Chapter 259: Chapter 259: Let Me Tell You the Truth About ONE PIECE!

Chapter 259: Let Me Tell You the Truth About ONE PIECE!

As Rayleigh’s words fell, a flash of insight crossed Hebi’s eyes.

Hebi was indeed the only top executive among The Zodiac who did not wear a Sea Beast Mask, but rather showed his ’true face’ and used a separate codename.

If he was merely chasing the glory of the World’s Strongest Swordsman, there was absolutely no need to go to such lengths.

Proclaiming to everyone he met that he was a swordsman who had consumed the ’Shimotsuki Ryuma Fruit’ was also clearly abnormal behavior for a member of The Zodiac.

And the reason for this was exactly as Rayleigh said.

What Hebi sought was never to become the World’s Strongest Swordsman, nor was it ’sword fighting’.

His goal, from the very beginning, was fame.

[Wish Power — World’s Strongest Swordsman — Can be used to create ’Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model: Shimotsuki Ryuma / Sword God’]

At this moment, beneath Hebi’s mask, Roy could see the continuously growing wish power within the Fruit Encyclopedia at the bottom of his vision.

That was Roy’s goal.

He was trying to use wish power to truly create a sufficiently powerful Devil Fruit, and ’Hebi’ was his experiment.

Shimotsuki Ryuma was a very special figure—hailed as the Sword God, the man who once struck down a flying dragon was a strong candidate for the ’Strongest Swordsman in History’ in people’s eyes, and the guardian deity in the hearts of the people of Wano Country.

He was one of the rare swordsmen to be mythologized, a legend that had long taken root in people’s hearts. He could be described as the ideal material for a ’Mythical Zoan’.

Roy proclaimed that Hebi was a powerhouse who had consumed the ’Human-Human Fruit, Model: Shimotsuki Ryuma’, and displayed sword techniques and overwhelming power belonging to Shimotsuki Ryuma—this was gradually shifting the ’cognition’ of the sea.

When the people of the sea recognized and believed that the ’Sword God’ had indeed consumed this fruit, and truly possessed Shimotsuki Ryuma’s sword techniques that could be called invincible on the sea—

The world’s ’faith’ in Shimotsuki Ryuma would gather in Hebi’s hands, and Roy would naturally be able to truly create that brand-new fruit.

This was also the reason why Hebi never wore the Sea Beast Mask—if Hebi’s identity was exposed too early, putting aside the new obstacles that would arise, the world’s attention on him would inevitably focus on ’The Zodiac’, which did not align with Roy’s goal.

But what surprised Roy was that Rayleigh could actually deduce this.

“Is this also Miss Shakky’s ’intuition’?”

Hebi chuckled and looked at Rayleigh.

“No, this has nothing to do with Shakky—it’s merely my own guess…”

Rayleigh chuckled, and as his figure spun, he slashed out again with the longsword in his hand.

But his gaze seemed to look toward the Marines outside the island, or perhaps… toward the even more distant sea he had once roamed.

In his mind, he seemed to recall a conversation in Elbaf not long ago.

“I was really excited when I saw that kid in the East Blue… he said the exact same words as the Captain.”

The former apprentice on their ship, the red-haired man they treated like a nephew, spoke drunkenly after having too much to drink.

“Then, not many years later, The Zodiac and the Star Lord also appeared. They are existences that even that ’God’ in the Holy Land is extremely wary of.”

“This is… how joyful this is!”

Saying this, Red-Hair opened his arms, as if embracing the waves of the era.

“Mr. Rayleigh, Mr. Gaban, you both know the reason Captain Roger chose to turn himself in—the Captain lamented being born in the wrong era, but he didn’t know that this great era he started is exactly the right one!”

Faintly, Rayleigh and Gaban saw the shadow of Roger upon him.

“The Captain is no longer here.”

“But I will take his place and walk to the very end, to witness this world gain ’Freedom’!”

That was the posture of one who never submitted to restraints, of one who forever chased the sea.

