Main Act (III)

[Chapter 82: Main Act (III)]

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"Gomu gomu no... Gattling!!"

""Aaaargh!!!""

As Luffy's fists blurred while moving at enormous speeds, dozens of marines fell to the ground after being struck by his attack. Each of these fists was as fast as lightning and fierce as cannonballs, thus, it was no wonder that those completely average marines wouldn't be able to resist.

Currently, Luffy and his group were being surrounded by an army of marines. After Luffy punched Charlos, the marine headquarters were immediately dispatched and rapidly surrounded the whole Auction house However, they weren't alone, in fact, besides Luffy, there were also two other figures standing domineeringly while watching at their surroundings with calm and collected eyes... These two were none other than the captains of the Heart and the Kid pirates, Trafalgar D Water Law, and Eustass Kid!

"Move out of the way Straw-hat!"

"No, you move out of the way!

While bickering with each other, Luffy and Kid kept sweeping with ease through the hundreds of marines that kept trying to defeat them. Law, on the other hand, just kept smiling while dealing with the marines coming on his way. Even with the overwhelming numbers of the Marine, they still seemed like children trying to win against an adult... The difference was... Too vast.

Even the marine who seemed to be the leader could only watch in shock as nothing they did seemed to affect their opponents in the slightest.

"Are these guys really just pirate rookies?! Damnit... This is the worst time to be lacking personnel...!"

The marines had two objectives. One was taking down these three pirate captains and their crews before capturing them... However, just in case the first objective was impossible to accomplish, then the second plan could come into action.

All they needed to do, was to stall for enough time for Admiral Kizaru to arrive and take down these pirates... However, that was easier said than done... As bit by bit, even the marine Captain could notice how his army was slowly reducing in numbers... Something that would only increase more and more until the point where they wouldn't be even able to retain them anymore...

"It doesn't matter, at least, we will do our best to keep them here for the most time possible!" Gritting his teeth, the marine Captain stepped forward and raised his voice in order to increase the morale of the army. However, he was soon cut off by a flying punch that hit him directly on the face, knocking him down instantly after that.

Luffy, who had been responsible for that, didn't even notice and just continued punching his enemies without care.

Soon, however, unlike the main story, the numbers of the marines started declining incredibly fast, and soon and our main characters found no more opponents to worry about anymore, thus knowing that an Admiral was coming in their way, all of them decided to flee immediately.

"The next time we meet I won't be so merciful Straw-hat!!" While parting in a different direction, Kid yelled while looking at Luffy with a threatening gaze, something that made Luffy laugh loudly.

"I'm gonna become the King of the pirates!!!"

"What the heck does that have to do with what I have just told you...? Urgh... Whatever, let's go men!!" Sweat-dropping, Kid and his group dashed away and disappeared from Luffy's and Law's vision.

"Luffy, we need to go now, the Admiral will probably arrive at any time now...!!" Sanji, who walked towards Luffy rapidly, spoke to him with a hurried tone as he remembered that terrifying fact.

"Oh, let's go then! Will you come with us, old man?" Nodding in understanding, Luffy turned to look towards a certain man of old age that was walking beside the group with a friendly smile on his face.

With white-snow-colored long hair that reached his back, and two round glasses on his face, this old man was none else but the infamous ex-member of the roger-pirates... Silvers Rayleigh!

"Very well then, lead the way! I still have to coat your ship after all!" Rayleigh just giggled a bit and then raised his voice while looking at Luffy, to what the latter just nodded in acknowledgment, and then lead the group to start running away from the Auction house.

However, as fast as they could go... There was no way for them to actually beat the fastest Admiral in a race.

"Hohoho~ To think that there could be a pirate bold enough to punch a Tenryuubito without hesitation... Interesting!"

From the sky, a flash of light descended in front of Luffy and the others and blinded them momentarily, everyone except Rayleigh that is...

Unlike the main story where Kizaru actually took a while to arrive where the straw-hats were... This time the entire Marine had been on high alert the whole time due to the variable known as Thanatos... and thus, when they heard that Luffy had punched a Tentyuubito, they rapidly reacted and dispatched Kizaru immediately. Thus, resulting in Kizaru arriving much earlier and locating them a lot faster than in the main story.

"Who's that guy...?!" Luffy, who was the first to react to Kizaru's arrival, retreated a few steps while always maintaining his guard up... Just by looking at Kizaru, he could feel an intimidating aura similar to that of Aokiji... Thus, he didn't dare to take this fight lightly.

The rest of his crewmates also noticed that something was off... So all of them were on high alert as well. The only one who didn't feel threatened in the slightest was Rayleigh, who was just looking at everything unfold with a happy smile on his face.

Normally, he could have offered himself to deal with Kizaru while Luffy and the others escaped... However, he soon noticed some small details on Kizaru's body that made him not take action immediately.

