"The Rocks Pirates are all villains who must be eliminated or imprisoned in Impel Down forever!"
Zephyr's cape whipped wildly.
He was in his prime then, Purple-Hair particularly distinctive.
His confidence and his body, free of asthma and the ravages of age.
Were nothing like his later desolation.
Even in his twilight years, he was a powerhouse who still had enough strength to face Admiral Kizaru after a fierce battle with Straw Hat Luffy.
In his prime, he had mastered the Six Powers and wielded Two-Color Haki with ease.
He was an Admiral-level powerhouse whose Rokushiki and physical condition were both at their peak.
"Kaido!"
"Zephyr!"
To be honest, Kaido was immensely strong.
He possessed extraordinary natural strength in particular, and had mastered Haki before eating a Devil Fruit.
His strength now already rivaled that of the later All-Stars!
Unfortunately, he faced the Admiral-level Zephyr, a Haki master who was among those least affected by the Dark-Dark Fruit's erosion!
"Do you know what's beneath Impel Down's fifth level?"
"There, you'll have a lifetime to repent for your sins!"
Zephyr tossed aside his gloves and stepped forward swiftly, throwing a punch.
Haki instantly coated both fists, and he rapidly vanished from Kaido's sight!
"Watch closely, Kaido. This is how you use Haki!"
Violet Light vanished in an instant!
Lightning erupted.
Zephyr, that rare Haki-specialist Admiral, met Kaido's fist with one punch and made him understand the gap in their strength.
Still, the formidable vitality and strength of a Zoan were enough to let him hold out longer!
"Looks like you can't keep up!"
Shane looked toward Kaido and spoke as though joking.
Already in a weakened state, Kaido flew into a rage at those words.
"Who are you saying can't keep up, Shane?"
Kaido glanced over.
Shane was even more outrageous.
He kept throwing punches.
He perfectly combined the Six Powers and the Mink Tribe's Electro in every move.
Then, using the properties of his Azure Dragon Form, he blended his strength and Electro into that weak Haki.
Though he was punching, it looked as though he were drawing a sword.
One sharp sword slash after another appeared!
He fought Bogard with just that much audacity!
What Kaido did not know was that Shane was currently under the influence of Stussy's Drug.
He had entered a state in which he frantically squeezed out his potential to unleash even stronger Haki and combat power.
The more he fought, the stronger his thirst for battle became!
"You lunatic! Keep attacking blindly and you'll get chopped to pieces!"
Even Kaido was at a loss.
How had a madman like Shane survived until today?
"I'm fine! Watch out for that Purple-Hair old guy's fists!"
Before Shane finished speaking, Bogard came at him with his sword drawn.
Until then, he had been attacking Shane from a distance with sword energy.
He had not expected Shane to combine Finger Pistol and Tempest Kick.
And unleash Haki attacks carrying Purple Lightning!
His fists were swords, his energy their edges!
"Have you ever heard the name Black Sword?"
Bogard slashed in an instant.
Armament Haki wrapped around his blade, turning it pitch-black!
The blade gave off a sharp aura that seemed capable of cutting through anything.
As though it would cleave the world itself in two.
In a long-range contest, Shane relied on his speed to dodge and attack with sword energy.
His opponent, however, unleashed powerful sword energy that could shatter the bones in his fists, striking terror into him.
This intimidation, unleashed through sheer sharpness of spirit without Conqueror's Haki.
Was not actually unique to Bogard.
Many powerful swordsmen grew particularly adept at cultivating their gaze as they trained.
Only by focusing on their blades and on battle could they take swordsmanship to its pinnacle!
Hawk-Eye could rob ordinary people of the courage to draw their blades with his eyes alone.
The sharp aura emanating from beneath Bogard's sunglasses.
Had been honed little by little from nothing through his years of following Garp.
"Kid, don't underestimate my swordsmanship!"
Though he had not forged a Black Blade.
He could completely coat his blade in Haki and fight with it as a Black Sword.
Even if it lasted only for a stretch of the battle, that already proved he had reached this level.
As long as he lived long enough, kept improving his swordsmanship, and continued refining his Haki.
One day, he could forge a true Black Blade.
"Black Sword Bogard?"
Hearing that name, Shane felt a sense of loss.
Even thirty-eight years later, Bogard had not forged a Black Blade of his own.
What exactly had happened over those decades?
What had left a Navy swordsman, on whom such high hopes had been placed in his youth, ultimately unable to forge his path of the sword?
What had taught Tsuru to remain silent, to act and then pause?
And what had made Garp refuse the rank of Admiral throughout his life, choosing to retreat behind the scenes?
Dragon had originally been a Marine too, and by his age, he was only a teenager now.
What had led him down a dead-end path?
Shane witnessed this era with his own eyes, when Zephyr, who would leave the Navy, was still full of spirit.
Bogard, known as Black Sword, had not yet had his path to greater swordsmanship cut off either.
Garp pressed forward fearlessly for the justice in his heart.
(PS: The latest manga chapters confirmed that Dragon was once a Marine, and he may very well have been acquainted with Akainu, Kizaru, and the others.)
