But Rayleigh was Rayleigh after all. As vice-captain of the Roger Pirates, he possessed the ability to remain calm and reason at all times, frantically analyzing the situation.
In an instant he thought of many explanations for what just happened. Rayleigh then looked at Imu and realized that the latter was not actually floating in the air with some devil fruit ability, but rather he was using an invisible Haki to stay in the air.
However, that very thing left Rayleigh surprised, as it surpassed his understanding of Haki.
Haki could certainly manifest externally to affect material reality, but that manifestation was usually explosive and could not be sustained for long. To maintain it for a long time, it had to be attached to the surface of an object or covering a part of the body.
Imu, in his more than eight hundred years, had refined, purified and pushed the three types of Haki to the limit, before fusing them.
From that moment on, for him, Haki no longer had categories.
And not only that.
During these long years, Imu's sword mastery had surpassed that of even the greatest swordsmen. He called this kingdom 'Sword Saint'. Over hundreds of years, he had seen numerous exceptional swordsmen, but only Shimotsuki Ryuma of Wano Country came close to this level.
Imu then advanced further, combining his swordsmanship and Haki, forming these invisible streams of sword energy that could manifest anywhere within the domain of his Haki.
Imu called it 'Divine Territory'.
Imu's abilities were not complicated, and they were not extravagant. He had already experienced enough with his abilities, so his interest in Rayleigh was beginning to wane.
He wanted to put on an impressive show to send this 'Dark King' to his death.
The next instant, Rayleigh saw sword lights condensing behind Imu one after another, flashing with golden lightning. Their numbers were increasing at a speed visible to the naked eye, and soon the night sky in all directions was completely covered by a multitude of golden flashes.
"These sword lights are wrapped with Haki? And that color, a gold never seen before. This has really become a big problem..." At that moment, Shakky's face appeared in his mind. "If I had known..."
[Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!]
All the sword lights transformed into rapid golden flashes, completely covering Rayleigh.
The flashes of silver lights were savagely bombarded by the golden flashes. Streams of sword lights clashed and defended against each other, an intense battle of attack and defense, lightning colliding and fading.
It is unknown how much time passed, but the flashes began to flash incessantly. Drops of red blood splashed in the moonlight, evaporating into red mist as they were hit by fleeting electrical flashes.
Suddenly...
Mihawk and the others noticed that the lightning bolts and streams of sword lights in the air began to decrease. When the last light fell, they saw Rayleigh lying on the ground.
His back, arms, legs, everything was filled with sword lights that were shining gold, he was clearly on the verge of death.
"Roger...my journey seems to have come to an end here. It's been a life of adventure, a truly great one."
…
Silvers Rayleigh was shot down in his nighttime attempt to climb to the Red Earth Continent and raid the Holy Land of Mary Geoise.
With the intentional propaganda of the World Government, the attention of the people of the world was suddenly diverted from the impending slave liberation event in Mary Geoise, which will soon be broadcast to the world, to focus on another matter.
However, for ordinary people, all of that was simply passing entertainment. After all, even the Pirate King had been executed by the Navy; The fact that 'The Right Hand of the Pirate King' was cut off didn't seem like such a shocking thing.
The news of Rayleigh's death had a more shocking effect on circles of power around the world, especially among those who once stood against him.
The moment Shanks saw the newspaper title, he was completely stunned. Of course he was aware of the movement that night.
At that moment, he was wondering who would have the audacity to cause such chaos in this place, but he never expected that it would be the Rayleigh-san.
On the other hand, for Dragon, who protects the Sabaody Archipelago, the biggest concern caused by this incident is the sudden disappearance of the owner of Shakky's Rip-off Bar.
Afterwards, everything gradually returned to normal, with the majority more concerned about the global transmission that would take place in a few days. After all, it would be a huge rare thing for the Celestial Dragons to decide to liberate all slaves.
Thus, for a world in the midst of drastic change, Rayleigh's death only caused a brief one-day to stir.
...
On the Red Earth Continent, in area RL1556, on the other side of the Dimensional Gate in the world of Kabane, everything was continuing as usual.
Even though large construction teams could not enter, thanks to the efforts of many skilled craftsmen, the base camp built around the Dimensional Gate was becoming increasingly sophisticated.
At night, Laskey and Marta, who were walking west along the newly discovered railway track, encountered many 'Kabane'.
These undead beings looked at them with pitch black eyes and bright red pupils, emitting guttural roars filled with hunger, advancing towards the fresh meat that had just appeared.
But Laskey and Marta have long been accustomed to their presence. Laskey could easily fire jets of air from a distance with a simple movement of his fingers, instantly piercing the luminous hearts of the Kabane. While Marta, she was more accustomed to using her legs to cut off the Kabane's heads with her high and sharp heels.
They had already discovered the weakness of these undead: in addition to their luminous hearts, it was also the head. Cutting off their heads didn't make them die quickly, but it left them dormant, turned into pieces of purple and black flesh that still glistened on the ground.
"These things are really endless, don't people in this world clean them up?" Marta adjusted her golden locks messy from the night wind and smiled charmingly.
Meanwhile, Laskey, evidently a tough guy with no romantic interest, continued his path along the iron rails. She didn't care; She was already used to his personality.
