Chapter 100: The Sand Crocodile's Desperate Counterattack (Please subscribe, recommend, and vote!)

Buffon reappeared inside the Tomb of the Ancients, already holding Reiju in his arms. He gently placed her on the floor before the Ancient Manuscript. First, he switched to the Mini Fruit ability, shrinking the manuscript and tucking it safely into his chest. Then, shifting to the Hormone Fruit power, he administered an injection directly to Reiju’s waist.

What happened next left Buffon utterly stunned.

“Buffon Boy! Miss Reiju has already gone to find Princess Vivi. Don’t forget our agreement!”

Fonceley, having reverted to his usual form, grinned at Buffon with his trademark dazzling smile.

Faced with this somewhat theatrical scene, Buffon wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry.

At that moment, Reiju was with Vivi. Upon learning that Cobra had been attacked by Crocodile and had gone to the Tomb of the Ancients, they hurried there anxiously.

Cossa in the plaza had already awakened. Recalling what the little girl and Fonceley had said earlier, and hearing the recent events and Crocodile’s abduction of Cobra, he finally understood the truth. It turned out this entire affair was a grand scheme orchestrated behind the scenes by the Baroque Works. The rebel forces and the king’s army were mere pawns.

With this realization, he quickly urged the other rebels, “Inform everyone—arm yourselves and join the king’s forces to drive out the Baroque Works from Alabasta!”

Inside the Tomb, Buffon swiftly stitched up Fonceley’s wounds, then spoke earnestly, “Fonceley, when you encounter Crocodile, there’s a chance you’ll have to fight.”

Fonceley nodded silently, and the two stepped out of the Tomb.

Sure enough, Crocodile and Luffy were locked in fierce combat right outside the Tomb.

Just then, Vivi and Reiju arrived.

On the way, Reiju had already heard about Buffon killing the Celestial Dragon for “her.” Seeing Buffon now, she felt a complex swirl of emotions. Yet, Buffon appeared calm and unfazed, busily treating the twice-abducted Cobra.

Seeing her father safe, Vivi relaxed, no longer panicked. As for Luffy and Crocodile’s battle, now that Buffon was here, she felt no worry.

The one who seemed most perplexed was Crocodile himself. Despite being a formidable Warlord of the Sea, he was evenly matched against Luffy carrying a water bucket. He was already irritated. Now, seeing this group act as if he were invisible and certain of Luffy’s victory, not to mention his former subordinate Mr. 2 following Buffon, he felt his pride bruised.

“Straw Hat kid, do you think you can beat me just because you carry a water bucket? We’re all pirates, but we’re not on the same level!”

With that, Crocodile planted his right hand on the ground, preparing to unleash his signature move: Erosion Requiem.

This was a wide-area attack unique to the Sand-Sand Fruit. Upon contact with the ground, the hand caused cracks to spread, sucking moisture from all living beings and objects, turning them into sand that gradually spread outward. The power was so terrifying it could crumble rocks into dust. Buildings nearby would slowly erode and collapse, and the land itself would become cracked, desolate wasteland.

Seeing this, Buffon immediately guessed Crocodile’s intent.

“This is a fight to the death!”

Thinking quickly, Buffon flashed behind Crocodile. With his right hand enveloped in Armament Haki, he gripped the back of Crocodile’s neck tightly.

“Buffon, you think that—” Crocodile began, but abruptly stopped as he sensed something wrong.

His once-infallible Logia element—his sand ability—was ineffective against Buffon.

Moreover, he clearly felt Buffon’s strength wasn’t a trick like Luffy’s but a genuine overwhelming force.

“Buffon, do you want to know the World Government’s plan?” Crocodile was no fool; at this moment, he tried to save himself by bargaining.

Seeing no reaction, Crocodile continued, “You killed a Celestial Dragon. Your fate won’t be good. Why don’t we cooperate?”

Buffon silently admired his opponent’s cold calculation. Even now, Crocodile pinpointed the core issue and sought a way out. If Alabasta were truly destroyed by him in the end, it wouldn’t be surprising.

