At the harbor docks, a massive refugee ship was casting off.
Cannonfire thundered in the distance as the scholars, under Dr. Clover's loud direction, moved with surprising efficiency.
"Quick! Raise the sails! Tighten the lines!"
Smoker stood at the stern, turning both arms into thick white smoke like a booster, pushing hard to help the ship slowly pull away from the pier.
Olvia lay on a makeshift stretcher on deck, her wound already treated with emergency measures. Robin crouched beside Dr. Clover, clutching his robe, staring worriedly at the injured woman.
Boom!
Rain dropped from above with Geppo, landing on the deck.
"You finally made it!" Smoker dispelled the smoke, wiped sweat off his face, and snapped, "If you weren't here, I couldn't have gotten them out safely!"
Dr. Clover hurried forward, overcome. "You're unharmed—thank heavens!"
Rain smiled and nodded politely to him.
"Dereshishishi… so you're Rain?"
A thick, good-natured voice came from the shadow of the cabin.
Rain whipped his head around and saw a battered giant stepping out.
It was the former Marine vice admiral—Jaguar D. Saul.
"Dereshishishi…" Saul scratched his messy orange hair and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry I'm late! I was on the other side shielding civilians from shells, got tangled up with a bunch of Marines, and barely shook them off…"
He clearly had no idea Kuzan had ever been involved.
Rain stood there, momentarily petrified.
I— He stared at Saul's "I just helped out" grin and had about ten thousand complaints fighting to get out.
That was YOUR job, big guy!! You were the one who was supposed to stall Kuzan!!
You made me go fight a hard battle myself! If my persuasion check hadn't passed, I'd be an ice statue right now!!
In the end, Rain only waved weakly, looking exhausted. "H-hi. Anyway… let's get out of these waters first."
He scanned the deck and saw Rosinante watching him anxiously.
Rain pulled him to the stern, away from the crowd.
"You can't come with us."
"What?!" Rosinante's eyes widened. He hurriedly lowered his voice. "Why?! Aren't we partners?!"
"Because we're partners, you can't come." Rain's expression was deadly serious. "You're Sengoku's foster son. If you vanish, the fallout will be too big."
He lowered his voice even further. "Don't worry. Smoker and I can handle settling the scholars. If you stay with us, it'll be harder to explain later."
Rosinante tried to argue, but Rain cut him off.
"And I need you to go back and do something for me."
Rain stared into his eyes and said each word clearly:
"When you return, you're going to tell a lie. Tell Vice Admiral Sakazuki we ran into a terrifying 'mysterious man' on the island."
"Tell him Smoker and I were knocked unconscious by that man—life or death unknown. And you only barely escaped because of the Calm-Calm Fruit."
Rosinante understood instantly.
Only that could perfectly explain Rain and Smoker "disappearing" for a while and push responsibility onto a fictional "mysterious expert."
"I understand…" Rosinante gritted his teeth and nodded hard.
"Go." Rain patted his shoulder. "Find a place to hide. Once the heat dies down, return to your unit."
Rosinante knew Rain was right.
He hugged Rain and Smoker tightly, took one last look at the scholars, then—without another word—used Geppo to leap back toward Ohara's ruins amid the chaos.
With Smoker pushing, the refugee ship finally left the inner bay and entered open water.
They'd been sailing less than a minute when—
"Warship!! It's… it's a Marine warship!!"
The scholars screamed in despair. They recognized the ship—the one that had just sunk the civilian refugee vessel.
Out on the sea, Sakazuki's fleet had indeed turned around, spotting the refugee ship escaping Ohara.
On the warship, Sakazuki watched from afar and, having already heard that "Aokiji was defeated," confirmed this was the scholar-packed ship.
"Hmph. So these are Ohara's 'devils.' Unforgivable."
"Train the guns. Target the fleeing ship ahead. Sink it completely."
BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—!!
Dozens of shells streaked like meteors toward the newly launched refugee ship.
"We're done!!" The scholars dropped into a crouch, covering their heads.
Saul roared in fury, preparing to block the shells with his own body.
Smoker's face tightened as he moved to act—
"Don't move."
Rain stepped to the bow, facing the incoming rain of fire, and drew his sword.
He swung a single slash toward the shells.
It wasn't as absurd as his earlier One-Sword Style: Sea-Sunder, but it still carried massive Armament Haki—an enormous crescent-shaped sword wave that cut upward through the air.
BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM—!!
Every shell was intercepted midair.
The sky bloomed with brilliant explosions like fireworks.
The deck fell silent.
On Sakazuki's warship, he watched that terrifying slash and, for the first time, his face showed true gravity.
"So you've shown your tail, evil's umbrella…" he murmured. "Full speed ahead. Turn the ship. Crush them."
"They're coming!!" the scholars cried again as they saw Sakazuki's ship accelerate.
"Doglike bastard, won't let go," Rain clicked his tongue.
He reached into his storage ring and pulled out the [Mini Weather Kettle] he'd bought from the Curiosities shop.
A palm-sized bronze kettle, antique and engraved with strange storm patterns.
"Looks like it's time to test this."
It was supposed to alter the weather within a one-kilometer radius. If he could create a stable east wind around this ship, they could outrun the pursuing fleet.
Rain lifted the lid.
A strong greenish-blue spiral of air rose from the spout.
WHOOOOSH—!!
A perfectly steady east wind exploded outward, filling every sail.
"Now! Go—"
Rain was just about to shout "Go!" when he froze at the sight behind them.
BOOOOM—!!!!
At the exact moment their ship accelerated, the sky over the entire region where the Marine fleet sailed suddenly went dark.
A massive, utterly unnatural superstorm—purple-black lightning, twisting tornadoes—dropped from the skies without warning. Its radius swallowed the entire pursuing fleet… and yet not a single gust touched Rain's ship.
Rain: Σ(ﾟДﾟ|||)
He looked down at the palm-sized kettle in his hand…
Then back at the apocalyptic storm swallowing the sea behind them…
His brain crashed for three full seconds.
"What… what is this?!"
"Didn't the description say one kilometer?! That whole storm is from this?!"
He didn't have time to think. The sudden storm had completely cut off any chance of Sakazuki continuing pursuit.
"Who cares!" Shock was overwhelmed by joy. "Take the chance! Get out!!"
…
Meanwhile, on the burning cliffs of Ohara—
A man in a green hood with tattoos on his face stood against the wind, frowning as he watched the fleeing ship's silhouette fade into the distance.
"Strange…"
Dragon's voice was low with confusion.
He had just used his Devil Fruit power to summon a storm across the sea to block the Marines' chase…
"…So why did my storm not affect that one ship?"
He had watched it glide along the edge of the tempest as if protected by an invisible barrier, sailing perfectly steady.
"Is it the scholars' latest invention?"
Dragon's gaze sharpened.
"Some technology that neutralizes Devil Fruit abilities? Or a barrier system?"
"Amazing," he murmured, turning away. "If that kind of thing can be mass-produced… this world is going to change."
~~~
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