One Piece: Transmigrated as Crocodile

Chapter 371 CHAPTER 371 - One Move to Take Down a Vice Admiral

No matter how one looked at it, Crocodile was a pirate, and they were Marines. Once they encountered each other, it was impossible to simply ignore it. Moreover, Crocodile's area of activity was far too delicate, so no one dared to be careless.

If Crocodile had secretly reached some kind of agreement with Whitebeard and chose this moment to rush over to rescue Ace, there probably wouldn't be many who could stop him.

"Twelve Blooming Wheels!" Robin was also surrounded, and dealing with it was extremely difficult. Many Marines were grabbed by her ability, but breaking their joints took considerable effort.

These men were extremely strong, clearly having undergone strict training. After taking down just over a dozen elite Marines, Robin found herself in a difficult position, forced to evade attacks.

"No matter what, gather everyone first," Rosen decided as he watched the elite Marines charging forward.

Since they were here, first find his subordinates, then find Whitebeard, and see if he could take down Akainu. While at it, he wanted to test what Four Emperors–level combat power was really like, and how big the gap was between them. After all, clashes with the Four Emperors would be unavoidable in the future, so he needed a clear understanding.

Whether Akainu was good or bad, Rosen did not want to judge. Everyone chose their own path. But the grudges of his subordinates, Robin's grudge, and the grudge of being hunted himself could not go unanswered.

Since they were exposed, they might as well make it big.

"Desert Jungle Thorns!" With sharp hissing sounds, dense sand spikes erupted instantly within several hundred meters around Rosen. Yet only about a third of the Marines were hit. The remaining two-thirds managed to evade the sudden ground assault by various means.

"He seems to be injured. Vice Admiral Doberman, let's join forces and take down Crocodile!" Vice Admiral Momonga immediately proposed.

Marine Headquarters had long had records on Crocodile's strength. A single Vice Admiral was likely insufficient to pose a real threat to him. But Marine commanders never feared battle, nor did they retreat.

Judging from Crocodile's condition, he was clearly seriously injured. Coupled with fighting alone, if two Vice Admirals joined forces with elite Marines, they might be able to kill him.

"I'm in a bad mood!" Rosen was worried about everyone's safety. Although he knew Bonez and the others were not weak, once scattered, they could easily be picked off by Marine experts one by one. And if they ran into the Whitebeard Pirates, they wouldn't be allies either.

"Crocodile, Vice Admiral Onigumo's death is inseparable from you. It was my carelessness back then. Now it's time for you to atone with your life." Vice Admiral Doberman revealed his ferocity, killing intent surging. Armament Haki covered his blade, slicing through the air as he appeared directly before Rosen.

"Are you people ever done? Since when did the Marines also play the revenge game? Ah!" The good mood Rosen had gained from obtaining the Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit ability instantly vanished by more than half. The matter of the liquor city still wasn't over? First Alberton, now Doberman—how annoying.

"Armament!" Even so, Rosen did not underestimate a Vice Admiral's full-power strike. He was indeed stronger than a Vice Admiral, but they were not weak either. If their methods were used well and the attack landed, it could still pose a threat to him.

Rosen did not dodge. Armament Haki covered his fist as he punched directly into Doberman's blade.

With a thunderous boom, the ground instantly shattered as shockwaves swept out. Doberman's expression suddenly changed in shock—the long blade in his hand was collapsing, breaking apart into fragments and disappearing.

"What is this?! Does the Logia Sand-Sand Fruit have such an ability?" If Doberman had known the result would be like this, he would never have done it. But he did not know.

Previous intelligence had mentioned that Crocodile possessed the ability to wither the human body, but no matter how one looked at it, this was vastly different from what the intelligence described. And the latest intelligence had yet to be compiled.

"This is bad!"

With Doberman's blade shattered, nothing could stop Rosen's fist. The punch slammed directly into Doberman's chest, blasting him away. As he flew, the force carried by his body killed seven or eight elite Marines along the path. He was left with only a faint breath, struggling to get up—but Doberman could not.

How was this possible?! Crocodile couldn't be this strong! This was far too abnormal. The last time he was seen in Liquor City, his presence was much weaker than now. Even if intelligence said he had grown stronger, no one expected such an outrageous level of strength.

"Vice Admiral!!" The Marines were utterly horrified. How could this be? Just a single punch, and Vice Admiral Doberman couldn't withstand it?

They did not know that this was Rosen's all-out, unreserved, madness-filled punch. He had no time to tangle with Marine Headquarters' Vice Admirals. If he did, Robin, who was close by, could be put in danger.

"Cough…" After that punch, Rosen's injuries worsened. He had already been seriously injured by Blackbeard's sneak attack. Before he could catch his breath, he had to go all out to take down a Vice Admiral. The burden was enormous for Rosen. After all, he was not a monster of Whitebeard's level, able to instantly defeat Vice Admirals like fodder.

