"Didn't expect one of the Five Elders to have senses that sharp. He actually felt me there. Still, it was only a blur of a hunch. Ha. Sea Sovereign, waterform at max level is a broken skill."
Rakuya muttered to himself, still admiring the absurd bug he had just exploited. Slipping out of the Sabaody Archipelago, he flowed back into Ryugu Palace. Ten days ago he had warned Marine Headquarters to meet him in the New World five days later for the handoff.
Then he toppled the World Government under a different face. Steel Bone Kong had no time to honor any appointment.
Rakuya was in no rush. He wanted to get a feel for his new maxed Summon first and linger on Fishman Island a few days. With so many pirates pouring in, there might be scuffles. To head trouble off, he would stand watch. If a few quiet days passed, he could leave with an easy mind.
"Right. Better give Steel Bone Kong a reminder, or I waited for nothing."
He sank into waterform again. Back to Sabaody. No Kong. Down to Impel Down. Still no sign. Over to Enies Lobby. Nothing.
So he shifted his gaze to the former site of the World Government on the Red Line and flowed up onto the scarred plateau. The veil of mystic energy had long since faded from his face. He did not bother to hide. He was Rakuya now, not Ryuyun. Without the red cloud cloak, he was the ten-billion-berry pirate, Rakuya.
While he searched, a thought struck.
"System, do you have a permanent face mask I can buy once with points so no one can read my face?"
"Ding. Available."
"How many points?"
"Five hundred."
"Cheap? Then why did the 'mystic shroud' cost me a thousand last time?"
"Ding. The earlier purchase hid aura, body, and voice. It was advanced. The current item covers only the face, not aura, body, or voice. Hence a permanent item for five hundred."
"Buy it."
A mask appeared in his hand, pitch black and unadorned. He set it on his face and felt a strange, sealed sensation.
"That is enough?"
"Yes, host. Unless someone breaks the mask, your face cannot be known."
"The Five Elders?"
"Cannot."
"Good."
He tested it, then tucked the mask away. As Rakuya, he did not need it yet. His point total dropped to four hundred. Another five hundred gone.
Not nearly enough. Time to squeeze someone.
At the ruins of the Holy Land Mariejois, Marines worked like ants, rebuilding. Steel Bone Kong was a bundle of nerves.
He had not forgotten the deal five days ago. He simply could not break away. The Government lay in ruins. The top authority was missing or dead. Handle this poorly and the world would explode. The Marines would be in mortal peril.
Weighing admirals and vice admirals against the Five Elders was no contest. He focused on the Red Line search. Now that the Elders had reappeared, worry for his captured men gnawed at him, and with every hour his anxiety grew.
"Will Rakuya kill them? Zephyr, Sengoku, Borsalino, Sakazuki. Are they alive or dead?"
He wanted to hunt Rakuya down, but the brat moved like the wind and had vanished without a trace. Where would he even look?
"Hey, old man."
A figure appeared before him.
"You— Rakuya."
The kindly, harmless smile froze Steel Bone's eyes wide.
He had just been wondering where to find the kid, and the kid had found him.
"Soru."
"Armament Hardening."
"Shigan."
A fleet admiral's speed was no joke. The Six Powers in his hands outclassed most vice admirals and admirals.
His hardened fingertip punched through Rakuya's body. Water parted with a hiss as the liquefied silhouette split and he thrust clean through.
Marines all around felt the shift and turned. The reaction rolled outward. Workmen froze. Heads snapped toward the scene.
"Fleet Admiral."
"Who is that?"
"Rakuya. It is Rakuya."
Even among this concentration of power, the man's silent arrival chilled spines.
Steel Bone's thrust burst the water body. In a few breaths the scattered stream gathered again and knit itself back into Rakuya's calm, easy frame.
"Pointless, Steel Bone. Do not waste your strength. I gave you five days. You failed to show. You broke the deal. Did you think I am easy to push around?"
Admirals and vice admirals blurred into Soru, circling him in an instant.
Rakuya stood loose as a reed, utterly unbothered.
"Rakuya, you are surrounded. Release the Celestial Dragons and our admirals and vice admirals. If not, you will die ugly."
Steel Bone's first strike had failed. His voice went flat and dark.
"Oh, I am so scared. Even if all of Marine Headquarters rush me together, you might not touch a single hair on my head. Where did you get the courage to bark nonsense at me?"
The barbed contempt turned Steel Bone's face black. Armament flowed to his leg. He flashed and swept.
"Rankyaku."
His blade-wind kicked through another wash of water. Spray burst and rained.
And then, to the Marines' rising horror, the scattered water drew itself together once more and stood there as Rakuya, unchanged.
"Steel Bone Kong, I told you it will not work. Are you going senile? Do you not understand?"
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