บท 61: Chapter 61: You And I Are Not Pirates Of The Same Level!
In the desert, Crocodile and Ace stood facing each other.
Ace wore a slightly playful smile, while Crocodile's face was dark and somber, reminiscent of Ultimate. His eyes locked onto Ace, his expression grim.
"You..."
Crocodile's face had turned pale, drained of its usual arrogance. His earlier confidence, the sense that he controlled everything, had vanished. His fists clenched tightly, and the bones of his pelvis audibly creaked under the tension.
Why? How could this brat know about his past with Whitebeard?
That was nearly twenty years ago. After his defeat at Whitebeard's hands, Crocodile had shifted his focus to the legendary weapon, "Pluton." With Pluton, he was sure he could dominate the world and reclaim everything he had lost.
But the cost had been high. After years of scheming, his Haki had gradually weakened. Now, it was completely useless.
"It seems your judgment is worse than I thought, Crocodile," Ace remarked, his eyes narrowing as he watched the furious warlord.
Ace was confident, knowing his words had struck a nerve. He smiled, the corners of his mouth curving slightly upwards. Failure wasn't the downfall of the strong. Even if one's abilities were affected, as long as they had the courage to keep striving, there was always hope. But when a strong person loses faith in themselves and starts relying solely on external power, their potential diminishes drastically—worse even than that of a rookie pirate.
How could one wield Haki with such reliance on external forces? Haki would abandon them entirely.
Now, Crocodile, seeking Pluton as a crutch, was no longer the formidable warrior he once was. He had forfeited his right to wield Haki.
"So what if I can't use Haki? With my Sand-Sand Fruit abilities, I can still kill a brat like you!" Crocodile snarled.
A buzzing sound filled the air. Enraged by Ace's words, Crocodile activated his devil fruit powers. His right hand transformed into a massive sand blade.
"Desert Spada!"
With a furious roar, Crocodile slashed down with his sand blade, sending a massive wave of sand cutting through the desert, aiming straight for Ace.
The blade pierced Ace's chest—but instead of triumph, Crocodile's face only grew darker. He knew something was wrong.
Elementalization.
With a faint whoosh, the spot where the sand blade had struck Ace began to burn. Flames flickered across his body as he laughed at Crocodile's expression.
"You can't use Haki anymore. Did you really think sand could absorb fire?" Ace taunted.
Thanks to his elemental abilities and Observation Haki, Ace had effortlessly evaded Crocodile's attack by turning his body into fire before the blade even made contact. Crocodile's attack had sliced through nothing but air.
Ace's playful demeanor vanished, and his eyes narrowed. In a blur of motion, he vanished from sight.
The next instant, he reappeared right in front of Crocodile, whose face twisted in shock.
"Armament!"
Ace's right fist was enveloped in jet-black Haki, giving off a chilling metallic sheen.
With a resounding crash, Ace's punch connected with Crocodile's raised left arm.
Crack!
"Damn it!"
The sickening sound of bones snapping echoed through the desert, and Crocodile's face contorted in agony as the pain surged through his body. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he reeled from the blow.
Ever since his defeat at Whitebeard's hands, Crocodile had ruled the first half of the Grand Line. In all that time, no one had been able to harm him, thanks to his Logia powers. Without Haki, no one stood a chance against him.
But now, facing Ace, a Haki user of immense strength, Crocodile was helpless. His attacks were useless against Ace, while Ace's Armament Haki allowed him to strike Crocodile directly.
In other words, Crocodile was now forced to rely on his physical body to endure Ace's punishing blows, a task made even more impossible by Ace's overwhelming strength—stronger even than that of giants.
Boom!
With a single forceful punch, Ace shattered Crocodile's defenses and sent him flying. Crocodile skidded across the desert, carving a deep trench in the sand before finally coming to a stop.
"Damn you... brat!"
Crocodile's bloodshot eyes were filled with rage, his face grotesquely deformed from Ace's Haki-enhanced punches. He looked like a monster, glaring at Ace with pure hatred.
"Brat!" Crocodile's legs dissolved into sand, propelling him toward Ace in a whirlwind.
"Desert Diamond Sword!"
Crocodile's arms morphed into four massive sand blades. As they whirled through the air, the sound of them slicing through the wind was deafening, their sharpness capable of cutting through solid rock.
But...
Ace remained still, his body once again transforming into flames. The sand blades passed right through him.
Crocodile's attacks hit nothing but air.
"Don't you understand yet?" Ace said coldly.
Crocodile's eyes widened in shock.
"You, without Haki, are no longer on the same level as me."
A cold smile played on Ace's lips as he delivered a crushing punch to Crocodile's abdomen.
"Ugh!"
The pain tore through Crocodile's body, forcing him to his knees. He clutched his stomach as blood dripped from the corner of his mouth.
From a distance, Robin watched in disbelief. Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea—an untouchable pirate who inspired fear across the world—was utterly powerless before Ace.
How was this possible?
Crocodile, the man who had once been invincible, was now writhing in agony at Ace's feet.
No... they're not even on the same level?
"Stop joking!" Crocodile spat, his voice trembling with fury. "I am one of the Seven Warlords! And you—just a rookie on the Grand Line!"
In a final desperate act, Crocodile ripped off the golden shell of his iron hook and lunged at Ace, the hook now gleaming with a deadly, purple poison.
"Clang!"
"!!!"
A sharp metallic sound rang out as the poisonous hook, glowing with a dangerous purple light, was blocked by Ace's fist, reinforced with Armament Haki.
"That's pathetic, Crocodile."
