Chapter 336: The Sand Crocodile Was A Little Angry
Crocodile's Observation Haki quickly locked onto the edge of the battlefield.
Mr. 1, Mr. 2, and Mr. 3 had long been subdued and pinned to the ground by Ace and Luffy. His face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot.
He forced Smoker back with a single Sandstorm move. Standing tall and arrogant, his gloomy gaze swept over Ace, Luffy, and Smoker.
The sand and dust around him were still churning, yet he didn't attack immediately. Instead, he gnashed his teeth and growled lowly: "What the hell do you guys want?!!"
"I am a Warlord of the Sea! I haven't done anything at all! What right do you have to come looking for trouble?!!"
As his voice fell, he abruptly raised his golden hook, pointing it fiercely at Smoker, and roared angrily:
"Who the f*ck do you think you are? Roy?!!"
These words were like a sudden clap of thunder, shaking the surroundings into momentary silence.
Smoker froze for a second, his brow furrowing tightly, actually unable to come up with a response for a moment.
In this gap, Ace and Luffy walked up shoulder-to-shoulder beside Smoker.
Ace patted his shoulder, smiling easily: "Uncle, what's going on? How did you end up fighting the Sand Crocodile?"
Luffy tilted his head, his face completely innocent: "Yeah, yeah! Uncle Smoker, weren't you looking for the 'Effort Pirates'?"
Smoker took a deep breath. White smoke puffed from his nostrils as he forcibly calmed himself down.
Ace then turned his head to look at Crocodile, a teasing grin on his lips:
"Long time no see~ Sand Crocodile."
Seeing Ace, veins instantly popped on Crocodile's forehead, his chest heaving violently:
"You bastard brats... what exactly is the meaning of this?!"
Smoker had also completely recovered his wits by now. Gritting his teeth, he growled lowly: "I just want to ask you one thing!
A while ago, did some bullsh*t 'Effort Pirates' come to your place?! Where are they?!"
Hearing this, Crocodile's face instantly darkened, shadows enveloping his entire face.
It was as if he had been ruthlessly poked in a sore spot. He roared back: "Who the hell knows where those idiots ran off to?!!"
Nami and Nojiko also stepped forward at this time.
A flash of inspiration hit Nami, catching the loophole in his words. She raised an eyebrow and sneered coldly: "Oh? Meaning—you have seen them?"
Crocodile was momentarily at a loss for words, his expression incredibly ugly.
He swept his gaze over the enemies before him—Ace, Luffy, Smoker, and that girl with the extraordinary aura...
He cursed secretly in his heart: "Damn it... the odds of winning if a fight breaks out aren't high."
He ultimately let out a cold snort, his tone softening slightly, his face full of impatience: "Hmph... I did indeed see those guys!"
As he spoke, his voice gradually rose, filled with fury: "The moment they arrived, they started shouting things like 'Defeat me and save this country'!!"
"I haven't done a f*cking thing! What the hell are they saving?!"
Thinking back to the scene at the time, his veins twitched, his words laced with irritability:
"They were like brainwashed cultists! I had my subordinates throw them out, but it turned out that captain wearing glasses who looked like a wimp actually had some strength, injuring Mr. 1, Mr. 2, and Mr. 3!"
"In the end, I had to step in personally and ruthlessly crush them!"
His breathing was rapid. With a swing of his golden hook, he kicked up a large cloud of sand and dust.
"But I had other things to do at the time and couldn't be bothered to waste time, so I didn't deal the killing blow."
"And the result?!"
Crocodile's voice was practically squeezed out through his teeth, trembling with anger:
"They came back a second time!! Still shouting things like 'Effort!' and 'I'm going to become the Pirate King!'"
"I crushed them once again. This time, finding them too annoying, I threw them all into prison!"
His chest heaved, his gaze brutal.
"And the result—!!"
That cold face was somewhat twisted by anger as he gnashed his teeth: "The third time, I don't know who let them out, but they revived with full health and rushed up to challenge me again!!!"
The air solidified for a moment; everyone was stunned.
Speaking up to this point, Crocodile's expression abruptly froze. The corner of his eye twitched, and his golden hook trembled slightly. His entire face twisted for a second.
Clearly, the memory of being continuously pestered and played with by the "Effort Pirates" seemed branded into his heart, tearing at him and causing an unprecedented sense of humiliation and exasperation to well up within this Warlord.
He abruptly took a deep breath, his chest heaving, suppressing his anger that was on the verge of losing control.
"That's the whole story!
Later, they left Alabasta on their own. I have absolutely no idea where they went!!"
"Now—can you guys get the hell out?!!"
Smoker bit down hard on his cigar, veins popping, his face ashen.
White fog puffed from his breath. His eyes locked dead onto Crocodile as he whispered chillingly:
"These idiot pirates... actually dared to repeatedly provoke a Warlord of the Sea?"
But the next instant, he narrowed his eyes, a deeper doubt surfacing in his heart: "However... how exactly did they escape from prison?"
Ace stood with his arms crossed, lightly tapping his chin with his fingers, a teasing look on his face: "Tsk... hearing you say that, those guys are quite persistent, aren't they?"
Luffy's eyes immediately lit up on the spot, shouting excitedly: "Whoa! They sound so interesting! I want to fight them too!!"
SLAP!!!
Nami swung her fist and viciously smashed it onto Luffy's head.
"Idiot!! That is not the point here, okay?!"
Luffy clutched his head, shrinking his neck with teary eyes: "It hurts... but it really sounds super interesting..."
Nojiko, who had been quietly observing from the side, spoke up softly at this moment. Her tone, however, was like a sharp blade cutting right to the heart of the matter:
"Mr. Crocodile, you said they were 'let out'... Does that mean someone intentionally helped them break out of prison?"
As her voice fell, the surroundings abruptly fell quiet.
Everyone's gazes fell upon Crocodile simultaneously.
Crocodile snorted coldly, his gaze sinister. Sand and dust churned rustlingly at his feet, as if ready to erupt at any moment: "Who knows? Anyway, it definitely wasn't my people!!"
"Those idiots are like unkillable cockroaches, annoying as hell!"
Smoker slowly exhaled a puff of white smoke. His gaze gradually turned sharp as he spoke coldly: "Hmph... since they aren't with you, we'll let this matter drop."
He paused, his gaze like a blade staring fiercely at Crocodile, his voice icy:
"However—if you dare to harbor them, I won't be this polite the next time I come!!"
The air instantly froze!
On one side was a sandstorm eager for action; on the other, endlessly churning white smoke.
The two powers rubbed fiercely against each other in the air, emitting a suppressed, low hum, as if ready to tear heaven and earth apart the very next moment!
The veins on Crocodile's forehead pulsed, the sand and dust churning madly around him.
His gaze was chilling, but ultimately he laughed out of extreme anger, his voice hoarse and savage: "Hehehe..."
"Get the hell out!!!"
"Before I change my mind!!!"
"BOOM!!!"
The sandstorm exploded violently, kicking up a fierce wind. Like a roaring beast, it swept across the entire street, instantly causing the air to howl!
Smoker, Ace, Luffy, and the others, however, stood towering and unmoving in the wind and sand. Though their expressions varied, they did not yield a single inch.
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