So that was it?
It worked?
Marco was a little bewildered too. He agreed just like that?
No, rather... things had progressed to that point so quickly?
"However, this place is too small. We can't properly cut loose here."
The fervent Fighting Spirit on Chen Ye's face did not diminish in the slightest upon hearing Rayleigh's words. Instead, he grinned, growing even more excited.
"If we make too much noise and draw those Marine dogs over here, that would be far too disappointing."
Rayleigh's appreciative smile deepened at those words.
This young man was certainly arrogant, but his mind was meticulous. He was not some brainless brute.
"Well said."
He rose to his feet. The moment his seemingly somewhat stooped body straightened, it exuded the aura of the Old Era at every moment.
"Come with me. I know a good place."
With that, Rayleigh pushed open the tavern doors and walked out first.
Chen Ye followed without hesitation.
"Hey! Chen Ye!"
Marco jolted back to his senses and hurried after him, his face filled with the terrified expression of, Are you trying to get yourself killed, kid?
After the three of them left, Shakky extinguished the cigarette in her hand, a playful curve appearing on her lips.
She picked up a coat and silently followed them out as well.
Sabaody Archipelago, a vast Yarukiman Mangrove Forest far from the towns.
There was scarcely any human presence here. Only enormous roots twisted together, blotting out the sky and sun.
Rayleigh stopped in a relatively spacious open space and turned around.
"This will do."
His voice was calm, yet the surrounding air already seemed to be stirring restlessly.
Chen Ye stood dozens of meters away from him, yet he could feel the oppressive atmosphere of an approaching storm. The blood in his body began to boil uncontrollably.
Marco swallowed nervously at the side, already prepared to transform into a Phoenix and save someone at any moment.
On the crown of a massive mangrove tree not far away, Shakky's figure silently appeared. She lit another cigarette and, like the perfect spectator, looked down at the stage below with great interest.
In the field.
Rayleigh slowly raised his right hand and gripped the hilt of the sword at his waist.
Clang!
A crisp metallic scrape rang out as he slowly drew the seemingly ordinary rapier.
The instant the longsword completely left its sheath!
Boom—!
An invisible yet seemingly tangible King's Disposition swept across the entire field with Rayleigh at its center!
Conqueror's Haki!
This Haki was no longer as sharp and aggressive as it had been in his youth. Instead, it was like a bottomless ocean—deep, vast, and carrying the absolute majesty to Reign Over the World!
The air froze, and the entire Mangrove Forest fell into dead silence!
Even Marco's expression instantly turned tense!
Was this... the true pressure of the former Pirate King Roger's First Mate?!
Yet Chen Ye, standing at the very center of that pressure, remained ramrod straight!
Facing the Conqueror's Haki crashing toward him like a tsunami, he did not yield an inch. The fervent Fighting Spirit on his face even transformed into hearty laughter!
"Hahahaha! This is more like it! This is the feeling I've been waiting for!"
Before his words had even faded, the ground beneath Chen Ye's feet suddenly shook!
Crack!
Spiderweb-like fissures instantly spread out from beneath him!
The battle was about to erupt!
"Here I come, kid!"
Rayleigh's voice still echoed where he had stood, but he had already vanished!
The next instant, a silver streak tore through the air with a piercing boom, appearing before Chen Ye in an instant!
Too fast!
So fast that the naked eye could not catch it at all!
In Marco's view, Rayleigh seemed to have teleported, slashing his sword straight at Chen Ye's neck!
The blade was coated in pitch-black Armament Haki. Wherever it passed, even space itself seemed to split with a faint crack!
Facing this lethal strike capable of cleaving through a mountain range, Chen Ye's body bent backward at an unimaginable angle, his entire upper body nearly parallel to the ground!
Ssh!
The fierce blade, carrying an edge capable of cutting through all things, narrowly swept past the tip of his nose!
Several strands of black hair were cut apart by the sword wind and slowly drifted down.
Though his first sword missed, Rayleigh's assault did not pause in the slightest.
With a twist of his wrist, the horizontal slash turned into a downward strike—lightning-fast, heavy, and powerful!
Yet Chen Ye seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. His feet suddenly exerted force, and his body slid several meters to the side like a ghost, evading the fatal sword once again!
Boom!
The blade struck empty air, but its terrifying sword energy carved a massive, bottomless trench into the ground!
"Oh?"
A hint of surprise flashed through Rayleigh's eyes.
This young man's evasions carried the flavor of foresight, as though he could see... the brief future!
This was no longer simple Observation Haki. It seemed this kid's Observation Haki had reached the level where he could briefly see the future!
But, kid!
"You can't beat me by just dodging!"
Rayleigh gave a light shout, and his swordsmanship changed again!
For a moment, the sky was filled with silver sword flashes, like a raging wind, like a torrential downpour, completely enveloping Chen Ye from every direction!
Every flash of sword light represented a potentially lethal slash!
Yet Chen Ye was like a Falling Leaf amid raging waves, twisting and shifting through the storm of blades. Each time, he evaded every attack by a hair's breadth, appearing completely at ease!
At the same time, the System Prompt Sound in his mind refreshed madly like a waterfall!
[Ding! Detected legendary swordsmanship "Pluton Slash"... Beginning analysis...] [Ding! Detected top-tier Armament Haki Infusion technique... Beginning analysis...] [Ding! Detected top-tier Conqueror's Haki... Beginning analysis...] [SSR Peak Rayleigh Dossier analysis progress rapidly increasing... 50%... 65%... 80%...]
This was it!
Chen Ye was ecstatic inside!
This was exactly what he wanted! To probe frantically at the edge of battle with a legendary figure, squeeze out every last bit of a legend's power, then make it his own!
"My turn, Mr. Rayleigh!"
With a furious roar!
After narrowly avoiding another slash, Chen Ye stopped dodging. He clenched his right fist, the muscles in his arm bulging as he ruthlessly threw a punch at the opening in Rayleigh's sword swing!
Buzz—!
A visible White Halo covered his fist. Under this power, fine cracks actually appeared in the air around it as though it were glass!
The power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit!
Rayleigh's eyes widened. From that White Halo, he sensed a terrifying power capable of overturning everything!
He had no time to change moves and could only push his Armament Haki to its limit, holding his sword horizontally before his chest to block!
"Break...!"
Chen Ye's fist did not strike the blade directly.
Instead, it abruptly stopped mere centimeters away from it!
The next moment, that condensed Vibration Power erupted with a thunderous blast!
Crack!
A crisp sound rang out!
The space before Rayleigh actually shattered like a mirror beneath that punch!
The terrifying Vibration Power surged through the cracks in space and slammed fiercely into Rayleigh's blade!
Clang—!
A deafening metallic crash echoed throughout the entire forest!
Rayleigh felt an irresistible force transmit through the blade, numbing the web between his thumb and forefinger. His entire body uncontrollably shot backward more than ten meters, his feet plowing two deep trenches through the ground before he stabilized himself!
He lowered his head and glanced at his beloved sword.
A nearly imperceptible... crack had appeared on its blade!
Rayleigh suddenly looked up. For the first time, genuine shock appeared in his eyes as he looked at Chen Ye!
There was no way he had sensed it wrong!
This kid...
Not only could he predict his attacks, he also possessed such bizarre and tyrannical destructive power!
Where had this Monster Newcomer come from?
Before you continue