"Hmph! Die, Marine! Desert Spada!"
Unable to gauge Hamr's strength, Crocodile decided to strike first.
His right hand slashed through the air, sending razor-sharp sand blades toward Hamr that left deep gashes in the ground.
"Tsk tsk tsk, such a hot-tempered fellow."
"Logia-type Sand-Sand Fruit user, Crocodile."
"Mountain-Piercing Hamr!"
Hamr naturally wouldn't just stand there and take it. With a single hamr swing, he sent all the attacking sand flying.
"Not bad for a Marine."
"Desert Girasole!"
Having missed his first strike, Crocodile imdiately switched tactics.
He slamd one hand into the ground, making use of the terrain.
"Lance, fall back!"
Hamr knew exactly what Crocodile was planning and imdiately ordered Lance to retreat with the troops.
Suddenly, the sand beneath Hamr began to sink, quickly turning into a pit of quicksand.
This was Crocodile's power, manipulating underground water veins to control sand dunes and create deadly quicksand that could bury enemies alive, a desert grave needing no tombstone.
"Not a bad ability, but Crocodile...aren't you underestimating the Marines a bit too much? We can literally step on air, you know?"
With that, Hamr launched into the air using Geppo.
Crocodile remained crouched with his hand on the ground, his face darkening. At that mont, he felt like Hamr was toying with him.
"Damn Marine!"
"Hahaha! No, you're just an idiot. Alright, enough playing around, ti to wrap this up."
Hamr had no patience for drawn-out fights. He coated both hands in Armant Haki.
Crocodile's instincts scread danger, and he imdiately surrounded himself with swirling sand.
"Sables!"
A massive sandstorm tornado rose from the ground.
"Chest-Shattering Hamr."
"Rapid fire!"
Hamr knew better than to drag out a fight with a Logia-type. After all, they were natural elents, trying to outlast them was foolish.
One Haki-coated hamr strike pierced through the sandstorm and shot straight at Crocodile.
But Crocodile wasn't so pushover; he'd clashed with the likes of Bullet. Instantly, his body dissolved into sand.
"Hmph! Even if you've got Haki, I can still turn into sand first! Don't underestimate , Marine!"
"Sables: Pesado!"
To block Hamr's attacks, Crocodile unleashed his sandstorm at full force.
But that's just the thing with Hamr, he was always sneaky. The Chest-Shattering Hamr was a feint, just like how he used to handle other monsters.
The real attack was the Hamring of the Soul.
"Hamring of the Soul, now behave yourself."
A heavy blow echoed in Crocodile's mind.
Duang!
The strike hit hard. Crocodile couldn't resist; his control over the sandstorm vanished, and he started wobbling, dazed.
But the hamring didn't stop.
Duang!
Another strike, Crocodile, and every last one of his lackeys behind him fell to their knees.
"Heh, I'm not done yet."
"To make sure you behave... Lance, cuff him!"
Lance, who'd worked with Hamr for a long ti, knew exactly what to do.
Lance had been with Hamr long enough to know exactly what to do. The mont Hamr gave the order, he rushed forward with seastone handcuffs.
Instantly draining Crocodile's strength.
"Damn Marines...always resorting to cheap tricks!"
Hamr looked at him like he was an idiot.
"Dude. You're a pirate. I'm a Marine. And you're complaining about tricks?"
"You've really underestimated . What cos next... that's the cheap trick."
"Hehehehe..."
His eerie laugh sent a chill down Crocodile's spine.
But as a hardened pirate, Crocodile refused to bow down to the Marines.
"Hmph! What are you planning, Marine?!"
"What am I planning? You'll find out real soon."
As he replied, Hamr rummaged through his ring.
Eventually, he pulled out a dagger that glowed with a strange purple light.
Yes, a dagger.
The purple hue shimred ominously; clearly, it was no ordinary weapon.
"Hehehehe..."
Hamr carefully held the dagger and gestured toward Crocodile with it.
"Crocodile, I've gotta admit, you're a pretty handso guy. Back ho, you'd totally be the cold-blooded assassin type."
"Too bad... you've ended up in my hands. So I'll ask you one last ti, do you want to join the Shichibukai system and beco the first Warlord of the Sea?"
"You should know, the Shichibukai are officially recognized by the World Governnt. Aside from being summoned and paying a small tax, they can act freely, completely outside the governnt's control."
Crocodile, proud as ever, refused to yield, even though he was bound. His pride wouldn't let him give in.
"Never!"
"Welp. Guess we're doing this the hard way."
Hamr shrugged. Then, under everyone's stunned gaze, he plunged the glowing dagger into Crocodile's chest.
But there was no pain, Crocodile only felt a strange energy flowing through his body.
As he puzzled over it, a devilish voice whispered in his ear.
"Relax. This dagger won't kill you... But it will trigger sothing very special. It's called: Mutation."
"As for what kind of mutation... I have no idea. Heheheh..."
Mutation Dagger: When stabbed, it causes a biological mutation.
Mutation type: unknown. Uses remaining: 1.
It was a unique weapon Hamr had forged in the past. No one knew what it would do, and he'd never had the right test subject until now.
Crocodile, as luck would have it, beca the first and only experint.
"B-Bastard! What did you do to ?!"
The strange energy rampaging through his body and the odd physical reactions made Crocodile panic.
Even his voice was starting to tremble... and sound more feminine.
Hamr, Lance, and the others stared at him in shock.
"Holy crap, Hamr, what the hell did you do to him... her...???"
"Don't ask ! I didn't know this would happen! Crap. Oh crap."
"What now?!"
"You're asking ?! I should be asking you! But... I think there's soone who might be able to reverse it?"
"Huh? Who?"
"Emporio Ivankov..."
As the two talked, Crocodile's body continued to change.
His once-muscled fra beca slender. His face softened into an oval shape. His figure beca... curvaceous.
"DAMN YOU BASTARD!! I'LL KILL YOU!!!"
A shrill, high-pitched female voice exploded in Hamr's ears.
It made his whole body panic...
...
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
[email protected]/DaoistJinzu
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