The Legend of a Pirate Who Could See Proficiency

Good grief. Rayleigh wanted to ask Newton what the hell was going on!

The next moment, Long River seemed to take offense at Rayleigh. It suddenly more than tripled its speed, leaving only the faint trace of a black line in the air.

Before Rayleigh could figure out what had happened, a burst of sword energy exploded right in front of his forehead.

The terrifying power unleashed by Erosion Cycle Sword Intent made Rayleigh stumble. Cold sweat instantly streamed down his forehead.

Rayleigh used Shave and reappeared in the distance, staring in horror at the black sword hurtling toward him.

Just now, he had sensed a deadly threat. What did that mean? If he took that strike head-on, he would be crippled even if he survived.

That kind of damage was absurd.

Rayleigh dodged another strike from Long River and watched the deep crater it had left in the glacier keep expanding, as though the ice were being corroded. His heart hammered faster and faster.

"What the hell is that Sword Intent? I absolutely can't let it hit me!"

But the flying sword's attacks followed a simple pattern. After several strikes, Rayleigh got a feel for it and began to fight back.

A layer of pitch-black Armament Haki coated the sword in his hand.

He swung hard at Long River, his strike heavy and fast as lightning.

Clang! Rayleigh's eyes nearly popped out of his head.

"Poneglyph material?!"

"..."

As he stood there stunned, another cold shout rang out.

"Sword Two: Thunderclap!"

Blue Sea Monkeys Eat Air

On Island 13 of the Sabaody Archipelago, Robin and Enel arrived first. Before them stood a beautiful woman who hardly looked much older than Robin.

Curious, Robin asked, "Excuse me, are you Shakky?"

Shakky narrowed her eyes at the two unfamiliar faces in her bar. She had only just finished reading their intelligence reports. The papers probably hadn't even finished burning yet!

She hadn't expected them to show up so soon.

"I'm Shakky! How about a glass of whiskey for each of you?"

Robin remembered what Dongze had told her and waved a hand.

"No, thanks. It's too expensive for us!"

Shakky paused. That was the first time anyone had said that in her bar.

There were two kinds of people who came here: those looking to buy information, and Rayleigh.

As for drinking? Sorry, nobody could really afford that. No one came here just for a drink, except perhaps newcomers fresh off the sea.

Shakky's lips curved as she looked at the two youngsters.

"Oh? You two aren't here to tease me, are you?"

"You come to my bar and won't drink? Then what are you here for?"

Robin smiled softly. "I never imagined you'd be Shakky! You're nothing like Mr. Rayleigh. His hair and beard are completely silver now, so I thought you'd be elderly too. I didn't expect you to be so young. You could be my older sister!"

On the way here, Robin had repeatedly warned Enel to speak as little as possible around Shakky. If anything needed saying, Robin would say it herself.

Enel gave Robin a headache. She was afraid he would open with "Blue Sea monkey." Shakky would throw them out before they could say another word!

Shakky stared at Robin for a moment, then giggled.

She was a woman, after all!

Who didn't like being told she looked young? Robin had also let slip that Rayleigh had sent them.

"Heh, I'm old! I'm nowhere near as young as you say. But you have such a sweet tongue. It's a pleasure to listen to you!"

"Mr. Rayleigh told us to come ahead. He'll be here with our boss soon!"

With that confirmation, Shakky poured them each a glass of whiskey and asked, "Where's that old devil run off to now?"

Robin and Enel had reached the bar and sat down on the stools in front of it.

At Shakky's question, Robin shrugged. "Sorry, I don't know where the two of them went! I do know what they went to do, though."

Shakky pushed the two glasses toward them, rested her cheek on one hand, and regarded Robin with interest.

"What a pretty little thing! No wonder you got onto his ship!"

Robin froze. Neither of them had introduced themselves. "You already know who we are?"

Shakky glanced at Enel without drawing attention to it. "Of course. Don't underestimate an information broker, young lady! Nine out of ten people who come here are looking to buy information."

"The man beside you must be Thunder God Enel, the top fighter under Dongze, the newly appointed Shichibukai! He has the Logia Rumble-Rumble Fruit and astonishing combat strength!"

"As for you, there isn't much information. All I got was a name: 'Xiao Yi.' Can you tell me who you really are?"

Robin was taken aback. Rayleigh had identified her at a glance earlier. If Shakky had investigated the three of them, shouldn't she have confirmed Robin's identity too?

Why did Shakky seem to have no idea who she was?

"You really don't know? Mr. Rayleigh knew who I was the moment we met. I thought you'd told him!"

A strange look flashed through Shakky's eyes. Rayleigh had identified her with a single glance?

As if something had occurred to her, Shakky was about to use Observation Haki.

A flash of lightning suddenly appeared before her. Enel held an electrified index finger three inches from Shakky's eyes.

"Sorry! Boss said her identity has to stay secret. We can't let an information broker like you find out!"

Shakky narrowed her eyes at the crackling finger. A flash of killing intent crossed her face. "Impressive Observation Haki! It seems I underestimated you, Rumble-Rumble Fruit user."

"Flattered. I'm simply carrying out the boss's orders."

"Then how did Rayleigh learn who this young lady was?"

Enel's mouth twitched. Thinking of Rayleigh's Observation Haki made his teeth ache. Their clash had lasted only an instant, but he had felt the gap between them. He had been stunned that his own Observation Haki, backed by the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, had lost to an old man's.

