Chapter 197: Clone Attack, Kizaru Appears.
"The pirates have attacked the Celestial Dragons!!"
"Run, the Marine Admiral is coming—"
At the auction house on Island 1, all the 'upper-class people' participating in the auction scattered like birds and beasts. Whether it was the Celestial Dragons or the lawless pirates, neither were people they could afford to provoke...
In the auction house, the battle:
One-sided!
Although the Celestial Dragons had many people, they were just a group of bullies. They had some skills, but without real experts, they couldn't stop the current Straw Hat crew.
"Hurry up and rescue Camie, then get out of here!"
Although Luffy knocked down a Celestial Dragon with a single punch, he was aware of the power of the Marine Admirals. The memory of being powerless against Aokiji was still fresh, so:
"Roman, check on the Marines—"
"The Marines have already surrounded this place."
?!
"Don't panic, it's not a Marine Admiral." Roman played with the gun in his hand. Next to him was the last Celestial Dragon, a woman named Charlia, who was both anxious and angry. She was the daughter of the old Celestial Dragon disarmed by Roman and the sister of the snot-nosed man beaten by Luffy.
"You lowly—"
Click,
Facing the black muzzle of the gun, the cursing woman instantly fell silent. She knew very well the power of this gun; it could kill those slave captains and it could kill her too. Only a fool would be brave in this situation... unlike her brainless brother...
"Sigh, this could have been solved with money. Why did it have to come to this?"
Roman sighed, looking up. The Celestial Dragon father and daughter felt their blood pressure rising!
Shouldn't those lines be theirs?! How did it get turned around—
Thud!!
An invisible wave swept through the entire auction house. This aura wasn't terrifying or murderous, but it carried an unstoppable majesty, making the 'experts' present tense up and instinctively adopt a full defensive stance! Then:
Thud, thud, thud, thud~~
One by one, figures collapsed to the ground, including the two Celestial Dragons in front of Roman, all cleared out by the invisible force. The auction house, which had been in a heated battle, was now left with only the Straw Hat crew and—
The Kid Pirates and a few officers from the Heart Pirates.
Conqueror's Haki!
"Hahaha, what a lively scene."
The curtain behind the stage opened, and a giant bent down and walked out. Of course, the cheerful voice just now didn't come from this giant with a simple face. It came from:
An old man with long curly hair, a long beard, and silver hair; wearing glasses, with a vertical scar over his right eye. He wore a coat, cropped pants, and flip-flops, and walked over to the tank holding Camie, drinking as he went.
"Oh dear, I really like young girls."
With a gentle wave of his hand, the upper half of the tank beside him disappeared!
The old man, dressed like a 'youngster', beckoned to Camie in the tank. When the mermaid girl swam over, he reached out and grabbed the collar around her neck.
"Let me help you remove the collar."
?!
"Wait a minute!"
"Forcibly destroying it will cause an explosion—"
Boom!
Before the Straw Hat crew could finish speaking, a violent explosion sounded! Under the tense gazes of everyone, the mermaid girl Camie was unharmed. The explosion occurred on the other side of the stage: in an instant, the old man had destroyed the collar chain and casually tossed it aside.
"How... how did he do that..."
Is this the use of advanced Armament Haki?
Roman looked serious...
He couldn't understand!
It's no wonder, Roman could only use 'hardening' at the moment, and could only apply 'coating' to his own creations. More advanced 'emission' and 'internal destruction' were out of the question.
"I found the key..."
Franky, who had just come out from backstage, looked at the silver-haired old man's 'bare-handed unlocking' skill and helplessly threw the key to the other slaves.
"Hey, you unlucky ones, your buyers have run away, you should leave too."
!!
"Tha... thank you...!"
"Who is that old man?"
Sanji and Zoro were not happy at all about the silver-haired old man who casually saved Camie. After all, the casual display of his skills made them feel an immense pressure, like the deep sea!
"That straw hat,"
The silver-haired old man was already looking at Luffy.
"It suits you well, Monkey D. Luffy."
????
"This is 'Dark King' Rayleigh,"
Seeing the confused looks on everyone's faces, Roman had to step forward and introduce him.
"The right-hand man of the Pirate King, Roger's vice-captain, a true legend."
Besides the Straw Hat crew, the Kid Pirates and the Heart Pirates were all cautiously eager, clearly having recognized him long ago. For a pirate crew like the Straw Hats, who charge headfirst into trouble, it's a miracle they've made it this far.
