"There's also this rule!!" Rocks angrily retorted: "Any pirates whose purpose is Shakky's bar, after arriving on this island, are forbidden from fighting on the island!!"
This was actually a rule set by Shakky herself, to ensure the bar could operate normally without being destroyed and rebuilt every few days.
York grinned upon hearing this.
"Roger and his crew did come for Shakky! But Rayleigh didn't!"
Rocks was stunned, finally remembering that Rayleigh hadn't even come to the bar.
In fact, Rayleigh hadn't even set foot on the island!
For someone who didn't even land on the island, who could confirm he came for Shakky's bar?
Rocks suppressed his anger, his gaze towards York gradually calming, then turning somewhat amused.
The Roger side also fell silent, clearly realizing Rayleigh's behavior of staying on the ship didn't comply with Shakky's no-fighting rule.
"Hey! Rayleigh!"
York withdrew his gaze from Rocks and turned to Rayleigh.
"If you admit you came to this island for Shakky's bar, I'll stop fighting you!"
"Otherwise! I'll continue challenging you!"
Rayleigh's expression froze, his old face reddening as he stubbornly said: "Continue the fight!"
York sneered mockingly, "What a coward!!"
With that, York charged at Rayleigh proactively, unleashing the cannon-fire swordsmanship once more.
Rayleigh charged at York in sync, slashing with full Conqueror's Infusion sword technique.
The two clashed fiercely again at the center of the battlefield.
Roger scratched the back of his head.
He could roughly guess why the two were fighting, but without Rayleigh admitting it personally, there was no way to enforce the rules.
For Rocks' side, it was much simpler.
Most of them actually wanted to see just how strong York was now.
Since Rayleigh hadn't followed the island rules, this was a perfect chance for them to witness York's full power.
"Lion's Thousand Cut Valley!!"
After pulling back distance again, York swung his long sword rapidly, unleashing dozens of golden flying slashes.
The spectating Golden Lion froze immediately, "That's my technique?! This kid! When did he steal it from me?!!"
Rayleigh easily deflected York's flying slashes, sending them skyward, shredding the clouds into countless fragments.
Wielding his blade infused with Haki, he delivered a vertical slash.
This time, York didn't dodge. He gripped his long sword with both hands and unleashed a full-power horizontal slash.
"Sweeping All Directions!!"
A horizontal pure-white slash leaped forth, forming a half-moon ring. It didn't just fly outward but expanded continuously with York at the center.
Whitebeard's eyes narrowed, "That's my technique!"
Though he had no name for it, and York's version was slightly altered, the effect was the same: slicing everything in a 180-degree arc in front of him into upper and lower halves.
*Crack!*
A slash without Conqueror's Infusion was ultimately weaker against one with infusion.
York's half-ring slash was easily shattered, forcing him to grip his sword with both hands and block Rayleigh's slash head-on.
"Yah—Hah!!"
Using all his strength to deflect the blade upward, York finally succeeded in guiding Rayleigh's slash skyward.
At that moment, Rayleigh closed in on York.
"It's over!!"
A diagonal slash. A massive wound appeared across York's chest, blood spraying as he was sent flying, crashing into the buildings.
Dust rose. Rayleigh calmly sheathed his sword.
"The fight is decided!!"
However, neither Roger nor Rocks spoke at this moment.
A moment later, a cough came from the building ruins.
"*Cough cough!*"
Immediately after, a violent slash wave shot skyward, sweeping away all the dust.
Holy white light bloomed from York's body.
The Rocks Pirates groaned collectively, expressions of enjoyment appearing on their faces.
Including the pirates blasted away by the battle's aftermath who hadn't died yet, all wore faces of happiness and bliss.
"Shakky-chan~"
Their eyes glazed over, as if seeing their long-dreamed Shakky making love to them.
Taking advantage of this time, countless patterned Holy Light Tentacles extended from York's body.
These tentacles wrapped around those affected by the ability, drawing a small portion of life force from them to feed back to York.
The deep wound across York's chest, visible down to his ribs, rapidly healed. His complexion returned to rosy.
Then, he retracted the tentacles, and even the holy white light gradually dimmed.
A confident smile returned to York's face. He murmured to himself: "Conqueror's Infusion... so that's how it works!!"
The next second, black-red Haki erupted from his body toward the heavens. The shredded clouds in the sky regrouped because of him, forming swirling dark thunderclouds.
"S... such strong Haki..."
Both the Roger Pirates and Rocks Pirates showed shock on their faces. Even Roger and Rocks looked at York with seriousness and scrutiny.
The next moment, under York's control, this vast Haki gradually receded, wrapping bit by bit like ribbons around the sword in his hand.
*Zzzzt!*
The dense Conqueror's Haki, overly concentrated, emitted blinding red light.
Then the glaring light shifted to deep black, finally returning to seemingly ordinary black-red lightning.
York's meter-long blade was gradually enveloped by the black-red lightning, from hilt to tip.
And just as the entire sword was wrapped in Conqueror's lightning—
*Ping!*
A crisp sound rang out. York's sword, already chipped in a dozen places from clashing with Rayleigh, shattered into fragments on the ground.
York, preparing to counterattack, froze completely, never expecting this to happen.
Rayleigh, who had been tense and ready to defend, also froze, clearly not anticipating this either.
Fortunately, the Haki master Rocks was present. He knew what happened and explained: "Your sword is too crappy! It couldn't withstand your Haki!"
York finally understood.
But after this incident, he lost interest in continuing to fight Rayleigh.
"Forget it, that's enough for today. I just broke through; I need to go consolidate it properly."
Looking up at Roger, York shouted loudly: "Roger! Don't forget our agreement! We'll fight before you leave!!"
Roger nodded solemnly, "Ah~ I'll look forward to it!!"
This time, his words were much more serious.
A York who had mastered Conqueror's Infusion was indeed qualified to be his opponent.
Even if the kid was still young and somewhat lacking in various aspects.
Seeing Roger wasn't brushing him off, York no longer lingered and quickly left.
He indeed needed to properly consolidate the Conqueror's Infusion technique he had just comprehended in battle.
As a transmigrator without a system, he couldn't afford to be careless about such things.