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After a long night, the red sun rose, bathing the world in the gentle morning light. The riots and the great fire gradually subsided.
Most of the slaves had boarded the prepared escape ships, and Kanos Atlas's warship followed unhurriedly behind the largest vessel.
"Rear Admiral Atlas! I demand you speed up! If you let these slaves escape, you will bear the consequences!"
"Soldiers over there, can't you aim your cannons properly?"
Ever since boarding the ship, the CP0 agent in the black-and-white mask had been chattering incessantly in Atlas's ear, even beginning to overstep his authority and command the warship's operations himself.
"This…" A nearby Marine looked troubled. To be ordered to fire upon these unarmed slaves was a devastating blow to the beliefs they had always upheld.
"Shut up, you bastard!" Atlas finally had enough of the man's nonsense.
He unleashed a powerful wave of Conqueror's Haki, pressing down directly on the CP0 agent!
"Hey, hey! What do you think you're doing?" Cold sweat dripped from the agent's forehead, his back instantly soaked.
"Nothing. But if you don't shut your damn mouth, I guarantee you'll never get the chance to open it again!"
A threat! A naked threat!
The CP0 agent knew that Atlas couldn't possibly attack him unless he wanted to be finished in the Marines.
But! He didn't dare to take the gamble, because if he lost… he would be dead.
"Heh…" Seeing the CP0 agent fall silent, Atlas sneered with contempt.
Individuals like this, brainwashed by the Celestial Dragons since childhood, were nothing more than soulless walking corpses. He turned to his men.
"Ignore this guy. Just fire as you see fit."
"Yes, sir!"
'This guy… is a complete bastard!' the CP0 agent roared internally, but his body remained perfectly still, afraid to make a wrong move that might cause Atlas to "misunderstand" and kill him on the spot.
That would be a truly unjust end.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A barrage of cannonballs was fired toward the escape ships, but most of them missed their mark.
Instead, the massive waves created by the cannonballs only served to push the escape ships further and further away from the pursuing fleet.
Aboard the largest escape ship, a newly freed slave looked at the red fish-man beside him with confusion.
"Benefactor, the pursuing Marines seem a bit strange?"
The fish-man was a sea bream, wearing a bandana over his thick, curly hair. He had a wide mouth, a full beard, and a tall, powerful build.
"Don't call me benefactor. My name is Tiger. Fisher Tiger!" He answered, his tone a little uncertain.
"These Marines… it seems they don't want to pursue us."
Tiger hadn't had much interaction with the Marines, but he held a deep suspicion, even vigilance, toward the World Government and humanity as a whole.
He had once believed in Queen Otohime's words and dreamed of living under the sun with humans, but his tragic time as a slave had left him utterly disillusioned.
Perhaps he knew that there were good and bad people in every race, but deep down, he still harbored intense hatred for humans.
"Who cares about them! Let's sail at full speed and shake these Marines off our tail!"
Besides, Tiger could abandon all these slaves and escape into the sea at any time. He was a fish-man, a child of the sea!
In an inconspicuous corner of the escape ship, the three Gorgon sisters huddled together, their attention drawn to the Marines' attack.
Thanks to the powerful physique granted by their Zoan-type Devil Fruits, they could easily see Atlas standing at the prow of the warship.
"Sister, was it… that Marine who saved us just now?" Sandersonia asked uncertainly.
Although she didn't have Hancock's immense talent, her intuition told her that the Conqueror's Haki back in the port city had belonged to him.
"Yes… I think so," Hancock nodded firmly, her eyes flickering as she was lost in thought.
Aboard the warship, an officer reported, "Sir! The slaves are about to get away from us! The distance between us is increasing!"
"It's fine. I'll give them one last push," Atlas said with a strange expression on his face.
Without pausing, he activated the Dragon Talisman! "Explosion, flame!"
A thick pillar of explosive flame shot out from the warship, landing precisely… next to the escape ships ahead.
The terrifying explosive force kicked up a monstrous wave, and its immense propulsive force slammed into the ships' hulls.
"Everyone, hold on tight! Grab onto something fixed, don't get thrown off!" Fisher Tiger shouted at the top of his lungs, but the roar of the massive wave quickly drowned out his voice.
"Oops, my hand slipped," Atlas said, tilting his head as he looked at the CP0 agent, offering yet another insincere apology.
Soon, the intense heat caused a thick mist to rise from the sea. Just as Atlas had predicted, the warship lost sight of Tiger and the others.
"Reporting, sir! We have lost sight of the slaves!"
"Well, that's a real shame. But it can't be helped. They were just too lucky, weren't they? I'm sure Admiral Sengoku won't blame me for this."
Atlas said with mock regret, his expression of feigned panic perfectly convincing.
"Rear Admiral Atlas, you will be held responsible for all of your actions today!" the CP0 agent beside him finally snapped, unable to stand Atlas's clumsy acting any longer.
Today's mission was a complete failure. Even if he was lucky enough to escape a death sentence upon his return, his career was over. He had nothing left to lose.
"Hmm? Interesting…" Suddenly, Atlas's Observation Haki, which had been locked onto Tiger, detected a powerful life force entering its range.
The newcomer had sensed his Haki as well. "Hey! Don't you go spouting nonsense, you bastard. My Observation Haki hasn't lost them!"
As he spoke, Atlas leaped off the warship and began to run across the surface of the sea, kicking up a massive trail of white spray behind him!
"Running on the sea? And he's only a Rear Admiral?" The CP0 agent was utterly horrified.
As if it wasn't shocking enough that Atlas possessed Conqueror's Haki, he could also run effortlessly on water.
