Clones Attack, Kizaru Appears

"Pirates have attacked the Celestial Dragons!!"

"Hurry, the Marine Admiral is coming!"

At the human auction on Island Number One, all the 'upper-class' participants scattered like birds. Neither the Celestial Dragons nor the lawless pirates were people they could afford to offend...

Inside the auction hall, the battle was as follows:

One-sided!

Although the Celestial Dragons outnumbered and outmatched, they were ultimately just a group of bullying guards. While they possessed some skill, without truly formidable opponents, they couldn't stop the Straw Hat crew in their current state.

"Quickly rescue Keimi and get out of here!"

Although Luffy knocked down the Celestial Dragons with a single punch without hesitation, he still had some understanding of the strength of Marine Admiral. His helplessness against Aokiji was still fresh in his mind, therefore:

"Roman, look at the navy—"

"The navy has surrounded this place."

?!

"Don't panic, it's not Marine Admiral." Roman fiddled with the gun in his hand. Beside him was the last Celestial Dragons, a woman named Shalria, who was both anxious and angry. She was the daughter of the old Celestial Dragons Roman had disarmed, and the sister of the snotty-nosed man who had been beaten down by Luffy.

"You lowly creatures—"

Click,

Facing the dark muzzle of the gun, the woman who had been cursing instantly fell silent. After all, she knew the gun's power perfectly well; enough to kill those slave captains, it could kill her too. Anyone who dared to be defiant in this situation... wasn't her brain-dead brother...

"Sigh, why did things have to turn out like this when they could have been solved with money?"

Seeing Roman looking up and sighing, the Celestial Dragons father and daughter felt their blood pressure soar!

Shouldn't these lines be theirs?! How did someone else—

Thump!

An invisible wave swept across the entire auction hall. This aura was neither terrifyingly powerful nor menacingly murderous. Yet, it carried an unstoppable majesty, causing the 'experts' present to tense up and instinctively assume a fully defensive stance! Then:

Thump, thump, thump, thump~~

One by one, figures collapsed to the ground, including the two Celestial Dragons in front of Roman, all instantly wiped out by an invisible force. The auction, which had been raging just moments before, was now left with only the Straw Hat crew, and—

Several executives of the Kid Pirates and the Heart Pirates.

Conqueror's Haki!

"Haha, this is really lively."

The curtain at the back of the booth opened, and a giant stepped out, bending low. Of course, the aged yet hearty voice from before didn't come from this kind-faced giant. Instead, it was:

A long, curly-haired old man with a beard and silver hair and beard, wearing glasses and a vertical scar over his right eye, walked over to the fish tank where Keimi was imprisoned, drinking as he walked. He was wearing a coat, capri pants, and slippers.

"Oh dear, I really like young girls."

With a gentle wave of his hand, the upper half of the fish tank next to him disappeared!

Immediately afterwards, the old man dressed as a 'spirited young man' waved to Keimi in the fish tank, and when the mermaid swam over to him, he reached out and grabbed the collar around Keimi's neck.

"Let me help you remove the collar."

?!

"Wait a minute!"

"Forced destruction will result in an explosion—"

Boom!

Before the Straw Hat crew could finish speaking, a violent explosion rang out! To everyone's alarm, the mermaid girl Keimi was unharmed. The explosion had occurred on the other side of the display: the old man had broken the collar chains in a split second before anyone could even see it, casually tossing the items aside.

"How... how did they do that...?"

Is this the application of Advanced Armament Haki?

Roman looked very serious...

Can't read!

There's nothing we can do about it. Roman only knows one move right now: 'hardening'. Even 'entanglement' can only be used on his own creations. Forget about the more advanced 'external release' and 'internal destruction'.

"I found the key..."

Franky, who had just come out from backstage, looked at the silver-haired old man's amazing skill of 'unarmed lock picking' and had no choice but to toss the key to the other slaves behind him.

"Hey, you unlucky bastards, the buyer has run away, you'd better get out of here too."

!!

"Thank you... thank you!"

Who is that middle-aged man?

Sanji and Zoro felt no joy at the sight of the silver-haired old man who had casually saved Keimi. After all, even a glimpse of the old man's abilities had exerted an immense pressure on them, like the depths of the ocean!

"That straw Straw Hat,"

The silver-haired old man was already looking at Luffy.

"You two are a perfect match, Monkey D. Luffy."

?

"This is 'Pluton' Rayleigh,"

Seeing everyone's bewildered expressions, Roman had no choice but to step forward and explain.

"The right-hand man of the King of the Pirates, Roger's First Mate, a true legend."

Besides the Straw Hat crew, the Kid Pirates and Heart Pirates nearby also wore expressions of caution mixed with eagerness, clearly having already recognized each other. —It's a true miracle that a pirate crew like the Straw Hat crew, who tend to act recklessly when in doubt, has come this far.

