Inside the Deep Forest Bloom.
Luo Chen's eyes were glacial. "Save you? It's too late."
The throwing knives arrived at Onigumo's side at that exact moment.
The Flying Thunder God Technique activated.
Luo Chen's figure appeared in front of Onigumo.
A sharp wooden spike extended from his palm, thrusting toward Onigumo's eye.
Like a dying beast, Onigumo let out a ferocious roar. At the last moment, he used all his strength to turn his head to the side.
The wooden spike failed to pierce his brain directly. Instead, it stabbed into his right eyeball and then penetrated through his right cheekbone.
Blood spurted out.
Onigumo roared in agony.
His good left eye was filled with red blood vessels, his face contorted in unbearable pain.
Luo Chen watched with cold eyes and pressed his palm toward his head again.
With his life hanging by a thread, the ground beneath the two of them suddenly became as soft as cotton, flowing like seawater and robbing them of their footing.
Luo Chen had no choice but to leap back, landing on a giant wooden vine.
But soon, the entire Deep Forest Bloom began to collapse along with the sinking desert.
Luo Chen used Moonwalk, leaving the vine and ascending into the sky.
The Wood Dragon, which had been circling above, swooped down. Luo Chen landed on the dragon's back and looked down.
The desert, in a radius of several hundred meters, had rapidly collapsed, turning into an area of quicksand.
The Deep Forest Bloom had been completely buried by the yellow sand.
Onigumo was lifted up by a patch of sand and flew to Crocodile's side.
He clutched his bleeding right eye, gasping for breath. His hand, clenched into a fist from the heart-piercing pain, made the veins on his forearm throb like snakes.
"Luo Chen!"
Onigumo's voice was filled with hatred and venom.
With his hair disheveled and his right eye bleeding profusely, he looked like a vengeful ghost.
The desert was somewhat quiet.
The dozens of Marine officers had been almost completely wiped out by the impact of the Wood Golem and Wood Dragon.
Basically no one was left standing.
They were either seriously injured or dead, their bodies strewn across the great desert.
Only Smoker, turned to smoke, was left, carrying Hina and flying through the air to dodge the Wood Golem's fists.
When they saw that Onigumo was seriously injured, their minds wavered uncontrollably, and they were almost hit by the Golem's punch.
Just now, if Crocodile hadn't intervened to save him, Onigumo would be dead.
For Onigumo to shout for help, disregarding the dignity of a Marine, he must have just faced a life-or-death crisis.
Smoker's chest heaved violently, his eyes fixed on Luo Chen.
"Has he already gotten this strong?!"
To think that he had dreamed of capturing Luo Chen before was simply wishful thinking.
On the wooden platform created by Luo Chen, Usopp and Chopper had turned into a cheerleading squad.
The man and the reindeer danced and jumped, cheering for Luo Chen.
"Luo Chen is so strong!" Chopper was overjoyed.
Usopp stood with his hands on his hips and laughed. "Even a Marine Vice Admiral is no match! We're saved!"
Carina and Nami exchanged a look, both letting out a long sigh of relief, the worry completely gone from their faces.
The two women's smiles were radiant.
Robin said softly, "I underestimated him before. Crocodile may not be Luo Chen's match."
Putting his character aside, Luo Chen's strength was still formidable.
To nearly kill a Marine Vice Admiral... this level of strength could let him walk sideways through the first half of the Grand Line.
...
In mid-air, Luo Chen stood on the head of the Wood Dragon, looking coldly at Crocodile.
"By interfering again and again, you are courting death."
He originally had no ill will toward Crocodile. After all, there was the matter of "borrowing money." But this man had repeatedly assisted Onigumo, which ignited a fire of anger in Luo Chen's heart.
Crocodile sneered. "Threatening me? You damn brat, I was sailing the seas when you were still nursing."
If they weren't in the desert, he might have actually feared Luo Chen. After all, after so many years of comfort, his strength was not what it used to be. He even had some trouble dealing with an ordinary Marine Vice Admiral.
However, in the desert, with the terrain advantage, Crocodile wasn't afraid of even an elite Vice Admiral like Onigumo.
Just now, he had learned from Onigumo's own mouth that there was something wrong with the giant flowers of that forest. As long as he was a little more careful, there would be no problem.
