"I've already found the freedom that belongs to me!"
"That alone is enough!!"
The smile on Roger's face brought back that long-lost Haki and kingly presence, which returned rapidly.
Soon, beneath the evening sunset, the surrounding space began to tremble and distort.
Yet he skillfully restrained that aura within an extremely narrow range, ensuring it would not affect the other villagers in the town.
Guided by that pressure, the Haoshoku Haki on Kojin's body erupted, only to be instantly compressed and directed towards his opponent with maximum force.
"Freedom?"
"So that's what you want to become: the Pirate King and only the Pirate King."
Kojin murmured softly.
"Yes! There are other things I have neither the time nor the energy for. But without a doubt, in the future, there will definitely be people like me who will personally accomplish everything!" Roger laughed loudly as he spoke.
Then he suddenly raised his head and locked eyes with Kojin.
"Are you here to capture me?"
"Yes!" Kojin nodded without hesitation.
This trip was not only about apprehending the man before him but also about testing and refining his own strength.
"Hahaha!"
"There aren't many ambitious guys like you in the Marines! If you became a pirate, you might achieve as much as I have!"
Roger laughed heartily.
Suddenly, the longblade in his hand vibrated violently, and, in a flash, he swung it out.
Fast! Too fast!
Like a bolt of lightning before Kojin's eyes, golden lightning roared like a dragon, accompanied faintly by a dragon's cry.
"Since you want to capture me! Then be prepared to die before me, Marine!" A low voice rang out as Roger's longblade came crashing down.
Kojin reacted instantly; almost the moment Roger moved, his body had already shifted.
"Kami-e!"
In an utterly bizarre manner, his body twisted at that instant, his chest caving inward as he narrowly avoided the slash by a hair's breadth.
"Kamusari (Divine Departure)!"
However, it was precisely at that moment that Roger spoke.
"Buzz!!"
Even the void itself trembled. The powerful slash, infused with overwhelming Haoshoku Haki, roared through the air and struck Kojin heavily in the chest.
"Pfft!"
In almost an instant, Kojin's chest was torn open by the strike. Blood was about to spray out as his body cracked like glass, and he was blasted backwards with great force.
"Roger!!!"
Bullet finally moved. He let out a furious roar and lunged towards Roger.
"Bullet, it seems you've chosen your new path as well!" Roger sighed lightly, slashing out with his longblade with no unnecessary flourish.
"Bang!"
The blade itself did not touch Bullet, yet a savage air slash slammed ruthlessly into him, sending his body flying like Kojin's, soaring backward for a thousand meters in the blink of an eye.
"Sandstorm!"
In the blink of an eye, both his superior and his teammate had been dealt with, snapping Crocodile awake.
A sand-dragon whirlwind condensed in his hand as he was about to swing it...
But the next second, he saw Roger standing before him, casually performing a slashing motion.
That single strike made every hair on Crocodile's body stand on end.
"Elementalization!"
The long blade sliced through the sand grains as Crocodile's body rapidly retreated, his expression one of lingering shock.
"There's a very strong pirate aura about you."
"Kojin, as Garp's disciple, you seem rather unorthodox, don't you?"
Roger turned around, smiling as he looked at the gloomy-faced young figure stepping toward him.
When he saw that the other party was completely unharmed, his pupils shrank slightly.
If his memory served him correctly, that close-range strike had split the opponent's chest and abdomen completely open, it was an absolutely fatal wound.
Yet, at that very moment, the boy appeared before him once again, completely unscathed.
"Is it really an undying body, as Rayleigh said?" Roger murmured to himself.
Facing such an opponent who seemingly cannot die, even he couldn't help but take things more seriously.
"Da da da da!"
Footsteps suddenly rang out. Kojin grew faster with each step, and after three strides, he broke into a sprint, then leapt upward, soaring to a height of a hundred meters.
"Crackle!"
Black-and-red lightning erupted as Haoshoku Haki infused his arms.
"Fist Bone: Heavy Strike!"
Without hesitating for a moment, he smashed his right fist downward.
Black-and-red lightning burst forth, charging straight towards Roger below.
Bullet, who had just climbed back to his feet in the distance, saw the punch, and his pupils shrank sharply. There was no doubt in his heart that this was the punch that could easily finish him off.
"You're being far too reckless! That punch would destroy the entire town!"
Roger shook his head. His figure vanished in an instant, and, in the next second, he appeared in the sky, rising swiftly upwards.
The longblade in his hand swung out once more.
"Buzz!!"
The slash instantly collided with Kojin's punch. Space itself twisted and trembled before the distorted impact was deflected directly skyward by the blade and vanished in the blink of an eye.
High in the air, Kojin's pupils contracted, and shock filled his heart.
This was the first time he had ever seen such a thing!
His Haoshoku Haki-infused attack had actually been reversed and ejected by the opponent's strike.
"Your talent is indeed remarkable; so young, yet you already possess such Haki."
"But..."
Roger's voice drifted through the air as his figure flickered. In an instant, he appeared right in front of him, the long blade pointed straight at his brow.
"Your technique is far too crude!"
Hearing this, Kojin's heart trembled.
His figure flashed and vanished in the blink of an eye, reappearing behind Roger.
Yet somehow, Roger had already turned to face him again, his longblade still aimed directly at him.
'Observation Haki!'
Kojin's eyes sharpened as he shifted his stance repeatedly, but no matter which angle he attacked from, Roger effortlessly saw through every single one of his movements, perfectly predicting every move.
His heart sank; he had clearly been completely read by Observation Haki.
After only a brief pause, though, he charged forward again without hesitation.
If there were no openings, he would force one open with overwhelming power.
"Fist Bone!"
Black-and-red lightning exploded as dense Haoshoku Haki pressure surged straight into the sky. The previously clear sky was instantly shrouded in dark clouds, and thunder roared like a wrathful god.
"Depth Charge!"
Kojin stacked the Iron Body and Armament Haki onto his right fist, onto the Seastone gauntlet, causing it to groan under the strain.
Roger merely smiled faintly and swung the long blade in his hand.
"Bang!"
High in the sky, shockwaves from the collision howled outwards, turning into violent winds that swept across the entire island. Accompanied by thunderous roars from above, the island's residents believed that a rainstorm was imminent and hurriedly retreated into their homes.
"It seems there's still a great deal you need to learn, young man," Roger spoke.
Kojin's expression grew heavy.
At that moment, he realized something. From Garp, he had learned the heavy, violent Iron Fist technique, brute force capable of overpowering anything with sheer strength.
However, his deficiency in Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki) had exposed a fatal weakness in his ability to evade attacks.
In this brief exchange with Roger, he had also witnessed the pinnacle of technique: smooth, fluid, sharp, and overwhelmingly powerful.
"If you want to catch me, notify Marine Headquarters to send Garp and Sengoku!" Roger said with a faint smile. His Longblade shifted abruptly, aiming at Kojin's arm, and slashed through with lightning speed.
"Pff!"
Kojin's expression changed slightly. Below, Crocodile and Bullet both felt their pupils contract.
An arm, trailing with blood, fell to the ground.
(End of Chapter)
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