The desert wind howled.
Yellow sand drifted endlessly through the air, swallowing Kairos' figure in a hazy veil.
Ahead of him, the battlefield had already fallen silent.
The massive dune that once stood there had been blasted apart completely, leaving behind a crater over a hundred meters wide. Deep cracks spread outward through the surrounding desert like spiderwebs.
At the very center—
Pell and Chaka lay unconscious in the sand.
Blood stained their clothes.
Their breathing was weak.
Kairos glanced at them and let out a faint sigh.
"…Too weak."
Honestly, he had held back at the very end.
Otherwise, that slash would have cut the two guardian deities in half on the spot.
He had expected more from Alabasta's strongest fighters.
Instead, they couldn't even withstand a single serious exchange.
Kairos slowly sheathed the Demon Sword Thousand Blades.
Then—
the system notifications arrived.
"Ding: Host has defeated Captain Igaram of the Royal Guard. Reward obtained: Pleasant Goat Card — Sword-Wielding Version (1/1)."
"Ding: Host has defeated Pell. Reward obtained: Pleasant Goat Card — Sword-Wielding Version (1/1)."
"Ding: Host has defeated Chaka. Reward obtained: Pleasant Goat Card — Sword-Wielding Version (1/1)."
Kairos froze.
For several seconds, he said absolutely nothing.
Then the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
"…Again?"
Pleasant Goat.
Another Pleasant Goat.
And not just one.
Three at once.
Without realizing it, he had already collected six copies.
Only four more remained before the card evolved into a permanent version.
Kairos fell into deep silence.
For one brief moment, an absurd thought surfaced in his mind.
Could it be that Alabasta's true name was actually 青青草原?
Otherwise why were Pleasant Goat cards dropping everywhere in this desert?
Kairos forcefully cut off the thought before his brain drifted into truly dangerous territory.
At that exact moment—
a low rumbling sound echoed from far away.
Kairos narrowed his eyes slightly.
Thousands of footsteps.
No.
More than that.
It sounded like an entire army crossing the desert.
A faint glimmer flashed through his Observation Haki.
Then he looked up.
"…Cobra."
⸻
Several kilometers away—
the royal army of Alabasta was advancing rapidly through the desert.
"Your Majesty!"
A messenger soldier rushed through the formation and knelt heavily before Cobra.
"Captain Igaram and the two guardian deities have been defeated!"
"What?!"
Cobra's expression changed immediately.
He had mobilized the royal army the instant he received news about Kairos.
That meant—
less than ten minutes had passed.
And within that time, Kairos had already defeated Alabasta's three strongest fighters.
Cobra's face grew darker and darker.
A heavy pressure settled in his chest.
He had originally hoped Pell and Chaka could at least delay Kairos long enough for the army to arrive.
But now it seemed—
that hope had been far too naive.
Before Cobra could even finish processing the news—
another soldier came sprinting from the front lines in panic.
"Your Majesty!"
"What now?!"
Cobra's voice unconsciously rose.
The soldier swallowed hard.
"Kairos… he's charging straight toward us!"
The moment those words fell—
the front ranks of the royal army visibly stirred.
Some soldiers had already begun stepping backward.
Fear spread through the formation like wildfire.
Cobra's heart sank completely.
He grabbed the telescope hanging at his side and immediately looked forward.
Then—
his pupils shrank violently.
Across the endless desert—
a black figure was racing toward them at terrifying speed.
The blazing sunlight distorted around him.
Afterimages trailed behind his body like shattered illusions.
And behind him—
a gigantic wall of sand surged across the desert.
It looked less like a person charging forward—
and more like a natural disaster descending upon the army.
"Prepare for battle!!"
Cobra roared immediately.
Thousands of soldiers raised their weapons at once.
The atmosphere tightened.
Then—
Kairos arrived.
Boom!!!!
His feet slammed into the desert several hundred meters before the army.
The towering wave of sand behind him exploded apart instantly.
Countless grains of sand filled the sky like golden stars beneath the sunlight.
The scene was strangely beautiful.
Then—
an invisible pressure descended.
Every grain of sand was smashed violently back into the ground by Kairos' Qi.
The entire battlefield fell silent.
But Kairos never looked at the army even once.
Instead—
jet-black Armament Haki spread across his legs.
Boom!!
His body shot upward into the sky like a black comet.
"What?!"
Cobra's expression changed again.
Kairos wasn't attacking the army.
He was heading—
toward the royal capital.
At the same time, black Armament Haki spread over Kairos' fists as violent pressure erupted around him.
Then—
he descended.
Boom!!!!
The earth exploded.
A section of the royal capital's outer wall collapsed instantly beneath Kairos' punch.
Stone shattered everywhere.
Dust erupted into the sky.
And from within the collapsing ruins—
a figure burst outward.
He wore a black fur-lined coat over an orange checkered shirt.
His slicked-back hair and scarred face gave him the appearance of a mafia boss straight out of the underworld.
Most eye-catching of all—
was the golden hook replacing his left hand.
Under the blazing desert sun, the hook gleamed with a cold, deadly light.
Kairos slowly raised his head.
Finally—
the man he had been searching for all this time had appeared.
Sir Crocodile.
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