Boom!
Rayleigh's body hit the ground like a cannonball, sliding dozens of meters and carving a deep trench in the ground.
In the heavy rain.
He struggled for a long time, but still couldn't get up.
He could only support himself with his elbows, half-kneeling. His whole body was extremely weak, and his breathing was like a bellows.
Shano landed gracefully beside Rayleigh's sword. He glanced at the sword, then casually lifted his toes.
Clang!
The long sword flew into the air, passed through the rain, and landed perfectly upright in front of Rayleigh.
"Your sword, I'm returning it to you." Rayleigh heard the young man's voice through the rain. "Stand up and continue."
Continue?
Rayleigh's trembling hands tried to grab the sword's hilt, but he didn't even have the strength to pull it out.
He gave a miserable laugh, then gave up and slowly closed his eyes.
By now, the gap in their combat strength was obvious.
If it were a short match, they would be evenly matched. But he was old—prolonged fighting only worsened his chances.
He had reached his limit.
"Go ahead. I'm not as strong as you. So I lost."
Rayleigh's silver hair was soaked and stuck to his forehead. He took a deep breath, his voice hoarse but calm:
"But someone like you… you're bound to stir up waves and make this Great Pirate Era more chaotic. It's no shame to die at the hands of a junior like you."
"Great Pirate Era?"
Shano sneered. A hint of sarcasm flashed in his eyes.
"Looks like you don't really care about me—this so-called enemy who killed Hachi. Even now, you think I'm a pirate? That I'm just another rookie to carry on Roger's dream?"
Rayleigh was stunned. He looked up into the rain.
Boom!
Lightning streaked across the sky, illuminating the black-haired young man's face as he walked out of the rain.
He stood in front of Rayleigh.
"Do you know why I went to sea, Rayleigh?"
Shano's voice sounded cold in the thunder. The rain ran down his jaw and dripped onto Rayleigh's face.
"Hm?"
A large hand with sharp knuckles suddenly reached out and grabbed Rayleigh by the neck.
"I asked you a question, Rayleigh. You should know, right? Why did I go to sea?"
"Cough, cough…"
Rayleigh's face turned blue. His throat tightened. He instinctively wanted to struggle, but his wounded body couldn't move.
"I was just a countryside fruit farmer. I could've lived peacefully, growing oranges, fishing, playing with my sisters in the mountains."
"But no. If you want to survive… that life's impossible."
Shano's tone turned sad, but his fingers slowly tightened.
Rayleigh's breathing got more and more strained. His cloudy pupils reflected the young man's fierce expression.
"Roger's last words made the whole world go crazy. Pirates swarmed like locusts—looting, killing, destroying. East Blue, South Blue, West Blue, North Blue... how many villages were burned? How many children died before they ever tasted an orange?"
"I didn't want to die. I didn't want my family to die."
"So I had to give everything up—train constantly, grow stronger—just to protect them."
"You know, Rayleigh, I really loved fishing. I could sit for an entire afternoon, just fishing. If I didn't fish for a day, I'd feel off. But ever since your so-called 'Great Pirate Era' began—ever since people like your friend Hachi came to our island…"
"Since I was a kid, I haven't fished even once. Not even once!!!"
Shano's voice grew harsher, and his grip tightened again. Rayleigh's face turned purple, his eyes rolled up.
"And you, Rayleigh."
"Do you think I went to sea for pirate dreams? For some damn ONE PIECE? To become Pirate King?"
"Screw the Pirate King!!!"
"At first, I just wanted to live. I wanted my loved ones to live!"
With a roar, Shano suddenly let go and punched Rayleigh in the face!
Boom!
Rayleigh couldn't resist and was sent flying, crashing heavily into the mud. He spat out blood and coughed violently.
"As for now—"
"I have power, enough to make the world watch. But you think I want it just to make the pirate era more lively?"
"Ridiculous!"
Swish! Shano pulled out the sword from his back. The blade gleamed coldly in the rain.
He walked toward Rayleigh step by step. Rain dripped from the sword's edge.
"Listen, Rayleigh…"
"I have only one goal—to personally bring this damned world and this pirate era to an end!"
"Pirates, the World Government's dogs, those so-called gods—anyone who stands in my way is my enemy. Got that, old man?"
The end…
The end!
Is that what it means?!
Like thunder exploding above him, Rayleigh suddenly looked up, his mind trembling.
He stared blankly at the black-haired youth walking toward him. His body trembled.
When Shano slowly raised his sword, a wide grin spread across Rayleigh's face.
"Heh… ha, ha, hahahaha…"
His laugh was hoarse and painful. It pulled at the wound on his chest and made him cough up blood, but he kept laughing:
"The end! So this is the Great Pirate Era's end? What an arrogant ambition… what an amazing brat. Hey, Roger! You hear that? If you did, you'd jump out of your coffin in rage! Hahaha!"
Shano didn't reply. He silently raised the blade.
Swish!
The sword slashed, and blood splattered!
Rayleigh groaned. His right arm was severed at the shoulder. He rolled several meters through the mud.
He looked at the bleeding stump, shocked. Then he looked up at Shano, who flicked the blood from his sword and sheathed it.
"Why?" Rayleigh asked in confusion. "I was ready to meet Roger. Is it because I didn't kill you before and only asked for your finger as repayment…?"
"Don't get it twisted. I'm petty—I hold grudges. I don't care about big pictures."
Shano's expression was flat. "As for why I spared you—maybe because you protected that slave just now, showing your back to me. That's half the reason. The other half, you can probably figure out."
