Chapter 258: Chapter 258: What You Seek is Fame!

Chapter 258: What You Seek is Fame!

BOOM!

A fierce slash flew out from Kuja Island, slicing off an arm of a giant Sea King that had just poked its head out of the distant sea.

Sea King: “…”

With a whimper and a huge wave, the giant beast vanished from the sea surface.

“S-so strong!”

“This oppressive feeling—is it Conqueror’s Haki like Snake Princess’s?”

“Hey hey, Margaret, those two are both men, right—look, one of them even has wings!”

“To think there are such powerfully beautiful individuals among men?”

The Amazon Lily warriors, who had been un-petrified, watched the two figures constantly shifting and clashing above Kuja Island, feeling dazzled and mesmerized.

As descendants of Kuja Island, almost every one of them was proficient in two types of Haki.

But even with their Observation Haki fully activated, they were completely unable to track the movements of those two—all they could sense was that overwhelming, terrifying oppressive aura.

“Th-this… Snake Princess, what is going on?”

At this moment, Elder Nyon, who had also been un-petrified, was almost jumping up and down. “We clearly came to welcome him as a guest—why did they end up fighting?”

“Shut up, Elder Nyon.”

But at this moment, Hancock said softly.

Her frosty face remained charming.

“Yes~ Snake Princess!”

Instantly, hearts popped out of Elder Nyon’s eyes and she immediately shut her mouth, but then quickly realized: “No… wait! Why are you telling me to shut up…”

“I have a question for you.”

But Hancock simply interrupted her: “Are the executives of The Zodiac really all as strong as that guy?”

She asked coldly.

“…Didn’t I already summarize a report on The Zodiac’s intelligence for you before?”

“I didn’t read it. I gave it to Salome to tear up and play with.”

“You atrocious tyrant who won’t listen to advice!”

“What does it matter? After all, I am so beautiful.”

After their usual exchange, Elder Nyon helplessly sighed.

“Mm, according to the intelligence… even disregarding the Star Lord, they are all very strong. They are all ’monsters’ with the power to destroy a country single-handedly.”

Her gaze drifted upward to the Sword God, continuously clashing with Rayleigh in the sky above. “Although it’s not certain yet whether this one is truly from ’The Zodiac’, with Shakky’s intuition, combined with the power he’s displaying now… the possibility is undoubtedly extremely high.”

Her words were almost absurd.

Using one person’s intuition as a basis for judgment sounded very much like child’s play no matter how you listened to it.

But neither she nor Hancock found it strange—because they both knew just how accurate Shakky’s intuition was… it was almost at the level of a superpower, guaranteeing she never lost at the casino.

So…

She said in a deep voice: “If nothing unexpected happens, they should also be a crucial part of that ’War’ in the future, the ones pushing the tide of the world—Hancock, this is not child’s play!”

As she spoke, she looked at the monarch she served and said sincerely: “I’m not lying to you, Hancock… don’t forget, this prophecy was brought by ’Rayleigh’ himself!”

She knew very well the personality of this Empress she served.

Proud, willful, eccentric temper—apart from her looks, she was overall a rather awkward and unlikable person.

But she still firmly served her, the reason being…

She could see the heart beneath that willful exterior.

“Hancock, for Amazon Lily… we must go stop Rayleigh and the Sword God from continuing to fight. Everyone needs to sit down and have a good talk.”

She looked at Hancock expectantly.

Then—

“…So noisy.”

She heard Hancock’s impatient reply.

Elder Nyon: “…”

But before she could get angry, she heard Hancock’s subsequent words.

“You’re old—your Observation Haki has deteriorated too severely. Can’t you even sense it from this close?”

Hancock said coldly.

“They aren’t fighting to the death at all—they’re just erupting their Haki to attract the Marines’ attention.”

“They… are already ’conversing’.”

The words fell.

Elder Nyon was stunned.

And at the same time—

“I see… relying on intuition?”

Just as the Empress said.

Clang!

At this moment, accompanied by the sound of clashing blades—

Rayleigh and the Sword God were conversing in imperceptible voices.

Due to the collision of Conqueror’s Haki, this conversation couldn’t be heard even by the News Coos that had hurried over from afar and couldn’t get close.

And right now, the Sword God’s words carried a hint of exasperation—although he knew Shakky’s intuition was very accurate, he didn’t expect it to be to this extent.

“Yes. When she saw you in the newspaper, she said the feeling you gave her was very similar to the ’Tori (Rooster)’ she had met before—almost like the same person.”

Rayleigh smiled.

“So, may I ask your codename?”

“Hebi (Snake).”

Since his identity had already been guessed, Hebi naturally didn’t bother hiding it anymore.

Rayleigh nodded, smiling as he parried a sword strike from Hebi, then slashed back: “Then—what do you think of what I just said?”

“Because of a prophecy, you hope we can protect ’Kuja’?”

Hebi took the strike and said softly: “Is this your purpose for appearing here?”

As they spoke—

Hebi actually hadn’t anticipated the current situation either.

To be honest, his purpose for coming here was very simple—he heard Rayleigh was here, so he came to challenge him.

But Rayleigh clearly had other plans.