"Hahaha, don't mention that name."
In response to Roman's words, the spirited silver-haired old man just laughed heartily.
"I retired a long time ago, now I'm just an old coating craftsman, Ray. Let's talk after we leave here."
"Hmph, I'll go ahead."
Seeing the excitement end, Kid turned and left gracefully.
"I'll do you a favor and 'clean up' outside."
?!
In an instant, Luffy and Law frowned.
Seeing the displeased Luffy and Law chase after him, Roman rolled his eyes. Poor Law, his cool persona would be gone, dragged into silliness by Luffy and Kid...
"Hey, young man,"
Carrying the injured Hachi, Rayleigh walked up to Roman familiarly.
"Why did you decide to become a pirate?"
"I didn't want to,"
Roman shrugged, "I closed my eyes and opened them, and then I found myself among pirates~~"
In front of a master like Rayleigh, lying was pointless.
"I see,"
Seeing Rayleigh's 'I understand' look, Roman resisted the urge to retort.
I myself am confused, what do you understand?!
Franky carried Camie—although Sanji strongly insisted on carrying her himself, seeing him as limp as a noodle, everyone refused his 'kindness.' The group began to quickly retreat from the auction house. After all, hitting a Celestial Dragon, while satisfying, had serious consequences!
"Tsk, this is really..."
"My eyeballs almost fell out!—though I don't have eyeballs."
By the time everyone ran out of the auction house, there was nothing left outside but ruins and injured Marines. Luffy, Kid, and Law were striking poses, leaving Roman speechless.
An Admiral is on the way, and you still dare to linger here?!
"Let's go, Luffy."
With a call, the white paper on Roman's body surged out, transforming into a bus with dozens of legs. Once the Straw Hat crew, Rayleigh carrying Hatchan, the mermaid Camie, and the starfish Papagu were 'on board,' the bus immediately sped away on its densely packed legs.
"Stop that creation!"
"Fire, fire—"
Ping ping pong pong~~
Unfortunately, ordinary bullets were just a tickle to Roman's creation! Ignoring the Marines' attacks, the 'centipede bus' sped away, quickly disappearing into the giant Yarukiman Mangrove forest.
"Such a convenient ability..."
"Hmph, only useful for running away!"
Although they said this, the other two pirate crews using their own legs were envious—
Whoosh—Boom!!
A laser beam cut through the sky and landed on the battlefield, scaring the red-haired, spiky-headed Kid into a cold sweat. When he looked up at the attacker, his cold sweat turned into a waterfall.
"Bartholomew Kuma!?"
...
Hmm, luckily Kid and Law held off that 'Pacifista,' otherwise, without Rayleigh's intervention, the Straw Hat crew would have had a hard time defeating it. I wonder about the other Supernovas...
While driving, Roman kept his attention on the white doves spread across the island. Besides the cautious Capone Bege and the Admiral-aware Jewelry Bonney preparing their ships to flee, the other Supernovas were still:
"A bunch of useless troublemakers..."
Even the usually cheerful Urouge was cursing, encountering the world's top combat power right at the entrance to the New World. It's like facing the final boss right after leaving the beginner village!
How to fight? Rely on plot armor?!
"Dangerous as it is, their target is the Straw Hats, right?"
Scratchmen Apoo looked interested, "I want to see the Admiral's strength..."
"Stay calm," the grim-faced Basil Hawkins shook his head.
"Today won't be my death anniversary."
...
A bunch of fearless guys!
When Kizaru arrives, with a single kick and a 'so scary' beating, you'll understand what it means to always have someone stronger out there!
As the experienced Roman led everyone in a 'breakthrough', they arrived at Rayleigh's house for a short rest. While Luffy and Rayleigh were happily discussing the topic of the 'Pirate King', Roman's white doves had already spotted an approaching warship.
Flap flap~~
The white doves flew towards the warship. Roman needed to confirm who was coming—although it was 'supposed' to be the laid-back Admiral Kizaru, if it turned out to be Akainu...
Roman would immediately lead the Straw Hat crew to dive into the sea to avoid trouble!
Let me see—?
Zap!
In an instant, dozens of white doves approaching the warship, as well as other paper creations hiding in the buildings, woods, and even houses on Grove 27, lost their 'connection'! Roman's vision went dark, and the last thing all the scouting creations saw was:
A blinding light!
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