Let Me Enrich Your Golden Years
Indeed, Shakky is like a ghost that leaves no trace. Atlas had inquired with Sengoku about her, but the answer was that she was nowhere to be found. There was no bounty on Shakky in the Navy, which is something to ponder.
First of all, there is no doubt that Shakky was a Pirates in the past, and Pirates who was very familiar with Rayleigh. She is definitely not young, but the Navy does not have a wanted poster for Shakky.
Keep in mind that even if the rookie Roger Brook were reduced to a skeleton, the Navy could still identify him and find a wanted poster from decades ago. So why doesn't Shakky have any clues?
Therefore, there is only one possibility— the World Government erased her traces!
Hiss~
This is terrifying to think about!
Not far from Shakky's Rip-off Bar, they randomly found an open space, where Rayleigh and Atlas stood facing each other, creating a tense atmosphere.
"Young man, could we discuss this further...?"
"Is this all the right arm of the Pirate King has to offer?"
Atlas rudely interrupted Rayleigh's nonsense, his sharp eyes fixed on Rayleigh, whose expression was gradually becoming serious.
"Since that's the case..." Rayleigh's aura suddenly changed, his muscles tensed instantly, and a sharp, cold light flashed on the bridge of his nose, "Then I'll play with you!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the ground beneath Rayleigh's feet exploded with a deafening roar, and his body, parallel to the ground, hurtled rapidly towards Atlas!
"Wouldn't it have been better to do this earlier?"
Atlas chuckled and flicked his finger slightly, causing the once flat ground to suddenly churn.
Shattering, compressing, and solidifying happened almost in an instant. Dozens of earthen clones, identical to Atlas, suddenly appeared around Rayleigh, their heavy fists striking Rayleigh all at once!
Earth Release: Multiple Earth Clone Technique!
"Huh? What the heck is this?"
Rayleigh stared blankly at the dozens of earth clones throwing punches at him. Wasn't this guy's ability supposed to Explosion? How did he suddenly develop the ability to manipulate earth and rock?
Although he was very puzzled by Atlas's abilities, he did not slack off in the slightest. He spun around and the slippers that were tightly clamped were slammed into each of his clones!
Bang!
Bang!
Even a warm-up for Rayleigh couldn't achieve this, so Atlas had already anticipated the outcome, but his methods didn't stop there.
"Um?"
Rayleigh, who had just finished dealing with the constantly splitting earth clones, suddenly felt an abundance of moisture. He looked up abruptly and saw a Water Beast made entirely of seawater that had appeared in mid-air. It was enormous, with a tail shaped like a fan, and looked extremely ferocious!
Atlas's lips curled into a smile, and at the same time, a large amount of Explosive Flame erupted from his body, with a lifelike Flame Dragon circling around him.
"This ability... Golden Lion!?"
As Rayleigh watched these familiar maneuvers, a terrifying thought surfaced in his mind!
This guy got the power of the Golden Lion Float-Float Fruit!
Clang!
Without hesitation, Rayleigh swiftly drew his weapon from his waist, the icy touch of it filling his palm, and his nonchalant expression vanished.
He knew that this navy man was much more troublesome than the last one!
"Come on! I'll give you a sauna!!"
Atlas grinned maliciously, and the Water Beast hovering in the sky and the fiercely burning Flame Dragon rushed towards Rayleigh!
Seeing this, Rayleigh remained completely calm. The blade in his hand was covered in Armament Haki, and black and red Haki flowed slowly, emanating an astonishing destructive power!
Swish!
Unsurprisingly, the Water Beast and the Flame Dragon were smoothly sliced apart by Rayleigh's blade, flying backwards with undiminished momentum!
However, a sudden change occurred!
The attack, which was supposed to explode backward, suddenly reversed and charged towards Rayleigh with no less force than before!
Almost at the same moment, the ground beneath his feet churned, and two giant hands gripped Rayleigh's ankles tightly!
With Rayleigh's strength, he could easily break free from the restraints, but in a battle between strong individuals, a weakness often lies in a single moment!
Boom!!
The collision of water and fire, along with the powerful Explosion and high-temperature steam, instantly engulfed Rayleigh's figure!