But unfortunately…

Whether for Gaban or Rayleigh, they could no longer chase the sea as they once did.

They had grown old, they had ties, and they could no longer rush out to sea over a single sentence like they did in their youth.

But undoubtedly—

That discussion in Elbaf had also influenced Rayleigh.

Especially after learning what happened in Dressrosa through Shakky’s intelligence network.

“You killed the God’s Knights.”

That was something unbelievable even to Rayleigh.

Just as mentioned before, the God’s Knights had clashed with the Roger Pirates more than once to retrieve Shanks.

Rayleigh had naturally fought them many times and understood the significance of killing a God’s Knight.

“I suspect your side may have already come into contact with the deepest secrets of this world—your side is currently trying to gather the ’wishes of all living beings’, correct?”

Clang!

The slash was blocked by Hebi’s sword in the next moment.

But at this moment, true surprise appeared in the depths of Hebi’s eyes.

He had never thought that Rayleigh’s understanding of the world’s truth would reach such a level.

“Laugh Tale?”

There was surprise in Hebi’s words—Rayleigh’s statement touched on something he hadn’t anticipated.

“That’s right.”

As their swords clashed, Rayleigh’s gaze drifted toward the distant sea.

“Roger and I saw similar records on Laugh Tale, and this is also my purpose for coming here.”

“I hope your side can protect the safety of the people of ’Amazon Lily’.”

“In exchange—I will give you my fame and everything concerning ’ONE PIECE’.”

He laughed loudly.

That was also the shared resolve he and Gaban had reached upon hearing Shanks’ words.

Yes.

They were already old, already retired.

They had no intention of heading out to sea again, but just as he had said before—

Old men like them could always leave something behind.

“…”

Hearing this, Hebi was also slightly stunned.

Then—

“…Acceptable.”

With almost no hesitation, he nodded and agreed to Rayleigh’s request.

This was a choice that hardly required any deliberation.

He didn’t say anything tactless like ’Even in a head-on fight, I could defeat you’—he truly needed fame, and to obtain the ’fame’ of a top-tier existence on the sea like Rayleigh without having to fight was a massive gain no matter how you looked at it.

Moreover, for the current Roy—

Intelligence related to Laugh Tale had long been the core focus of his attention.

After all, what was left on that final island was very likely the key to dealing with Imu.

And as the price, he only needed to protect Amazon Lily—this was truly an incredibly cost-effective transaction.

At the same time as the words fell—

Hebi also saw it.

The sword in Rayleigh’s hand, locked in a continuous stalemate with his, suddenly had its Conqueror’s Haki and Armament Haki violently surge.

The Haki no longer protected the blade; on the contrary—

Zzt!

It began to continuously destroy the blade.

Then—

Crack!

The sword in Rayleigh’s hand broke into two pieces and flew apart.

And the ’Shusui’ in Hebi’s hand slashed Rayleigh’s figure downward in the same instant.

BOOM!

Rayleigh’s figure plummeted, kicking up a massive cloud of dust.

And at this moment, Hebi could almost hear the exclamations erupting from across all of Kuja Island, as well as from the Marines outside it.

“That is…”

“’Dark King’ Rayleigh was actually shot down!?”

“Hey hey—the Dark King’s sword was cut in half?”

“The match is decided!?”

Amidst such exclamations, Hebi’s figure also descended.

And in the thick dust—

He saw Rayleigh sitting on the ground, holding the broken sword.

At this moment, he was deftly dispersing the surrounding dust with his Conqueror’s Haki while smiling and waving at Hebi.

“Then… come sit down.”

Although he had just entrusted his ’fame’ to a stranger he was meeting for the first time—

Rayleigh’s words remained steady and calm.

He never doubted his choices—from the moment he arrived here, he had already made his resolve.

“Let me tell you what we saw on Laugh Tale.”

“Let me tell you—the truth about ’ONE PIECE’!”

☆☆☆

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