Kizaru: ... 'You damn crocodile, do you really have to start a war right to my face? If we were literally anywhere else, I would kick your teeth in!'
Kizaru's gaze swept over Crocodile's smug face, warning him to shut up.
However, Crocodile just kept chewing on his cigar, completely ignoring the Admiral's deadly glare.
If it had been a few years ago, Crocodile would never have openly provoked an Admiral—at least not right to his face—unless they were already fighting to the death.
But standing behind Cyrus gave him a strange sense of absolute confidence.
"When you put it like that... you're really not wrong," Cyrus agreed, a thoughtful, dangerous look flashing in his eyes as he nodded.
"Shall we fight him?" Hawkeye asked calmly.
His hand was already resting comfortably on the hilt of Yoru.
Honestly, Mihawk really wanted to test his blade against an Admiral's speed.
"Whoa, whoa, let's calm down! I am strictly here to deliver a message!" Kizaru immediately took another step back, throwing his hands up in a placating gesture, his usual lazy drawl returning to his voice.
"Relax, I was just kidding too. After all, trying to keep a guy made of light from running away wouldn't exactly be easy," Cyrus chuckled lightly.
'Wait, so if you actually THOUGHT you could trap me here, you would seriously try to kill me?' Kizaru thought, horrified.
'What a lunatic!'
"Regarding the massive mess you left behind in Water 7... Fleet Admiral Sengoku personally blocked the bounty the World Government was trying to put on your head. In exchange, he strongly requests that you accept a position as a Shichibukai!" Kizaru said, dropping the jokes and getting straight to the point.
He needed to drop the message and get out of there fast.
This street was way too dangerous!
Literally every single person standing behind Cyrus looked like they were itching to hit him.
"Is that it? I'm pretty sure I already made my feelings on that very clear," Cyrus replied, raising a single eyebrow.
He had told Garp exactly what he thought of the Warlords back in Alabasta.
"The Marines could pretend not to see your previous actions, but this time you made a World Government intelligence director vanish," Kizaru said, staring hard at Cyrus.
"So what? If I say no right now, are the Marines or the World Government going to come arrest me?"
As soon as Cyrus asked the question, everyone's eyes locked onto Kizaru.
Cyrus didn't have a wanted poster yet.
Even Rayleigh knew that. If the Marines officially issued a bounty now, it would completely lock Cyrus in as an enemy of the entire world.
"I really couldn't say for sure!" Kizaru answered honestly, shaking his head.
He already knew Cyrus was going to say no before he even flew down here.
"In that case, I will take my leave and report your answer to the top."
Without wasting another second, Kizaru's body dissolved into a blinding golden cross of light and shot straight up into the sky, disappearing over the horizon.
"Wow, he runs incredibly fast. He really didn't want to get jumped, did he?" Cyrus laughed, watching the Admiral flee without even throwing out one of his usual sarcastic jokes.
"Taking the Warlord title might actually make building the Guild a lot easier," Crocodile suddenly spoke up from behind him.
"Hmm?" Cyrus turned around and gave Crocodile a sharp look. "Are you trying to give me orders now?"
Crocodile flinched slightly and immediately shook his head. "I'm just pointing out facts. Aren't I technically still a Warlord? Since the Marines haven't officially revoked my title yet, we should use my status to our advantage while we still can."
Satisfied with the answer, Cyrus turned his attention back to Rayleigh. "I actually came here today to ask you for a favor."
Seeing Kizaru run away, Rayleigh had been about to turn around and head back into his bar to drink, but he stopped when he heard Cyrus speak.
"I'm just a retired old man who coats ships. I doubt I can help a monster like you with anything," Rayleigh chuckled, shaking his head.
"You're the only one who can help."
Cyrus slowly reached up and gripped the hilt of his sword.
As he began to draw the blade, faint, crackling wisps of black and red electricity began to spark around his hand.
The Haki was unstable, violently flashing into existence before fizzling out completely.
Seeing Cyrus draw his weapon, Rayleigh's eyes instantly narrowed in warning.
But when the old man realized what the black lightning actually was, his eyes widened in pure shock.
"You've already reached this stage?!"
"I'm almost there," Cyrus admitted, shaking his head in frustration.
Issho and Hawkeye both knew exactly what Cyrus was struggling with.
Crocodile, however, just stood there looking completely confused.
"But Advanced Conqueror's Haki is something you have to figure out completely on your own. It's not a technique someone else can just teach you," Rayleigh warned, fully understanding what Cyrus wanted.