Through Shakky’s unreasonable ’sixth sense’, he had vaguely guessed Hebi’s identity long ago.

Even his coming to Kuja Island was solely to lure Hebi over.

After all, although the three Marine Headquarters Vice Admirals were quite powerful combatants—

To say they were worth Rayleigh making a personal trip to Kuja Island still seemed a bit too strange.

“Hahaha… this can indeed be considered one of the reasons I came here.”

Rayleigh laughed heartily while locking swords with Hebi.

“After all, it’s a prophecy Neptune asked Hachi to deliver, and it was personally made by little Shyarly—I can’t just pretend I don’t know.”

He said so.

In his mind, he also recalled what had happened not long ago.

That was after the complete collapse of the Seven Warlords system. One of the Warlords, Jinbe, had returned to Fish-Man Island with his pirate crew.

At that time, out of concern for Fish-Man Island’s upcoming situation—

Jinbe asked the fortune teller of Fish-Man Island, ’Madam Shyarly’, to conduct a divination.

But the result of this divination exceeded everyone’s expectations.

In that divination, Madam Shyarly saw endless starlight.

In the starlight, twelve stars guarded a central morning star—and they also faintly merged with that central star.

And beneath the starlight, the flames of war and war cries resounded.

“Not one country or two countries, but the entire world!”

“Everyone in the entire world—whether slaves or commoners—are letting out angry roars!”

“The world… is burning!”

That was an unprecedented ’Great Prophecy’ sweeping the world!

And the key point was this:

In that burning world, Madam Shyarly saw specific details.

For example, she saw Enies Lobby sinking into the sea amidst the flames of war, saw the Red Line shattering, saw the Marines of Marineford coming out in full force, and saw the disappearance of several islands.

“Elbaf, Fish-Man Island, Kuja Island…”

Yes—in the visions she saw, those islands directly disappeared from where they were supposed to exist, as if ’erased’ by some massive power.

But at the same time, she also seemed to see that beneath the war sweeping the entire world, countless people seemed to be laughing and cheering.

“The stars will make the world burn, will make the world be reborn. They are the tide pushing the world, the giant wave sweeping the human realm.”

It was said that after this great prophecy was made, the entire Fish-Man Island had fallen into a state of panic, and King Neptune had ordered a blockade on all news regarding the prophecy.

However, Rayleigh was an exception.

He and Roger had been to Fish-Man Island, and Roger and King Neptune were close friends.

Besides that, Rayleigh also had a good friend among the fish-men named Hachi.

And Hachi knew of the connection between Rayleigh, Shakky, and Kuja Island, so he proactively went to the Sabaody Archipelago to inform Rayleigh of the matter.

This was one of the reasons why Rayleigh appeared here at this moment.

The Marines led by a few Vice Admirals were not enough of a threat to Hancock, but a ’War’ sweeping the entire world and even making Kuja Island disappear was different.

“Shyarly’s ability is truly incredible. Both Roger and I witnessed it firsthand.”

Rayleigh said softly: “Hancock is a precious junior to Shakky and me… Kuja is Shakky’s hometown. I have no reason to stand by and watch.”

“But… I see that Empress doesn’t seem to have any intention of joining us.”

At this point, Hebi swung his sword and sent Rayleigh flying.

BOOM!

Rayleigh crashed onto a mountain peak below. As he spun his body, he planted his feet on the peak, then leaped upward again.

Clang!

The edges of their swords met again, and Rayleigh’s voice continued: “Don’t misunderstand—Hancock harbors no malice. She just finds it hard to trust others due to certain things in her past.”

“In fact, she should have a pretty good impression of your side.”

Rayleigh said with a smile.

“Is that so? I feel nothing of the sort.”

Hebi chuckled softly.

However, in his heart, he wasn’t surprised by Rayleigh’s words.

He knew Boa Hancock’s past.

Having been a Celestial Dragon’s slave in her childhood, she held an absolute, profound hatred for Celestial Dragons and World Nobles.

In fact, if it weren’t to protect Kuja Island, she absolutely would not have become a Warlord.

And looking across the sea up until now, the only organization that truly dared to blatantly kill Celestial Dragons was The Zodiac alone.

To say the Empress didn’t have a good impression of The Zodiac would be the strange thing.

However—

“We have no reason to protect others for nothing.”

Hebi said this, and the Conqueror’s Infusion in his hands became even sharper.

But—

Zzt!

From Rayleigh’s body, an equally intense Conqueror’s Infusion burst forth.

“Of course I know.”

He grinned: “When asking someone for help, one needs to provide a reward—even though I am a pirate, I understand this principle.”

As the words fell, the slashes from their blades crashed and swept outward again.

The massive roar made Rayleigh’s voice almost inaudible.

“Your Excellency Hebi is different from the others in your organization. Your Excellency does not wear a ’Sea Beast Mask’, but uses the alias ’Sword God’ as a codename.”

“If my guess is correct, Your Excellency’s goal is not merely the title of the World’s Strongest Swordsman, but also the need for sufficient fame—”

In his eyes, a distinct sharpness flashed.

“Your Excellency wants to make the world recognize the name ’Sword God’.”

☆☆☆

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