Pirate: I was just slacking off, do you really think I'm bad?

thump!

The sound of several figures falling to the ground was heard, and a tall man in military uniform walked out of the smoke.

His eyes were filled with contempt.

For such a small kingdom on the Grand Line, his strength was simply unmatched by anyone.

At this moment, apart from the civilians who had already fled, only a dozen or so guards remained in this small kingdom, protecting a young boy.

"You devils, the Navy will not let you get away with this!"

The little boy's eyes revealed boundless hatred.

To this day, they still don't know what wrong they did to be hunted down like this, and how a once-thriving kingdom was destroyed.

After hearing what the kid said, Douglas Barrett raised an eyebrow and gave a cruel smile.

"Excuse me, but I mainly need to recruit some partners on this island."

"As for the navy you mentioned, hahaha, let them come find me!!!"

"Um?"

Barrett suddenly sensed a threat and quickly turned his head to the side.

Bang! An invisible attack slid down his cheek and struck the wall next to him.

The smooth holes indicate that the penetrating power was exceptionally strong.

Barrett turned to look behind him. Far from the port, a very powerful aura was rapidly approaching.

He subtly tensed all his muscles, preparing to respond to a sneak attack at any moment.

To his surprise, the aura seemed unfazed by his attack and swaggered in front of him.

"Pfft, Douglas Barrett, you truly are a descendant of the devil; you've nearly wiped out everyone on this island."

Raleigh's eyes narrowed; this was also his first time being so close to Barrett.

Standing over five meters tall, his muscles looked like they were about to explode, and the scars on his body were proof of his extensive battle experience.

Whether you know Barrett or not, you can tell from his appearance that he is extremely powerful.

"Vice Admiral - Orange Tiger Raleigh?"

"It's a great honor to be personally pursued by you."

Barrett's face showed a look of apprehension.

He's not stupid; he naturally knows Raleigh's strength.

On Roger's ship, he had already experienced two battles with Roger.

However, in the first two encounters, he was fighting against Garp's lieutenant, Bogart, which meant he hadn't actually fought Raleigh yet.

However, judging from the outcome of Raleigh's battle against him, Raleigh is definitely a formidable opponent.

"Douglas Barrett, I am now issuing an order from the Navy Headquarters to formally arrest you."

Raleigh pulled a wanted poster from his pocket and threw it on the ground.

Barrett remained expressionless, seemingly unaffected.

"Will you surrender or fight?"

Raleigh stretched his arms and legs, preparing to launch an attack.

Barrett's face twisted into a terrifying grin:

"Since we're already here, how can we not have a fight? If we lose, you can decide what to do with us."

boom!

Barrett had barely finished speaking when Raleigh appeared in front of him.

A high kick came straight at Barrett's chest with tremendous force.

Barrett instinctively placed his arm in front of his chest, blocking the attack.

The two figures touched briefly before separating.

After Raleigh's attack failed, he jumped back to create distance, while Barrett strode forward and slammed his fist, covered in Armament Haki, toward Raleigh's head.

The two men's fists collided in the air, causing the surrounding airflow to become chaotic.

Streams of air erupted from the point of their battle, swirling up layers upon layers of dust.

"Aren't you a swordsman? Why aren't you using a sword?"

Barrett increased his strength, trying to overpower Raleigh, while asking,

In their two brief exchanges, the two only used Armament Haki.

Sensing the terrifying power emanating from Barrett, Raleigh grinned and said:

"It doesn't matter whether I use swordsmanship or not, I can defeat you."

Douglas Barrett is a Paramecia-type Fusion Fruit user. He can transform the shape of surrounding objects through the influence of his fruit's power and attach them to his body.

Simply put, Barrett can assemble surrounding objects into Gundams.

Before Raleigh obtained the Hurricane Fruit, this ability was something he had always dreamed of.

Now that he has the Hurricane-Hurricane Fruit, Raleigh is experiencing a kind of joy that Paramecia-type Devil Fruits cannot provide, such as the ability to quickly teleport anytime and anywhere using the Hurricane-Hurricane Fruit.

"That's incredibly arrogant!"

