Nia stood there, pletely dumbfounded. Just a moment ago, everyone had agreed to stay put, wait for the Mario nd, reveal their identity, and then make a quick exit. And now, in the blink of an eye, His Highness had enthusiastically transformed into wind and vanished?

  At that moment, Stussy spoke up, trying to calm Nia. "Don't worry. His Highness isn't weak. He probably sensed something iing. He won't do anything too dangerous. Let's just wait for the Marines here."

  Meanwhile, Crocodile, full of energy and bravado, was about to charge the Marines head-on and show them what he was made of. But suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew past him, scattering his body into tless particles of yellow sand, sent whirling into the air.

  It took Crocodile a moment to pull himself back together, ref his body. When he did, he noticed someoanding a short distance away. His first instinct was to think this was a Marine, but on closer iion, this person looked more like a noble.

  Crocodile didn't care. He raised his hand, f a bde from yellow sand, and without a word, u at the stranger, intending to cut him down.

  Cudius smiled, amused by Crocodile's immediate aggression. "This guy's really fierce attacks first without even asking a question," he thought to himself.

  The sandy bde sliced through Cudius's body, but he remained unharmed. Seeing this, Crocodile's eyes widened in surprise. "Logia?" he muttered.

  Cudius ughed. "Hahaha, yep! Logia, just like you, kid!"

  "Hmph," Crocodile snorted. "Even among Logia users, there's a differen strength. You're not Marine, so why are you stopping me?"

  If it were a lesser oppo, Crocodile wouldn't have bothered with any versationhe would have just killed them. But being proud of his Logia abilities, and now fag ania user, his curiosity iqued.

  "I'm here to save your life. Do you even know what you're up against?" Cudius asked with a grin.

  "What else? Just some hypocritical Marines pretending to be righteous, right?" Crocodile said dismissively.

  "No, not quite. You are fag Marines, yes, but this is a Buster Call. If you rush out now, it won't end well for you," Cudius expined with a ugh. "With your strength, you'd be walking straight into death."

  "Buster Call?" Crocodile repeated, fused.

  Seeing that Crocodile had no idea what he was really fag, Cudius filled him in on what a Buster Call entailed. When he was done, he added, "So you uand now? Sengoku, an Admiral from Marine Headquarters, is on this isnd. Your little tricks won't pose any threat to him. If you charge out there, you're just signing your owh warrant."

  Just as Cudius finished speaking, a fsh of golden light appeared on the distant coastline. Both Cudius and Crocodile turheir attention toward it.

  They watched as a massive golden Buddha—a maion of Sengoku's Devil Fruit power unleashed a shockwave from its palm, obliterating a group of pirates trying to approach the warship, turning them into nothing more than scattered flesh and debris.

  "See that?" Cudius said, pointing toward the se. "That's an Admiral one of the Marine's stro fighters. Your small body would be reduced to ashes in seds."

  Crocodile stood there, speechless. He had heard stories of Buster Calls and Admirals, but seeing it in person shook him. Still, he wasn't willing to give up so easily.

  "Our Captain John won't go down without a fight!" Crocodile shouted, still ging to hope. "He'll strike from the submarine soon, and we'll hit the Marines from both sides! Wait, why am I telling you this? Get out of here!"

  "Captain John? That expins the Buster Call. His name alone would be enough to justify it. But a submaritag from both sides? You're dreaming, Crocodile," Cudius thought to himself.

  Before Cudius could respond, Crocodile raised his hand a another sandy bde flying toward him. This time, the sand was infused with Armament Haki, adding more force to the attack.

  "Idiot," Cudius said calmly. "You've been duped by your captain. He's never ing to save you. He's abandoned you."

  With those words, Cudius reached for the sword at his waist. Instead of dodging the ining sand bde, he stood his ground, raising his on. The two g forces of Armament Haki met, and with a deft movement, Cudius deflected the sand bde with minimal effort.

  The sword Cudius wielded wasn't just any bde it was the demon sword Shindō, which he had acquired from the Sabaody Archipego years ago.

  "Don't talk nonsense! Captain John isn't that kind of person!" Crocodile yelled, enraged, and lu Cudius, i on turning him into a desiccated corpse.

  As Crocodile reached out, yellow sand began to pour from his hand, aiming to drain the life from Cudius's body. But Cudius wasn't having it. "Damn, Crocodile! How did you go from being so ing iure to being this na?ve now? 't you see you're being pyed?" Cudius thought.

