Chapter 272: Luo Jie, the one who will win this time is me!

Hoo!

The fierce wind howled as Lei She churned within the atmosphere.

Gao Wen's eyes burned like torches; instinctively, he gripped the long blade in his hand even tighter, then immediately thrust forward with a stab of his own.

Ding—!

Blade met sword, and a piercing hum exploded in midair, unleashing wild power in all directions that stirred the sea of clouds into a frenzy.

In an instant, Gao Wen was blasted back several hundred meters by this force.

Although his body, strengthened by several attributes, would not be injured by this, the Hukou of his sword hand genuinely felt a surge of weakness.

This fellow is strong, even stronger than I anticipated!

Realizing this, there was not a trace of fear in Gao Wen's eyes; instead, he grew increasingly excited at this very moment.

As his combat strength continued to rise, the number of beings capable of fighting him would only decrease.

Since his last battle with Zephyr in Alabasta, he had not encountered a worthy opponent for a long time.

Until now...

No!

The worthy one is not Shiki; it is me!

"Truly... interesting!"

Hiss—!

Gao Wen took a deep breath, his chest swelling, then slowly exhaled, causing his entire aura to become increasingly dangerous.

The dragon scales covering his body, originally crimson like soft armor, gradually turned dark red at this moment, their hardness increasing by more than one level.

This was the simultaneous activation of the two defensive attributes: Battle Armor and Vajra.

Guanshi Zhengzong turned pitch black, while a faint blue silver light shimmered along the blade's edge.

This was the activation of Haki and Ultimate Weapon, enhancing his armor-piercing capability.

In other words, Gao Wen at this moment held nothing back, going all out with full firepower!

Whoosh—!

A wild aura radiated outward from Gao Wen as the center; the lightning flowing within the clouds became even more dazzling, as if stirred into excitement by Gao Wen.

"Good!"

"It should be this way; only like this are you worthy of fighting me!"

Shiki's eyes sparkled with vitality.

If Gao Wen's strength remained the same as when they fought in Alabasta,

this battle would have been far too boring for him.

Fortunately, the slight trembling of his sword blade allowed him to clearly perceive the terrifying power contained within Gao Wen's strike.

That was power truly sufficient to contend with a top-tier hegemon.

"Kid!"

"State your name!"

Shiki spoke once again, asking for Gao Wen's name once again, but the meaning behind it was entirely different.

He had truly acknowledged this man.

Not as a promising junior, nor as a newcomer who could become his deputy.

But as an opponent!

An opponent truly capable of posing a threat to him!

"Gao Wen, Knight-Gao Wen!"

Gao Wen replied calmly, shook his slightly sore arm, and in the next instant transformed into a streak of light, charging toward Shiki to kill!

He was clearly intending to meet speed with speed!

Regarding speed, Gao Wen was confident that aside from that freak Kizaru who relied on his Devil Fruit ability, he at this very moment was inferior to no one in this world!

Shiki was the same.

The comprehensive abilities of the Float-Float Fruit, his extremely sharp swordsmanship, and his Haki, which had returned to its peak once its restrictions were removed.

The combination of these three forged a supreme powerhouse capable of contending with Luo Jie, and even slightly more dominant than Gao Wen, who had now ascended to legendary combat strength.

Ding!

Ding!

Ding!

Impacts dense as rain and a ringing sound sufficient to tear eardrums apart exploded in midair.

Merely the aftermath of their clash was nearly enough to tear the sky apart, while countless stray sword qi struck the earth, leaving deep gashes.

Swish!

A fragmented blade of sword qi flew past Law, slicing through the building beneath his feet and leaving a smooth cut mark.

"How can... such a thing exist?!"

Law's lips trembled slightly; he raised his head and widened his eyes, trying to see the exchange between the two.

Yet he could barely make out wave after wave of wild air pressure exploding in midair, countless buildings being torn apart, and the earth itself being ripped open.

"How is this possible!"

Law let out a roar; he found it truly hard to believe that he could not even clearly see the battle between the two.

The nearly invincible Shiki was actually fighting a Marine from Water Seven to this extent at this very moment.

"Among the Marines, aside from the three Admirals who serve as the highest combat strength, there actually exists someone capable of fighting Shiki?!"

"Who exactly is that guy?!"

"Our captain."

A cold, sharp voice rang out beside Law's ear.

He whipped his head around to see a tall, slender man with a pigeon perched on his shoulder standing behind him.

This person radiated an aura of cold ferocity from head to toe.

