Luffy, how can you become the Pirate King if you don't work hard!

Luffy leaped up and slashed at it.

The Kusanagi Sword and the demonic intent collided fiercely, producing a crisp, resonant sound!

The two energies of light and darkness clashed fiercely at the point where the swords met, bursting forth with a blinding light.

Luffy gripped the demonic energy, feeling the surging power emanating from the blade, and grinned:

"I never imagined that the general was also a swordsman!"

He didn't really encounter any decent swordsmen in the navy.

He has fought against so many naval forces.

Garp relies on his fists, Aokiji on his abilities, and Zephyr on his mechanical arm and physical skills.

There don't seem to be many naval swordsmen.

"I should be the one who's surprised, Straw Hat Boy."

Kizaru looked at the extraordinary black sword in Luffy's hand and slowly said, "So he really got a Supreme Grade Sword? It seems the information was true."

The second collision clearly showed who was superior.

In terms of power, Luffy, with his Nika form and Conqueror's Haki, even has a slight advantage, and the quality of his demonic intent is clearly no less than that of the Ama no Kusanagi.

Kizaru quickly made a judgment in his mind.

A fight could not produce a clear winner in a short time, and the two sides might even fall into a disadvantageous position due to the fear of harming each other.

With Rayleigh and that green-haired swordsman around, the chances of success are extremely low.

Delaying is detrimental to the Navy; the longer a Celestial Dragon suffers, the greater his pressure becomes.

So, there's only one option left.

Kizaru retreated, and the Ama no Kusanagi Sword vanished as specks of light.

He raised his hands, making a pause gesture.

"Alright alright."

He resumed his lazy expression, but his tone became much more serious. "Speak, Straw Hat Boy. You're qualified. Let's talk about terms."

There is no need to continue this pointless battle.

The other party is waiting here; they must have some ulterior motive.

Since we cannot subdue them by force, we can only negotiate.

He backed down.

It's impossible to hit it at all.

His previous exchange had made him realize that he was simply unable to deal with this strangely behaving Straw Hat Boy in a short period of time.

His domineering aura is ridiculously strong, and he also has a Supreme Grade Sword. If you didn't know better, you'd think you were fighting Whitebeard.

Chapter 311 Kizaru, say it again, I didn't hear you clearly.

Since force cannot solve the problem, then negotiation is the only option.

The fact that the other side made such a big show of force, kidnapping a Celestial Dragon but not killing him immediately, must mean they have some ulterior motive.

Upon hearing this, Luffy smiled with satisfaction, and the features of his Nika form slowly faded away, returning him to normal.

His strategic objective has been achieved.

Just as he had anticipated, as long as he demonstrated enough strength to make the Navy Admirals feel troubled about protecting the lives of the Celestial Dragons, they would have no choice but to sit down and talk.

He now possesses the initial qualifications to engage in dialogue with world governments.

That's enough.

The strategic objective has been half achieved.

Luffy wasn't so arrogant as to think he had absolute confidence in killing a Marine Admiral.

A fight to the death, the outcome is unpredictable.

Moreover, this place is close to the Marine Headquarters, so there's no point in fighting Kizaru here. By the time the battle is halfway through, the enemy's reinforcements will probably arrive.

Luffy has a clear purpose; he didn't come here to fight.

The demonic intent remained in his hand, emanating a faint but palpable aura of intimidation.

"As an admiral, are you qualified to negotiate on behalf of the World Government?" Luffy asked directly.

Of course~

Kizaru shrugged, his tone relaxed. "I'm here as a negotiator."

Nobody would believe that.

Luffy pursed his lips. If he had performed even slightly worse, he wouldn't be facing negotiations now, but rather a full-scale attack after Kizaru rescued the hostages.

Kizaru continued, "If you want money, the World Government can agree to it. Name your price."

He tried to limit the conditions to a more acceptable range.

Even Nami, who was standing some distance away, couldn't help but purse her lips at those words.

Comparing who's richer?

They now possess a huge amount of gold on the Sky Island, so they might not even care about the World Government's ransom.

"No need," Luffy shook his head decisively.

Free of charge?

Kizaru's eyes flickered slightly; what he was asking for must be far more valuable than money.

"So, is it a Devil Fruit? Or some other rare treasure?" Kizaru asked tentatively.

Before that, he pointed in the direction of Zoro: "Before that, could you please ask your crew to remove the knife from Saint Charlos's neck? Treating a World Noble like this is not a friendly negotiating stance."

The blade had already drawn blood, and Kizaru had no doubt that if he made the slightest move, the green-haired swordsman would not hesitate to slash him.

Zoro merely grinned maliciously, remaining unmoved.

The admiral's words meant nothing to him; he only obeyed the captain's orders.

"Kizaru! Save us now! Kill these lowly people who have offended us!" Seeing that Kizaru seemed to be willing to compromise, Roswald screamed again, his voice filled with bravado but his heart was filled with fear.

"You'd better shut up, Saint Roswald."

Kizaru's expression remained unchanged, his tone even carrying a hint of barely perceptible annoyance, "Otherwise, Saint Charlos might have returned to the embrace of God prematurely because of your words. Killing one Celestial Dragon or killing two might make little difference to them."

His words contained no anger at the humiliation suffered by the Celestial Dragons, and his eyes showed no respect whatsoever for the so-called descendants of the Creator.

At the Admiral level, possessing their own will and pride, the privileges of the Celestial Dragons might be seen by them as more of a symbol of trouble.

Just like it is now.

They actually have to negotiate with the pirates.

He's a great general, you know.

Luffy stopped beating around the bush and stated his ultimate goal directly: "I want someone from Impel Down."

Kizaru's gaze darkened slightly; as expected, the worst-case scenario had occurred.

The kidnapping of Celestial Dragons must have been for a much larger purpose.

"If it's just a pirate from levels one to five of Impel Down, I might be able to make the decision."

Kizaru remained calm, attempting to limit the scope to a controllable range.

Luffy shook his head. He had no idea which level Ace was imprisoned on, nor did he need to know.

"I want Portgas D. Ace, the second division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates!"

Despite having anticipated it, Kizaru's expression still changed uncontrollably when he heard the name spoken by Luffy.

He looked at Luffy and couldn't help but ask, "What's your relationship with that man?"

"You just need to say, yes or no."

Luffy knew very well that he would never easily reveal his brotherly relationship with Ace in front of the enemy.

Kizaru remained silent.

If you say it's no big deal, nobody would believe you.

Which pirate would risk the world's condemnation to kidnap a Celestial Dragon just to save another completely unrelated pirate?

But if it's a close relationship.

Does Garp know?

Do you know about the Warring States period?

The network of relationships behind this is chilling to think about.

Even Kizaru was a little scared.

Zhan Guo was his superior.

Not to mention Garp.

These two old men wield eighty percent of the navy's prestige.

After a moment, Kizaru slowly shook his head:

"I cannot make this decision."

Luffy's eyes sharpened as he sensed the evasiveness in Kizaru's tone.

Without another word, he flashed and instantly appeared next to Zoro, grabbed the male Celestial Dragon Roswald Saint from the ground, and then slammed him to the ground without hesitation!

boom!

With a muffled thud, Saint Rozwald collapsed to the ground like a dead dog, groaning in pain.