"That's fine. I just need a sparring partner who already knows how to infuse their attacks with it. If I fight someone who uses it, I'll figure it out eventually."
As soon as Cyrus said that, Rayleigh's face turned green.
'Wait, so you still just want to fight me?! Kids these days have absolutely zero respect for the elder!'
"Come on, don't say no. If I don't figure this out soon, who knows what kind of crazy things I might end up doing out of frustration," Cyrus smiled, looking at the old man's exhausted expression.
"What a incredibly strange feeling. It's been a very long time since someone actually tried to threaten me," Rayleigh suddenly laughed.
A sharp, incredibly dangerous glint flashed behind his round glasses.
"If a beating is what you want, then I guess I'll have to teach you some basic respect for your senior pirate."
"I told you, I'm not a pirate," Cyrus replied, shaking his head as the Dark King accepted the challenge.
"Then consider me a senior who has simply sailed the seas a bit longer than you. After all, I'm just an old crewmate passing the time," Rayleigh smiled, turning around to walk toward a clearing.
Cyrus looked over his shoulder at Crocodile.
"You can head out and get started on your end of the plan."
Hearing this, Crocodile immediately wanted to argue. He desperately wanted to stay and watch Cyrus fight the legendary Dark King.
But after seeing the dead-serious look in Cyrus's eyes, Crocodile knew better than to push it.
He swallowed his pride and turned to Enel and Tom.
"I'll call you if we hit any roadblocks," Crocodile promised.
With that, he led the giant fish-man and the Skypiean away from the bar.
As Enel followed Crocodile down the street, his footsteps were noticeably lighter and much faster than before.
It really was hard to breathe with two top-tier monsters like Hawkeye and Issho staring at him all day long.
"I need to learn that technique as well," Hawkeye suddenly said, his golden eyes locked intensely onto Cyrus.
"Wait, you have Conqueror's too?" Cyrus stopped, looking genuinely surprised before nodding in understanding.
"Sure. I'll teach you once I figure it out."
"I want to fight him right now," Hawkeye demanded seriously.
"Okay, sure. Let me fight him first. When I'm done, you can take a turn," Cyrus replied, sounding completely relaxed about the whole thing.
Just inside the bar, Rayleigh accidentally tripped over the doorway.
'What the hell did I just sign up for? Am I just a punching bag to these kids?'
"Are you alright?" Shakky asked, a small trace of genuine worry flashing across her face as she watched the old man stumble.
"I'm perfectly fine!" Rayleigh coughed.
He didn't actually sense any killing intent from Cyrus or Hawkeye.
Their goal was purely to master the absolute pinnacle of Haki combat.
But what he had warned Cyrus earlier wasn't a lie either.
Advanced Conqueror's Haki was an incredibly personal power; it couldn't just be taught.
After all, Supreme King Haki was the raw, physical manifestation of someone's overwhelming spirit.
Trying to teach someone how to turn their own spirit into a physical weapon was impossible.
Even if you explained it a thousand times, if they didn't have the will for it, they would never master it.
However, if he was being perfectly honest with himself... he really was curious to see just how strong this Cyrus kid actually was.
For someone his age to be this terrifying, it was simply unbelievable.
Then again, Rayleigh smiled, there are way too many monsters sailing these seas.
....
Marine Headquarters
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, he said no."
Kizaru hadn't immediately returned to Marine Headquarters.
Instead, he had pulled out a Den Den Mushi the second he got far enough away from the Sabaody Archipelago.
"Mm."
There wasn't a hint of disappointment or shock in Sengoku's voice.
It seemed he already knew the answer before Kizaru even asked.
Hearing this, Kizaru was left completely speechless.
'If you already knew what he was going to say, then you really shouldn't have sent me out there!'
"Wait exactly where you are. Don't return to Headquarters until Cyrus and his entire crew have left the archipelago," Sengoku commanded from the other end of the line.
Kizaru had a very, very bad feeling about this.
"Even though we've warned him off, a crew like that isn't going to play by our rules," Sengoku continued.
"So, to make sure this doesn't turn into an international disaster, you need to watch the World Nobles. If any of the Celestial Dragons wander too close to Cyrus's area, you need to force them to go back or change their direction."
"That... is not going to be an easy job!" Kizaru sighed heavily, rubbing his temples in annoyance.
This is way too much trouble!
"That is a direct order, Kizaru."
"I'll do my absolute best!" Kizaru promised, finally hanging up the Den Den Mushi with a defeated sigh.
Babysitting a bunch of arrogant Celestial Dragons who thought they owned the world... was going to be an absolute nightmare.
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