For a moment, Law felt the man before him was strangely familiar; only when the figure of Spandam floated into his mind did he suddenly realize:

"Someone from the CP organization? Would an existence like you ever revere a man to such a degree?!"

"Who knows?"

The man, who was Roubo Luqi, replied indifferently, a hint of eagerness dancing in his eyes as he looked at Law:

"However, it seems I've hooked a big fish, haven't I?!"

Law's inner turmoil gradually settled; he quietly gripped his sword hilt, fixed his gaze on Roubo Luqi, and his eyes grew increasingly dangerous:

"I'm not really keen on fighting a dangerous fellow like you~"

"If possible, I want to take Jin Shizi's head even more than you do, more than anyone else here~"

"Is that so?!"

Roubo Luqi tilted his head and said mockingly:

"What a coincidence; I used to think the same way. Since you've said as much, I'm even less likely to let you leave now."

"That is truly a pity..."

Law sighed, unsheathed his long sword Ghost Cry, and stared coldly at Roubo Luqi.

His heart began to race at this moment.

This feeling was terrible, the kind of sense of crisis one only feels when facing a fierce beast, when facing mortal danger.

It made one's scalp tingle and breathing become rapid.

This guy... is very strong!

Law swallowed hard.

He had received guidance from Jin Shizi, but the time was ultimately too short; he hadn't even entered the door of Haki, and while his swordsmanship had improved, it was far from reaching the moment of qualitative change.

And Roubo Luqi's strength probably rivaled that of a Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral.

What should he do?!

Law grew extremely anxious; just as he was pondering how to escape, an intensely powerful shockwave erupted from the distant sky.

He instinctively turned his head.

He saw the figure that had been battling Jin Shizi earlier crash down like a meteor, smashing through dozens of buildings in succession before being buried beneath the rubble.

Yet Jin Shizi still stood calmly high in the sky, his violent aura undiminished but rather intensified, his fighting spirit climbing steadily toward its peak!

"Hahahahahaha—!"

An extremely arrogant laughter, accompanied by gale-force winds, flooded into Law's eardrums; his teeth clenched so tightly at this moment that his gums began to bleed.

Even a monster like that...

Just how far must one go to defeat Jin Shizi?!

Is this guy truly invincible?

While lost in thought,

Law instinctively looked up at Roubo Luqi and opened his mouth to warn:

"In this era, no one can be Jin Shizi's match, no one..."

"If you don't call for your captain's help, that guy might just die here, you know."

"You..."

Law's voice gradually faded.

This was simply because there was not the slightest change in the expression on Roubo Luqi's face.

"Defeat?!"

Roubo Luqi scoffed:

"That man will not be defeated."

Law was slightly stunned, completely unable to fathom the source of Roubo Luqi's confidence.

But merely an instant later, the mocking words that were about to spill from his mouth were forcibly swallowed back down.

"What is... that?!"

At the end of his line of sight,

countless pale blue lights flickered, converging from all around the earth toward the place where Gao Wen had fallen, like bundles of flowing ribbons of light rising up.

Brilliant and dazzling.

Then, in less than a single second, a figure shot out from beneath the rubble, moving even faster than the speed at which he had fallen earlier.

"Let's... go again!"

Gao Wen's fierce shout exploded beside Law's ear; he turned his head and stared blankly at the two figures high in the sky, for a moment even forgetting about Roubo Luqi beside him.

Very quickly,

another round of slaughter unfolded, equally majestic in momentum, equally domineering and unparalleled, equally invisible to the naked eye.

As the two gradually unleashed their full capabilities, they even became increasingly excited, and the buildings surrounding the battlefield were soon leveled.

The violent and savage IQ beasts, which had already completely lost their rationality, now scurried crazily in all directions like a swarm of frightened mice.

Staying there any longer... means death!

Even they possess the instinct for survival!

"What kind of person is this fellow exactly?"

Roubo Luqi let out a low murmur, and the thought he had just strangled once again floated up in his mind.

If the opponent is like this, could that fellow Jin Shizi also... No, if it were someone else, they might lose, but Jin Shizi will not!

Roubo Luqi had suffered countless crushing defeats at Jin Shizi's hands; the latter's overwhelming strength was already deeply etched into his mind.

What even he himself did not know was that if he truly relied on his own power, he feared that before Jin Shizi's death, he would still be unable to truly summon the courage to strike against Jin Shizi.

It was simply because Jin Shizi had long left an image of invincibility in his heart.

This image was even deeper than hatred itself.

"That fellow Jin Shizi is invincible, absolutely..."

"How pitiful."

