Heaven Would Have Me Dead

Ryan and his group wandered through Rainbase's dazzling array of shops.

"Ryan, hurry up!" Lory urged, pulling Ryan by the hand. When she finished speaking, she even raised her eyebrows at Robin behind her.

The person behind them was Robin, who had joined the Ryan Pirates only a few days ago. Seeing Lory make that provocative gesture toward her, Robin simply returned her smile.

Beli, standing beside them, showed no emotional reaction at all, as if he had long since grown used to this.

The person having the hardest time was undoubtedly Ryan. Rainbase was very close to Alubarna, and it would take less than two hours to reach it from here. Since no news had come out yet, Ryan had simply stayed in Rainbase. After all, the environment here was much better than elsewhere.

Since Robin had just joined the pirates and was unfamiliar with everyone, Ryan had been taking the whole group sightseeing and shopping around Rainbase these past few days.

That was how this situation had come about. Ryan had no idea why Lory was so hostile toward Robin. Whenever Lory noticed Robin getting close to Ryan, she would immediately pull him to her side to assert her claim.

Fortunately, Robin did not take Lory's actions to heart. Otherwise, the Ryan Pirates would have fallen into internal conflict. Because Robin kept yielding, Lory also could not go too far.

In truth, Lory had her own reasons for acting this way. A woman's intuition told her that Robin had been observing Ryan's every move. She felt that Robin had an ulterior motive for approaching him.

There was another reason as well: Robin's appearance had given Lory a sense of crisis. Although they were both fifteen, Robin's figure and imposing presence were far beyond what Lory could compare with. These two points caused Lory to show hostility toward Robin without realizing it.

Lory's intuition was correct. Robin had indeed been observing Ryan's every move these past few days. Although she had agreed to join the Ryan Pirates, her seven years of fleeing had made her exceptionally cautious in everything she did.

Robin wanted to determine, through what she saw and experienced, whether Ryan was truly the person she had been waiting for.

Just as Lory was pestering Ryan to buy a dress, Ryan suddenly grabbed her, still chattering away, and quickly retreated.

With a bang, a huge crater appeared where the two of them had just been standing, and a burly man appeared before everyone.

"It's you!" Ryan and the others shouted.

"Bloody Swordsman Ryan, I've had such a hard time finding you!" Pofitas said as he looked at Ryan and the others, a trace of grievance in his voice.

"Looking for me? What for? As far as I remember, I haven't offended you," Ryan said as he looked at Pofitas.

"Didn't you kill their king?" Beli reminded him from the side.

"Oh, so that's what this is about. A man like that deserved to die long ago. It was a blessing that he died at my hands without suffering." Ryan muttered to himself.

"Enough nonsense. Pay with your life!" Pofitas charged straight at Ryan and the others.

Ryan drew his sword to block, and it collided with Pofitas's fist.

Boom! A shock wave sent the surrounding pedestrians flying. Some were seriously injured, while those closest to them died on the spot.

Ryan was not a saint, but seeing innocent pedestrians die because of him still left him feeling guilty.

So he said to Pofitas, "Let's fight somewhere else. There isn't enough space here." With that, he headed toward the place where he had fought Crocodile last time.

Because of the destructive power of Crocodile's Logia ability, that place had now become a wasteland of nothing but yellow sand. No one dared approach it, either. After all, quite a few innocent residents had permanently lost their lives there last time.

Pofitas followed without a word. His target was Ryan, and he did not care where they fought. That was the confidence he had in his own strength.

Beli and the others hurried after them as well.

At that moment, a middle-aged man in the crowd followed close behind. It was Issho Fujitora, whom Ryan and the others had encountered a few days ago.

When Ryan and Pofitas had exchanged blows, Fujitora had been gambling at a nearby casino. His powerful Observation Haki had immediately sensed the clash between strong fighters nearby. Only after drawing closer did he realize that it was Ryan.

Hearing Ryan say that they would move the battlefield away from the crowd, Fujitora smiled and said, "This young man seems to have quite a kind heart."

Ryan, who had already gone far away, did not know that his unintentional act had increased Fujitora's favorability toward him by one.

