# Chapter 147: The God of Sand's Meeting Gift!
"Desert Treasure Blade!"
Crocodile, who had quickly flown to High Altitude, didn't hesitate or waste any words. The moment his upper body returned to human form, his right arm transformed into a mass of intensely vibrating Sand, and he fiercely unleashed a Sand Blade towards the 'Black Smoke' below, which hadn't noticed him at all.
*Swish!!*
This Sand Blade, growing with the Wind, instantly became enormous under everyone's shocked gaze. In the blink of an eye, it had already swept past the 'Black Smoke's' back, diagonally splitting the massive Body formed by countless Kabane into two, and even cutting through the two bare grey Hills on either side.
*Boom----*
Only after all this happened before their eyes did a deafening air blast sound, accompanied by surging Air Currents rushing towards them. This was the side effect of a large amount of Air being rapidly sliced open by the Sand Blade.
"..."
Hundreds of Soldiers holding Steam Guns and Samurai holding Long Sabers on the City Wall were completely stunned by this scene. Everyone seemed to have been put on pause.
No longer screaming, no longer trembling, no longer fleeing, even the Cannons they called Garrison Cannons had stopped. They just stared blankly as the terrifying 'Black Mist' collapsed onto the Ground, split into upper and lower parts. The huge gap at the cut was so wide that they could even see the scene on the other side.
"God..."
"Has the Deity finally descended to save us?"
One Soldier didn't even notice his Steam Gun falling to the Ground. He looked up at the tall figure surrounded by Sandstorm under the blue sky, slowly knelt down, and shouted with tears in his eyes, raising his hands.
"Divine Being!!!"
"Divine Being!!!"
The Soldiers, who had long suffered under the high pressure threat and fear for their lives from the Kabane for many years, found an outlet for their long-suppressed Negative Emotions. One after another, they followed suit, kneeling down and shouting continuously, tears streaming down their excited Faces.
"Ah, what are those guys shouting about?"
Crocodile glanced back at the noisy rear in confusion but didn't dwell on it. He pursed his dry lips and sighed, "Should have brought some Cigars, huh?"
Just then, he noticed that the 'Black Smoke', which had been cut in half, was rapidly merging back together. Even the tattered limbs and broken Bodies along the cut Edges were being reattached to the newly formed Body, driven by the surrounding Kabane.
"Roar!!!"
As the 'Black Smoke' reformed, it let out an angry roar towards Crocodile in the Air. Having suffered a heavy blow and feeling intense Pain Sensation, it finally noticed the small mass of yellow Sand.
"Such an interesting Thing. It's clearly just a pile of Meat chunks gathered together, but its surface Strength is comparable to a Rock Formation. It even has distinct Eyes and a Mouth."
"But it's still too weak. The Giant Race's Body isn't this fragile..."
Crocodile's Fur Coat swayed and fluttered in the strong Wind. His flat Eyes were filled with curiosity.
"Looking at its Reaction, it even has Pain Sensation and Emotions. It's probably closely related to that Thing called the Core."
Meanwhile, the 'Black Smoke' 'stood up' and swung its giant arm, covered in Corpses and Kabane, fiercely swatting towards the former's location.
*Boom!*
Its Strength was indeed impressive. A simple swat created a surging air blast, no wonder it could easily smash down tall and thick City Walls.
However, no matter how great the Strength, without Haki or other Supernatural Energy, it was completely meaningless to a Logia User who possessed Element Transformation.
Crocodile didn't even bother to dodge its attack, letting it blow apart his Body, then reforming from the Sandstorm in another spot in the Air, reappearing in human form.
Seeing this scene, the people on the City Wall became even more convinced that he was a true Deity.
The God of Sand!
"It seems to solve this Thing, I either have to wear down all the Living Dead on its Body, or target its Core..."
Thinking this, he directly used Observation Haki to give the 'Black Smoke' a 'True Kabane Inspection', sensing it from top to bottom.
As expected, deep within the latter's Head, he sensed a source point with the strongest Aura. However, this also led Crocodile to discover an interesting Matter.
"Such strong Mental Fluctuation, filled with Negative Emotions of Fear, rage, and greed."
The moment his Observation Haki's Mental Fluctuation came into contact with the 'Black Smoke's' Core's Mental Fluctuation, a Screen Feed of a strange man even appeared in the former's mind, seemingly a memory about Family.
"So this is its essence. A special Strength, like Haki, originating from the Heart?"
The next moment.
Just as the 'Black Smoke' was tirelessly swatting at him, Crocodile opened the palm of his Right Hand. A rapidly spinning Sand Tornado gathered there.
"Then let me see what your Core is like..."
"Sandstorm!"
When he unleashed this Sand Tornado, it instantly expanded into a truly Giant Sandstorm. It first tore the giant black palm swatting towards him into pieces, then slammed into its 'Chest'.
The 'Black Mist' and the 'Sandstorm' collided head-on!
But the outcome was decided in one second. The former's 'Body' was brutally torn apart by the surging Wind force and the Sand, which was like Blades.
Words as terrible as 'torn to pieces' could hardly describe the miserable state of the 'Black Smoke'.
Under the brutal 'dissection', the surface of its Head was scraped open, revealing a Kabane Living Dead inside whose Heart and Eyes glowed with a faint Blue Light.
When the Sandstorm that Crocodile had transformed into appeared before it, it actually showed a ferocious and terrifying Expression, roaring in anger.
A typical death throes, a cornered beast still fights.
Because its 'Body Tissue' couldn't gather together under the continuous blowing and cutting of the Sandstorm, at this moment, it was like a Woman stripped naked, helpless and allowing Crocodile to examine and act upon it.
"Ha-ha-ha-ha----"
"Blue Light, huh? It really goes to great lengths to show its uniqueness. But that unique Heart of yours should have considerable Value, right?"
Since he had decided to join the World Government's Army, Crocodile felt that from a polite perspective, he should bring a meeting gift.
He couldn't have been out for so many days and return empty-handed. Bullet, that bastard, would probably laugh at him then.
Thinking of this.
He extended his Right Hand and grabbed the Blue Light Kabane's Neck, peeling it out. During this process, the latter frantically tried to grab him, scratch him, and bite him.
Unfortunately, it was all useless effort. It only touched Sand, and the former's strong grip made it impossible to break free.
*Clatter clatter clatter*
When the 'Core' was removed, the 'Black Smoke' ceased to exist. Countless Kabane and wreckage and Remains fell to the Ground. This scene made Crocodile frown.
His Devil Fruit Ability hadn't Awakened yet, so he couldn't turn the Ground into Desert. Otherwise, he could have sunk these things into quicksand.
But they couldn't be left untreated either.
In Crocodile's eyes, the Mining City behind him also belonged to his meeting gift. He couldn't let these things destroy it.
Thinking of these, he injected more Strength into the ongoing Sandstorm, making its Wind force larger and wider, sweeping all the Kabane into the Air, and then pushing them horizontally in the opposite direction of Yashiro Station.
As for where this Sand Tornado, wrapped with a large amount of Kabane, would 'go', that was no longer his concern...
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(End of this chapter)