Chapter 431: Chapter 74: A Moment of Carelessness
The sudden scream brought Crocodile to an instinctive halt.
Before he could so much as blink, something came crashing down from the sky like a falling meteor.
BOOM!
An explosion of dust and debris swallowed the battlefield. The ground fractured, leaving behind a deep crater spiderwebbed with cracks.
At its center, only two twitching, hairy legs stuck up from the earth—everything else was buried headfirst in the dirt.
Crocodile: ???
Darren sighed, dragging a hand down his face in exasperation.
Moments later—
"Damn it, Darren! I told you not to fly so fast!"
Tokikake yanked his head free from the crater, coughing up dust, his face flushed red with fury. He turned to glare daggers at Darren.
"I slowed down," Darren said blandly.
"Bullshit!" Tokikake spat, wiping mud from his face. He spun on his heel and pointed a shaking finger at Crocodile. "You! You’re the one behind all this, aren’t you?! Attacking Marines like this—what are you, suicidal?!"
Crocodile scowled. "Who the hell are you?"
"Glad you asked!" Tokikake puffed up like a rooster, planting one hand on his hip and dramatically pointing with the other. "I am—"
"—Commodore Tokikake of Marine Headquarters, leader of the Golden Generation!"
"Not interested," Crocodile snapped.
Without another word, the swirling sand in his right hand surged forward, forming into a razor-sharp crescent.
A Sand Blade howled across the battlefield, slicing through ruined buildings and terrain in a single breath.
"Desert Treasure Blade!"
"Cowardly sneak attack?! Have some honor, damn it!" Tokikake roared, but instead of dodging, he charged straight in.
Jet-black Armament Haki coated his arms in an instant. Like a bull unleashed, he collided with the oncoming blade head-on.
BOOM!!
The impact shook the earth. Tokikake skidded back, sandals gouging deep tracks into the dirt—ten meters, maybe more.
But he stopped.
He’d blocked it.
Crocodile’s eyes narrowed. That ridiculous-looking Marine actually stopped my attack?
"Hahaha! Didn’t expect that, huh?!" Tokikake crowed triumphantly. His Armament Haki pulsed, and with a guttural shout, he shattered the massive Sand Blade into a spray of golden dust.
Then—he vanished.
Rokushiki: Soru.
Darren’s eyes sparkled with intrigue. He may look like a clown, but his close-combat skills are no joke. Definitely worthy of his title.
From what he could see, Tokikake’s strength had already reached the level of a seasoned Headquarters Vice Admiral.
Seeing no need to intervene just yet, Darren lit a cigar and found a nearby rock to sit on, watching the unfolding fight with interest.
After all, Crocodile’s abilities had always been something of a mystery in the original story. Sometimes he couldn’t even beat that rubber-brained kid, and other times he nearly stole the show in the Summit War. But right now—at this point in time—Crocodile was poised to challenge Whitebeard. He had to be near his prime.
"Beast Rampage Kick!"
Tokikake reappeared beside Crocodile in a blur. His sandal-clad foot sliced through the air, a violent gust trailing behind it as he aimed a crushing blow at Crocodile’s head.
Crocodile barely blinked.
Bang!
Tokikake’s foot passed clean through Crocodile’s head, which exploded into sand.
The force of the kick split the ground behind him, leaving a long, jagged scar carved into the earth.
"Logia, huh?! Damn it!" Tokikake gritted his teeth.
Crocodile moved in a flash. His fur coat fluttered behind him as his right arm swelled, transforming into a massive crescent blade of sand. It swept horizontally toward Tokikake like a guillotine.
"Tch. Same trick again?" Tokikake scoffed, unfazed. He crossed his arms, reinforcing them with Armament Haki.
"I can block this too."
A smirk tugged at Crocodile’s lips. "Can you?"
The moment the blade touched Tokikake—it dissolved.
No sound. No impact.
Just... decay.
"Crescent Sand Dune."
Tokikake’s face drained of color.
The sand didn’t cut—it drained. Moisture, energy—everything that kept a body alive—was sucked away.
In seconds, Tokikake’s flesh shriveled. His cheeks hollowed, his limbs thinned, and his skin turned paper-dry. He looked like a man a breath from death.
"Sandstorm!"
Before Tokikake could recover, Crocodile’s next move detonated. A violent, churning vortex of sand spiraled into existence and hurled itself at him.
The force lifted Tokikake like a ragdoll, spinning him midair before slamming him into the ground with bone-rattling force.
He tumbled end over end before finally skidding to a stop at Darren’s feet.
His eyes were dazed spirals. Darren’s face slowly came into focus above him.
Tokikake: ...
Darren: ...
"I knew you’d be useless," Darren muttered, flicking ash from his cigar.
Tokikake’s withered face twisted in fury. "That bastard... he’s too sneaky! I just let my guard down!"
Darren didn’t answer right away. He just stared toward Crocodile, contemplative.
He understood now.
Crocodile’s strength wasn’t just in brute force or Devil Fruit mastery. It was experience—raw, hard-earned battle intuition. A predator’s edge. Tokikake, for all his potential, was still green. Raised in the safety of Marine Headquarters, shielded from the worst the world had to offer, he lacked the scars of real war.
Crocodile, on the other hand, had crawled his way up from blood and ruin. The difference was night and day.
Darren plucked a canteen from his belt and tossed it to Tokikake. "Drink. And stay down."
He stood, dusting himself off.
Suddenly—
"Desert Greatsword!"
Shing!
A massive blade of sand exploded from the ground beneath Darren, lancing upward toward his abdomen.
From a distance, Crocodile stood with one hand buried in the earth, his expression twisted in triumph.
"Darren, move!" Tokikake screamed, pupils shrinking in panic.
But it was too fast. Too close.
The blade struck—
Screech!
Sparks erupted.
The Desert Greatsword, condensed to lethal density, slammed into Darren’s body... and stopped.
Not only stopped—shattered.
Snap!
Fragments of sand scattered across the battlefield.
Tokikake: ...
Darren: ???
Crocodile stared, wide-eyed.
His face said it all:
What the hell is this guy made of?!
To be continued...