The Chicken Talisman is activated by Psychokinesis. Theoretically, any living or non-living being within Atlas's Observation Haki range can be controlled by him.
To be honest, Atlas originally wanted to play around with the Heaven-Crushing Planet, like Issho did, pulling down meteorites from space, but unfortunately he found that he simply couldn't do that. His Observation Haki couldn't reach outer space at all. Issho must have benefited from the Press-Press Fruit to be able to have such a wide range of Observation Haki.
Sizzle!
A sharp shriek rang out from the billowing steam, and Rayleigh, with blond hair and a long sword in hand, charged out, his body scalded red by the boiling steam, like a boiled shrimp!
Almighty Push!
Atlas spread his hand, and the power of the Chicken Talisman acted on Rayleigh. Unlike Pain, it didn't repel him with a repulsive force, but instead forcibly used telekinesis to pull Rayleigh's charging body away!
Bang!
Rayleigh felt as if his body was being controlled by something. A sudden burst of force pulled him backward, and he was thrown backward from his forward momentum until he crashed into a tree behind him and came to a stop!
"Phew~ It's still a bit of a stretch..."
Seeing this, Atlas let out a long sigh of relief, cold sweat evaporating from his forehead and wisps of white smoke rising from it.
Controlling living and inanimate objects is on completely different levels, especially for someone as powerful as Rayleigh. This is because the essence of the Chicken Talisman is not direct control, but rather its effect on the controlled object itself. Inanimate objects do not resist, but the degree of resistance from living objects is positively correlated with strength.
Rayleigh from afar, was utterly shocked. "Didn't he just acquire Golden Lion's power? Even Golden Lion himself shouldn't be able to do something like this, right?"
Rayleigh and Golden Lion have crossed paths more than once. That guy's Devil Fruit Ability has long been Awakening, but Golden Lion use such a strange ability!
Is this guy... really using Devil Fruit ability?
Rayleigh was somewhat skeptical.
The Explosion nature of the flames and the levitation ability, even stronger than that of Golden Lion, made Rayleigh doubt his initial assumption that Atlas was Devil Fruit User.
Common sense in the world of Pirates: No one can eat two Devil Fruits. Although Rayleigh has seen Pirates who possess two abilities at the same time, they still need to develop those abilities!
Rayleigh had never seen anything as unreasonable as Atlas in his entire life!
Chapter 163 Helping You Enrich Your Retirement Life
"Looks like Rayleigh's going to have a tough time..."
Shakky, who was watching the show from a distance, shook her head. In this brief exchange, she had already seen that the young navy man in front of her was absolutely worthy of the description in the intelligence she had received yesterday.
Newly appointed Marine Headquarters Candidate Admiral, codename 'White Hou'!
Of course, Rayleigh, as the Pirate King's right-hand man, is no pushover either. The gap between world-class powerhouses like them isn't that big. If either of them is determined to escape, basically no one can stop them. Perhaps the two of them can decide a winner, but at least half of Sabaody will be gone by then.
Therefore, Shakky was not worried about Rayleigh's safety at all; otherwise, how could she, as his former lover, have stood by and watched the show?
On the field.
Rayleigh slowly rose, activating his Observation Haki to its maximum, constantly monitoring the surrounding environment, while his eyes warily watched Atlas.
This guy is even more troublesome than Shiki!
Although Rayleigh didn't know how Atlas had developed his abilities to this extent in such a short time, his intuition told him that the strength of the Navy before him was far greater than before!
Atlas grinned, a contemptuous smile spreading across his face, before vanishing from Rayleigh's sight in an instant.
Not good!
Rayleigh was startled. He moved with lightning speed, shifting his body slightly to the side while simultaneously tightening his grip on the blade.
Bang!
A massive fist grazed past Rayleigh's forehead, the powerful gust of air whipping his blond hair into a flutter, while a terrifying airburst rang in his ears.
Swish!
At the same time, Rayleigh's tightly gripped longsword was quickly covered in Armament Haki, and with a swing of his arm, he slashed diagonally upwards!
When!
The familiar clanging sound of metal striking metal rang out.
That old guy, he's got real strength...
