Rayleigh's death plunged the entire battlefield into silence once more. Everyone turned to look in this direction.
"Pluton... Rayleigh..."
Sengoku and Garp were both shocked, their expressions complicated. Though they stood in different camps and had once been enemies—especially Garp, who had chased the Roger Pirates led by Rayleigh all over the world—
they were all legendary figures of the older generation. They held a peculiar feeling toward Rayleigh, something between friendship and enmity.
Now, witnessing Rayleigh die before their very eyes, the feeling was impossible to put into words.
"Another one dead!"
Kizaru, on the other hand, did not feel much about Rayleigh's death. His only thought was that another expert of the same level had died, deepening his wariness of Oak and making his desire to flee even stronger. This battlefield was simply far too dangerous with Oak present.
With his skinny arms and legs, he really could not take a beating!
"Whew..."
Aokiji had been sent flying by Oak earlier and suffered some internal injuries. Fresh blood stained the corner of his mouth. He exhaled as he looked at Rayleigh's corpse, his breath freezing the surrounding air with a chill. His eyes were solemn. Oak was becoming an increasingly greater threat to all of them.
Shanks, meanwhile, simply could not accept Rayleigh's death.
"Mr. Rayleigh!"
He stared blankly at Rayleigh's body, cleaved in two, for a long while. First, most of his pirate crew had been wiped out. Aside from two or three companions, the rest had all perished at Oak's hands, leaving not even bones behind.
Then, Benn Beckman—his first mate, who had supported him like an older brother and watched him grow from weakness into what he was now—had been crushed to death by Oak right before his eyes.
And now Rayleigh, who had been