Chapter 146: Baroque Works’ Ability Users
On this barren desert, the young and inexperienced Princess Vivi was falling behind in the argument with the cunning Crocodile. After a few exchanges, Princess Vivi’s face flushed red with anger. If not for the loyal Igaram holding her back, Princess Vivi would have rushed forward to take action herself.
Even after winning the verbal battle, there was no excitement on Crocodile’s face.
His attention had been focused on Dillon from the beginning. He knew very well that having the upper hand verbally was useless at this point. Dillon was the greatest threat. If he couldn’t defeat Dillon here, all his efforts in the Alabasta Kingdom would go to waste.
“What price did Cobra offer to persuade your master? If possible, I can pay double here, as long as you don’t interfere in Alabasta’s affairs.” Crocodile probed.
“Shameless!”
Princess Vivi snorted coldly.
However, she instead looked at Crocodile’s joke with leisure, and her anxious mood gradually cooled.
“You can’t afford it.”
Dillon shook his head.
The alliance with Princess and the Alabasta Kingdom was based on the intangible prestige accumulated by the Alabasta Kingdom over eight hundred years, and the status of the Nefertari Family as descendants of the twenty kings… These were things Crocodile could not provide. Moreover, compared to the sincere King Cobra, Crocodile this cold-blooded crocodile was not a good partner for cooperation.
The smile on Crocodile’s face gradually cooled.
Dillon’s rigid attitude made it clear there was no room for reconciliation between them. Besides fighting it out, there was no other way.
“Attack!”
Although Crocodile had been badly beaten by Whitebeard in the New World, compared to Moonlight Moria who was almost scared out of his wits by the Beasts, this guy’s fighting spirit was still quite fierce and he had not been beaten into despair.
On the contrary, he was even more ruthless and merciless than before. The only flaw was his somewhat unaware lack of confidence.
If it were the old Sand Crocodile, when facing a strong enemy, he wouldn’t hesitate to have his subordinates gang up; he would always sweep away all enemies with his own power.
“Six Wheel Blossoms.”
The first to strike was not the most loyal Mr. 1. Due to Robin’s special Devil Fruit ability, she was the first to launch an attack. Six arms grew from various parts of Dillon’s body—neck, arms, ankles were all grabbed. The six arms exerted force simultaneously, trying to break Dillon’s body.
Needless to say, her attempt also failed.
“So hard!”
From her red lips came this subjective remark. Robin showed surprise. Of course, she hadn’t expected to easily take down this monster from the New World, but her attack had no effect at all. Not only did the six arms fail to break Dillon, they instead shattered one after another due to excessive force, withering like petals.
However, this move of hers wasn’t entirely fruitless.
At the very least, Dillon was indeed slowed by this unpredictable attack method. He looked somewhat surprised at Robin standing on the turtle’s back, firmly memorizing her appearance. Such a strange ability, if used well, would absolutely be a terrifying power.
With the momentary opening created by Robin, Crocodile’s attack followed closely.
“Desert Sword.”
Crocodile’s right arm turned into flowing sand. The high-speed moving sand formed a huge sand blade. With his swinging motion, the sharp sand blade capable of slicing rocks and earth went straight towards Dillon standing in front.
This slash,
was full of momentum.
Especially in this desert, it stirred the flowing sand underfoot. The sand blade swelled to an astonishingly huge size. Not only was Dillon at the front in the attack range, but Princess Vivi, Igaram, and others and the duck at the back were also within the attack range.
“Princess Vivi.”
Igaram’s expression changed drastically.
The Karoo also let out strange cries one after another. It wasn’t that they didn’t believe in Dillon; even if Dillon could really defeat Crocodile, they were no match for Crocodile. If targeted by Crocodile, they had no confidence in protecting themselves.
After suddenly realizing the huge danger in fighting Crocodile, Igaram began to regret again. He shouldn’t have agreed to Princess Vivi’s plea. It would have been so much better to stay obediently in the Royal Palace. Unlike the current situation, his heart couldn’t take it anymore.
“It’ll be fine.”