"How terrifying. I never expected a person like you to be involved in this incident."
Atlas said, using Moon Walk to hover in the air, looking down on Tiger's group… and the man now standing at the ship's prow.
The man had long, flowing golden hair (apologies, a slip of the pen earlier; I forgot Rayleigh wouldn't be that old yet, so his hair should be blonde), a thick beard on his chin, and wore round glasses.
A scar ran vertically through his right eye. His sharp gaze was fixed on Atlas.
"Silvers Rayleigh!" Atlas said, slowly speaking the man's name.
"You, who are known as the 'Right Hand of the Pirate King,' shouldn't you be retired in some quiet corner of the world?"
"My apologies, young Marine, but I can't let you pass," Rayleigh replied, not answering the question. He slowly drew the longsword at his hip and pointed it at Atlas.
"Tiger, you all go on ahead. Leave this young Marine to an old man like me." Rayleigh said this casually, turning to Tiger.
Tiger nodded slightly. He knew the strength of the "Dark King" Rayleigh very well and had no concerns for his safety.
The man before him was undoubtedly one of the strongest people in the world. Atlas watched the ship recede into the distance but made no move to stop it.
In truth, he hadn't come here to intercept them anyway. He was more interested in fighting a legend like Rayleigh.
This would also give him a perfect excuse for his superiors; after all, he had fought the right hand of the Pirate King himself while pursuing the escaped slaves.
It wouldn't be his fault if he couldn't stop them—he was still too young, wasn't he? Atlas had already prepared his excuse for the Five Elders.
It was a plan that killed two birds with one stone!
"Young Marine, you don't intend to capture them, do you?"
"We stand on different sides. There's no need for so much chatter, is there, Mr. Rayleigh?"
Seeing that Atlas had no intention of making small talk, Rayleigh's expression didn't change. He pushed off with his feet, and a crater appeared on the surface of the sea.
Swish!
With a sharp sound of displaced air, Rayleigh appeared instantly in front of Atlas, an immense pressure washing over him.
This year, Rayleigh was 63 years old, the same age as Garp. For an ordinary person, he would be considered ancient. Still, for top-tier fighters like them, this age was their peak, with only a slight, almost negligible decline in physical stamina.
"It's been a while… since I've felt pressure like this." Far from being afraid, Atlas's face lit up with excitement.
The chance to fight the world's greatest powerhouses at their peak made the warrior's blood in his veins boil.
Bang!
A fist collided with a blade. Armament Haki flowed, sending sparks flying.
"What ferocious Haki, young Marine!" Rayleigh was surprised. The quality of this young man's Haki was in no way inferior to his own.
"You're not so bad yourself, Mr. Rayleigh!" Atlas sneered. His body rapidly transformed, compressing to a height of about two meters.
Black-and-red Haki coated his entire body, with two patterns extending from the corners of his eyes to his neck.
Every muscle was as clearly defined as if carved from stone, and a scorching aura pulsed from him.
Life Return: Armament: Martial Body!
"Hoh!" Rayleigh could sense the change in the young Marine's aura. The threat he posed was growing stronger, and a look of astonishment filled his eyes.
"Let me test the mettle of the man they call the 'Right Hand of the Pirate King'!" As he spoke, the two figures clashed again.
The intense collision of their Haki caused the sea around them to collapse constantly, and the terrifying shockwaves periodically generated massive waves dozens of feet high.
Clang! The Haki-coated longsword once again clashed with Atlas's fist.
"How terrifying! Not a single wound!" Rayleigh looked at the flawless Atlas.
Logically, even with the strongest Armament, spreading it across the entire body should increase the defensive area but decrease the defensive power of any single point.
But the Marine before him seemed to defy this rule. It could only mean one of two things: either his Armament Haki was even stronger than it appeared, or… the amount of Haki this man possessed was simply monstrous!
"Blast Fist: Impact!"
Explosive flames quickly gathered on Atlas's fist. He pulled his arm back and unleashed a punch of immense power straight at Rayleigh's face!
Boom! Boom! Rayleigh raised his sword horizontally to block, coating the blade in Armament! Two impacts sounded almost simultaneously.
The terrifying force made Rayleigh's hand go numb, and his body was forced backward!
Armament Emission? Even before the fist had connected with the blade, a shockwave of blood-red Haki had slammed into him, catching even the prepared Rayleigh off guard.
"A monster of a young man. It seems this old man will have to get a little serious," Rayleigh said with a wry smile, quickly steadying himself.
From their brief exchange, he already had a general idea of the young Marine's strength.
It was no exaggeration to say that Atlas was the most exceptional young person he had ever seen, bar none!
He had thought Shanks was extremely talented for his generation, but compared to the Marine before him, he seemed to be just a little lacking.
At this thought, a serious expression appeared on Rayleigh's face. He gripped his sword with both hands.
A two-handed grip allowed for greater power and provided a greater advantage in both offense and defense. This showed that Rayleigh was now truly taking Atlas seriously.
"Rakyaku: Impact!"
Atlas struck first. He moved through the air, constantly changing direction.
The incredible speed and agility granted by his Paper Arts Martial Body allowed him to close the distance to Rayleigh in an instant!
Clang!
Using his forward momentum, Atlas swung his leg in a horizontal kick, which met Rayleigh's blade directly. The metallic wail of their Haki clashing rang out!
So this is the Dark King… Atlas looked at the disappearing bloodline on his calf. A serious Rayleigh was genuinely terrifying.
He had broken through his Armament defense. Although it wasn't a significant wound, it put Atlas on high alert.
(T/N: Please give me some power stone, I hope it can at least reach top 100)
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