Barrett was just a young man in his early twenties, and he was naturally furious when he heard that.

Although you are stronger than me and able to defeat Mr. Rayleigh, giving up your signature swordsmanship is a gross underestimation of me, Barrett!

Raleigh and Barrett moved so fast they disappeared from sight; the others could only vaguely make out a few dark shadows.

They clashed repeatedly in the air, creating air currents everywhere.

After more than ten minutes of brutal, hand-to-hand combat, the two finally stopped fighting temporarily.

Raleigh remained indifferent, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth without changing his expression.

Barrett, on the other side, was in a slightly worse condition, with several fist marks on his body, but it didn't seem to affect his movements.

On the contrary, such an attack only intensified the excitement in Barrett's eyes.

You rascal, I never imagined your physical abilities were even stronger than Mr. Rayleigh's.

Barrett was one of the few Devil Fruit users in Roger's crew, and also one of the few hand-to-hand combatants.

Roger and Rayleigh are both great swordsmen, Jabba uses two axes, and everyone else has their own weapon.

Barrett always acted like an outcast in Roger's crew, which is why he didn't care about the lives of others, and the others didn't care about Barrett either.

Compared to his cautious approach when fighting swordsmen, he preferred to fight opponents with superior physical skills.

The vice admiral in front of him was a real surprise.

He originally thought that an opponent who was both a Logia-type Devil Fruit user and a swordsman would definitely be relatively weak in physical combat.

But now it's been discovered that this guy's greatest strength lies in his physical skills and physique, which are almost on par with the physical attributes of giants.

If it weren't for the physique I've built up over many years, I might have lost even more miserably.

Barrett felt his blood boiling. "Warm-up over, Navy!"

"That's exactly what I was thinking, pirates!"

Armament Haki swiftly covered Barrett's entire body, while Conqueror's Haki wrapped around his fists, ready to strike Raleigh at any moment.

While both use Armament Haki, Raleigh and Barrett made different choices. Raleigh covered only his forearms and fists with Armament Haki, in order to strengthen the regional Armament Haki.

Their eyes met briefly in the air.

boom!

Barrett's right fist slammed powerfully into Raleigh's shoulder, while Raleigh punched Barrett in the side waist.

This time, both of them tacitly chose to withstand the attack.

!

Two loud bangs followed as both sides' attacks landed on each other.

Raleigh's left shoulder slumped down as if it had been smashed by a sledgehammer.

Barrett, on the other hand, felt as if his lower back had been hit by a speeding train.

The two of them gasped simultaneously.

The next instant, the two closed in on each other again, their fists flying everywhere.

The head, throat, heart, and side waist are some of the most vulnerable and fatal points on the human body. Two people attack and defend each other by targeting each other's weaknesses.

Since both of them were masters of physical combat, the fight between them became increasingly frantic.

Barrett, relying on his fully covered Armament Haki, chose to take all of Raleigh's non-lethal attacks head-on.

Raleigh, on the other hand, used his Observation Haki and Logia-type elemental abilities to deflect Barrett's fatal attack.

The more they fought, the more excited they became, and the sweat pouring from their bodies instantly evaporated into heat.

"call!"

Two people simultaneously attack each other's chest.

!

At the moment the power erupted, both figures flew backward simultaneously.

"Christine Raleigh, you are a formidable opponent."

Barrett said, slightly out of breath.

He hadn't had such a satisfying fight in a long time.

"Let's end this physical combat here."

Raleigh took a deep breath and said:

"That's exactly what I was thinking!"

A red light flashed in Barrett's eyes, and his Devil Fruit power began to affect the surrounding objects.

Hard steel rods flew out from the collapsed building, and even the swords in the hands of the guards flew towards Barrett's body.

"Combined!"

The flying steel was compressed into steel plates by the power of the Barrett Fruit, covering Barrett's body.

Barrett, who was originally over five meters tall, suddenly grew to over eight meters tall thanks to the Fusion Fruit.

Its surface shimmered with a cold metallic sheen.

Armament Haki then covered the surface of the Gundam, turning it black.

Raleigh looked at the Gundam in front of him and couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.

