Chapter 337: Home Field Advantage
The residents of Alubarna stared in shock and confusion at the suddenly vanished tavern and the three people who had abruptly appeared, Ian, Robin, and the others. They pointed and murmured, but those who had seen and knew Crocodile's abilities sensed the danger lurking beneath the surface.
"Run! Don't stay here!"
People shouted to each other, fleeing the scene as quickly as possible. To be safe, some even ran off to notify the royal guard.
"Hehehe, look at them!" Crocodile sneered at the panicked crowd, spreading his arms wide. "The weak are destined to be ruled by the strong. So, do you still think that someone like me, who can't use Haki, is necessarily weak?"
Ian stared at him, saying nothing, because he didn't know how to answer that question.
Thinking about it carefully, one would realize that Crocodile was actually the only Logia Devil Fruit user among the Seven Warlords of the Sea! Of the other Warlords—Boa Hancock, Gecko Moria, Donquixote Doflamingo, and Bartholomew Kuma—all four were Paramecia-type users. The remaining two, Hawk-Eye Mihawk and Sea Knight Jinbe, weren't Devil Fruit users at all.
Crocodile was the sole Logia among them!
And Logia Devil Fruits were widely recognized as the strongest of the three types of Devil Fruits.
Crocodile might not have awakened Haki, but that absolutely didn't mean he was weak. Being ranked among the Seven Warlords was itself the greatest recognition of his strength.
Realizing this, Ian's expression grew serious.
"So you understand now, huh?" Crocodile bit down on his cigar, grinning. "Knowing Haki doesn't guarantee you can defeat a Devil Fruit user. And in a desert country like this, this is my home field!"
With that, Crocodile's power erupted once more. His ability, Ground Death, began to dry out and crack the street's surface on a massive scale. When this desiccating force reached its peak, the surrounding objects started to turn to sand.
One building, then two. Starting from the tavern where they'd been, nearby houses began to collapse one after another, crumbling from solid structures into countless clouds of dust.
If not for the fact that people nearby had already fled, sensing something was wrong when Ian and the others appeared, Crocodile's sandification alone could have killed many.
Besides the buildings, the few plants on the street also withered and weathered away. From the moment Crocodile activated his Devil Fruit ability, within a radius of a hundred meters, not a single blade of grass remained!
From this perspective, Crocodile's Sand-Sand Fruit was an incredibly dangerous power.
As the buildings turned to sand, Crocodile gained control over it. Under his command, the sand began to swirl slowly with the wind, picking up speed. Before long, a massive sandstorm had formed around the three of them. Though not enormous in scale, it engulfed them all completely.
All Ian could see was swirling sand and dust, making the sky seem to darken around him. But at that moment, he couldn't focus on the sandstorm—he noticed that his boots were starting to dry out and show signs of turning to sand.
Ian wasn't wearing straw sandals like Luffy; he had leather boots, which were harder to sandify. But the problem was that every object contained some moisture. Crocodile's Ground Death emanated from the ground, so Ian's boots, in contact with the earth, were affected too.
Ian suspected that once his boots dried out and crumbled, and his bare feet touched the sand, Crocodile might drain the moisture from his body as well.
He couldn't let Crocodile's Devil Fruit power run rampant any longer!
With that thought, Ian yanked at the cursed bandage on his right wrist. As the bell jingled sharply, the Black Dragon Wave on Ian's wrist emerged.
Scorching heat radiated from his burning wrist. The moment Ian untied the bandage, the air and light around his arm warped and distorted.
Seeing Ian's move, Crocodile knew what he was about to do. His eyes narrowed, and he raised his hand, activating his sandstorm.
The swirling sand and dust spun faster, beginning to contract.
The lower part of the sandstorm connected to the ground, while the upper part reached high above Alubarna. People living in desert countries knew well the dangers of sandstorms.
Some might say, "A sandstorm is just a tornado filled with sand—what's the harm?"
That would be a mistake. While a sandstorm might not have direct attack power, in the violently churning winds, it was impossible to breathe normally. Even if you weren't blown away, inhaling would fill your mouth with sand, clogging your airways and suffocating you.
"Evil King Flame Slayer Sword: Black Dragon Wave!"
