Chapter 222I knew Straw Hat had the makings of a king. But I didn't expect it to have updated to this level.A punch right out of the gate with Haki Infusion, who could handle that?How many people in this sea can use Haki Infusion?"That's thanks to you Marines."Luffy unceremoniously twisted the knife in his heart, grinning, "If I hadn't met such good teachers back-to-back, I wouldn't have improved so quickly."Aokiji's extreme freezing and pressure, Zephyr's fierce martial arts and Haki teaching, Garp's iron fists filled with love...These top-tier Marine powerhouses had invisibly become the best whetstones for Luffy.For Luffy to have the strength today that makes even an Admiral suffer a headache, these three people, everyone of them, deserve credit.He now truly possesses the strength that makes even a Marine Admiral feel troubled.He is worthy of an Admiral's special attention.Kizaru was silent for a moment, seemingly weighing the pros and cons.If he continued to fight, he wouldn't be able to do anything to Straw Hat in the short term.Beside him were the menacing Dark King Rayleighand a group of capable crew members.Most importantly, the lives of three Celestial Dragons were hanging by a thread.He didn't dare to gamble."You kidnapped the Celestial Dragons, what exactly do you want to do?"Kizaru asked straightforwardly, giving up on the idea of continuing to attack, "Just tell me.""Rare opportunity."Luffy didn't answer immediately, but his eyes narrowed, locking onto Kizaru's position, and he slammed his right foot into the ground, "Don't end it so quickly."Luffy needed to first thoroughly demonstrate that he possessed the strength and qualifications to easily kill the Celestial Dragons right under the nose of a Marine Admiral!Otherwise, the success rate of the so-called transaction would likely be greatly discounted.A strange scene occurred.The ground beneath Luffy's feet seemed to turn into Rubber, undulating and stretching violently with his movements.Immediately after, a fist formed from the rubberized ground, like a lurking mole, suddenly burst out from the ground beneath Kizaru and smashed fiercely into his abdomen!Rubber, Mole Gun!"Hm?"A trace of surprise flashed in Kizaru's eyes. This way of using the fruit's power was simply unheard of!But was this power to affect the terrain an awakening of a paramecia-type devil fruit?He didn't have time to dodge completely, so he could only condense golden light to block again.Bang!The Rubber fist hit him solidly. Although most of the force was offset by the golden light, it still made him sway.Taking advantage of this brief moment of suspension and impact, Kizaru's body shone brightly, instantly elementalizing, and he transformed into a beam of light, quickly moving sideways into the air, attempting to create distance.However, Luffy's attack followed like a shadow.That giant Rubber fist seemed to have a life of its own, turning flexibly in the air, pursuing relentlessly."This is endless."Kizaru muttered, grasping the air with his right hand. Dazzling light condensed and stretched in his hand, finally forming a long sword composed entirely of light."Ame no Murakumo!"He swung the light sword, slashing at the pursuing giant Rubber fist.At this moment, Luffy actively retracted his fist and simultaneously drew the seemingly inconspicuous black dagger from his waist.supreme grade sword, magic intent!The moment magic intent was drawn, as Luffy's will shifted, its form changed suddenly.The black blade rapidly extended and widened, and in the blink of an eye, it turned into a katana similar in size to the Ame no Murakumo!Dark, dull luster flowed over the blade, with black-red lightning faintly leaping across it.Clang!Luffy leaped up and slashed.Ame no Murakumo and magic intent collided fiercely, emitting a crisp ringing sound!The two energies of light and dark clashed violently at the intersection of the blades, bursting forth with blinding light.Luffy gripped magic intent, feeling the surging power coming from the blade, and grinned:"Who would have thought, an Admiral is also a swordsman!"He really hadn't encountered many decent swordsmanship experts in the Marines.He had fought so many Marines.Garp relied on fists, Aokiji relied on his ability, and Zephyr relied on his mechanical arm and martial arts.There didn't seem to be many Marine swordsmen."I should be the one who is surprised, Straw Hat."Kizaru looked at the extraordinary black blade in Luffy's hand and said slowly, "You actually obtained a supreme grade sword? It seems the intelligence was true."They collided again, and the difference was immediately clear.In terms of strength, Luffy, possessing Nika Formand Haki Infusion, even had a slight advantage, and the quality of magic intent was clearly not inferior to the Ame no Murakumo.Kizaru quickly made a judgment in his heart.Fight: It would be impossible to decide a winner in the short term, and he might even fall into a disadvantage due to being afraid of harming the hostages.Rescue: With Rayleigh and that Marimoswordsman there, the success rate was extremely low.Stall: This was disadvantageous to the Marines; for every minute the Celestial Dragons