In an instant, urgency spilled out of Rayleigh's voice as he turned to Enel and asked,
"Enel, the D you mentioned… what exactly is it?"
That reaction stunned everyone.
After all, Rayleigh had always been calm no matter the situation. It was rare to see him so visibly shaken.
Enel was confused, but he still answered honestly.
"Oh, it was back in the Drum Kingdom. That old hag, Dr. Kureha, mentioned it. She said Yemu might be part of some D clan or something. Why? Is there something strange about it?"
Rayleigh's expression froze completely. Then his brows drew together tightly.
Everyone else was left utterly bewildered by his reaction.
Flare searched her memory and spoke up.
"Rayleigh-san, is there something unusual about this D clan? Now that I think about it, Dr. Kureha also mentioned miracles… Tiger-san, do you know anything about this?"
Tiger hesitated, recalling what had happened in the Drum Kingdom before answering.
"I don't know much either. I only remember reading in a book that the D clan is called the natural enemy of the gods."
"The natural enemy of the gods?!"
That unbelievable title made everyone aboard the ship, for the first time, truly pay attention to an identity they had long overlooked: their captain's.
Rayleigh suddenly asked,
"Does Yemu know about this?"
"Well…"
Enel hesitated slightly and glanced at Flare.
"Did you tell Yemu?"
Flare froze, then her eyes widened in shock.
"Wait, he doesn't know? I thought he already did."
"Uh… he never mentioned anything to me. What about you, Tiger? Did you tell him?"
Tiger scratched his head awkwardly.
"I thought the captain just didn't want us to know…"
At that point, the answer was obvious.
Rayleigh came back to himself and turned his gaze toward the battlefield. But this time, the way he looked at Yemu was completely different.
Only the Kuja warriors remained confused from start to finish, having no idea what everyone else was talking about.
...
The sound of collapsing rock rang out.
As the dust slowly settled, Galahad Anne emerged from the pitch-black cavern, a dark aura rolling off her body.
Yemu's strike had clearly done something. A thin line of crimson blood slid from the corner of Galahad Anne's mouth.
But that was all.
She calmly wiped it away with her slender fingers, her eyes narrowing slightly.
The smile she always wore vanished completely, replaced by an expression so cold it was terrifying.
Before Yemu could say anything, a low, ominous voice echoed out.
"Demon Bind: Great Black Heaven."
In an instant, Galahad Anne's flowing hair, which had hung down to her waist, lifted into the air and began to grow at a frightening speed.
Wrapped in pitch-black Armament Haki, it transformed into countless razor-sharp needles, spreading across the sky like an inescapable net.
"Hey, hey, what kind of terrifying technique is that?!"
In the distance, Galahad Anne had completely transformed, like a long-haired witch radiating a sinister, oppressive presence.
In the blink of an eye, the sky itself seemed swallowed by blackness, threatening to engulf Yemu entirely.
...
This scene instantly pulled everyone's attention away from the talk of D and back to the battlefield.
At the edge of the volcano's crater, Gloriosa watched what was unfolding, her expression turning grim.
"This is bad. Anne looks like she's truly angry now."
"Huh? Gloriosa? What do you mean? Is there something special about this move?"
Gloriosa frowned deeply and explained,
"Yes. This is a secret technique of Amazon Lily. By controlling changes in the body, it allows the hair to grow at an incredible speed."
"Anne combined this technique with her Haki to create Great Black Heaven."
"In her previous state, she was still using her Haki mainly for defense. But now, she has completely abandoned defense and shifted entirely to offense, because at this point, she doesn't need defense at all."
"Once powerful Armament Haki is wrapped around every single strand of hair, it all turns into indestructible long needles. This is an attack that can pierce even Armament Haki itself, and with such a flexible attack range, it's practically impossible to defend against."
Almost as if to confirm her words, under everyone's gaze, Galahad Anne's attack descended.
Black needles formed from her hair filled the sky, raining down in a dense swarm.
Their terrifying penetrating power shattered everything in their path.
Even splashes of scorching magma failed to damage those black needles in the slightest.
At the center of the battlefield, Yemu could only keep running and dodging as he watched this unfold.
"So this is the depth of Anne's Haki! Even something as soft and fragile as hair, once wrapped in her Armament Haki, isn't afraid of magma at all!"
This truly left everyone stunned.
At that moment, one of the Kuja warriors nearby spoke up unhappily.
"Hey, Gloriosa, isn't it a bit much to explain our empress's power in such detail to people who aren't clearly allies?"
Gloriosa immediately fell silent, her face filled with awkward embarrassment.
Meanwhile, in the middle of the battlefield, Yemu had fully realized just how dangerous this technique was.
Trying to endure it head-on with his body was obviously a foolish choice.
"Then I've got no other option!"
Yemu drew Shishimaru from his waist. Facing the black needles pouring down from all directions, he wrapped the blade in Armament Haki and swung with all his strength.
"Boom…"
...
"How is that possible?! Anne-sama's Great Black Heaven was blocked again!"
It was clearly visible that as Yemu's powerful slash swept out, the overwhelming barrage of sharp black needles rushing toward him was stopped midair by that single strike.
The ones who found this hardest to accept were the Kuja warriors.
They knew better than anyone how destructive their empress's technique was.
If it had been blocked by that man named Rayleigh, they might have been able to accept it. But this man…
This was already the second time today that the power of the empress they took such pride in had been thwarted.
"What kind of monster is this kid?"
Gloriosa, with all her experience, naturally understood how terrifying Yemu's strike was. And precisely because of that, she found it even harder to comprehend.
He looked so young, yet his Devil Fruit abilities, physical techniques, Haki, and swordsmanship were all so powerful. Was this really something a human could achieve?
Even Anne, who possessed such overwhelming strength, had only reached her current level after nearly twenty years of training and battle. And yet this kid looked so young…
Rayleigh's brows were tightly knit.
Before today, he had only regarded Yemu as a freak with exceptional talent.
After all, monsters like that weren't rare in this world. The most famous example was the Big Mom pirate crew's captain, Charlotte Linlin, whose raw power as a child had been enough to wipe out an entire country on her own.
But now that he knew Yemu was one of the D clan, Rayleigh's perspective had completely changed.
And when he thought back to what had happened on Skypiea, countless thoughts surged through his mind.
As for Erik, the swordsman, his reaction was far simpler. Watching this scene, he couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
"As expected of the captain. His physical techniques are already terrifying, and now even his swordsmanship is this strong. No, I can't slack off. I have to train twice as hard, or the gap between me and the captain will just keep growing!"