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Outside the luxurious airship, the energy shield had already come online.
That shield could tank a full-scale nuclear strike without flinching. Even the strongest physical attacks in this pirate world couldn't scratch it.
Inside the lounge, the girls stared nervously at the massive screen. On it, Logan was locked in a tense standoff with the "Dark King" Rayleigh.
"That's the Dark King Rayleigh he's up against… Captain won't be in danger, right?!" Perona hugged her stuffed doll tight, her voice trembling.
Rayleigh was a legend from the previous era—Roger's right-hand man. Just hearing his name carried weight.
With so many factors stacked together, even the girls who always believed in Logan couldn't help feeling worried.
Nami stepped up to steady them. "Come on, you guys know Logan. Back on Enies Lobby, he went up against Admiral Kizaru and Hero Garp at the same time. Didn't he chop off Kizaru's arm?"
Robin smiled and nodded. "Rayleigh isn't who he used to be. Captain will be fine. What we need to watch out for is a sneak attack from the Navy."
Nami thought for a moment, then spoke calmly. "Logan can teleport back anytime he needs to. But we're his women—we can't just sit here doing nothing."
Before anyone could ask what she meant, Nami made her decision. "Let's fly the ship straight to Navy Headquarters and attack them!"
The girls froze, eyes widening, each one silently screaming at Nami's insanity.
Attack Navy Headquarters?!
That was ridiculously bold.
…But also kinda exciting.
Vivi smacked her fist into her palm, eyes lighting up. "Right! We can distract the Navy reinforcements for him. They can't break the energy shield anyway."
Tashigi hesitated. "But the ship's firepower is only 'ship-destroyer' grade. Navy HQ has elites everywhere. That kind of attack can't really threaten them…"
Kaya looped an arm around Tashigi's shoulders and smiled gently. "We're not trying to destroy Navy HQ. We just need to pin down their main forces so they can't rush to Sabaody. If they ignore us… well, even ship-destroyer-class cannons can wipe out HQ if we really go all out."
"Oh! That makes sense!" The remaining girls snapped out of their hesitation instantly.
"Then let's move!"
With everyone in agreement, the airship sped toward Navy HQ.
The girls were trembling with excitement.
Meanwhile, at Navy Headquarters—
The moment Logan stepped into the Sabaody Archipelago, an informant had already contacted Fleet Admiral Sengoku.
Logan was practically the storm center of the entire sea right now. Combined with his utterly bizarre crew, he was impossible to miss.
The situation was too urgent for Sengoku to hold a meeting. He immediately contacted the Navy HQ forces—Admiral Akainu, Admiral Aokiji, and Hero Garp.
He ordered all three to head to Sabaody at once and capture Logan!
As for Kizaru, he was still lying flat in the hospital.
He had already woken up, but his severed arm couldn't be reattached. The blow to his psyche was huge; every day he stared blankly up at the white hospital ceiling, unable to accept reality.
On the other side, after receiving Sengoku's urgent notice, Aokiji, Akainu, and Garp gathered their forces with dark expressions, preparing to deploy.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
BOOM BOOM BOOM!!
BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!
Suddenly, violent explosions echoed all across Marineford.
Under the barrage of laser cannons, the sturdy outer walls collapsed like brittle paper.
"Enemy attack!!"
"Enemy attack!!"
"––!"
The well-trained Marines triggered the alarms at once.
The blaring siren tore across Navy HQ.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!!
BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!
The blasts kept coming—louder and louder.
Everyone looked up in panic. In the sky above, the massive airship's one-hundred-eighty laser cannons were all aimed directly at Navy HQ, firing in a sweeping, full-coverage bombardment.
"Damn it! Get the defenses up!"
"Return fire!"
"Admiral Sakazuki!!!"
"Aaaaah! Help me!"
"––!"
Marines dropped like flies. Buildings across HQ were shredded under the relentless laser fire.
"Hahahahahaha! Keep blasting! Hit them harder!"
"Beautiful!"
"Crank the firepower up! More!"
The girls cheered in satisfaction as they watched the carnage on the screen.
The lasers couldn't hurt the top officers, but against regular soldiers and buildings, it was pure annihilation.
"You brats!!!" Sengoku burst out of the main office, eyes bulging as he stared at the wrecked Navy HQ.
"LOGAN!!!" His jaw clenched so hard it looked like he'd crack a molar.
That damned Logan again!
"Sakazuki! Kuzan! Stop them!!" Sengoku roared, cancelling the original mission.
If he let these girls keep firing, HQ would be rubble.
He was not about to conduct meetings outdoors from now on.
