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"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested in your bounty, Silvers Rayleigh," Ikki said with a laugh.
"After all, you're the right-hand man of the Pirate King, and the bounty on your head is ridiculously high. Having said that, I didn't come for the bounty on a retired pirate."
"I came to ask if you have any famous swords worth trading for."
"A famous sword, so you want to take my sword from me," Rayleigh said, the corner of his mouth rising as he observed Ikki.
It was natural for him to understand that Ikki was not only a bounty hunter but also a famous sword hunter.
"As you just said, I'm already a retired old man. If possible, I don't want to fight with others."
"As for my sword... although I haven't used it in a long time, it's my old friend after all. I can't give it to you."
Rayleigh smiled and walked toward the auction house door.
As someone familiar with the auction house, he knew it wouldn't be long before investigators arrived. It might be inconvenient to leave at that point.
"You didn't deny that you carry a famous sword," Ikki noted, following Rayleigh.
"How about this—you and I have a fight. If I win, you give me your famous sword. If I lose, I can tell you something you really want to know."
For Ikki, Rayleigh not only possessed a resource called a famous sword but might also hold key insights that could help him advance further in swordsmanship.
As the right-hand man of Pirate King Roger and a sword wielder, Ikki felt that the Rayleigh before him was most likely a swordsman who had reached the Sea-Breaking Realm.
After all, he didn't have Devil Fruit abilities to develop. Apart from training Haki and swordsmanship, Rayleigh had nothing else to occupy his training time.
"Information? Tell me what kind of information I want to know," Rayleigh said, glancing at Ikki with curiosity.
"If I told you now, wouldn't that ruin the surprise?"
"But if you don't say anything, how do I know the information you have is what I want to know?"
"That's true. Then I'd better reveal a little bit," Ikki said, his lips curving upward. "Rayleigh, do you want to know where Roger's son is?"
"What?!" Rayleigh frowned slightly, and the smile disappeared from his face.
"Ikki, what do you mean?"
"Exactly what it sounds like."
"You mean Roger has a son who's still alive in this world, but none of his crewmates know about it?"
"Maybe Roger didn't want to involve you all, so he didn't tell you."
Ikki shrugged and continued, "At the beginning, the Marines and World Government went to great lengths to find people related to Roger. It involved many pregnant women—don't you think that's quite a coincidence?"
"Logically speaking, Roger didn't even have a wife and children while at sea. Even if the Marines wanted to arrest people related to Roger, they shouldn't have gone after those women."
"For them to act like this, don't you think that's enough to prove something?"
Hearing this, Rayleigh frowned even more deeply.
Rayleigh knew about the Marines' search for Roger's bloodline. But at the time, he had just thought the Marines were grasping at straws.
After all, the crew members knew very well that Roger didn't have a wife at all—he hadn't even touched a woman.
"Ikki, why are you so certain?"
After thinking for a while, Rayleigh decided it would be better to ask directly.
"Well, I have my own intelligence network," Ikki replied.
"When I was investigating famous swords, I discovered that after Roger left you all, he met a woman."
"Rayleigh, Roger's son isn't in a good situation right now. Are you sure you don't agree to my conditions?"
"Even if you lose the battle with me, you have nothing to lose. Besides, with your strength, it won't be easy to lose."
Rayleigh's expression became serious, his eyes fixed on Ikki's. There was even a hint of Conqueror's Haki beginning to emanate from him.
When Ikki's companions saw this, they immediately placed their hands on their Zanpakutō and looked at Rayleigh warily.
"Alright, I admit—you've piqued my interest," Rayleigh said.
"I'll accept your challenge and fight you with my old partner. However, after you lose to me, I hope you can give me a satisfactory answer."
"Don't worry, I have no reason to deceive you," Ikki replied.
"Of course, if you want that information, you'll have to beat me first."
Seeing Rayleigh agree, Ikki nodded with satisfaction and informed him of the location where the Explorer was docked.
The two parties separated—Rayleigh headed toward Shakky's Rip-off Bar while Ikki made his way to the Explorer.
"Ikki, do you plan to fight the Pirate King's right-hand man?" Nojiko asked in surprise aboard the Explorer.
"Yeah, and Ikki also said that as long as Silvers Rayleigh wins, he'll tell him about the Pirate King's son," Nami added, crossing her arms and looking at Ikki complainingly.
"Really, saying something like that will definitely make him serious."
She was clearly concerned that Ikki would use such dangerous methods to provoke Rayleigh.
"Ikki, does Pirate King Roger really have a son?" Kalifa asked curiously.
As a former CP9 agent, Kalifa also knew how intensively the Marines and World Government had searched for Roger's bloodline.
Logically, under a search plan that followed the principle of "better to kill the innocent than let the guilty escape," Roger wouldn't have been able to keep any children alive.
"Yes, and that guy is now a big pirate with a bounty of 500 million," Ikki said with a mysterious smile, looking at Nami.
"As for the danger, you don't need to worry. My strength is pretty good, and I plan to use Katen Kyōkotsu against that man. It won't be easy for him to beat me."
"Even if his power is really strong enough to defeat me easily, for the news of Pirate King Roger's son, he won't actually do anything serious to me."
"I'm more concerned about the quality of the sword that Silvers Rayleigh possesses."
After saying this, Ikki looked up at Rayleigh, who was approaching quickly with a long sword not far away.
Next to him was Shakky, the owner of the Rip-off Bar.