This short sentence seemed to carry a strange magic.
Dillon stood in front of everyone, not retreating a step. His figure was instantly engulfed by the smoke and dust stirred up by the Desert Sword. However, those behind discovered they hadn’t suffered any harm, only some dust drifting over. Apart from that, Dillon had taken all the attack.
The dust quickly dispersed.
Dillon stood in place without moving, just his feet buried in thick sand. Apart from that, no other wounds were visible, not even a tear on his sleeve.
“How is that possible?”
“Unharmed?”
Miss. Christmas, Miss. Valentine’s Day, and others widened their eyes in disbelief at the unharmed Dillon. As Crocodile’s subordinates, most of them hadn’t joined Crocodile voluntarily but were defeated by him and joined Baroque Works out of fear of his overwhelming martial power.
In their view, Crocodile’s strength was simply invincible.
Especially Crocodile standing in the desert, powerful like a god descending to earth… Logia Ability Users were just that unreasonable, especially in the Four Seas and Paradise where there were no counters. Every Logia Ability User was nearly invincible.
“…Haki?”
Though phrased as a question, Crocodile was already certain in his heart that Dillon had used Armament Haki to withstand his attack.
Of course,
Those who forgot to attack due to surprise were mostly ladies. The other men and okamas unhesitatingly launched attacks. Mr. 5 dug out two boogers, used the Bomb-Bomb Fruit ability to turn the boogers into bombs, and shot the two booger bombs at Dillon.
Honestly, compared to the threat of the bombs, the essence of the boogers was more unbearable.
Dillon’s face twitched. Attacks this disgusting… he hadn’t seen many. But his solid combat training kept him from retreating due to disgust. He drew the Iron Ruler from his waist, swung the Armament Haki-wrapped Iron Ruler, and intercepted the booger bombs.
The explosive flames and shockwave were all borne by Dillon.
Thus,
His clothes finally became somewhat tattered, gaining a smoky, scorched smell.
“Boom!”
The atmosphere trembled.
Fist out like a mountain collapsing.
Being passively beaten was not his habit.
Before the flames from the booger bombs fully dissipated, Dillon clenched his left fist and punched towards the left front. The Haki-wrapped fist collided with the high-speed spinning blade. A series of bright sparks burst out. Mr. 1, with a drastic change in expression, was sent flying by Dillon’s punch.
When Mr. 1 was a Bounty Hunter, because he often took down enemies with surprise strikes, he earned the nickname Killer.
He used the smoke and flames created by Mr. 5 as cover, sneaked over quietly, trying to land a heavy blow while Dillon was unprepared. Unfortunately, Mr. 1, who had never been to the New World to broaden his horizons, didn’t know about Observation Haki, an ability like a human radar.
His self-proclaimed stealthy approach was like a bright lantern in the dark in Dillon’s perception—impossible to ignore.
This could be considered Crocodile pitting him. Worried his subordinates would lose fighting spirit from fear, Crocodile hadn’t informed them about Haki-related intelligence. The result could only be called bad luck. Fortunately, Mr. 1 was tough-skinned and thick-fleshed.
Though not a Zoan Devil Fruit User, as a Chop-Chop Fruit Ability User, he could make his body as hard as steel.
Dillon’s heavy punch, enough to kill a Sea Beast, didn’t kill Mr. 1 outright, only making him spit a lot of blood.
“Ballet Fist Fighting: Gorgeous Swan Dance.”
“Candle Ball.”
“Thorn Stomp.”
Knocking away one Mr. 1 didn’t make the others lose fighting spirit. With Crocodile presiding, no one dared slack off. All exerted full strength with their own moves. The girl with the drawing board, with help from Miss. Christmas who ate the Mole-Mole Fruit, appeared at Dillon’s feet through a tunnel.
She lifted her thick brush and quickly smeared a stroke of yellow like autumn leaves on the ground.
Its name: Colors of Laughter: Yellow.
