It was as if he'd heard Aeridar's voice. The man slowly turned his head and said coolly, "Oh?"
"So, you know who I am.
"But... who gave you the guts to call me that? Desert la Spada!"
Without warning, his arm morphed into a massive blade of sand, swelling to enormous size in an instant before swinging straight toward Aeridar.
The enormous sand blade hissed across the ground like a living thing, carving its way forward with a low, ominous sound.
Before anyone could react, Aeridar stepped forward, planting himself between Mina, Millie, and the oncoming attack. A sharp pulse spread from his stance.
A burst of white shockwave pressure exploded outward, the concentrated force forming a ring of concussive air.
Dust and sand erupted into the air, debris flying in all directions. The dissipated shockwave whipped into a gale-force wind, scattering rubble and sweeping trash across the battlefield.
Moments later, as the dust settled, everyone gaped at the sight left behind—a massive gash carved into the street, long and wide, at least ten meters deep. It was the path left by the sand blade's devastating strike.
"He actually blocked it?" The man raised an eyebrow in surprise, his gaze lingering on Aeridar. He hadn't used his full power, true, but even so, that attack could've split the earth in two—easily enough to destroy a fleet. Most pirates would never try to block it head-on.
"Who the hell is this guy?" Copra muttered midair, his scalp tingling as he stared at the deep scar in the ground. With his own strength, he wouldn't dare try to take a slash like that head-on.
Back on the ground, members of the Flying Shot Pirates cowered inside a nearby shop, nearly in tears. Another monster—just great. As if one wasn't enough. Now they just kept showing up, each scarier than the last. Did someone put out a hit on them?
"He's... terrifying. Is he even human?" muttered Arlan, glancing uneasily at the crack that had stopped just short of where he stood.
"A slash like that... from a single swing!" Oliver's face had gone deadly serious. His hands were already resting on the hilt of his sword.
"This man... with a reputation like his, no wonder," murmured Dimitri, as if suddenly recognizing who they were facing.
Backan and Gorbo didn't say a word, but their expressions had turned grim, eyes fixed warily on the man in front of them.
"Well, well~ That's some serious power. No wonder they call you one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea." Aeridar strode confidently into the center of the street, flashing a wide grin. "Hahaha! Crocodile the Sand Croc! I was just planning to head to Rainbase to look for you. Didn't expect to bump into you here—what a coincidence!"
"The Sand Crocodile, Sir Crocodile of the Seven Warlords?!"
"That bastard... he's one of the big names on the sea!"
Gasps and stunned silence rippled through the crowd. The man standing before them was none other than Sir Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea—a pirate of infamy and legend.
In the air, Copra was breaking into a cold sweat. He wasn't arrogant enough to think he stood a chance against someone like that. He knew his limits—and fighting a Warlord wasn't something he'd walk away from.
"Looking for me?" Crocodile chuckled and sneered. "You seem to have some skill. So what is it? Trying to challenge me? Or gunning for my title as Warlord?"
"I'm no idiot," Aeridar replied casually with a shrug. "You've got the powers of the Suna Suna no Mi—the Sand-Sand Fruit. Out here in the desert, I wouldn't bet on myself winning."
"Heh... so what, you think if we weren't in a desert, you could beat me?" Crocodile sneered. "Kid, don't lump yourself in with me... We're not on the same level."
"Oh, such an arrogant tone! I'm trembling!" Aeridar patted his chest in mock fear, then bared his teeth and scowled. "Seriously, though—what a nasty attitude. Is that how all the Warlords act? That Doflamingo punk had the exact same energy when I met him."
"Doflamingo? You've met that bastard?" Crocodile's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Yeah, just like you. Total jerk," Aeridar said with a scoff. "Soon as we crossed paths at sea, he almost wrecked my ship without even saying hello. And to think—I was planning to invite him aboard."
"Pfft... Kuhahahaha! That does sound like him," Crocodile burst out laughing. But after a few chuckles, his smile faded. He frowned and stared at Aeridar with new interest. "Wait... You crossed paths with him and survived? Did you beat him?"
"Please, Crocodile, you're flattering me." Aeridar waved dismissively, then pointed at his shoulder, where a scar was still healing. "We fought. The guy's freakishly strong—like a damn monster. I managed to push him back, but I took damage. He walked away without a scratch."
"You repelled Doflamingo?" Crocodile's eyes widened slightly, and for the first time, both of his arms transformed into scything blades of sand.
"Then let's find out if you're just talking big, brat!"
Twin blades of sand slithered along the ground, tearing toward Aeridar like desert vipers.
The attack came so fast, Aeridar barely managed to dodge in time, throwing himself to the side.
The earth split open again, two fresh chasms ripping through the street—deeper, longer, and wider than the last. They cut straight through to the far end of the road, dark and yawning, their depth impossible to gauge at a glance.
"Tch." Crocodile clicked his tongue when he missed.
Almost immediately after the sand blades vanished, a shockwave pulsed back at Crocodile. Aeridar wasn't about to take a beating without returning the favor.
A shallow, half-moon trench tore through the ground, the shockwave slamming into Crocodile's body and bursting him apart—his form disintegrating into sand and scattering across the street. The blast smashed a nearby building, reducing it to rubble and swirling dust.
"D-Did he just... shatter?!"
"That was Crocodile! There's no way!"
"Am I seeing things?!"
The moment Crocodile's body turned to sand and vanished, the pirates of the Chris Pirates and the Flying Shot Pirates nearly popped their eyes out of their sockets. Even Copra, watching from above, was stunned. But unlike the average low-tier pirate, his trained eye caught something critical.
"Tch. Damn Logias," Aeridar spat, annoyed as he wiped some dust off his shoulder. He'd momentarily forgotten the key trait of Logia-type Devil Fruits—intangible, elemental bodies that normal attacks couldn't touch.
Of course, remembering wouldn't have changed much. His current mastery of Haki wasn't high enough to coat shockwaves with Armament.
The only people in the crowd who weren't shocked were Arlan, Oliver, and the others who'd fought alongside Aeridar before. He had already taught them about Devil Fruit abilities, especially how ineffective conventional attacks were against Logia users without Seastone or Haki.
Unless you had a natural elemental advantage—or they had some kind of environmental weakness (like Crocodile's sand hardening with water, or rubber's immunity to lightning)—normal strikes wouldn't cut it.
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