Chapter 153 Rayleigh, the Dark King, blocks Luffy's way.Even if they were all dead now, Whitebeard, for the sake of his so-called "family" and the face of the Four Emperors, had to fight this battle.
If he didn't even utter a sound when his men were captured, the Whitebeard Pirates would crumble. Who would dare follow a leader who couldn't even protect his underlings?
The fleet quickly crossed the Calm Belt and arrived before the magnificent Gate of Justice.
The massive steel gates roared open, and eleven warships, surrounding Hancock's Perfume Serpent, entered the turbulent special current one by one.
Just then, something unexpected happened.
The lookout on the warship's mast froze, rubbing his eyes in disbelief.
Then his eyes widened, staring intently at the strange little black dot on the surface of the sea.
"Vice Admiral Luffy! Vice Admiral Luffy! There's...there's someone swimming in the sea!!"
The people on deck stared at the lookout as if he were a fool.
"Are you out of your mind? This is where the calm zone meets the currents, there's not even an island to land on, who can swim in a place like this?"
The lookout's voice cracked with anxiety as he pointed into the distance and shouted.
"It's true! He's already swum to the escort ship!"
Before the words even finished, the outermost warship of the fleet suddenly exploded into a fireball without warning.
"BOOM—!"
The massive warship snapped in two like building blocks, and countless sailors cried out as they jumped into the sea, fearing they would be swept into the deep water by the whirlpool created by the sinking ship.
Amidst the chaos, a soaking wet figure leaped high from the waves and landed steadily on the sinking deck.
Several vice admirals, upon seeing the person's face, nearly dropped their jaws in shock.
"Dark King...Silbaz Rayleigh?!"
Yes, standing there at this moment was none other than the legendary right-hand man of the Pirate King, the living legend, Dark King Rayleigh!
He was shirtless, casually wrung out his soaking wet trousers, and gave the terrified vice admirals a kind smile.
"I'm really sorry, could you please do me the favor and hand over those children you're escorting?"
"Don't joke around!"
Onigumo's forehead veins bulged as he roared at Rayleigh.
"Rayleigh! Do you know what you're doing? You're going to side with Whitebeard and go to war with the World Government?"
"Don't think we can't find you. We've kept to ourselves for so many years, and you're actually going to return to the world of pirates for Whitebeard?"
Rayleigh laughed heartily, his demeanor like that of an old man strolling in a park.
"Young man, don't get so hot-tempered. This old man is just doing what he's asked of me."
"Besides, I still have some personal grudges with your leader, Luffy... Don't worry, I only save people, I don't kill."
With that, Rayleigh stomped on the deck beneath his feet, shattered it, grabbed a plank and hurled it like a dart at another warship, then leaped after it.
In the blink of an eye, the second warship followed suit, slowly sinking amidst the explosion.
It was exactly 2 PM. Although past its peak midday heat, the power granted to Luffy by the Escanor template was still terrifyingly formidable.
Watching his fleet being dismantled like a toy, Luffy expressionlessly reached into the void.
A massive, one-handed axe with an exaggerated design—the Divine Axe Rita—was pulled out and slung heavily over his broad shoulder.
"Repent to me, Rayleigh."
Luffy's eyes gleamed with the arrogance of a god looking down upon ants.
"For daring to appear in my world."
The next second, the deck beneath Luffy's feet shattered into dust, and he shot out as a golden streak of light!
"Spare me, young people these days have no respect for elders."
Rayleigh spoke casually, but his eyes instantly sharpened.
He drew his longsword with lightning speed and charged at Luffy without fear.
Dark Armament Haki instantly enveloped the sword, and the black blade clashed violently with the Divine Axe in mid-air.
"What?!"
The moment they made contact, Rayleigh's expression changed drastically.
The axe, though devoid of any Haki, carried a terrifying, monstrous strength that even made his heart tremble.
"Boom!"
Rayleigh was sent flying like a cannonball, smashing into the wreckage of an abandoned warship and shattering it.
A keen-eyed observer would have noticed a layer of almost invisible, transparent magical energy separating the axe from Rayleigh's sword.
The onlookers, including several vice admirals, gaped in disbelief.
That was the legendary Dark King, Rayleigh!
A top-tier fighter capable of going toe-to-toe with a Marine Admiral, yet Luffy had overwhelmed him in a single exchange?
Luffy, wielding the axe in one hand, stood firmly on the turbulent sea, his feet imbued with chakra, radiating a suffocatingly powerful aura.
"I thought you were a smart guy, Rayleigh. Now it seems you're not only stupid, but your luck is absolutely terrible."
Luffy looked at the figure crawling out of the ruins, his tone full of disdain.
"You deliberately came to this death trap to die? You swam here from the Gate of Justice I destroyed on Enies Lobby, didn't you?"
Since the destruction of Enies Lobby, the mechanism controlling the Gate of Justice has been malfunctioning, and the gate has remained open due to the Buster Call.
Clearly, Rayleigh had taken advantage of this loophole to swim into this government-controlled current.
With a splash, Rayleigh pushed aside the broken planks covering him and stood up.
Although he looked a bit disheveled, he dusted himself off, seemingly unharmed.
"No wonder you're the monster who could bring Ace back. But your strength is quite different from what Ace described."
Rayleigh shook his numb arm, a hint of surprise in his eyes.
He came to repay a favor to Ace and, incidentally, to teach the guy who killed Hachi a lesson.
He initially thought Luffy was a user of the Ice-Ice Fruit like Aokiji, but it seems the information was completely wrong.
However, since he was already there, Rayleigh wasn't afraid. As Kaido said, Haki is the power that transcends everything.
Moreover, Rayleigh's swimming skills are unparalleled; he can even swim across Amazon Lily in the Calm Belt. This little bit of water is no different from flat land to him.
Rayleigh once again wrapped his sword with Haki, pushed off with his feet, and flew towards Luffy like a large bird skimming the surface of the sea.
Luffy glanced at the stunned Onigumo and the others beside him and cursed angrily.
"What are you looking at! Hurry up and send men to pull the drowning soldiers out!"
Several lieutenant generals jolted awake, finally snapping out of their daze and directing the rescue.
Luffy traversed the waves as if walking on flat ground, heading towards Rayleigh. With the sun setting, his strength was dwindling every second; he needed to finish this quickly.