'This… this is happening?'
'It's actually happening?'
Marco's mind spun in confusion.
'Did he just agree?!'
No—more like… 'Did things escalate this far, this fast?'
"But this place is too small. Not enough room to move."
Hearing Rayleigh's words, the blazing fighting spirit on Lucian's face didn't fade one bit. Instead, he grinned wider, eyes burning hotter.
"If the commotion gets too big and draws those Navy dogs here, that'd be such a buzzkill."
At those words, Rayleigh's smile deepened with appreciation.
This young man might be reckless, but he wasn't brainless—he had a keen mind.
"Well said."
He stood up. In the instant his slightly stooped frame straightened, a heavy aura of the old era rolled off him, impossible to ignore.
"Follow me. I know a better place."
Without another word, Rayleigh pushed open the bar door and stepped outside first.
Lucian followed without hesitation.
"Hey! Lucian!"
Marco snapped out of it with a jolt, rushing after them, his face written with a big, clear 'Do you have a death wish?!'
Behind them, Shakky crushed her cigarette in the ashtray, lips curling in amusement. She grabbed a jacket and slipped out quietly after them.
________________________________________
Far from the urban districts of Sabaody Archipelago, within the colossal roots of the Yarukiman Mangrove trees, a desolate grove lay shrouded in shadows.
The roots twisted and tangled, blotting out the sun. Few people ever came here.
Rayleigh stopped at a relatively open clearing and turned.
"This will do."
His voice was calm, but the very air around them seemed to grow restless.
Across from him, Lucian stood tall. Even at a distance of dozens of meters, he felt that suffocating tension rolling in like an oncoming storm, and his blood began to boil uncontrollably.
Nearby, Marco swallowed hard, his body already tense, ready to transform into the Phoenix at any moment to save Lucian if things went bad.
Up on a massive root above them, Shakky reappeared silently, relighting a cigarette like the perfect spectator, peering down at the stage below.
________________________________________
In the clearing—
Rayleigh slowly raised his right hand and grasped the hilt at his waist.
Clang!
A clear metallic scrape echoed as he drew what appeared to be an ordinary rapier.
And the moment the blade left its sheath—
BOOM—!
An invisible yet tangible kingly aura erupted outward from Rayleigh, sweeping across the grove like a tidal wave.
Conqueror's Haki.
This wasn't the sharp, domineering surge of youth. This was like a vast, bottomless ocean—silent, heavy, and suffused with absolute authority.
The air stilled. The entire mangrove grove fell dead silent.
Even Marco's face tensed at once.
'So this… this is the true pressure of the Pirate King's right hand…!'
Yet at the center of it all, Lucian still stood straight.
Facing the tsunami of Conqueror's Haki head-on, he didn't retreat a single step. Instead, his fighting spirit blazed brighter, breaking into wild, joyous laughter.
"Hahahaha! This is it! This is what I was hoping for!"
Before his words even faded, the ground beneath his feet shuddered.
Crack!
Spiderweb cracks spread outward from where he stood.
Battle was imminent.
"Here I come, brat!"
Rayleigh's voice still echoed as his body vanished.
In the next instant, a streak of silver light tore the air apart, shrieking as it appeared right in front of Lucian.
Too fast.
Far too fast for the naked eye to track.
In Marco's vision, Rayleigh seemed to teleport, his blade slashing toward Lucian's neck in a single strike.
The blade was coated in a pitch-black sheen of Armament Haki, the slash leaving a faint ripple in the air itself.
Faced with a blow that could cleave a mountain, Lucian's body bent backward at an impossible angle—his upper body nearly parallel to the ground.
Whoosh!
The razor edge, carrying the power to cut through anything, missed him by a hair's breadth, slicing a few black strands of hair that drifted slowly to the ground.
But Rayleigh's attack didn't stop.
A flick of his wrist—horizontal slash turned vertical strike—fast as lightning, heavy as a hammer.
Yet Lucian moved like he had eyes in the back of his head. He pushed off the ground, sliding sideways several meters, once again evading the lethal strike.
BOOM!
The blade hit empty space, but the sword aura carved a massive gouge in the earth, a chasm too deep to see the bottom.
"Oh?"
A flicker of surprise crossed Rayleigh's eyes.
This young man's dodges had the flavor of foresight—as if he could see a sliver of the future.
'This isn't just ordinary Observation Haki. Looks like this kid's Observation has reached the level where he can glimpse the future!'
But, boy—
"You won't beat me just by dodging!"
Rayleigh barked sharply, his sword dance changing.
In an instant, silver sword light filled the air—wind and rain, blades from every direction converging to engulf Lucian completely.
Each flash represented a deadly slash.
But Lucian moved like a leaf in a storm, weaving through the blade tempest. Each time he dodged at the last possible instant, slipping free with uncanny ease.
Meanwhile, in his mind, system notifications cascaded like a waterfall.
[Ding! Detected Legendary Sword Technique 'Dark King Slash'... Parsing...]
[Ding! Detected Top-tier Armament Haki Envelopment... Parsing...]
[Ding! Detected Top-tier Conqueror's Haki... Parsing...]
[SSR·Peak Rayleigh Analysis Speed… 50%…65%…80%...]
'This is it!'
Lucian's heart roared with excitement.
'This is exactly what I wanted! Dancing on the edge of battle with a living legend, squeezing out every ounce of power—and then making it my own!'
"My turn, Mr. Rayleigh!"
A thunderous shout.
After narrowly avoiding another slash, Lucian stopped dodging. His right fist clenched tight, muscles surging, and he lunged into Rayleigh's opening.
Buzz—!
A visible white glow covered his fist, the air around it fracturing like glass.
The Tremor-Tremor Fruit's power!
Rayleigh's eyes widened. From that white aura, he felt a destructive force capable of overturning everything.
No time to change tactics—he could only pour his Armament Haki to the max, crossing his blade in front of him.
"Break!"
Lucian's fist didn't strike the blade directly.
It stopped a few centimeters away.
And then—the condensed seismic force erupted.
Crack!
Like glass shattering, the space in front of Rayleigh fractured under the blow.
The shockwave ripped through the cracks and slammed into Rayleigh's sword.
CLANG—!
A deafening clash of metal rang through the mangrove grove.
Rayleigh felt an unstoppable force transmitted through his blade, numbing his hands and hurling him back more than ten meters. His feet gouged two deep trenches in the ground before he managed to stop.
He looked down at his beloved sword.
On the blade… was a barely visible crack.
Rayleigh's head snapped up. For the first time, genuine shock flashed in his eyes.
No mistake.
This kid—
Not only could he anticipate attacks, he also wielded a bizarre, overwhelming power.
'Where in the world did this monster of a rookie come from?!'