Creak—
The door of the seastone cage swung open as Conrad pushed it aside. The harsh metallic sound echoed throughout the spacious room.
For a moment, the air fell completely silent.
A trace of surprise appeared on Crocodile's gloomy face. The key was still in his own hand.
"Surprised?"
"There are many ways to walk out of a seastone cage. For example… like this."
Yuuki raised a finger and lightly tapped the cage.
Whoosh!
Right before Crocodile's eyes, the enormous and heavy seastone cage vanished without a trace. Yuuki had stored it away inside a separate space.
"How is that possible…?"
Crocodile's expression changed. His confidence was replaced by seriousness.
Such a large cage—made entirely of seastone, specifically designed to restrain Devil Fruit users—had simply disappeared.
And he hadn't sensed even the slightest disturbance.
Behind Yuuki, Robin stared at his back, her eyes widening.
After hearing from Vivi that Yuuki had fought another Warlord of the Sea, "Tyrant" Kuma, she had already tried to estimate the strength of the Magic Eye Pirates' captain as highly as possible.
But now she realized—
She had probably still underestimated him.
Cutting through seastone handcuffs so easily, making an enormous seastone cage vanish… both were completely beyond her understanding.
"Your self-indulgent ambitions can end here," Yuuki said lazily.
Conrad stepped forward calmly.
Step by step, he approached Crocodile. His composure made it seem as though this was not Crocodile's territory at all—but his own.
"It seems I underestimated you," Crocodile said coldly.
"No wonder you dared appear before me."
"But even so—turn to dust!"
He raised his arm and slashed forward.
Desert Spada!
A massive blade of flowing sand formed instantly in midair and shot toward Conrad at incredible speed.
Facing the attack—
Conrad didn't even slow down.
Just before the sand blade struck him, a green key-shaped portal appeared above his head and swallowed the attack whole.
Crocodile narrowed his eyes.
His attacks continued without pause.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Sand blades flew one after another. Some even curved through the air, trying to bypass the portal.
But—
Before any of them could reach Conrad, they were drawn into the portal and swallowed.
What kind of Devil Fruit ability is this…?
After several exchanges, Crocodile had already figured out what the green portal did.
And that only made him more shocked.
He had clearly seen Conrad summon a golden key while inside the seastone cage.
But according to his wanted poster, Conrad's ability should have been manipulating seawater.
What was going on?
And more importantly—
Besides the "Black Robe" Conrad, there was still another mysterious man who hadn't even made a move yet.
"Humph."
Crocodile snorted coldly.
As Conrad drew closer, Crocodile's body suddenly dissolved into flowing sand.
Countless grains scattered like drifting dandelion seeds, impossible to track.
"Crocodile is trying to escape!" Robin quickly warned.
Some of the sand was already moving toward the window.
Inside the room, Crocodile's abilities were somewhat limited. But if he reached the desert outside, his power would increase dramatically.
Of everyone present, Robin had the strongest reason to want Crocodile defeated.
If Crocodile survived, he would never let her go.
After all, she knew the secret Crocodile sought—the information about the legendary Ancient Weapon Pluton.
If even the slightest trace of that leaked, the World Government would hunt her relentlessly again.
Robin knew how difficult it was to deal with a Logia user.
Without seastone, there was almost no way to stop them.
Vivi clenched her fists anxiously.
"Escape?"
A cold laugh echoed from the drifting sand.
"You misunderstand the word."
"Don't worry," Yuuki said calmly.
"In front of Conrad, a Logia Devil Fruit is no different from any other."
The next moment—
Conrad raised another golden key and inserted it into the swirling sand.
Then he twisted it.
Instantly—
The scattered sand froze in midair.
Then, as if time itself had reversed, every grain rushed back toward the key.
Within two breaths—
Crocodile's body was forcibly reassembled from the sand.
His face was filled with disbelief.
"How… how is this possible?!"
Bloodshot eyes stared at Conrad.
He realized he could no longer use his Devil Fruit power.
For the first time, panic appeared on Crocodile's face.
Without hesitation—
Crocodile lashed out.
CLANG!
His poisoned golden hook stabbed toward Conrad while his body prepared to leap backward.
Earlier, Crocodile had planned to retreat to the desert to annihilate them.
But now—
He truly wanted to escape.
Without his Devil Fruit ability, he had already lost the will to fight.
Conrad raised his hand.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The green portal reopened.
All the sand blades Crocodile had launched earlier were expelled at once.
"Damn it!!"
Crocodile roared.
Normally, physical attacks meant nothing to a Logia user.
But now—
Without his Devil Fruit powers, he had no way to stop them.
And the greatest humiliation was that he was being struck by his own attack.
BOOM!
Crocodile was blasted backward into the wall.
Cracks spread across the stone as blood splattered everywhere.
