"No matter how strong your fists are, they're naturally inferior to blades!"
"No matter how hard you work, even with dragon scales this tough."
"Even with Armament Haki on top of that, they can never rival a real blade!"
Bogard's gaze was vicious as he held a finger upright and ran it along his sword.
His chilling sword aura seeped into the heart of everyone nearby.
Every top swordsman needed a heart that feared no death.
To reach that point and catch up with the great swordsmen of today, Roger and Golden Lion.
He had to possess that courage to face death without flinching.
Shane's strengths lay in his vitality and his dragon scales' defense!
Mythical Zoans all possessed the powerful recovery speed of Zoans, but what made the Azure Dragon Form special was its defense!
That was precisely how Kaido had gained an undying body on top of his immense Oni strength.
Over the decades, very few people had been able to leave permanent scars on his body.
It was all thanks to the power of the Azure Dragon Form Devil Fruit.
Shane was the same now, even without Devil Fruit Awakening and its endlessly renewing vitality.
He still possessed formidable defense!
To cut Shane down, Bogard would need strength comparable to Zoro on Onigashima!
That was an Emperor's second-in-command's level!
"What an arrogant little Zoan brat!"
Bogard coated his blade in Armament Haki.
The black sword appeared once again.
The cold gleam in his eyes instantly turned blood-red.
"You've really underestimated me, Apprentice Crew Member of the Rocks Pirates!"
"Stop spouting such arrogant nonsense. I'm a man who will bring justice to this world alongside Garp!"
"The day we return to the East Blue will be the day its skies are clear!"
Bogard's vow did indeed come true thirty-eight years later.
The East Blue became known as the Weakest Sea!
But right now, it was known as the sea of monsters!
Especially over the next twenty years.
As the homeland of Garp and Roger.
The East Blue was even known for a time as the strongest sea!
"Here it comes again."
Shane's entire body trembled, neither from fear nor excitement.
It was Armament Haki seeping out of every pore.
It finally gathered over his fists, coating them in a pitch-black layer.
But it had yet to solidify completely.
What made Armament Haki hardening special was this.
It could truly become visible and tangible!
Even when applied to a finger, it could shatter steel!
That was what made Armament Haki hardening so powerful.
Thus.
Even awakened Armament Haki required adaptation and training in its early stages.
Only after it reached a certain quantity could it be compressed to an extreme degree within a limited area.
Taking tangible form as pitch-black Armament Haki!
That was precisely how Armament Haki hardening worked!
Right now, Shane was merely continuing to stimulate and increase the Armament Haki flowing throughout his body.
Only by concentrating all of it on his fists had he achieved that tangible black coating.
But he was still a little way from making it fully solid.
Not far, though!
"All that grand talk about justice."
"Yet you turn a blind eye to the people slaughtered and exterminated by the Celestial Dragons."
"Every three years, the Celestial Dragons wipe out a kingdom that hasn't joined the Reverie."
"Have you saved enough people over those three years to make up for those millions of deaths?"
"Or do you actually see the people of those unaffiliated kingdoms as the Celestial Dragons' slaves?"
Beneath Shane's feet lay ruins, as well as mangled bodies.
All that talk of upholding justice and keeping the seas safe.
In the end, it ought to be narrowed down further and called justice beneath the Celestial Dragons and within the Reverie.
"Oh, right."
"I think there's another prerequisite."
"Even if it's a kingdom in the Reverie that pays the Heavenly Tribute."
"If it angers the Celestial Dragons, it'll still be destroyed, won't it?"
"Fleet Admiral of Marine Headquarters, embodiment of justice-what a joke."
"In the end, you're nothing but a pack of dogs kept by the Celestial Dragons!"
Shane understood now.
Those powerful fighters liked to shout when they spoke, not just to bolster themselves and build momentum.
More importantly, it drew out their will to fight.
Even their potential kept increasing along with it.
Human cries gave humans courage!
That was why so many people refused to let others raise their voices at them!
That courage would make those who bowed their heads unable to resist looking up.
Once they discovered.
That those above them were really nothing but trash hiding inside oxygen-filled glass bubbles.
Then the sun's radiance would shine in everyone's hearts.
And Nika's drums would set every heart beating.
"Shut up! Shut up!"
"You don't understand what we're doing at all."
"Even if we only uphold justice as far as our abilities allow."
"That's still better than you wantonly destroying this world's rules!"
Bogard felt that Shane's words were insidious.