Dillon, who had just grabbed Mr. 2’s leg and was about to break the okama’s leg bone, paused. Mr. 2’s face turned into Elus’s appearance. This made Dillon instantly pull back his strength. Due to the shaken mind, he retreated two steps, his heel stepping on the colored sand—
“Hahaha!!!”
Boisterous laughter echoed between heaven and earth.
Dillon suddenly laughed uncontrollably. All his strength couldn’t be exerted due to the laughter, causing his grip to weaken sharply. Mr. 2 hurriedly struggled free of his right leg and hopped away from Dillon. He didn’t think of counterattacking.
Because Mr. 4 charged over.
This fat, slow-moving man finally unleashed his first strike. Wielding his four-ton metal bat with all his strength, he smashed it hard onto the laughing Dillon, the bat clashing head-on with Dillon’s head.
“Clang~~~”
The sound of metal clashing rang out.
The laughter lasting less than five seconds abruptly stopped. Dillon was sent flying like a cannonball, thus breaking contact with the colored sand underfoot. The laughter naturally ceased.
After flying not far in the air, Crocodile raised his hand and released a sandstorm capable of destroying an oasis, knocking Dillon down from the air.
“Air Explosion.”
The moment Dillon landed, before he could catch his breath, relentless attacks like tides followed one after another.
Mr. 5 stood not far from Dillon, bizarrely breathing in and out repeatedly towards him. He used the Bomb-Bomb Fruit ability to turn his exhaled air into bombs. These invisible bombs exploded wildly around Dillon, with rumbling explosions resounding across the wilderness.
The explosions lasted a full three minutes.
Mr. 5, puffing like a bellows nonstop, had his throat nearly cracking dry before finally stopping the attack, unable to continue.
Then—
“Cough cough!”
Coughs came from the smoke and dust stirred by the explosions.
Mr. 5’s expression changed drastically.
Not just him; the other High-ranking Agents of Baroque Works also paled. Watching Dillon emerge from the smoke, they saw he still had no obvious injuries. Everyone was at a loss for words.
This was—
What kind of monster!?
Enduring such terrifying attacks yet acting as if nothing happened.
“Paramecia…”
Dillon wiped the dust from his face, his expression somewhat subtle.
He defended against everything, yet still couldn’t defend against it.
The girl with the drawing board… Miss Goldenweek. He hadn’t missed her strange actions, but at the time he was focused on dealing with attacks from Mr. 2, Mr. 3, and Miss Doublefinger, so he didn’t see Miss Goldenweek’s specific moves.
He was only guarding against Miss Goldenweek launching a surprise attack from behind.
He hadn’t expected her to silently set a trap on the ground. Honestly, in this rolling yellow sand desert, sand dyed with yellow pigment really wasn’t easy to spot. Observation Haki couldn’t detect color changes.
This was the terror of Paramecia Devil Fruits.
Just like the arms that suddenly grew from the body earlier, these bizarre abilities were hard to defend against effectively even with prior detailed intelligence. Fortunately, the two Paramecia Ability Users he encountered had strange abilities but lacked astonishing destructive power.
“Paramecia Ability Users… interesting. It’d be a pity to kill you.” Dillon’s gaze swept over Robin and Miss Goldenweek. Ability Users this interesting were more valuable alive than dead, especially Miss Goldenweek, who looked like just a teenage girl with potential for reform.
“Crescent Dune.”
Crocodile’s attack came again. The sharp sand blade swept over. Dillon let out an annoyed roar upon seeing it. Being hit repeatedly made him feel deeply humiliated. Though unharmed, the situation alone was enough to enrage him.
Even with thoughts of capturing Miss Goldenweek and Robin alive, it didn’t mean he’d go easy on Crocodile. On the contrary, unable to vent his anger on Miss Goldenweek and Robin, he could only pour it all onto Crocodile.
Logia Ability Users were actually pretty durable sandbags!
“Finger Pistol: Beast Strictness.”
Dillon finally got serious.
Rokushiki, the killing techniques refined and summarized by the World Government over eight hundred years, had long been obtained by Elus through various channels and passed on to his subordinate Aide-de-camps.