Vivi was bound by ropes condensed from sand, kneeling on the yellow sand in the air.
She looked at Luo Chen, a ray of hope rising in her eyes.
Luo Chen was confronting Crocodile.
Perhaps he could deal with this man.
Onigumo tore off a corner of his "Justice" coat and wrapped it around his bleeding right eye. His furious and manic emotions gradually stabilized.
"Let's take him down together!" Onigumo's voice was hoarse.
Crocodile grinned. "I'd also like to teach this arrogant brat a lesson."
Luo Chen's eyes were icy. He steered the Wood Dragon to charge out.
If Vivi weren't in Crocodile's hands, he would have used Sage Art Wood Style: True Several Thousand Hands by now. At that point, no matter what kind of sandstorm Crocodile kicked up, he could have pushed right through it.
But with Vivi's presence, Luo Chen had to rescue her first. Although he had no particular friendship with her, he still couldn't bring himself to kill an innocent person.
Crocodile once again threw a small sandstorm from his hand.
A giant desert tornado quickly formed, blocking the Wood Dragon's path.
Luo Chen's entire body was wrapped in Armament Haki. He steered the Wood Dragon and crashed headfirst into the desert storm.
Endless grains of sand cut at his body like blades, but they were all blocked by his Armament Haki. Even without armament, with Luo Chen's current physical defense, he would not have been seriously injured.
The Wood Dragon charged straight through, flying out the other side of the giant desert tornado.
Crocodile and Onigumo, riding the yellow sand, came to meet it.
"Crescent Cutlass!"
"Life Return!"
Crocodile's arm transformed into a giant crescent-shaped sand blade.
Onigumo held a sword in each hand, and his hair, as if it had a life of its own, transformed into six spider legs, winding toward Luo Chen's body.
On the Wood Dragon, Luo Chen's figure abruptly vanished.
It wasn't Flying Thunder God, but Shave.
He appeared in mid-air, instantly dodging the crescent sand blade and Onigumo's hair.
On the sand, Crocodile and Onigumo also leaped up, attacking again.
Luo Chen reached out his right hand, and multiple wooden vines extended from around his arm, condensing into a massive fist that smashed down from above.
"Leave it to me," Onigumo said, his voice sinister as he looked at the Armament Haki on the massive wooden fist.
Crocodile said nothing and consciously moved aside.
The wooden fist was coated in Armament Haki. His fruit ability would be countered, and he would be unable to absorb the moisture from the wood. He could only leave it to Onigumo.
Onigumo crossed his twin swords and slashed out, colliding with the massive wooden fist.
After a brief stalemate, the wood exploded. Onigumo's figure dropped slightly, and he once again used Moonwalk to shoot back into the sky.
Crocodile, meanwhile, swung out a giant crescent-shaped sand blade.
Luo Chen clenched one fist, coated it in armament, and easily shattered the sand blade. The yellow sand scattered in the wind.
"Crocodile, besides your fruit ability, what else do you have?"
Crocodile's face turned slightly grim.
While Onigumo and Luo Chen were entangled, he let out a loud roar and activated an ability he hadn't used in many years.
Below, the great sandy desert trembled slightly. Everyone felt it.
Soon, the golden sand gathered like a river and shot into the sky, like the Milky Way reversing its course, a waterfall flowing upstream.
As if an invisible giant hand were molding the sand in the sky into a special shape.
Before long, an incomparably massive yellow sand crocodile beast stood majestically in mid-air, poised in a roaring posture.
From the Sand Crocodile's abdomen, a pipeline of sand extended, connecting to the great desert below.
Under Luo Chen's control, the Wood Dragon collided with the Sand Crocodile.
The two giant beasts engaged in a fierce battle in the sky.
Splinters of wood constantly fell from the Wood Dragon's body. Although the Sand Crocodile was also damaged, the sand pipeline at its abdomen continuously drew sand from the desert to reconstruct its body.
A moment later, the dark green Wood Dragon collapsed in mid-air, its body turning into ordinary wood and falling.
The Sand Crocodile continued to charge toward Luo Chen.
Crocodile's voice was cold. "Even Whitebeard didn't dare to underestimate me. What do you think you are?"
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]