He was a madman, just like Rocks.
With a few words, he could stir the seeds of madness in other people's hearts.
He absolutely could not waste any more words on Shane.
He needed to draw his blade and finish this quickly!
"One-Character Sword!"
Bogard flashed forward and slashed.
The blade's light became a black line.
Like an abyss in the brilliant sunlight.
It swept past three meters above the ground.
That was exactly Shane's height in Hybrid Form!
"Let a rambling piece of trash like you perish here in God Valley!"
"Die alongside Rocks, the embodiment of the evil will that destroys this world."
Bogard's sword pressed forward without hesitation.
He firmly believed that his justice was not wrong.
Those kingdoms only needed to work hard and join the Reverie to receive the Marines' protection.
Pirates wantonly destroyed the world's rules and murdered countless innocents.
Were they no longer evil beings?
There were only so many Celestial Dragons, after all, while pirates were endless.
As long as they killed every pirate, they could surely defend the world's justice!
Behind his sunglasses, Bogard kept telling himself.
He was absolutely the one in the right, absolutely!
"Fist-Cutting Sword!"
Shane did not argue; Bogard was deceiving himself.
Only the outcome mattered, with the facts laid bare before him.
God Valley was a tragedy, a game for the Celestial Dragons.
Even during the hunting game held once every three years, the Marines.
Could never kill as many pirates as the number of people the Celestial Dragons killed over these few days and nights.
Only rising in revolt, wiping out all the Celestial Dragons, and creating new rules offered a future.
On his fists, only his fingers and the backs of his hands were covered in pitch-black Armament Haki.
It was Armament Haki hardening!
Shane could only manage that much coverage!
But with Purple Lightning helping, it looked quite intimidating.
Fist against sword, strength against speed.
As the black light flashed past.
A little blood seeped from Shane's fists.
His fingers remained clenched in both fists, his body rising and falling with each breath.
Bogard had also taken a solid punch to the abdomen.
Holding his sword, he slowly turned around.
"You have nothing left to say, do you, Shane?"
Even after that clash.
Unease still lingered in Bogard's heart.
He wanted to win on ideals for once.
Based on his past experience.
Many pirates had their own way of seeing things.
No one could change their beliefs.
They could only be utterly defeated by force and imprisoned.
But Shane's words left Bogard unable to deceive his own heart.
He could not calm down!
"Your sword was a beat slower just now. Was it because of the facts in front of you? Or because of the bodies beneath your feet?"
Shane turned back with a grin.
White vapor kept rising from his towering body, bringing recovery-a manifestation of Life Return.
Armament Haki hardening!
This battle with Bogard had given Shane quite a lot.
"You're beyond reason!"
As Bogard spoke, blood still trickled uncontrollably from the corner of his mouth.
His sword had slowed, and there were innocent people's bodies beneath his feet, too.
Worst of all, these people had not been killed by pirates, but had died in the Celestial Dragons' game.
"Just keep working hard!"
"After all, no matter how many pirates you kill, or whether you kill any at all."
"The evil those pirates commit can't compare to the Celestial Dragons' carnival every three years."
"Instead of eliminating the greater evil, you close your ears and eyes and lie to yourselves about rooting out the lesser evil."
"You really are so righteous."
Shane sneered. Such hypocrisy!
Listening to Shane's words.
Bogard could no longer keep a firm grip on his sword, no matter how hard he tried.
He had wanted to call out to Shane.
But even as blood kept dripping from him, Shane continued toward the center of the battlefield.
The uncertainty had always been there.
Bogard had simply kept turning a deaf ear to it.
Garp refused promotion to Admiral, refusing to become a dog of the Celestial Dragons.
Even doing everything he could, he could only protect Foosha Village in one corner of the East Blue.
And so Bogard followed behind Garp, trying to find peace of mind himself beneath that great tree's shelter!
"Don't just stand there stunned. Careful, or your conviction might shatter."
Shane's words made Bogard close his eyes and take a deep breath.
As a master of swordsmanship in the Marines, he could advance no further.
A Swordsman had to cut through everything, but the sword of Marine justice could never cut through the evil of the Celestial Dragons.
That was why, decades later, he had not become a Swordsmanship Admiral.
"Stop right there!"
A young voice called out to stop Shane.
He held both hands like claws, his Haki as powerful as blades of wind!
A young Marine sergeant, a rising star.
Monkey D. Dragon!
Before you continue