Night fell over the capital, but for Ray's bookstore, the day was just beginning. The shop was glowing with a soft, bioluminescent light—a byproduct of the 'Sea Breeze Realm'. Inside, a dozen loyal readers were still hunched over their desks, their eyes fixed on the pages of the Orange Town Arc.
Ray sat in the center of the shop, his eyes closed. Through his Observation Haki, he felt them coming. Twenty signatures. Each one cold, silent, and lethal. The Abyssal Shadow Guards—the Lord's private assassins.
"Close the books," Ray said softly.
Lin and the others looked up, confused. "But Ray, I'm almost at the part where Nami—"
"Go to the back," Ray interrupted, his voice echoing with a new authority. "The City Lord has sent his pets to play. I wouldn't want the ink to get stained with their blood."
The door didn't open; it disintegrated.
Twenty shadows flowed into the room like liquid. They didn't speak. They didn't boast. They simply drew their blackened daggers, each one coated in a soul-eroding poison. The leader, a man hidden behind a crow-like mask, pointed his blade at Ray.
"The Lord wants the books," the Crow Mask hissed. "The boy is optional. Dead or alive."
Ray stood up, the Straw Hat firmly on his head. He didn't reach for a weapon. He didn't channel Qi. Instead, he took a wide stance, his legs vibrating with a strange, high-frequency energy.
"You're in my shop," Ray said, his voice dropping an octave. "And in this shop, the only law is the Story."
[Ding!]
[Emergency Mission: Total Annihilation.]
[Temporary Buff: 'Gear Second' (Partial - 30 seconds limit).]
Ray's skin began to turn a light pink hue. Steam started to rise from his shoulders as his heart rate accelerated to a superhuman pace. The air around him began to warp from the sheer heat radiating from his body.
The assassins froze. They felt a pressure they had never encountered—a raw, primal 'Battle Intent' that made their very souls tremble.
"Gomu Gomu no..."
Ray disappeared. He didn't run; he moved so fast the human eye couldn't track him.
JET PISTOL!
The leader didn't even have time to raise his dagger. A fist, moving at the speed of sound and glowing with a dark Haki sheen, slammed into his mask. The mask shattered, and the man was sent flying through the back wall, his body leaving a trail of steam in the air.
"Impossible!" one of the assassins cried out, swinging his soul-eroding dagger.
Ray didn't dodge. He pivoted his torso with the flexibility of a snake, his body stretching around the blade, and then snapped back.
"Gomu Gomu no... GATLING!"
A rain of fists descended upon the shadows. To the onlookers, it looked like Ray had sprouted a hundred arms. Each strike landed with the weight of a cannonball. The assassins, trained for years in the shadows, were being decimated by a boy who was literally bouncing around the room.
[Synchronization Update: Luffy 20%, Zoro 10%.]
[Skill Manifestation: 'Oni Giri' (Projected).]
Suddenly, an image of Zoro appeared behind Ray—a towering, spectral figure with three blades. As Ray swung his arm in a cutting motion, the spectral Zoro mirrored him. A wave of sharp, green energy sliced through the remaining assassins, cutting their blackened daggers in half and sending them crashing into the street.
In less than thirty seconds, the room was empty of enemies. Only the steam remained, slowly dissipating as Ray's skin returned to its normal color. He breathed out a long, hot cloud of air, his heart slowing down.
Elder Lu, who had watched the whole thing from the stairs, fell to his knees. "He... he summoned the spirit of the character... he turned the fiction into a Divine Strike."
Ray turned back to his counter, his quill waiting. "I told you, Elder. The story is real. And it's only just started."
He looked toward the City Lord's manor in the distance, his Observation Haki locking onto the arrogant presence there.
"Tomorrow," Ray whispered, "We release the Arlong Park Arc. And the City Lord is going to find out what happens when you make a Pirate angry."