  Realizing that words weren't going to get through, Cudius decided it was time to end this. His expression turned serious as the full force of his Devil Fruit power erupted. A ist began to swirl around him, aended his arm toward Crocodile.

  "Eternal Frost," Cudius muttered.

  A white mist shot from his arm, engulfing Crocodile. Crocodile tried to retreat, but it was too te. His arm was caught in the mist, and a sudden, bone-chilling cold spread through it.

  Moments ter, Crocodile's arm was pletely numb. He staggered back, barely avoiding the rest of the mist. When he gnced down at his arm, it was covered in a yer of frost. With a light touch, the arm crumbled into dust.

  "What... What kind of power is this? Is it some kind of ice Logia? Are you... Kuzan?" Crocodile stammered in shock.

  Cudius didn't bother answering. He knew Crocodile could regee his arm with his sand powers, and indeed, within seds, Crocodile had reformed his limb using yellow sand.

  "No, my name is Cudius," he said with a grin. "And I'm here to save you, kid. You and I are destio meet, so how about you stop wasting your time with this pirate nonsense and e work for me instead? Trust me, being my subordinate has a lot more potential than being stu some pirate crew."

  Crocodile scowled. "Don't uimate me!!!" he roared, summoning twe sand whips that shed out at Cudius from both sides.

  At this point, Cudius had had enough. He wasn't going to keep pying around. While Crocodile's powers were impressive, he was still inexperienced. Cudius knew every tri Crocodile's pybook, but Crocodile didn't know anything about him.

  Letting the sand whips strike him, Cudius didn't even flinch. The attacks bounced off an invisible barrier, leaving him unharmed. Crocodile's momentary triumph faded into fusion as he realized his attack had failed.

  Before Crocodile could react, Cudius drein-looking short sword from his side.

  "Shoot him, Shinsō," Cudius said softly.

  In a fsh, Crocodile felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. Blood spattered across his vision, and he instinctively shut his eyes.

  "Not good!" Crocodile thought, panig.

  Before he could open his eyes again, he felt a hand cmp around his throat, lifting him off the ground.

  "Now you're done," Crocodile thought triumphantly. "Once I drain him, it'll be over..."

  But something was wrong. Instead of drawing the life from Cudius, Crocodile felt a crushing pressure in his lungs. Something was being forced into his nose and throat, cutting off his air supply. He gasped, trying to cough, but the chokiion overwhelmed him.

  "The Choke of Death," Cudius said quietly. "Forced a."

  Crocodile's world began to blur as the ck of oxygen took its toll. His body went limp, and he slipped into unsciousness.

  In truth, Cudius wasn't that much strohan Crocodile at this point in time. The key difference was that Cudius knew all of Crocodile's teiques, while Crocodile knew nothing about his. It was no wohat Crocodile, still inexperienced, had beeed so quickly.

  "Well, well, isn't this ve?" Cudius said with a satisfied grin, holding Crocodile's unscious body. "I was just w where I could find someoh potential, and here I stumble across both Dragon and Crocodile on the same day. What luck!"

  In truth, if Cudius hadn't interfered, Crocodile would never have been caught by the Marines. He would have used his abilities to slip away underground and escape unscathed.

  Only ter would Crocodile realize he had beerayed by Captain John, someone he orusted. This betrayal twisted his personality, pushing him to go out to sea on his own. His first cim to fame would e from hunting down and killing Captain John, the very man who betrayed him.

  From there, Crocodile would go from being just another rookie pirate to a rising star on the seas. His journey would be marked by signifit events.

  First, he would cross paths with Dougs Bullet. Although the oute of that fight remained unknown, it would be a key moment in his rise. After lying low for a few years, he would re-emerge to csh with Whitebeard, a battle that would t his reputation.

  His fame would eventually catch the attention of the Wover, leading to their invitation for him to join the ranks of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.

  The rest, as they say, is history. Ultimately, his fall from grace would e at the hands of Luffy, who would beat him down and send him to the uer prison Impel Down.

  But right now, things were taking a different turn. Cudius had found Crocodile early young, inexperienced, and full of potential. And now that Cudius had him in his grasp, Crocodile's destiny was sure to ge in ways her of them could foresee.