Then again, Rayleigh was the Pirate King's first mate. After roaming the Grand Line for so many days, Enel understood what those words meant.

"His Observation Haki is far beyond mine, even beyond the boss's. We couldn't have stopped him if we'd tried, so there was nothing we could do."

"Well, young lady, will you tell me? Even if this fellow can stop me, I can always ask my old man when he gets back!"

Seeing that Enel's Observation Haki surpassed hers, Shakky gave up on her earlier plan and turned to Robin instead.

She knew how to take a roundabout approach.

Enel glanced at Robin, returned to his seat, and picked up the drink Shakky had poured him. His job was to keep outsiders from sensing Robin's identity. If Robin chose to reveal it herself, that was outside his responsibility.

Robin's eyes shifted as an idea struck her. She leaned over to whisper in Shakky's ear.

Then she abruptly pulled back and told Enel, "Lightning boy, no eavesdropping. Turn off your Mantra!"

The sudden demand caught Enel off guard.

"Tch! Two female monkeys. As if I'm dying to hear your petty secrets!"

Robin's cheeks flushed at his words.

After all her precautions, he had ended up calling her a "Blue Sea monkey" anyway.

"Ah—"

"No dinner for you tonight!"

"Tch! I can eat air and enjoy every bite!"

"Pfft!"

Shakky couldn't help laughing. With someone like him aboard, their voyage would never be dull.

Robin threatened Enel once more. She knew he didn't listen to anyone but Dongze, whom he feared. If he caught wind of what she was planning, he would certainly run to Dongze with it. Then her chances of carrying it out would drop to nothing.

Dongze was far too sharp.

If Enel called him a Blue Sea monkey, he wouldn't be wrong.

Rayleigh, Have You Ever Heard of Standing in the Corner?

"Oh? What do you need that kind of drug for?"

Whatever Robin had said, it startled Shakky enough to make her voice rise.

Robin hurriedly put a finger to her lips, signaling Shakky to keep her voice down.

Luckily, she had sent Enel outside. If he had still been in the room, he would definitely have heard.

"Just get it ready for me! Then I'll tell you what you want to know!"

Looking at Robin's flushed face, Shakky teased her in a low voice. "What, he still hasn't touched you?"

Blushing, Robin answered, "He has!"

Remembering that night, Robin pressed her legs together.

Those hands really did seem to have some kind of magic...

"Only with his hands!"

Shakky coughed twice and gave the beauty before her an odd look.

"So he stopped there?"

In the Calm Belt, atop the enormous glacier, Rayleigh had only just recovered from the shock of seeing a sword made of Poneglyph material when Thunderclap came at him from behind, trailing electricity.

Perhaps boosted by Thunderclap Sword Intent, this sword was even faster than Long River. Its Sword Intent manifested amid roaring thunder and lightning that split the air. A column of light as thick as a barrel pierced the sky.

Rayleigh had no time to dodge properly. He threw himself down and rolled.

A dark hole appeared not far behind him. With Observation Haki active, Rayleigh could see its end. Damn it, the strike had blasted through nearly fifty kilometers of glacier.

That savage destructive power nearly broke Rayleigh's composure. How the hell was he supposed to fight this?

At that moment, the full might of Sword Intent was laid bare.

The glint concentrated at the sword's tip was like Death reaching out with a claw. Rayleigh looked at the charred mark on his cloak and instantly pushed his Observation Haki to its limit.

Long River and Thunderclap wheeled in midair, flashed once more, and vanished from sight.

Under Dongze's control, the two flying swords moved with uncanny agility, darting up and down, shifting left and right. Their erratic movements made their paths harder than ever to predict.

Caught between the two swords, Rayleigh was clearly struggling to keep up.

Long River was indestructible. Even a full-force blow infused with Armament Haki could only knock it away, not damage it.

A sword forged from Poneglyph material nearly made Rayleigh curse aloud. He wanted to ask, You're one hell of a genius, aren't you? How the hell did you pry off that material and turn it into a sword?

And Thunderclap? He didn't want to touch it. He had tested it twice. The sword's material was peculiar; once charged with electricity, it couldn't be cut through. Worse, contact with it let Thunderclap Sword Intent paralyze him for half a second. Half a second might be too short to do much normally, but the other flying sword needed less than that to run him through.

As for defending himself, even with Armament Haki at his level, Rayleigh didn't dare take an attack like this with his bare body.

He might be the Dark King, but he wasn't thickheaded. Those who used Iron Body of the Six Powers to block blades never came to a good end.

And the people who coated even their teeth in Armament Haki to test themselves against a Swordmaster's blade? Grass had long since grown high over their graves.

(Pica, for instance, was thickheaded enough to pit his Armament Haki against Moss Head's Three Thousand Worlds. One slash, and it was over.)

After all his years at sea, Rayleigh wasn't about to do anything that foolish. Which left him with a headache.

Still, he was Dark King Rayleigh. His mastery of Observation Haki had probably reached the pinnacle of this world, far surpassing Dongze's current level. He had no way to counterattack, but if he focused on dodging, Dongze would have a hard time catching him. Seeing this, Dongze lightly tapped the Sword Case again.

"Sword Three: Cold River!"

Blue light flashed inside the Sword Case as a lavish golden sword slowly slid from its slot.

The moment the flying sword left its sheath, it brought a boundless chill with it. A cold wind suddenly swept across the glacier, and Rayleigh's expression changed as he rushed toward Dongze.

"Another one—"