"How is it?"
The Marines were moving forward quickly, and the Roger Pirates, who had just broken through, were advancing as well.
Rayleigh followed behind Roger and asked, "Feeling better?"
Roger had extremely strong Observation Haki, and this powerful Haki made him sense Attox's power the most deeply. He was also more sensitive to that aura that seemed to condense mountains of corpses and seas of blood. The closer he got, the stronger he felt it.
But after the initial sudden shock, it wouldn't make him lose control anymore. He just felt more and more startled by that power.
Even back then, Rocks was far from matching it. He really couldn't tell what kind of terrifying thing it would be.
Looking at Rayleigh beside him, Roger couldn't help saying, "I can still hear that voice clearly, like it won't stop until it kills all life. It's not just an enemy of the Marines—it's an enemy of all life in the world!"
"This time, we might have to team up with the Marines."
"Anyway, it's not the first time," Rayleigh smiled. "Last time at God Valley, didn't we already join forces once?"
"I trust Sengoku and Garp, but I don't know what the others will think." Scopper Gaban, the third-in-command of the Roger Pirates, spoke up. "It's not just our ship that broke in."
"No need to worry about what others think." Roger looked ahead and said directly.
"We just need to do what we want to do."
As he said this, Roger suddenly stopped.
"What?"
He had just made that bold statement, but now he stopped suddenly. His action puzzled his crew.
Roger frowned and said, "Don't talk first. I think I hear another voice!"
Roger's Observation Haki had reached the level where he could hear the voices of all things. The stronger something was, the louder its voice.
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And now, the strongest thing should be that darkness covering the entire sky. What could it be that still made a sound in such darkness?!
The others fell silent at once, watching Roger fully unleash his Observation Haki to sense. Suddenly, countless voices appeared in his mind. Under the ultra-long-range coverage of his Haki, there was a world made of all sorts of materials.
He had been using his Observation Haki before, to locate the source of the voice from the black mist. And because he was using it, he felt that powerful force even more deeply.
But at that time, it wasn't full power, and now he was really letting loose with his Observation Haki, making the voices hit him even harder. A world of blood and fire mapped out tragic scenes in his mind, with countless corpses floating on a sea of blood.
Yet in this world, Roger stayed calm, using his mind to pick out the slightest oddity in the bloody chaos, trying to catch the voice he had heard by chance a moment ago.
That voice was calling him more urgently. Though it wasn't as loud or strong as the one from the black mist source, it had a sense of summons, and Roger felt like he had vaguely heard that feeling before.
Yes, it was the voice of the Shikon Jewel he heard on the sea back at God Valley!
He had gone to God Valley because of that voice, to fight Toguro and Rocks. And now, the voice had appeared again.
Maybe because he had heard it before, he could sense it even amid the huge impact and pressure from the black mist source?
"Here..."
Roger slowly turned around and, from the messy sounds of killing, fighting, and screams in that sea of blood, found that faint call.
His head hurt a lot, probably from sensing that power too deeply, but he had no time to stop and rest now.
After turning, he suddenly moved forward again, and his crew followed closely behind. Soon, they reached a deep mountain forest.
"What voice did you hear?" Rayleigh finally got a chance to ask.
"The voice of the Shikon Jewel," Roger said, gripping the Ace in his hand.
Right now, there was a groove in the hilt of Ace, with a crystal-clear fragment embedded in it.
That was the piece of Shikon Jewel he had. After fighting Kraken, he found a master forger and had the Shikon Jewel embedded in his supreme-grade sword.
And now he heard the Shikon Jewel's voice again. Roger needed that fragment urgently, because he needed power to deal with the demon that might break out of its cage!
The group moved through the mountains and dense woods. No one there was weak. Besides Roger, Rayleigh, and Gaban, the others would be elites or officers on any other pirate ship, so they moved very fast.
Every now and then, Roger followed the voice he heard to the end point. Ahead was a cave, from which came some ominous, dark, damp aura.
"Corpse..."
Gaban suddenly said.
Roger and Rayleigh followed his gaze and saw, inside the cave, a "human" corpse leaning against the cave wall. Roger was about to go in but Rayleigh stopped him.
"This place might have something weird. Are you sure you want to go in?"
"We're the Roger Pirates. Is there any adventure we wouldn't dare?" Roger laughed. "Up to now, has any place ever stopped our steps?"
"If you're really getting involved in this war..." Rayleigh patted Roger's shoulder.
"I'll go in with you. Gaban, you stay outside and get ready. If it's a trap, we'll feel safe with you here."
"Vice Captain Rayleigh, you're not putting much faith in us!"
"No, I'm just worried about that kid." Rayleigh pointed to a person in the crowd who was holding a child under three years old, sleeping in his arms. It was Shanks, whom Roger had brought from God Valley.
"Gaban, you get what I mean, right?" Rayleigh looked at Gaban. Gaban sighed and said, "I knew you'd say that. Fine, I'll stay here."
Back when they fought Kraken, it was the same—Rayleigh went to fight, and he was left to watch the kid. Now this again...
"You're the vice captain, after all."
"Hahaha...!" Roger laughed. "None of that matters. Rayleigh and I will share what happens inside with you all later!"
With that, he quickly stepped into the cave.
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