blogombal Chapter 228 The Straw Hat Crew's Fear
Chapter 228 The Straw Hat Crew's Fear
Chapter 228 The Straw Hat Crew's Fear
Luffy's gaze was icy cold, devoid of any warmth, as he stared intently at Crocodile before him.
At this moment, Luffy seemed completely different from his usual energetic and carefree self.
Crocodile's words were like a hot breeze blowing past Luffy's ear, failing to stir any ripples in Luffy's heart.
Crocodile, seeing Luffy's indifferent and unresponsive expression, felt his anger swell like a powder keg being ignited.
His face grew increasingly angry, veins bulged on his forehead, and his eyes were wide open like copper bells.
Finally, he could no longer tolerate Luffy's cold indifference and roared across the dust-filled battlefield: "Straw Hat Boy, you're too arrogant! Today, I will absolutely not let you go, you'll stay here forever!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Crocodile's hands moved rapidly, and he shouted, "Sandstorm!"
In an instant, a small sandstorm tornado appeared out of thin air in his hand. Although the sandstorm was small at first, it contained powerful energy and emitted a deep howl, like a ferocious beast about to awaken.
With a swing of his arm, Crocodile unleashed a miniature sandstorm tornado that hurtled toward Luffy like an arrow.
During its flight, the small sandstorm tornado continuously absorbed the surrounding sand and expanded rapidly.
In the blink of an eye, a massive sandstorm tornado formed on the ground, blotting out the sun and carrying an unstoppable, terrifying aura of gray and darkness, like a rampaging beast, madly rushing towards Luffy.
Wherever the sandstorm passed, sand and stones were swept up, and the surrounding air was stirred up into chaos, emitting a sharp whistling sound.
Faced with the overwhelming sandstorm tornado, Luffy did not flinch. He remained calm, slowly raising his fist, and at the same time, black Haki energy surged like a tidal wave, rapidly enveloping his fist.
That domineering aura shimmered with a mysterious and powerful light, seemingly endowing Luffy's fist with boundless power. A deep, cold voice slowly rang out from Luffy's mouth: "Gum-Gum Punch!"
In an instant, Luffy's arm stretched out like a spring, his fist becoming very long, and he struck the huge sandstorm tornado at an extremely fast speed.
As Luffy's fists swung faster and faster, his figure appeared and disappeared in the sandstorm. His fists seemed to transform into streaks of black lightning, leaving behind many black fist phantoms in the air.
The moment those many black fists collided with the massive sandstorm tornado, a deafening "bang" resounded. The iron fists and the sandstorm tornado collided solidly, unleashing a powerful burst of energy.
The residual energy spread outwards like a surging wave, instantly causing countless fragments of stone to be thrown up from the surrounding ground.
Tiny cracks appeared on the ground, spreading out like a spider web, but fortunately the ground did not break.
Their attacks lasted for a moment, then, as if exhausted, they both vanished. Instantly, sand and dust filled the air, obscuring the sky and making everything blurry and impossible to see.
The surrounding air seemed to be shaken by the violent collision, unable to calm down for a long time.
After a while, the sandstorm gradually dissipated, and Luffy and Crocodile slowly appeared in front of Sanji, Zoro, Nami, and other Straw Hat Pirates members, as well as Princess Vivi, Robin, and others.
Overall, neither player was injured in this intense exchange, making it a close contest.
Luffy remained indifferent, as if the battle he had just fought was a piece of cake for him.
Crocodile's expression turned even uglier, his heart filled with shock and resentment.
He really didn't expect that this brat who appeared out of nowhere would actually be able to use Armament Haki.
It should be noted that Armament Haki has a great restraining effect on Logia-type Devil Fruit users like him, which instantly disrupted his originally confident plan.
Thus, Crocodile and Luffy were locked in a brief stalemate.
The wind and sand continued to blow mercilessly past the two of them, making a howling sound that made the atmosphere on the battlefield even more heavy and oppressive, as if the air itself was about to freeze.
Just as Crocodile was becoming increasingly agitated and preparing to launch another attack, a voice that was both familiar to him to the bone and terrifying to the extreme slowly rang out like a ghost.
"I never expected that Crocodile, a dignified Shichibukai, would be beaten up by an unknown brat in this tiny country. It's really a bit unbelievable!"
"Old Sha, you've become a bit decadent!"
The sudden sound drew everyone's attention instantly.
They all turned their gaze toward the source of the voice, their hearts filled with curiosity and doubt. Who on earth was so bold as to openly speak ill of the Seven Warlords of the Sea?