His black coat fell away, stained red.
His entire body was covered in wounds.
He slid down from the wall, barely managing to stand.
Blood dripped from his mouth.
"You…"
Crocodile looked up in fear.
But before he could finish—
A pale, expressionless face appeared before him.
Conrad grabbed Crocodile's arm—
CRACK.
He twisted it apart.
"AAAAHH!"
Crocodile's scream echoed through the room.
Conrad continued without pause.
CRACK!
The other arm.
Then both legs.
All four limbs shattered.
Yet Crocodile didn't lose consciousness.
Instead, his bloodshot eyes glared fiercely at Conrad.
Even his screams stopped.
He simply bit down on his bleeding lip.
Robin and Vivi stood frozen in place.
They had hoped Yuuki and Conrad would defeat Crocodile.
But seeing it happen so easily—
They could hardly believe their eyes.
One of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
"Desert King" Crocodile.
Defeated without the slightest ability to fight back.
Yuuki walked toward Crocodile, who now lay on the floor like a broken corpse.
"Without your Devil Fruit ability, you've lost even the will to fight?"
"It seems your defeat at Whitebeard's hands truly shattered your confidence."
"But that last look in your eyes was decent."
Crocodile snarled weakly.
"You people… have no idea how terrifying the monsters of the New World are!"
THUD.
Conrad kicked the back of his neck.
Crocodile's eyes rolled back, and he lost consciousness.
Conrad lifted him by the collar like a sack of cargo.
"The matter of Crocodile is settled," Yuuki said.
"As for your kingdom's rebellion—handle it yourself."
"Just remember one thing."
"The rules of this world."
Yuuki turned and walked toward the door.
Conrad followed, carrying the unconscious Crocodile.
Only then did Vivi recover from her shock.
She stepped forward instinctively—
Then stopped.
Tears welled in her eyes.
"Thank you… Lord Yuuki! Lord Conrad!"
She bowed deeply.
Beside her, Robin looked at Vivi with complicated eyes.
Then she smiled gently and hurried after them.
Downstairs, the luxurious casino had fallen completely silent.
The sounds of battle upstairs had already reached the gambling floor.
"Who are those two?"
"Did something happen upstairs?"
"Wait… look!"
"The man he's carrying—"
"No way…!"
"That's Crocodile!"
"Impossible! He's the kingdom's hero—and a Warlord!"
"It really is Crocodile! I recognize that golden hook!"
Shock spread throughout the casino.
As Yuuki and Conrad walked through, the crowd parted automatically.
No one dared stop them.
Yuuki had no interest in ordinary people.
He stepped outside the Rain Dinners casino.
"Wind Creation Magic—Heavenly Wind Ark."
A whirlwind formed beneath their feet, shaping itself into a wind vessel.
"Wait!"
Robin ran out of the casino.
Yuuki turned and looked at her with mild interest.
"How about letting me join your pirate crew?" Robin said.
Taking a steady breath, she smiled calmly.
"If you want to become the Pirate King, Yuuki, you'll need someone like me."
Yuuki tilted his head slightly.
"I'm not interested in becoming the Pirate King."
Robin's smile froze.
"But…"
Yuuki deliberately paused.
"I do have something I need your help with."
Robin's eye twitched slightly, but she quickly forced her smile back.
She stepped onto the wind vessel.
Once steady, she spoke gracefully.
"Captain Yuuki. Please take care of me from now on."
Yuuki ignored her.
The wind vessel shot into the sky, heading toward the port.
The sudden motion nearly made Robin lose her balance.
She shot Yuuki a slightly resentful look, though deep down she was already thinking.
Robin had survived all these years by constantly betraying others.
She had dealt with countless strange and dangerous leaders.
But Yuuki—
She still couldn't read him.
Not his personality.
Not his goals.
At first, she thought Yuuki had made some agreement with Princess Vivi to oppose Crocodile.
But their actions suggested otherwise.
After thinking for a moment, she gave up trying to guess.
Robin glanced at Yuuki and Conrad again.
A crew capable of defeating Crocodile so easily was far stronger than she had imagined.
Joining them would greatly increase her chances of survival.
No matter how she looked at it—
It was the right choice.
Besides, Yuuki seemed far easier to deal with than Crocodile.
The wind vessel sped through the sky.
In less than twenty minutes, they arrived above Nanohana Port.
Suddenly—
Yuuki frowned slightly.
The tiny movement was immediately noticed by Robin.
Did something happen?
From the moment she met him, Yuuki had rarely shown any emotion.
The wind vessel began descending.
As they approached the ground—
The air temperature dropped.
"It's getting colder…" Robin murmured.
When they finally landed, she realized something shocking.
The ground of the scorching desert port—
Was covered with a thin layer of ice.
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