Aokiji and Akainu understood instantly and launched counterattacks. Their Devil Fruit abilities flared and intercepted the incoming laser fire, relieving enormous pressure.
More and more Marine officers rushed out, unleashing their techniques to block the lasers aimed at HQ and its soldiers.
Meanwhile, the girls lounged in the living room, drinking juice as they watched the chaos unfold.
The ship had infinite energy reserves, so they let the Navy sweat all they wanted.
As long as they stalled the Admirals, their mission was complete.
Back on Sabaody, Area 42—
Logan and Rayleigh's battle officially began.
"Hahahaha! Logan, show this old man what a 3-billion-berry bounty is worth!"
BOOM!
Rayleigh unleashed a burst of Conqueror's Haki that had slept for years, crashing toward Logan like a tidal wave.
Even he couldn't remember the last time he used it.
Logan answered with an equally overwhelming surge of his own, crashing into Rayleigh's like colliding storms.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
Red lightning ripped the air apart. The moment their Conqueror's Haki clashed, thunder-like explosions rocked the island.
The ground beneath them crumbled layer by layer. Air screamed between them as red lightning writhed like snakes across the battlefield.
Waves exploded outward, sweeping everything around them. Anyone too close was knocked out instantly.
"Conqueror's Haki!"
"It's a clash of Conqueror's Haki!!"
"That's the Dark King Rayleigh?!"
"Holy crap, why is he fighting Logan?!"
Hidden pirates stared at the sky torn apart by their Haki, stunned into silence.
It looked like the end of the world.
"Damn it! Are they trying to destroy Sabaody?!"
"Stop yelling! Run! Their real fight hasn't even started!"
"Hahaha! To witness the legendary Rayleigh fight in my lifetime—worth it!"
"I still think Logan is crazier. Wherever he shows up, chaos follows!"
While the crowd whispered, Logan and Rayleigh were already locked in fierce combat.
The Seven-Star Sword clashed against Rayleigh's blade.
Logan frowned, gripping the sword tight as he pushed back with force, clearly feeling the strain.
"Hahahaha! Logan, going all-out from the start? I'm flattered!"
Logan smirked. "Well, I am fighting a relic of the previous era."
"Rayleigh, you shouldn't have stuck your nose into Hachi's business. You could've retired here in peace like Crocus. But too bad—"
As he pushed harder, Logan released the dark will hidden inside the Seven-Star Sword. The eerie presence drifted toward Rayleigh.
Rayleigh's pupils tightened and he instantly retreated.
He didn't know what that power was, but every instinct told him it was dangerous.
"Getting timid in your old age, Rayleigh?" Logan taunted.
He was seventy-six already. Why throw himself into this mess?
"Logan, tell me—what in the world did you do to earn a 3-billion-berry bounty?!"
Rayleigh charged again, blade flashing.
With his sharp veteran instincts, he could tell there was something off about that bounty—but he couldn't figure out what.
Even so, he didn't dare hold back.
Not with Logan's pressure… or that creepy sword that kept unsettling him.
Black Armament Haki coated his blade. With a swift slash, a flurry of deadly strikes shot toward Logan.
A shadow flickered in Logan's eyes. He blocked them all with the Seven-Star Sword.
Rayleigh's attacks were still sharp, but the damage felt… underwhelming.
As Roger's former right-hand man, Logan never doubted his strength.
But Rayleigh really was seventy-six. There was only so much an old warrior could push.
In the original story, he'd been panting after a short fight with Kizaru.
"If this is all you've got, Rayleigh… you can die now."
Logan snorted and counterattacked.
Fighting a seventy-six-year-old man didn't exactly stir his blood.
A low hum echoed as Armament Haki surged up the Seven-Star Sword.
"Wave Slash!"
Dark and green energy twisted together as Logan swung, launching a barrage of slashes that shredded the air as they flew toward Rayleigh.
"So it really is Shiki's technique!"
Rayleigh countered with his blade, and the next instant, the two clashed again.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
In a heartbeat, the two of them had already clashed dozens of times, streaking across the air and leaving afterimages hanging in the sky.
Half the shockwaves from their last exchange hadn't even fully exploded before, in the next blink, both of them vanished and reappeared somewhere else, picking up the fight again at full tilt.
Wherever they passed, everything was reduced to rubble. Deep, jagged sword marks crisscrossed the once-solid ground.
Red and black lightning raged through all of Area 42, crackling like a storm possessed.
From a "safe" distance, pirates and bystanders who'd secretly gathered to watch were frozen on the spot, eyes wide, all thoughts wiped clean by the scene in front of them.
