One piece : A Lotus

A strangely dressed man, resembling a ballet dancer clad in a magnificent ballet costume with peculiar feminine makeup, was actually male. His hairy legs were quite conspicuous, perhaps keeping him warm in winter, though, unfortunately for him, there's no winter in Alabasta.

"Your Majesty, his name is Bentham."

Bentham smiled broadly, baring his teeth, and extended his right hand to Cobra. Cobra had no choice but to grit his teeth and shake his hand.

Seeing them shake hands, Crocodile feigned a faint smile.

"Alright, I have something to attend to, so I'll be going."

Cobra remained very wary of Crocodile. However, in both direct and indirect conflicts, Crocodile had indeed contributed greatly to Alabasta. In fact, he also had the right to enter and exit the palace ever since he was awarded the National Hero medal last year.

As Cobra departed, Crocodile took a drag from his cigar and inhaled deeply.

At this moment, the door opened again, and Crocodile slowly turned his head to see a tall figure completely shrouded in a cloak, with one of the two Zoan Devil Fruit users in the country, Pell, standing beside him.

"Pell," Crocodile looked at Pell with interest, "are you interested in joining my ranks?"

Ezekiel noticed Crocodile before entering the palace, so he made a simple disguise, using the Freeze fruit to fully mimic Aokiji. His eyes glinted.

"Crocodile! Do you really think I don't know about your plot?! His Royal Highness has already uncovered everything about you!" Pell drew his sword without hesitation and stood before Crocodile.

Immediately, Mr. 1, standing next to Crocodile, transformed his hand into a blade to confront him.

Ezekiel looked at Crocodile, who was smiling silently.

It was the first time in his life that he'd encountered this hero and the first boss before the Grand Line. If it had been a few hours ago, he would still have been afraid of him, but not anymore. At this moment, he had no reason to acknowledge his superiority.

"That child..." Crocodile's eyes flashed. "Trash, just scum... he couldn't say anything to Cobra."

Crocodile wanted to verify if the prince, who seemed to know something, truly hadn't said anything to Cobra. Even without real evidence, this could cause him significant trouble as long as the Marines were around.

Suddenly, a sandstorm appeared.

But a gust of cold wind, silently spreading around Will, lifted his clothing. Crocodile's pupils narrowed, that sense of unwarranted risk always made him cautious. He didn't want to take any chances.

A terrifying icy cold emanated from Ezekiel. In an instant, the entire area of the vast palace turned to ice. People were frozen and became ice sculptures. Mr. 1 lost the ability to resist, his iron blades turning to ice.

Only now did Crocodile's perception of the cloaked man completely change.

"Crocodile, if you really think you can cause trouble in Alabasta with your abilities, let us be your opponents," Pell told him indifferently, while at the same time, he looked at him with blazing eyes. He vaguely knew that this was likely the ability of His Royal Highness's fruit... But it was clearly Admiral Aokiji's ability, whom they had just been observing!

But what he didn't know was that Ezekiel had not gained just one ability, but the entire power!

When Blackbeard inherited Whitebeard's fruit, he couldn't use it to its full potential like the old man, but if the fruit's ability was loaded with Ezekiel ability, then this power was at its full level.

Crocodile thought the person in front of him was Aokiji, and his scalp tingled slightly, feeling some stifling pressure. All his abilities were completely shattered by the icy cold and pressure!

"This guy, this guy who can freeze to death at will, is definitely Aokiji!"

Crocodile looked at Aokiji, not believing he would dare to kill him, and with a contemptuous expression, raised his hand with the golden hook. Faced with such a situation, he had no choice but to fight to prove his strength and regain it. But Ezekiel felt secure.

Terrifying dust exploded under the palace, breaking through the ice and forming a huge sand blade. Fortunately, the palace was enormous enough; otherwise, it wouldn't have sufficed for these two men.

Ezekiel stepped in front of Pell, and coldness quickly emanated from his body, as five cold streams condensed in his palm. With a wave of his hand forward, Ezekiel shot five icicles into the sandstorm, instantly freezing the massive dust.

Admiral-level devil fruit abilities are currently in no way comparable to Crocodile's abilities. Just like when Aokiji repelled Doflamingo, who wanted to kill Smoker, without even moving his hands.

Crocodile, in shock, looked at the frozen sand and felt the chill in his hands and feet.

"This is admiral-level power!" Thinking this, Crocodile lunged forward again, his golden hook fell off, revealing an inner hook full of poison, and he struck at Will's head.

The hook just broke through the hard ice covering Ezekiel and froze. And Ezekiel didn't have a drop of blood.

So far, the true face of the man in the cloak was not visible, although Crocodile needed no confirmation because there couldn't be a second Freezing Logia fruit!

In the next moment, Crocodile's body was frozen halfway by the cold, he stopped resisting, and his eyes became fierce and terrifying.

But Ezekiel , in the end, did not finish him off.

Even though he had Aokiji's fruit ability, it was still too weak in the eyes of other opponents he might encounter.