Chapter 51: Sneak Shot

Chapter 51: Chapter 51: Sneak Shot Chapter 51: Sneak Shot Before Reiner set sail, believing his physical condition should meet the standard, he had attempted to practice Shave, one of the Rokushiki techniques. Isn’t it just stepping on the ground dozens of times consecutively in an instant? With sufficient physical stats, even a noob should be able to do it. And then he failed... It felt pretty crappy. But then he had Luffy try it... Sure enough! He failed too... Recalling then that the Luffy from the beginning could only use it after activating Gear Second, Reiner shared his ideas about developing the ’Rubber Fruit’ with him. And as expected, Luffy actually mastered it! After successfully activating Gear Second, Luffy, relying on the immense boost to his physical functions, also managed to successfully use Shave. At the time, it was quite a blow to Reiner; the gap between a protagonist prodigy and a side character failure was truly that vast. Thump—! Thump—! Down on the battlefield, Luffy’s calves suddenly pulsed like springs, swelling out a circle then compressing upwards. After repeating this several times, his skin began to turn bright red, and white-hot steam started emanating from his body’s surface. "What is this?!" Witnessing this scene, everyone’s attention was drawn over. Nami and the others, hiding behind rocks, watched Luffy in amazement as white mist continuously billowed from his body, like a steam engine. Gear Second uses the body as a pump, pumping air to accelerate blood flow in exchange for a temporary, powerful boost to bodily functions. Ordinary humans cannot achieve this; even if they could, their blood vessels would inevitably burst, leading to death. Luffy, however, could utilize the properties of his rubber body to perform this technique. Consequently, the Chainsaw Devil summon could not use Gear Second or related martial arts. Pumping oneself up... does shouting ’Go for it!’ count? "Engage... Gear Second!!" Luffy stared fixedly at Sand Crocodile ahead. After shouting, he vanished with a whoosh, leaving only a patch of white mist where he stood. "So fast!" Crocodile instantly sensed danger. He had witnessed high-speed techniques like this before, but never this fast. Even tracking his opponent’s trajectory was extremely difficult. The next moment, Luffy’s figure appeared beside him. One hand clenched into a fist, the other palm open as if aiming. A loud roar startled Crocodile. "Gum-Gum Jet Pistol!" Faster even than his movement speed, a fist moving too quickly to be clearly seen instantly appeared before Crocodile’s face, smashing down hard, sinking deeply into flesh and skin. BANG! Caught completely off guard, Sand Crocodile was sent flying by the punch, his scalp scraping across the sandy ground as he flew backward, plowing a deep trench. "Gum-Gum Jet Stamp!" Before he could even get up, Luffy appeared on the opposite side, steam jetting from his body, raising his leg for a powerful axe kick that slammed down viciously. BOOM!! The kick landed squarely on the prone Crocodile’s abdomen, causing his body to arch up, feet kicking into the air. He wretchedly spat out a mouthful of blood, his pupils contracting slightly, showing the whites of his eyes. "Gum-Gum Jet Bazooka!" Just as Luffy’s heavy palms were about to smash down, Crocodile ruthlessly endured the pain, flipped over into a crouch, slammed one hand onto the ground, and manipulated the sand to raise a crescent-shaped sand blade. "Desert Cutlass!" Luffy was astonished by Sand Crocodile’s durability. The two attacks landed on him simultaneously. Crocodile was once again sent flying backward, crashing heavily against the Poneglyph stone tablet with a bang. Sliding down, he knelt on the ground, staring at Luffy in shock. Couldn’t turn into sand!? When his opponent first rushed him, he had subconsciously tried to avoid the blow by turning elemental, yet he was still hit! It’s water! How did they know? Feeling the slight dampness on his body, Crocodile glared fiercely at Nico Robin in the distance, an answer seemingly forming in his mind. Did this woman plan all of this today from the start? Being caught off guard for a moment doesn’t mean I’ll be defeated just like this. There was no time for further thought, because the Blue Ogre and Red Ogre, whose waists he had slashed earlier, had somehow already recovered from their injuries and were charging towards him. "Luffy, are you okay!?" Reiner rushed to Luffy’s side. At this moment, Luffy looked completely shriveled up. That Crescent Cutlass technique just now... it could actually absorb the moisture from an enemy’s body! Reiner unfastened the small water barrel at his waist, opened it, propped Luffy up, and poured the water