The deck went silent.
No one on the Roger Pirates had expected the young monster in front of them to talk that big.
One man against the entire crew?
With Rayleigh and Gaban as twin first mates, if the Roger crew went all out their top end could rival Marineford's. Did this kid really think he could solo the whole Navy?
"Arrogant, aren't you."
Rayleigh's fingers wrapped around his longsword. Light flashed across his lenses and a smile tugged at his mouth.
Gaban's blood was up too. He rolled his shoulders, twin axes ready.
"Hey, hands off. He's mine."
Seeing his whole ship sharpening knives, Roger got anxious. Ozz was his opponent.
Gaban shot back at once.
"Oi, Roger. He challenged the entire Roger Pirates. This is bigger than you."
Facing a ship full of killers and three Sovereigns who could coat their blows with Conqueror's, Ozz would be lying if he said this was easy.
He grinned anyway.
"That pressure. That feeling like I might die any second."
"To test myself against my old masters is the only way to see how far I've come."
Scarlet light flared in his eyes. His aura surged without restraint.
"Come try and kill me."
The moment he threw down the gauntlet, Ozz felt it. His Conqueror's Haki, stalled for so long, inched higher under the crush of that pressure.
This was spirit. The greater the weight, the faster the climb.
The crew traded looks. Then, as one, they cursed him for a madman.
Going one against a crew. What are you, the next Red Count?
Get real. We are the Roger Pirates.
"Kid. You clearly don't understand what makes us terrifying."
The sniper Bittam snorted. He laced a bullet in Armament and snapped off a shot at Ozz's head.
The round ripped through a mirage. The target's crown dissolved like a ghost. Nothing to hit.
"No."
Ozz lifted his chin. Even that Observation killer of a shot could not veil itself from the surge in his Haki.
"It's because I understand that I dare to boast."
That one man versus one crew pressure kept pouring out. The three at the head of the ship traded surprised glances.
He is getting stronger under this strain?
Troublesome.
They had seen enough seas to read him.
A repertoire that was broad and drilled hard.
A space based Fruit with tricks and feints.
Monstrous raw power that bordered on absurd.
Observation Haki that looked farther and wider than the Red Count's and dictated the rhythm of a fight.
And now Conqueror's that kept climbing.
"Come on. Is he Rocks's son or what."
"No helping it. Why do we always draw monsters."
"Hahaha. This is what makes fighting fun."
They were not worried. However strong Ozz was, the three of them together would beat him. They might pay some blood for it, but as far as they knew, no one in this world could solo their gold silver bronze trio.
Not Whitebeard.
Not peak Rocks.
No more time for talk. Scarlet flashed in Ozz's eyes and he was simply there, at the trio's flanks.
They could all read the future. They had seen him coming and they moved without hesitation.
Ozz had read their reading.
"Pointless. I see farther than you."
In the quickdraw of battle, no one gifts you time to peer ahead. The one who can see farther in an instant owns the beat. It was the one edge Ozz would lean on to avoid being crushed too fast.
"Armament. Monster Strength. Dragon Claw."
He flickered and appeared closest to Gaban. Muscle corded and bulged along his forearm until it looked harder than steel. Armament went on thick and dark enough to purple. Fingers spread and clenched like a dragon's talons.
Even in Sabo's hands this technique could tear steel and crush a skull. In Ozz's grip, with his absurd strength and Haki stacked on top, he could pinch and crack a Supreme Grade blade beneath its coating.
He caught Gaban's axe with his bare hand. Steel bit in and opened his palm. Ozz did not care. He closed and squeezed.
Gaban's face drained.
"You've got to be kidding me."
Ozz wrenched and the big man left his feet. He spun him through the air and pitched him at Roger like a thrown boulder.
The rhythm broke. Both captain and mate had to check themselves.
A risky line. The right gamble.
As Gaban and Roger's cadence stuttered, Ozz vanished.
He reappeared at Rayleigh's side.
By the time his outline firmed, his leg was sheathed in Conqueror's coating, packed to a razor edge. Black fire licked along the shin. Space seemed to draw tight and dimple around his ankle.
"Conqueror's Coating. Flowing Sakura. Monster Strength. Space Erasure. Demon King Gale Kick."
Rayleigh did not flinch. Conqueror's crackled along his blade. Calm as ever, the Dark King wore his title well.
"I have waited a long time for this kick. Watch closely, Uncle Rayleigh."
Rayleigh did not understand why the kid called him uncle. He did not fear the strike either. He smiled faintly.
"I am always serious, boy."
Ozz's leg scythed down. Air popped. The world warped around the arc of his shin.
Only when steel kissed heel did Rayleigh's face change. That kick packed peak kingly coating, spatial pressure, monstrous strength, flowing cherry Armament, and black flame. His sword began to scream, singing with the strain of not snapping.
Heel met breastbone. White crept into Rayleigh's eyes.
Ozz's mouth curved, satisfied.
"It is only a short nap."
"But I did lull you to sleep, Uncle Rayleigh."
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