the inevitable result of the balanced situation, not that the World Government recognizes Yoriichi Tsugikuni.
"Seven Warlords of the Sea."
"I've never heard of anything like this."
"Also, even if you are one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, there are certain bottom lines that you absolutely cannot cross."
"For example, the royal families of the member states of the World Government!"
"Crocodile, if you have anything to say, let's go to Judicial Island and talk!"
Although Kuzan had some concerns, he was not a rigid person. Since he met Crocodile in the desert, he would not miss the opportunity to arrest him.
The scorching Dead Sea is deserted and uninhabited. Fighting in such a place can prevent one's fruit ability from affecting ordinary people as much as possible.
As he spoke, Kuzan spread out his hands, and several ice cones condensed in front of him, shooting directly towards Crocodile and others.
"Hello!"
"Did you just do it like that?"
"He's the admiral of the navy, yet he doesn't even take the World Government seriously?"
Crocodile actually did not want to go to war with Kuzan, and the previous attack was just a "test".
If Kuzan couldn't even protect the children around him and allowed them to be killed, then it would prove that Kuzan's strength was just that. Crocodile wouldn't waste any time on a weak opponent and would directly join forces with several of his subordinates to completely leave Kuzan in the desert.
If the opponent is strong, Crocodile will bring up the names of the World Government and the Seven Warlords of the Sea to intimidate the opponent and avoid the battle as much as possible.
Although he did not agree to the Five Elders to become a Seven Warlords directly, this did not prevent him from using the names of the World Government and the Seven Warlords to intimidate Kuzan.
However, to his surprise, the titles of the World Government and the Seven Warlords of the Sea seemed to have no effect on Kuzan, the Admiral of the Navy.
Crocodile also heard that Yoriichi Tsugikuni, who had some conflicts with the World Government, had successfully ascended to the position of Admiral of the Navy, but he did not expect that the relationship between the World Government and the Navy Headquarters had deteriorated to this extent.
The title of Seven Warlords of the Sea, which is widely known throughout the world, does not seem to be taken seriously by the Marine Headquarters.
Crocodile's mind was full of thoughts as he quickly analyzed the various information he had at hand, and his hands were moving without slowing down at all. Facing Kuzan's attack, Crocodile raised his golden hook slightly, and a wall of sand rose from the ground, blocking the few people.
The ice spear pierced into the thick killing wall, and after advancing several meters, it completely lost its power and was nailed to the wall, motionless.
“Ouch—”
A strange cry sounded from behind the sand wall, and the strangely dressed MR.2 Von Clay took off directly, flew over the sand wall at a high speed, and shot towards Kuzan.
Kuzan raised his head slightly, and an ice sword condensed in his hand.
"Yi Ku--" Feng Clay rushed in front of Kuzan, let out a low roar, and kicked directly at Kuzan's chest.
A powerful kick hit the sword, but Kuzan simply held the sword horizontally and easily blocked the opponent's attack. Feng Clay was very strong, but compared with Kuzan, he was still dwarfed.
A thin layer of frost passed through the sword and stained the soles of Fengkelei's shoes.
As a biting chill came from the soles of his feet, Feng Clay felt something was wrong. He turned over and retreated, instantly putting some distance between himself and Kuzan.
Kuzan had no intention of leaving his position to chase his opponent. He still stood in front of Luffy and others, protecting the children behind him.
Compared to knocking down the enemy, protecting the children behind him is the most important thing in Kuzan's mind.
"Gurgle, gurgle—"
An inexplicable sound of flowing water came from behind the sand wall. Kuzan glanced sideways into the distance and found that the flowing white wax was rushing towards them like a surging river.
“?!”
"What is this? Nature?"
When Kuzan saw this form of attack, he immediately became alert. Without any hesitation, he stretched out his hands. Two icicles emerged from his palms and touched the white wax that was surging like a river in the blink of an eye.
At the moment when the icicle touched the white wax, the light blue ice instantly froze the white wax. The ice spread towards the source of the white wax. However, when it spread to the direction of the sand wall, two sand blades emerged directly from the ground and cut off the white wax river, making it impossible for Kuzan's ability to affect the person who released the white wax.
A young shemale with excellent kicking skills, a user of the Sand-Sand Fruit, a strange user of the Nature-type Fruit, and a bald strong man who has not yet made a move.
The configuration of Crocodile and his men more or less surprised Kuzan.
It was hard to imagine him seeing such a pirate group configuration in the first half of the Grand Line. Being able to develop such an underground power in the vast Kingdom of Alabasta, the strength of Crocodile and his men was in line with what they were doing.
“Wow—”
The sand wall standing in front of Crocodile and others fell back to the ground. A few simple rounds of attacks gave Crocodile a preliminary understanding of Kuzan's strength.
"MR1, MR2, I'll leave those three little brats to you."
"MR3 cooperate with me."
Facing Aokiji, Crocodile did not show any intention of being arrogant. He would not be so stupid as to play a one-on-one duel with Kuzan.