Ace, his right fist turning black with Haki, effortlessly halted the deadly hook and stared at Crocodile with a calm, unreadable expression.
"W-What did you say?!" Crocodile's face twisted in fury.
"I said, it's pathetic—resorting to such childish tricks."
Ace's lips curled into a faint smirk as he casually grabbed the poisonous hook. With a slight tug, it snapped.
"Crack!"
The hook shattered in his grasp, and Crocodile's twisted expression turned into one of disbelief.
Why?! It wasn't supposed to be like this.
The Utopia Plan should have succeeded perfectly.
All of Alabasta should have fallen under his control.
The legendary ancient weapon, "Pluton," should have been his, the key to his dominance over the world.
Why now?! Why, in the first half of the Grand Line, had someone like Portgas D. Ace appeared?!
Crocodile's face contorted even further, filled with anger and confusion.
"You've relied too much on schemes, Crocodile."
Ace looked at Crocodile's crazed expression, the amusement still evident in his eyes.
"You used the Dance Powder to sow distrust between the king and his people. You had your agents impersonate the king to incite chaos, driving the nation to the brink of civil war. Rebellions sprouted everywhere."
"Then, amidst the turmoil, you planned to steal Alabasta and find 'Pluton' using the Baroque Works you founded."
"This grand scheme of yours, Operation Utopia..."
Ace's voice trailed off, his smirk fading as he observed Crocodile's increasingly unhinged expression. His own face became cold, emotionless.
"...it's boring."
Ace's calm declaration sent a shudder through Crocodile, whose fists clenched so tightly that his nails dug into his skin, drawing blood that trickled down his arm.
"What do you know?! You brat! If not for you, all of Alabasta would be engulfed in civil war by now!
Alabasta should have been mine, falling right into my hands!
And 'Pluton,' that ancient weapon, should have been mine!"
Crocodile's frustration boiled over as he bellowed in rage, unable to contain his fury at having his carefully-laid plans, built over nearly two decades, mocked and unraveled by Ace.
"Click!"
"!!!"
Before Crocodile could react, Ace pulled out a video transponder snail from his sleeve, its shell glowing faintly with a strange energy.
"What a perfect confession, Crocodile," Ace chuckled.
At that very moment, every screen connected to a transponder snail across Alabasta broadcasted the scene.
"Wait—Crocodile really used Dance Powder?"
A shocked citizen stared at the images projected by the snail, his voice trembling with disbelief.
"The king! The king has been innocent all along!"
"I was wrong to doubt him!"
The revelation ignited the entire kingdom of Alabasta into a frenzy.
Baroque Works agents, hidden among the King's army, the rebels, and the citizens, were equally stunned by the sudden turn of events. Their leader, Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, was exposed.
But why? Why had it all gone so horribly wrong?
"Your Majesty!"
Chaka and Pell turned to King Cobra, their voices filled with excitement.
"Yes, I see it. Everyone in Alabasta sees it now."
Cobra stood by the palace wall, gazing up at the sky where the images were being projected by the transponder snails.
"That boy... That's the Ace Vivi spoke of, isn't it? What an extraordinary man."
He marveled at how Ace had managed to project the same image to every snail across the kingdom. More astonishing still was how Ace had single-handedly brought Crocodile to his knees.
"Koza, you saw it too, didn't you?" Cobra addressed the rebel leader, who now knelt before him with a complicated expression.
"I... I'm sorry..." Kohza began, but Cobra interrupted, gently lifting him to his feet.
"You love this country too, don't you?"
Cobra's words were soft, yet they carried a weight of understanding and forgiveness.
On a nearby warship cutting through the seas toward Alabasta, Smoker watched the events unfold through a transponder snail, his expression dark.
"So that's Portgas D. Ace... And he managed to make all the projector den-den mushi show the same image? How in the world did he do that?" muttered Hina, her long pink hair falling over her face as she stared at the broadcast.
"If it's him, nothing is impossible," Smoker replied, chewing on the cigars between his teeth. His voice was filled with resolve.
"Set course for Alabasta," he ordered.
"Smoker, this is my ship, and I'm only tasked with bringing you back to headquarters. Besides, what could you possibly do? That man—Ace—could knock you out with just his Conqueror's Haki," Hina responded, glancing at him.
"If I don't even have the guts to face him, how could I ever claim to uphold justice?" Smoker growled.
"Set sail! Head for Alabasta!"
Meanwhile, back in Alabasta, Vivi and the others rushed toward Ace's location, their hearts heavy with anticipation. Vivi, her eyes filled with emotion, covered her mouth as she watched the broadcast.
Ace... He really did it. He stopped the war. He saved Alabasta.
And everyone's still alive.
"Isn't our captain just amazing?" Nojiko smiled at Vivi, who was on the verge of tears.
"Yeah," Vivi nodded, her tears flowing freely.
Ace had done what she could only dream of. He had saved her country.
Back at the scene, Ace held the video transponder snail, still cloaked in his realm of comprehension, looking at Crocodile with a playful grin.
"You... What is that in your hand?!" Crocodile's voice quivered with disbelief, his face twisting with shock.
"This? It's just a transponder snail that broadcasted everything you said to all of Alabasta."
Ace tucked the snail away with a chuckle.
Crocodile's pupils shrank.
"Pfft!"
Blood sprayed from Crocodile's mouth as a wave of crushing despair overtook him. This humiliation, this defeat—worse than any physical pain—was ripping through him.
His face, once twisted with fury, now contorted in agony as he glared at Ace with pure hatred.
"Portgas D. Ace!!!"
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