Luffy, how can you become the Pirate King if you don't work hard!

Kidd's pupils contracted sharply, and he almost instinctively turned to the side.

The sword energy grazed his shoulder, leaving a cut on his metal shoulder armor, before whistling as it crashed into the woods behind him.

Three large trees, each as thick as a person's embrace, were cut in half, the cuts as smooth as a mirror. The crowns collapsed with a crash, kicking up clouds of dust.

"Well?"

Kidd turned to look in the direction from which the sword energy had come, and his expression immediately darkened.

Why are all these guys here?

Two people were standing on a ridge not far away.

Hawkeye and Crocodile.

Two former Shichibukai.

Mihawk was the first to retract Black Blade Night's starting stance; the sword energy he had just unleashed was clearly just a casual wave of his hand as a greeting.

For no other reason than that the Magnet-Magnet Fruit is quite annoying for swordsmen.

Fighting a swordsman for a sword is practically a life-or-death struggle, isn't it?

Luffy turned around and smiled. "Oh, Zoro, the person you're looking for has arrived."

Without Luffy saying a word, Zoro had already slashed at Mihawk with his sword, grinning, "Sashiburi, Mihawk."

Those two years of training with Hawkeye were all for this day.

Hawkeye trained Zoro for this very day. He had been at the top for too long and couldn't find an opponent. There was no one who could fight him until he met Zoro in the East Blue.

Can you train a swordsman who can defeat you?

It's also a good experience.

"Roronoa, you've grown up."

Mihawk sized up the green-haired swordsman before him, a rare hint of approval in his eyes.

After some time apart, Zoro's aura was completely different. The sharp sword energy that almost overflowed from his body could be felt even by ordinary people.

As expected, after arriving in the new world and fighting against truly powerful individuals, he experienced even greater growth.

Hawkeye's blood was burning again after a long time; this trip was worthwhile.

“The eye injury suits you perfectly,” Mihawk said.

"This is the price we pay to become stronger."

Zoro casually remarked that two of his three swords were already drawn.

He held Wado Ichimonji in his mouth, and Sandai Kitetsu and Shusui in his left and right hands respectively, their cold blades humming in the sea breeze.

"Let me see if the so-called cost is worth it."

Hawkeye drew his Black Blade Night. The world's strongest black blade felt weightless in his hand, its tip pointing towards the ground, scraping a thin white mark on the rock.

The two attacked almost simultaneously.

Click!

A sudden collision!

The moment the two black blades clashed, a visible storm of sword energy exploded around the two of them.

The air was squeezed by the sword's pressure, emitting a shrill whistle. Fragments of sword energy scattered like shrapnel, cutting countless deep and shallow trenches into the ground.

Cavendish was engaged in a fierce battle with a group of pirates when a shard of sword energy grazed past his ear and sliced ​​a boulder behind him in two.

He glanced back in that direction, then decisively changed positions and continued fighting. "Hey, hey, hey, that's terrifying!"

Bartolomeo quickly activated the barrier, "Is this the duel between the world's strongest swordsmen?!"

The strongest in the world?

It's right in front of us!

Zoro completely ignored the surrounding chatter; all his attention was focused on the man in front of him.

Three swords against one, the domineering black light clashing fiercely between the two swords, producing a piercing sound like metal rubbing against metal.

This is no longer in the East China Sea!

"You certainly didn't disappoint me, Hawkeye!" Zoro's smile was exceptionally ostentatious.

Mihawk's lips curled up slightly. "You too."

The atmosphere here is incredibly exciting.

The surrounding sword energy was chaotic; those with bad luck were instantly taken away, while Crocodile, standing nearby, turned into sand and flew away, exhaling a puff of smoke. "Find out our target, Hawkeye."

Before he could finish speaking, a gust of wind carrying a hidden killing intent flew over. Crocodile frowned and retaliated with a sandstorm.

Who?

Chapter 540 The Devil's Heir! The Lone Red!

Two completely different natural forces collided violently in mid-air, and the sand was churned into a yellow mist by the wind, obscuring the view of a surrounding area.