"Bogard!"
"Will your sword keep cutting forever?"
"Will your Black Sword eventually become a Black Blade?"
"Have you ever thought you might doubt the justice in your heart, so much that you make no progress for decades?"
Bogard, who had fought alongside Garp in the battle of God Valley.
Had not refined himself further to become the strongest swordsman over the decades that followed.
Was it restraint, or decline?
Not everyone reached the summit, no matter how many powerhouses an era held.
There were winners, and there were losers.
Shane had always known that losers made up the vast majority on the sea!
They fell in defeat, becoming wrecked ships on the seabed.
Their dreams sank into the sea along with them.
Bogard!
Why had this master swordsman, once devoted to forging a Black Blade, stopped progressing?
"Do you know what you're saying?"
"I'm Black Sword Bogard!"
"The man determined to become the Navy's first Swordsmanship Admiral!"
Bogard unleashed sword energy from his pitch-black longsword.
In an instant, it carved a trench hundreds of meters long.
Shane crossed his arms in front of him.
Haki and Purple Lightning formed his strongest defense.
"Armament Iron Body!"
The dragon scales of his Hybrid Form covered his arms as well.
Shane stared at Bogard before him.
"A Swordsmanship Admiral?"
Judging by the future Shane had seen, the answer was an absolute no.
"Your will is too weak!"
"Bogard, I can't see that future you're talking about!"
"If this is all your sword amounts to, then my fists."
"Will have to reach a level that rivals your blade!"
The Haki released from the blade battered Shane.
His arms defended with all their strength.
He increased the density of his Haki as much as possible to forge a defensive layer.
"My sword is meant to cut through everything!"
Bogard's gaze showed beneath his sunglasses.
He had none of his later concealed depths or plain restraint.
Now, he showed his edge openly, his Haki imposing!
Shane faced a Bogard utterly different from the one he would become.
A Bogard who had not yet fallen completely silent, whose justice had not yet been trampled by those insurmountable gods behind justice!
"I'll make my fists rival a blade!"
Shane attacked with a blindingly fast Soru.
Invisible Haki covered his fists.
"Black Sword: One-Character Slash!"
Bogard vanished, becoming a glimmer of light taken to its utmost limit.
As the sword light exploded.
Shane threw dozens of punches as well.
The two collided at high speed, sending shock waves rippling outward.
Relying on the Drug's stimulating effects, Shane possessed a tireless will to fight.
Without advanced Armament Haki, there was no hope of breaking through Shane's current Dragon Scales defenses.
What Bogard faced was more like a humanoid monster with an enormously long health bar!
Boom!
After yet another clash between fist and sword.
Shane soared into the sky and transformed into a dragon, blasting Bogard with Bolo Breath.
On the ground.
Multiple battlefields had formed around Rocks.
At the edge of the harbor.
The young, seventeen-year-old Marine Dragon sent a pirate flying with a punch.
"Stay out of my way!"
Garp, who had just turned forty and was at his peak, paid no attention at all to his son's appearance.
"That guy's acting recklessly again!"
Dragon was known as a Supernova of the Marine New Generation.
Originally, before the battle of God Valley.
The Navy had already considered having Zephyr form a unit of specially trained Marine Sergeants.
At this point, there were still six years before Sakazuki would join the Navy.
Dragon was already serving the Navy because of Garp.
But not until today.
When he witnessed the tragedy of God Valley with his own eyes.
Did Dragon feel doubt deep within about the Navy's current justice.
When he officially stepped onto the battlefield.
What met his eyes was.
Shane, in dragon form, bombarded the earth with Bolo Breath and Purple Lightning.
"Dragon! Watch out!"
Bogard drew his blade and slashed at the dragon, warning Dragon, who was leading a large force of Marines onto the battlefield, to be careful.
"Cut that bastard down! He's absolutely infuriating!"
Dragon's first impression of Shane was quite poor.
"No problem!"
Bogard delivered a vertical slash.
The sword energy stretched nearly a hundred meters.
"I can't die!"
Shane shifted into his Hybrid Form in midair and struck back with a dragon claw wreathed in Purple Lightning.
"Who's that guy? A rookie from the Rocks Pirates?"
Dragon looked up at this rookie pirate he had never seen before. Judging by his face, he was even younger than Dragon!
The shock wave from the battle swept straight toward him.
Exhaling a mouthful of smoke, Dragon glanced at the arrogant Shane and continued toward the battlefield.
The God Valley Incident had entered a stage of uncontrollable madness.
The reporters who had followed the warships had originally planned to document it.
Instead, the Marines detained them on the spot.
Shane walked out of the rubble on the ground.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of what lay beyond the harbor.
Densely packed warships and pirate ships, their numbers constantly growing.
"Are my fists hard enough?"
A faint, pitch-black sheen covered his fist.
Shane's Armament Haki grew as he honed it in battle, its strength constantly transforming as well.
"You're still a long way off!"
Bogard's gaze was piercing as he stared at Shane, who was covered in blood yet still wore a broad smile.
He couldn't understand. Did everyone in the Rocks Pirates love smiling this much?
Before you continue