Rayleigh was one thing—he was a living legend from a bygone era, famous across the seas.
But Logan?Why him?!!
Just because he flattened Enies Lobby?!
Watching Rayleigh get pressed back blow after blow, gritting his teeth just to stay standing, left everyone stunned and speechless.
Clang!!
Steel met steel again. Logan's overwhelming strength sent a violent tremor up Rayleigh's arms, numbing his grip and forcing him to stumble backward.
"Rayleigh, your era's long over. Since you're so eager to die, go keep that octopus company in the afterlife!"
Logan's figure blurred. Dark red Haki surged out from within him, winding around the Seven-Star Sword like a living thing.
Wuuummmmm—
As the power poured in, the blade shuddered violently, almost as if it were whispering its excitement straight into Logan's mind.
He stared at Rayleigh—panting hard, shoulders heaving—and the corner of his mouth curled into a cruel smile."Go die already!"
"Lion's… Senchigiri!!!"
Shiki the Golden Lion's signature technique—unleashed without mercy!
In an instant, dozens of slashes infused with Haki and the Seven-Star Sword's dark will roared toward Rayleigh like a pack of beasts.
Rayleigh's pupils shrank. He didn't even have time to worry about his stamina anymore—he pulled every last ounce of strength into his arms and braced for impact.
Among monsters like them, a fight could be decided in less than a second.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Sparks exploded everywhere. Sweat dripped down Rayleigh's forehead; his clothes were already plastered to his skin with cold sweat.
The sheer force of the blows made his tall frame slide backward, carving a long, deep trench into the ground beneath his feet.
Thud-thud-thud—!
Slash after slash still broke through. Even though Rayleigh was fighting with everything he had, several blades carved across his body, cutting through his Haki and biting into his flesh, spraying blood into the air.
Huff… huff… huff…
When he finally blocked the last slash, he dropped to one knee, planting his sword in the ground with a harsh clank. His face twisted in pain as he looked down at his wounds, unable to hold back a low groan.
And beneath the Haki-infused cuts, something else slithered into him—a strange, malignant force wriggling through his body like maggots clinging to bone.
Darkness. Killing intent. Bloodlust. Submission…A sinister power gnawed away at his mind, trying to devour his will entirely.
"Bastard!!!" Rayleigh's eyes bulged with fury as he glared at Logan, voice turning into a beastlike snarl. "Logan, what the hell is that power?!"
He'd never felt anything like it in his life.
Logan smirked. Of course he knew exactly what Rayleigh was talking about.
He had to admit—when used right, the Seven-Star Sword was a god-tier weapon.
Even the Dark King Rayleigh couldn't withstand it.
And this wasn't even the sword's full power.Just one glimpse was enough.
"Rayleigh, no point talking. I'll send you on your way with the final strike."
To someone already standing at death's door, Logan couldn't even be bothered to waste breath.
"Huff… huff…" Rayleigh fixed his gaze on him, chest heaving.
He'd never expected to end up like this.
In his own plan, the worst-case scenario was both of them getting wounded—then he'd gamble everything to take Logan down with him.
But reality…
He let out a bitter laugh, then his eyes hardened.
"Come on then, Logan. Show me your true power!"
Boom!!
Rayleigh finally stopped holding anything back. Ignoring the cost to his body, he pulled every drop of strength and Haki he still had, erupting with power close to his prime.
Even if he died today, he'd drag Logan down with him!
He flashed forward, blade wrapped in Armament Haki, Advanced Conqueror's Haki crackling across it, and swung with everything he had.
"Hahaha—good!!" Logan laughed wildly as he charged forward instead of retreating.
"Thunderstorm—Foxfire Slash!!"
He lifted the Seven-Star Sword and swept it across the air.
A roaring green whirlwind burst out of nowhere, infused with Armament Haki, lightning, and the sword's dark energy. It whipped forward with countless slicing winds aimed straight at Rayleigh.
"Rayleigh—this is your final curtain call!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Rayleigh's eyes shrank as the massive green tornado tore toward him, swallowing the sky.
BOOM!!!
A deafening explosion shook the entire island.
The emerald tornado, powered by three different forces, swallowed Rayleigh whole.
"AAAHHH!!!"
His scream echoed from within, sharp enough to make everyone's skin crawl.
The spectators in the distance instinctively swallowed hard, watching the scene without daring to breathe.
Slowly—bit by bit—the storm began to fade.
Everyone looked again.
And then, in the next heartbeat, their eyes went wide and a chill shot up their spines.
Rayleigh was gone.
All that remained was a dried-up corpse…and a broken sword lying on the ground beside it.
"....."