"Death? It will not come that easily."
Raleigh ground his polished boot against Crocodile's head, pressing his face deeper into the dirt.
"Before we squeezed every last drop of value out of you, even death would be a luxury."
Raleigh's cold words pierced Crocodile's heart like poisoned arrows, fueling the absolute hatred burning within him.
In recruiting Crocodile and Bullet, Raleigh purposely employed completely different approaches.
Bullet was a martial fanatic whose sole passion was challenging strong opponents.
His personality made him indifferent to assignments or locations, so Raleigh avoided humiliating him excessively—respecting the dignity of the powerful.
Humiliating Bullet would either yield a corpse or a lifelong enemy, neither of which Raleigh desired. Most likely, it would have just resulted in Bullet fighting to the death.
But Crocodile was completely different.
Known across the seas as the "Sand Crocodile," he harbored immense ambition, lethal cunning, and considerable strength.
If he was not broken early, he would cause endless trouble down the line; defiance and betrayal were predictable outcomes for a man like him.
Thus, Raleigh treated him no differently from Doflamingo: using the cruelest, most absolute methods to break their spirit.
Of course, Doflamingo was easier to control due to his genuine concern for his family executives. Crocodile, however, was a lone wolf with no attachments for Raleigh to exploit.
Hence, Raleigh resorted to brutal, extreme physical and psychological humiliation.
Though Crocodile would never submit fully under such treatment, Raleigh only needed his forced loyalty for a few years anyway.
With his face buried in the dirt, no one could see the sheer fury clenching Crocodile's jaw.
Raleigh's words and actions delivered an unprecedented blow to this proud, budding pirate prodigy.
The flames of vengeance roared from the deepest pits of his heart, and a violent, suffocating aura suddenly erupted from beneath Raleigh's boot.
Raleigh's brow twitched as he looked down at Crocodile.
The pirate's Conqueror's Haki had actually evolved, triggered by his overwhelming rage and humiliation.
Using his remaining free arm to support his body, Crocodile forced his head up from the dirt.
The physical agony of his shattered bones was nothing compared to the humiliation he had just endured.
He suddenly raised his bloodied face and screamed at Raleigh.
"I will kill you, damn Marine scum!"
"Raaaaaagh!!!"
Under Crocodile's control, a wave of Conqueror's Haki surged directly toward Raleigh's body.
A contemptuous smile appeared on Raleigh's face.
An overwhelmingly powerful, suffocating aura erupted from the Vice-Admiral in response, effortlessly shattering Crocodile's Conqueror's Haki into nothingness.
Then, Raleigh lifted his right foot again. "It seems the hatred in your heart has completely robbed you of your reason. It appears I must make you understand your current situation once more."
Crack!
Raleigh brought his boot down, casually crushing the arm bone that Crocodile was using to support his body.
Deprived of support, Crocodile collapsed awkwardly onto the ground, his eyes fixed hatefully on Raleigh.
Shing!
Raleigh smoothly drew Mikazuki Munechika from his waist and drove the blade directly through Crocodile's left hand, pinning it to the earth.
"AAAAARGH!!!"
The excruciating pain restored a sliver of terrifying clarity to Crocodile's rage-addled mind.
"How pathetic," Raleigh remarked coldly. "To maintain such hollow pride even at death's door. If you were truly chosen by destiny, it might be understandable. But you are neither heaven's chosen, nor are you in the hands of a merciful man. Your pride will only bring you more suffering."
Hearing Raleigh's mockery, Crocodile offered no retort.
He merely gasped for air in heavy, agonizing heaves.
Raleigh showed no urgency, patiently waiting for Crocodile to recover his strength.
After a long while, when Crocodile's breathing finally steadied, he looked up at Raleigh and said.
"Marine... use whatever methods you have. From the day I became a pirate, I have never been anyone's dog—and I never will be!"
As he spoke, Conqueror's Haki once again surged stubbornly around him.
Raleigh sighed. "What is so bad about being a dog? Is losing your life better?"
With those words, Raleigh tightened his grip on the hilt of Mikazuki Munechika.
Under Crocodile's terrified, widening gaze, the Vice-Admiral swung the blade.
Slice.
The impossibly sharp edge cleanly severed Crocodile's left hand without the slightest resistance.
Raleigh calmly lifted the bloodied, severed hand right before Crocodile's eyes.
"A pirate like you... even in death, I will not grant you a quick end," Raleigh whispered. "I told you, falling into my hands is your torment. This time, it was your left hand. In ten minutes, I will take your right hand. Another ten minutes after that, your left foot."
Raleigh signaled for a nearby Marine soldier to bring an alarm clock, setting the timer for exactly ten minutes.
Gripping his bloody longsword, Raleigh sat on a wooden stool brought by his men and waited.
Crocodile stared fixedly at his severed left stump, his mind racing as he recalled Raleigh's chilling words.
After everything he had just experienced, Crocodile trusted his own judgment—this madman of a Marine was not bluffing.
If he did not comply with Raleigh's demands, this lunatic would truly sever his right hand in ten minutes.
Moreover, immediately after cutting off his left hand, the madman had forcefully applied a high-grade hemostatic medicine to the stump—ensuring Crocodile would not bleed to death before the punishment was fully complete.
Tick... tock... tick... tock...
With each mechanical tick of the clock, Crocodile's expression grew darker.
Raleigh sat with his eyes closed, seemingly completely indifferent to the passage of time.
Finally, entering the last thirty seconds, Raleigh opened his eyes, revealing absolutely no emotion whatsoever.
Tick—tock—
This time, the sound of the ticking hand seemed to beat directly against Crocodile's own heart.
With each second, his face grew paler.
The absolute rage that had filled Crocodile's heart just moments ago was now entirely replaced by pure, creeping dread over these ten agonizing minutes.
He was no longer the arrogant Sand Crocodile consumed by fury and hatred—now, he was simply a broken man thinking only of how to survive.
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