suffered, his pressure increased.Therefore, only one choice remained.Kizaru voluntarily retreated, and the Ame no Murakumo dissipated into points of light.He raised his hands and made a pause gesture."Fine, fine."He returned to his lazy expression, but his tone was much more serious, "Speak, Straw Hat. You have the qualifications. Let's talk about terms."There was no need to continue the meaningless battle.The opponent was waiting here, surely with a scheme in mind.Since he couldn't suppress them by force, he had to negotiate.He conceded.He couldn't fight at all.The previous exchange had made him realize that in the short term, he simply couldn't take down this Straw Hat with his strange state.His Haki was ridiculously strong, and he had a supreme grade sword; someone who didn't know better would think they were fighting Whitebeard.Chapter 311: Kizaru, say it again, I didn't hear you clearlySince force couldn't solve the problem, they could only negotiate.The opponent had set up such a big battle array and kidnapped the Celestial Dragons without killing them immediately; they definitely had a scheme.Hearing this, Luffy smiled with satisfaction, the characteristics of the Nika Form around his body slowly fading, returning to his normal state.His strategic goal had been achieved.Just as he had envisioned, as long as he demonstrated enough strength to make a MarineAdmiral feel troubled about protecting the lives of the Celestial Dragons, the other party would have to sit down and talk.Now, he already possessed the initial qualifications to talk to the World Government.This was enough.The strategic goal was half achieved.Luffy wasn't arrogant enough to think he had an absolute certainty of killing a Marine Admiral right now.In a fight to the death, the outcome would be unpredictable.Moreover, this was close to Marine Headquarters, and fighting Kizaru to the death here was meaningless; halfway through, the opponent's reinforcements would likely arrive.Luffy had a clear purpose; he hadn't come for a slaughter.magic intent was still gripped in his hand, exuding a faint deterrence."As an Admiral, are you qualified to negotiate on behalf of the World Government?" Luffy asked straightforwardly."Of course~"Kizaru spread his hands, his tone relaxed, "I came here as a negotiator."Only a ghost would believe that.Luffy curled his lip; if he had performed even slightly worse, what he would be facing now wouldn't be a negotiation, but an all-out siege after Kizaru rescued the hostages.Kizaru continued: "If you want money, the World Government can agree to that, just name your price."He tried to limit the terms to a more acceptable range.Even Nami in the distance couldn't help but curl her lip at this.Compare wealth?They were currently sitting on the massive amount of gold from Sky Island, so they might not even look twice at the World Government's ransom."Not needed." Luffy shook his head decisively.No money?Kizaru's eyes flickered slightly; the thing being demanded must be far more valuable than money."Then, is it a Devil Fruit? Or some other rare treasure?" Kizaru asked tentatively.Before that, he pointed in Zoro's direction: "Before that, could you please ask your crew member to move the blade away from Saint Charlos's neck first? Treating the World Nobles like this is not a friendly negotiating posture."The blade had already drawn blood, and Kizarudidn't doubt for a second that if he made the slightest unusual move, that Marimo swordsman would cut down without hesitation.Zoro just sneered, unmoved.The Admiral's words were meaningless to him; he only obeyed the Captain's orders."Kizaru! Save us quickly! Kill these untouchables who offended us!"Seeing that Kizaru seemed to have an intention to compromise, Rosward Saint screamed again, his voice fierce but his heart cowardly."You'd better shut up, Rosward Saint."Kizaru's expression didn't change at all, his tone even carrying a trace of imperceptible annoyance, "Otherwise, Saint Charlos might return to the embrace of the gods early because of your words. Killing one Celestial Dragon versus killing two might make no difference to them."In his words, there was no anger at the Celestial Dragons being humiliated, and in his eyes, there was not a hint of respect for the so-called descendants of the creators.At the level of an Admiral, possessing his own will and pride, the privileges of the Celestial Dragonsperhaps seemed more like a symbol of trouble in his eyes.Just like now.Having to accept negotiations with pirates.And he was an Admiral, after all.Luffy stopped beating around the bush and stated his final goal directly: "I want a person from Impel Down."Kizaru's gaze sank slightly; sure enough, the worst-case scenario had occurred.Kidnapping the Celestial Dragons must have a huge objective."If it's just some pirate from levels one to five of Impel Down, I might be able to make the call."Kizaru said without changing his expression, trying to limit the scope to a controllable range.Luffy shook his head; he didn't even know which level Ace was locked in, nor did he need to know:"I want the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, Portgas D. Ace!"
