The Storm Pirates Chapter 34 (Blood in The Sand) (Patreon)

Crocodile clenched his teeth in anger, his cigarette all but forgotten; the brat had moved much faster than he had initially thought a rookie should be able to, and that not counting the Armament Haki covering his hands and legs, the electricity dancing around his fingertips.

So this brat is stronger than I thought, Crocodile said in his mind before his hands and legs turned to sand; jumping in the air, he launched himself at the strawhat, his hook aimed at his chest; one stab and the brat would die.

Just as the hook was about to touch his chest, mainly the part around his heart, the brat disappeared in a flash of lightning; his hook arm was suddenly slammed down by his leg, his left hand grabbing his coat; Crocodile didn't even understand what was happening before a fist slammed against his face, causing him to be blown away, hitting a nearby building, the debris flew everywhere, as the entire second floor crashed down in the first floor.

Crocodile used his hand to support himself; his face was burning in pain, his lower lip and nose bleeding, as he spits out a broken tooth from his mouth.

His eyes looked in front of him, where the entrance of the building had been a second ago, now stood the rookie glaring furiously at him, his arms and legs still black, covered in armament Haki.

"So you know how to use Haki. Do you think that will help you win?" Crocodile questioned with a sneer; as his hook turned from golden to black, so did his other hand, but Luffy noticed that the sand around his body was also turning black.

He can cover his sand in Armament Haki?! He thought, surprised, that would be a problem for his ultimate strategy.

"You can use it as well," Luffy said, sounding surprised, he had expected it, but this Warlord didn't look that strong to him.

"I'm a Warlord brat. I'm one of the seven people who hold the balance in this world, Warlords, Yonkos, and Marines. Do you really think I would reach this Rank without knowing Haki," Crocodile said with a huff at the end; grabbing the cigarette in his mouth with two fingers, he threw it in the sand.

"I have to be honest, brat, when I heard about you, I thought you would be a minor annoyance at best, but seeing you know. I understand why Mister three lost against you," Crocodile said with an annoyed look, half of his face turning to sand, a constant smirk on his face as he spoke.

Luffy ignored the man; his attention was on the sand around them; the level of the sand was rising with each minute, the sand now reaching to his knees.

"Why do you care about this country? I thought warlords like you were supposed to capture pirates and work for the world government?" Luffy questioned, pulling his leg out of the sand, rising like a river on a rainy day. While personally, he thought the Warlord system made no sense whatsoever, he still was quite surprised that Crocodile would do something like this without a backup plan in case the World Government got wind of this and sent an admiral or two to silence him.

Crocodile noticed the tone of mockery he used when he mentioned the world government, causing him to raise an eyebrow, interested that this brat had perhaps something against them other than the reason he was a pirate.

"Brats like you don't understand our world, but tell me do you know what a Poneglyph is?" Crocodile questioned, using the power of his Devil Fruit to be spread across the land, to have as much sand as possible in control; through his legs and observation haki, he could feel sand a hundred meters deep.

Luffy narrowed his eyes at the mention of that word; he didn't know much, only what Shanks had told him about them; according to him, the poneglyph held the deepest secrets of this world, hidden behind a language that few people knew how to read, according to him.

"What's this cube thing?" Luffy questioned, holding an open book in his hands; Shanks had told him to study, much to his annoyance. Still, when the red-haired pirate told him he couldn't become a Pirate king if he didn't study and know stuff, that automatically shut Luffy up, who started reading despite finding it annoying.

Often he would get distracted by literally everything, but once he reached the cubes, his curiosity got the better of him.

"That Luffy is," Shanks spoke, grabbing the book from his hand and changing the page, it showed a picture of the same cube but much closer; now Luffy could see strange letters on it that he couldn't understand; Shanks pointed his index finger at the picture as he showed it to Luffy.

"This is a poneglyph Luffy; they hold the secrets of this world; if you want to reach One Piece one day, you must search the whole world to find all the poneglyph; only through them will you know the Truth," Shanks spoke, Luffy noticed his grip around the page got tighter as the page began ripping slightly at the bottom.

"The Truth?"

"Yes, only those from Ohara can read what is written in them, them and people who can hear the voice of all things," Shanks explained with an unusually serious voice.

"A poneglyph? What does Alabasta have to do with them?" Luffy questioned, as clouds started gathering around the sky, the sun no longer shining on the land, the light across the land dimming with each passing second, eventual darkness, as if it was night, the people of the city were pointing at the dark clouds, some had fallen on their knees, praying that it would rain.

"Please rain, please, Kashigami, make it rain," the person prayed. Even children were kneeling, hoping that it would start raining. Not noticing the wind getting faster, the flags on top of the poles were blown away by the wind.

Wind vanes around houses were rotating with an inside speed, some unable to handle the speed, flying away in the sky.

Several claps of thunder stroke the sand across the land, turning it into a glass-like material.

The straw hat crew were running away, trying to reach the capital as soon as possible; with the help of Pell, Vivi, Nami and Zoro were able to fly, standing on top of him, trying to reach the palace as soon as possible, to stop the bloodshed before it could start.

