"Ama no Murakumo!!"
*Clang!!*
*Clang!! Clang!!*
Soon, Kizaru used his Devil Fruit ability to manifest a golden sword of light, clashing directly with Rayleigh.
Taking advantage of this opening, Sentomaru quickly bypassed the battlefield and pursued toward the coast, using a Transponder Snail to summon the Marines and other Pacifistas on the island.
Meanwhile, beneath the fallen giant mangrove, the pervasive dust and smoke gradually cleared.
"Cough... cough, cough...!!"
Allen coughed up two mouthfuls of blood, his face deathly pale. He struggled to stand, leaning one hand against the collapsed trunk. On his chest, a shocking gash was trickling blood.
Intense pain continuously assaulted his body. He could clearly feel a Haki completely different from Armament Haki rampaging wildly inside him.
"Conqueror's Haki Infusion, huh? Cough, cough...!"
"This old bastard, he really doesn't hold back..."
Allen leaned his back against the trunk, tilted his head up, and slowly exhaled a breath of stale air. He closed his eyes and activated his ability, relying on the powerful regenerative traits of the salamander to heal his wounds.
Just to steal a high-level Haki technique, he was almost sent to the afterlife with a single slash.
The Lunarian Tribe could generate offensive flames on their bodies, and this came with a special mechanism.
The brighter the flames burned, the higher their defense; when the flames dimmed or even extinguished, they sacrificed defense in exchange for a massive boost in movement speed.
However, just now, even with the maximum boost in defense, combined with his muscle density that surpassed ordinary human comprehension, and stacked with Armament Haki...
The combination of all three still couldn't withstand Rayleigh's full-power outburst. A single slash had directly left him severely injured.
It was fortunate that he had used every defensive measure available, otherwise he probably wouldn't even be able to stand right now.
"Phew—"
After a while, the wound on his chest had mostly healed, and Allen let out a long breath.
No wonder they say true legends never lose their edge.
Those powerhouses who stood at the pinnacle of the seas in the previous era had almost all cultivated their Haki to the absolute limit. Allen had deeply experienced this with his own body today.
Although he suffered quite a bit, fortunately, it wasn't in vain.
Looking back and simulating it with his Demon Brain, the beating he took in the battle just now would sooner or later become the fuel for his progress.
Compared to his previous defeat against Aokiji's freezing abilities, the gains from this battle with Rayleigh were clearly much greater.
Emission, Internal Destruction, and even Conqueror's Infusion—not a single wound on his body was taken in vain.
A moment later, Allen tried moving his body. After confirming he had mostly regained his mobility, he leaped onto the tree trunk.
Looking around, Kizaru and Rayleigh had fought their way to who-knows-where.
Just then, a familiar voice came from afar.
"Allen—!"
Allen turned to look in the direction of the voice and immediately saw Nami running out from the town in the distance, followed closely by Robin and Perona.
...
*Whack!!*
"You bastard! Did you provoke those Supernovas into coming after us? Do you have any idea you almost got us killed?!"
As soon as they regrouped, Nami jumped up and angrily rewarded Allen with a heavy punch to the head.
"Hahahaha, well, everyone's fine, right? We had nothing better to do anyway."
Allen flashed a carefree grin and asked, "So, who did you guys fight? You didn't lose, did you? I went through a lot of trouble to get those Ancient Zoan fruits from Vegapunk, and I really don't want to hand them over."
"Hmph. Are you kidding? How could I possibly lose to those idiots?"
Perona crossed her arms over her chest and lifted her chin with a haughty expression.
Besides Hawkins, who had fled after fighting Nami, Capone Bege had also come after them.
Perona had left her physical body with Robin and used her astral projection to play his entire pirate crew like a fiddle.
"But why did you come back? Oh, right, do you know about the huge incident that happened on the island?" Nami hurriedly asked, remembering the important matter.
Allen nodded. "I heard about the attack on the Celestial Dragons while I was in Mary Geoise. I had some free time, so I came back for a bit. Where are Sanji and the others?"
"I don't know, we're looking for them too," Nami replied. "Sanji took Buchi and Sham to buy ingredients this morning. Gin, Killer, and the others took the Freewill to find a shipwright for coating. They should be at Grove 53 right now."
"Alright, let's go meet up with Gin first."
...
Soon, Allen and the others left the area.
When they arrived at the coating shipyard at Grove 53, they found that Sanji and the Nyaban Brothers had just arrived as well.
With everyone gathered, Allen looked up at the sky. It was already evening.
The setting sun of dusk refracted through the bubbles floating in the air, casting dappled light and shadows on the grass.
Allen learned about their general experiences today from the group.
What surprised him was that not a single Supernova had approached Sanji and the Nyaban Brothers all day.
"So, the Marine Admiral was deployed because the Straw Hat Crew attacked a Celestial Dragon?"
"When I heard the news, I was wondering what kind of idiot would do that. But if it's them, it makes perfect sense," Sanji took a drag of his cigarette and sighed slowly, then looked at Allen. "What about you? Are you heading back, or are you staying on the island for a few days?"
"Well, I have to leave soon. If I don't go back, the World Government will probably send people to annoy me every day," Allen shrugged, turning to look at Gin. "Since you were defeated, go back to the ship later, grab a Devil Fruit, and send it over to him."
"Yes. I'm sorry, Captain, I..."
Gin lowered his head in shame, pursing his lips as if he wanted to say something but stopped.
Not to mention Nami, even Perona had defeated a Supernova, and the newly joined Killer had fought Drake to a draw. He was the only one who had lost.
As the captain of the combat division, facing this result left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Thinking about the Buccaneer Tribe serum that Allen had paid such a high price to trade for, which had just been used on him, only for him to turn around and lose a Devil Fruit for Allen...
The more he thought about it, the worse Gin felt.
Seeing Gin's depressed mood, Allen just smiled and said, "It's no big deal. I just got beaten up by some old man myself. At least you know how to feel ashamed. If you feel humiliated, just work harder to get stronger in the future."
"Anyway, I'll leave the ship to you guys. Once this blows over in a few days, head straight into the New World. I'm off."
Finally, Allen waved goodbye to everyone, spread his wings, and flew away.
...
Not long after he left, News Coos urgently distributed newspapers that fluttered down all over the Sabaody Archipelago.
"The commander of Whitebeard's Second Division, Fire Fist Ace, will be publicly executed at Marineford!"
"The execution will be broadcast live to the Sabaody Archipelago via Visual Transponder Snails!"
"Hey, is this for real?!"
"Are the Marines going to all-out war with Whitebeard?!"
"This is a massive incident...!"
Everywhere on the streets, people gathered in small groups, looking at the contents of the newspaper with faces full of disbelief.
At the same time, the news of the impending war rapidly spread across the world via the News Coos.