Flame-infused sword aura and thunder-charged sword aura surged forth under the coating of Sherwin Armament Haki, roaring straight toward Rayleigh.
Originally intending to hold back against the Felynes, Rayleigh had no choice but to unleash his Conqueror Coating attack—he couldn't afford to be bested by Sherwin again.
"Careful! This one no joke!" he shouted before throwing his punch.
But just as his Conqueror Haki disrupted the Observation Kill state, Huamei Meow appeared before him, her body crackling with lightning.
"Thunder Blossom · One-Point Plum!"
Although her attack was also wrapped in Conqueror Haki, Huamei Meow was no match for Rayleigh overwhelming power. But that wasn't her goal—she only needed to hold him for a moment.
After clashing briefly, she didn't press on. Instead, she followed his momentum, leaping backward to release most of the force, perfectly opening the path for Sherwin twin sword auras that followed right after.
Rayleigh, having just exchanged a Haki clash with Huamei Meow, couldn't evade in time.
On his left came Seijurou Heavenly Soaring Cat Flash, while on his right, Link Meow Charged Spinning Slash was already winding up.
Both Felynes attacked from his diagonal rear, cutting off every possible escape route—
No, there was still one! Above!
Rayleigh bent his knees and launched himself upward, barely avoiding Sherwin and the Felyne combined assault.
Yet the instant he rose into the air, his face darkened—his Observation Haki had already foreseen what was coming next…
Perched on Sherwin left shoulder, the thunder-clad Felyne Shermie extended a paw made entirely of lightning and flicked it into the storm clouds above.
"Lightning Style · Kirin Meow!"
The little cat paw that Shermie had thrown into the clouds transformed into a massive thunder qilin, crashing fiercely toward Rayleigh, who was still midair.
At the same time, the fiery Felyne Klee Meow perched on Sherwin right shoulder didn't stay idle either.
She waved her tiny flaming paw, and a cluster of golden flames shot out from Sherwin arm, quickly forming into a golden fire dragon no smaller than the thunder qilin above. It roared upward, diving straight at Rayleigh.
Though Rayleigh could use moonwalk-like techniques to dodge in midair, his Observation Haki warned him that it would be pointless.
So he didn't waste any effort evading—he curled his body, coated himself fully in Armament Haki, and chose to take the combined strike from the two elemental Felynes head-on.
"Boom—!"
The thunder qilin and the golden fire dragon slammed into Rayleigh at the same time, exploding into a massive shockwave in midair that made the surrounding red mangrove trees bend outward from the impact.
shakky, who was watching nearby, was completely dumbfounded. She had originally planned to gather some intel on Sherwin,
so that Hancock could have a chance to regain her pride later. Sherwin earlier performance had already been impressive,
but as long as Hancock prepared countermeasures against those few special techniques of his, there was still at least a slim chance for her.
But now…
It might be better for that girl Hancock to just accept defeat early.
Two elemental Felynes? What kind of nonsense was that?! And not just any elements—but the Goro Goro no Mi and the Mera Mera no Mi, two of the most powerful abilities among all Logia Fruits!
Did he find a Devil Fruit tree that only grows Logia Fruits or something?!
Recovering from her shock, shakky grumbled inwardly. As for Rayleigh condition, she wasn't too worried.
That last attack was indeed powerful, but still within what he could endure.
The bigger problem now was—
"With that much noise, the Marines are definitely going to come investigate."
shakky rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming on. She knew all too well that trying to stop Rayleigh and Sherwin now, when both were already fired up, was practically impossible.
…
Marine Headquarters — Marineford.
After reading the report his subordinates had brought in, Fleet Admiral Sengoku casually handed it to his pet goat, letting it chew the paper away.
"Bounty hunter Hunter Sherwin, engaged in battle with an unidentified powerhouse… traces of Conqueror Haki clash as well… yet another young man born with the presence of a king…"
Sengoku muttered, slightly misunderstanding the situation. He tapped his fingers lightly on the desk before speaking to the messenger still standing by.
"Call in Vice Admiral Tsuru and Garp— no, just bring Vice Admiral Tsuru."
"Yes, sir!"
The messenger saluted and quickly left the office.
Moments later, the door to the Fleet Admiral office was rudely flung open as Garp swaggered in.
"Bwahahahaha! Sengoku! I came to have tea with you!"
He strode in like he owned the place, rummaged through Sengoku cabinet, and pulled out a bag of rice crackers, munching on them noisily with a crunch-crunch.
Behind him walked a kindly looking elderly woman, who gently closed the door after entering.
Sengoku mouth twitched slightly as he shot Tsuru a look, silently asking what was going on.
"This has nothing to do with me," Tsuru replied with a calm smile. "I just happened to run into Garp on the way here."
