Four rare, razor-sharp Meito swords exuded a terrifying aura as they locked onto the pirate ship.
Electricity danced across their surfaces, their tails vibrating and humming as they entered a charged state, ready to pierce the air at any moment and shred the Oro Jackson into countless fragments.
"Those four swords!"
"Damn it!"
"That bastard's not pulling that move again, is he?!"
"How insidious!"
"..."
The members of Roger's pirate crew swallowed hard, instinctively tightening their grips on their weapons. Their muscles tensed to the limit, and no one dared make a single reckless move.
Although Roger's pirate crew was a force of elites whose overall strength far surpassed other pirate groups, facing those four menacing Meito swords left most of them feeling far from confident.
Under the magnetic propulsion of that Marine brat, even without being coated in Armament Haki, the sheer speed alone gave those four swords a terrifying killing power.
Besides Roger, Rayleigh, and Gaban—the three pillars of the crew—no one else dared claim they could fully block a sudden strike from those blades!
A suffocating sense of deathly oppression slowly spread out, enveloping the entire sea.
Everyone aboard Roger's pirate ship felt as if a fishbone was stuck in their throats, their skin burning with pain as if scraped by razor-sharp sword aura.
The Oro Jackson gradually slowed, eventually coming to a full stop.
Doflamingo stared, dumbfounded, unable to believe his eyes.
The situation... was actually deadlocked!
That guy Daren... no, his godfather... had single-handedly forced Roger's pirate ship to a halt and even made them too fearful to act!
"Doffy..."
Suddenly, Doflamingo heard Daren's cold voice.
"When the battle starts, I need you to do something."
The Vice Admiral's indifferent tone sent a chill through Doflamingo's heart as he looked up.
Meeting his gaze were a pair of domineering, cold eyes.
"Y-Yes, sir,"
Doflamingo gritted his teeth and replied, enduring the oppressive weight of the Haki pressing down on him.
A cruel smile curled at Daren's lips as he issued an undeniable command.
"Scopper Gaban. He's the opponent I've chosen for you."
Doflamingo froze, his pupils shrinking sharply under his sunglasses.
He stared at his godfather in shock, almost thinking he'd misheard.
Daren... actually wanted him to fight Scopper Gaban!?
Scopper Gaban—one of Roger's original members, the third strongest in the entire crew!
A powerhouse said to be on par with Rayleigh, the "Dark King" himself!
Sending him against Scopper Gaban... wasn't that the same as sending him to his death!?
Could this be punishment for daring to question him earlier?
Doflamingo's eyes reddened beneath his sunglasses, his fists clenching tightly. Gritting his teeth, he spoke with thinly veiled resentment.
"Godfather, are you sending me to die?"
Daren replied expressionlessly,
"If I really intended to send you to your death, your opponent wouldn't be Scopper Gaban. It would be Rayleigh, the 'Dark King.'"
Doflamingo was stunned.
"As the godson of Rogers Daren, if you don't even have the courage to face the third-ranked member of Roger's pirate crew... then you might as well just die."
After spitting out those words with a cold smile, Daren turned his gaze away from Doflamingo and back out to sea.
Opportunities had to be seized through one's own efforts.
Though Doflamingo's strength had grown rapidly, he lacked true experience against top-tier opponents.
Without the crucible of life-and-death battles, he could never even glimpse the threshold of becoming a top-ranked fighter!
Doflamingo stared at the tall, imposing back of the Marine Vice Admiral, his expression shifting constantly between ferocity and inner turmoil.
"Wahahaha! You said it, Daren! The Poneglyph is mine!"
At that moment, Roger finally couldn't hold back any longer and unleashed his Conqueror's Haki.
An even more powerful storm of Haki spread out, and the two god-like and demon-like auras collided in the air, creating even more violent thunder and lightning.
With one step on the bow, Roger shot out like a cannonball, and the moment his Meito Ace was drawn from its sheath, it dragged behind it a trail of black and red thunderbolts.
