The Straw Hats exchanged confused looks; none of them understood what Rayleigh meant.
"Kojin…"
Rayleigh didn't answer right away. Instead, his serious expression turned distant, as though he were looking back on something from long ago.
"He's a man you can never afford to underestimate."
Rayleigh paused. "That was Roger's assessment of him."
Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and the rest grew serious. Even the Pirate King had spoken that highly of this Marine?
"As for me…"
Rayleigh's voice dropped.
"I think Kojin is a complete monster."
"A monster?" Brook somehow managed to look surprised despite having only a skull for a face.
"Yes. He's a monster in the truest sense of the word. There are things about him that simply don't seem human."
Rayleigh sighed as memories from over twenty years ago surfaced in his mind.
"It's already been more than twenty years… Most people today only know that Kojin was absurdly powerful, so strong he was nearly unbeatable. But over time, people forgot about the monstrous talent hidden in his blood."
Rayleigh's expression turned grave. "Compared to his overwhelming strength, he has another ability most people have completely forgotten, and that ability is exactly why Roger and I once wondered if he was even human."
The Straw Hats' expressions grew heavy. Usopp and Chopper exchanged a glance, both visibly trembling.
"What ability?"
"Don't tell me he's some demon in human skin!"
Rayleigh let out a short laugh at that, but the smile quickly faded, replaced by the same shock he'd felt the first time he fought Kojin over twenty years ago.
"He can't be killed."
The simple statement plunged the entire bar into silence. Luffy blinked, Zoro looked completely lost, and Sanji stared blankly. For a moment, no one seemed to grasp what Rayleigh meant.
"What do you mean, he can't be killed?" Robin asked. This was something even she had never heard of.
"It's exactly what it sounds like," Rayleigh said with a faint smile. "Cut off his head with a blade, shoot him through the heart, drown him beneath a tsunami and bury him at the bottom of the sea, burn his body to ashes… none of it will kill him. Any injury that should be fatal simply disappears, and his body returns to peak condition."
By the time Rayleigh finished, the horror on the Straw Hats' faces was impossible to hide.
"Kojin is a monster, a monster that can't be killed. And it isn't because of a Devil Fruit. He may simply have been born that way."
That only made their shock worse.
"No way! How is that even possible?!"
"Someone who can't die actually exists in this world?! Can you even call that human anymore? Isn't that basically a god?!"
"Kojin really is some kind of monster…"
"Just thinking about it is making me shake!"
Frightened chatter filled the bar.
"Hahahahaha!" Luffy suddenly burst out laughing. "There are people that weird in the world? That's awesome!"
Nami's eyes flared with anger, and she slammed a fist down on his head.
"There is nothing awesome about that! He's a Marine! He's our enemy! If someone like that comes after us for real, what are we supposed to do?!"
Luffy clutched his head. "Sorry!"
Rayleigh stared at them for a moment. Without realizing it, the tension on his face gradually faded into a smile.
He still didn't know how the Straw Hats had managed to meet Kojin and walk away completely unscathed, but one thing was obvious: Luffy and his crew had been extremely lucky.
Still…
"That man has truly returned to the world," Rayleigh murmured, narrowing his eyes. "That alone is terrifying."
In his current aging state, Rayleigh knew he'd have no chance of winning if he fought Kojin again. And with the Straw Hats having just caused a massive scene on Sabaody, Marine Headquarters wasn't going to let it slide.
A faint sense of unease grew in his chest.
...
In a secluded alley, a group of pirates moved carefully through the shadows, avoiding nearby Marine patrols.
"Law, no Marines over here!" Bepo poked his head out from around a corner and waved.
Law nodded, his expression serious as he hurried over. "This way."
After weaving through several narrow backstreets, they reached an open thoroughfare. Because of the Marine operation, most civilians had fled indoors, leaving the streets of Sabaody almost completely deserted.
'Boom!'
The distant thud of cannon fire echoed through the air, followed by a plume of smoke rising into the sky. Law glanced toward it before looking away, some other pirate crew was clearly tangling with the Marines.
"All clear!" Bepo called out from ahead, giving an okay sign.
Law nodded and led the Heart Pirates out of the alley, breaking into a run down the empty street.
