"Your aura has changed again."
Raleigh's eyes narrowed slightly. Through his Observation Haki, he sensed that the other's presence had shifted from the eerie, gloomy moon to a scorching, cruel sun.
Apart from being upright and honorable, the aura carried an intense, transforming heat.
"Not bad. I acknowledge you. If you manage to survive this…"
His right foot stepped back, toes touching the ground. The earthen surface was pressed into a shallow dent as Raleigh instantly charged toward Bazel, his blade held level with his shoulder.
A straight thrust!
"I'll look forward to meeting you again."
"Pirate Bazel!"
…
Boom…!!
"Not a bad sword!"
Outside Grove 16, Kaido halted his retreat, a deep, bone-exposing wound on his upper body gushing blood.
Muscles bulging, he laughed maniacally as he forcibly closed the wound.
A purple lightning bolt descended from the sky, intertwining with his Conqueror's Haki around his club, Hassaikai.
"Wororororo!!"
"Here I come!"
"Daiitoku Raimei Hakke!!"
Not far away, Roger, seeing his enemy's full-force attack, flashed a look of excitement.
"Heh~ It's been a while since I used this move. After that bastard Marine Garp hasn't bothered us for over half a year, I thought this technique would never see the light of day again!"
"Young man…"
Rapid, tapping footsteps echoed.
Roger didn't burst forth with the same blistering speed as Raleigh. Instead, he ran like an ordinary person, gripping his sword.
The famed blade, Ace, first turned black under the infusion of Armament Haki.
Then, black-and-red lightning coiled around the sword's edge.
"Let me teach you how Conqueror's Haki should be used!"
"You bastard!!!!"
The famed blade Ace struck later but arrived first, breaking through the defense of the club and slashing directly across Kaido's chest.
With his black mustache twitching upward, Roger grinned and said, "Hey, Rocks' apprentice kid, this is how a sword should be used!"
"This slash of mine is one even gods cannot evade… the pinnacle of Conqueror's Haki application."
"Remember this feeling, young man!!!"
"Pfft…"
Kaido spat a mouthful of blood, his eyes rolling upward.
"The Grand Line isn't a place for you youngsters to sail so casually. After I die, this ocean and the era to come will truly belong to you!"
"Divine Departure!"
Sheathing his sword and shaking off the blood, Roger stood with a hand shading his eyes as he watched his enemy crash through trees and fly into the distance.
"Oh~ I didn't expect to still be so proficient after not using this move for so long. But that kid's aura…"
Roger no longer paid attention to Kaido. His reason for sending the enemy flying wasn't to toy with him.
It was to buy himself enough time to observe the man fighting Raleigh.
"Bazel, was it? That peculiar aura and 'voice'… It shouldn't be such a coincidence, right? This is bad… It reminds me of a really troublesome guy…"
Roger covered his face with his left hand and sighed, "That guy shouldn't have any descendants in this world. Hey, Spencer!!"
In the 'audience seats', a man with a red ponytail stood up.
"What is it, Captain?"
"Do you have all the information on Rocks?"
"Rocks? As in Rocks D. Xebec? Isn't he dead? What do you need his information for?"
Roger picked his nose, "Don't ask questions. If you don't have it, go gather it quickly. I've made some unbelievable discoveries."
"Understood. I'll go organize it right away!"
"Bolo Breath!"
Lifting his blade to block, Roger split the fiery breath attack in two with his Haki-infused sword.
His attention shifted back from Bazel to Kaido.
"Come on, let me witness the strength of the new generation of pirates on the seas!"
He then once again ran forward like an ordinary person.
"You may not be as strong as Newgate yet, but you've already captured my interest. If you don't die this time, you'll undoubtedly become a powerhouse rivaling Whitebeard in the future!"
"Wororororo, planning to kill me here? Perfect! I'm planning to kill you too!!"
In his hybrid form, Kaido charged forward like an out-of-control truck, swinging his kanabo wildly even before closing in.
Kongo Kabura!
"Kill you? No, no, no~"
Roger casually shattered the kanabo's shockwave with a single slash, then lightly leaped forward, his speed skyrocketing the moment he landed!
A brilliant blade light shot into Kaido's chest.
"I'm different from that guy Shiki. If you can entertain me, I might just let you go."
"So, use all your strength!"