Buffon had only speculated about the World Government’s motives before. Since he was fighting the privileged class, he wanted to understand the government’s logic better.

Hearing this, Vivi grew anxious and tried to speak, “Captain Buffon—”

But Buffon interrupted, “You have one minute.”

Reiju gently held Vivi back, knowing that if Buffon truly intended to cooperate with Crocodile, there would have been no need to drag Vivi into this mess earlier.

Besides, what Crocodile wanted to do might not be beyond Buffon’s ability.

Crocodile remained half-crouched, speaking slowly: “Inside this Tomb of the Ancients is an Ancient Manuscript that records the location of the ancient weapon, Poseidon.”

Just as Buffon had suspected, the World Government’s goal was to find and destroy Poseidon. Crocodile likely had no knowledge of Vivi’s true identity—perhaps the World Government never informed him.

He was simply ordered to kill Vivi. If he had known the truth…

“So, Buffon, interested in cooperating? Once we obtain Poseidon, we can stand against the Celestial Dragons together! You just keep an eye on that admiral; I’ll handle the rest—get the Ancient Manuscript, then find Nico Robin…”

Sensing a slight loosening of Buffon’s grip, Crocodile instantly transformed into sand and vanished from sight.

When he reappeared, he stood atop the Tomb of the Ancients.

“Hahaha! You’re still too green. In this desert kingdom, I am the true king!”

Crocodile laughed madly, slamming one hand onto the ground to unleash Erosion Requiem once more.

The Tomb began to sandify and collapse; the surrounding ground cracked and turned to wasteland.

Luffy, seeing this, charged forward impatiently.

Crocodile repeated his trick, quickly sandifying his left hand and swinging the golden hook at Luffy.

Buffon, watching the damaged Tomb, showed a subtle smile. “Looks like you’re the one who’ll take the blame for damaging the Ancient Manuscript!”

Having already suffered once, Luffy still didn’t dodge Crocodile’s poisoned golden hook.

The hook pierced his chest, but with water-soaked hands, Luffy grasped Crocodile’s left arm and roared, “You bastard Crocodile! The people of Alabasta will never just submit!”

Watching Luffy’s reckless fighting style, Buffon couldn’t help but think, “The D clan really are all reckless fighters!”

Seeing Luffy barely clinging to life on his golden hook, Crocodile sneered, “Straw Hat kid, you’re still far from being my match.”

He pulled the incapacitated Luffy from the hook by the neck and used Desert Prison.

Luffy’s skin quickly withered visibly before their eyes.

“Captain Buffon, please save Luffy!” Vivi pleaded anxiously.

Buffon shook his head and instantly appeared behind Crocodile.

This time, Crocodile was wiser. Before Buffon could attack, Crocodile discarded the nearly mummified Luffy and turned to sand, vanishing again.

“I said I’d bury you in this desert; this Tomb seems a fitting place!” Crocodile’s manic laughter echoed through the air.

A crescent-shaped sand blade slashed toward Buffon.

Buffon knew this was Crocodile’s signature move: Crescent Sand Dune—a crescent-shaped sand blade formed by enlarging his arm. The blade itself caused no damage upon contact, but anything cut by it would have all moisture sucked out, eventually becoming a lifeless mummy.

Buffon immediately covered his body with Armament Haki and took the hit head-on.

Thanks to his Observation Haki, Crocodile’s attack had no effect; the sand blade passed through Buffon’s body without a trace.

“Armament Haki, huh? If you hadn’t mentioned it, I might’ve forgotten how to use my own,” Crocodile muttered.

Hearing this, Buffon stopped his attack mid-motion.

He had always been puzzled that Crocodile, who had fought Whitebeard, lacked Haki.

Perhaps the first half of the Grand Line was too calm for him to use Haki, and over time he simply forgot.

“Maybe Moriah’s the same. I’ll have to remind him when we get back,” Buffon mused, switching his fruit ability to Flame-Flame Fruit.

Facing the awakened Crocodile, Buffon knew he couldn’t rely on old assumptions. This evolved Sand Croc wasn’t someone Luffy could defeat with mere tricks.