"…"
Rayleigh was stunned. Then he gave a bitter smile.
He looked at the blood still flowing from his shoulder, then at Shano. Understanding slowly returned to his eyes.
"I get it…"
He laughed at himself.
"You want me to watch, don't you?"
"Watch how you destroy this era, bit by bit. Watch how you crush everything Roger stood for…"
Shano didn't answer. He just turned his back to Rayleigh and walked away.
Rayleigh was silent.
"…Fine, fine…"
He struggled to rise using his one remaining arm, gasping for breath. Then he roared with all his strength:
"Then I'll live—on behalf of Roger and the Roger Pirates! I'll live and watch—watch how far you'll go, you arrogant brat!"
As his voice fell, Shano had already disappeared into the rain.
Rayleigh stood alone in the blood and mud, looking into the distance, panting heavily, not moving for a long time.
—
Pah.
The black-haired youth landed steadily on the dock.
"Captain!"
"Master Shano!"
"Brother!"
All kinds of voices called out. His companions, who had been waiting and bored, suddenly stood up with joy and ran to him.
"Is the fight over?" Nami looked at him with wide eyes. "Brother, that guy Rayleigh… they say he was the Pirate King's vice captain! That super strong guy—he's really been defeated by you?"
"Yeah."
Shano smiled and nodded.
"Great!" Nami cheered. "I knew it! You're the best, big brother!"
Shano didn't respond directly and looked around.
The area was a mess—battle traces everywhere.
Dead pirates were scattered about. Some navy soldiers lay frozen or unconscious from smoke. There was no sign of the warship—clearly, most of the navy had retreated.
Shano wasn't surprised.
His crew had inherited his style—they never spared wicked pirates.
But for low-ranking navy soldiers, they often showed mercy.
Of course…
That mercy didn't extend to the higher-ups.
Shano's eyes moved to a deep pit on shore. Chaton lay there, eyes wide—clearly dead.
"Huh?"
He raised his eyebrows and looked at Kuina. "This guy…"
"You got it wrong," Kuina shook her head. "I can fight Doflamingo, but this admiral candidate was stronger than me. I could only barely hold him back so he wouldn't disturb you, Lord Shano."
"Then how did he die?" Shano asked.
"He was shameless," Nokigao said, pointing at Chaton's body. "Kuina said she'd fight him one-on-one. Even after she beat his men, we didn't interfere."
"But when he saw he couldn't break through Kuina, and thought he was surrounded, he panicked and tried to escape. He picked Nami's direction—wanted to kill her too."
He had chosen Nami—the one with the lowest bounty—as his breakthrough.
Shano's eyes turned cold. He looked at Nami again. "You're not hurt?"
"I'm okay, big brother!" Nami spun around with a smile. "I've trained! I turned into lightning and dodged. That guy didn't know I was a Logia. He froze—and in the next second, everyone rushed in and beat him up. Jack was first—turned into a mammoth and squashed him. He couldn't move."
Crushed under a mammoth's butt and beaten to death…
No wonder his corpse looked so flat. Pretty miserable.
Shano chuckled and patted Jack. "Nice job, hero."
"Boss, give the credit to Big Sis Kuina," Jack scratched his head. "But that guy deserved it—trying to hurt Nami? No way I'd let that slide!"
True.
"Thanks, Kuina." Shano gave a thumbs up to his vice-captain.
He had fought Rayleigh for over three hours.
Chaton and Kuina had fought for at least one.
For her to hold her own that long… If she keeps growing like this, the world's number one swordsman title might not be far off.
"How's the ship coating?" Shano asked.
"They just finished a few minutes ago."
A red-faced girl tried to act calm. "It was supposed to take a whole day. But I paid double after seeing your fight, and rushed the job. They finished in less than four hours."
Nice.
Shano gave a thumbs-up in his heart. Robin asked, "Captain, are we leaving?"
"Yeah."
Shano nodded. "Let's go. We're too close to Navy Headquarters. The fight dragged on too long. An admiral could arrive at any moment."
If it was just one admiral, he could manage. But more than one… would be trouble.
They headed to the dock. The End had been coated and floated quietly at the shore.
"Board the ship and depart!"
At Shano's command—
The crew entered the bubble coating and jumped on board. Jack went last, collecting the anchor and untying the ropes.
…
At the square in front of the big screen.
The image had shifted to the dock.
But the camera dared not get too close—filming from a rooftop hundreds of meters away, showing the End slowly sinking below the sea surface.
Though the battle had ended, more and more people had gathered, and the discussion was heating up.
"Pluto Rayleigh actually lost to Shano!"
"He lost an arm too. He was the Pirate King's vice captain… that's rough."
"What's the big deal? Roger lost more than an arm!"
"…I can't with you. And the Navy got wrecked too. Their admiral candidate lost to Shano's crew."
"They need a real admiral now. Weird though… it's been so long. The Navy's still quiet. Are they really letting them leave?"
As if to answer that question—
Swish!
On the screen, a golden light suddenly cut through the sky—blazing across the rain and headed straight for the dock.
"That's… Kizaru's ability!" someone shouted. "The Navy admiral is really here!"
"Yes!"
"Shit! Move!"
The crowd exploded—some thrilled, some scared, some craning their necks to see better.
"It's over. The End didn't get far. They're screwed!"
"Kizaru can move at light speed. How can they escape?"
"Hey, look! Shano noticed!"
On screen—
Shano, who had been at the bow, suddenly turned and looked at the golden beam.
A sneer formed at the corner of his mouth.
"So, you've finally come…"