Ray knew his little act of chivalry had just made this fight way harder.
But his pride wouldn't let him win by humiliating a woman like that.
Besides, who said he was going to lose? Everyone has a few trump cards up their sleeve.
After Gion finished adjusting her makeshift cloak-dress, Ray turned back around, his eyes still calm, acting like helping her out hadn't added any extra pressure on him at all.
Seeing Ray's confidence, Buggy started to wonder.
'This guy is way too chill. He must still be hiding some crazy ability, right?'
Thinking this, Buggy spoke to Ray with unusually serious tone.
"Hey, your captain down there is getting his butt kicked. How about you handle things up here for a bit?"
Ray nodded.
He'd wanted Buggy to go help down there anyway.
"Alright. But Buggy," he added, "don't finish off Smoker too quickly. Let Luffy get some more practice."
Buggy just laughed and gave him an "OK" sign.
On the other side, Gion panicked when she saw Buggy about to leave.
She kicked off the air with her elegant foot and charged after him, sword raised.
Just as she was about to strike, Ray swung his own sword to block her.
Seizing the chance, Buggy zipped down toward the fight below.
After trading a couple more blows with Ray, Gion created some distance, then used her insane speed (Geppo + Soru) to instantly reappear right behind Buggy again.
Her speed was terrifying.
She was confident she could keep both Ray and Buggy busy by herself.
Ray was strong, yeah, but she could tell he couldn't keep up that high-intensity output for more than an hour.
If she just dragged it out, she could win.
Now, she swung her sword getting ready to unleash a flurry of slashes on Buggy.
Buggy's Observation Haki screamed danger.
Cold sweat poured down his forehead. 'There's no way to dodge this!'
At that critical moment, just as Gion raised her sword, a jade-golden sphere of light appeared right behind her.
It was Ray, using his Demonic Power to move at ultra-high speed.
The sudden burst of speed, combined with Ray's attack, made Gion's hair stand on end.
She was forced to immediately change her target, swinging her sword upward to clash with Tokijin.
And just like that, Buggy made it safely to the ground.
Gion noticed the strange energy around Ray had gotten even stronger.
After a moment, she gave him a charming look.
"Handsome man," she purred, "how long can you last overusing that strange ability of yours?"
Ray just snorted.
"You don't need to worry about that."
Though he said that, he knew he could only keep up this overloaded Demonic Power state for twenty minutes, max.
…
The reason Buggy was so eager to go down was because Luffy was, indeed, getting wrecked by Smoker.
Even though Luffy's Haki stopped Smoker from just trapping him in smoke, Smoker was using his old-school Rokushiki techniques, boosted by his Devil Fruit, to completely overwhelm him.
Smoker knew his Logia powers weren't as effective against Haki users, so he was mostly sticking to close combat, using his smoke powers for surprise attacks – like suddenly shooting a smoke fist out of his stomach while they were trading blows.
Luffy couldn't predict it and was taking hit after hit.
Right now, Smoker was attacking Luffy with both fists while simultaneously sending a cloud of smoke carrying his Seastone-tipped jutte crashing down towards Luffy's head.
Luffy sensed the attack from above but couldn't dodge because Smoker's Haki-coated fists were also coming at him from the front.
He was trapped.
Just as the Seastone tip was about to hit Luffy, a colorful figure suddenly appeared.
Buggy pointed a single finger at the shaft of the jutte (the part without Seastone).
His ability activated, and the weapon instantly chopped.
Seeing his backup arrive, Luffy grinned.
He crossed his arms and used the force of Smoker's punches to launch himself backward, finally getting some distance.
Today was the first time Luffy had really experienced how terrifying a Logia user could be.
They could just materialize attacks out of nowhere.
If it hadn't been for Ray's brutal training sharpening his instincts, he'd probably be out cold already.
(And if Buggy hadn't saved him from the Seastone, he wouldn't even get the chance to try and get back up.)
Luffy thanked Buggy, then steeled himself, ready to jump back into the fight.
Seeing Luffy's unbroken spirit, Buggy looked impressed.
'Heh. Thats the little brother I've acknowledged. Got some of my style.'
Then, Buggy glanced over at the fight near the statue.
Zoro had already taken out Tashigi and was now using his Tornado move to hold back the Marine soldiers.
But these were elites; even going all out, Zoro could barely hold back 200 of them.
The other 300 were about to overwhelm Buggy's own crew.
Buggy placed one hand on the ground and activated his awakened ability.
Suddenly, the whole battlefield started rearranging itself.
Zoro was swapped over next to Luffy.
The Marines found themselves standing in front of Buggy, and Buggy's crew was now safely behind him.
The terrain had shifted in an instant.
Buggy's crew went wild, cheering about how awesome their captain was.
After soaking in the glory for a moment, Buggy turned to Luffy.
"You two can't beat Smoker one-on-one right now," he said. "Team up. I'll handle these Marine weaklings."
Luffy and Zoro knew he was right.
For the sake of winning, they had to swallow their pride and fight together.
But they were a little worried.
With Buggy down here, Ray was all alone up there...
…
In the sky...
Ray was using his overloaded Demonic Power to keep up with Gion's speed.
'My fusion rate is still under 50%,' he thought. 'Once I break through, using this power won't be so draining.'
Gion was also getting serious, her teasing remarks becoming less frequent.
Ray's speed boost meant she couldn't just toy with him anymore; she had to be constantly on guard.
Getting hit by one of his attacks would be bad news.
After trading blows again, Gion created some distance, her expression extremely serious.
She made one last attempt.
"Handsome," she said sincerely, "while your record is still clean, stop being a pirate. Join the Marines. With your strength and talent, you could easily become an Admiral someday. Wouldn't it be wonderful for us to work together then? Right?~"
She'd started out serious, but just thinking about being colleagues with Ray made her lose control again.
Ray remained calm; he was getting used to this.
"The Marines aren't worthy."
Hearing his blunt refusal, Gion's expression turned icy.
The lustful rabbit vanished, replaced by a deadly serious one.
"It seems you're determined to walk the path of a pirate to the end. With your strength, you'll undoubtedly become a serious threat to the world. Ah, what a pity that someone so handsome must end up imprisoned."
She sighed, but her eyes radiated killing intent.
In her view, Ray was too dangerous to be left free.
And with Buggy causing chaos down below, she needed to end this fight now.
Sensing her resolve, Ray snorted. "Then bring it on."
Like Gion, Ray had also made up his mind.
With Buggy on the ground, their side seemed to have the advantage.
But the real problem was still Gion.
If Ray failed, she'd descend, and everyone below would be captured.
Ray checked his own condition.
He could only keep up this power-boost for another fifteen minutes, max.
If he wanted to win, there was only one way: end it quickly.
At that moment, both fighters in the sky came to the same conclusion: they had to completely eliminate the other!
-----------------------------
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