Instantly, with a surge of strength from Raynor, his arms transformed into flowers and fell away.
Seeing this, Nicole Robin's expression turned a little grim.
Her Flower-Flower Fruit, the arms it produced, felt no pain, so she used more force than a normal person would.
It was incredible that so many arms, all pushing at once, couldn't match Raynor's strength.
With that thought, a relieved smile spread across Nicole Robin's lips.
The Straw Hat crew was truly too interesting.
One with a D in his name, and a young man whose name wasn't even on a Marine wanted poster.
However, just as Robin was pondering this, her brow suddenly furrowed, and she looked towards Crocodile.
At that moment, Crocodile's body began to writhe, then dissolved into a puddle of yellow sand.
Seeing this, Raynor frowned slightly. This type of elemental transformation was something he'd never seen before.
Raynor kept a close watch on his surroundings, guarding against any sneak attacks from Crocodile.
He had no more Haki time left. If Crocodile kept using his elemental form to wear him down, he'd eventually be drained dry.
But just then, the Aquarius Key within Raynor's body had finished being forged.
A confident look returned to Raynor's eyes. The weakness of the Sand-Sand Fruit was water.
As long as there was water, it could act as Armament Haki.
With that in mind, Raynor was about to make his move when a system notification suddenly chimed.
[Ding, congratulations to the host for triggering a story quest. You may choose one of the following quests.]
[One, surrender to Crocodile, reward: 1000 points of all-attribute experience, various forging materials, and a blueprint for a bamboo dragonfly.]
[Two, defeat Crocodile, reward: 1500 points of all-attribute experience, various forging materials, and a blueprint for anywhere door.]
[Three, reach a truce with Crocodile, reward: 1200 points of all-attribute experience, various forging materials, and a blueprint for Senzu Beans.]
Hearing this, Raynor knitted his brow. He hadn't expected so many quests this time.
As expected, the quests involving a Warlord of the Sea were different.
However, these three quests certainly stumped him.
The first, surrendering to Crocodile, he immediately discarded. Not only was the experience reward low, but a bamboo dragonfly was utterly useless to him.
The second and third options made it difficult to weigh the pros and cons.
Defeating Crocodile, 1500 experience points, and a blueprint for the Anywhere Door were incredibly tempting.
With the Anywhere Door, he could go anywhere he wanted, even outer space.
It was far more useful than the Door-Door Fruit.
But upon closer thought, he already had the Rabbit Talisman.
He could instantly teleport hundreds of miles away. That distance was more than enough for his battles.
The Anywhere Door wasn't that crucial for him after all.
The third option, making peace with Crocodile, was something Raynor truly hadn't anticipated.
Given Crocodile's current state, making peace would be incredibly difficult.
Even if he wanted to make peace, Crocodile might not even listen to him.
However, the reward was truly generous. Senzu Beans could also be forged.
Eating a Senzu Bean would grant a full recovery from any state.
This was quite suitable for a reckless fighter like Luffy.
As future battles became tougher, he might even find a use for it.
With that thought, Raynor directly chose the third quest: reaching a truce with Crocodile.
But to make peace with someone like Crocodile, he had to subdue him first, otherwise, it was out of the question.
With that in mind, Raynor silently commanded in his heart:
"System, activate Haki Usage Card!"
As soon as the words left his mind, information about the Haki Usage Card appeared. It allowed him to use Haki for half an hour.
Raynor chose to use it immediately. His body felt a strange sensation, and the next moment, Crocodile appeared right beside him.
A cold glint flashed in his eyes as he looked at Raynor and said,
"Hey, kid, you provoked me earlier. Have you thought about how you want to die?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Crocodile's sand condensed into a blade and stabbed towards Raynor.
But at that moment, Raynor's Armament Haki fiercely coated his hands, and he struck forward.
The blade, formed from Crocodile's elemental transformation, instantly shattered.
Seeing this, a look of terror appeared in Crocodile's eyes.
The next second, Raynor's fist slammed into Crocodile's face.
Crocodile, unable to react, was sent flying back, spitting out a mouthful of blood, his eyes filled with shock.
Crocodile slowly got up from the ground, gasping for air, and looked at Raynor.
"Damn it, were you lying to me just now?"
Raynor was noncommittal, a cold glint in his eyes as he spoke slowly,
"As long as I have Haki, you'll never be able to defeat me. How about we sit down and talk?"
Upon hearing this, Crocodile burst into laughter.
"talk? Such a ridiculous word. The weak have no right to choose to make peace. If you want to make peace, defeat me first!"
Raynor frowned. As expected, Crocodile wasn't the kind of guy to back down easily.
Since that was the case, he had to try and finish the fight within thirty minutes.
But just then, Cobra, who had been watching their battle, suddenly spoke up.
"Hero, please don't worry about me. This man has planted a giant bomb in the palace. According to the time, the bomb is due to explode in five minutes."
Hearing this, Raynor's brow furrowed. He had forgotten about that.
There was still a bomb hidden in the square. If he didn't deal with it, the kingdom's army and the rebel forces would be completely wiped out.
Moreover, his companions were still in the palace.
Although strong individuals like Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji might not be killed by this explosion?
But Nami and Usopp were different. They were ordinary people through and through.
An explosion radius of five thousand meters would be far too much for them.
Seeing Raynor hesitate, Crocodile's eyes gleamed with a smug expression.
"Ridiculous, truly ridiculous. A little kid still bound by emotions dares to talk to me about peace."
"Make your choice. Will you continue to deal with me, or will you run to save your companions?"
With that, Crocodile casually lit a cigar and took a deep puff.
"Even with Haki, you can't defeat me in five minutes. You weakling bound by emotions, hurry and run!"
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