Roubo Luqi slowly slipped his hand back into his trouser pocket, the look in his eyes as he gazed at Roubo Luqi even carrying a trace of pity:

"Have you completely submitted to power? You can no longer stir my interest... weakling."

"Since you are so eager to take Jin Shizi's head, then use your own eyes to see whether he is truly invincible, and see just what extent Captain Gao Wen can reach."

"From now on, if you interfere in the battle here, I will kill you."

Roubo Luqi swept a glance at him, realizing the man before him had already lost his fighting spirit and would have little impact on the upcoming battle situation; immediately, he flashed away and vanished from the rooftop.

Roubo Luqi pressed his lips tightly together, staring intently at the two figures fighting fiercely high in the sky without turning back, standing in place like a block of wood, veritably a living corpse.

He murmured from his mouth:

"That fellow Jin Shizi... could he really lose?!"

High in the sky.

The deadly clash between Gao Wen and Jin Shizi grew increasingly fierce.

"Luo Jie!"

Jin Shizi could not help but let out a roar, his beard and hair drifting in midair; his Haki, already immensely powerful, surged alongside his rising fighting spirit, climbing once again to an even higher peak at this moment.

To him, the Gao Wen before his eyes was no longer Gao Wen, but Luo Jie from twenty years ago—the man who had inflicted upon him a utterly unwilling, crushing defeat!

"The one who wins this time will be me!"

Jin Shizi swung his legs, and a slash wrapped in Conqueror's Haki struck Gao Wen, blasting the latter, man and sword alike, into the ground.

Crack, crack, crack—!

Fissures several meters wide spread across the earth; Gao Wen was deeply embedded in the ground, buried beneath rubble, yet within mere seconds he rose again.

Although Gao Wen was completely suppressed by Jin Shizi in terms of the battle's appearance, his eyes grew increasingly clear; he had already seen the outcome of this fight.

In aspects of Haki and swordsmanship, Gao Wen was undoubtedly at a disadvantage, and thus from the very start of the battle, he had been completely suppressed by Jin Shizi.

However, the ley line energy reserves of Water Seven were extremely vast, and the Red Dragon possessed the ability to absorb ley line energy to heal wounds and replenish stamina.

In other words, fighting within this city, Gao Wen was virtually equivalent to having infinite mana and health bars; the result of this battle had been sealed from the very beginning.

Gao Wen did not know whether Jin Shizi would be the final victor, but what he did know was that he himself would certainly not lose, unless Jin Shizi could hold out until the ley line energy of Water Seven was exhausted.

And even if Gao Wen fought at full power, exhausting the ley line energy here would take at least two months.

Shing!

Gao Wen stomped heavily with his foot and once again charged toward Jin Shizi high in the sky.

The deep, bone-exposing wounds left on his body just moments before had already healed within a few breaths; the Red Dragon's nearly bug-like close-combat abilities were beginning to show their first signs at this moment.

On the sea surface.

The warships led by Akainu were evenly dispersed, subtly surrounding Water Seven.

Boom—!

The cannons opened, shells were loaded; awaiting only Akainu's command, countless cannonballs would rain down like drops, utterly destroying Water Seven.

"Lord Sakazuki, we... are we really going to do this?!"

A marine stood beside Akainu, his teeth clenched tight, clearly unwilling in his heart regarding what was about to happen.

But all he received in return was Akainu's silence.

If it were possible, Akainu naturally did not wish, nor was he willing, to carry out a massacre.

But over these past two days, he had come to understand.

The words of White-Face CP0 earlier had undoubtedly indicated that the concept of justice Zephyr had propagated within Marine Headquarters had reached the ears of those Five.

Those Five had even attached considerable importance to it.

And this operation against Water Seven was no longer merely about sweeping away evil; it was also a test for the Marines.

If he were to defy the World Government's orders here, he feared that not only these marines, but Marine Headquarters itself would be affected.

Thus, what now lay before Akainu was a dilemma.

But is justice really like this?

Akainu's originally firm heart could not help but feel somewhat lost at this moment.

He raised his head; with his eyesight, even standing here, he could barely make out the groups of people clashing in distant Water Seven.

And among them, the most conspicuous were:

One was Aokiji, fighting the Yonko Big Mom, and the other was Gao Wen, fighting Jin Shizi.

These two, one a Marine Admiral and the other a Warlord of the Sea, were both at this moment wagering their lives to fight pirates to the death for the sake of Water Seven's commoners.

Then what about me?

What about my justice?!

"The time is almost here."

The white-faced CP0 glanced at the pocket watch in his hand, then turned to address Akainu:

"Sakazuki."

(End of Chapter)