Vice Admiral Garp's gloating laughter cracked through the air like a cold iron whip, lashing across Roger's face with a searing sting.
"Garp, you bastard!!"
As the stunned stares of Marines and pirates alike locked onto him, Roger's face flushed red, then paled. His eyes were bloodshot, and he nearly coughed up blood.
"Looks like you really do like red... Roger! Bwahahahaha!!"
Garp winked exaggeratedly as his fist, cloaked in wild Haki, smashed mercilessly toward Roger's face.
Roger fumbled awkwardly to pull up his pants while frantically swinging his sword to block.
Caught off guard, Roger met Garp's meteor-like punch head-on with his famed blade. The force of the second impact surged through him—his mouth filled with a metallic taste as his body shot back like a cannonball, crashing into the Oro Jackson.
BOOM!!
The pirate ship lurched violently. A massive crater tore open the deck, sending wooden splinters flying.
"Bwahahahaha! Roger, your pants fell down!!"
Garp dropped like a meteor, roaring with laughter.
CLANG!!
Through the swirling smoke, sparks flared as fist met blade. A fierce shockwave blasted out from the clash.
"Shut the hell up!!"
Blood trickled from Roger's mouth. His bloodshot eyes locked onto the grinning Vice Admiral, teeth grinding in fury.
Even for someone as rough-edged as Roger, having his pants fall in front of everyone was utterly humiliating.
"Am I wrong? They did fall down! Bwahahaha!!"
Garp suddenly vanished.
Using Soru—one of the Rokushiki—his explosive movement speed was easily ten times that of any average officer!
He moved like a phantom. Neither Marines nor pirates could react in time, and even their Observation Haki barely caught him before he appeared right beside Roger.
"Your underwear's red!"
A punch!
A bloody tooth shot out of Roger's mouth. His face visibly swelled and turned purple as his body crashed into the cabin.
Rayleigh's pupils narrowed slightly.
Garp's taunts had shaken Roger's mindset, weakening his Observation Haki!
"Gaban!" he barked.
"Ready!" came a low voice.
The moment it rang out, Rayleigh shot forward, skimming close to the ground as he charged at Garp.
"Your opponent is me!!"
Behind him, Dragon—bleeding from the mouth—appeared and hurled a fierce, twisting hurricane.
Shiiing!
A cross-shaped axe slash tore through the air, shredding the hurricane.
Wielding two massive axes and wearing sunglasses, Gaban surged from the storm like a tiger. His bulging arms swung down hard toward Dragon.
This guy...! Dragon's eyes narrowed.
The threat he gave off was overwhelming. The aura from those twin axes wasn't any weaker than Rayleigh the Dark King's!
"Damn it!"
Dragon had no choice but to back off. He elementalized into a gust of wind and retreated.
He was already badly wounded from Roger's earlier strike, and after clashing with Rayleigh, his body was at its limit. There was no way he could face a prime Gaban head-on.
"You're not getting away, Roger! Today, I'm bringing you in!"
Garp roared, bulldozing through charging pirates as he rushed for the cabin.
Rayleigh zipped past him, slashing at Garp's lower back with his silver longsword.
CLANG!
Garp reached back and grabbed the blade with a hand clad in Armament Haki, sparks erupting on contact.
"Stay out of this, Rayleigh!!"
Sweat trickled down Rayleigh's forehead. He said coldly,
"This battle ends here, Garp."
"Bullshit!!"
Garp roared, but just then—a figure burst out of the cabin.
"GARP!!"
Roger's black hair flew wildly. His eyes burned red, and in both hands he gripped one of the Twelve Supreme Grade Meito. Black and red lightning crackled around his body, flaring and fading.
A streak of black-red lightning flashed across the deck.
The blade gleamed.
CLANG!!
A blindingly fast slash struck Garp's arms, which were raised in defense.
Garp was sent flying, blood seeping from his lips.
Under the combined force of Rayleigh and Roger's assault, he was blown off the deck with a splash into the sea.
"Retreat!!"
Rayleigh shouted without hesitation, then leaned closer to Roger and spoke urgently.
"Roger, we have to pull back. If we keep fighting, Marine reinforcements could show up any moment."
"Retreat my ass! I'm not satisfied yet!!" Roger shouted, fuming.
Rayleigh ignored the fool and turned back, shouting again:
"Hurry, use it now!!"
"——It's ready!!"
Spencer's voice rang out.
He blinked into view at the stern of the Oro Jackson and pressed a hidden button.
Click, click—
With heavy mechanical groans, planks unfolded at the back of the ship, and a massive cannon slowly extended.
Garp's head broke the surface of the churning sea. As soon as he saw the cannon, a bad feeling washed over him.
His eyes shifted—then he burst into exaggerated laughter:
"Hahahaha! Roger, your pants fell down!!"
Roger's eyes turned blood-red. Steam hissed from his nostrils.
"Damn it! Rayleigh, don't stop me! I'm killing that bastard today!"
Rayleigh, face flushed with frustration, pushed down hard on his captain and roared:
"Fire it—NOW!"
As the words fell...
A white glow built up around the stern cannon of the Oro Jackson.
In the next instant—
With Garp screaming "Jump ship!!" at the top of his lungs, a massive blast of compressed air erupted from the cannon.
The sea directly ahead split open, leaving a massive trench over a hundred meters long.
Fueled by the insane propulsion, the entire pirate ship shot into the air, breaking free of the Marine blockade and soaring off toward the open sea.
...
Splash, splash...
Waves crashed and churned.
Soon, heads began surfacing one by one—drenched Marines gasping and dazed.
"The pirate ship... flew?!"
"What... just happened?"
"This is insane..."
...
They stared dumbfounded at the speck vanishing into the distance sky.
Only after a long while did they snap out of it.
They looked down at their battered, nearly wrecked warships—then clenched their jaws, pounded the water, and cursed:
"Damn it! We were this close!!"
So close, yet so far.
...
(50 Chapters Ahead)
p@treon com / PinkSnake