Jumping through the air, ready to cleave down with his mighty blade, Alex focuses so intensely that he can feel time itself slow down.

In the last moment before Alex reaches Crocodile, the sandstorm comes alive—too small to be truly deadly or dangerous, but large enough to affect the situation. However, the sandstorm does not fly towards Alex, but surrounds Crocodile himself, who uses it to lift himself into the air, causing Alex’s attack to hit his body, not his head, which is now out of reach.

As Alex’s blade crashes into Crocodile’s chest, he instantly feels a strong resistance, Crocodile’s body trying to turn into sand, but not fully succeeding, similar to how it was with Smoker earlier. However, Alex feels a big difference—namely, the cold magic in his sword, which actively suppresses the sand Crocodile tries to shift into, freezing it solid, thus making it way harder to separate each grain of sand.

“FUCKING DIE!” Alex yells maniacally.

You have dealt 71 damage to Crocodile

You have slowed Crocodile

You have caused bleeding (chest) 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

With his sword cleaving through Crocodile’s body, drawing a large amount of blood, Alex’s face turns into pure bliss, the feeling almost intoxicating as he cuts into his opponent. A part of Crocodile’s chest has also been affected by frost, not only slowing him down but also preventing him from fully turning into sand for at least a while longer.

He immediately tries to follow up, but Crocodile, still in the sandstorm, spins in place and counters at once with his left poisonous hook.

“Don’t take me too lightly! I knew you wanted to do that!” he yells as his counter lands, the poisoned hook striking at Alex’s chest in return.

I need to block. Barrie—

Alex desperately tries to activate Barrier, but he is a split second too late. The hook penetrates through his armor, stabbing into his chest, his defenses lowered because of his use of Ko.

You have received 89 damage

You have received bleeding (Chest)

You have been poisoned

Motherfucker... FUCK OFF!

Desperate, feeling an incredible pain in his chest as Crocodile impales him, Alex uses Throw from close distance, aiming towards his opponent’s frozen chest.

As his Biotic ability lands, Crocodile is hurled backwards, crashing against the extremely hard Poneglyph, receiving additional damage from the impact, as Crocodile is still not able to shift into sand.

You have dealt 5 damage to Crocodile

You have dealt 27 damage to Crocodile

“Fucker! Just fucking die and put that fucking needle away, you pindick fucker!” Alex yells angrily, feeling his chest thump hard as it now contains a deep hole.

You have received 1 damage (bleeding)

You have received 1 damage (poison) (damage can’t be lowered past 1)

Poison resistance at 85%—Poison Resistance check

You are no longer poisoned

Nice. My Poison Resistance skill that Mustrano swallowed gives me 75% Poison resistance. Add to that my precious [Sacred Emerald Copper Earring], and my Poison resistance is so high that only the most deadly poisons can affect me for real. It’s incredibly lucky that his poison is apparently far away from that. Or else Luffy wouldn’t have held on this long.

Alex immediately reacts, not wasting any time. Since Crocodile is still lying on the ground, he takes out a [Wiggenweld Potion V2], immediately lifting it and trying to gulp it down.

However, as his lips are about to touch the bottle, to his absolute horror, Crocodile’s poisoned hook comes flying at him, his left arm turning into a loose sand hand, controlling the hook remotely.

The hook crashes into the potion, shattering it and letting the contents drip onto the hook and spill towards the ground, before it quickly returns to him.

However, through sheer luck, the contents drop exactly onto Alex’s chest, right where his wound is located.

You have recovered 27 HP

You have stopped the bleeding (chest)

You have been poisoned

You are temporarily immune to this poison

“Hehe,” Alex laughs, jumping backwards, creating even more distance between them, his HP and MP steadily recovering thanks to his high stats and gear.

I’m a toxic man... always have been, always will be! This shit doesn’t even affect me. It should have been obvious... even to someone like Crocodile!

“Hehehe... Mr. 6. I felt it during our earlier encounter. Your poison was one of the most powerful ones I have encountered, and I wouldn’t be a real man if I didn’t step up. It’s only polite for me to return the favor, right? How do you like mine? By now, you have already tasted it twice. Can you still stay conscious? Are you laughing because you know it’s all over?” Crocodile asks, his lips forming a cruel smile.

I’m immune now... I took exactly one damage from his trashy poison. This is more than pathetic—it’s almost sad. Well, not like I have to tell him that—let him keep his hopes up. There is nothing more frustrating than desperately waiting for something that will never happen.

“Hey... you...” Luffy, meanwhile, says, stumbling towards Alex, his legs almost giving in. “He is... mine! I will deal with Crocodile...”

