"Damn you, Garp! Why are you always chasing me?!"
"Because you're still out at sea, you idiot!"
Roger and Garp, eternal rivals, were already caught in a fierce battle, fist against sword, fighting with great intensity and excitement.
Bogard, wielding a standard-issue longsword, engaged Rayleigh in combat.
This quiet yet ruthless adjutant was surprisingly powerful.
Rayleigh didn't dare underestimate him.
Meanwhile, Dragon went after Gabban again, their revenge match now unfolding directly on the deck of the Oro Jackson.
"Vice-captain Rayleigh, I'm back, Mission accomplished!"
"I soaked all the gunpowder on that little warship, and the captain's Haki knocked out the whole crew."
Sunbell suddenly leapt from the sea, landing on the deck, soaking wet.
Rayleigh blocked Bogard's strike with his sword and nodded in satisfaction.
"Well done, Sunbell!"
"'Well done my ass! Damn fishman, don't you run!"
"I'm gonna slice you up!"
A furious roar came from the sky as Hammer flew through the air like a bullet and burst into the battlefield.
"Die! Continuous Discharge!"
He hurled his trident with full force. With a sharp sound of penetration, the weapon stabbed straight into the deck.
A terrifying surge of electricity erupted a second later.
The sound of lightning crackled.
Sunbell, being closest to the trident, took the brunt of it. He was instantly electrocuted, his body charred and smoking.
The lightning severed the battlefield.
Rayleigh's eyes flashed coldly, and with a powerful slash, he struck at the trident.
CLANG!
Coated in Armament Haki, his sword cleaved the trident cleanly in two, ending the electric surge.
"Sunbell! Hey, you alright?!"
"Hrk... gah... so numb..."
Seeing that Sunbell wasn't seriously hurt, Rayleigh finally relaxed.
"Now you'll see what happens when a true blacksmith gets pissed!"
"Witness my wrath!!"
"Open up! My treasure chest!"
Hammer was genuinely furious. His precious weapons had been soaked in seawater.
And his soldiers, so loyal along the way, were all knocked out in one blow. What if there were lasting effects?
In his rage, Hammer flashed to the front of the warship.
His ring lit up, and he began pulling out all kinds of gear.
"Vice Admiral Garp! Wind-Crushing Gauntlets!"
"Vice Admiral Bogard! Sword Aura Blade!"
"Dragon! Power Pole!"
One weapon after another emerged.
Garp grinned slyly, ran to the front of the ship, slipped on the gauntlets, and charged back at Roger.
Bogard, unsure of Hammer's gear but encouraged by his superior's enthusiasm, used Soru to grab a longsword and test it out.
Dragon simply transformed his right arm into a whirlwind and took the staff from Iron Hammer directly.
Hammer wasn't done; he even equipped himself with a gauntlet and a longsword, standing at the ship's bow in full attack stance.
"Roger! You're finished! Hahaha! Take this, Wind Crushing Strike!"
Wearing the gauntlets, Garp beamed. He swung both fists with force.
Roger posed confidently, thinking Garp couldn't hurt him, only to get humbled.
Powerful gales howled as Garp punched, the sheer force of his fist tore through the air, generating razor winds.
The dual shockwaves merged into a massive vortex.
Roger's eyes widened in disbelief.
"HOLY SHI-!"
"DIVINE DEPARTURE!"
He wouldn't dare tank such a visible blast of compressed air. He countered using Conqueror's Haki-infused Divine Departure.
Normal air currents couldn't withstand Conqueror's coating.
But this was Garp. The wind was just the beginning, the real threat was his Conqueror's Haki.
"Wind Crushing Galaxy Impact!"
His already mighty punches became even more dangerous.
Countless razor winds rained down like cherry blossoms in a storm, all centering on Garp's full-power strike.
"This is cheating! Garp, you coward! You're using gear!"
Roger was furious, he immediately saw that the wind blades weren't Garp's powers, but from the gauntlets.
That damn Garp actually brought gear to their fight!
"Pfft! And what about that fancy Supreme Grade Blade of yours, Ace?! You slice me up every time! You get to swing around a named sword, but I can't throw a punch with my gauntlets?!"
"Quit whining and take your beating like a man!"
Garp's heavy punch came crashing down. Roger countered again with Divine Departure.
He blocked the main punch, but the wind blades slipped through.
Even with Haki protection, Roger ended up in a sorry state.
The same chaos broke out with Rayleigh and Gabban.
Bogard was practically dancing with his longsword because each swing released sword aura.
While not as powerful as true flying slashes, the increased swing speed made up for it.
Bogard basically turned the swordsman class into an ADC(Attack Damage Carry).
Dozens of sword aura slashes ripped through the air, overwhelming Rayleigh.
Rayleigh became a relentless machine, desperately slashing to deflect the waves of sword slashes.
He wouldn't have needed to do this, but when one slash scarred the deck, he realized he had to protect the Oro Jackson.
If these strikes hit the ship freely, the whole thing might fall apart.
Dragon's fight was much tougher. He still hadn't fully matured, despite being a Logia user; he was no match for Gabban.
Even with the Power Pole helping him land sneak attacks, Gabban barely felt it.
"Hammer, got any other weapons? This staff sucks!"
Hammer ignored him. His real target had always been one person:
That fishman who sabotaged his warship, Sunbell.
Sword in hand, Hammer charged at Sunbell.
"You again, Marine dude?! You're so annoying!"
Out of the sea, Sunbell's power dropped a bit, but as a combatant of the Roger Pirates, he was still a force to be reckoned with.
Dense Armament Haki coated his arms and trident.
"Hmph! Just Haki, huh?"
"Let's see how you handle sword and fist!"
"Boom sching boom sching!"
Hammer wasn't dumb enough to brawl directly.
Left hand for punching, right hand for slashing.
In an instant, wind punches and sword energy engulfed Sunbell.
"I! @#!@#@%@!"
Sunbell swore like crazy, barely covering his body in Haki to survive.
As the battle raged on, no one noticed:
The trident Rayleigh had sliced in half was acting strangely.
The front end was still releasing faint sparks.
But instead of discharging outward, the electricity was now crawling up the shaft.
The current slowly ascended, and the sky, feeling the trident's "call," began to respond.
*BOOM!*