"Small fry?"
After Bullet spoke, Crocodile also noticed the figure in the northeast, roughly a thousand meters away.
A young figure stood there quietly.
The distance was far, so Crocodile could only make out that the person wore white and looked extremely young.
Almost like a child.
"Hm?"
"A kid?"
Crocodile raised an eyebrow.
He was surprised, but he did not take the boy seriously.
It was strange that a child had appeared here, nothing more.
"How are you planning to deal with him?" Crocodile asked.
"Simple."
Bullet grinned.
"From the moment I entered Alabasta, that kid has been following me. He followed me all the way until I found you."
"I thought about it for a while, but I still couldn't figure out his goal."
"Surely a little brat like that isn't after my bounty."
"That would be ridiculous."
"But whatever his purpose is, he made one mistake."
"He shouldn't have come here."
"He shouldn't have tried to watch this fight."
Bullet's tone was casual, but his meaning was clear.
Crocodile's expression shifted slightly.
He understood what Bullet was planning.
"Make him sleep?"
Crocodile's eyes narrowed.
"Conqueror's Haki, then?"
"The power said to appear only in one out of a million. Looks like you've mastered it completely."
"You really are troublesome, Bullet."
"But I won't lose to you today."
Crocodile knew exactly what Bullet intended to do.
Conqueror's Haki was the simplest way to clear weaklings.
It could knock them unconscious without even touching them.
Crocodile could not deny that he envied that power.
Conqueror's Haki was something he had once desired as well.
Unfortunately, it was not a power one could gain through effort.
Only those born with the qualities of a king could awaken it.
Such people were rare beyond measure.
Crocodile was strong, but he did not possess that natural kingly quality.
No matter how hard he trained, Conqueror's Haki would never be his.
"A born king?"
"I don't believe in that."
"As long as I obtain Pluton…"
"This sea, this world, will belong to me."
"When that time comes, so-called monsters and geniuses will be nothing but ants before me."
Crocodile's eyes burned faintly.
His obsession with the Ancient Weapon Pluton had already reached an extreme level.
Once he obtained Pluton, his first target would be Whitebeard.
The man he hated most.
"The day is close."
"As long as I uncover Alabasta's secret, I'll find the clue to Pluton."
Crocodile clenched his fists.
Meanwhile, Bullet had stopped paying attention to him.
His gaze was fixed on the young figure in the distance.
"Small fry should lie down quietly."
"This level of battle isn't something an insect like you is qualified to watch."
"Fall."
Bullet smiled coldly.
Before continuing his unfinished battle with Crocodile, he wanted to clear the area.
No distractions.
No interference.
Then he would fight Crocodile properly, defeat him head-on, and crush him completely.
He would not allow small fry to watch.
In his eyes, weaklings did not have that right.
A moment later, Bullet moved.
Conqueror's Haki erupted.
He was one of the rare people born with the qualities of a king. Long ago, when he joined the Roger Pirates, he had already awakened Conqueror's Haki.
That was one reason Roger's crew had called him a monster.
As a young man, Bullet had awakened it early and learned to control it quickly.
Now, after so many years, his mastery had long since reached an extremely high level.
His Conqueror's Haki was also terrifyingly powerful.
With a single thought, a vast pressure burst from his body.
It was like a volcanic eruption.
An invisible force exploded outward.
Boom!
A crushing wave of Conqueror's Haki spread from Bullet, surging in every direction.
The pressure rolled out like a dark blue domain, sweeping across the desert with terrifying speed.
Dust and sand were thrown into the air.
The ground trembled faintly.
The strength of this Haki was far beyond anything a newly awakened user could produce.
Crocodile, standing nearby, felt it first.
His expression changed.
"This Conqueror's Haki…"
"It's monstrous."
"Bullet really is dangerous."
Crocodile's wariness deepened.
In an instant, the dark blue wave rushed toward the figure a thousand meters away.
Everything in its path seemed to freeze.
Weak creatures nearby collapsed on the spot, their minds crushed unconscious.
The terrifying pressure closed in on the young figure.
At the same time, a thousand meters away, Kai slowly raised his head.
His calm eyes met Bullet's.
Their gazes crossed the distance.
Kai suddenly laughed.
"So…"
"I've been treated like small fry?"
"Interesting."
His smile widened.
He could clearly feel the overwhelming pressure rushing toward him, as if it wanted to tear through his mind and knock him unconscious.
There was no doubt.
It was Conqueror's Haki.
Bullet's Conqueror's Haki.
"So he wants to clear me out with Conqueror's Haki?"
Kai narrowed his eyes.
He watched as Bullet's dark blue Haki surged toward him with terrifying force.
One thousand meters had seemed like a long distance.
But under the speed of that Haki, the gap disappeared almost instantly.
Three hundred meters.
Two hundred meters.
One hundred meters.
Fifty.
Thirty.
The air twisted and rippled under the pressure.
Buzz.
Buzz.
It was like invisible waves spreading over the surface of a lake.
"You want to use Conqueror's Haki to make me fall?"
"Then I can't let you have your way."
"If you're using this method…"
"Then I'll return it in kind."
Kai smiled faintly and looked at Bullet from afar.
"In that case…"
"I'll use mine too."
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