Battle of Alabasta Part 3

"Those bastards." The Crocodile who just got out of the casino was enraged. He stared at the man in front of him in anger and released a slash with his sand.

Splash!

After killing that man, Crocodile turned his head at Robin and asked.

"What kind of game do you think they are playing?"

Robin thought for a moment and said.

"If I am not wrong, they want us to be separated. That means they want to have an individual battle. From what we know, their Captain wasn't with them. So...."

"Crocodile, you bastard!"

Suddenly, a roar came from afar. Robin paused and then continued without even looking toward that noise.

"Send the top officers of Baroque Works to find them and kill them individually to find Princess Vivi. As for him, I suppose you can handle it."

Saying so, Robin turned around and left.

"Where are you going?" Mr. 1 stopped her and asked with a serious tone. It seemed like Robin was running away from the battle.

"Mr. 1, let her go! She has a different task. As for all of you, find those bastards and kill them."

Crocodile spoke with a deep voice. Hearing his order, everyone immediately left. He turned his head at Luffy who was running toward him.

"Tch! A newcomer who hasn't even lived in Grandline for more than a month dares to challenge me."

Luffy was still far away from him so he didn't hear what Crocodile was talking about. At this moment, he was just focusing on reaching closer to Crocodile.

Upon reaching closer, Luffy instantly extended his fist and tried to punch him. But, Luffy's punch pierces through him, without actually hitting him.

"Oh! I forgot that normal punches don't work on him."

Luffy suddenly realized it and withdrew his hand. But, how could Crocodile let him leave that easily?

"Desert Slash"

Crocodile gathered sand in front of him, turning it into a sharp slash, and threw it toward Luffy. Seeing this move, Luffy contracted his fist and upon reaching closer to it, he punched down.

Bang!

His fist burst through the desert slash, breaking it into sand dust. It fell on the ground.

"So, you have greater strength, huh? So, what?"

Crocodile condensed three giant spears made out of the sand and threw them at Luffy.

"Desert Spear"

Luffy saw those attacks coming and extended his arms. He extended his arms as much as he could but suddenly he turned around and realized that his hands were stuck on metal bars.

"Ah-oh"

Just when he retracted his hands, he found himself flying back like a slingshot. His hands escaped from the metal bar but he flew several miles away from Crocodile.

"Damn that boy!"

Crocodile didn't find it funny. Instead, he was bursting with anger. But, he quickly calmed down and thought.

'I don't need to waste my time right now. Let's torture the king first and then get to the place where poneglyph is.'

Thinking so, Crocodile turned around and left. After a few minutes, Luffy finally reached this place and looked around with an ugly expression.

"Where did that Gator go? No, if I fail to take him down fast, Liam will definitely blame me. I have to find him soon."

Luffy murmured to himself with a pale expression but suddenly, his eyes fell on the ground as he noticed the sand slowly leading him in a certain direction.

At this moment, a rare light bulb appeared in his head.

......…..

Somewhere far from Casino,

A man holding three swords on his waist was waiting with his back to the wall. Next to him, there was a girl with Orange Hair.

"They finally arrived. So, I guess I got to say goodbye now." Nami spoke as she took out a strange weapon. This weapon was a small metallic pipe with two big circular ends.

Holding this weapon, she rushed toward two people. But, she didn't even look at the man instead her target was the woman.

Seeing her rushing toward them, Mr. 1 and Miss Doublefinger were confused. But, her speed was quite fast. Miss Doublefinger instantly shared her fingers as she rushed forward.

"It seems like you really want to take us individually but don't think that you can defeat us."

Nami instantly swung her weapon and several small red bubbles coming out of the metallic pipe.

[Hot Air Barrage]

These red bubbles moved toward her and struck her. But, it was nothing more than warm bubbles. Initially, Miss Doublefinger stopped herself but seeing that these weren't dangerous, she rushed forward.

"No, wait!"