Sengoku sighed and rubbed his forehead, deciding not to waste energy dealing with that idiot. Instead, he began briefing Tsuru on the intelligence he'd just received.
"That unidentified powerhouse is most likely the 'Dark King' Silvers Rayleigh," Tsuru analyzed after listening.
"I've received information before that he been living in seclusion on the Sabaody Archipelago these past few years."
"I was thinking the same thing." Sengoku nodded. Rayleigh had never bothered to conceal his whereabouts, so the Marines could more or less keep track of him.
"The question is—should we take this opportunity to capture Rayleigh?"
The idea of making a move on Rayleigh was partly tied to Sherwin. Ever since Sherwin and Ace had taken down two of the Seven Warlords of the Sea one after another, the Marines had been losing face.
In particular, Crocodile attempted coup had turned into a public scandal, and Morgans had even run a whole series of reports about it, tarnishing the Navy reputation further…
And this time, there wasn't a Fujitora to kneel on behalf of the Marines and placate the public.
As a result, more and more people were showing dissatisfaction and distrust toward the Navy.
If it were only ordinary citizens, that would be one thing—but even several member nations had begun to take advantage of the situation to pressure the World Government,
with some even suggesting reducing the Heavenly Tribute payments. Naturally, the World Government pushed the blame onto the Marines.
That left Sengoku desperate for an achievement grand enough to quiet the restless member nations and the displeased Celestial Dragons.
"The problem is—can we really capture him?" Vice Admiral Tsuru took a sip of her hot tea and cautioned,
"All three Admirals are currently away. In particular, Kizaru is stationed with Vegapunk and can't leave. If Rayleigh chooses to flee with all his might, unless you and Garp both move together, there no way to corner him."
Aside from Kizaru being tied up protecting Vegapunk, Aokiji and Akainu absences were also indirectly connected to Sherwin.
A number of pirates were already eyeing the now-vacant Warlord positions, stirring chaos across the seas.
To keep the Navy reputation from plummeting even further, Sengoku had dispatched both Admirals and a large number of Vice Admirals and Rear Admirals, leaving only the most basic defense forces behind to guard Marineford.
That made the idea of Sengoku and Garp personally setting out nothing more than a luxury.
Marineford couldn't afford to be left without any top-tier combat power. Under normal circumstances, no one would be insane enough to attack Navy Headquarters—but pirates were lawless by nature.
Golden Lion Shiki had done it before, and Kaido, that lunatic who constantly sought death, might just get bored one day and decide to do the same.
"That Hunter sure isn't one to stay quiet!"
Just thinking about how this whole chain of events had all started because of Sherwin—and that he'd have to host the guy at Marine Headquarters in a few days—made Sengoku already sour mood even worse.
He'd originally had quite a good impression of that bounty hunter who hated evil as much as he did, but the man just kept finding new ways to give him headaches!
"Also, even though that Hunter used to be a bounty hunter, there no guarantee he'll side with us," Vice Admiral Tsuru added calmly.
"After all, people like him—true powerhouses—don't like others interfering in their battles."
"Are we really just going to stand by and watch this perfect opportunity slip away?" Sengoku asked, unwilling to accept it.
"What if I use those three Devil Fruits as a bargaining chip to make him cooperate with us?"
"A few days ago, that might have been possible," Tsuru shook her head, rejecting the idea.
"But now… after you've already handed those Devil Fruits to him, how will you explain it to the others? Besides, even with the Hunter on our side,
it'll still be difficult to capture Rayleigh with only Garp and the forces we can spare from Headquarters."
"Sigh…"
Sengoku knew she was right, and could only sigh in frustration.
Still, he hadn't completely given up. If those two really went all out against each other, and that Hunter could just push himself a little harder
—if both he and Rayleigh ended up heavily wounded… No! Even if the Hunter strength just dropped a bit, there might still be a chance!
With that thought, Sengoku decided to send Garp to the Sabaody Archipelago to check the situation.
That guy was unreliable most of the time, sure—but right now, there wasn't anyone else available. He'd have to make do.
Having settled on that plan, Sengoku suddenly felt that something wasn't quite right…
Wait a second—why did Garp stop making noise while eating my rice crackers? Don't tell me he already finished them all?!
Worried about his snacks, Sengoku quickly looked toward Garp, who he and Tsuru had practically forgotten about.
The man was still holding a bag of rice crackers, but instead of eating—or dozing off like he usually did—he was resting his chin on one hand, as if deep in thought…
Garp was thinking!
Sengoku and Tsuru were both startled.
Just then, Garp seemed to have finished "thinking." With a sudden look of realization, he slammed his fist into his open palm—crushing all the rice crackers in his hand into crumbs.
"I knew that 'Hunter' name sounded familiar! Isn't that the nickname Sherwin kid been wanting to give himself?!"