"Haha, don't mention that name."

In response to Roman's words, the sprightly silver-haired old man simply laughed heartily.

"I retired from this business a long time ago. Now I'm just an old coating technician named Lao Lei. — If you have anything to say, leave first."

"Hmph, I'm going first."

Seeing that the excitement was over, Kid turned and walked away with an air of nonchalance.

"I'll do you a favor and 'clean' the outside."

?!

In an instant, Luffy and Law frowned.

Seeing Luffy and Law, clearly annoyed, chase after them, Roman rolled his eyes in exasperation. Poor Law, his aloof persona was gone forever; he was dragged down into a comedic state by Luffy and Kid...

"This young man,"

Carrying the injured Hachi on his back, Rayleigh walked familiarly to Roman's side.

"Why did you ever think of going to sea to become a pirate?"

"I didn't want to either,"

Roman shrugged, "I closed my eyes and opened them again, and then I found myself surrounded by pirates!"

Lying is pointless in front of a master like Rayleigh.

"I see,"

Seeing Rayleigh's 'I understand' expression, Roman barely suppressed the urge to complain.

I'm completely baffled myself, what do you know?!

Franky carried Keimi on his back—although Sanji strongly insisted on carrying her himself, seeing how weak she was, everyone refused his 'kind offer'. The group also began to quickly leave the auction house; after all, fighting Celestial Dragons, while exhilarating, had serious consequences!

"Tsk, this is really..."

"My eyes almost popped out of my head! — Even though I don't have any eyes."

When everyone ran out of the auction house, all that remained were ruins and wounded Marines scattered everywhere. Luffy, Kid, and Law were striking poses, leaving Roman speechless.

The Admiral is on his way, and you still dare to linger here?!

"Let's go, Luffy."

With a shout, the white paper on Roman's body surged out and transformed into a bus with more than a dozen legs. After the Straw Hat crew, Rayleigh carrying Hachi, as well as the mermaid Keimi and the Pappagu 'boarded', it immediately sped away with two rows of densely packed long legs.

"Stop that creation with that power!"

"Fire! Fire!"

Ping ping pong pong~~

Unfortunately, ordinary bullets were nothing more than a tickle to Roman's creation! Ignoring the navy's attack, the 'centipede car' sped away and quickly disappeared into the vast Yarukiman Mangrove forest.

"What a convenient ability..."

"Hmph, it's only good for running away!"

Although they said that, weren't the other two pirate crews who used their own two legs envious?

Whoosh—Boom!

A laser beam ripped through the sky and landed on the battlefield, startling the red-haired, spiky-haired Kid into a cold sweat. When he looked up at the attacker, the cold sweat turned into a waterfall of sweat.

Bartholomew Kuma!?

······

Hmm, thankfully Kid and Law were there to hold off that 'Pacifista,' otherwise the Straw Hat crew would have had a tough time defeating it without Rayleigh intervening. I wonder about the other Supernovas...

While driving, Roman kept his attention focused on the white doves scattered across the island. Besides the cautious Capone Bege and Jewelry Bonney, who was aware of the Admiral' strength and was already preparing to escape by boat, the other Supernovas were also:

"This bunch of good-for-nothings..."

Even the usually cheerful Urouge started cursing. He had just arrived at the entrance to the New World and encountered the world's top combat power. What was the difference between this and the great demon king descending from the sky right after he finished clearing the newbie village dungeon?

How do we fight it? By relying on plot armor to kill it off?

"It's dangerous, but their target is the Straw Hat Pirates, right?"

Scyllachus Apoo looked intrigued. "I'd like to see the Admiral's strength for myself..."

"Keep calm," Basil Hawkins shook his head, his face grim.

"This day next year will not be the anniversary of my death."

·····

A bunch of fearless bastards!

When Kizaru arrives, after giving him a thorough beating with every kick that says "How terrifying!", he'll know what it means to be outmatched and to be truly powerful!

As the veteran pilot Roman led the group on their "breakthrough," they arrived at Rayleigh's house for a short rest. While Luffy and Rayleigh were chatting happily about the "King of the Pirates," the white doves commanded by Roman spotted an approaching warship.

Plop plop~~

Fluttering their wings, white doves flew towards the warship. Roman needed to confirm who it was—though 'originally' it should have been the lazy Admiral Kizaru, but what if it was Akainu...?

Roman immediately led the Straw Hat crew to jump into the sea to avoid the storm!

Let me see—?

Sizzle!

In an instant, the dozen or so white doves that had approached the warship, along with the other paper constructs hiding in the buildings, forests, and even houses on Island 27, lost their 'link'! Roman's vision went completely black; the last thing all the reconnaissance constructs saw was:

Only dazzling light!