Sanji and the others were running towards the place, and it helped that the entire land was surrounded in darkness because of the vast clouds that had suddenly appeared, blocking the sun.

Suddenly a massive thunder stroke the land where the others knew Luffy was.

"Will Luffy be alright?" Vivi questioned, concerned; despite being several miles away from the place, they still could see the massive thunderbolts striking the land and the sand forming a giant sea made of sand, moving around as if it was alive.

"He will be; he's our captain. He will survive this, and now we must do what he ordered us to do," Zoro spoke with convention in his voice, looking at the land going away with each passing second.

Vivi appreciated his words but couldn't help but get worried for Luffy; perhaps they should have stayed together and defeated the warlord together. Just as those thoughts were growing in her head, she noticed that Nami didn't look concerned in the slightest, which surprised the princess, knowing she was the captain's girlfriend.

"Nami, aren't you worried?" Vivi questioned; the navigator closed her eyes for a moment as if thinking how to answer; opening her eyes, they had turned red.

"Our captain won't let us down; it was him who defeated Arlong, someone I considered the most powerful creature in the world, Crocodile might be a Warlord, but he has yet to meet a more stubborn man than our Captain," Nami spoke with resolve, her eyes showing that she didn't doubt her words, their captain would undoubtedly come out victorious like always, Zoro nodded in agreement, happy that Nami wasn't saying something to make Luffy look bad.

"Princess, I don't know this Luffy, but he's the captain for a reason; if he gave an order, then you should follow it. Right now, you must complete your duty and not worry about him," Pell spoke as he flew as fast as he could; thankfully, they had passed the area where the wind was much faster and harsher.

Vivi nodded with a smile; she knew she needed to have more trust in Luffy; just as she was about to look away, an enormous thunder hit the land where Luffy was, causing the entire dessert to brighten up, as if a second sun had appeared suddenly, before disappearing just as soon as it appeared.

Vivi gasped at the thunder, but before she could voice it out, the sound of the thunder reached, causing their ears to hurt; the entire landscape was booming with sound, covering her ears; she could barely hear anything, despite being miles away, the sound felt as if the thunder was right in their ears.

Ten Minutes Earlier

"A poneglyph? What does Alabasta have to do with them?" Luffy questioned with narrowed eyes, ignoring the Sand Rising.

A chuckle escaped Crocodile's mouth, his eyes glittering for a moment.

"There's one underneath the palace; it will show me the location of Pluton, one of the three ancient weapons; with that in my hands, the entire ocean will be within the palm of my hand. One Piece will be mine," Crocodile spoke with a nasty smirk that Luffy didn't like.

Hearing those words caused his breathing to get heavier and more lightning around his body. "All these people! Vivi and her people have suffered for so long because you are after a Weapon," Luffy spoke furious, his eyes glaring murderously at Crocodile.

The warlord didn't look fazed by his words, his own narrowing at Luffy. "You're a brat; you don't understand how brutal this world is. Let me tell you something, in this world, only those with power can stand at the top. Do you think those in the World Government had stood at the top for hundreds of years because they were righteous? No, because they have the power to squash those that dare to stand. History has shown us time and time again that only strength is what matters. I might have made people here suffer, but you have no idea how many more suffer because of the world government. And I don't want to be just another nail they will squash. If I were to die, I want to die like a pirate," Crocodile spoke with venom before sending a massive Sand tornado towards Luffy, who simply looked at it with indifference.

The sand engulfed the brat, but Crocodile knew this couldn't be so easy, suddenly the brat showed up above him, and his whole body had lighting around him, suddenly a thunder stroke down, Crocodile saw it coming because of his Observation Haki, but he didn't budge, as the lighting was on The brat's hand, holding it on his hand.

Luffy grinned before he murmured a word, "Hikari."

The lightning on his palm got more significant and brighter as he threw it at Crocodile, who immediately ran away in sand form; the lightning struck the ground where he had been a second ago, turning the sand into glass; Crocodile screamed in pain when the lightning struck the Sand despite being a hundred meter away.

How? I was too far-his, thoughts interrupted as he barely dodged another lightning attack from Luffy, who was flying in the air, chasing after him; he kept throwing lightning after lightning, each one narrowly missing the warlord but still electrocuting the famous pirate who screamed in pain each time the attack landed on the sand.

His observation haki is better than I thought, Luffy thought, impressed since dodging lightning wasn't something anyone could do, suddenly Crocodile stopped running, a giant ball of sand flowing from the desert before him, as thousands of projectiles launched towards Luffy in a shape of small knives made of sand, the captain simply allowed them passing, his body was logia, they couldn't harm-

He suddenly backed away; Luffy clenched his teeth as one stroke his stomach, piercing it, the pain burning on his belly like a hot knife, blood pouring out.

How? Luffy thought as he looked at the sand composed together to become solid ground with a sharp end, looking like a knife, but instead of looking like sand, it had a dark color covering the surface.

He can use Armament Haki on sand so far away from his body?!! He thought, alarmed as he flew away; Crocodile grinned, knowing he had landed a strike.