"Kaido of the Beasts!!"
…
Among the onlookers, ten-year-old Shanks and Buggy huddled together, chatting.
"Shanks, those two men are so strong! They've been fighting Captain Roger and Vice-Captain Rayleigh for so long!"
"Yeah, Buggy~"
Shanks crouched on a protruding rock, his eyes filled with longing.
"If only we could join this fight too, it would be so much fun!"
Buggy quickly shook his head, "No, no, no, absolutely not! I don't want to fight monsters like that!"
Spencer, the intelligence officer of the Roger Pirates, happened to walk over and ruffled the heads of the two ten-year-olds.
"You're still too young. If the Roger Pirates ever reach the point where ten-year-old kids have to shoulder the burden of battle, we'd be on the verge of destruction."
"Spencer, where are the information Roger asked for?" Moon Isaac Jr. reached out to ask for them.
"How unusual." Spencer didn't refuse and handed over the freshly compiled documents, "Since when are you interested in the deceased Rocks?"
Moon Isaac Jr., with his long triangular nose, focused on flipping through the intelligence.
"I'm the tactical advisor of the Roger Pirates. I have to analyze the pros and cons of our next moves before the captain makes a decision."
"Besides, Captain Roger has never liked Rocks much. Suddenly asking for his information now must mean he's discovered something strange... Hm?"
"What's wrong?" Spencer thought there was an issue with his intelligence and leaned in to ask.
"No, it's just a bit surprising. There's a witness who claimed to have seen Rocks D. Xebec in the Four Blues 20 years ago."
Spencer didn't think much of it, "Probably recruiting crewmates. Maybe someone in the Rocks Pirates was born in the South Blue."
"Is that so..."
Moon Isaac Jr. didn't dwell on it too much. The truth of something that happened 20 years ago was hard to verify.
Moreover, whether that so-called witness even saw correctly was still up for debate.
"But Spencer, your intelligence-gathering skills are truly impressive."
Spencer laughed heartily, "This is all information I started collecting a long time ago. I just organized it a bit earlier."
"Nothing worth mentioning, nothing worth mentioning, hahaha~~"
…
Grove 16, Main Battlefield.
A sword and a fist grazed past each other, leaving yet another scar on their opponent before the fist's owner staggered back.
Bazel leaned against a raised hill, catching his breath, but his eyes grew brighter.
In the less than half-hour clash with Rayleigh, Bazel finally understood where his current combat prowess stood.
If he were in the time of the original work, he'd probably be around the level of someone like King.
But this wasn't to say Bazel's strength was lacking.
It was just that the quality of pirates in the old era was exceptionally high.
If the timeline were shifted, and the protagonist Luffy appeared in the era after Rocks' death, Bazel couldn't even imagine what would happen.
Luffy would probably turn back the moment he set foot out of the East Blue.
The Shiki flying around in the sky wasn't the old man easily defeated in the movies 30 years later.
He was a Great Pirate that Sengoku and Garp teamed up to fight for three days and three nights to finally capture!
If the just-set-out Luffy encountered Shiki in his prime, forget defeating him… if Luffy could survive three slashes without dying, Bazel would have to give him a thumbs-up.
Young Big Mom and Kaido, the nearly entire Roger Pirates in their prime, and Patrick Redfield, who had yet-to-eat the Vampire Fruit but able to fight Whitebeard, Roger, and their entire crews single-handedly...
If Luffy were born in this era, forget eating the Nika Fruit.
Even if he awakened Nika from the start, Bazel wouldn't believe he could make it to the New World!
"As expected of the famous Dark King Rayleigh..."
Bazel wiped the blood seeping from his forehead, his previously waning momentum surging once more.
"Still want to fight?"
Rayleigh worked his mouth and spat out a bloody phlegm.
"Your strength is quite good, and your Devil Fruit development is impressive, but your Haki is too immature. On this vast ocean, Haki is the key to everything."
"The stronger your body and the better your talent, the more exceptional your Armament Haki will naturally become."
"Couple that with your innate King's Disposition, and you already have a ticket to climb to the pinnacle of the seas."
"But all of this hinges on whether you can survive."
"So, Bazel-kun, leave this place. I don't want to kill a promising young man like you. I'll look forward to the you who has grown stronger. Only then will you be worthy of my full power."
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