'That guy Bullet... it's over for him...'
Almost at the same moment Bullet lost his life force, Rayleigh and Gaban immediately sensed it.
"You're next," Vanessa's expression was ice-cold as she kept pulling the trigger. Armament Haki bullets swept toward Gaban like a barrage.
"Heh, maybe we're next, but your World Government, how long can you last? Sooner or later, you'll come to accompany us," Gaban's laughter carried a sense of freedom, his twin axes continuously hacking. The dense bullet barrage couldn't harm him in the slightest.
However, each strike from the two CP0 agents beside him caused Gaban to stumble slightly.
One-on-one, his strength was superior to any of the three, but surrounded, he didn't stand a chance.
Even so, he was still doing his best to move toward Rayleigh's direction, even if it meant taking a few more hits.
On the other side, Rayleigh was also moving in his direction while being attacked by Borsalino and Saint Sommers.
In reality, with the strength of Borsalino and the others, they couldn't take down Rayleigh or Gaban in a one-on-one.
But in a group assault, forget about stopping their movement, killing them was only a matter of time.
Still, at this point, since the two wanted to die together, they wouldn't refuse them that.
Once Rayleigh and Gaban met up, Rosse also arrived with Bullet's corpse in hand.
"Tsk, you Celestial Dragons are really strange," Rayleigh looked at Rosse casually tossing Bullet's corpse to CP0, a trace of sorrow in his eyes.
Perhaps his own fate in a moment would be about the same.
But since they were already dead, there was no point worrying about these things anymore.
"Why do you say that?", Rosse slowly walked to Rayleigh and Gaban, with the others surrounding them.
Golden Lion and the others had already retreated, even Dragon's presence had vanished, but none of that really mattered.
With this formation, it was never possible to keep everyone here.
Besides, Rosse never intended to keep them all from the start.
If all the pirates were captured, who would trouble the World Government in the future?
Only by letting this batch of pirates escape would the seas become livelier.
The SS-class Imu, he alone, for now, had no real way of dealing with her.
"Not as strong as I imagined, but also stronger than I imagined. Or rather, the ones left behind are pretty average. The real strong ones probably went to hunt down Whitebeard," Rayleigh laughed heartily, not caring at all about the darkened faces of Saint Sommers and the others.
'Hey hey, just because you can't beat me doesn't mean you have to say we are all average.'
If they were fighting normal big-name pirates, they could probably take one down in just a few minutes.
"There weren't any strong ones over there either. If the ones you brought here all had Roger or Whitebeard's strength, maybe we wouldn't be able to keep you," Rosse replied with a smile.
The implication being: you guys aren't strong either, just kind of weak.
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[Rayleigh]
[Overall Rating: S]
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[Gaban]
[Overall Rating: S]
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Both were S-class, one level above the S-minus group around Rosse, but under a group assault, both were in a pitiful state, and their injuries weren't light.
Even so, it didn't hide one fact.
The batch of strong fighters guarding the Holy Land weren't particularly strong.
Or rather, the strong ones trained by the World Government lacked the life-and-death ferocity that pirates, who fought daily, naturally possessed.
It wasn't hard to reach S-minus, and even S-class was possible, but there were almost no S-plus fighters.
Like the Five Elders and Saint Garling's S+ ratings, those were more about status bonuses. Their true strength probably didn't even reach half that rating.
"Hahaha, maybe so," Rayleigh laughed loudly, completely unfazed by Rosse's dismissal.
They truly weren't as strong as Roger and the others, nothing to be ashamed about when your skills are inferior.
If all three of them had Roger's strength, maybe they really could've escaped.
As long as they reached the edge of the Red Line and jumped down, they'd survive.
What a pity, they were still a kilometer from the Red Line's edge.
Rayleigh gazed into the direction of the sea, his eyes full of melancholy.
A pirate not dying at sea, but instead dying on the largest landmass, he felt an inexplicable sorrow.
Just like back then, Roger the Pirate King, who always talked about freedom, ended up dying on the execution platform of his hometown. It had to be said, this too was fate.
He didn't know what Roger was thinking at that time, but now he seemed to understand a little.
A pirate, as long as he walks the path he chose, no matter what happens, he is free.
"Saint Rosse, come, let me see what the future of the World Government looks like," Rayleigh laughed heartily, seemingly happier than he had been since Roger's death.
Their era was over.
But to be able to kill a Five Elder and then die, in this era of transition... In the end, his life was more brilliant than Roger's.
"Then let's try," Rosse saw the deathly resolve in Rayleigh's eyes, and couldn't help but show a trace of respect.
As long as a powerhouse of the sea didn't choose to survive by groveling at the end, he was always worthy of the highest respect.
"Hey, you two yapped so much, let me go first!", Gaban suddenly cut in from the side, his gaze locked straight on Rosse.
He'd been competing with Rayleigh for most of his life, and losing for most of it.
Both were Roger's right and left hands, but Rayleigh was the first mate.
Now that Roger was gone, he was the number two of the Roger Pirates.
Gaban ignored the helpless expression on Rayleigh's face, raised his twin axes, and charged.
"Old friend, this is our final battle, I'm not letting you go ahead," Rayleigh chuckled softly, raised his sword, and also charged.
This was the final moment.
Given their current conditions, they might not even be able to beat Rosse, let alone the strong ones still watching.
Since it was certain death, then die charging forward.
"Yo, how scary~", Borsalino raised his eyebrows and was about to move forward.
But Rosse gave a light laugh and signaled everyone not to move with a look.
Seeing Rosse's signal, the others lost any intention to interfere, simply watching silently as Rayleigh and Gaban teamed up and charged at Rosse.
Clang!!
A sharp, ear-piercing clash of metal exploded in the air like thunder.
Rosse's Sea God Trident, wrapped in terrifying Conqueror's Haki, smashed simultaneously into Rayleigh's blade, radiating a fierce sword aura, and Gaban's heavy and wild twin axes.
In that instant, the three were instantly locked in a deadly brawl, forming a raging vortex centered on Rosse.
There was no dodging or retreating, only the purest, most direct clash.
At this point, Rayleigh and Gaban were not in peak condition. Rosse didn't need to use any extra tricks.
Fighting to the end, that was the greatest respect to Roger's right and left hands.
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