"Krokdal! Don't run!"

Luffy jumped up and hugged Crocodile from behind.

Crocodile's body sank. The rain on his body had not completely dried. He had already tried his best to use the semi-elemental transformation. At this time, he was hugged by Luffy. He couldn't break free for a moment. He looked silently.

However, he was entangled again, and he was furious.

"Go away!"

The golden hook in his right hand hooked directly towards Luffy's back.

Luffy's close combat ability is already strong, how could he be hit by such an attack? He used Crocodile's back as the floor and jumped directly in mid-air to avoid Crocodile's attack, but the hands holding him did not

When he let go, it stretched because of his leap.

"Rubber - back fall in the air!"

Using his hands, Luffy's figure dropped rapidly, and with a daring gesture, he threw Crocodile to the ground.

"Devil's wind feet!"

Sanji seized the opportunity, dodged to Crocodile's falling point, ignited flames on his feet, and kicked the opponent with an upside-down golden hook.

Bang——

The moment the attack approached, Crocodile suddenly turned into a ball of yellow sand.

The next moment, Crocodile's figure appeared behind Sanji, and his left hand directly pinched the back of Sanji's neck.

"You have pissed me off."

The water in Sanji's body was directly drained, and he turned into a mummy and was thrown aside by Crocodile.

"Sanji!!!"

Luffy's eyes were about to burst as he rushed towards this side.

"Desert Great Sword!"

Crocodile dwarfed and pressed his palms on the yellow sand. The next moment, a gray-white sword suddenly grew out of the ground around Luffy, and penetrated Luffy's chest directly at a speed that was impossible to react.<

/p>

"Oh——"

Luffy's pupils shrank to the extreme. He slowly lowered his head to look at the sword on his chest. All the water in his body was drained away, leaving only his dry body hanging dangling on the sword's blade.

At this time, Daisy finally arrived, and her body turned into an overwhelming canopy, pressing down on Crocodile.

"Desert Diamond Sword!"

Crocodile repeated his old trick, and four huge sand blades tore Daisy's body apart again.

Crush!

With all their strength, neither Daisy nor the Straw Hats are any enemies of Crocodile!

But enough time has passed.

Rain fell from the sky again, this time on a larger scale. The rain clouds spread over a wide range, even covering the city of Rain Land. Where Crocodile was, the rain curtain was like a downpour, making the world blurry.

"Not a dancing fan, but a devil fruit ability?"

Crocodile clenched his fists. Defeating the Straw Hats did not make him feel any less angry and uneasy. The conspirator was his biggest concern. Obviously, such heavy rain could no longer be dispelled by his current state.

Unable to elementalize, I missed the opportunity to escape.

"Let's start the next round!"

Tang Sen's voice sounded behind Crocodile, followed by the sound of gunshots.

Crocodile reacted quickly. He did not look back immediately, but suddenly turned sideways to avoid the trajectory of the bullet in the sensor. Then he bowed, looked back, and activated his ability.

The desert sword pierced the figure in the rain curtain.

But there was no feeling of relaxation in his heart at all, and the underlying sense of crisis made his hair stand on end.

The danger is not gone yet!

How is that possible? Is there anyone else?

The obstruction of the rain curtain prevented him from noticing that the pierced figure slowly turned into a paper man. Driven by the sense of crisis, Crocodile did not hesitate to activate his abilities to the maximum extent.

His arms shook, and all the yellow sand began to stir up. Even in the rain, the yellow sand set off a turbid storm, carrying enough power to drain all the moisture from everyone's body. In Crocodile,

Sweeping all over.

One second. Two seconds

A minute passed, and there was no movement around.

Crocodile raised his head and saw that the strange black thing had disappeared.

"Something is wrong, absolutely something is wrong."

Crocodile reacted suddenly: "The other party is consuming my energy!"

Of course, the ability of the Devil Fruit requires physical strength. If Crocodile uses it with all his strength, the physical consumption will be even greater. What's more, he was beaten by the Straw Hats in order to avoid the Sea Tower Stone bullet.

Attack, at this time the injuries in the body have begun to be uncontrollable.

"We can't let the other side succeed. If it keeps raining, it will be very detrimental to me if we are dragged into a war of attrition."

He was just about to restrain some strength when he suddenly saw a figure appearing very close to him.

The muzzle of the gun is only half a meter away from me!

"Go to hell!"

Crocodile's conditioned reflex activation ability, which was already highly concentrated, caused the sandstorm around him to directly bury the figure.

"No-no!"

He didn't feel the sandstorm hit the entity at all.

At this time, the dawn has spread all over the earth, and a new day has arrived, but under the cover of dark clouds and rain, everything is shadowy. Crocodile was horrified to see that when the sandstorm receded, the figure actually stood unscathed.

.

He was finally able to clearly see the other person's face.

You can also see the other party's joking eyes and the sarcasm at the corner of his mouth.

It's like watching a clown mocking you.

Anxious, furious, frustrated, and exhausted, Crocodile's sanity was crushed.

He broke his defense.

"Go, die, die, die!"

The entire desert shook, and the yellow sand set off waves tens of meters high, sweeping into a vortex around him, swallowing everything up.

This offensive, which almost unleashed his remaining strength, successfully tore the figure in front of him apart.

"Ho—ho—"

Everything around him became calm again, Crocodile hunched over, gasped, and suddenly laughed.

"No one can defeat me in the desert!"

"There is no way I will be defeated by second place——"

Snap!

Crocodile's voice stopped suddenly.

He slowly lowered his head and saw the blood hole that suddenly appeared on his chest.

This was not a fatal injury. The bullet did not penetrate his heart, but was just stuck in his body.

However, the bullet's warhead is fatal to him.