He had thought Barrett would build a giant thing that was tens of meters tall. If it were that kind of thing, it would be a sitting duck for Raleigh, and he wouldn't even get a chance to touch it.

But now it seems that Barrett was clearly targeting him.

The Gundam he's currently piloting combines defense and speed, leaving Raleigh somewhat at a loss.

However, that just means it's a bit harder to fight, not that it's impossible to fight.

Raleigh adjusted his state, and the Armament Haki on his hands lit up again. This time, he was going to smash Barrett's turtle shell in a fair and square manner, and let Barrett know who the strong one was on this sea.

Raleigh's speed remained as fast as ever.

Even though Barrett used Observation Haki to spot Raleigh, it was still too late to attack.

Raleigh punched Barrett in the chest.

Even the chest armor made of steel alloy was deeply imprinted with Raleigh's fist.

Barrett even took several steps back to offset the impact.

Barrett, is that all you've got?

Raleigh grinned; he hadn't yet witnessed Barrett's true strength.

The dark clouds in the sky rolled and churned, symbolizing Barrez's angry heart.

"Heh, you'll find out soon enough, Navy!"

Inside the Gundam, Barrett's face was extremely grim. He knew that escape was impossible this time, so he had no choice but to fight back.

Barrett controlled the Gundam to fly quickly towards Raleigh, and his large hand, shining with Armament Haki, slammed down on Raleigh's body.

A tremendous gust of wind swept in following Barrett's attack. Raleigh wanted to test the strength of Barrett's attack, so he did not dodge.

boom!

Upon first contact, Raleigh felt an overwhelming force.

The force sent Raleigh flying the moment it touched his arm.

The continuous roaring sounds proved the power of Barrett's attack.

Barrett did not let his guard down as he watched the houses collapse and the smoke rise.

He knew that such an attack might harm Raleigh, but it would never render Raleigh unable to fight.

Sure enough, a gust of wind dispersed the thick smoke.

Raleigh flew out of the collapsed house.

His clothes were tattered from the fight, and there was a faint trace of blood at the corner of his mouth.

stab.

Raleigh casually tore his clothes to shreds, revealing his well-developed muscles.

Judging from the muscles Raleigh was showing, the attack hadn't had a particularly deep impact on him.

Barrett was somewhat dumbfounded. Even though he had repeatedly overestimated Raleigh's physique, he still couldn't guess Raleigh's limits.

From initially approaching the physique of a giant to now far surpassing it, Barrett was completely bewildered.

"With such powerful physical skills, why do you always use swordsmanship in battle?"

"Based on my experience fighting you twice, your swordsmanship is far inferior to your physical skills."

Upon hearing Barrett's question, Raleigh scratched his head.

Well, how should I put it?

Russia isn't a CSA holder, so why would it risk everything for this? It's actually because it doesn't want to go all out.

As for his life, he usually hides some of his abilities when he makes a move, only using common swordsmanship and Devil Fruit abilities.

In addition, he was also afraid that some special abilities couldn't be killed by punches.

Some Devil Fruit abilities are so strange that he doesn't want to get involved, like Sugar's ability, even though Sugar's whereabouts are still unknown.

However, in combat, if you can use weapons to attack unknown enemies, you should use weapons to attack them as much as possible.

"Because I want to."

Raleigh spoke directly.

He had neither the obligation nor the inclination to explain himself to a pirate, even if that pirate could potentially become a weapon in his hands.

Having drifted on the sea for so long, he had seen through it all.

These unruly pirates are difficult to tame, so there's no need to be kind to them.

They will make the right choice in the face of death.

"Hmph, Barrett, watch out for this move."

"Fist Bone - Meteor Shower!"

The techniques that Raleigh learned a few years ago, after his continuous improvements, are now more powerful than the techniques Garp possesses.

It's just that Raleigh doesn't have the same physical abilities as Garp.

All his strength was concentrated in his right fist, and Raleigh abandoned any attempt to defend himself.

All their hopes were pinned on this one strike.

Barrett was sweating profusely; his Observation Haki made him feel that Raleigh's right hand was like a black hole.

The powerful aura distorted everything around it.

Barrett knew in his heart that if he couldn't block this attack, he would die!