The sound was deafening, and he looked like a mad demon.
"Daren!"
Daren laughed ferociously and charged forward without hesitation!
He had not yet mastered the Conqueror's Haki, but the Haki released from his body was like lightning surrounding him, and a dark blackness spread from his brow, instantly covering his entire body.
Devil Form!
At this point, there was no retreat!
He was about to see, after more than a month of training, how far he was from the top fighting power in the world!
Boom!
The two collided in midair like shooting stars hitting the earth, their fists and swords clashing and sending out waves of air that radiated for several kilometers.
The sea beneath their feet was crushed and moaned, and the sky let out a mournful cry. At the point of collision between the two, a bottomless groove appeared.
Hiss!
A stream of blood spurted from Daren's fist, and with his defense broken, Roger's expression was clearly taken aback for a moment.
This feeling... and the depth of the wound... Something's wrong!
"Your physique has gotten stronger again?!"
He stared wide-eyed and let out a strange cry.
Daren grinned, splattering blood on his face, adding a touch of ferocity to his appearance, his eyes visibly turning red.
"What do you think?"
Seeing this, everyone in Roger's pirate crew was instantly shocked.
This Marine... Compared to the last time on Fish-Man Island, his physical defense had clearly become stronger!
This was unbelievable!
"No, what happened on Fish-Man Island cannot happen again..."
Rayleigh's eyes narrowed to slits, and a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
This Marine brat's strength had improved so quickly, it was terrifying... If he did the same thing he did on Fish-Man Island and used his battle with Roger to improve his strength, then Roger's pirate crew would be doomed!
This kid wasn't a serious Marine like Garp, and he had super high-speed flying abilities!
It would be fine if their strength was enough to crush him, but if his strength rose to the same level as Roger's, they would never be able to rest easy again!
With that in mind, Rayleigh and Gaban exchanged glances and made a decision in an instant.
Even if they risked being labeled as cowards for fighting one against many, they had to kill this Marine here and not let him continue to grow stronger!
Stomp!
Stomp!
At almost the same time, Rayleigh and Gaban took action, leaping forward one after the other.
But just then...
Buzz, buzz, buzz!
A sharp explosion suddenly rang out and approached at a terrifying speed.
Shanks, who was arguing with Buggy, trembled all over, feeling as if his body was enveloped by a heavy aura of death in that instant, becoming stiff, covered in cold sweat, and unable to move.
His mind went blank, and in his dazed pupils, a flash of a sword approached him at an infinite speed.
I'm... going to die...
Countless images flashed through Shanks' mind.
Clang!
Sparks flew everywhere.
A blond figure suddenly appeared like a ghost, swinging his sword with both hands and blocking the howling Meito Kogarashi!
"Rayleigh-san!?" Shanks' eyes lit up again and he shouted in surprise.
Boom!
The tremendous impact caused Rayleigh's face to change, and the entire pirate ship was shot by Kogarashi and pushed ten meters across the sea!
The deck shook and cracks continued to appear.
The crew members fell in all directions and were terrified to see that all of this was caused by just one sword!
"Everyone... retreat!"
Rayleigh, who was forced to turn back, gritted his teeth and a drop of cold sweat slid down his forehead.
He was also filled with fear.
If he hadn't reacted in time, Shanks would have been pierced by that sword!
However, that wasn't the end of it, because he also saw that the other three swords that should have been hanging over the coast had disappeared.
Including the slowly retreating "Kogarashi," the four Meito swords...one in front, one behind, one on the left, and one on the right, formed a deadly cross, with their tips locked onto the center of the Oro Jackson.
"We... are surrounded by four swords."
Buggy said with a trembling voice, his face filled with fear.
The others also had their eyelids twitching and their spines tingling.
At that moment, the indifferent voice of the Marine came from the sky.
"Don't move, Rayleigh."
"Or else..."
Daren, who was wrestling with Roger, looked down at Roger's pirate crew below and smiled cruelly:
"They're all going to die."