"Looks like we're actually going to make it out safely, Captain!" Penguin said excitedly.
"Don't drop your guard until we're completely clear," Law answered coldly.
The group kept moving, the rapid pounding of their footsteps the only sound echoing through the silent street.
Then, a light appeared up ahead.
It grew steadily brighter, drawing the instincts of Law and his crew.
"What is that?"
"Ball lightning?" Bepo stared in surprise.
The Heart Pirates all looked up at the glowing sphere hovering above the roof of a nearby building. Its blue light was bright and crystal clear, with thin arcs of electricity constantly snapping around it.
"Trafalgar Law…" A voice chuckled from within the ball of lightning.
"…one of the Eleven Supernovas."
Before their shocked eyes, the sphere twisted and reshaped itself. Within a moment, the lightning condensed into the outline of a tall man.
The glow faded.
The instant Law recognized the figure standing there, his pupils contracted violently. Disbelief washed across his face.
"A person?!" Bella cried out.
"A Marine!" Shachi and Penguin exchanged panicked looks. They had somehow run straight into a Marine who had literally materialized out of lightning.
"You've made quite a name for yourself, Law." Kojin looked down at the man below.
Trafalgar Law stood dead still. His body felt completely frozen as cold sweat broke out across his forehead, his eyes locked onto Kojin.
"Captain?" Bepo quickly noticed Law's reaction, but Law didn't answer. His lips twitched slightly, as if he wanted to speak, but the sheer fear gripping him held the words back.
"In my memory, you were still a little kid who cried all the time," Kojin said, shaking his head with a faint smile.
"And now look at you. You've grown up. Time really is strange."
His tone was casual, like two old acquaintances reuniting after years apart. But to Law, who knew 'exactly' who this man was, every word felt like a crushing weight.
"Law, you know this guy?" Bepo asked again, shifting into a combat stance. "He's a Marine, and he definitely doesn't look friendly. That makes him an enemy! I'll take him!"
Bepo charged forward.
The sight instantly snapped Law out of his stupor.
His expression broke. "Don't, Bepo!"
Too late.
Kojin merely raised an eyebrow and twitched a finger.
'Crackle!'
A jagged bolt of blue lightning shot out, striking Bepo clean through. The impact hurled his body backward, sending him crashing to the ground right beside Law.
"Seeing your name on the list of pirate rookies didn't make me happy, Law." Kojin's voice, warm only moments ago, turned ice-cold.
Law immediately crouched to check on Bepo. Once he realized the bear had only been knocked unconscious, he let out a subtle sigh of relief, then slowly looked up, his face grim.
"Why are you here?"
Lightning exploded around Kojin's body. In the next instant, he materialized directly in front of Law.
The sheer speed made both Shachi and Penguin flinch. At such close range, the suffocating aura of the Marine Admiral was impossible to ignore. Jean Bart, standing silent in the back, tensed as well, not daring to make a move.
"That doesn't sound like a question you'd normally ask," Kojin said calmly. "Shouldn't I be asking why you pirates are here?"
Law's expression tightened. "The Celestial Dragon incident actually brought 'you' here?"
"I'm an Admiral at Marine Headquarters now." Kojin leaned forward slightly, looking down at Law.
From this distance, he could see the sweat dripping down Law's jaw and feel the absolute tension radiating off him.
"Your little pirate game ends here, Law. I didn't save you back then just for you to grow up into some criminal doing whatever he pleases."
Law instinctively stepped back, his hand gripping the hilt of Kikoku. "Being a pirate doesn't automatically make you an evil bastard."
Kojin laughed, blatant mockery in his eyes.
"That kind of naive thinking makes me wonder who rubbed off on you." He slowly straightened, his gaze turning cold. "You're not going to surrender? In that case… you'll have to suffer a little first."
Law drew his sword and locked eyes with Kojin in total concentration. He knew what would happen if Kojin actually fought them: they would be wiped out completely. Even so, there was no alternative. If they wanted even a sliver of a chance to escape, they had to fight.
In the very next instant, a violent wind slammed into Law's face. It happened so fast he didn't even have time to react.
Kojin's leg swept through the air like a whip.
'Bang!'
The kick smashed square into Law's abdomen, the raw force blasting him backward instantly.
(End of Chapter)
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