Chapter 54
Roger, of course, wouldn't let Victor take on everything alone.
"Hahaha—Golden Lion is mine. The rest is up to you guys."
With that, Roger leaped off the Plant Scholars and directly confronted Golden Lion.
"Since that's the case, you all go ahead. I'll watch your backs."
Victor turned and said to Beli and the others.
As for Rayleigh, Jabba, and the rest—whether they joined the fight or not wasn't really an issue.
Barrels, on the other hand, was extremely eager for combat.
The moment the battle began, Victor immediately unleashed Conqueror's Haki to clear out the small fry.
Among their crew, aside from the Elli-Eni twin doctors, there wasn't a single member without Haki.
Oh—and Shanks and Buggy, those two little brats.
No need to waste energy on these weaklings.
"Yes!"
The crew instantly jumped onto the enemy pirate ships and began the slaughter.
Rayleigh also stayed behind and didn't enter the battlefield.
Of course, the ship doctors didn't need to fight, but Crocus still prepared to warm up a bit.
So Victor provided support via lightning whenever any crew member was in danger.
Not just in this battle—after God Valley, in every fight, Victor would use the Rumble-Rumble Fruit to provide backup.
As a result, every member of the Roger Pirates remained completely unharmed.
Victor looked toward the battlefield between Roger and Golden Lion—still the same grand spectacle.
Roger's top-tier Conqueror's Haki—no, top-tier three-color Haki.
Around them instantly appeared terrifying red-black lightning. Energy clashes were visible everywhere, and terrifying explosions sent seawater soaring a hundred meters high.
The Float-Float Fruit's ability occasionally caused shattered rock islands to fall.
With the clash of top-tier Conqueror's Haki, the clouds overhead began to change violently again—the massive aura instantly scattered the white clouds above them.
Golden Lion was also one of the top powerhouses on the seas—Roger's battle at this moment was extremely enjoyable.
"Golden Lion's Float-Float Fruit is still too limited—far less useful than my Rumble-Rumble Fruit."
Victor looked at the floating ability of the Float-Float Fruit and felt it didn't provide Golden Lion with enough combat boost.
Rayleigh heard Victor belittling Golden Lion's Float-Float Fruit ability and immediately grinned.
"Hey, kid—you know yours is the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, the strongest Logia ability there is."
"How can the Float-Float Fruit even compare to yours?"
Rayleigh said somewhat irritably.
"Haha—true enough. The Rumble-Rumble Fruit is indeed more convenient."
Hearing Rayleigh, Victor also laughed.
He watched the fight between Roger and Golden Lion—it mainly came down to physical techniques, swordsmanship, and Haki clashes.
There really were very few top-tier powerhouses on the seas—despite how many appeared in newspapers.
But it always came back to the same few people.
Genuinely promising ones who could grow into top-tier strength were actually quite rare.
Of course, the world was huge—there were definitely hidden dragons and crouching tigers, like Fujitora, Ryokugyu, and others.
The battle lasted half a day. Roger found an opening and instantly dealt a heavy blow to Golden Lion.
Golden Lion crashed heavily onto the pirate ship below—nearly splitting it in two, which would have dropped it straight into the sea.
"Hahaha, Golden Lion—you still lost. Give up your delusions."
Roger laughed loudly.
Perhaps because of Victor's presence—Victor sparred with Roger extremely frequently—the current Roger was even stronger than he had been during God Valley.
Moreover, Roger wasn't yet affected by the disease that hadn't flared up yet, so no drop in combat power.
And just at that moment, the ever-changing sea suddenly produced a massive tsunami across a wide area.
Victor watched the sudden giant wave and felt Golden Lion really had good luck.
"Aiya—the sea really is unpredictable. This tsunami came at just the right time."
Victor couldn't help but sigh—this tsunami had genuinely saved Golden Lion's life.
"Alright, Victor—time to bring everyone back."
Rayleigh patted Victor's shoulder and said.
"Got it—be right back."
With that, Victor turned into lightning and charged into the battlefield.
Victor directly used the Gluttonous Giant Mouth and swallowed everyone inside.
Only after returning to the Plant Scholars did he spit them back out.
This way there was no need to go back and forth—one trip handled everything.
Roger also quickly returned to the Plant Scholars.
Immediately after, Victor took out the flying ship and let all the crew board it.
Once everyone was on board, Victor stored the Plant Scholars away.
At this point, his Rumble-Rumble Fruit ability came in handy.
Though in truth, Victor was basically just acting as an infinite-energy power bank.
"Hoho—I didn't expect kid Victor to have such a treasure hidden away."
"This flying ship is insane—it can actually fly!"
"Even without power, the wind dials at the bottom can keep it floating. Truly magical."
"Hahaha—Victor really is reliable."
The crew on the flying ship looked around curiously at the environment and how it worked.
Especially Nora and the three shipwrights.
So Victor directly handed them the flying ship blueprints and let them study it themselves.
Because Victor had already insulated the ship thoroughly, the crew could touch everything without worry.
Soon they soared into the sky, quickly leaving the sea surface far below.
The tsunami below couldn't reach them at all.
"Hahaha—Victor kid, I didn't expect you to have such a treasure. This makes things so much more convenient."
Roger slapped Victor's shoulder hard and laughed loudly.
After passing through this sea area, the weather calmed—they returned to the Plant Scholars.
After all, the Plant Scholars was more comfortable and familiar, and the sea view was more beautiful.
However, after learning roughly how long Roger had left, Barrels brooded for some time.
After defeating Golden Lion, Barrels challenged Roger and Victor one last time, then chose to leave.
The other crew members understood Barrels, so his departure was not unexpected.
In the following voyage, they once again encountered the Whitebeard Pirates.
"Hahaha—isn't that Whitebeard? It's been a while."
Roger saw Whitebeard standing on the Moby Dick and felt nostalgic for their past battles.
"Hmm—Whitebeard's forces really are massive."
Rayleigh beside him pushed up his glasses and said with a smile.
"Hoho—lots of people is good, but I'm least afraid of numbers. I can take them all on alone."
"Captain Roger—what do you think?"
Victor looked at Whitebeard who was currently at his peak—he genuinely wanted to try soloing the entire Whitebeard Pirates.
"Hahaha—Victor kid, don't be so greedy. Whitebeard is mine. The rest are yours."
Roger looked at the eager Victor and immediately burst into laughter.
Ever since Victor came of age, Roger had started calling him "kid."
From "kid Victor" to "Victor kid" had taken several years.
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