Mr. 1 tried to stop her but before he could even make her stop, the hot air bubble suddenly exploded. Although the explosion wasn't enough to destroy her, it was still enough to make flames in the air.

"Humph! Do you think this would be enough to kill me?" Miss Doublefinger easily overcame the explosions. She was only burnt a little.

"Do you know what happens when the air gets hotter and flies up?" Nami's words resounded in her ears when she saw Nami swinging her weapon toward her.

[Whirlwind Blast]

The massive bubbles of cold air burst out of her weapon and in an instant, it changed into a huge hurricane of cold air. Naturally, the cold air flew toward the empty space to fill it up and when it did, its speed was immense.

Bang!

The massive flow of cold air blasted Miss Doublefinger away. At the same time, Nami suddenly sensed death. The arm that was shaper than most knives appeared in front of her.

"You made a mistake. We are assassins."

Mr.1 appeared in front of her to kill her. As his arm moved forward, Nami panicked. But, suddenly, familiar words rang in her ears.

"It seems like you aren't a true swordsman."

Ding!

A katana struck his arm and Mr. 1 retreated instantly.

Bam!

Nami swung her body and slammed a punch at Zoro's head.

"Can't you attack him from the start? I almost died."

No wonder, she was so angry. While fighting Miss Doublefinger, Zoro was just watching it from behind and due to this, she was almost killed by her enemy.

"Sorry about that! I didn't expect him to be a cheap assassin. But, it doesn't matter. You should chase after that woman and confirm that you have defeated her."

Zoro almost got angry because of her punch but suddenly realized his mistake and apologized.

"You are Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro." Mr. 1 stared at him and spoke with a serious expression.

"From what I've heard, you can change your body into steel. That means if I cut you down, I will be one step closer to my dream."

Zoro took out a sword and took a deep breath. He knew that he still wasn't at the point where he could cut Steel. So, he was memorizing everything that would help him progress.

'There are swordsmen that can cut nothing.'

Only now, he was starting to understand its meaning. A swordsman who uses his sword but still doesn't cut anyone means that his control is immense.

So, he must reach this level. Cut things that he must cut and not cut things that he mustn't cut.

'This level….. I need to feel the breath of the sword.'

At this moment, he remembered the time when he asked Liam to straighten his posture and not make the wrong posture while training.

Soon, another memory came to his mind. The memory of when he couldn't cut the wax.

Now, he finally had a chance to become someone who can not just cut wax but also steel.

"Humph! It seems like you can't cut the steel which means I will defeat you before you can learn it."

For a moment, Mr.1 was shaken but when he heard that Zoro can't cut Steel, he finally calmed down. Although he wasn't sure why Zoro had so much confidence in learning to cut steel in this battle, he won't let him.

He changed his arms into blades and his foot also changed into sharp knives. His foot changed into skate toward Zoro while Zoro was immersed in his own thoughts.

At this moment, he remembered the words that his master once told him.

'You need to accept the fact that you are not the best and put all of your Will to continue moving forward.'

'I am not the best. I can't cut steel. I can't sense the breath of the sword. But, I have been training. I have been getting stronger. I won't lose. I am the swordsman of the team. I am the combatant that must solve most of his enemy.'

Suddenly, he opened his eyes and held the hilt of the sword. He took a deep breath and his body flashed forward. Holding the sheath with another hand, he pulled out his sword.

At this moment, all of his training, all of his Will, and spirit poured into a single strike. His ears became the source to hear the breath of the sword. His mind went blank to focus all of his energy on one single strike.

[One Sword Style]

[Shishi Sonson / Lion Song]

Splash!

Mr.1's eyes widened when he appeared behind Zoro. Not only his attack was blocked but his steel body was cut apart. He coughed out blood and fell to the ground.

Zoro put the sword back into his sheath and spoke.

"I am the combatant of the team. You are not the only enemy we need to defeat. But to show my respect to you, I used my strongest attack to defeat you."

"If you survive, let's meet again Mr. Assassin."

[Zoro Vs Mr.1]

[Zoro wins]