As Crocodile unleashed his sandstorm, Ian released a black flame dragon toward Crocodile's position. The roaring Black Dragon Wave, carrying deadly heat, lunged at Crocodile.
Seeing this, Crocodile immediately dispersed into sand, and the Black Dragon Wave grazed the spot where he'd stood.
Though he dodged, he witnessed the Black Dragon Wave's terror. The sand within its heat range instantly vaporized!
Logia bodies had fluidity, but Crocodile didn't want his sand form to touch that Black Dragon Wave—it would vaporize part of his sandy body.
Whether such damage would be fatal, Crocodile wasn't sure...
After the Black Dragon Wave passed, Ian controlled it to loop back. He struggled to steady himself in Crocodile's sandstorm, holding his breath to avoid inhaling sand, and focused all his effort on directing the Black Dragon Wave to attack Crocodile.
But Crocodile, a seasoned veteran, saw the Black Dragon Wave returning and immediately fully sandified his body, hiding within the swirling sand!
Now even Ian was taken aback—he couldn't tell which grains of sand in the storm were real and which were Crocodile.
This was the home field advantage! For a Logia user, creating a favorable battlefield environment didn't just boost combat power—it evolved their tactics too.
Imagine Aokiji fighting in a glacial environment, or Akainu battling in a volcanic lava field...
"Damn it! That Crocodile is cunning!" Ian cursed under his breath. He turned, squinting through the sand at Nico Robin not far behind him. Because Ian had interrupted Crocodile's Ground Death earlier, Robin wasn't in danger of being drained into a mummy. She lay on the ground, covering her head with her clothes, not daring to move.
This was a common way to handle sandstorms in the desert. Seeing she was safe for now, Ian relaxed slightly. He scanned his surroundings but found it hard to locate Crocodile. Gritting his teeth, he channeled more Psychic Power into his right hand.
Another black flame dragon appeared on Ian's wrist, and he released this second Black Dragon Wave.
"Twin Dragons!"
This was an ability that appeared after the Flying Shadow card evolved to a four-star Red Card, unlocked at level 20 during the first Awakening. It allowed two Black Dragon Waves to exist simultaneously, with each wave's Psychic Power consumption reduced by 25% and duration increased by 50%!
When Ian first saw this Awakening ability, he'd wondered, "Is this the 'if one can't solve it, use two' approach?"
He never expected to actually use it now!
After releasing the second Black Dragon Wave, Ian began controlling the flight paths of both. This time, they didn't fly aimlessly. Instead, they rose above Ian's head, intertwining in a double-helix pattern, ascending while unleashing their scorching power.
"Burn away all this sand!" Ian looked up, staring intently at the swirling Black Dragon Waves.
Countless grains of sand in Crocodile's sandstorm began to vaporize rapidly under the two Black Dragon Waves' flight. The heat affected the air, and soon Crocodile's sandstorm lost its momentum, unable to sustain itself.
Just as Ian thought he'd broken the sandstorm and could finally breathe, he suddenly felt the ground beneath him sink.
"Desert Sunflower!"
A massive circular pit opened under Ian's feet. The ground, already turned to sand by Crocodile's earlier erosion, now transformed into quicksand under his control, steadily swallowing Ian.
Ian struggled a couple of times, only to sink deeper. Lacking solid footing was a terrible situation for him.
Half of Crocodile's body emerged at the edge of the pit, sneering down at Ian. "Kid, did you think I'd hide in the sandstorm? Wrong. I told you, this is my home field!"
Ian suddenly understood. Crocodile had actually hidden in the sand beneath the ground!
Seriously, are you a ninja?! Appearing and disappearing like that!
Ian ignored him, about to summon the Black Dragon Waves down to fly out of the pit, when suddenly he felt two arms appear under his armpits, lifting him out of the quicksand.
Those hands looked delicate and slender, and Ian immediately knew who it was. Turning his head, he was shocked.
Nico Robin was also trapped in the quicksand! Half-buried in the flowing sand, she had her arms crossed in front of her, using her Flower-Flower Fruit ability to lift Ian out of the pit.
"You—" Ian started to speak, but then several more hands emerged, pushing him to roll across the quicksand's surface.
Robin was using this method to push Ian out of the pit...