"A fishman?!"
Manlong broke through the sand wall, bringing him into the view of Crocodile and the others.
Seeing the distinct fishman features on Manlong, Crocodile's brow furrowed slightly, and swirling sand imdiately gathered in his hand.
As a user of the Sand-Sand Fruit...
Aside from Armant Haki, only water could make physical contact with his body.
In other words, a fishman capable of manipulating water for combat was naturally a threat to Crocodile.
"Sparkling Daisy!"
A figure rushed out at high speed.
It was Bones, the highest-ranking officer of Baroque Works.
As Crocodile made a move to intercept the attack, Bones reacted decisively and t the enemy head-on.
He activated his Dice-Dice Fruit ability.
The mont he lunged forward, all ten of Bones's fingers transford into razor-sharp blades.
He pressed his wrists together and savagely lunged at Manlong.
'An ability user?'
Using Observation Haki to track Bones's approach, Manlong imdiately shifted his attention away from Crocodile.
He shifted his stance.
Faced with Bones's slash, Manlong calmly threw a punch.
Boom!!!
The violent impact and sharp slash tore through the surrounding air.
'How can this be?!'
Astonishnt flashed across Bones's face.
His dual-handed slash had actually been blocked by the opponent's fist.
But that was only the beginning.
Within that brief clash, the disparity between the two beca glaringly obvious.
Manlong's fist, coated in Armant Haki, didn't just block the slash that had previously never failed Bones; it pressed back with overwhelming power, forcing Bones's hands back against his own chest.
Bam!!!
With a heavy impact, Bones was sent flying backward like a cannonball even faster than he had approached.
He flew straight out of the ruined bar and crashed into a distant building, smashing right through it and becoming buried under the collapsing structure.
"Ooh! Take a kick from yours truly!"
Bones had just been sent flying, but before Manlong could turn back to his main target, soone else rushed forward.
Wearing bizarre, heavy makeup and a swan-thed ballet outfit...
Bon Kurei, known as Mr. 2 in Baroque Works, unleashed his signature Okama Kenpo, launching a whip-like kick toward Manlong's head.
Manlong raised his arm to block.
Bentham's kick was firmly blocked by Manlong.
But from the other side, liquid wax ca surging toward him.
The source of this liquid wax was none other than Galdino, known as Mr. 3.
Though not as strong as Bones, the other officers of Baroque Works had clearly reacted one after another thanks to the brief delay Bones provided.
"Fishman Karate: Arabesque Tile True Punch!"
Faced with the successive attacks, Manlong's expression darkened. He shoved aside Bentham's kick and imdiately threw a straight punch forward.
Boom!!!
A 360-degree shockwave erupted with Manlong at its center.
Whether it was Bentham trying to kick again or the incoming wax, both were blown away by the violent shockwave.
As the shockwave continued to expand, the other officers of Baroque Works were also sent flying into the distance, screaming as they were blasted back.
Crocodile, calmly smoking his cigar, did not dodge. As the shockwave pressed in, his body simply dissolved into a cloud of swirling sand.
"Desert la Spada!"
The dancing sand quickly condensed into four massive sand blades, which slashed rapidly toward Manlong.
Danger!!
A crimson glint flashed in his eyes.
Observation Haki warned him that these sand blades were no joke. Manlong pushed off with his feet and lunged to the side to dodge.
Slash!!!
It turned out Manlong's decision to dodge was correct.
As the four sand blades flew into the distance, they easily sliced through every building in their path until they exited the town, leaving behind four terrifying, massive fissures.
'Is this the power of a Warlord?'
Manlong glanced back, and his pupils shrank violently when he saw the four fissures stretching out of the town.
Aside from his boss, this was the first ti he had seen such terrifying destructive power from anyone else.
Though shocked, Manlong had frequently sparred with Zane.
He didn't lose his focus. Instead, he quickly locked onto Crocodile once more.
Following the slash of the four sand blades, the swirling sand gathered once more to reform Crocodile's body.
"Spear Wave: Rain!"
He pushed both palms forward repeatedly, firing a barrage of water bullets like a machine gun directly at Crocodile.
Due to the elental disadvantage, Crocodile could not simply rely on his intangibility to ignore the attack as he usually did.
"Barján!"
He swung his right arm, which transford into a massive crescent-shaped sand blade to et the relentless barrage of water bullets.
When the two forces collided, this ti the sand blade didn't show its sharpness; instead, it exhibited an incredible ability to absorb water.
Almost every water bullet that touched the sand blade was instantly absorbed.
"Desert Girasole!"
While his right arm remained a sand blade, Crocodile's left leg quietly dissolved into sand and seeped into the ground.
Suddenly, an irregular blade of sand erupted from the ground behind Manlong.
Puchi!!
Observation Haki caught the attack at the last second, and Manlong tried to dodge, but the sneak attack from the sand sword prevented a clean escape.
A bloody gash was instantly torn into the side of his waist.
Blood, too, was liquid.
Manlong reacted instantly. Using his Fishman Karate's control over water, he forcibly suppressed the bleeding from the wound.
"Desert Spada!"
Sharp blades of sand ca tearing across the ground, one after another.
After only a montary respite, Manlong imdiately lost the chance to counterattack.
Crocodile gave Manlong no opening. Massive amounts of sand surged from his body, continuously forming into sand blades that slashed out in a frenzied torrent.
Weaving left and right...
Manlong pushed his Observation Haki to its limit, dodging back and forth.
Even so, under the relentless barrage of sand blades, he was forced to bring his arms into play to block the slashes he couldn't avoid.
Slash! Slash!
He coated his arms in Armant Haki.
As he blocked, Manlong's Armant Haki couldn't entirely withstand the force of the sand blades, and his arms were soon torn and bloodied.
This was only because Manlong was naturally gifted with an exceptionally tough physique.
Anyone else would likely have had their arms severed.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Just as Manlong was struggling with everything he had against Crocodile's fierce assault, a volley of white spears suddenly shot out from the side.
"The credit for this one is mine!"
Galdino, continuously firing spears with his Wax-Wax Fruit, wore a smug expression.
Since the Boss had revealed his identity, if he didn't make a show of himself now, when would he?
Galdino believed that if he could help the Boss defeat this enemy, he would surely be given a position of great importance within the organization.
'Damn it!'
Observation Haki picked up the incoming wax spears, and Manlong's face paled.
Normally, such an attack wouldn't pose any threat to him.
But under the imnse pressure Crocodile was applying, the slightest error would lead to a crushing defeat.
Crack-thoom!!
Just as the wax spears were about to strike Manlong, a bolt of lightning descended from the sky, instantly transforming into a wall of thunder.
The wax that hit the wall was instantly lted and vaporized.
"You've got quite the nerve, interfering in the battle of my important subordinate."
A hand ca to rest on Galdino's shoulder.
[ Author's Note : If you're loving the story, a power_stone, review or comnt ans the world!
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