Ryan was already engaged with Pofitas, exchanging punches and sword strikes.

Ryan discovered that Pofitas was truly powerful, not much weaker than Gaban. With his superb martial arts and Armament Haki even stronger than Ryan's, Pofitas was extremely difficult to deal with.

The more they fought, the more shocked Ryan became. Anyone who casually appeared seemed to be this strong. Moreover, martial artists all shared one characteristic: their combat power became extraordinarily stimulating in battle.

Martial artists tended to possess powerful Armament Haki and physiques. Garp and Zephyr, whom Ryan knew, were both representative figures of martial arts. Garp in particular was absolutely a ceiling-level existence in the world of pirates.

Pofitas was just as shocked by Ryan. How old was this kid? How could he already possess such strength? Furthermore, Pofitas could not find a single opening in Ryan.

In his eyes, Ryan had no weaknesses. He was proficient in both Haki and martial arts, possessed a powerful physique, and wielded extraordinary swordsmanship. Pofitas was beaten until he could barely contain his complaints.

Pofitas also discovered that Ryan continued to improve as they fought. Although the change was not particularly obvious, Pofitas was certain that Ryan grew a little stronger each time.

How could Pofitas have known that Ryan's recent improvements had come too quickly, leaving him without complete control over his own power? With Pofitas as his opponent, Ryan was accelerating his familiarity with and mastery of his strength.

"You're truly strong. Among all the enemies I've fought, you rank second!" Pofitas said after throwing a punch.

Ryan knocked Pofitas's fist aside with his sword and asked curiously, "Who's first?"

"A red-haired man wearing a straw hat!"

Ryan: "...Shanks."

"You know him?" Pofitas asked. Then his speed increased by several degrees as he swept a kick toward Ryan's head.

If the kick landed, Ryan would die on the spot. Even Armament Haki would not save him.

"Damn it! Why are they all such sneaky bastards?"

Ryan cursed and dodged instead of taking the attack head-on.

"Yeah, he's the Pirate King..." Ryan said to Pofitas after he was safe.

"What? That man is the Pirate King? Isn't the Pirate King dead?"

While Pofitas was distracted, Ryan unleashed Kamusari, bringing it down directly toward Pofitas's head.

Clang!

Yellow sand immediately filled the air, making it impossible to see anyone's silhouette.

When the sand dispersed, the two figures emerged. Pofitas was raising both hands, covered in blood, to block Ryan's sword.

"You attacked me by surprise!" Pofitas roared furiously. He felt that, as an honest man, Ryan had tricked him.

"You attacked me first!" Ryan was furious as well. How dare Pofitas accuse him first after starting it himself?

Beli and the others, who were watching from the side, exchanged glances. Kid said, "That's exactly the captain's style."

"Ah la la. What a lively scene!"

Everyone turned toward the sudden voice and saw two men wearing Marine justice cloaks at the end of the street.

"Aokiji?"

"Garp!"

Ryan cried out in shock.

He had never expected these two men to appear here.

Seeing how shocked their captain was, Kid asked, "Who are those two?"

Robin looked at the approaching Aokiji with a trace of fear in her eyes and said in a trembling voice, "Vice Admiral Aokiji of Marine Headquarters, a man known as a monster."

Lory also explained to everyone, "The Marine hero Garp—the man who drove the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, into desperate situations several times!"

"Gasp..."

The entire scene instantly fell silent.

"Can you tell this old man what happened here?" At that moment, a middle-aged man with blind eyes stepped out from the side and asked.

"It's you!"

Beli and the others recognized Fujitora as well—the man who had beaten Crocodile so thoroughly.

Aokiji said to Ryan, "Bloody Swordsman Ryan, I've finally found you."

Ryan was already frozen in place. From Aokiji's tone, it clearly could not be anything good that he wanted with him. He then glanced at everyone present and began calculating.

Our side's combat power: "Ryan, Beli, ..."

The enemy's combat power: "Aokiji, Garp, and Pofitas, who's glaring at us from the side."

Uncertain factor: "Fujitora."

After comparing the strength of both sides, Ryan cried out inwardly, Heaven itself wants me dead!