Two fists could hardly fend off four hands. Every member of the Roger Pirates was an elite, and they even had top-tier fighters like Rayleigh and Gaban among their ranks.
Yet the Flying Fleet's sheer numbers still left them struggling to cope. The situation grew increasingly dire, and the Roger Pirates could find themselves cornered at any moment.
Even though Rayleigh and the others could easily suppress their individual opponents, it did almost nothing to help the overall situation. The destruction of the Roger Pirates seemed imminent.
Even Roger, who had been focused on fighting Shiki overhead, could not help being affected. He had to divert some attention to his crew.
And in a battle between masters, even the slightest distraction could decide the outcome.
Although the butterfly effect caused by Lind had made Shiki far stronger than he had been in the original story, he was still a little weaker than Roger. Only the ferocity of his Two-Sword Style and the support of the Float-Float Fruit allowed him to fight Roger on equal footing.
But Roger's distraction gave Shiki, who already held the initiative, an opening. Oto and Kogarashi swung wildly as he unleashed a storm of attacks, completely suppressing Roger.
That left Roger without the slightest room to spare any attention for his crew.
"Jihahahaha! Roger, it looks like you're going to lose!"
"Why not reconsider becoming my vice-captain? Once I beat you and break through to Overlord, you won't get such generous terms if you surrender!"
Shiki's golden hair streamed wildly behind him. As he spoke, his presence continued to swell, and the strength of his Conqueror's Haki showed signs of surpassing even Roger's.
As Shiki's presence grew, Roger found it increasingly difficult to handle his attacks. This was the pirate world, after all-a world that favored