Two tall, handsome young men walked slowly towards them from a distance. Their steps were steady, each one seemingly touching the hearts of everyone present.
The sunlight shone on them, but it couldn't dispel the cold and dangerous aura emanating from them.
These two were none other than Minos and Cheng Xiaoyu, who had come from the New World to the Grand Line.
Minos was still wearing a black suit and a black cloak of justice, which fluttered in the wind. His eyes were deep and cold, as if he could see through people's hearts.
Cheng Xiaoyu was also wearing a long black trench coat, with a cold expression and a faint smile on his lips.
The moment Crocodile turned and saw Minos appear, his face turned deathly pale, and his eyes were filled with terror.
His body trembled uncontrollably, and he involuntarily took several steps back, his mouth trembling as he whispered, "You...you, how did you get here!"
Old Sha's voice was filled with despair and fear, as if he had seen the end of the world approaching.
The Straw Hat Pirates were filled with fear and shock upon seeing Minos and Cheng Xiaoyu.
Nami's face was ashen, and she instinctively covered her face with her hands, whispering in a trembling voice, "Is he the guy in black that Nojiko mentioned? He's very different from what's described in the newspapers."
"It's hard to believe that he is the worst villain in the world."
Usopp trembled violently, covering his face with his hands to avoid Minos's gaze. His voice was broken and filled with fear: "What do we do? How did we run into this scourge again! We're sure to be killed by him."
Zoro's gaze was fixed intently on Minos, his eyes gleaming with excitement. He murmured, "Is this the world's strongest, the new world's greatest swordsman?"
"How majestic!"
Zoro always harbors a strong desire to challenge powerful swordsmen, even if the person before him is incredibly dangerous.
Sanji, who was smoking nearby, didn't even notice that his cigarette had burned out.
He only snapped out of his daze when a sharp pain shot through his burned finger. At that moment, however, Sanji's face was filled with terror.
Compared to others, he kept a close eye on world intelligence and knew how powerful and terrifying Minos and the Shadow King were in the new world.
The original Four Emperors of the New World were destroyed by these two working together. Just two months ago, they also destroyed the New Pirate Alliance and the Great Pirate Alliance, and slaughtered countless people in the New World.
Now, these two notorious villains have suddenly arrived here. What could they possibly want? Sanji was filled with worry.
Chopper, the tanuki standing to the side, was also trembling, looking at Minos and Cheng Xiaoyu with terrified eyes.
He had heard before how powerful Minos and the Shadow King were, and that they were ruthless killers who would kill without hesitation if anyone angered them even slightly.
Chopper curled up into a ball, as if that would lessen his fear.
Princess Vivi stared at Minos and the Shadow King in utter shock. This was because Minos had visited the Kingdom of Alabasta three years prior.
At that time, Crocodile was killed by Minos, but the news did not spread at the time. The people of Alabasta still cursed Minos in private, thinking him a cruel villain who killed their guardian god of the Alabasta kingdom.
However, as Minos grew stronger, the people of Alabasta gradually stopped daring to curse him.
Now, seeing Minos reappear in the Kingdom of Alabasta, Princess Vivi's feelings are very complicated, filled with memories of the past and worries about the current situation.
Besides Princess Vivi, Robin's expression was equally complex. Her eyes revealed a hint of helplessness and disappointment. When she saw Minos again, she realized that she was no longer even qualified to approach him.
She may have had some confidence before, but in the face of Minos's powerful aura, she felt so insignificant.
The moment Minos appeared, Luffy's expression changed instantly.
His initial coldness was instantly replaced by anger; for a moment, the two completely different emotions of coldness and anger alternated on his face.
When he is cold and calm, he seems like a detached bystander.
When he is angry, the powerful aura he exudes seems to want to completely destroy all the enemies in front of him.
Minos and Cheng Xiaoyu seemed oblivious to the severity of the battlefield as they slowly walked up to the crowd.
Minos's gaze swept over everyone, seeing "Nami the Cat Thief" from the original work, "Coward Usopp", "Zoro the Directionally challenged" and "Sanji with Curly Eyebrows" who looked excited, as well as "Chopper the Tanuki", "Princess Vivi" and "Dark-skinned Robin".
And finally, it landed on Luffy, whose face was full of anger.
Minos's lips curled up slightly, revealing a meaningful smile: "Straw Hat Boy, I didn't expect to see you here. Today's show was quite interesting."
……
P.S.: I was originally planning to teach Luffy and the others a lesson, but I didn't manage the timeline well.