Crocodile is a man who will do anything to achieve his goals. As long as he can kill Whitebeard, he can launch a sneak attack when Whitebeard is seriously injured; similarly, as long as he can establish his ideal military country, he can even openly serve Buggy as his leader.
Now, as long as he can keep Kuzan here completely, he doesn't mind joining forces with his subordinates, nor does he mind creating opportunities for himself by attacking those children.
MR1 Daz Bonis is a silent man. He is the user of the superhuman Quick-Slash Fruit and one of Crookedal's most trusted people. Naturally, Daz Bonis obeys his boss's orders without hesitation.
But MR2 is a little different:
"Ah?! Let me attack a child?"
Hearing Crocodile's order to attack the child, Feng Clay couldn't help but let out a low cry. Although he was a pirate, he still had some kindness in his heart.
If he were to attack a navy like Kuzan, he might be afraid of the opponent's strength, but after a brief hesitation, he would still be able to attack the opponent without any psychological burden.
But he still felt an inexplicable pressure to take action against the child Feng Kelei.
"Um?!"
Sensing Von Clay's reluctance, Crocodile's face darkened, he uttered a light sigh, and glared at Von Clay fiercely.
Seeing his boss's expression, Feng Kelei couldn't help but twitch his eyes and nodded reluctantly.
Seeing that the other party had admitted defeat, Crocodile stopped talking. His lower body turned into a sandstorm and he soared into the air, shooting directly towards Kuzan. As he got closer to him, Crocodile's golden hook hooked towards the artery in Kuzan's neck.
Although he is a natural-type devil fruit user, Crocodile's attacks seem a bit plain and simple.
Kuzan swung the ice sword in his hand, and as the two weapons intertwined, a crisp golden sound rang out in the desert.
At the same time that Crocodile made his move, untimely "snowflakes" began to float in the sky. Kuzan had no time to pay attention to the abnormal climate at this moment, and two black shadows had already leaped past him.
Taking advantage of the fact that Kuzan was delayed by Crocodile, Feng Clay and Daz Bonis attacked Ace and Sabo directly.
Daz Bonis had a clear goal, and his target was Ace who was carrying a long knife. Among these children, only Ace was carrying a knife, so he should have a certain ability to fight back. Because of this, Ace became his priority target.
As for Feng Clay, he chose the older Sabo. Although Sabo did not carry weapons like long swords, he carried a curved steel stick on his back.
Although I don't understand why such a thing can be used as a weapon, Sabo is still a greater threat than Luffy.
"Hey!"
Crocodile showed a happy expression on his face when his subordinates took action. He stared at Kuzan in front of him, waiting for him to reveal a flaw.
but
The two children behind him were attacked by pirates, but there was no sign of worry on Kuzan's face, and Kuzan's calm expression also made Crocodile's smile freeze.
Why aren't you worried at all?
Such doubts only flashed through Crocodile's mind for a moment, because in the next second, Ace and Sabo had already given the answer.
"Fire Fist!!!"
Ace, who was attacked by Daz Bonis, jumped back nimbly and dodged the opponent's attack easily. The next second after his feet stepped back on the sand, Ace swung his fist at the enemy several meters away.
As Ace punched in the air, a vortex of flames swept towards Daz Bonis who was not far away. Daz Bonis, the user of the Chop-Chop Fruit, had no time to dodge. He could only cross his hands to block his eyes, and his body was deeply trapped in the vortex of flames.
A blazing fire lit up in the desert, and the sound of the vortex of fire even attracted Crocodile's attention.
“?!”
Before he could check the situation on Daz Bonis's side, thunder exploded on the other side.
Feng Clay, who was attacking Sabo, only felt a flash of lightning before his eyes, and Sabo's thin body suddenly disappeared from his sight. When he reacted, he felt his eardrums pierced by the thunder. At the same time as the severe pain and strong dizziness came, Sabo's soles appeared in front of him.
"Bang!!!"
A solid flying kick hit Feng Clay in the face. Feng Clay was thrown into the air and was kicked out by Sabo. After flying more than ten meters, Feng Clay's head hit the sand.
The sudden change happened so quickly that no one expected the result of attacking Ace and Sabo would be like this.
MR3 in the distance raised his hands to the sky, carefully preparing his abilities. Suddenly, he noticed the changes on the battlefield, and a look of astonishment appeared on his face.
"Don't underestimate them just because they are children."
"They are the next generation that the Navy Headquarters has placed all its hopes on. They are the elite!"
"At the same time, he is my strong support and my comrade-in-arms!"
Everything that happens on the battlefield is under Kuzan's control. Although Ace and Sabo are young, the combat power they possess is not something that ordinary pirates can deal with.
Maybe Crocodile's men are very strong, but his comrades-in-arms Kuzan should not be underestimated either!
“.”
Crocodile's face was gloomy, and his gaze fell back on Kuzan. The golden hook suddenly pulled back, and Crocodile quickly retreated and put some distance between himself and Kuzan.
(End of this chapter)
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