"Die," he screamed as thousands of knives covered in Armament Haki launched toward Luffy, who used his speed and Observation Haki to dodge each of them.

Getting tired of this, Luffy decided to execute his other plan; he caused rain to start falling from the sky. Looking up, Crocodile saw Luffy holding a hand on his bleeding stomach; the whole land was enjoying the feeling of rain after so long, except Crocodile, who narrowed his eyes dangerously at the brat. Knowing he couldn't allow his actual body to get wet, he quickly made a move...

"Do you think some water will defeat me?" He shouted in anger as he took control of the sand deep beneath the surface that wasn't touched by water, covering it in Armament Haki to cover himself and the land around him from the rain.

Luffy watched as the rain wasn't doing anything to the sand covered in Haki. The sand that came from beneath the ground was acting like a cover for Crocodile.

I see, he's protecting himself, but he can't allow his actual body to get touched by water, he thought, smirking; suddenly, his hands started sparking, massive lightning coming out from his hands. "Shower Lightning,"

Hundreds of bolts started landing on the Warlord. Crocodile watched as electricity hit everywhere around him, quickly covering himself; the cover was getting destroyed by the lightning striking it, turning it to glass, but not just the cover, Crocodile couldn't see it, but the sand around him was turning to glass.

Getting fed up with his attacks, Crocodile used all his will, his entire strength, to gain control over as much sand as he could. Moving as much as he possibly could, causing a whole mountain of sand to go up.

Luffy watched as the sand, the size three hundred meters tall and one hundred meters wide, was floating in the air, shaped like a mountain, with a very pointy end.

What is he- his thoughts interrupted as the entire sand turned dark like iron from armament haki.

How the hell can he cover so much sand in Haki? Luffy thought, surprised, he had expected the Warlord to be strong, but perhaps he had underestimated him.

Suddenly a voice echoed inside the mountain of sand. "Straw Hat Luffy, behold my most powerful attack. You should be honored to see it. I had used this attack only two other times before," Crocodile taunted him from inside.

Luffy couldn't see the man but knew he was smirking; the captain didn't show fear in his eyes. Instead, he raised his arm, and several lightning bolts struck his body. The blood around his body started moving much faster, his muscles and brain working more quickly, and his skin started turning red. Luffy knew this would hurt like a bitch, but he knew he needed it to Win this fight.

"Gear Second: Lightning Man,"

"Iron Sand: The Abyss,"

Both shouted as the sand started moving toward Luffy at a much faster speed, trying to catch Luffy, who started dodging and running away from each attack, now his body moving faster than ever before.

His body was barely visible to someone without Observation Haki. Crocodile kept launching swords made of sand towards Luffy, who kept dodging every attack, while his right arm was turning to red lightning.

Moving and dodging, Luffy quickly hid behind some houses that were destroyed rapidly by the swords; using the smoke as cover, the pirate jumped high in the air, much higher than Crocodile, who sent the entire sand he had left towards Luffy whose arm was utterly red lightning right now.

The entire sky echoed as Luffy launched himself towards Crocodile, more and more power engulfing his body; several swords scratched his body as he dodged. Still, he ignored the pain as Crocodile quickly turned all the sand left into a giant shield in front of his body.

Luffy raised his right arm as hundreds of bolts struck his arm, turning into an enormous bolt of lightning the size of the entire city, the temperature burning the skin around his arm. Luffy stopped himself from crying out in pain as he threw his final attack...

"Lightning Strike: Dragon Breath,"

Throwing with all his might. The bolt struck square in the center of the shield, cutting through it like butter, piercing Crocodile in the chest, finally hitting the land, causing hundreds of meters of sand to suddenly turn to pure glass.

Crocodile's sand lost form immediately and started falling like rain, as his body fell on the ground, with a massive size hole where his heart should be, his body smoking from the temperature.

Luffy breathed in relief as he fell to the ground, motionless, his right arm badly burned. His eyes felt heavy, but he knew the job was done; now, all left was for his crew to do the rest. Perhaps now he could rest a bit.

Closing his eyes, he felt Miss Saturday walking towards him from behind, but he didn't move an inch, knowing she wasn't there to harm him.

"You defeated Crocodile. I have to be honest; I'm genuinely surprised," she spoke, looking at the body of Crocodile far away from them. Silence fell over them as the rain started falling from the sky, and people near the town that had run away when the fight started were cheering and crying.

"What is this mummy?" One little boy asked, looking at the water falling; he had seen water before but never falling from the sky.

"This is rain, my dear," the mother said lovingly to her two-year toddler, who chuckled before he started playing in the rain with the other children.

Robin smiled in amusement; her blue eyes turned to the captain, who was lying on the ground breathing heavily, his right arm badly burned and needed treatment.

"Don't worry, Captain. I will take care of you," she spoke softly.

What do you think about the fight? Did Crocodile fight well? Armament Haki + Sand = Iron Sand!!

Crocodile is a Warlord, is not supposed to be easy for Luffy to defeat him.