“You idiot, do you know what you have done? I could have killed him and ended this all! Millions of lives are at risk, and you put your ego above their lives? He doesn’t play fair either! Pirates never play fair! In fact, you are a fucking disgrace to pirates, you wannabe hero.”

“I need to beat him fairly; sneaking up on him is not okay!” Luffy yells, ignoring Alex’s reasoning.

“Hehe, I have to agree with you, Mr. 6,” Crocodile says, clapping his hand on his arm. “A true pirate knows his life is at stake and does anything without hesitation to survive. You are a fool to ally yourself with a disgrace of a pirate like that. You made another crucial mistake, though.”

“Oh, and what is that?” Alex calmly asks.

“Sneaking up, you say, Straw Hat?” Crocodile repeats Luffy’s words, grinning. “I’ve noticed you instantly, Mr. 6... don’t think someone like me is clueless about Haki. I’ve sailed through Paradise and spent a long time in the New World. I might have focused my attention solely on my Devil Fruit and neglected Haki, all for the sake of shaping this Kingdom to my liking, but I’ve still learned a few things about Haki—enough to sense a traitor like you approaching me, trying to stab me in the back! The likes of you will never manage to surprise me. That traitorous snake, Nico Robin, didn’t succeed either.”

“I doubt you know Haki...” Alex replies. “You might know about Haki, but if you had properly learned it, you would have used those abilities already. Feel free to prove me wrong—not that it would make a difference, you talentless hack.”

Suddenly, Luffy stumbles forward and drops to the floor, the ground beneath him turning bloody.

“Why is the ground shaking... my head is all mushy...” he mutters.

Alex quickly grabs him and throws him towards Robin, along with another [Wiggenweld Potion V2], yelling towards her, “Take care of him!”

“Okay...” Robin replies, slightly caught off guard.

“Now, Crocodile... why don’t we finish this?” Alex says, spinning his blade above his head.

Crocodile walks forward, looking determined. “Fine, the poison should have weakened you enough. I don’t need to wait any longer. You will regret the day you decided to betray me, Mr. 6... You could have ruled this country as my right-hand man. Now you’ll be buried deep within its ancient tombs, forgotten for eternity, while I’ll create my Utopia on my own!”

“Heh, you should at least take my bounty! Unlike you cheap fuck, I’m actually worth something!” Alex counters, stepping forward as well.

“Die, Mr. 6!” Crocodile yells, his right hand forming into a powerful sand blade. “I’ve been holding back for too long. This ends now. Desert La Spada!”

Soon, several fan-shaped blades form and fly at Alex with tremendous force, threatening to not only tear him apart, but also devour any liquid his body has stored.

He can call it whatever the fuck he wants... in the end it’s just sand! The swordsmanship I’ve inherited from Steiner, which has been handed down in history for hundreds... no, thousands of years, can cut through steel, bone, and flesh! It can cut anything, how can I fear mere sand?!

Using Ren and Shu, his Aura wraps itself around his sword, now flowing calmly and serenely.

I need more speed... more strength, and I need to maintain control.

Alex, despite the scarcity of his AURA, which is almost used up, conjures Thorian’s Domination, which increases his SPR by a total of 20, granting him immense willpower and control over his emotions, thoughts, and even his body.

I need to conserve MP, but I still know the way to beat him! Exactly like I planned!

This is my ultimate Crocodile counter.

Alex then, despite his now further reduced AURA pool, even conjures Sealion’s Icewing Embrace, calling on his most trusted defensive ability, before boosting his stats using [Drakul’s Vitality R2] and [Uzin’s Rage].

The armor and HP don’t matter—what I’m after is something else! Now, this is my chance. I’ll use it all... everything!

You have recovered 120 HP

All stats increased by 6 for 1 hour

Avatar of Vengeance activated

Unstoppable for 30 seconds

STR and AGI doubled for 30 seconds

Release Rage activated

You have lost 100 HP

STR and AGI + 20 for 10 seconds

Without panic or fear, Alex resists the urge to explode, forcefully calming down his body and maintaining control over his boosted stats, carefully proceeding in a swift, yet calm and precise manner.

He calmly analyzes the flight path of the incoming sand blades and performs slash after slash, cutting them apart with apparent ease.

Shrill, loud sounds echo through the ancient tomb as Alex dismantles Crocodile’s attack with precision, his blade moving so fast that Crocodile loses track of it completely.

As the last sand blade dissipates—cut apart and transformed into loose grains of sand—Crocodile’s confident face collapses entirely, his strongest attack torn apart by lightning-fast slashes.

Unable to believe it, he stares at Alex, who is now fully showing the terrifying-looking Thorian’s Domination helmet to him, revealing a cold and controlled killing intent, focusing it all on him.

“What... what are you?!” he yells, loudly, his desperation echoing through the tomb. “This is impossible!”