“You—you can use Armament Haki too?!”

  Evans stared in disbelief at Aeridar’s jet-bck arms, which shimmered faintly with a metallic sheen.

  Now it made sense. No wonder that punch had been so powerful. Even with Armament Haki reinforcing his defense, it still hurt like hell. So it wasn’t just the guy’s Devil Fruit power—he also had Haki.

  But the real kicker? This guy hadn’t even entered the Grand Line yet. Being a Devil Fruit user as a rookie wasn’t exactly rare; there were strong upstarts across the seas. But who the hell has a Devil Fruit power, an overwhelming physical strength and mastery over Haki—something even many Rear Admirals and Captains couldn’t fully wield?

  Was this guy even human?

  “Oh, this?”

  Aeridar raised his arm and flexed his fingers slightly, the darkened surface glinting like polished steel.

  “It’s just Armament Haki. Nothing special.”

  “Damn it!”

  Aeridar’s expression shifted, and he suddenly twisted his body to the right.

  Shhhhk!

  A massive ssh sliced through the air right next to him, cleaving past with the ease of a hot bde through butter. Behind him, a four-story building split cleanly down the middle.

  Boom… boom… boom!

  The building groaned and colpsed on both sides. Bricks scattered. Wooden beams snapped like twigs. The cut was unnaturally smooth—no rough edges, no resistance.

  “A sneak attack from the so-called righteous Navy?”

  Aeridar’s gaze darkened as he looked ahead.

  If his Observation Haki hadn’t been sharp enough, he would’ve taken that blow straight on. And judging by the force behind it, even with Armament Haki defense, he’d be seriously injured now.

  “You showed up just in time, Farlier-senpai,”

  Evans coughed out a bitter ugh from his half-kneeling position.

  Following Aeridar and Evans’s line of sight, a tall figure stood atop the roof of a nearby three-story building.

  He was over two meters tall—nky but imposing. A sharply angur, expressionless face. Short brown hair. A bck suit with silver pinstripes, draped in the Navy’s white coat of justice. In his hand gleamed a bright silver cross-shaped longsword.

  “Hmph. When dealing with evil pirates, no tactic is too dirty.”

  The man leapt from the rooftop, stepped in midair, flipped, and nded silently next to Evans.

  He gnced down at the battered officer with a slight frown and muttered coldly,

  “Pathetic. You even used your Devil Fruit powers… and still got wrecked like this.”

  “Cough—cough…”

  Evans let out another couple of hacks before the tightness in his chest eased slightly. His left arm was starting to respond again. Slowly, he rose to his feet with a grim face.

  “Farlier-senpai, don’t underestimate him. That man… he’s really strong.”

  “I know,” Farlier said coolly. “Anyone who can kill Mori with ease and nearly cripple you without breaking a sweat—that strength is obvious.”

  “Uh…”

  Evans winced. Come on, can we stop bringing up how badly I got beaten?

  “Oi, are you done chatting yet?”

  Aeridar's tone was ft but ced with irritation. “Because I’m coming.”

  “He’s moving.”

  Farlier’s eyes sharpened, and he raised his crossbde vertically before his chest.

  “Be careful!”

  Evans barked, shifting into a combat stance. “He can strike the air to unch powerful shockwaves! He knows some of the techniques from Rokushiki, and he can use both Observation and Armament Haki fluently!”

  “…Not much of a rookie, is he?”

  Farlier’s expression twitched slightly, a rare hint of sarcasm slipping into his usually icy demeanor.

  “Run—RUN!!”

  “Get out of here! Keep your distance!!”

  “Don’t get caught in the fight between those monsters—you’ll die!!”

  The pirates near the street entrance scattered in a panic. With a second Rear Admiral joining the fray, they knew the csh was about to escate. None of them wanted to be colteral damage.

  Still, a few of the smarter pirate captains understood the stakes. While the battle at the crossroads raged, they rallied their crews to hold off the Navy’s full-scale assault surging from the harbor.

  Oliver, seeing his captain blocking the main street in a three-way showdown with two Rear Admirals, turned on his heel and rushed off to rally the rger pirate crews still inside the town. He knew the outer defenses wouldn’t st long. They needed reinforcements—more bodies and a hell of a lot more firepower.

  BOOM!

  The three cshed in an instant. Shockwaves exploded from the impact. The fight instantly reached a fever pitch.

  Observation Haki fred wildly as each combatant tried to anticipate the others’ moves. Armament Haki cshed with thunderous force, each blow strong enough to shatter steel. The surrounding environment was obliterated—buildings crumbled under shockwaves or were split cleanly by massive sshes.

  All three were masters of Geppo—Moonwalk—so the fight often carried into the sky. When their attacks nded, the ground erupted: craters from shockwave strikes, long fissures from airborne sshes. The entire street was reduced to rubble.

  Even excluding Aeridar, the two Rear Admirals alone were at least on par with Luffy’s Gear 2 or Zoro’s “breath of all things” state—possibly stronger. In terms of endurance and destructive power, they had the edge. These weren’t mere grunts—they were elite veterans from the New World, their dual Haki mastery rivaling that of most Vice Admirals stationed at Marine fortresses.

  CLANG!!!

  Aeridar blocked Evans’s cw strike with one hand while smming a punch into Farlier’s sword. The resulting shockwave bsted outward with terrifying force, sending vibrations through the ground and air.

  “Tch—!”

  Farlier’s face twisted as he was sent flying through the air.

  BOOM!

  He smashed into a stone wall, embedding into it with a thunderous crash. The wall caved in around him, spiderweb cracks radiating out from the impact.

  What the hell was that force?! I’m a Rear Admiral, for crying out loud! A swordsman and hand-to-hand combat specialist! And he just… punched me through a damn wall?!

  SMACK!

  Evans grabbed Aeridar’s wrist, yanked him forward, and unched himself with both feet off the ground, knees aimed straight at Aeridar’s chest.

  “Cheh.”

  Aeridar’s eyes narrowed in surprise, but he recovered quickly. He grabbed Evans’s wrist with his other hand, and his chest shimmered as Armament Haki coated it like armor.

  THUD!

  A dull boom rang out as the two collided, a bst of wind surging out from the impact. The ground beneath them cratered. The force shattered nearby tiles and hurled debris outward like shrapnel.

  Both men staggered back several steps and released each other.

  “Guh!”

  Aeridar coughed up blood and dropped to one knee, clutching his chest in pain. His organs had taken a hit.

  “D-damn it…”

  Evans colpsed onto the ground, barely coherent. His knees were a mangled mess of blood and broken bone. His legs trembled uncontrolbly.

  The kneecaps had fractured, and the muscles in his thighs were severely torn.

  JuanFiction