Roger was not yet forty, in the prime of his strength.
Faced with his invitation to spar, Dimon readily agreed.
"Let's go to the north side of the island. If we fight here, we'll wreck someone else's bar."
"Of course. I don't want Shakky yelling at me!"
Roger followed behind Dimon as the two left the bar one after the other, leaving the dozen or so members of the Roger Pirates staring at each other.
A fish-man wielding a trident scratched his head. "Is something wrong? Why does the captain want to fight that rookie from Rocks?"
Another man with a cigar in his mouth could not help laughing. "Fighting over a woman? Seriously, isn't that way too embarrassing?"
He had fought Rocks over a woman before, and now he was doing the same with a rookie. No one even knew what to say.
Gaban smiled. "That's not the only reason. That's a super rookie who got a 500 million Beli bounty on his first wanted poster. The captain's itching for a fight. Come on, let's go watch."
As the number three figure in the crew, everyone listened to him.
At once, the group headed out in grand fashion.
The pirates gathered outside the bar quickly got the news as well, and every one of them was shocked.
"Lord Dimon is going to fight Roger?"
"He can't win, can he? That's Roger! The man who stands on equal footing with Rocks!"
"Bullshit! Captain Rocks is obviously stronger! Every time Roger lands on this island, doesn't Captain Rocks chase him off?"
"Then why are they fighting? Fighting over Shakky?"
"Damn it, Miss Shakky is Hachinosu's treasure!"
Elsewhere.
Skull Grand Hotel.
Gloriosa lay on a soft armchair, flipping through the latest newspaper.
She reached for a pastry from the small table beside her, put it into her mouth, and chewed lightly.
Then, with a bang, Charlotte Linlin pushed the door open and entered.
"I've got good news for you, Gloriosa. The Roger Pirates are here again."
"Huh?" Gloriosa immediately put down the paper, her eyes lighting up. "Roger came too?"
"Yeah. It sounds like he's about to fight Dimon." Charlotte Linlin nodded. "I only just got the news too."
Everyone in the Rocks Pirates knew that Gloriosa was in love with Roger.
Unfortunately, Roger loved someone else.
After her brief burst of happiness, Gloriosa's expression gradually turned strange.
"What's wrong with you?" Charlotte Linlin said in surprise. "Whenever Roger came here before, you were always the first one running off excitedly to see him."
"Yeah, it is strange today..."
Gloriosa touched her chest. "My heartbeat is normal. It hasn't sped up at all. It's like... all of a sudden, I'm no longer interested in that man..."
Even she was a little confused.
She had clearly liked Roger very much before, yet this time, for some reason, hearing about him felt like hearing ordinary news. Her emotions barely stirred.
Other than that first instant.
Charlotte Linlin gave her a strange look and laughed without restraint. "What happened to that 'love' you were always talking about? Hahaha, it really is an unreliable thing!"
Gloriosa snapped, "I have nothing to say to a bitch like you! You pop out children like popcorn!"
"I like it that way. What's it to you?"
Charlotte Linlin put her hands on her hips, utterly unashamed. "Fine if you're not going. I'll go watch the fun myself."
With that, she turned and left.
"How strange..." Gloriosa touched her cheek. "Could my lovesickness have been cured?"
After thinking for a moment, she put down the newspaper and rose to follow her.
"Wait for me, Linlin! So why are they fighting? Could it be over me? I really am such a sinful woman~"
Hachinosu Island, northern shore.
There were few people here, making it suitable for battle.
Dimon stood by the shore, gazing at Roger in the distance with a smile. "Please."
Roger drew the sword at his waist, one of the twelve Supreme Grade Blades, named Ace.
"You're not using a weapon?"
"I don't know any swordsmanship."
"Is that so? Then here I come, rookie from Rocks!"
Roger charged at Dimon excitedly, with no intention of holding back.
There were quite a few spectators around, including the entire Roger Pirates.
Seeing Dimon intend to face their captain barehanded, they were all astonished.
