One Piece: Transmigrated as Crocodile

"It's shattered, really shattered, and the glow has disappeared?!" Alice exclaimed incredulously, looking at the sky and then at Rosen, feeling the urge to cuddle him affectionately. 

Perhaps Rosen did not yet realize what this meant, but Alice understood all too well that if the glow became manageable, then the Demon Land could transform into a rich and relatively safe place. They wouldn't have to rely on external food supplies; by guarding their territory, they could achieve self-sufficiency. The condition was that this place remained intact, and as long as they did not inform others, the undead monsters wouldn't come here due to their habits.

"Why are you still dawdling? Attack the ground freely; this thing is struggling quite hard," Rosen reminded Alice, noticing her ecstatic yet dazed expression.

"Okay," Alice replied, no longer wasting words, as she unleashed her full power on the ground. 

Rosen could feel the resistance of that peculiar life form lessening; it seemed unable to escape, as sitting idle was not its style. 

"My attacks don't seem to inflict much damage on the ground," Alice noted, as she observed blood flowing from the cut surface only for it to soon return to its original state. This was also anticipated. 

"That's alright, continue..." Could it be that his ability to erode had precisely counteracted this strange entity? If it were sand, soil, or moisture that could be absorbed, perhaps that was indeed the case. 

Rosen had not expected that while merely probing underground, he would discover such a unique and large life form on the verge of being killed by his own efforts. Yet he did not hesitate; first, this creature used the plants and animals of the Demon land as bait, causing the attracted beings to be turned to dust for nourishment, indicating that it was definitely not benevolent, and the glow that had descended had nearly killed them all. 

As for why it only slaughtered those from the outside world, predominantly humans or those akin to humans—this suggested that debris from human bodies was very fertile for it, explaining how it could grow to a size comparable to that of the entire Demon land. 

"Leave or perish." Rosen decided to act despite the strange twist of fate that led him to find its weakness; giving up would invite disaster once it regained its position and treated him as an enemy, for it would then unleash a storm of the same destructive speed as before. Mercy towards foes is cruelty towards oneself, even towards those enemies with whom one had never formally met. 

Hence, the ground began to turn to sand, the affected area growing wider. The strength of adhesion and struggles of the underground life form decreased, ultimately ceasing all movement as the surface turned calm. 

However, Rosen remained cautious and continued the process of sanding the surface until the entire area within a ten-thousand-meter radius became desert-like, unearthing remnants of desiccated animal corpses before he relaxed. Although the area transformed into sand hadn't impacted the whole Demon land, this mass was enormous, and locating a point to overcome it proved sufficient. 

"This is the life form beneath the Demon land?!" Alice exclaimed, kicking away a thick layer of sand to find a mere segment of soft bone wrapped in withered red skin among peculiar sand-like corpses. 

This was the entity capable of manipulating the glowing flashes that brewed colorful clouds from afar. Although Alice didn't know how it achieved that, it truly had been able to intervene, perceivably a remarkable life form. 

Such a pity there was no opportunity to study it. 

"How exactly did you manage that?!" Alice looked at Rosen with wide eyes, pondering the same mystery that had never been solved even by her esteemed queen, allowing the Demon land to become a relatively safe environment—she had never considered it possible. 

"Just a stroke of luck," responded Rosen as he maneuvered the sands away to side and spotted the life form's corpse. Its essence was not primarily sand, but also overwhelmingly moisture; this was indeed a nightmare for a ruler of sand. 

"We need to investigate whether the glow, if it reemerges, will affect the flowers and animals. If its impact is minimal, Lantis will step into an entirely new dawn. Thank you, thank you," Alice expressed with unprecedented enthusiasm, taking Rosen's hand, contrasting the previous coldness, her happiness reminiscent of a child. 

The constant sacrifices of comrades were not without impact. The reason she rarely displayed it was that, as the strongest in Ming City, certain emotions and sentiments could be shown by others but were heavy for her to bear. She was a pillar; were she to evoke sadness, the entirety of Ming City would have its spirit crushed, inching them all closer to despair.

"Don't celebrate too soon; this might not necessarily be a good omen, and those sudden storms still exist—they haven't disappeared," warned Rosen, surprisingly less optimistic than Alice. 

"Sand, dust, glow… what is the connection?" Butchering this corpse led to sights of minuscule, crystal-like dust—most likely a minute fraction absorbed by the Demon land creatures. 

Is there any difference when the physiques—impacted by the glowing flash—turn into dust? Rosen grasped a handful of crystalline sandy dust, examining it but found nothing particularly noteworthy. For now, he pocketed a bit to study later. 

"No, this is a good sign! Even if it still exists, as long as it's at that speed, to stabilize the food supply, I can take a team here. When the glow returns, we'll destroy it. Besides, since the mutated flowers and animals survived the initial glow, it indicates that it is unlikely they'd have resulted in widespread annihilation," Alice disputed Rosen's prognosis. 

Rosen took a moment to think it over and realized he had underestimated the Lantis people's hunger for food. Like Alice said, if a structure could be secured at that rate. Once colorful clouds gathered and the storm began, with Alice's strength, most of the glow could still be countered and obliterated. 

"Alright, let's loosen our grips and gather more food promptly," Rosen said with little further discussion; after all, he wasn't from Lantis, and it was impractical to constantly view things from their perspective—but overall it didn't seem bad.

"How does the glow instantaneously reduce human bodies to dust? What is the principle here?"… Rosen's inquiry about departing the site was unconsidered. He contended to seek realistic opportunities aligning him closely with the glowing flash. Although it still seemed perilous, the intense risks lessened since previous times; one could simply evade such declension speed.

Accompanying Alice, Rosen headed back outside the Demon land, where Lisa and others congregated. After waiting a long while for Alice and Rosen to emerge without seeing any Trace—it raised heads if there had been an issue; it was only upon seeing their forms that relief crossed faces. 

Alice eagerly shared what had transpired, simultaneously dispatching news to the Ninth Garden. Meanwhile, Rosen stood by, rubbing the crystalline grains thoughtfully, pulverizing them until he just retrieved shimmer longer minute crystalline dust. Control seemed possible—but effective application remained an open query. How had the life forms succeeded in this fusion? Devoured? That could possess worth after all.

(End of chapter)

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