One Piece: Transmigrated as Crocodile-Chapter 271 - CHAPTER 271 - A Big Score

"Two-Sword Style Secret Art: Twin Dragons at Sea!" Dehnley roared madly, every muscle bulging to its limit. His swordsmanship was terrifyingly sharp, yet strangely, he had never mastered Haki.
Even so, with his skill alone, he could fight evenly with a Vice Admiral who wielded Haki. His ultimate Twin Sword strike unleashed two arcs of green sword aura, rushing at Rosen like rampaging dragons.
"So strong! Stay back, don't get caught in it!" All the nobles instinctively gathered around Remont. Though they usually kept skilled guards, none could compare to Dehnley.
The twin dragons tore through the hall, sweeping everything aside. The storm they carried made it impossible for many to even open their eyes.
"Such strong and pure fighting spirit… why would a warrior like him sell his life for a mere merchant?" Rosen cloaked himself fully in Armament Haki. With a barrage of Haki-laced punches, he shattered the twin dragons' sword aura completely.
Having broken through, Rosen flickered forward with Lightning Shadow.
Rankyaku: Moon Slash!
A storm of air blades shot forth from Rosen's high-speed kicks. Dehnley swung his twin swords furiously, deflecting or breaking most of them, but several still sliced across his body, drawing blood.
"You're willing to throw away your life for a merchant?" Rosen asked, surprised to see Dehnley's fighting spirit grow fiercer instead of faltering.
Even with Rosen nearing the power of two Admirals, it wasn't realistic to take down a Vice Admiral-level opponent in just a few direct moves. A sneak attack, maybe—but head-on, no. Still, warriors like Dehnley deserved to be faced honorably.
"Not for a merchant—for my commander. My mission will not fail!" Dehnley growled through the pain and charged again.
"A pity… I'll give you a warrior's death!" Rosen slammed a punch into his blades, sending him flying, then flashed above him, driving a brutal kick into his stomach. With a thunderous boom, Dehnley's body crashed down, tearing through seven or eight floors like a falling bomb.
"Rokushiki Secret Art: Cluster Strike!" Rosen bent his back, drew his arm, and fused his index and middle fingers together, layering them in Haki, darkening it to a gleaming black.
He thrust forward. The Haki-laced strike formed an air arrow that blasted through the void like a bomber roaring past their ears. Windows exploded outward in the gale, and noblewomen shrieked in terror.
"Ultimate Technique: Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain!" Dehnley landed, only to see Rosen's attack tearing down upon him, unavoidable. He raised his blades before him, swinging wildly. A dense forest of sword aura erupted, flames licking its edges like a blazing woodland.
But before it could fully form, Rosen's Haki arrow pierced through, drilling straight through Dehnley's body. From every wound, swordlike blasts erupted, turning him into a figure drenched in blood.
The arrow didn't stop. It ripped through floor after floor until it struck the ground, leaving a tunnel-like hole through the entire building.
On the lower levels, people nearly went into cardiac arrest. A pirate narrowly missed being hit and collapsed, wetting himself in terror.
Dehnley fell unconscious.
"Damn it, you've got to be kidding. It hasn't even been that long—how did this guy's strength grow so fast?!" Moris froze, wine jug halfway to his lips. This was at least twice the power Rosen had shown in Wine City—and he still hadn't even used his ability.
If he had advanced this quickly, Moris thought bitterly, perhaps his own battle with Hawkeye wouldn't have ended in such a crushing defeat.
"Aberdeen ran," Xia ed grimly. She and Alex had just finished off the last ten guards when she realized it.
Dehnley had bought Aberdeen's escape with his life. Without Rosen, Xia's forces would have been no match for his remaining elites.
"Don't worry. He won't get far. You said it yourself—he's got no strong escorts left. Most likely, he'll run back to his fortress." Rosen's Observation Haki had been locked onto him, but truthfully, he wasn't concerned.
Aberdeen's strength was mediocre. Dehnley had been the only real obstacle. Finding him again would be easy.
"What are you doing here?" As the dust settled, no one dared approach Rosen and Xia. Those who had once viewed Xia as prey now silently thanked Moris for warning them.
If they had followed their original plan—attacking Xia at the banquet and lending forces to Aberdeen—they'd have been slaughtered.
This wasn't prey. This was a predator—a prehistoric beast that devoured everything whole.
"You talking to me?" Rosen turned to Moris, who was staring straight at him.
"You really think a mask would fool me? Since when did you get such childish ideas?" Moris, born with the potential for Conqueror's Haki, was always sharp to others like him.
"…I thought my disguise was decent. So you saw through it… Seems you're not much faster than me either," Rosen muttered with exasperation. Once recognized, there was no point pretending anymore.
Through a broken wall, Rosen saw tiny figures below, Aberdeen fleeing with a few men. Their pace was laughably ordinary.
That saved him the trouble of hunting them down.
No longer bothering to conceal himself, Rosen stretched out his hand. Rubble shifted and melted into flowing sand, drawn into his palm until it formed a long spear.
"He's a Devil Fruit user?! Wait—that power… could it be?!" A bounty hunter's voice trembled. Rosen's power had been front-page news lately.
"Logia?!" Remont's face darkened.
A Logia was far more than simple intangibility. Each commanded a force of nature itself—capable of wreaking havoc like a natural disaster.
"What are you doing here?" Moris asked again, though this time with interest.
"Didn't you see? I'm here to kill." Rosen's eyes sharpened. He hardened the sand spear with Haki, aimed, and hurled it.
The piercing whistle froze everyone's blood before a thunderous explosion shook the ground. The sand spear struck Aberdeen dead-on, blasting apart several hundred meters of terrain and sending earth and stone surging skyward like a tidal wave.
"Since you're here too, why don't we work together for a big score?" Rosen sighed, removing his mask at last.
Recognition was unavoidable now. His infiltration had failed, but as long as those present stayed quiet, it wouldn't matter.
"Crocodile!!"
The hall erupted. Shock and terror filled every face.
A pirate who had escaped an Admiral and a Vice Admiral's encirclement—why had he come here?
"A bounty of nine hundred million… here?! Impossible!"
"He just escaped Marine Headquarters—what is he planning? Doesn't he know the king's bounty is still active?!"
"My god…"
"No wonder… so that's why he's this strong. This is the power of a nine-hundred-million bounty criminal…" a bounty hunter whispered, drenched in cold sweat.
(End of Chapter)