Kizaru, who looked completely fine from the outside, was, in reality, holding some severe injuries on his body, and although most of them were in the process of healing, there was still the possibility of them opening at any time during battle. Thus, Rayleigh knew that Kizaru wouldn't allow himself to go all out, or else he might get seriously injured.

Now another question rose on his mind... How could these youngsters fare against an injured Admiral...? Now, that would certainly be quite a sight! Either way, if things got too dangerous, he would always step up and stop the fight.

"Aigo~ To think that they would send this poor man on a mission just after getting severely injured. It really makes me wonder who the real devil is...~ Hmm? Hoh~ to think that you would appear here... [Dark King] Rayleigh..." Kizaru, who was massaging his back with a helpless expression on his face while ignoring Luffy and his crew's beware, narrowed his eyes slightly when he noticed Rayleigh standing several meters away from the crew.

"Don't pay attention to me, I'm merely passing by" Rayleigh just smiled carefreely as he took a step back away from Luffy's group.

"Hmm... Certainly, I was only ordered to deal with straw-hat and his crew... Not to mention, with this poor body of mine, I don't think I have the capability of dealing with you for the time being~ What a relief"

*Kashiiiing!!*

Suddenly, while Luffy and his group observed quietly these two talk, a ray of light appeared beside Zoro, and the body of Kizaru materialized next to him at the next moment.

*Bam!!!*

With only one kick, Zoro's body was sent flying several meters away and crashed fiercely against one of the giant mangroves emerging from the ground.

"Zoro!!" The straw-hats screamed in horror when they finally noticed what had happened, none of them had noticed when did the man appear beside Zoro, and right now they knew that this opponent was indeed a formidable one.

Luffy, who knew that he couldn't hold himself back against this kind of enemy, entered into his Gear Second and dashed towards Kizaru while throwing dozens of super-rapid punches in his direction. Small shockwaves could be produced whenever these fists pierced through Kizaru's body, as the sole speed in them was enough to shake the air around them whenever they didn't meet a solid target.

"That won't work you know? I ate the pika pika no mi and became a light human, your attacks won't hit me~" Kizaru just looked relaxedly at Luffy, who just kept throwing punches at him even though they weren't effective.

Soon, however, he smacked Luffy away and sent him flying in another direction without even letting him retaliate.

"Jeez, my injuries sure hurt a lot, I want to go back already and enjoy a relaxing hot bath~ Sorry if I can't stay more time with you guys, I will make it quick" Gathering a lot of light on one of his legs, Kizaru prepared himself to attack and end the fight right there by incapacitating them in just the blink of an eye... However, just as he was about to do it, an enormous raging fire was shot in his direction and made him jump back in alert.

*Fuooooosh!!!*

From one moment to another, the ground where Kizaru had been standing a moment ago got scorched completely and brilliant raging flames soon erupted at that place... In the middle of those flames, a figure soon rose up and looked at Kizaru with blazing fury.

"Fire fist Ace?... No, you are not him... You are... Black Leg Sanji... Hmm? Why can you use fire?" With wide eyes and evident curiosity on Kizaru's eyes, he stared at Sanji's legs which were being covered in a furious and intimidating red-colored fire that seemed to come directly from the very hell itself.

However, before he could even try to do something about Sanji, suddenly Kizaru felt a shiver run down his back, and he immediately dodged to the side not expecting something to attack him from his blind spot.

*Slash!!!*

*Booom!!!*

From one moment to another, one of the nearby mangroves was severed apart by what seemed to be a sword in just an instant, making the whole area shake due to the enormous weight and size of the mangrove.

As Kizaru turned to look at the source of the attack, he noticed the approaching figure of a badly injured Zoro, who had behind him a strange clone of himself with several other arms attached to its body. However, unlike any normal arms, these new ones had a more ethereal appearance and resembled more tentacles than arms, as some of them were ridiculously long compared to Zoro's original arms.

"Roronoa Zoro... It seems like my kick was not enough to finish you up..."

"That hurt, you bastard!" Looking furiously at Kizaru, Zoro roared in anger and lunged fiercely towards the Admiral without a speck of fear on his gaze.

"I will deal with you while Luffy recovers!" Sanji also yelled in anger and dashed towards Kizaru at an enormous speed, while his feet glowed viciously and set ablaze everything they touched.

These techniques were a lot different from the first time they used them when they were dealing with the Cp9, as the fight against Asura helped them improve their understanding of these techniques, and develop them even further. Now, having to fight against an Admiral, what time better to use their newly improved techniques?

"Aigo~ Youngsters these days sure are filled with energy... Though, they are a bit too enthusiastic for my taste..."

*Kashiiiiiiing~*

Filling his leg with light, Kizaru narrowed his eyes dangerously and prepared himself for the fight. Apparently, it wasn't going to be as easy as he thought in the beginning...

Just like that, the now stronger Sanji and Zoro clashed against Kizaru and gave beginning to the hardest battle of the Straw-hats so far.

...