In normal times, he would treat her to red wine or buy her jewelry, but during missions, he became extremely ruthless, cold, without jokes or kindness.
Laskey had once told him that he didn't want to make any mistakes that would prevent them from going to Guanhao Island to see their daughter.
"Um?"
Suddenly, Lasky, who was walking in front, raised his hand to signal to stop, listened to the sound brought by the night wind, and said: "There are gunshots ahead, but this gunshot is very strange and sounds a bit muffled."
"We finally found living people!" Marta exclaimed excitedly.
"Yes, let's take a look, but stay hidden."
"Understood."
As soon as she finished speaking, both of them quickly disappeared in a couple of flashes, turning into dark shadows that entered the nearby forest and quickly headed towards the train tracks.
Sure enough, as the distance continued to get closer, even Marta heard distinct bursts of gunfire, as well as explosions and the whine of the engine.
This made the two people's eyes show undisguised expectation.
Finally, they were about to contact the human civilization of this world. Emerging from the forest, they found themselves on a high hill, and they quickly lay down to hide, squinting to take a detailed look at the battle on the plain below them.
Although it was the middle of the night, the flames and flashes from the explosions provided enough light from their perspective.
They could see a large blurry black shadow in the distance, which looked like a huge city wall and various buildings inside. It was obvious that they had found a human city.
The battle in front of them was taking place in a wide space outside the city, a black train lay like a giant beast on the ground, with its armor open towards them, revealing the interior.
A soldier in black, with a night vision half mask on his face, crouched next to what was clearly a mortar, firing projectiles that generated most of the light and noise on the battlefield.
At the same time, some people riding motorcycles, holding long guns with tubes attached, jumped off the train and moved quickly across the battlefield, accurately shooting at the undead, in coordination with the ground soldiers fighting on foot.
Although each of their bullets cannot be said to have hit the vital point, most of them did hit the head and heart of the undead. Moreover, the distance between the two parties was kept very close when shooting. It was not like fighting with firearms at all.
"Is this the armed army of this world?"
At this time, Marta suddenly raised her finger and pointed to a place and said: "Look what he is doing!"
Laskey looked in the direction where his companion was pointing.
Sure enough, he saw a soldier, after shooting at close range at the heart of an undead, kneel and place something on his chest.
The next instant, a bang was heard, the soldier had burst his own heart without hesitation!
"..."
"What is he doing?" Marta said in surprise. "Why the hell would he want to kill himself? He doesn't seem to be seriously injured!"
Laskey pushed up the dark red glasses on his face, and after careful observation, he speculated: "He seemed to have been bitten on the calf by Kabane, so he chose to commit suicide in order not to threaten his companions."
"If that is the case, then the consciousness of the soldiers in this world is quite high. CP members can't blow their hearts out without hesitation, let alone the army and navy, right?"
Hearing Marta's words, Laskey nodded and said: "This also shows how heavy the pressure these undead people called Kabane have brought to them."
"But now I'm more curious. Judging from their current strength and efficiency in eliminating the Kabane, it's obvious that they can't solve all the Kabane here, and I'm sure there are many more Kabane in that city."
Marta looked at the open city gate and agreed: "Indeed, it must have been captured. From here, you can see the fire everywhere."
"Then what do we do now?"
Laskey thought for a moment and said: "Inform the rear base and ask them to send troops over. Although the city has fallen, there must be a lot of information in it."
Marta next to him looked at him doubtfully and asked: " What about us, why don't we go in and take a look?"
"We will follow these armed forces. A fallen city is dead and cannot escape, but these people are alive, and the value of keeping an eye on them is even greater."
"Contact the base immediately!"
Marta saw that he had made a decision and said no more. Cautiously, she backed away until she was a safe distance from the top of the hill. Once she was sure that no one below would notice her, she pulled out a communication device and quietly explained the situation to her base.
Five minutes later, the call ended.
"Ready." Marta crouched down and crawled back to Laskey's side. He raised his chin slightly and reminded her: "What are they doing?"
She looked down from above with narrowed eyes.
She discovered that those soldiers in black, after eliminating most of the Kabane on the plain with minimal losses, began to capture some Kabane alive, with broken limbs, using some kind of giant pincers. They were then dragged into a jet black armored train car.
"They're catching them alive too!"
Laskey nodded and said: "Yes, they probably have the same goal as us, to investigate these Kabane."
"But this also means that they are leaving soon. Let's follow them quickly and find a way to board the train. Be careful not to be exposed yet."
After saying that, Laskey and Marta turned into afterimages again and quickly approached downwards.
Indeed.
As Laskey had predicted, after that group of soldiers in black packed thirty or forty Kabane onto the train, they began to retreat in order. They took the firearms of their fallen comrades and some yellow cylindrical devices that they carried on their backs.
When the last group of motorcyclists returned to the train, the armor doors closed automatically, and the train beeped from the front.
Soon, that 'black beast' under the starry sky roared forward, gradually accelerating. But no one noticed two shadows approaching from behind at a speed faster than that of the train. Just before the train reached its maximum speed, they effortlessly jumped to the end of the train.
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