Alubarna, the palace.
King Cobra opened the window of his room and looked up at the thick clouds in the sky.
"It's going to rain..."
Cobra said with a sigh. Suddenly, a movement in the distant desert caught his attention.
"Huh?"
...
Even though it was night, the residents of Alubarna were taking out water storage containers from their homes, placing them in the usual spots.
This was a custom of the Alabasta residents, to store fresh rainwater whenever it rained, to prevent water shortages during droughts.
But just as the residents had put their containers down, planning to return home to avoid the rain, a sudden and strange change occurred in the sky.
In the distance, a wild current of air, visible to the naked eye, shot up into the sky, piercing through it like a sharp blade.
The thick clouds were torn open from the middle, as if an eye had opened, with the moon appearing like a pupil, looking down on the land from above.
"What... what is that!"
"The sky has been cut open!"
"That direction, shouldn't it be a deserted desert?"
"..."
The residents were shocked by the scene before them. They let the heavy rain fall, soaking their clothes, but couldn't help but discuss it.
Finally, an experienced old sailor knocked his pipe and said slowly:
"Since it's a deserted desert, let's not worry about it and tell the young ones not to get close easily."
The old sailor was knowledgeable and guessed what was happening.
"Probably some strong people are fighting. We'd better not go looking for trouble, there might be danger."
...
As it turned out, the old sailor's judgment was absolutely correct.
Rowan and Garp's battle, using "three points of strength," was indeed too loud, and the affected area was huge.
Sand and gravel filled the sky, raging around the dune as the central point, flying wildly.
At first, Crocodile didn't think it was anything special, that he could create a similar sandstorm.
But when a pebble flew by and hit him in the head, Crocodile realized why these two were fighting in this deserted desert.
The aftereffects of the storm they created were too terrifying.
It wasn't just an ordinary sandstorm, but a meat grinder that could tear ordinary people to pieces!
As his elementalized head gradually recovered, Crocodile noticed Granny Tsuru nearby.
From the outside, she did look like an energetic old woman, but the powerful sandstorm couldn't hurt her at all.
With her observation skills, Granny Tsuru slightly moved her feet, dodging the deadly stones flying in the storm.
...
Far away, the dune.
More accurately, because of the storm created by Rowan and Garp, the dune had become a "sand pit."
Countless sand and gravel rolled and surged. The two of them were in the middle of it, spear tips and fists crossed back and forth, neither giving way.
Garp was laughing more happily than before, his eyes showing a light of excitement.
What a great after-dinner activity!
He knew very well that for long weapons, close-range combat ability was far less than that of fists.
Not fast enough, and not enough space to use swinging to increase power.
But Rowan could use a long spear to defuse his attacks and even try to fight back!
No wonder Tsuru-chan said before, to not let my guard down, after all, he is the emperor of the empire from eight hundred years ago!
Thinking of this, Garp suddenly clenched his fist, veins popping on his right arm.
He could use the speed of his hands to disrupt Rowan's defense rhythm, but that wasn't what Garp liked to do.
It's rare to meet such a good opponent, let me relax a little!
Garp's attack suddenly slowed down.
But rather than "slow," it was more like it became more "heavy."
The right fist, completely wrapped in armed power, was like a heavy hammer, lifted high by Garp, and then slammed down!
Ding!
The "hammer" collided head-on with the spear, and Rowan's right hand was instantly numbed.
Garp grinned and continued to lift his right arm, smashing down on Rowan again and again.
Crack!
The collision of top-level armed powers created several visible black lightning bolts around!
After Rowan blocked dozens of Garp's attacks, he couldn't stand this level of chaotic smashing, and his palm still hurt.
"Ugh!"
Rowan subconsciously retracted his hand, and the rhythm of the movement was interrupted.
It was because of this moment of hesitation that Garp found Rowan's weakness and threw a heavy punch forward.
Whoosh!
Rowan could only retract his spear to block, using the spear shaft for defense.
But Garp's punch was too heavy, far beyond any previous blow.
