Chapter 195: Crocodile One Year Later
"Aren't you leaving?" the tightly wrapped middle-aged man asked the plump middle-aged man.
"I… want to wait a bit longer," the plump middle-aged man said softly, his eyes flickering.
This place was his home. He had no relatives and no money to go anywhere else.
"Sigh… then I wish you good luck."
The middle-aged man shook his head.
Then, leading his wife and daughter, he dragged their large bags and slowly walked out of Yuba against the sandstorm.
This sandstorm only affected the area of the Yuba Oasis.
Inside the underground city.
"Huff~ huff~"
A naked figure was lying prone on the ground, a five-meter-wide stone pressing down on his back. Waves of heat drifted off his body, his massive physique glowing red-hot, as hard as steel.
"29981… 29982…"
Throughout the entire space, only this deep, magnetic voice remained.
Time passed slowly.
Tap~ tap~
Footsteps sounded.
A pair of straight, jade-like long legs came into view.
"Boss, Mr. Ze has appeared, and the bounty on the Dragonflame Pirate Crew has reached ten billion."
Celine 's soft, delicate voice rang out.
Instantly, the counting stopped, and the space seemed to freeze.
"30000!"
Boom!!
A massive stone crashed to the ground with a deafening roar.
A tall figure slowly stood up. A faint glow flowed across that blazing red skin, like metal.
An oppressive aura spread out from his body.
"Only a year, and you've already appeared… have you gained enough strength?"
Crocodile draped his coat over his bare body, picked up a cigar from the side, and light flickered in his calm eyes.
"Ten billion… you're already close to catching up to that old man Whitebeard. Looks like I've fallen behind."
The corner of his mouth lifted slightly in an arrogant smile as he muttered to himself.
"Has everyone in Yuba left?" He shifted his gaze to Celine .
"There are still some people who haven't left." Celine lowered her head, not daring to meet his eyes.
"Mm."
"Then wake Baroque Works. Have every agent bring me the head of someone worth over twenty million Beli. Senior agents: eighty million. Mid-level: fifty million."
Crocodile said indifferently.
"Yes, Boss!"
Celine answered with her head lowered.
Then she withdrew.
The space became empty once more.
"Ze… my current strength… shouldn't be inferior to yours now, right…"
Crocodile looked ahead, as if someone were standing there. With his right palm facing upward, a miniature sandstorm vortex formed, slowly spinning in his hand.
At that moment, a streak of black light spread over his hand, quickly covering the entire palm. The black light climbed onto the sandstorm vortex, turning the entire miniature sand tornado pitch-black, glinting with a cold, eerie sheen.
Then he tossed the sand vortex upward.
The Armament Haki–coated sand vortex sank straight into the wall above and vanished.
Out in the desert beyond Yuba, a faintly black tornado slowly began to grow.
Buzz~ buzz buzz~
In just a few dozen seconds, the terrifying sand tornado grew to a height of a hundred meters, churning wind and clouds.
The sky gradually darkened, black clouds pressing down like the end of the world.
The faintly black sand tornado swept toward Yuba, the oasis city, with destructive force.
Sensing this terrifying might of nature, the people of Yuba who hadn't left opened their doors and peeked outside.
Bang…
Bang bang bang!
The moment they saw the sand tornado, the first thing the people in those houses did was slam their doors shut and lock them tightly.
Because trying to run was impossible. No human could outrun a sand tornado—the faster you ran, the faster you'd die.
Having lived in the desert for so many years, they had already experienced many tornadoes. Their houses had cellars, which allowed them to take shelter from sand tornadoes quite effectively.
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