I the King of bandits of the East Sea

"Hmm?"

Crocodile narrowed his eyes, looking at Sig in front of him.

His two probing attacks had both been dodged by Sig.

Given Sig's ability to hold his own against Hawkeye, it wasn't entirely surprising that he could evade these attacks.

The key point was that Sig had dodged both attacks at the very last moment, narrowly avoiding them.

Coincidence? Or intentional?

Crocodile's gaze grew darker.

"Desert Spada!"

His arm transformed into a massive sand blade, and with a sweeping motion, a 40-meter-long sand blade slashed down.

Boom!

In the face of this colossal sand blade, the street was instantly split open, a 40-meter-long crack forming as the ground began to fracture, smaller cracks spreading outward.

A building at the end of the street was also cleanly sliced in half, the cut smooth.

But this time, Sig repeated his earlier trick, narrowly sidestepping at the last moment as the sharp sand blade grazed past him.

It seems... it was intentional.

Not only did he dodge, but he did so at the very last moment, as if dancing on the edge of a blade...

Was he completely disregarding Crocodile's attacks?

Crocodile's expression grew even colder.

One sand blade after another slashed down, sand and dust filling the air as Crocodile's attacks grew faster and more relentless, like a storm without end, the dull sounds of impact echoing continuously.

"Damn it, is Crocodile trying to destroy Loguetown?"

"Don't say that, at least this time he's on our side..."

The Marines of Loguetown, who were gradually forming an encirclement, had no choice but to retreat further to avoid being caught in the crossfire.

On the other side, Momousagi forced Stussy back with a sword strike, her gaze sweeping toward Crocodile's direction.

Where her eyes fell, the street had already suffered significant damage. The ground was riddled with cracks of various sizes, and several buildings had been sliced open, large chunks of rubble collapsing.

In just over a minute, thanks to Crocodile, the street had nearly turned into a ruin.

"Let's set aside the cleanup for now. Crocodile is actually taking this seriously this time, which is strange..."

Momousagi was a bit puzzled.

Crocodile had been aloof and uncooperative earlier, showing no interest in working with the Marines, but now he was fighting Sig with genuine intensity.

However, upon closer inspection, Momousagi couldn't help but feel a shock.

In the face of Crocodile's storm-like onslaught, Sig always managed to dodge each attack at the very last moment.

Despite the overwhelming force of the attacks, which had turned the street into ruins, not a single one had actually hit Sig.

A flurry of attacks, but the actual damage dealt was zero...

"This... If Sig can dodge, why is he using such a dangerous method? Is he trying to provoke Crocodile on purpose?"

"Not only does he possess incredibly strong Conqueror's Haki, but his Observation Haki is also this powerful? But why isn't he fighting back?"

If it weren't for the overwhelming killing intent radiating from Crocodile, Momousagi might have thought the two were putting on a show for her.

Finally.

The dull rumbling stopped, and the dust settled.

The two figures in the street stopped moving, standing face-to-face amidst the ruins, both expressionless.

"Is this the strength of a Warlord?"

In the distance, the onlookers who had retreated further exclaimed in awe.

The duel between Sig and Hawkeye had been so intense that the sheer aura had caused many to faint, and the brief exchange had been too fast for them to comprehend.

This time, however, they had witnessed firsthand the terrifying power of these top-tier fighters.

"Wait, why don't they have a single scratch on them?"

"Am I seeing this wrong? Did Sig just... dodge without fighting back?"

After what seemed like a fierce battle, both men were completely unharmed, not even a single tear in their clothes, as if no fight had taken place at all.

Only the continuous, rhythmic thumping of the Emperor's Engine remained loud and clear.

Including Momousagi, many now recalled the words Sig had spoken earlier.

Only Hawkeye was worth Sig stopping to fight, while the Marines weren't worth a single second of his time.

And now, facing another Warlord, Crocodile, Sig hadn't even fought back, relying solely on dodging to evade every attack?

Did he not even consider Crocodile, a fellow Warlord, worthy of his attention?

"Why aren't you fighting back?"

Crocodile took a drag from his cigar, his expression dark.

He had initially only wanted to test Sig, but as the fight went on, he had grown genuinely angry.

Even so, his attacks hadn't harmed Sig in the slightest, not even grazing his clothes.

Sig let out a slight sigh of relief.

Finally, it's over...

He himself hadn't been sure if he could completely dodge Crocodile's attacks, and his heart had been in his throat the entire time.

Several times, Crocodile's sand blades had come within a hair's breadth of him, an experience that was both thrilling and terrifying.

After a moment of thought, Sig's lips curled into a faint smile, and he said in a low voice:

"I know someone with a very big face."

As soon as these words left his mouth, Crocodile's pupils slightly dilated. His next attack, which he had been about to launch, paused mid-motion as he gave Sig a strange, scrutinizing look.

The two of them stared at each other in silence.

But it didn't last long before faint murmurs could be heard from the distant crowd.

"Crocodile and Hawkeye are both Warlords, but their strength seems worlds apart."

"Whether Sig or Hawkeye is stronger is still up for debate, but at least they were evenly matched. As for this Crocodile..."

"You don't understand. Hawkeye, as a Warlord, is undoubtedly above the average Warlord in strength. But this Crocodile..."

In the silence, Crocodile slightly turned his head, his gaze falling on the crowd murmuring in the distance.

A massive hand made of sand suddenly burst from the ground, grabbing the person who had been speaking. Streams of sand forced their way into the man's mouth and nose, completely enveloping him.

This attack finally snapped the crowd out of their daze. No longer daring to watch, they scattered in all directions.

When Crocodile turned his head back, the strange expression from earlier was gone.

He opened his palm, and a small sand whirlwind, only a few centimeters tall, hovered above it, emitting a soft rustling sound.

"Sig, you're so good at dodging, aren't you? Let's see you dodge this."

Crocodile said coldly.

"Sandstorm!"

____________________________________________________

support the work and read 60 chapters ahead of webnovel on my patreon

patreon.com/Tetsuya12