"Captain." Silvers Rayleigh stared at the devouring void, stunned.
"What a terrifying move. It even swallowed Garp's proudest barrage." Gol D. Roger drew a steadying breath, shock shading his voice.
Roger knew Vice Admiral Garp's true weight. Title aside, the man's combat power had long surpassed the vice admiral tier. Even most admirals could not outfight him. If you were being precise, you would call Garp marshal class.
And yet Rakuya had unraveled Garp's ultimate volley without a scratch.
That result rattled both Garp and Roger.
"Rayleigh, move." Roger seized the opening, sent Bastille flying with a crescent of sword aura, and barked his order.
"Aye, Captain." Rayleigh agreed at once and carved a path through the Marines.
"Out of my way." Roger's western blade swept out. A blue arc cleaved the air and slammed into the Marine line with crushing momentum.
"Fall back."
"Fall back."
Marines trembled where they stood, faces blanching as they scattered. The formation collapsed in an instant.
"Roger, you won't get away." Garp glared after the retreating figure and snapped at three vice admirals, "Intercept them. Don't let Roger slip the net."
"Yes, sir."
Bastille, Momonga, and Onigumo answered in unison. Garp might be a vice admiral on paper, but within the Marines his authority was unquestioned. Even Fleet Admiral Kong gave him a wide berth when he was in a mood.
"Shave."
"Moonwalk."
"Finger Pistol."
The three vice admirals unleashed the Rokushiki, surging at Roger.
Roger stood his ground, Observation Haki already unfurled. Bastille came on with a broken greatsword, Momonga and Onigumo with their blades drawn.
They were no pushovers. But before Roger, they were outclassed.
He flowed like a phantom, slipping through a net with no gaps, reading each strike and ghosting past it.
"He dodged all of it?"
"Impossible."
In his light-purple pinstripe suit and dark-blue shirt, tie straight, mohawk bristling, Vice Admiral Momonga felt his scalp go numb. He knew Roger was strong, but to dance through three vice admirals as if strolling a garden beggared belief.
Bullets and slashes filled the air. Roger wove between them with precise, almost playful grace. Marines could only stare.
"That movement and foresight are at the pinnacle."
Bastille saw enough to know.
"To hear the voice of all things… only Roger's Observation Haki reaches this far."
It was a whispered legend in Marine HQ: push Observation to the extreme and you could hear the voices of all things, predicting motions perfectly, even catching the murmur of the world itself.
Now the three vice admirals tasted that legend for themselves.
Another sweep of Roger's blade and Onigumo was forced back, a fresh wound burning along his ribs. He gritted his teeth against the pain.
"He's this strong?"
"Kids, I don't have time to play. My crew is still in the fire. So this is goodbye." Roger turned with an easy flourish and vanished with Rayleigh at his side, leaving the Marines in the dust.
"Stop, Roger." Garp roared.
"All units, full pursuit."
"Momonga, Bastille, hold him. Don't let him leave Sabaody."
"Yes, sir."
Garp's command cracked like thunder. Marines rallied and opened fire.
The bullets never reached. Roger slipped past them without breaking stride.
"Gone already?" Watching Roger pull out, Rakuya lost any interest in lingering. He glanced at Garp and said, "Vice Admiral Garp, take a message to your fleet admiral. Prepare fifty billion... no, I just bagged Sengoku, so the price changes."
He tapped his chin, then smiled. "Make it eighty billion. In five days I'll be in the New World waiting. You can choose not to come. If you don't, I'll feed your backbone officers to the Sea Kings."
He closed his hand. The black hole winked out.
"You dare extort the Marines?"
Garp's eyes bulged. Rage shook his voice.
"Hey now, don't look at me like that. I'm the creditor here." Rakuya's smile didn't budge.
"Hmph. The Marines won't pay you a single beri. We'll capture you instead. On Sabaody, there's nowhere to run." Garp's confidence rang like iron.
All he had to do was stall this upstart. Once reinforcements arrived with seastone, they would clamp Rakuya's power and the rest would be easy.
"On what basis do you say I can't escape?" Rakuya asked mildly.
"You're a Devil Fruit user. Once Headquarters arrives and we slap seastone on you, how do you run? Sabaody is already under a full Marine cordon. No sky, no earth. You're getting caught here, period."
"Heh."
Rakuya chuckled. "You're wrong, Garp. Spectacularly wrong. First, I'm not a Devil Fruit user. Your precious seastone does nothing to me."
"Second, even if every last Marine from HQ shows up, you still won't be my match."
"Arrogant." Garp spat the word.
"I don't owe you an explanation." Rakuya lifted into the air on a cushion of repulsive force. In a blink he was a hundred meters away, hovering.
"Remember my words, Garp. Five days. New World."
His voice rolled across Grove 1 like a gauntlet thrown.
"Damn it. Another one who flies like the Float-Float man. So other than Shiki, this kid can also take to the sky. Troublesome." Garp stared up, shock riding the edges of his fury. He could only watch Rakuya climb. He had no wings. How was he supposed to grab a man in the clouds?
"Roger."
If one quarry slipped the noose, Garp would vent that helpless anger on the other.
"Great. More trouble. Damn creep." Roger flushed with exasperation and sprinted for the coating yard where the Oro Jackson awaited her bubbles.
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