The houses swept by the sandstorm bore cuts as if sliced by sharp blades.
The wooden sheds and stalls painstakingly set up by the town's residents were carried into the sky, wrapped in the fierce winds.
The entire town was destroyed by a single move from Crocodile.
With such power, the Logia type truly lived up to its name as the strongest, akin to natural disasters.
"Fuhuhuhu, in my sandstorm, even steel would be ground to dust, let alone a human body."
"Especially an enemy I've paid special attention to."
Crocodile elegantly took a puff of his cigar, declaring victory as the winner.
Gazing through the sand and dust at the bright full moon in the sky, Crocodile remarked with a poetic sense:
"Witnessed by the full moon, grinding the overconfident challenger into mincemeat."
"I never knew I had such artistic talent, hahahaha~"
Just as he was reveling in self-satisfaction, a derisive snort suddenly came from within the sandstorm.
"Tch, are you telling a joke?"
As he spoke, Bitz, completely unharmed, his clothes even protected by his Ki, walked out of the sandstorm.
He raised a fist to cover his mouth lightly and mocked the stunned Crocodile:
"Boring move. It just stirs up some dust, completely useless."
"You... What did you say, you damn brat!"
The famous quote from Raditz was exceptionally effective. The mocked Old Croc instantly became furious.
Bitz didn't give him a chance to retort and continued:
"I let you have two moves. Now it's my turn to attack, right?"
"Since you like the full moon so much, let me show you something new."
With that, Bitz looked up at the sky, his eyes gazing directly at the high-hanging full moon.
'What does this guy intend to do?!'
Bitz's mysterious actions left both Crocodile and Robin, watching from afar, completely puzzled.
But the next moment, Crocodile, facing him directly, widened his eyes in disbelief.
The moment his eyes saw the full moon, the Blutz waves emitted by the moon triggered a certain mechanism within Bitz's body through his tail as a medium.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Dull, powerful heartbeats, like drumbeats, sounded particularly eerie in the now quiet town where the sandstorm had ceased and houses had collapsed.
"Ha~ Ha~ Ha~" Bitz breathed heavily in excitement. "This feeling! Subarashi! Such marvelous power!"
Bitz's eyes had now turned blood red. He turned his head somewhat stiffly and gave a sinister smile at Crocodile's horrified expression.
Then, with a roar, his body began to swell, his bulging muscles easily tearing his clothes.
Thick black fur grew rapidly, soon covering his entire body.
His face, with a mouth full of sharp fangs protruding, completely transformed into that of a giant ape as his size continuously increased.
"ROAR!!!"
A loud roar echoed through the night sky. A terrifying wave of air spread from the transformed Bitz. The powerful airflow even affected Robin, who had taken shelter outside the town.
She had no choice but to cover her head and lie behind a dune for protection.
Crocodile, at the center of the battlefield, had it even worse. Even though he extended his left arm, using the golden hook to block the wind, and pushed with all his might to stand firm,
He still couldn't withstand the typhoon-like gale force. He, along with the damaged roof beneath his feet, was blown away.
"ROAR!!!"
The excited Bitz vented his joy extensively. In his Great Ape form, his mind was filled with destruction.
If it weren't for his Saiyan royal bloodline, he might have already lost his sanity and become a beast that only destroys everything.
When he gradually calmed down, the hurricane that had ravaged like a natural disaster finally stopped.
But by now, the already battered town had ceased to exist. The ground for several kilometers around had been scraped clean of a layer.
Hundreds of meters behind Bitz, countless fine sands gathered, reforming into Crocodile's figure.
He no longer looked as dashing as when they first met. His stylishly slicked-back hair was blown into a mess, and his imposing cloak was blown away to who knows where.
He was covered in dust from head to toe, looking utterly disheveled.
But Crocodile couldn't care less about that now.
Looking at the giant ape, over 20 meters tall, he viciously threw his cigar down and stomped it into the ground, roaring in his heart with shock:
'Where did this monster come from?!'
'A Mythical Zoan user? Possibly, but he specifically mentioned the moon just now, and the transformation started after he saw it.'
Crocodile forced himself to calm down, hiding in Bitz's blind spot to think of a countermeasure.
'This aura... just by feeling it, I'm already no match for him.'
'To survive... either gamble that he's a Devil Fruit user and escape by sea.'
'Or find his weakness and use it to defeat him.'
'Weakness... does this monster even have one?'
Crocodile examined the giant ape before him with a grave expression.
Suddenly, he saw the tail swaying left and right behind Bitz.
'That's right, the tail! He had a tail even in his human form, meaning he isn't truly human!'
'Maybe if I cut off his tail, he'll change back!'
It must be said that Crocodile's intelligence is quite outstanding among pirates.
He could actually remain calm even during his first encounter with a Great Ape and analyze the transformed ape's weakness.
But unfortunately, knowing is one thing; Bitz wouldn't foolishly let his tail be cut off.
Bitz, in his Great Ape form, lowered his head and looked around, as if he hadn't spotted Crocodile.
And as it happened, Crocodile believed he had found the opponent's blind spot. Seizing the opportunity, he launched an attack from Bitz's visual blind spot.
'Change back for me, you stinking monster! Desert la Spada!'
His left hand transformed into a sand blade. Without making a sound, he jumped up and swung, aiming to cut Bitz's tail.
Just as the attack was about to land, and he thought his sneak attack would succeed, Bitz's ferocious mouth curled up slightly.
With speed completely mismatched for his size, he quickly turned around, his giant hand swatting Crocodile away like a fly.
Crocodile, flying through the air, spat out a large mouthful of blood in disbelief.
Even though Bitz had tried his best to hold back, this slap still broke most of the bones in Crocodile's body and caused varying degrees of damage to his internal organs.
'Im... impossible... How... could he... hit me... when I can elementalize...'
Crocodile didn't sense any Armament Haki from the other party and was full of confusion about how Bitz had managed to hit him.