However, even after Tesoro had leveled up, the power gap between him and Koala was still vast.
The kick made his arm crack, his bones almost breaking.
He endured the pain, grabbed a stone statue nearby, and smashed it fiercely towards Koala.
With a crash, the stone statue hit the ground, but Koala had already vanished.
Just then, his faint Observation Haki suddenly gave him a warning.
Tesoro instantly rolled forward, attempting to dodge the attack from behind him.
But it was already too late.
Koala had appeared behind him at some point, delivering a punch to his spine.
Tesoro fell forward, spitting out a large mouthful of blood, lying on the ground, struggling to get up.
But the force of Koala's blow was far more than he could withstand; he twisted for a long time but couldn't get off the ground.
Koala walked over to Tesoro, raised her foot, which was glinting with dazzling golden light, and turned to ask Blake:
"Your Highness, should I kill him?"
Blake turned his head to look in Stella's direction.
He saw the latter slightly turn her head away, not looking at the location of the fight.
Seeing this, Blake nodded in satisfaction.
Clearly, Stella had made her choice.
On one hand, the two had, after all, encouraged each other through music during their most difficult times, becoming close friends.
But not to mention this life, even in the original story, their relationship had not reached the level of lovers.
On the other hand, Tesoro came here at great risk to rescue her.
However, Stella had lived in Blake's manor for many years and had long considered herself a part of the manor, even its housekeeper.
It could be said that in Blake's manor, aside from Blake, the Celestial Dragon, Stella wielded the most actual power.
She didn't need anyone to rescue her at all.
Tesoro's actions today were undoubtedly a serious offense to Blake.
So no matter what Blake's final decision was, Stella would not intercede.
Just as Blake was about to imprison Tesoro and send him to be Kyros's cellmate, a figure suddenly sped from a distance.
A thousand meters were covered in an instant, and he arrived before Koala almost immediately.
The newcomer raised his foot, his slipper heading straight for Koala's face.
However, Koala's Observation Haki mastery was not weak; she reacted quickly, disappearing from her spot in a flash.
Retreating ten meters away, Koala looked at the newcomer with a solemn expression.
The newcomer wore a white trench coat on his upper body, leopard print capri pants on his lower body, and flip-flops on his feet.
His grizzled, curly long hair was styled into a basketball player's hairstyle, there was a scar over his right eye, and he wore round-rimmed glasses on his face.
Seeing this, Blake slapped the table, pointed one hand at Koala, and burst into laughter:
"Hahahaha..."
"I told you to keep one foot raised for half an episode, and look, Rayleigh came."
Blake's laughter left everyone puzzled, unsure what he was laughing about.
However, the scene just now was so similar to Rayleigh saving Zoro from Kizaru's foot that Blake simply couldn't hold back.
After laughing for a while, Blake stood up:
"I didn't expect Dragon to even bring you out."
"The number two figure on Roger's ship—Silvers Rayleigh."
"But instead of looking for the God's Knights or the Gorosei, you secretly ran to me."
"It's for Hancock, isn't it?"
"What? Did you gain experience from stealing back in God Valley?"
Rayleigh's originally relaxed expression immediately became serious:
"It seems you know quite a lot..."
Originally, in Rayleigh's view, this was a very simple mission.
As long as he didn't unluckily encounter strong opponents during the process, it would most likely be completed smoothly.
Unexpectedly, this Celestial Dragon in front of him also seemed to be no simple character.
Facing Rayleigh's confusion, Blake, however, seemed very patient:
"Which part is Mr. Rayleigh referring to?"
"God Valley? Hancock? Or Dragon?"
"It doesn't matter, I can answer all of them."
"Mr. Rayleigh is, after all, an old senior on the high seas."
"A small wish before death, I can still fulfill it."
Blake's words carried a condescending mockery, but Rayleigh was, after all, a seasoned old pirate who had weathered many storms.
His mindset remained unchanged; instead, he said with a smile:
"I want to know all of it. Could this young Celestial Dragon gentleman enlighten me?"
Made silent for a moment by Rayleigh's shameless demeanor, Blake's face then also broke into a smile:
"No problem, their battle won't end anytime soon, we have plenty of time."
His finger traced the Celestial Dragon emblem on the armchair:
"With Mr. Rayleigh and Ms. Shakky living so openly on Sabaody Archipelago, it's hard for me not to hear some news."
"Honestly, if I were Garling, I would have killed you long ago."
"Knowing this, I also know the relationship between you and Amazon Lily."
"At such a sensitive time, I can't think of any other reason that would make the Pirate King's First Mate risk coming to me."
"As for Dragon's Revolutionary Army..."
Blake glanced in Ginny's direction, seeing her biting her lip, her face pale.
He chuckled lightly and continued:
"It's shameful to say, but I actually contributed a little, insignificant bit to that."
As soon as these words were spoken, Rayleigh's eyes narrowed behind his round-rimmed glasses, and Ginny's body even began to sway, her eyes wide, looking at Blake in disbelief.
She had always thought she had hidden herself well, believing that the intelligence from that night was just an accident.
Ginny suddenly thought, if all of this was the planning of the person before her, why would he induce the Revolutionary Army to attack Mary Geoise?
But whatever Blake's purpose was, it was absolutely not a good thing for the Revolutionary Army.
Thinking of this, Ginny tried to fumble for her transponder snail with trembling hands, but couldn't hold it steady, and accidentally, the transponder snail fell to the ground.
"Oh? Sister Ginny, you dropped your item."
Perona was right beside Ginny, reached out, picked up the transponder snail, and grinned at her.
Ginny instantly felt like she had fallen into an ice cave.
Rayleigh fell silent for a long time at these words, standing at the boundary of light and shadow, making his expression unreadable.
After a long while, a gleam reflected off his glasses:
"It seems this young gentleman's schemes are not small. The old man still doesn't know the young gentleman's name?"
"Hilbert Blake, you can call me Saint Blake."
Blake's face still held a relaxed smile.
His increase in strength gave him the confidence to face anything.
Not to mention Rayleigh, even if Imu personally acted, the current Blake, while perhaps not able to win, would at least have no difficulty escaping.
After all, Rocks could escape from Imu's grasp; he must be stronger than Rocks now, right?
Coupled with the fact that Mary Geoise was filled with battles tonight, and the range of Observation Haki was severely limited, it was even less likely that anyone would notice the situation at the manor.
Rayleigh, no matter what, was doomed today.
Thinking of this, Blake suddenly realized, was he perhaps falling into the trope of villains dying because they talk too much?