Wherever the residual shockwave of the collision passed, countless people instantly saw their eyes turn white as they fainted on the spot.
The few who did not faint were also filled with horror at this moment, beads of sweat continuously seeping from their foreheads as they sharply turned their heads, looking with disbelief towards the direction from which the Conqueror's Haki shockwave had come.
Being able to withstand a Conqueror's Haki clash of this level meant these people's strength was by no means weak, and their experience naturally wouldn't be too lacking either.
So they all understood clearly what situation this was now.
"Who... who is it?!"
"To actually possess Conqueror's Haki of this degree!!"
Thick black and red lightning nearly spanned half of the Sabaody Archipelago, radiating an aura that made one's blood run cold.
Meanwhile, in a familiar room, the members of the Donquixote Family who had been indulging in wild revelry all jolted, their reactions no different from most people on the island, as they all involuntarily cast their gazes towards a certain direction, their eyes filled with shock.
"A Conqueror's Haki clash??"
Doflamingo spoke with an ugly expression, a trace of unnoticed tremor in his tone.
He possessed Conqueror's Haki himself, having awakened it at a very young age, but over all these years his Conqueror's Haki had seen little improvement.
He could sense that the Conqueror's Haki of the two currently clashing was far stronger than his own.
"Dark King Rayleigh?!"
With the Donquixote Family's intelligence network, they certainly knew this legendary pirate lived in seclusion on Sabaody.
The problem was, in all these years, no one had seen this guy fight anyone!
However, it might not be him, though Rayleigh was the most likely possibility, as not many possessed Conqueror's Haki of such intensity.
And even if one of them was Rayleigh, who was the other?
Doflamingo did not continue this line of thought, instead immediately making a decision and addressing the numerous executives in the room:
"Everyone, today's banquet ends here. We depart now, immediately, at once!!"
Upon hearing this, everyone present was momentarily stunned, but seeing the grave expression on Doflamingo's face, they said nothing more and all went to pack their things.
Doflamingo stood in place, his eyes flickering, a faint trace of anxiety visible within them.
For some reason, he felt somewhat agitated now, always feeling as if something bad was about to happen.
They needed to leave this place quickly!!
In no time at all, the members of the Donquixote Family emerged from the room and hurriedly headed towards their ship docked at Sabaody's port.
...
"Hmm?!"
Kyle, who had been unrestrainedly releasing his Conqueror's Haki, let out a soft sound of surprise, his gaze turning towards the Rayleigh before him as he abruptly withdrew his Conqueror's Haki.
Seeing this, Rayleigh also retracted his Conqueror's Haki.
Before Rayleigh could say anything, Kyle extended a hand towards him and spoke first:
"Old man Rayleigh, lend me Shenchuan. My target seems a bit restless; I need to go take care of proper business!"
Seeing the situation, Rayleigh asked no further questions and directly threw the Shenchuan in his hand to Kyle.
With a wave of Kyle's hand, a box suddenly appeared on the damaged bar counter. Looking at Shakky with a smile, he said:
"This box contains one million Berries, payment for that bottle of wine!!"
Earlier, Kyle had first stored that bottle of wine in his system space before clashing Conqueror's Haki with Rayleigh. This was wine worth one million Berries per bottle; it couldn't be allowed to break.
As for whether the one million Berries bought only that bottle of wine, that was hard to say!
With those words, Kyle took out the tiger mask again, put it on, pulled up his hood, once more wrapping himself up tightly, and waved at Rayleigh.
"Old man Rayleigh, see you later!!"
As soon as the words fell, a series of crackling sounds erupted as Kyle's figure transformed into a flash of purple lightning and shot out through the shattered window.
"The Rumble-Rumble Fruit?!"
Rayleigh murmured softly, then immediately walked towards the door, saying as he went:
"Shakky, I'm going to see what this kid is up to!!"
Not long after, Rayleigh pushed open the door and disappeared from Shakky's sight.
Shakky glanced at the departing figure of Rayleigh, then swept her gaze around the surroundings. Four words described it.
A complete mess!!
Yet Shakky did not show the slightest trace of anger because of this. Instead, she looked at the box containing one million Berries left by Kyle and revealed a smile.
"This kid... is quite interesting!!"
—
Elsewhere, high above the Sabaody Archipelago, a figure was rapidly darting across the tops of the Yarukiman Mangrove trees at incredible speed.
After leaving Shakky's bar, Kyle had not continued flying over as a bolt of lightning.
His Devil Fruit ability was indeed cool, but in this situation, it seemed a bit too flashy.
So he could only painstakingly travel by foot.
Ever since arriving on the Sabaody Archipelago, Kyle's Observation Haki had been locked onto Doflamingo, even during his Conqueror's Haki clash with Rayleigh.
That's why, upon sensing Doflamingo preparing to flee, he had decisively rushed over without hesitation.
He hadn't forgotten his purpose for coming here.
Before long, Kyle spotted the figures of Doflamingo and his group.
They had now reached the 'outskirts' of the Sabaody Archipelago, where there were no towns or ordinary residents around.
This made Kyle's actions even more convenient!
The Shenchuan in his hand suddenly left its sheath. Without hesitation, he swung it, launching a slash.
Boom—
A brilliant blue slash wave shot forth, assaulting the members of the Donquixote Family below.
The slash wave cut through the air, carrying a terrifying force.
Below, Doflamingo was walking forward in silence when suddenly, a terrifying sense of threat came from behind. His face instantly changed. Without looking back, he immediately roared:
"Get out of the way!!"
As he said this, he dodged to one side. Hearing his words, the executives around him also instinctively reacted, all scattering to the sides.
But there were always a few unlucky ones who couldn't react in time. Before they could figure out what was happening, the slash wave engulfed them from behind and above.
Boom!!
A tremendous sound erupted as the slash wave plowed a huge furrow into the ground, raising a cloud of dust.
"Cough, cough, cough!!"
"W-what happened?!!"
Coughing sounds arose from within the dust cloud, followed immediately by Pica's trademark high-pitched shriek.
Yet before they could catch their breath, the familiar sense of threat surged into their hearts once more.
Pica sharply looked up. What met his eyes were three or four consecutive slash waves.
In that instant, he was enraged.
"How dare you go too far!!"
An extremely sharp voice issued from his mouth, and immediately his body merged into the ground.
The next moment, a giant hand suddenly thrust out from within the earth, reaching straight for the incoming slash waves to crush them.
The moment it touched the slash waves, the seemingly solid giant stone hand instantly shattered, scattering into a pile of rubble.
But that wasn't the end. A several-tens-of-meters-tall stone giant emerged from the ground, extending both hands forward, once more reaching to crush those slash waves...
---