fiercely into his mouth. "Gulp— Gulp—" In no time, Luffy inflated like a balloon being pumped with air, his shriveled body swelling back up. "Back to life! Thanks, Reiner!" Luffy performed a kip-up, leaped to his feet, wiped the corner of his mouth with his hand, and said gravely: "This guy is really tough. Couldn’t even take him down with Gear Second." Current Luffy didn’t know Haki. Even with the attack power boost from his rubber properties’ contraction, activating Gear Second only brought his individual combat power roughly level with the Blue and Red Ogres. Reiner estimated this was about equivalent to a relatively strong HQ Vice Admiral. Not a Garp-level Vice Admiral, of course. Clearly, Crocodile’s current performance slightly exceeded that level. And this was without Crocodile showing any signs of Haki himself. Still, Gear Second Luffy combined with the Blue and Red Ogres should be able to fight him. Having recovered, Luffy didn’t deactivate Gear Second. He took another small barrel of water and doused himself again. Then, with a whoosh!, he vanished on the spot, rejoining the battle. Reiner looked ahead. With the Blue and Red Ogres unleashing their full power, plus Luffy in his Gear Second state, the three were now able to completely suppress Crocodile. "Ground Death!" At this point, Sand Crocodile utilized his terrain advantage, continuously swinging his sand-transformed arms. Sand blades tore through the air towards the attacking trio, while several giant spiraling sand pythons constantly smashed down. However, Luffy relied on his speed advantage to dodge and weave, seizing every opportunity to land a heavy punch. Meanwhile, the Blue and Red Ogres utilized their formidable strength and application of two types of Haki, their explosive power pressing Crocodile relentlessly, leaving him unable to fight back effectively. Have to admit, Old Sand’s fruit development is quite decent, Reiner mused, observing the fight below. Red Ogre brought down a slash imbued with Armament Haki. Crocodile used all his strength, blocking with the golden hook on his left arm, then quickly unsheathed the outer casing of the hook – revealing a hidden danger within. From a dense cluster of holes, purple gas emerged – clearly a deadly poison! The hook thrust directly towards Red Ogre. However, contrary to Crocodile’s expectations, the opponent didn’t dodge or evade, allowing the poison needle to pierce its body. Nearby, the Blue Ogre suddenly charged forward, delivering a powerful shield bash that sent Crocodile reeling back, coughing up a mouthful of blood. "Gum-Gum Jet Whip!" Luffy pressed forward, his elongated leg steaming as it whipped out like a long lash, striking Sand Crocodile’s abdomen and sending him flying heavily backward, smashing through several massive stone pillars. "Cough cough cough!" Kneeling on the ground, Crocodile coughed up several more mouthfuls of blood. His slicked-back hair was now completely undone, leaving him looking utterly battered and disheveled. He looked up towards the three figures ahead. The Blue and Red Ogres held spears, gathering power, clearly about to throw them. Sand Crocodile’s expression was furious yet apprehensive. The Straw Hat kid is probably using some stamina-draining technique and won’t last much longer. But what the hell are those other two things? An endless supply of white bone spears? And earlier, they had deep gashes slashed across their waists, why did they miraculously heal in the blink of an eye when I wasn’t looking? They were completely unfazed by his scorpion poison needle! And even stranger... Crocodile shifted his gaze towards Reiner, hiding nearby. The ones fighting are those two tall ghostly things, so why can’t I sense any killing intent from them? Instead, all the killing intent is coming from that hiding golden-haired man?! In this world, Sand Crocodile definitely qualified as a high-intelligence character. A suspicion vaguely formed in his mind. Still have some stamina left... might as well verify it. Making up his mind, Crocodile struggled to his feet. Swoosh! Swoosh! Two sounds of objects cutting through the air echoed almost simultaneously as the spears seemed to pierce through space itself, creating vacuum trails. Crocodile turned elemental, creating openings in his sand body, preparing to evade the incoming spears. Just as his attention was fully focused on the threat before him... BANG—! A gunshot exploded! ♧♧♧ -> SUPPORT ME WITH POWER STONE -> FOR EVERY 200 PS = BOUNS Chapter ♧♧♧ -> 15 Advanced Chapters Now Available on Patreon!! -> https://www.patreon.com/c/Segais (Just remove the hyphen to access patreon normally) If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that’s help the story a lot Thank you