Chapter 175

"Probably."

"Should we run?"

"It's already too late."

"Then what are you planning to do? Fight back or…?"

Luo En's mind stirred, and the entire Traveler began to rise upward, "I'll first lift you all into the sky, then go draw them away—I'll return soon."

"It'll take about a day to reach Dressrosa. I'll be waiting for you there tomorrow."

Zeff spoke to Luo En, then leapt from the ascending Traveler down toward the ship on the sea below.

Ayn stepped before Luo En, wrapped her arms around him, and under Guina's stunned gaze, lightly kissed his cheek, whispering in his ear: "See you tomorrow. Don't die."

Then she tapped her foot lightly and leapt gracefully off the ship.

Luo En paid little mind to her actions; he turned to the stunned Guina and said, "Tell Konis to activate the laser shield. Strengthen your defenses until I return—be careful."

With that, he activated his Paramecia ability, floating upward, and swiftly flew toward the warship as Guina watched with worried eyes.

The Traveler rapidly ascended, soon hovering motionless above the cloud sea at ten thousand meters altitude.

…………

On the distant sea, several warships surged forward.

"Hah…"

Aokiji, cloaked in his justice coat, blew a sea breeze and yawned, as lethargic as ever.

"I wish I could just lie down and sleep soundly in weather like this."

"While you're saying that, the one causing all this chaos has already appeared."

Kizaru, hands in his pockets, gazed ahead beside him.

The instant he finished speaking—

Shuuu!

A devastating cross-cutting slash, thousands of meters long, descended from the distant high sky toward the warships.

"He chose to strike first—truly a madman."

Kizaru stared at the incoming sword aura, showing no intention to act.

Two shadows flashed on the other two warships, appearing midair and simultaneously blocking the cross-cutting slash.

After shattering the sword aura, Kizaru and Stroberry landed back on the warship below.

Everyone on the warships looked upward.

There, high above the sea ahead, a black-haired boy in a black coat strode through the air as if walking on flat ground, wielding a black blade, eyes closed, his black hair fluttering.

As he steadily stepped through the air toward the warships—

The elite marines on the ships all felt an oppressive pressure mounting, crushing their shoulders and hearts, freezing their limbs, forcing cold sweat to bead on their foreheads.

"Such overwhelming presence…"

Zato-Maru, gripping a massive axe beside Kizaru, stared intently at the black-haired boy, his heart trembling.

"This is… the Traveler, Luo En!"

He had never seen him in person before—he was even younger, even stronger than he'd imagined!

"My, my, has his presence grown even stronger since Magellan Island?"

Kizaru fixed his gaze on Luo En in the sky: "Truly terrifying…"

Kizaru, smoking a cigar and holding a sword, stared at the black-haired boy in the air, his eyes beneath his hat filled with a hint of emotion.

That boy… has grown this far now…

What a heavy, dominant slash…

"He's alone—here to buy time for his companions to escape?"

Stroberry, with his long beard, said gravely, "Admiral Aokiji, what do we do?"

"What do we do? Isn't the biggest target right in front of us?"

Aokiji yawned lazily, "They've come to our doorstep—do I still need to order a counterattack?"

Hearing this—

The elite marines on all the warships instantly straightened, raising their rifles and aiming at Luo En above.

No wonder they were elite marines.

Most of the marines here were wrapped in Armament Haki.

"Fire!"

At the sharp command of a Rear Admiral, every soldier pulled the trigger, and a hail of Haki-wrapped lead bullets shot upward toward Luo En.

Luo En swung his black blade horizontally.

A vast, sword-infused slash, like a broad river of black water, stretched across the space between him and the warships, blocking every bullet.

Zato-Maru stomped hard, his bulky body leaping high into the air, hovering above Luo En, raising his massive axe to bring it down.

"Hah!!"

In the next instant—

To Zato-Maru's disbelief, the black-haired boy before him, eyes still closed, extended his empty left hand and casually caught the full-force, Armament-Haki-hardened axe, rendering it utterly immovable.

Zato-Maru's pupils shrank violently.

What, what kind of terrifying strength?!

Luo En tossed the massive axe aside as if discarding a child's toy, flinging Zato-Maru downward toward the sea—he crashed into the water at a speed faster than his ascent, with a loud "Poom!" that sent up a huge splash.

"Aren't you his superior?" Aokiji pointed to the sea beside Kizaru, "Let him fight like that—aren't you afraid he'll die?"

"If he wants to die, what can we do? Besides—he didn't die, did he?"

Huang Yuan looked up at Luo En in the sky and smiled: "Anyone else confident in their strength may challenge that monster—though they bear full responsibility for life or death."

Hearing his words, the sweat of elite marines around him dripped down their foreheads.

Luo En, eyes closed in the sky, faced the warships, his expression indifferent, his tone cold: "Weaklings, get out of my way."

"What did you say?!"

A naval lieutenant colonel, upon hearing this, immediately flushed with anger and raised his hand to strike.

The next instant.

A terrifying aura erupted from the black-haired boy above, shocking everyone into stunned silence, shaking the four directions and trembling heaven and earth!

Beneath this boundlessly dominant aura!

The sea below surged wildly outward; several warships were jolted, the clouds in the sky shattered instantly, the heavens themselves seemed to crack open, revealing blood-red fissures like a spider's web!

Amidst this terrifying pressure that made heaven, earth, and sea feel ready to shatter and overturn, the black-haired boy, his hair swirling and his black coat flaring, stood with eyes closed, black sword in hand, calm and unmoved—as if a sovereign ruling all under heaven, gazing down upon the cosmos.

Between heaven, earth, and sea, silence fell.

The awakened Conqueror's Haki surged to Level 5, shaking heaven and earth!

Plop.

The naval lieutenant colonel, who had been enraged by Luo En's words and ready to strike, froze in shock, disbelief, and terror, his eyes rolling back as he collapsed forward.

Immediately after,

Plop! Plop! Plop!

Elite marines on the warships, including several officers with insufficient willpower, all rolled their eyes back and fell in rows and clusters like reaped rice.

"Conqueror's... Haki!"

A naval rear admiral, though still conscious, stared upward at Luo En with utter terror, sweat beading on his forehead.

Many in the New World possess Conqueror's Haki, but few reach this intensity.

In that instant of eruption, it swept the entire battlefield like a storm, even shaking my spirit, leaving my mind blank for seconds…

Is this not close to the Conqueror's Haki of the Four Emperors?!

How astonishing!

154, Arrival at Dressrosa (Three People, Combined)

"Oh~ That's some terrifying Conqueror's Haki—stronger than when we met on Drum Island..."

Huang Yuan spoke to Luo En, his tone as slow and irritating as ever.

Yet his speed was astonishing—he instantly scattered into countless photons, then coalesced beside Luo En, delivering a blinding kick to his side with no mercy.

Luo En, already activated in Transparent World and Haki Perception, anticipated the attack, raised his right arm holding the black sword, hardened it instantly with Armament Haki, and blocked the blow head-on!

The blinding Flash Kick collided with the pitch-black right arm!