"Enemy attack!!!"
Buggy stared at the pirate fleet dropping from the sky and shouted in a panic, but his voice cut off at once—
a big hand clapped over his head. It was Captain Roger.
"Calm down, Buggy—prepare for battle!"
He looked up into Roger's ever-unflappable face.
"Long time no see!!! Shiki!!"
"Roger!!!"
Among a dozen-odd warships, upon the flagship whose prow bore a golden lion's head, a blond man stood with hair streaming.
"Now that's a true pirate…"
Even from a distance, Aos felt the pressure of a top-tier powerhouse.
Former officer of the Rocks Pirates, one of the three rulers of the New World—
Shiki the Golden Lion!!!
"How many times have I said this, Roger!" Robe billowing, a cigar clamped in his teeth, Shiki boomed with swagger: "We had our spats when we were young—forget them!"
"With that world-ending weapon whose whereabouts you know, plus my forces and my plan, we can rule the world. Be my right—"
"Bang—"
Before he could finish, a gunshot cut him off.
Who?
Who dared interrupt the Governor's speech—surely they'd be killed!
The rank-and-file of the Golden Lion Pirates broke out in cold sweat and looked toward the source of the shot.
"Ah… so it really won't work?" A sigh sounded from beside Roger.
In the next instant—on Shiki's Armament-hardened face—
a jet-black bullet was still spinning. Only when it spent the last of its momentum did it slip into the sea.
Shiki's words died on his tongue. Veins bulged on his forehead as his gaze snapped to the figure at Roger's side:
a long-haired youth in uniform, a long gun in hand, its muzzle still wreathed in wisps of smoke.
"Bastard!!!"
"You're dead!!!"
A chorus of fear and fury rose from the Golden Lion fleet—this was a grave affront to the Governor's dignity.
But the loudest mouths couldn't escape Aos's Kenbunshoku lock; they were picked off one by one.
Red light flared in his pupils, and with it came a string of crimson muzzles.
Armament-infused bullets guided by Future Sight—unless your Kenbunshoku surpassed Aos's, you could only meet them with even stronger Busoshoku head-on.
Rank-and-file pirates dropped to a single shot.
"Hahahahaha!!! That's my answer, Shiki!!"
Captain Roger laughed as he spoke.
At those words, Shiki clearly saw red. "So you mean for me to kill you here?"
"I mean to crush every last one of you!!"
Aos had fired the first shot of the war—and then the battle turned ferocious.
He started with a few potshots, and once the enemy ships closed in, he simply drew the long blade at his waist and vanished with a burst of Soru.
Many small fry never even registered a figure—only that slashes had bloomed across their bodies.
A cadre soon came hunting him down.
A hulking brute—looked like some kind of captain in the Golden Lion Pirates; Aos never did remember unfamiliar faces well—
"That brat's actually taking on Captain Dak—he'll be slaughtered for sure!"
The nearby underlings didn't dare approach Aos, but that didn't stop them from talking up their officer.
The size gap said it all:
a 1.6-meter runt versus a 4-meter hulk—just looking at it was lopsided.
But Dak wasn't having an easy time; from this kid he felt a concentrated, lethal danger.
"There's no 'victory' in your future."
Aos held his black blade one-handed. He was young, so his Busoshoku wasn't deep—but he could manage a simple coating.
He chased thrills and fights to temper his Haki—and to make his name roar across the seas.
The grand promises Captain Roger painted for the world? Aos meant to take every last one for himself:
wealth, fame, power…
"Boom—"
The whole deck buckled and heaved; countless pirates went flying. Dak, jet-black with Armament from head to toe, tore through the smoke and drove a fist at Aos.
"Clang—"
When the roiling smoke cleared, the scene wasn't the steamroll the onlookers expected. That slim, uniformed figure stood his ground,
Aos blocking the crushing blow with a single Armament-coated hand!
"Nice power—but you're as slow as a snail."
Contempt laced Aos's voice and face. The arrogance snapped Dak's reason—he went berserk, swinging wildly!
Easier to handle than expected.
Aos's mouth curled into a pleased grin.
Future Sight loves enemies like this—mindless flailing in helpless rage.
Dak's Armament was above his—Aos admitted that much.
So when he felt like brawling, he'd trade punches; when he didn't, he'd footwork and kite.
The quality of his Busoshoku training kept climbing.
Dak, for his part, was boiling with frustration—so heated he was about to stumble into Life Return.
He'd figured that dealing with a brat who'd offended the Governor would earn him credit while avoiding the monsters of the Roger Pirates—a simple job.
Turned out far tougher than he'd thought—and the kid taunted like a pro.
Damn it…
"Urgh—!!!"
He threw another punch and felt it land, a roar ringing out—but his delight froze as something felt wrong.
Cold sweat traced down his temple.
Impossible… how could that kind of brute strength belong to a kid?!
Aos had caught his fist—and when Dak tried to pull free, it wouldn't budge.
The boy's strength dwarfed his own!
Horror filled Dak's eyes; Aos's held only boredom.
"Your purity's still too low. You'd improve your Busoshoku faster getting beaten by the captain,"
"you smog-choked 'Flying' Pirates."
Aos curled his lip—and with incomprehensible brute force whipped Dak bodily through the air, drawing gasps from the nearby lackeys.
Dak bared his teeth, trying to stabilize—no use. He was flung aloft, spinning.
A sudden release—and Dak was hurled onto another ship—
where…
uh,
Scopper Gaban felled him with a single axe stroke.
With that nuisance tossed aside, Aos cut loose. Seeing the nearby rabble mostly cleared, he used Geppo + Soru to flash back toward the Oro Jackson's prow.
Shanks and Buggy were on board, standing back-to-back and facing down the pirates swarming over the rail.
"One-Sword Style: Black Flash!"
A black arc carved the air. Wielding his black blade, Aos hacked his way through the crowd, broke the encirclement, and rejoined the pair.
"Great, it's Aos! Aos, over here—quick!"
The fighting was brutal. Even for an all-elite crew like the Roger Pirates, the endless onslaught was wearing.
The ship's fighters couldn't spare hands to cover three kids at once.
Buggy looked fierce but was trembling inside.
And when Aos cut his way to them now, it was as if he'd brought light itself with him!