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As Gion left, Ikki said goodbye to Magellan.
Soon, the Explorer began to descend under Nami's command, heading toward Fish-Man Island in the 10,000-meter-deep sea.
"What are you thinking about, Tashigi? So lost in thought?"
After the ship was completely submerged, Ikki walked up to Tashigi and put his hand on her shoulder.
"No... nothing."
Tashigi looked at Ikki with complicated eyes, then lowered her head.
The mood that originally wanted to see Ikki as soon as possible suddenly became tangled after learning about the relationship between Ikki and Gion.
"Don't think too much, Tashigi. Aren't you here to learn swordsmanship? No matter what, let's focus on getting stronger."
"Let's go, let's continue the flexibility training from before. It just so happens that Sadi-chan wants to learn the swordsmanship of Love Breathing, which also requires flexibility training."
Ikki probably guessed what Tashigi was thinking and patted her shoulder.
Tashigi took a deep breath and clenched her fists slightly.
'That's right, no matter what, I must first become stronger.'
'I'll think about what happens next later.'
Tashigi patted her face and her eyes became serious again.
Seeing Tashigi return to her previous state, Ikki nodded and held Hina's arm with his free left hand.
"Let's go, don't stay outside for too long. Be careful of the loss of life force - that beautiful pink hair will turn gray."
"Tch, you don't need to worry about it. Even if Hina's hair turns gray, it won't have any impact."
"Really? What if your hair turns gray and wrinkles appear on your face? Gion used to have wrinkles."
"Tsk!" Hina clicked her tongue and gave Ikki a very unhappy look.
After a slight hesitation, she said:
"Hina has been in the hot spring for several hours. Can't Hina stay outside for a while?"
"It's... not impossible." Ikki shrugged. "Well, I'll activate my Innate Demon Slayer Mark and stay outside with you for a while. By the way, you can also participate in Tashigi and Sadi-chan's training."
After saying that, Ikki activated his Innate Demon Slayer Mark, supported Hina with one hand and guided Tashigi toward the cabin.
Sadi-chan, who fell behind, looked at the backs of the three. She always felt that there was a strange atmosphere surrounding these three people standing together.
'Tashigi, a little girl who likes Ikki, and Hina, who hates Ikki but... ate something she shouldn't have.'
'Speaking of which, Ikki doesn't know about that yet.'
'I wonder what Ikki's expression will be like when he finds out about this.'
Thinking of this, Sadi-chan had a little mischievous smile on her face, like a naughty little devil.
"Sadi-chan, what are you thinking about? If you don't come here, I won't teach you."
At this time, Ikki's voice reached Sadi-chan's ears.
"I'll be right there, Teacher Ikki!"
Sadi-chan waved her hand and followed quickly with quick steps.
Suddenly, only Nami, Perona, and Vivi, who were responsible for controlling the voyage of the Explorer, were left on the deck.
At the same time, on the other side.
Sabaody Archipelago.
Shakky's Rip-off Bar.
"The actions of the Marines and the Whitebeard Pirates are really significant. It seems that a battle between the two parties is impossible to avoid."
"Rayleigh, your old friend is going to fight at Marine Headquarters. Don't you have any ideas?"
Shakky put down the information she had just obtained and turned to look at Rayleigh, who was frowning.
"Shakky, you know I don't have time to pay attention to the Whitebeard Pirates right now."
Rayleigh shook her head and sighed softly.
"Still thinking about what Ikki said?"
Shakky handed Rayleigh a glass of wine.
"Yeah, that man said that a big event will happen around Roger's son recently, but I really can't think of any big event happening around Luffy."
"Luffy... Roger's son!" Shakky held her chin in one hand and suddenly raised her head to look at the door of the bar.
After seeing the figure pushing open the door, she smiled.
"Rayleigh, maybe we don't have to think about these things anymore. Someone will give us the answer to this."
"Whether Luffy is Roger's son, we can find out now."
Upon hearing this, Rayleigh immediately realized something and quickly turned around and looked behind him.
Sure enough, standing there was exactly the person he wanted to see.
"Straw Hat Luffy, it is indeed you."
Rayleigh stood up, and his eyes as sharp as knives fell on Luffy and his group.
"Uncle, do you know me?"
Luffy held down his hat and showed a big smile to Rayleigh and Shakky.
Behind him were Zoro and Sanji, holding three swords.
"Haha, the last supernova Monkey D. Luffy, how could I not know you? Before you, all the supernova pirates with a bounty of over 100 million have come to this island and left."
"Luffy, the hat on your head was given to you by Shanks."
Rayleigh smiled and planned to bring up Shanks directly to draw the relationship between himself and Luffy closer.
In this way, he could get information out of Luffy.
"Uncle, do you know Shanks? Who are you?"
Sure enough, Straw Hat became interested.
"You can call me Rayleigh. I was on a ship with Shanks."
As soon as these words came out, everyone in the Straw Hat Pirates except Luffy was shocked.
Rayleigh did not hesitate and directly presented some factual evidence to convince the Straw Hat Pirates to recognize his identity.
"I didn't expect that I would meet a great person from the past here."
Zoro's eyes were shining as he looked at Rayleigh solemnly.
"What big shot. I'm just a retired old man. Not long ago, a young man took away my old friend who has been following me for decades."
Rayleigh waved her hand and said nonchalantly.
"Your sword... was taken away?" Zoro's eyes widened. "Rayleigh, was that man Ikki?"
"Ikki? You know him too?" Rayleigh looked at Zoro with interest, his gaze falling on the sword at Zoro's waist. "That sword? Speaking of which, that guy Ikki used the three-sword style when he fought with me. Is there any relationship between you and him?"