A feeling of weakness enveloped his whole body, and the sweeping yellow sand fell in an instant, and the power of the Devil Fruit completely disappeared at this moment.

Crocodile tried his best to resist the weakness caused by Hailoushi and not let himself collapse to the ground. However, this had consumed all his strength, and he did not even have the strength to raise his head again.

He heard the sound of unhurried footsteps besides the sound of rain.

A pair of black boots appeared in his field of vision. He could not see the other person's face, but he could imagine that the other person's face must be proud and sarcastic. This imagination made him almost lose his mind again.

He is a Shichibukai, a user with natural devil fruit abilities. His plan is obviously going to succeed in a few days, but he is just a little bit close!

However, he fell here, defeated by a person whose identity he did not even know using such insidious means.

He wanted to struggle and resist, but he had been deprived of the strength to even clench his fists.

Then, the anger faded away like the tide.

Once again. Failed.

Instead, he calmed down. This was not the first time he had tasted failure. Compared with the last time he faced Whitebeard, he was completely defeated in the face of a power that was completely despairing and impossible to reach no matter how hard he tried.

The failure of losing courage and ambition for strength, this kind of failure due to other people's machinations, seems to be more suitable for myself.

"What a pity."

To Crocodile's surprise, there was no pride in the man's voice, let alone the sarcasm he had imagined.

"Your plan will end here, Crocodile."

The corner of Crocodile's mouth moved, and he said in a deep voice with great effort: "The winner is the king and the loser is the bandit."

"No need to talk nonsense, let's do it."

He tried hard to maintain his posture, at least not to be as embarrassed as last time.

However, the other party had no intention of taking action. Instead, he held Crocodile's forehead, allowing Crocodile to finally raise his head.

He saw the other person's face.

It's that person who survived the sandstorm unscathed.

"Is it some kind of illusion?" Crocodile, who had returned to his senses, understood what happened before in an instant.

From beginning to end, the person in front of me is the one planning me.

I never knew this person existed - didn't Nicole Robin discover him? No, it's unlikely.

Therefore, Nicole Robin lied. She did not escape back to the Rain Land because she was defeated by the Straw Hats, but was directly captured by this man and instigated rebellion.

The Straw Hats are just bait.

This person understands his own weaknesses, and like a patient hunter, he hides behind the Straw Hats and only shows his fangs at critical times.

"So, the purpose of that illusion is not to consume my physical strength, but to consume my sanity."

"When I lose my mind, I also lose my sense of danger."

Crocodile smiled bitterly. There is no point in reviewing it now. The other party's method is very simple, not more sophisticated than what he has used in the land of Alabasta over the years. However, the other party's psychological control is sufficient.

Fatal.

Through some means that actually don't threaten you at all, it tightens bit by bit like a net. In the end, by the time you react, it's already too late.

"No, today is not your day to die." Crocodile heard the other party say: "Your life is still useful to me."

Such words made Crocodile feel ridiculous and mocking.

He looked directly into the other person's black pupils and said: "You can't get anything from me."

Even though he is a lost dog in the new world, Crocodile has his own pride. He cannot surrender to anyone in order to survive, let alone a person who is obviously far less powerful than himself now that he thinks about it. He only relies on tricks and sea tower stones to defeat him.

.

"Really?" The other party was not angry because of Crocodile's attitude, and even laughed: "Mr. Crocodile, you don't understand me."

"But it doesn't matter, we will spend a long time together."

He looked around, and the dense rain curtain made everything ten meters away blurry.

"This is not a good place to talk."

"We'll see you soon, Mr. Crocodile."

He turned around and left without hesitation.

Crocodile looked puzzled.

Just. That’s it?

But he soon no longer had any doubts. As the figure of the other party disappeared, another figure approached from the blurry rain curtain.

The man has a graceful figure and long black hair.

Crocodile's face turned completely dark.

"Nicole Robin!"

"I didn't think he could really succeed." Nicole Robin walked up to Crocodile, her expression a little unclear amid the rain.

"It seems that I at least made the right choice at the moment."

"What did he give you?" Crocodile asked the question that he least understood.

Nicole Robin has been working for him for so many years. Although he doesn't know this woman well, he also knows that she is not stupid and knows how to weigh the pros and cons.

He couldn't figure out what kind of method could make the other party betray him completely in one day, no, just one encounter.

"It's something you can't give anyway." Nicole Robin said:

"Krokdal, it's time to hit the road."

Tang Sen ignored Crocodile and did not go to talk to Nicole Robin.

What to do and what not to do, in fact, Tang Sen had already explained everything before bringing Crocodile here.

Of course, he did not completely believe in Nicole Robin, so much so that he would leave such an important matter in the hands of such a person who had just recovered and had not yet been given the mark of the Dark Lord.

He just has confidence in his backhand.

Whether it was when Nicole Robin went to the rainy place to report the news, or when Crocodile arrived, or even now, there is an existence monitoring everything.

However, the monitor was high in the sky, and the sharp gaze of the golden eyes was not noticed by anyone.

Once an accident occurs, for example, if Nicole Robin fails to take Crocodile to where he needs to be, Townsend will know it immediately through the Mark of the Dark Lord.

As for why Tang Sen didn’t take Crocodile away personally——

He has more important things to do.

He never puts the cart before the horse, and his purpose is never to defeat Crocodile, defeat the other party's conspiracy, help Princess Vivi and the Straw Hats, and restore the country to its former peace and beauty.

What he wants to do is to hold the rights of this country in his own hands. The initial starting point of what he wants to do may be different from Crocodile's, but the result is the same.

He doesn't need a perfect ending where the bad guys are defeated and everything becomes happy. At least for now, the situation in this country cannot be calmed down like this.

Tang Sen is not a messenger of justice.
Chapter completed!