{š„³Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please support me.š„° You can access upto 100+ advance chapter through Patreon by using the link:
There was a broad, hearty smile on Roger's face at this time.
Holding the Supreme Grade blade Ace in his hand, he was closing in at an extremely fast speed.
"Roger?"
Seeing this familiar face, Ayr was slightly startled.
Immediately afterward, he swiftly drew the supremely fast sword from his waist, stomped heavily on the ground, and charged straight toward Roger.
"Divine Departure!!!"
"Zen God Slash!!!"
Their figures closed the distance in an instant.
Both men's blades were simultaneously wrapped in thick layers of Armament Haki and violently surging Conqueror's Haki as they slashed at each other.
"Boom!!!"
The blades clashed in mid-air, and the impact released a terrifying shockwave that spread wildly in all directions.
The clouds high above were directly torn apart, and the ground beneath their feet shattered into spiderweb-like cracks.
The auras radiating from them resembled two ancient beasts roaring against each other, shaking heaven and earth.
Not far away, members of the Roger Pirates came into Ayr's line of sight.
A young man with a big red nose, wearing a yellow-red striped shirt, gasped and exclaimed:
"Whoaā¦ Whoa, this guy can actually go toe-to-toe with Captain Roger!!!"
A red-haired boy in a loose white shirt swallowed nervously.
"Is this the pirate whose bounty hit 6 billion berries in the New Worldā¦?!"
"Hahahaā¦ Shanks, Buggy, you two just joined our crew not long ago. You probably haven't seen a clash of this level before," Rayleigh smiled while glancing at the two.
Yesāthese two teenagers were none other than Buggy and Red-Haired Shanks.
In the future, both would become Four Emperors renowned across the seas!
"I thought Captain Roger was already the strongest man on the seaā¦ I didn't expect this guy's strength to be on par with himā¦"
The red-haired boy wiped cold sweat from his forehead.
Although he knew Ayr's bounty had skyrocketed to six billion berriesā¦
The World Government had issued no bounty poster, no profile, no news.
There had always been very little information circulating about Ayr across the seas.
After the Battle of Hive Island, Ayr's bounty had increased from 1.5 billion, yet no bounty poster or official announcement was ever made.
Not because of negligenceābut because what Ayr had done was so shocking that the World Government dared not report it publicly.
Once revealed, it would shake the very foundations of the world!
Thus, Shanks, even though he knew Ayr's bounty was extremely high, had never personally witnessed Ayr's might before.
Now, seeing it firsthand, he couldn't help but be stunned.
"Ayr and Captain Roger are indeed evenly matched in strengthā¦
But if you ask me," Jabba narrowed his eyes and said seriously, "Ayr's Haki is even stronger than Roger's."
He wasn't blindly praising Roger just because he was the captain.
When it came to Armament and Observation Haki, Roger and Ayr were equally powerful.
But in terms of Conqueror's Haki, Ayr was superior.
After all, with Ayr's continuous evolutionāRinnegan, Sage Body, and Ten Tailsāhis Conqueror's Haki had advanced to a full mastery level early on.
Roger's Conqueror's Haki, while extremely powerful, was still slightly below Ayr's at this time.
"Haki stronger than Captain Roger's?!" Buggy shrieked in disbelief.
"After all, Ayr's a monster among monsters," Rayleigh chuckled, rubbing Buggy's head.
Even Rayleigh wasn't sure exactly what Ayr had done to make his bounty soar so crazily.
But one thing was certaināwhatever Ayr had done, it had shaken the very core of the World Government itself.
At present, no pirate anywhere in the New World had a bounty surpassing Ayr's.
How could someone like that not be called a monster?
"Hahahaā¦ I haven't seen you for such a long time, but your strength has grown even stronger," Roger laughed heartily.
He sheathed Ace into its scabbard, smiling as if meeting an old rival again.
The last time the two fought had been when the Rocks Pirates were still active.
Now, time had passed in the blink of an eye.
"Well, your strength hasn't disappointed me either, Roger," Ayr responded with a light chuckle, also sheathing his sword.
Without using abilities like the Rinnegan, Ten Tails chakra, Wood Style techniques, and others, Ayr's physical strength alone wasn't necessarily above Roger's.
After all, in these past years, Ayr had focused more on evolving his Fairy Eyes and seeking Devil Fruits rather than pure combat training.
His strength hadn't increased drastically outside of his foundational talents.
Ayr gave Roger a deep look and said, half-jokingly, half-seriously:
"But speaking of which, Ayrā¦ a few days ago, I saw your bounty went up by 1.25 billion berries! You bastardā¦ what crazy thing did you do this time?!" Roger asked, full of curiosity.
He had noticed that every time Ayr's bounty increased, there was no official bounty notice issued.
This was already the fourth time!
Naturally, Roger's curiosity was piqued.
What exactly did Ayr do that scared the World Government so badly?
"It's nothing major," Ayr replied nonchalantly. "Just took a little trip to the Holy Land, Mariejois."
The moment those words left his mouth, the Roger Pirates' members all stiffened in shockāand a cold sweat broke out on their backs.
"H-Holy Landā¦ Mariejois?!"
"That's the headquarters of the World Government! No pirate has ever dared to set foot there!"
"As expected of the man the World Government fears mostā¦ daring to step into that forbidden ground!"
Even though the Roger Pirates were known as the most dominant pirates of the New World,
they would never dare to recklessly charge into Mariejois, the stronghold of the Celestial Dragons and Gorosei.
Jabba, visibly stunned, adjusted his glasses and muttered:
"So that's why your bounty jumped by 1.25 billionā¦ makes sense nowā¦"
"The Holy Land Mariejois is even more dangerous than Marine Headquarters itself!"
Rayleigh shook his head, both impressed and concerned.
"To think you stepped into that den of monsters and made it out aliveā¦"
Now they understood clearly:
Why the World Government dared not publicize Ayr's exploits, only silently raising his bounty instead.
Ayr hadn't just caused ordinary troubleāhe had challenged the untouchable power structures of the world itself.
"Ayr, how did you manage to escape from those old monsters stationed at Mariejois?!" Roger couldn't help but take a deep breath.
In recent years, through investigating the Road Poneglyphs and studying world history, Roger had unearthed many hidden truths.
One of those was the secret of the Five Elders:
They were not newly appointed officials, but ancient figures who had existed since the Void Century, hundreds of years ago.
In other words, the Five Elders had lived for centuriesāand cultivated strength far beyond ordinary comprehension.
How strong were they after centuries of honing their abilities?
Even Roger didn't dare to guess easily!
"I didn't escape from them," Ayr shook his head calmly.
The Five Elders were indeed terrifying.
But with the power of the Ten Tails flowing through himāalong with his evolved Fairy EyesāAyr had crushed those ancient monsters head-on.
At that time, even those legends had been unable to stop him.
{ Enjoying the chapters? Please Support me on Patreon and unlock 100+ advanced chapters, with 3 new chapters released every two days!
The fanfic is also available for one-time purchase on Patreon ā unlock lifetime access to the full collection, no membership needed! Don't miss out āsupport and own it forever!
patreon.com/Oreski}