"Sigh!"
This fruit is strong, truly strong, but there's one minor issue.
Whenever he transforms into a cat, he involuntarily adds "Meow" to the end of every sentence.
For this, he was ridiculed by A Luo and A Hua for a long time.
Furthermore, every time he transformed into a cat, these two would burst into uncontrollable laughter.
This caused him great distress.
Although neither of them could defeat him in a spar, as soon as he transformed into a cat, these two, who usually couldn't stand each other no matter what they did, would gang up on him.
"Damn it..."
Every time he thought about these two laughing at him and then ganging up on him, he felt like swearing.
Staring at the slender girl before him, who seemed frail compared to his current physique, A Tao raised his right hand and, without hesitation, swatted down.
He would sympathize with the weak, but not with the weak among villains.
As long as it was evil, it was better off dead.
"Can't dodge."
Mikitah's eyes widened as she watched the massive hand rapidly approaching. The usual boisterous laughter was gone, replaced by pure terror.
Everyone fears death, no matter who they are. In the face of impending death, no one can remain calm, unless they have no regard for their own life.
Clearly, Mikitah was not such a person.
Although she was a villain, accustomed to tragedy and having inflicted death upon countless others, now that it was her turn, her behavior was no better than those she mocked. In fact, she was more disheveled and terrified.
*Bang!!!*
She wasn't given much time to dwell on the past or ponder the meaning of life.
A Tao's palm, from top to bottom, slammed down forcefully onto her head.
*Pfft...!*
Blood spurted out of her mouth like it was uncontainable. Then, her entire body, beneath A Tao's palm, shot towards the ground like a meteor.
*Boom—!*
The ground instantly caved in. Then, from the point of impact, the earth buckled upwards like waves, spreading outwards under the force of the shockwave.
Due to the extreme speed, it was impossible to tell if her back or chest hit the ground first. However, judging by her body, which was twisted into a grotesque knot, it was clear that regardless of which side landed first, she wouldn't survive the deep crater formed by the impact.
A Tao, smoking a cigarette, cast a cold glance at Mikitah's mangled corpse in the crater below. With a "bang," his figure vanished from the spot.
"Moonwalk," a technique only Gu Yina could use. He could also use it when transformed, which was why he was stronger than A Luo and A Hua in simple spars.
Of course, in a life-or-death situation, he might not be A Luo's match, as that guy wasn't just one person, but two.
Unfair.
As for A Hua, he was a chef. Although he could temporarily increase his strength through berserk states, it wasn't sustainable. Moreover, they were just sparring, and he had never seen A Hua truly go berserk, so he didn't know his full power.
However, did he not have trump cards while those two did?
"Heh!! Always the slowest."
A Luo glanced at the figure that suddenly appeared beside him and said with a hint of mockery, "Still my companion, 'Net Dog,' is reliable. Unlike you guys, so much noise and so long, ha ha!!"
A Tao ignored A Luo's mockery. He glanced at the white rabbit that appeared beside him, his body gradually shrinking as he retracted his beast form.
"Haha!! Did I miss something just now?"
The white rabbit slowly shrank, revealing A Hua's figure. He patted the dust off his head and spat out a puff of black smoke.
Then he turned towards the distant flames and laughed, "Haha! That guy is quite interesting, he almost hurt me."
"Alright, they are all minor characters. I thought this Shichibukai would have some interesting subordinates. I didn't expect them to be all show and no substance. They are all powerful devil fruit users, yet they only use their abilities superficially."
A Tao's pupils reflected the flames. He held his cigarette and exhaled a smoke ring before turning to look at the distant desert. "Here, only that Shichibukai and that 'Blade Man' who was instantly killed by Gu Yina, covered in blades, are somewhat interesting."
"As for the others..."
He shook his head and stopped speaking.
A Hua and A Luo also turned around and looked towards the distant desert.
That was their ultimate goal in Alabasta.
However, after witnessing Crocodile's performance against Gu Yina earlier, they all shook their heads.
They silently mourned for that Shichibukai.
A mere trash who only knew how to use his devil fruit abilities, facing Kong Tai, whose Armament Haki had reached the highest level. They could imagine the scene without even thinking about it.
To be a member of the World Government's Three Great Powers, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, yet not know Haki, was truly preposterous.
While they admitted that his devil fruit development had reached an extremely profound level, facing Kong Tai, he had no escape...
Could he truly escape?
Indeed, he couldn't escape.
Crocodile, buried deep in the sand, stared at the silver-haired figure standing above him, his heart churning.
No matter where he ran, no matter how many times he changed direction, Kong Tai seemed to have foreknowledge, appearing in front of him one step ahead.
It wasn't that he didn't want to move forward, but he felt that if he moved any further, he would encounter danger.
Fatal danger.
"What in the hell... What kind of monster is this! He can actually sense my presence."
After all, he had elementalized his entire body and hidden within this boundless desert.
He was sand itself, fused with the desert. Forget ordinary people, even if Whitebeard came, he was confident that Whitebeard wouldn't be able to find him.
Otherwise, he would have died long ago when he challenged Whitebeard.
Crocodile, peering through the sand, glared at Kong Tai, who stood in the desert like a god, blocking his path. His face was as dark as the depths of hell.
He gritted his teeth, his blood-red pupils filled with ferocity.
"You won't let me leave, will you!"
A brutal aura emanated from his body.
"Then let me properly feel, feel, the terror of me, the God of the Desert!"
An extremely brutal aura surged out of the sand and shot towards the sky.
"Ooh!"
Kong Tai looked down at the sand ahead and to the left, a hint of interest appearing on his face.
Crocodile's aura was right below him. To him, that guy was a beacon in the dark. It would be foolish to expect him to escape.
"Interesting."