Chapter 96: The Battle Suddenly Ends
Ding ding ding! Luo Han bounced around the battlefield like an elastic high-speed balloon, deflecting the furious attacks of Rayleigh and his crew.
As time passed—tap, tap…—Rayleigh and the others suddenly regrouped in a circle, standing back to back with weapons drawn, expressions grim and focused.
Luo Han didn't think much of it. He charged at them again, looking for another target to "hammer." But this time, something was different.
Ding! Clang! Two attacks struck Luo Han's telekinetic armor—one with a blade, one with a punch. Just as Luo Han began to retreat, Rayleigh and the others unleashed a synchronized full-power assault.
Zzzhh! Two cross-shaped slash waves, one from Rayleigh and one from Jabber, tore across Luo Han's chest. Though he dodged the others, he wasn't fast enough to avoid these two.
"I underestimated them…" Luo Han muttered, retreating back to Cole and Sister Shao's side.
"You okay, Han bro?" Cole asked, shifting into half-beast form, his voice deep and concerned.
Sister Shao also looked at him worriedly. "I'll take care of Rayleigh next round," she said. From that strike, she could tell only Rayleigh and Jabber posed a real threat to Luo Han.
"I'm fine. Really," Luo Han smiled. "As long as I don't rush in alone, they can't do anything. I just got careless."
The two glanced at his chest—two bloody slash marks—and chose not to comment.
"Heh…" Luo Han gave a slightly awkward laugh, then looked sharply toward Rayleigh's group.
He had moved fast—but Rayleigh and Jabber's strikes had been even faster. After hitting them, Luo Han hadn't been able to retreat in time, and got tagged for it.
Looking at the red cuts on his chest, Luo Han's eyes grew cold. He almost dashed back into the sky for another meteor barrage…
…but then he thought of the World Government's surveillance, and suppressed the rising fury.
Floating in the air, Luo Han gazed down at the tight formation below. "Didn't think they'd counter my speed like this," he admitted silently, begrudgingly impressed by how quickly Rayleigh and the others adapted mid-battle.
…
While Luo Han and Rayleigh stared each other down, three navy warships suddenly appeared twenty kilometers offshore, headed straight toward them.
With his spiritual sense always active, Luo Han immediately sensed them. "It's those three troublemakers again—Garp, Sengoku, and Zephyr. These guys show up every time a fight breaks out. Seriously, it's like we've got tracking devices onboard."
And he wasn't wrong—he'd sensed those spies using Den Den Mushi earlier.
"But what does it matter? Even Rocks doesn't care. Maybe he planned it. I'd better just play it safe," Luo Han thought.
He quietly shifted his energy from armored balloon back into standard Mind Force Armament Mode.
Tap tap. Luo Han descended and landed near the edge of the crater, looking across at Rayleigh and the others.
"Rayleigh! Garp and Sengoku are on their way. Aren't you guys gonna leave?"
The Roger Pirates froze. Garp was coming? They quickly activated their Observation Haki—but couldn't sense anything. Then they turned to Luo Han, eyes filled with surprise and a hint of frustration.
"Your Observation Haki reaches that far?" Rayleigh asked, astonished.
Luo Han blinked. "They actually believed me? That easily?"
"You're serious, Luo Han?" Sister Shao added, stunned. "Your range is greater than mine?"
"Probably," Luo Han said with a shrug, grinning mischievously.
Rayleigh spoke up again. "Didn't you say you were here to hunt us? Now you're just letting us go?"
Jabber and the others stared at Luo Han in confusion.
"If I could kill you, I would. But right now I can't," Luo Han smiled lightly, offering no more explanation. Then he turned to Sister Shao and Cole. "Let's head back to the ship."
The three turned and walked away. Rayleigh and his crew all sighed in relief.
"Hahaha… can't believe a brat like that made us breathe a sigh of relief," someone said with a dry laugh. But there was no joy in it—only lingering tension.
"We need to find Roger and get off this island," Rayleigh said, sheathing his blade and leading the others toward the other battlefield.
…
At the same time, Whitebeard had already been informed of the approaching marines—via Luo Han's Kyoka suigetsu .
After another clash with Roger, he raised his hand. "That's enough, Roger. Garp and the others are coming. You'd better go—we're leaving too."
Roger relaxed his stance, but frowned slightly. There was something that had bothered him for a long time.
"Newgate… you've felt it too, right? For years now, it's like Rocks has been letting me grow stronger on purpose. Why is that?"
Whitebeard said nothing. He didn't know how to answer. Every time Roger's crew had been on the brink, some fluke—natural disasters, timely navy interventions—would drive Rocks off.
Especially this past year. Once Roger's strength reached a certain level, Rocks himself stopped showing up altogether. Whitebeard could feel it: a world-shaking storm was coming.
"Heh… to think the great Roger Pirates were just a pawn in someone else's game." Roger gave a self-deprecating chuckle, then looked at Whitebeard with determination. "But mark my words, Newgate—the era of Rocks will end with me."
Thud. Whitebeard sat on a rock, gazing at Roger's confident smile, and couldn't help but sigh. "Still the narcissist."
"I don't care about eras," he replied with a smirk.
Plop. Roger sat across from him, curious now.
"Newgate, what's your dream?"
"My dream?" Whitebeard chuckled softly, thinking of Luo Han and Cole. "Family."
"Family, huh… That's a pretty amazing dream," Roger said sincerely, with no hint of mockery.
Whitebeard blinked, a bit surprised that Roger hadn't laughed at him. A faint smile curled at his lips, and he found himself looking at Roger with a bit more warmth.
The two enemies ended up talking like old friends, occasionally laughing loudly. To an outsider, they looked like crewmates catching up.
…
When Rayleigh and the others arrived, this was what they saw.
If it weren't for the ravaged battlefield—the split ground, the deep gorges carved by slash waves—they would have thought these two had been casually chatting all day.
Because the laughter and genuine smiles on their faces were simply too unbelievable.
(END CHAPTER)
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