"You've got to be kidding me!!!"
Maybe it was what Ozz said.
Maybe it was just that one trillion six hundred billion was a number too heavy to even comprehend.
But there was no way she was going to spend the rest of her life living under some stupid mountain of debt!
"Sandstorm!!!"
With a furious roar, she slammed her hands onto the table, flipping it clean over. A whirlwind of sand exploded outward, shredding everything in sight.
To the outside world, the screen suddenly turned gold with dust then went black.
"This concludes our report. For the full story, stay tuned to the World Economy News!"
Let's put aside, for now, the ripples this incident sent across the seas.
Inside Rain Dinners,
A towering sandstorm had engulfed the entire building, tearing it to rubble and dust.
Panicked citizens scattered in all directions. A few poor souls who stuck around to watch the chaos unfold never had a chance to run they were swallowed up in the raging sand.
Buildings, homes, roads… nothing was spared.
In Alabasta, the one thing they'd never run out of was sand.
On the town's outskirts, people kept running farther and farther away. Some stopped, thinking they were finally in the clear only to turn around and see it.
A wall of sand, stretching high into the sky like a god's judgment.
One look was all it took.
They turned right back around and ran for their lives.
What the hell…
This is insane!!!
No way you'd survive getting caught in that!!!
Shing
BOOM!
Suddenly, a brilliant flash of steel tore through the storm.
A massive, emerald-green sword slash, easily a hundred meters long, erupted from the heart of the sandstorm and shot outward!
So sharp it split buildings and the very earth itself as cleanly as paper.
The slash carved a path straight through the sandstorm.
And at the center of that path stood a young man, sword in hand, with the poise of a noble.
"That level of attack… is nowhere near enough to defeat that man."
He didn't look back. Calmly, without urgency, he turned and walked away.
Because Ozz had told him.
If there was going to be a fight, he'd be the one to handle it.
At the heart of the sandstorm, in the ruins of Rain Dinners,
The eye of the storm was surprisingly calm.
"Are you seriously planning to skip out on the debt, Little Sand?"
Ozz looked across the rubble. Opposite him stood Crocodile, her entire body wrapped in swirling yellow sand, her gaze cold and sharp as blades.
Her cloak had vanished somewhere along the way, revealing a tall, lithe figure elegant, dangerous.
With the howling storm at her back, she looked almost otherworldly.
"You…"
"You were aiming for me from the start, weren't you?!"
She hit the mark in one try, her voice laced with fury.
Smart as she was, it wasn't hard to piece things together.
But even if she couldn't beat this smug bastard in front of her, she wasn't going to just give in without a fight.
She had to try.
After all, even Whitebeard couldn't claim her as his "child."
She wasn't the type to kneel.
"No wonder they call you clever. Then let me put it plainly…"
The wind whipped through Ozz's coat, but he stood like a rock, a relaxed smile on his face. He raised a hand.
"Become my....."
Shhk!
A spike of sand shot from the swirling storm without warning, aiming straight for his waist like a dagger.
But a moment later, something strange happened.
Crocodile's eyes widened. Her pupils darted, scanning the scene.
The sand blade had struck nothing.
Just a mirage.
"You won't even let a guy finish his sentence? You really aren't like the other pirates."
Ozz's voice came from five meters away. He stood casually, as if he hadn't just dodged a deadly sneak attack.
"You're qualified to be on my ship."
"Come with me, Little Sand. Let's see what the peak of the world looks like together!"
Even Ozz himself got a little fired up saying it.
And if she'd been any random rookie pirate, or some hot-blooded fool…
Maybe that speech would've worked.
But Crocodile was neither.
"Cycle of Decay!"
She'd had the guts to go toe-to-toe with Whitebeard himself.
She was not going to play second fiddle to anyone.
"Guess I'll just have to drag you back to pay off that debt, then…"
Debt was debt. And now it was time to collect.
That was how Ozz operated always with a legitimate reason.
The sandstorm raged, but Ozz's eyes glowed a deep red as he calmly held his breath.
Shing
Jet-black Armament Haki wrapped his body, flowing like cloth. It moved with him as he glided through the storm with practiced ease.
"Armament Haki, huh? But even you'll run out of stamina eventually… in this endless sand."
Her voice echoed from every direction, laced with confidence and temptation, like she was trying to wear him down mentally.
But Ozz had fought more than one Logia user in his day.
One giant sandstorm wasn't going to shake him.
He focused on the shifting currents around him,
Drew the blade at his waist.
Red-and-black energy spiraled around the steel, compressing tighter and tighter,
Until the very air trembled with stillness.
"You know it, don't you? If your Haki is strong enough, even Logia powers…"
Thud
Before he could finish, a figure wrapped in Conqueror's and Armament Haki suddenly appeared at the storm's edge, blade mid-swing.
Blood dripped from the tip.
The droplets vanished into thin air.
He sheathed his sword.
And at his feet, someone knelt, back stained with blood.
"I've got you."
Before she could slip back into the storm and melt into sand again,
Ozz's Haki-clad hand wrapped around her slender neck and hoisted her clean off the ground.
"You… bastard…"
Crocodile coughed blood. Her face twisted in pain and defiance, still trying to get a word in.
(Visual reference: Blackbeard grabbing Boa Hancock)
But in the next instant, her body went limp. Strength drained from her limbs.
"You're really not the cooperative type, huh? Time to cool off."
Snap.
With a flick of his fingers, a seastone shackle snapped into place around her ankle.
He couldn't touch seastone himself,
But with his teleportation ability and Observation Haki, he could control any object within range.
Seastone was useless against him.
Unable to resist, hoisted in the air by her neck,
Crocodile's face flushed bright red from lack of oxygen and sheer humiliation.
"Whoops. Might've overdone it."
"Well then… let's head out."
Ozz slung her over his shoulder, like a bag of sand,
And vanished leaving behind nothing but the howling desert wind.
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