Clatter!
It seemed the Den Den Mushi was disconnected by a collision during the fight, and Garp's voice abruptly ceased.
"Oh ho ho, a troublesome fellow is coming, this isn't good." Roger said with a grin and a chuckle.
However, there was no sign of worry or fear in his expression, making his words seem a bit insincere.
Soon after, Kenji understood why Roger had said that.
"It seems I need to finish this quickly!"
Before his words even faded, the Conqueror's Haki swirling around Roger suddenly intensified, as if it had spontaneously combusted.
Immediately following that, Roger gripped his sword with both hands and launched a rapid series of slashes with lightning speed.
Bang... Bang... Bang!
Kenji thrust both fists out, nearly having his defense breached by Roger's sudden assault, finding himself a bit flustered for a moment.
"Saying a troublesome fellow is coming, was that just to set up this surprise attack?"
"If you wanted to pressure this old man, couldn't you have just said so?"
Roger's small bit of mischief managed to unearth nearly forgotten memories from the depths of Kenji's mind.
However, he currently had no time to carefully savor the feelings from those memories.
Before him, Roger's offense surged like a tide. Wherever the sword 'Ace' passed, all things gave way.
This supreme-grade sword, one of only a dozen in the entire world, inherently possessed power beyond human imagination.
With the added power of Roger's top-tier Conqueror's Haki, this Supreme Grade Sword, Ace, had reached the peak of its potential.
With every slash, a light swept forth, and the intertwining Conqueror's Haki shot straight into the sky.
In comparison, the movements of Kenji's punches were much smaller.
Perhaps due to being caught by surprise and having to respond hastily, Kenji was unable to use his full strength with each strike.
The light flickering on his fists had diminished greatly, as he simply didn't have time to charge them.
What appeared to be a clash of 'Conqueror's Haki Infusion' was, in reality, more akin to the most primitive close-quarters combat, punch for punch.
Kenji's arm muscles bulged, his heavy punches blurring into phantoms, striking Roger's sword edge repeatedly.
With each impact of immense force, a thunderous muffled roar erupted, black lightning wildly danced, and thunder rolled.
"This kind of battle really makes one's blood boil."
Every punch a critical hit! Every slash covered with Haki!
Kenji felt his whole body burning, blood rushing upwards, his eyes devoid of any extraneous thoughts, only battle intent.
While passion may wane with age, battle intent does not. It only accumulates within the body over time.
At this moment, Kenji was permeated with battle intent from head to toe. And Roger was the same.
This Legendary Pirate was not originally known for his muscles or immense strength, but now his arm muscles bulged, making him look like a strongman among humans.
Ace, infused with Conqueror's Haki, was wielded with immense power, unleashing even greater might. Roger's sword danced, his momentum unbroken since the start of the fight.
The close-quarters combat, combined with Roger gaining the initiative, kept Kenji in a continuous state of passivity.
"Your strength is beyond my expectation, old man Kenji!" Roger chuckled as he raised his hand and slashed again, sparks flying as the sword flashed.
"However…"
The next moment, Roger's eyes suddenly widened, his arm muscles bulged to their limit, and Ace in his hand was completely enveloped in Conqueror's Haki, making it look more like he was holding a fierce, sword-shaped beam of light.
Then, Roger gripped the sword with both hands and slashed down heavily.
Crack... Boom!
Before the power of the slash could even erupt, thick black Haki exploded first, creating thunder out of nowhere.
In the midst of a close-quarters, fist-to-fist brawl, such a sudden, unexpected move would normally be enough to decide the outcome. After all, this was a surprise attack.
However, Kenji seemed to have anticipated it, showing no surprise at Roger's sudden burst.
Instead, he seized the opportunity of Roger's brief charge, retreated slightly, and simultaneously drew back his arms. The tightly clenched fists pulsed with starlight-like radiance, rapidly becoming dazzling and brilliant.
Boom... Boom... Boom!
Large swaths of black Haki swirled around him, splitting the surrounding ground into pieces, countless chunks of earth and rubble surged up, only to be pulverized by the intense Conqueror's Haki.
The two of them charged for less than half a second. When the sword edge and heavy fist clashed again, a violent pressure, centered on their location, shattered the earth and suppressed the sea.
Sections of land rose and fell, as if an earthquake had occurred.
The massive ocean waves that had surged high in the distance were forcibly pushed back into the deep sea, revealing the coral and sand on the seabed.
It looked as if the battlefield had expanded.
At this moment, the Roger Pirates had already reached the edge of the battlefield, but found it difficult to advance further.
The several rookie crew members who had been most active earlier were now stumbling, trying to grasp onto anything within reach to stabilize themselves.
The older crew members of the Roger Pirates fared much better, each selecting a fractured piece of ground and continuously releasing flowing Armament Haki to counteract the battle's aftershocks.
However, they showed no signs of panic or discomfort. Instead, smiles were on their faces.
"Hey! It looks like captain is really enjoying the fight!"
"This is bad. If we go over and interrupt the battle now, will it be very impolite?"
"Huh? Rayleigh and Gaban-san have already gone."
Amidst surprised exclamations, over a dozen pairs of eyes simultaneously looked over.
In the distance, Rayleigh and Gaban were seen pushing through the violent currents and fierce aura, steadily approaching the center of the battlefield.
Seeing this, the others also followed suit. However, as soon as they moved, loud explosions suddenly echoed from deeper within the island.
It was the Fishman Sunbell being besieged. Explosions continuously occurred around him, and while the intensity of the battle couldn't compare to Kenji and Roger's, the danger was no less.
"Sunbell's having a tough fight!"
"Let's go, I'll go see what's happening!"
Several crew members changed direction and went to support Sunbell.
Among the remaining crew, some followed Rayleigh and Gaban into the battlefield, while others temporarily remained where they were.
Among them, Spencer, with his ponytail, inadvertently caught sight of a faint black dot on the distant horizon.
"Is that…"
Spencer had a vague premonition, straining his eyes to peer into the distance.
At the same moment, at the center of the battlefield.
After Kenji and Roger exchanged another heavy blow, Kenji's expression suddenly changed. He seemed to sense something and turned his head to look towards the distant horizon of the sea.
"It seems a formidable fellow has arrived!"
"Was he caught? Patrick …"
At this moment, large sections of system text quietly appeared in his vision.
Unbeknownst to him, the mission to assist in the subjugation of Patrick had already been completed.