In the smoke, the sand grains slowly gathered and reformed into a human shape.

Crocodile exhaled a puff of cigar smoke, the smoke swirling in the air with the sand. His gaze passed over the battlefield between Zoro and Mihawk and landed on the blue-haired woman standing not far away.

His brow furrowed.

They were subordinates of his former subordinates.

“Sashibuli, Princess Vivi.”

Crocodile's eyes held a scrutinizing glint. "You've grown to this level too? The Wind-Wind Fruit? That Straw Hat guy really went all out, letting you eat a Logia-type fruit."

His gaze swept over the wind barrier swirling around Vivi. The transparent wind barrier was spinning rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye, and it was shattered the moment his sand blade collided with it.

The level of control over this fruit's power is definitely not something a beginner can achieve.

Crocodile chuckled.

Logia-type Devil Fruits are considered treasures in the world of Devil Fruit users.

The Straw Hat Pirates obtained a Logia-type Devil Fruit, but the captain, being a Devil Fruit user, didn't eat it, nor did he give it to the main combatants. Instead, he gave it to the little princess of Alabasta.

Back in Alabasta, he could easily take down such a minor character with a single Shalan. He never expected that one day the other party would dare to stand in front of him like this.

“I told you, I will settle accounts with you personally regarding what happened in Alabasta.” Vivi stared at the man in front of her.

When Impel Down offered Luffy and Crocodile a ride, besides worrying about Luffy's safety, Vivi also wanted to settle scores with him one day.

In the new world, we will meet again someday.

Right now.

The wind blew her long blue hair, and the wind walls flowed silently around her, making her look like a storm goddess descending from the sky.

She raised her right hand slightly, and visible vortexes of wind surged between her five fingers, emitting a low whistling sound as they spun at high speed.

Vivi has never relaxed her efforts in developing her abilities.

"Vivi, do you need any help?" Luffy asked.

Weiwei turned around and smiled at him, "No need, I can handle it myself."

"Should I solve it myself?"

Crocodile repeated those words, veins bulging on his forehead.

He reached up and took the cigar from his mouth, threw it hard on the ground, and crushed it to dust with his foot. The golden hook reflected a dazzling cold light in the sunlight. "Don't think that just because you ate a natural elemental being, you can compare to me. Who do you think I am?"

The Seven Warlords of the Sea.

The user of the Sand-Sand Fruit.

The mastermind behind Baroque Works.

The usurpers of Alabasta.

The prisoners on Level 6 of Impel Down.

Any one of these names on this vast sea is enough to strike fear into the hearts of ordinary pirates.

What right does a woman, a princess who was powerless just two years ago, have to look at him with such equal eyes now?!

"Let me see what you're made of!"

Crocodile made the first move.

His body exploded into countless grains of sand in an instant, covering an area of ​​tens of meters in radius with a blanket of yellow sand. The sand condensed in mid-air into a giant blade, its edge covered with fine grit, each grain of sand emitting a piercing hiss due to high-speed friction.

Sandstorm - Desert Treasure Blade!

A giant sand blade descended from the sky, carrying enough force to cleave a warship in two, and slashed down at Vivi.

“I told you, I can handle it myself.”

Vivi disappeared from the spot.

How fast is the wind?

This intangible thing is sometimes invisible to you, it's fleeting, and your abilities can be developed in this direction.

At that moment, Crocodile truly sensed the answer using his Observation Haki, so fast that even his Observation Haki could only capture a blurry trajectory.

This guy is different now.

Vivi appeared beside the Desert Sword.

"Storm Wind - Sky Rift!"

Vivi swung her right hand upwards, and the wind and mist bursting from her fingertips transformed into an incomparably sharp blade of energy, colliding head-on with Crocodile's Desert Blade.

The sand was torn apart by the storm, and a giant sand blade was cut open in the middle with a clean slit. Before the sand on both sides of the slit could regroup, a second wave of wind blades had already cut in again.

Crocodile's brow furrowed.