Crocodile sandified his arm again, transforming both hands into four massive sand blades and launched a fierce assault.

The power, angles, and timing had all improved vastly compared to before.

From this, Buffon deduced Crocodile was now wielding Observation Haki. Whether he had other Haki, Buffon could not say.

Facing this seemingly unstoppable strike, Buffon didn’t evade but ignited flames all around him.

The four sand blades melted into glowing liquid glass the instant they touched the fire.

“Is this how Captain Buffon quelled the sandstorm outside Rainbase?” Vivi asked, surprised.

Reiju smiled playfully, “The temperature required isn’t low, that’s for sure.”

Realizing his attack had been neutralized, Crocodile finally understood the truth.

“So that’s how it is. I guess I’m too soft-hearted. Now, let me show you who’s the true king of this desert!”

Crocodile again transformed his arm into a sand blade and dashed toward Buffon through the ground by a special path. Instantly, countless sand blades shot up around Buffon, attacking from every angle.

The speed was so great Buffon struggled to melt the sand quickly enough.

He switched tactics, employing the Goalkeeper’s Secret Technique: Pendulum Shatter—dodging the chaotic blades while charging at Crocodile.

As he closed in, Buffon covered himself in Armament Haki and reached for Crocodile’s neck.

Just as he was about to touch him, Crocodile’s body dissolved entirely into sand and collapsed rapidly.

This was different from his usual elemental transformation. Because Buffon had Armament Haki, he was unfazed by elemental logia powers.

This move was unlike any Crocodile technique seen before in the original story. Buffon judged it was akin to a shadow or substitute technique.

Probably inspired by Mr. 3’s wax substitute, Crocodile developed it himself. But since he usually dominated the desert and had no need for such tricks, and like with Haki, he simply never used it.

“An awakened Warlord of the Sea—there’s no weakling among them!” Buffon muttered, then activated his Armament Haki to locate Crocodile’s true form.

Moments later, he found Crocodile a few meters away.

Turning, he saw Crocodile kneeling on one knee, one hand on the ground, a sandstorm beginning to swirl fiercely around him.

The initial scale of this sandstorm was far larger and more violent than the one outside Rainbase.

“An enhanced sandstorm... Crocodile’s willing to sacrifice all the lives of the Alabasta people just to win? What a madman!” Buffon thought, then dashed into the heart of the storm.

“Let me show you what a true desert king is! Even if you kill me now, you can’t stop this! How do you plan to make this sandstorm disappear?”

Crocodile had completely lost his mind, but his power truly lived up to the title of Desert King.

Buffon pondered the problem. Using his Flame-Flame Fruit to melt the sand into glass, even if successful, the falling molten glass would endanger the city’s people.

His only choice was the Shadow Fruit.

With that thought, Buffon switched to the Shadow Fruit.

Leaping into the air with a moon-step movement, his shadow expanded rapidly, and the dark water began to absorb the uncontrollable sandstorm, even Crocodile himself couldn’t contain it.

Outside the storm, people couldn’t see what was happening. Vivi replenished water to Luffy, who was close to becoming a mummy, while worrying about Buffon’s safety.

Meanwhile, the people of Alabasta gazed at the suddenly appearing “natural disaster” with despair.

“Of course! The sandstorm at Yuba wasn’t an accident!” Cossa looked toward the Tomb of the Ancients, grabbing his flintlock and rushing forward. As someone who had come from Yuba, he wanted to confirm the situation personally—and if possible, take revenge on the real culprit.

At the storm’s center, Crocodile’s feelings were unlike anyone else’s.

Watching Buffon’s shadow voraciously absorb the sand, he felt utterly unreal.

He refused deep down to admit he could be defeated in the desert, but the bizarre scene before him forced feelings of frustration and despair.

[This is an excerpt from the latest chapter of the popular series “One Piece: Invincible from the Zombie Legion,” by the renowned author Shui Shui Fan Fan. For the fastest updates, be sure to bookmark and follow!]