Luo Chen Drags Rayleigh into the Fray

Luo Chen had helped the Straw Hat Pirates this time mainly because he wanted to see firsthand how events would unfold differently from the original story.

In the original story, Straw Hat Luffy had infiltrated Impel Down alone before charging into Marine Headquarters.

His crewmates, meanwhile, had been scattered across the world. Now that things were different, Luo Chen found it rather interesting.

Of course, it was not that Luo Chen actually wanted to help the Straw Hat Pirates. It was merely a bit of twisted amusement!!

Luo Chen also had his own objective: infiltrating Impel Down and recruiting some crew members there. A pirate crew could not be held up by just a few women!!

Meanwhile, Luo Chen returned to the Sabaody Archipelago once more.

At Rip-off Bar in Grove 13, Luo Chen pushed open the door and walked in.

Rayleigh looked at Luo Chen as he entered and said with a smile, "Golden Lion's Float-Float Fruit ability is really practical! It makes getting anywhere incredibly convenient."

"You flatter me, Mr. Rayleigh," Luo Chen replied with a smile.

At this moment, the Straw Hat Pirates all expressed their gratitude to Luo Chen. Honestly, by coming to help them, he had already done the Straw Hat Pirates an enormous favor.

Luo Chen said in front of everyone, "You want to rescue Fire Fist Ace, but it is not as simple as just deciding to rescue him!!"

"Unless something unexpected happens, Fire Fist Ace should currently be imprisoned in Impel Down. If you choose to invade Impel Down now, it will definitely draw reinforcements from Marine Headquarters. The odds of success are too low, so that option is out."

"Then what should we do?" Luffy asked anxiously.

Rayleigh and Shakky, however, listened to Luo Chen's analysis with great interest. For a young man to possess such analytical ability, he was clearly no ordinary person.

Luo Chen continued, "The best time to infiltrate Impel Down will be when the Marines have concentrated their forces at Marineford Square in preparation for the Whitebeard Pirates."

"If the timing is right, we might even be able to intercept the warship escorting Fire Fist Ace midway."

"That's amazing! How do you know so much, Luo Chen?" Usopp said in astonished admiration.

The Straw Hat Pirates were all deeply impressed by Luo Chen's analysis!!

Even Shakky and Rayleigh nodded approvingly in praise.

Robin smiled and said slyly, "I suspect the information you know goes far beyond just this, Luo Chen!!"

"Haha~~" Luo Chen laughed. "It is not good to go around guessing what others are thinking, Nico Robin!"

"Oh, right. Regarding Fire Fist Ace's background, Luffy should be the only one here who knows about it, right??"

"I think I heard Ace mention it before," Luffy said, not understanding why Luo Chen had brought up Ace's background at a time like this.

Luffy might not understand its meaning, but that did not mean the others failed to grasp the key point.

If Luo Chen had said that, then Fire Fist Ace's identity would also become a crucial factor.

Zoro took a sip of wine and said, "Luo Chen, stop keeping us in suspense. Who exactly is Luffy's brother, Fire Fist Ace?"

"I really cannot do anything with you impatient people!" Luo Chen replied with a smile, waving his hand.

Luo Chen glanced at Rayleigh and said, "The son of Roger, the captain of this old man Rayleigh, is Portgas D. Ace."

The moment Luo Chen said that, everyone lost their composure. Only Straw Hat Luffy remained relatively calm, because Ace had told him about it before.

An hour later, quite a lot had happened in the meantime...

Shakky asked, "Rayleigh, have you really made up your mind??"

"Yeah! It would be one thing if I did not know, but now that I do, if I stand by and do nothing, I would be letting Roger down too much." Rayleigh took off his glasses and wiped them as he answered.

Rayleigh then asked Luo Chen, "I am starting to suspect you did this on purpose, kid."

"First, you kidnapped Celestial Dragons. Now, you have dragged this old man into joining as well."

"It seems the Marines will have plenty of headaches dealing with an opponent like you in the future."

"That is true. Little Luo Chen, you have quite a few tricks up your sleeve," Shakky added as she smoked.

Chopper said happily, "With such a powerful expert as Uncle Rayleigh joining us, our chances of rescuing Luffy's brother will definitely increase by a lot!!"

"Yohoho!" Brook laughed. "In that case, there is hope for us after all."

Sanji said, "So, we still have to keep waiting for the next few days!"

"Looks like it," Franky replied.

Luo Chen poured himself a glass of wine and said, "I know you came to ask for my help because you want to use my Devil Fruit ability to infiltrate Impel Down or Marine Headquarters and create obstacles."

"But afterward, Straw Hat Luffy, you will owe me a favor."

"No problem." Straw Hat Luffy agreed without even thinking.

Nami, Robin, Zoro, Sanji, Usopp, Franky, Brook, and Chopper all knew that Luo Chen could not possibly help without conditions.

But compared to rescuing Luffy's brother, it was nothing. A favor could be big or small, depending on how it was viewed.

At that moment, Zoro took the initiative to stand up and walk over to Luo Chen.

The Straw Hat crew could more or less guess that Zoro had approached Luo Chen because of his swordsmanship.

They could think of no other reason, and there probably could not be anything else besides swordsmanship.

Zoro solemnly requested, "Luo Chen, please spar with me once. I want to see exactly how great the gap is between my swordsmanship and yours."

"Sure," Luo Chen replied with a smile.

Zoro had tremendous potential. In the future, he would even awaken Conqueror's Haki in Wano Country.

He would ultimately defeat King, the strongest of the Beasts Pirates' Three Calamities.

His strength was already extremely close to the level of an Emperor commander.

It could also be understood as having one foot stepped into that level.

"Thank you very much." Zoro bowed to Luo Chen.

Such a rare opportunity to fight a stronger swordsman was extremely important to Zoro.

At the same time, the entire world had already fallen into great panic.