"Black Prison Ferocious Bullets! Fire!" Rosen looked toward Robin's direction and raised his hand, firing forty-four Black Prison bullets.

And he fired three consecutive volleys—over a hundred sand-grain bullets in total. In an instant, wrapped in Haki like black laser beams, they pierced through every Marine along the path to Robin.

Puchi, puchi! The sand grains pierced through one elite Marine after another. Even though some managed to evade, most could not. Flesh was penetrated, and screams rang out in succession.

"Don't think of escaping!" Vice Admiral Momonga, though shocked, surprised, and even somewhat fearful, still could not let Crocodile go. As a Vice Admiral of Marine Headquarters, even knowing he might not be a match, he could not allow Crocodile to escape.

Earlier, Vice Admiral Doberman had been too hasty. Momonga had intended for Doberman to take the lead so he could look for Crocodile's openings. But he never expected Crocodile to be so strong that he could heavily injure Doberman in a single strike.

Even an Admiral-level fighter, in a normal battle, would not be able to take down a Marine Vice Admiral in one move.

No powerhouse would unleash their strongest attack the moment they met. If the strike failed, it would be easy for the opponent to analyze and counter it, lowering one's chances of victory or even causing unexpected complications—unless the gap in strength was enormous.

But was the gap between a top Vice Admiral and Crocodile really that large? At first, Momonga did not think so. Based on summarized intelligence, Crocodile should have been slightly inferior to an Admiral.

Indeed, judging from the Water Seven encirclement battle, that assessment was correct. And during the Sabaody Archipelago incident, Rosen had not truly fought an Admiral head-on. So intelligence estimated he had Admiral-level combat capability, but many Vice Admirals did not fully accept that he was on par with one.

Admiral-level combat power was simply too rare.

But now it seemed they were wrong. Vice Admiral Doberman had likely misjudged the enemy's strength and the possible derived abilities, leading to his defeat in a single blow.

The intelligence was incorrect—or rather, not timely.

"No interest in playing with you," Rosen said, not even glancing at the pursuing Vice Admiral Momonga. More than a dozen sand walls rose in succession from the ground, blocking Momonga.

Momonga slashed through the sand walls one after another with his long sword, but by then, Rosen had already widened the distance between them.

"How could this be? Vice Admiral Doberman, defeated so easily?" Rosen walked toward Robin. The Marines along the way had already been cleared out, but many more soon gathered nearby, not daring to attack for the moment.

He was too overwhelming. A Vice Admiral had fallen too quickly, frightening them. Even as elites, that did not mean they lacked fear and reverence.

"Don't be afraid, for justice!" a Captain roared as he charged at Rosen. The other Marines also suppressed the fear in their hearts.

For justice! Even knowing they were not a match, they were elites, not deserters.

Kill! This was the difference in mindset between elites and ordinary Marines. Ordinary Marines might have lost their will to fight on the spot after seeing a Vice Admiral defeated so quickly, but they did not.

"Justice? When you can think independently about that question one day, then that will be justice." Rosen held back against such Marines. The ground surged like waves, crashing forward. Countless elites were swept into a sandstorm and carried far away.

"Are you alright?" Rosen took a step forward and arrived beside Robin, supporting her. She had suffered some minor injuries, but nothing serious.

"I'm fine." Robin held Rosen's large hand. From the moment she fell into the battlefield until now, she had not felt even a trace of panic, as if she had always believed he would come find her no matter what.

"I'll transfer the ability to you, then train on the battlefield. I'll stay by your side, so don't worry."

"But your injuries…" Robin looked at Rosen's wounds, deeply worried.

"It's fine…"

"Crocodile!" Vice Admiral Momonga arrived. At the same time, a group of Marine officers noticed the situation and rushed over using Soru and Geppo, heavily surrounding them.

Clang! Momonga slashed at Rosen, but Rosen remained unmoved. He had sensed a familiar presence. Sparks flew as the blade struck a metallic palm that blocked the attack.

"Dawn Pirates executive, Daz Bones!" Momonga's expression grew heavy. An executive could actually block his slash, and without difficulty. The overall strength of the Dawn Pirates had clearly been underestimated.

"Let me play with you for a bit. Give our boss some space," Bones said calmly. A Vice Admiral's slash seemed to be nothing special. Back then, he could hardly contend with a powerhouse like Vice Admiral Onigumo, but now, facing a mid-tier expert like Onigumo—

Even alone, his chances of victory were not low.

"Hmph, a mere pirate…" Momonga's face darkened. Did he really think he could stop him with just an executive?

"At this point, we old bones can't just sit back anymore." Fleet Admiral Sengoku watched as the Marines surrounding Crocodile continued to fall. Losses were increasing too rapidly and had to be suppressed quickly, or they might gradually affect the entire battlefield.

(End of Chapter)

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