"Who?!" The first clash produced such a terrifying commotion, shocking everyone present. They all turned to look at the enemies who had attacked the two legendary pirates. As soon as they saw them, many people exclaimed on the spot.
"The New Emperor, Sir Crocodile!"
"The Crimson Queen!"
"The Dawn Pirates!"
Everyone was stunned. Pirates with bounties exceeding one billion Berries had appeared so abruptly. And not just one, but two of them! Huge news!
Could it be that the Pirate Empress had some connection to Crocodile?
To make a move to save her in a situation like this... their relationship must be anything but ordinary.
Some who were informed and knew about these two legendary pirates couldn't help but feel deep confusion.
"Hathaway, and... Sandman..." The Pirate Empress's eyes lit up. At a time like this, someone had actually come to save her. This was something she had never imagined. She had already prepared herself for death.
Or rather, she had prepared herself earlier, because facing her were not only World but also the Evil Governor. She wasn't particularly familiar with World.
But the Evil Governor, Pizarro, left a deep impression. It was a legend she had occasionally learned about before she rose to fame:
A king of a certain country continuously exploited his subjects and used force to drive all the commoners and nobles into one war after another.
In the end, the king was overthrown by a coalition of nobles and rebels. Yet, despite being hunted by the entire nation's military forces.
He, Pizarro, still fought his way through the entire kingdom, straight to the betrayer's head. Finally, finding his own country utterly uninteresting, he went to sea and became a pirate, quickly making a great name for himself.
This showed that the Evil Governor's strength was in no way inferior to World's.
So when she heard the two had joined forces, the Empress decided to come, holding onto a slim hope of saving her sisters. But it was only a slim hope; the probability of her own death was far greater.
But now, this man and woman had arrived from who knows where. It was obvious they were travel-worn, even somewhat tired. Clearly, they had rushed from some place at tremendous speed.
Even Hathaway-chan's hair was disheveled. The Empress felt a sudden warmth in her heart, and even her view of Rosen softened considerably. Regardless, they had no compelling reason to save her, yet they still came.
And they had to face two powerful enemies. This wasn't something an ordinary pirate would choose to do.
Unbeknownst to her, Rosen's reasons were quite compelling. First, although his relationship with Hathaway wasn't officially defined, the two had grown very close. They were both relatively independent, so moments of overt affection were rare.
But their rapport was growing, not just in battle, but in their thinking and weighing of matters.
And Haze had once studied Haki under the Empress, not too long ago. Although there was no formal master-student relationship, their connection was fairly good.
As for Haki, Rosen had also clearly stated that the Dawn Pirates owed the Pirate Empress a favor. If they hadn't known about the situation, it would be one thing, but since they did know, turning a blind eye was impossible. After all, if she died, there would be no chance to repay the favor.
"Why are you sticking your nose into this? If I remember correctly, you used to be a Shichibukai, but you were stripped of the title. As a non-active Shichibukai, you have no reason to stop us from killing the Marines' lapdogs." The Evil Governor looked at the two before him, his expression somewhat grim.
Back at Marine Headquarters, he had carelessly suffered a major loss at Rosen's hands, and that injury still hadn't fully healed.
"A reason? Let's just say she's a friend. Is that enough?" Rosen lit a cigarette. He had recently changed his taste; regular cigarettes weren't bad either. The tobacco in this world seemed quite different.
"Friend? You, making friends, hahaha... Now that's rare. Time really can change many things." The Evil Governor laughed.
"Will you leave on your own, or will I have to send you off?" Rosen's next words made World and the Evil Governor's expressions turn extremely ugly.
"Where did this brat come from? Courting death! Fifty Times Speed, Punch!" A fist came hurtling like thunder and lightning. World's figure vanished instantly, faster than Soru. He could apply his speed to his own body.
In that instant, World was the absolute master of speed. In less than the blink of an eye, he flashed above Rosen and drove his fist down towards Rosen's head.
"I was hoping to settle this simply, but it looks like we have to fight after all. Flying Sand Finger Gun!" Rosen raised his hand, pointing his index finger to the sky. Spiraling sand coiled around his finger, Armament Haki, golden sand swirled, then he thrust it straight up to meet World's fist.
Fist and finger met. A thunderous explosion of air burst forth.
World charged forward relentlessly, his power and speed immense. Once upon a time, he had been at least as strong as a Marine Admiral. But after years of being frozen, old and infirm, his strength had declined to a point approaching two vice Admirals, just a hair's breadth away from a true Admiral.. Still, it was only a hair's breadth.
However, even with his current strength, fighting an Admiral was still possible. Even if he couldn't win, if he truly wanted to escape, he could.
But in the world of pirates, in many battles, both sides would rather fight to the death than flee. Of course, more often, it was because they misjudged their opponent's strength, and by the time the enemy unleashed their killing move, it was too late to escape.
A hard, impactful sound, like a heavy hammer striking an anvil. Fist against finger, and he had no advantage.
World's expression shifted slightly. He had already sensed the newcomer was not weak, so he had used Fifty Times Speed right from the start.
Yet the enemy still managed to track his speed. The opponent's Observation Haki was not weak, and he had easily blocked his attack. This forced World to reassess the man's strength.
World hadn't completely ignored recent news. But in his view, successfully killing someone, even if it was an Admiral, wasn't something earth-shattering.
And as for being hailed as some sort of Emperor, he cared even less. In his era, such things didn't exist, so naturally, he had no deep impression.
But he hadn't expected this man to be so powerful.
"Sandstorm." Rosen lightly stamped his foot. A thick, wildly whipping sand tornado erupted around him, spiraling up into the sky.
"Hmph." Seeing this, World swiftly exerted force, hoping first to directly repel Rosen's attack, and second, using that force, he propelled himself away.
In one glance, he recognized a Logia user. Logia users were notoriously difficult to deal with, especially in the hands of someone this strong; their power was unfathomable.
"Trying to save them?" Meanwhile, the Evil Governor watched Hathaway. Hathaway, ignoring him, walked towards the Pirate Empress and the others. Her pace wasn't fast. She only knew one thing: whoever stood in her way would die.
The Evil Governor considered attacking but, after thinking it over, abandoned the idea. First, they weren't absolutely set on killing the Pirate Empress. They had simply chosen the closest Shichibukai from among many.
Second, given the opponent's strength, if they were determined to rescue her, there was no way to stop them. Kill the Empress in the confusion? In front of these two, that was unrealistic.
So the Evil Governor simply watched as Hathaway, with her sword, cut through the ropes and chains binding the Empress and the others. However, the Seastone handcuffs on the Devil Fruit user Empress were not so easily dealt with.
Hathaway currently couldn't break through that kind of specially made, high-density Seastone handcuffs.
As soon as the Empress Hancock's ropes were cut, she fell into Haze's arms like a little girl.
So soft.
"Oh, I didn't mean to. You'll forgive me, right?" Although the Empress's powers were sealed, her pitiable little appearance was still quite lethal.
"You all take care of her. I'll get the key." Hathaway glanced helplessly at the Empress. She didn't like women.
"Who has the key?" Hathaway looked at the Evil Governor, then at World, who had just moved out of Rosen's attack range.
She raised the Sun Blade high. A crimson mist coiled around her, traveling along the blade, finally coalescing at its tip. like a magma-filled volcano on the verge of eruption.
"What's the deal with this woman?!" World's expression changed. One Crocodile was bad enough, but this person, clearly not the captain...
The feeling she gave him was even more dangerous than Crocodile?! Was this an exaggeration? Were strong people these days so cheap?
This debut battle was proving to be quite unfavorable.
(End of Chapter)