Arrival at Elbaf!

"Ah... sorry, sorry."

After the spar ended, Rayleigh apologized with an awkward laugh. He was covered in dust, and even his hair was slightly singed.

Mobius exhaled one last breath of fire before reluctantly deactivating his ability. With his arms crossed, he looked at Rayleigh.

"What was that just now?"

They had agreed to spar, yet Rayleigh had suddenly used Conqueror's Haki Coating. If Mobius had not been so tough, he might have dropped unconscious on the spot.

"How should I put this..." Rayleigh gave a wry smile and answered honestly. "Just now, I sensed a threat."

Rayleigh was already sixty-three this year. He was genuinely beginning to age, and his strength had started to decline. Coupled with the fact that he had not fought for many years, his condition had deteriorated considerably.

Compared to freaks of nature like Kaido and Big Mom, Rayleigh was only at the level of an ordinary person. Like Roger, his body could be pierced by blades when he was caught off guard.

When Mobius came near him, Rayleigh had instinctively become wary, and so...

After hearing the explanation, Mobius was still a little displeased, but he felt much better.

Rayleigh had proven something: with the current stacking of his Devil Fruit abilities, Mobius now had the potential to kill a powerhouse like Rayleigh.

The odds might not have been high, but if the two of them fought to the death now, Rayleigh would not necessarily have a one-hundred-percent chance of winning.

"Got it." Mobius nodded, then let out a sigh.

"The Dark King of old has grown old too..."

Oda was undoubtedly a manga artist who loved creating legendary old men. The powerful veterans under his pen appeared one after another, yet he still followed one established rule.

That was, old people would definitely grow weaker.

There was a classic rumor among One Piece fans that Garp would not weaken as he aged, but the original line in the SBS was, "I hope these legendary old men won't grow weaker."

It was merely a hope. On the contrary, Garp had stated more than once in the manga that he was growing weaker. He said once in Water 7 that his strength had diminished, and not long after landing on Hachinosu, he again said that his power had weakened.

Whitebeard was the same. When he was young, Golden Lion's bombs could not harm him at all. When he clashed blades with Rocks, they destroyed a mountain peak on one side of God Valley, and when he reappeared, he was still completely unharmed. Yet in that same battle, by the time Roger and Garp joined forces and sent Rocks crashing into a mountain on the other side, Whitebeard was already covered in blood.

But during the Summit War, Whitebeard was actually wounded by ordinary soldiers' blades, swords, and rocket launchers.

Rayleigh was the same. When he first appeared, he had only fought Kizaru for a few exchanges before he was already panting heavily.

The strong men of the old era could not remain at their peak in the new era.

Mobius said he understood, and Rayleigh nodded knowingly.

Then Mobius stepped forward and smiled. "In that case, if you don't want your skills to weaken with age too, how about teaching me?"

Rayleigh froze for a moment, then smiled as well.

"But you aren't very suited to learning swordsmanship."

"Huh? What does that have to do with weapons?"

When you taught Luffy, wasn't he just as good with his fists as Mobius was?

"Wait until we reach the Giant Kingdom. My old friend is better suited than I am to teaching you."

Rayleigh knew it well. He preferred and was better at teaching foundational groundwork. As for more advanced abilities, those had to be honed on the battlefield.

"That Mountain Eater?"

"Yes."

Mobius scratched his head and stopped dwelling on it. The saying that Rayleigh was a mediocre teacher was only a joke, after all. Rayleigh's teaching ability should not have been bad; it was just funny to phrase the comparison that way.

"By the way, what is your Devil Fruit ability? How can you run so fast and breathe smoke and fire?"

"You guess~"

Mobius smiled and brushed off the question.

Rayleigh shrugged and did not pursue it further.

"Hahaha, the fight is over, so let's continue eating!"

The giants burst into laughter, then returned to the table, raising their cups and food.

Laughter and cheerful chatter rose again. Beside the droplets of water soaring layer by layer over the sea, the warship slowly sailed toward Elbaf.

Day after day passed, and sailing the sea was boring most of the time.

With nothing better to do, Mobius had grown familiar with the giants aboard the ship. Every now and then, he would spar with Rayleigh as well.

That old man Rayleigh kept his mouth tighter than a safe. Whenever Mobius asked about using advanced Haki, he played dumb and told him to figure it out himself.

Fortunately, Rayleigh did genuinely feed him moves. After all these days, Mobius had found a few tricks of his own.

Shyarly was also very well-behaved. Her nearly repetitive daily work in the past had long tempered her.

She was already happy simply being able to travel alongside Mobius.

Mobius would occasionally tell Shyarly fairy tales and legends, all kinds of princess stories, as well as Journey to the West.

As a result, Shyarly really liked the monkey's story, drawing Rayleigh and the giants over to listen in as well.

Mobius had no choice, but he dragged Rayleigh into telling stories too.

Rayleigh took to it surprisingly well. He was old and had seen much of the world, and he truly had a knack for storytelling.

Time passed neither quickly nor slowly, until one day, cheers erupted from the giants.

Mobius walked onto the deck, then leapt onto the railing and looked toward the distant horizon. Before his eyes stood an enormous ancient tree that seemed to reach all the way to the heavens.

The clouds were mere ornaments amid its branches and leaves. Flowing currents of air rolled down from it, and with his sharp eyes, Mobius even spotted a greatsword embedded in the trunk.

It was nearly as tall as the tree itself, only slightly shorter than its crown. Mobius was very curious what kind of person could wield such a gigantic sword.

"I really miss it... Elbaf."

Rayleigh emerged as well. Looking at the scene before him, he could not help sighing.

"Hm? You've been here before?"

Mobius asked.

"Of course. Something interesting happened here too~"

Remembering that fool who called himself a "missionary of love," Rayleigh could not help smiling.

He had supposedly wanted to marry a giant. Rayleigh wondered whether he had succeeded.

At the same time, somewhere in the Giant Kingdom, a blond man wearing small round sunglasses abruptly raised his head, revealing a chilling smile.

"So you came after all, you bastard!"

Crack...

The warship docked and lowered its gangplank. The giants happily headed home, not forgetting to invite Mobius and the others.

"Come on, Mobius! Let's go to the tavern. That's where they receive visiting guests!"

The group nodded and was about to follow the giants to the tavern.

But suddenly, an overbearing and powerful presence erupted.

Mobius sharply turned his head. A thick plume of smoke appeared, accompanied by powerful Haki.

The man was nowhere to be seen, but his voice arrived first. Yet beneath that voice lurked a faint note of resentment.

"Rayleigh, you bastard! You're always on the Sabaody Archipelago, telling everyone you're the second-in-command, right?!"

"Obviously I'm the second-in-command!"

Scopper Gaban roared like an enraged bear. The two great axes in his hands were already coated in deep crimson Haki.

"Ah, Mountain Eater?"

The giants were dumbfounded. When had they ever seen Scopper Gaban like this?

"Hahaha, I told you I was right! Gaban, I'm the second-in-command!"

Rayleigh burst out laughing as well. With a longsword in hand, he flashed forward in a single step. Deep crimson Haki emerged, its lightning-like trails spreading like a spiderweb.

Conqueror's Haki Coating!

Boom!

Sword and axe collided. Though the weapons themselves did not make direct contact, two powerful shockwaves had already spread outward in every direction from between them.

Snow flew everywhere, and Elbaf's giant tree seemed to tremble slightly.

Mobius watched from the side without expression.

What a standard welcome gift~