"Of course!" Zoro gritted his teeth with a fierce expression. "That man stole my sword, and I've been looking for him. As for the three-sword style you mentioned, that guy learned it after fighting me once."
"Oh, that's it! Did he actually learn his three-sword style from you? "
"Rayleigh, can I ask you a favor?"
"What's up?"
"You've fought Ikki. Can you tell me how powerful he is now? How far has he developed the Three Sword Style?"
"Well... even if he doesn't rely on the special swords in his hands, he's still a very powerful swordsman. As for the three-sword style, he uses it very skillfully and caused me a lot of trouble. To be honest, there's a long way to go between you and him now."
Rayleigh had such a sharp eye that she could see the insurmountable gap between Zoro and Ikki at a glance.
Zoro clenched his fists and said:
"Can I compete with you, Rayleigh?"
"Well, if that's what you insist on."
As a swordsman, Rayleigh understood how Zoro felt.
He knew that if he were younger, he would also go to Ikki to get his sword back.
So he didn't mind fighting Zoro.
And the results were obvious.
Outside the bar, Zoro used everything he had learned, but failed to break through Rayleigh's defense.
Rayleigh easily knocked him to the ground.
"I lost. Ikki can defeat a big shot like you. Even if I use some special abilities, I can't defeat him now."
"But one day, I will surpass that guy."
Zoro clenched the long sword in his hand and said firmly.
In response, Rayleigh said nothing.
Although Zoro had strong willpower, Rayleigh wasn't optimistic that Zoro could defeat Ikki.
"By the way, Rayleigh, can you tell me, how big is the difference between my three sword style and Ikki's three sword style?"
Suddenly, Zoro thought of something and raised his head to ask Rayleigh.
"Well..." Rayleigh hesitated slightly, not knowing whether he should say it or not.
"That's all, let me tell you. That man is indeed a genius in swordsmanship - the three-sword style he uses has many powerful moves!"
"If you hadn't said that you developed the Three Sword Style, I would have thought that you learned it from him."
Zoro: "..."
Tired, destroy it.
At this moment, Zoro felt the malice of the world.
"Next, it's your turn to help me."
Rayleigh put away the long sword in her hand and turned to look at Luffy.
"Help? Rayleigh, how do you need our help?"
Luffy asked as he followed Rayleigh toward the bar.
Rayleigh waved her hand and said nothing until everyone was brought into the bar again.
"Luffy, Ikki once told me that Roger has a son and gave me some clues. After analysis by Shakky and me, we speculated that Roger's son was taken in by Garp."
"And you, Monkey D. Luffy, are the grandson of Monkey D. Garp. I want to know, are you really Garp's grandson? Or are you Roger's son?"
After saying that, Rayleigh's eyes became extremely sharp.
Luffy's crewmates' eyes widened in an instant.
Only Luffy still looked calm.
"Roger's son? You mean Ace?"
"Ace?" Rayleigh was stunned, but soon, recent major news flashed through his mind. "Is the Ace you're talking about Fire Fist Ace, the captain of the second division of the Whitebeard Pirates?"
"Yes, it's Ace!" Luffy showed a big smile. "Ace and I are brothers and grew up together! He once told me that he's Roger's son."
Although it was a secret that Ace was Roger's son, since the person opposite was Rayleigh, Luffy didn't think much about it and directly told him about Ace.
Rayleigh's eyes widened and his whole body began to tremble slightly.
"That's it, that's it! It's connected, everything is connected. Ace has been on the front page of the news lately."
"He was indeed raised by Garp. In fact, something big is about to happen around him. That guy Ikki didn't lie to me - if I didn't get this news, I would definitely regret it in the future."
Rayleigh murmured. Luffy's words and Ikki's information made Rayleigh instantly identify Ace's identity.
Shakky glanced at Rayleigh worriedly.
At this moment, she understood that Rayleigh's retired life might be coming to an end.
"Rayleigh, what's wrong with you? What will you regret? What happened to Ace?"
Luffy looked at Rayleigh strangely.
Rayleigh did not speak, still immersed in the information he had just received.
On the side, Shakky duly handed a newspaper into Luffy's hand.
A few seconds later, a cry of shock spread in the bar.
"What? Ace is going to be publicly executed? How is that possible?!"
After Luffy exclaimed, Sanji, Zoro and the others gathered around.
After seeing the news about Ace in the newspaper, everyone was stunned on the spot.
"No, I have to save Ace!"
Luffy put down the newspaper, turned around and planned to rush out of the bar.
"Wait, Luffy." Rayleigh held Luffy's shoulders. "I will also be involved in rescuing Ace. Don't be too impulsive - you're too weak now."
"We need to plan well. At least, I want you to become stronger! Without strong power, not only will there be no way to rescue Ace, but you'll also be trapped."
"If you're determined to become stronger, although the time is short, I can help you and your crewmates!"
Ikki didn't know about Rayleigh and Luffy.
At the moment, he was busy guiding Tashigi, Sadi-chan and Hina.
"Love Breathing uses flexible swords, and it's almost like a whip when wielded. This sword of mine is made of special Dial materials."
"It can transform between a sword and a whip sword, and I got it from Sky Island. I'll let you use it, Sadi-chan."
With that said, Ikki handed the long sword obtained from the Sky Island priest into Sadi-chan's hand.
"Thank... thank you, Ikki."
Sadi-chan took the sword while maintaining a straight posture.
Ikki nodded and walked behind Hina, who insisted on exercising flexibility with Sadi-chan and Tashigi, trying to lower her waist to perform a split.
"Ikki, what do you want to do?"
Hina frowned.
"It's nothing. I see you're having such a difficult time, so I just want to help you."
Ikki smiled, put his hands on Hina's shoulders and pressed down.
The next moment, a stinging pain spread from the ligaments of Hina's legs to her mind.