"Could he be like Garp, someone who specializes in fists?"
The answer came quickly.
The moment Roger closed in, he swept his sword sideways.
"God's Wrath!"
The sword aura surged like a rainbow.
Facing that terrifying slash, Dimon clenched both fists and wrapped them in Armament Haki to block in front of himself. Yet Roger's blade cut through them as easily as tofu, instantly severing both of Dimon's hands.
Blood sprayed everywhere.
The sword aura from that strike even tore through Dimon's upper body.
"Huh?"
Roger froze for a moment. He could clearly sense that his opponent's Haki was ordinary, and Dimon had failed to block his slash.
"Hey, Roger!" Gaban shouted from afar. "What are you doing? He's a rookie from Rocks. If you kill him, we're in trouble now."
Roger turned around and said helplessly, "How was I supposed to know he was so fragile? If I'd known, then I..."
Before he could finish, he saw Gaban and the others' expressions change drastically.
"Captain, behind you!"
Someone shouted a warning.
Roger's eyes narrowed as his top-tier Observation Haki glimpsed the future several seconds ahead.
In the scene he foresaw, he was sent flying by a punch.
And the owner of that punch was none other than Dimon, who should have been dead!
"What?"
Roger spun around sharply and raised his blade to block.
In that instant, a fist turned pitch-black and slammed fiercely into his sword.
Caught off guard, Roger was driven back dozens of meters by the punch, his feet carving two long tracks through the sand.
He raised his head and stared at Dimon, his face filled with disbelief. "You're not dead... No, you're not hurt?"
"What could possibly be wrong with me? A mere mortal wound."
Dimon flexed his wrists and chuckled. "Your attack was too fast. I didn't even have time to feel pain."
Roger's expression turned serious. "A paramecia user?"
Not a Logia. His slash had been infused with Armament Haki, so even a Logia would have been cut down.
"But you reacted just now. Did you see the future?"
Roger grinned. "That's right. Looks like that 500 million bounty was justified. Now then, I'm going to get serious, Dimon!"
Dimon focused his mind and locked onto Roger with Observation Haki.
Yet in only an instant.
Roger crossed dozens of meters with explosive speed like teleportation. As he closed in on Dimon in a blink, Ace in his right hand swept out, wrapped in Conqueror's Haki.
A black-and-red crescent slash!
This time, Dimon was prepared. He pushed his Armament Haki to its limit and concentrated it all on the point of impact.
The next moment, Dimon was sent flying by the slash, shooting straight off the island.
The sea split apart from his high-speed retreat, massive waves rising on both sides.
"Faster again, and his attack power is terrifying too. This is just a King-level basic attack, isn't it..."
Dimon spat out a mouthful of blood, only for it to rapidly flow back into his body as he flew backward.
With his current strength, he simply could not trade blows with a King-level fighter. He would almost always be defeated instantly.
By the shore.
The members of the Roger Pirates could not help shaking their heads.
"As expected, he's no match for the captain."
"What stupid nonsense are you talking about? Of course he's no match for the captain."
"N-No, that's not right!"
Gaban frowned, his gaze fixed on Dimon as he flew away.
Then suddenly, boom!
A pitch-black power, like threads and wisps of silk, erupted. It was like black flames shooting into the sky above the distant sea.
"What is that?" Roger's expression turned stunned. Then his Observation Haki saw the future, and his face abruptly changed.
He jerked his head up toward the sky above him.
In an instant, a black shadow flashed. A figure stood in the air, a pair of black wings blotting out the sunlight and casting a shadow below.
Dimon's expression remained calm. "Can't be helped. I can't fight you at all in human form."
As soon as he spoke, a beam of black light descended from the sky.
Roger immediately raised his blade to block.
Boom!!!
A fist wrapped in demonic power slammed into Ace. In an instant, the sand beneath Roger's feet cracked, and the ground within a hundred meters collapsed into a massive crater.
"What is this? A Mythical Zoan!?" Roger blurted out in shock.
Before you continue