The dark heavy fist hit the spear shaft, Rowan's arm couldn't support such force, and was forced to shrink back, causing the fist and spear shaft to hit his chest together.
At that moment, Rowan only felt his internal organs churning.
As expected of the [Iron Fist] famous throughout the sea...
Heavy enough!
Rowan was hit by this blow, and his whole body flew into the air, landing and taking a few steps back.
He clutched his chest, took a few deep breaths, and barely recovered.
The battle between the two temporarily stopped.
Because of this, the terrifying sandstorm finally dissipated, and the visibility around was restored.
Garp cracked his fingers, making a series of popping sounds.
He looked at Rowan and asked with a smile, "Continue?"
"Of course."
Rowan nodded, straightened his body, and the staff stood on the ground, and the surrounding sand and gravel became restless again.
Then, Rowan beckoned to Garp and smiled, "Come on."
"Good!"
Garp spat out a word, and then stepped forward at a speed almost impossible to catch with the naked eye.
His movement was so fast that it far exceeded the Marine six techniques "Shave"!
Rowan pushed hard with both legs, and the whole person retreated, while raising his left hand and gripping it hard.
More than a dozen sand soldiers stood up from the ground, holding spears, and launched a charge towards Garp.
...
Seeing this, Crocodile in the distant ruins couldn't help but laugh.
"Hey, these ordinary sand soldiers can't deal with that level of expert, right?"
...
Sure enough.
Garp opened his hands, grabbed the two sand soldiers in front of him with one hand each, and easily crushed their heads.
It seems that it really won't work...
Not so!
Rowan's eyes turned, scanning the surroundings, judging the situation of the entire battlefield.
While continuing to retreat, his left hand's fingers changed into different gestures one after another.
Then, more sand soldiers stood up, holding sand spears, and charged towards Garp again.
Seeing this, Garp planned to use brute force to break through the sand soldiers as before, but then he noticed something was wrong.
He couldn't hit anyone!
The sand soldiers didn't block him in front, but acted in groups in different formations, attacking him from all directions.
Garp's expression was obviously surprised.
If he hadn't seen the sand soldiers were condensed from sand, he would have almost suspected that those sand soldiers were living people!
Their movements, postures, marches, and formations were all the same as real soldiers!
Under Rowan's control, this incredibly "real" sand army was capable of combat far exceeding that of ordinary armies!
They didn't fear death, nor did they fear sacrifice.
Even Garp couldn't help but feel troubled when truly facing such an unusual army.
What if he knocked down one? What if he knocked down a thousand?
More sand soldiers rose from the ground, making it impossible for Garp to approach Rowan again, let alone drag him into close combat that would be advantageous to him.
The two sides fell into a stalemate again.
...
Watching this scene, Crocodile frowned.
Granny Tsuru laughed and said, "Crocodile brat, didn't think your fruit ability could be used like this?"
Crocodile snorted and said darkly, "Blindly following others will only be self-defeating, I have my own way of using it!"
"Haha, stubborn Crocodile brat."
Granny Tsuru looked at the sand soldiers that kept getting up one after another, and suddenly said:
"Before coming to Alabasta, I checked some information about Ryan Rowan."
"Oh?"
Crocodile was interested, after all, historical materials from eight hundred years ago were extremely scarce. Apart from the former archaeological holy land of Ohara, perhaps only the World Government had detailed records.
"One of them left a deep impression on this old woman—"
Granny Tsuru recalled the original text of the historical data and repeated:
"When the empire's emperor leads the sand army to the battlefield, the unfavorable battle situation will be reversed, the powerful enemies will be defeated, and everything blocking him will be wiped out."
"He used his genius strategic vision to bring victory to countless wars."
"The empire's soldiers, when darkness falls, there is no need to fear, no need to retreat..."
"That golden armor will pierce through the endless darkness, like the dawn of a new day."
Tsuru slowly said:
"Therefore, eight hundred years ago, Ryan Rowan, nickname - [Golden Dawn]."
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