Atlas casually glanced at the blade beneath his ribs, its black and red Haki surging, blocking the premeditated diagonal slash at the surface of his skin, preventing it from advancing an inch!
"Heh!" Atlas chuckled dismissively, took a deep breath, covered his fists in Armament Haki, and bulged his muscles. "Iron Body Fist - Explosion - Shatter!"
With a slight turn of his body, his suddenly swollen fists transformed into a barrage of fist shadows that covered Rayleigh.
Seeing this, Rayleigh slightly stepped back with his right leg, trying to create distance between them, while simultaneously raising his long, black sword to parry.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
The blade spun, impenetrable to water, blocking the incoming fists with perfect precision every second, yet Rayleigh's body couldn't stop sliding backward.
This guy...
During a brief lull in their fight, Rayleigh caught a glimpse of Atlas's cold face and couldn't help but feel a pang of admiration.
He had felt that Atlas's strength was extraordinary last time, but he did not expect that it would continue to grow at such a terrifying rate after several months. At his age, it was already very rare for his strength not to decline, so he found it very difficult to deal with Atlas's monstrous strength.
Seeing Rayleigh's tight defenses, Atlas had an idea. The earth beneath his feet surged, and a thick rock spike broke through the soil, piercing straight between Rayleigh's legs!
Thrust!
Rayleigh's gaze sharpened, his Observation Haki a frantic warning in his mind, and he instinctively shifted his weight.
However, the opening often appears in that instant, Atlas seized the opportunity, his fist slamming into Rayleigh's chest!
Bang!
Rayleigh was sent flying backwards as expected. Atlas seized the opportunity to press his advantage, leaping forward and flashing up, his legs covered in Armament Haki. He delivered a side kick that whistled through the air, aiming for Rayleigh's side!
Rayleigh ducked low, barely dodging Atlas's sweeping attack. At the same time, he slightly turned to the side, his free left hand bent, his hard elbow covered in Haki, and slammed into Atlas's abdomen.
Seeing that his attack had missed and facing Rayleigh's elbow strike, Atlas simply abandoned his defense and slashed downwards with his leg, which he hadn't yet retracted!
To relieve the siege of Wei by attacking Zhao!
Bang!
Reluctantly, Rayleigh could only withdraw his arm, placing it above his head in a cross shape with the back of the blade.
An immense force slammed into Rayleigh's body, forcing his legs to sink dozens of centimeters into the ground, sending debris flying and dust billowing up everywhere!
He pulled his legs back, retreated, and instantly transformed into the air. His already strong body suddenly expanded, forcefully rising to a height of five meters. His entire body was enveloped in Haki, and black and red Armament Haki slowly outlined patterns. His muscle lines were distinct, revealing a powerful and beautiful force.
Life Return - War God Body!
Atlas looked down at Rayleigh, his body suddenly spinning so fast that it even sparked flames in the air!
Rokushiki Ogi: Heavenly Dance Treasure Wheel!
A powerful force gathered in his fists, and he swooped down towards Rayleigh, who couldn't dodge in time!
Boom!
The ground shattered, and a huge crater instantly appeared on the already ravaged surface, with countless cracks spreading in all directions!
Rayleigh himself was Impact back like a collapsing mountain, crashing through countless trees in his path until...
"One more kick!"
Atlas appeared behind Rayleigh in the blink of an eye, as if teleporting, and with a slight lift of his right leg, he delivered a sweeping blow!
Bang!
Rayleigh, now like a punching bag, flew back the way he came.
Forcibly stopping his movements, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, the Armament Haki on his back slowly dissipating. Rayleigh gave a bitter smile, "Looks like I really am getting old..."
Although his aura was only slightly damaged, he felt a sense of being unable to withstand Atlas's rapid and relentless attacks.
This guy has grown so much compared to before, not just in terms of raw strength! His experience in fighting top-tier experts has also been steadily increasing!
"Hehe... then let me help you enrich your lonely old age!"
Atlas wouldn't let such a huge experience point slip away so easily. Rayleigh hadn't even used his Conqueror's Haki Infusion yet. As the Pirate King's right-hand man, he had more than just this one trick up his sleeve!