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"Are you not afraid of sparking a war between pirates and the Navy?"
"Hehehe, the Whitebeard Pirates are nearby in these waters!" Donquixote Doflamingo said.
Now, Loguetown has gathered most of the world's powerful figures, and the Whitebeard Pirates are also wandering in these waters. So, even though the Navy has gathered most of its forces here, they wouldn't dare capture any pirates at this moment.
Especially with the Pirate King's execution approaching. Once a war breaks out, it will be a battle between the Navy and the entire pirate world. Although the Navy is powerful, this time, they're not facing just one pirate crew but pirates from all over the world.
"The admiral had originally ordered us not to cause trouble, and I don't want to either. But who told you to seek death? If I let you all fight here and the Navy does nothing, what will happen to the Navy's authority?"
"So even if I capture you here, no one will complain," Borusalino said lecherously.
"Damn, retreat!" Upon hearing Borusalino's words, Doflamingo's expression changed, and he quickly ordered the Donquixote family to retreat. He knew that clashing with the Navy at this time was unwise. Not to mention the Navy's other experts, Borusalino, though only a Vice Admiral, already possessed the strength of a potential Admiral. His title as a "monster Rear Admiral" was not to be taken lightly.
"You think you can leave now? It's too late!"
"Yata no Kagami!" Light gathered in Borusalino's hand.
"Don't think you can hurt Doflamingo," Bika said sharply, pressing the ground. Stone walls rose to cover the Donquixote family's retreat.
Countless laser beams shot out, and the entire area was covered by Borusalino's Yata no Kagami ability, explosions ringing out as laser beams struck.
"Truly worthy of the future Admiral, you're really something, but I'm not here to fight. I'll retreat for now!" As the Donquixote family retreated, Rosinante also moved in the opposite direction.
After a series of explosions, Borusalino stopped.
"Have they escaped? They really are formidable. But the Donquixote family is troublesome. Just by myself, it would be hard to capture them all. And Doflamingo has unclear connections with the underground world—capturing him would be troublesome. For now, I'll leave him be. But this Rosinante... He's a soft target. I can easily take him in and report back."
Seeing Rosinante retreating, Borusalino transformed into a beam of light and vanished.
"Hey, kid, have you ever been kicked by light?" Just as Rosinante was running, a flash of light appeared, and Borusalino kicked toward him.
Rosinante seemed to know it was coming. Before the kick reached him, he raised his arm, coating it in Haki to block Borusalino's light-speed leg.
"Leaving Doflamingo and his crew behind to chase after me—are you sure that's a good idea?" Rosinante caught Borusalino's kick with ease and said.
"Impressive Kenbunshoku Haki! Well, who told you to be alone and weak? Capturing the Donquixote family is a troublesome task. A task like that, I'll let it go."
"On the other hand, capturing you would be much easier," Borusalino said with a lecherous and contemptuous expression.
"It seems I've been completely underestimated!" Rosinante said darkly.
"Hey, Borusalino, has anyone ever told you that you rely too much on your Devil Fruit?" Suddenly, Rosinante looked up and stared at Borusalino.
Hearing Rosinante's words, Borusalino raised an eyebrow, his expression turning annoyed. Just then, Rosinante suddenly grabbed Borusalino's foot.
"Silence... Fruit, Quiet!" Rosinante shouted coldly.
With Rosinante's words, a force transferred to Borusalino's body.
The moment the power hit Borusalino, his face changed drastically. He tried to break free from Rosinante's grip, but suddenly realized his usually unstoppable Light-Light Fruit had no response.
"How is this possible? My Devil Fruit ability is actually in a dormant state! Aren't you a user of the Silence Fruit, the Quiet Man?"
"The Silence Fruit has this kind of power?" Borusalino's face was filled with disbelief.
Through the constant pursuit by the CP, Rosinante's strength had gradually grown. The fusion of two souls within him had allowed him to awaken Kenbunshoku Haki with ease. As his body and soul grew stronger, his Kenbunshoku Haki had also become increasingly powerful.
The awakening of Kenbunshoku Haki caused a chain reaction. By combining the powerful Haki with the Silence Fruit, Rosinante discovered immense potential in his Devil Fruit.
The Silence Fruit could erase sound, but what is sound?
Anyone with basic knowledge of physics knows that sound is created by vibrations in objects. The Silence Fruit eliminates sound by erasing those vibrations.
So, how can we make vibrations disappear?
Using his enhanced Kenbunshoku, Rosinante realized that the Silence Fruit could cause vibrations to fall into silence, thus erasing sound.
Since the Silence Fruit could silence vibrations, Rosinante wondered if he could silence other things too.
Through increasingly powerful Kenbunshoku and some creative thinking, Rosinante gradually developed the Silence Fruit's potential.
This development led Rosinante to realize that the Silence Fruit had enormous untapped power, and its strength could rival the so-called strongest Paramecia Devil Fruit, Whitebeard's Gura Gura no Mi.
In a sense, the Silence Fruit could even be considered the Gura Gura no Mi's natural counter.
Of course, this doesn't mean that Rosinante could defeat Whitebeard. It all depends on who is using the Devil Fruit. At this point, Rosinante didn't have the strength to challenge Whitebeard directly.
The power of "Fruit Silence" was a technique Rosinante had just developed, capable of temporarily silencing a Devil Fruit user's powers, much like radio silence.
Although "Fruit Silence" was not as overpowered as it might seem, it could suppress a Devil Fruit's power depending on how much it had been developed. In Borusalino's case, Rosinante could only limit his ability, not completely silence it. But Borusalino had underestimated him, never expecting Rosinante to possess such a skill.
As Borusalino's fruit abilities were silenced, Rosinante's other hand grabbed his sword hilt, drawing it in silence, and slashed toward Borusalino.
Rosinante knew that even though Borusalino had underestimated him, he could only silence the Light-Light Fruit for a brief moment, so he had to seize this instant to have any hope of victory.
The slash was completely silent. Unlike Rosinante's signature Silent Blade technique, this strike was not only devoid of sound, but also free of resistance and friction.
The full force of the slash, unhindered by any friction, moved faster than the speed of sound.
In an instant, blood splattered from Borusalino's chest as a long, deep wound appeared there. Borusalino didn't even have time to defend with Busoshoku Haki.
Borusalino, in disbelief, glanced at Rosinante, then quickly transformed into light and fled.
"Escaping already?" Watching Borusalino vanish, Rosinante sheathed his sword.
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