One Piece: Starting from Awakening the Cosmo at Marineford

Rayleigh's blade flashed with lightning formed from Conqueror's Haki once more, striking Aaron's chest fiercely and mercilessly.

With a crisp "clang," Aaron's chest armor shattered instantly.

A jet of blood shot out, drawing an arc in the air.

Aaron was sent flying backward at an even greater speed, crashing heavily to the ground.

Rayleigh sheathed his sword, only glancing at the spot where Aaron had fallen, without going over to check on him.

He was confident that with this strike, even a strongman of the rank of vice admiral would either die or be maimed, let alone a mere marine.

"When...when..."

The Ox bells rang out, melodious and resonant, echoing throughout Marineford.

A smile crept onto Rayleigh's lips.

They have achieved their goal in coming here.

Jinbe breathed a sigh of relief and looked around warily.

This is, after all, the Navy Headquarters, and they took advantage of the situation to break in.

The reason for circling Marineford with warships earlier was to lure out the island's high-level combat forces.

There has been no movement until now. Jinbe has confirmed that Marineford does not even have a single vice admiral-level fighter.

He didn't understand what was going on, but he felt that he was really lucky.

The bell rang 16 times in a row, but Rayleigh and Jinbe remained standing there.

After Aaron was knocked away, no other marine dared to step forward.

A person's name, a tree's shadow.

One is Rayleigh, the right-hand man of the Pirate King, also known as "Dark King".

One is Jinbe, a former Shichibukai.

These marines must be tired of living to go and die.

The fact that they were able to hold onto their ground and not turn around and run away in fear already shows courage.

Luffy quickly returned to their side, and the three of them calmly returned to the warship they had come on and left safely.

The marines finally breathed a sigh of relief, wiped the cold sweat from their foreheads, and surrounded Aaron.

Several reporters also gathered around.

Aaron's eyes were tightly closed, his face was pale, and a crack had appeared in the armor on his chest, revealing a bloody knife wound through the gap in his clothes.

A marine crouched down and used his finger to check Aaron's breath near his nostrils.

Is he still alive?

The marine didn't say anything, but quickly put his finger in his mouth and sucked on it before putting it back under Aaron's nose.

One of the marines shouted, "Call the medics!"

"It's unnecessary." The crouching marine shook his head and sighed, "He's not breathing anymore."

"Sigh, I should have known who Rayleigh is, the man whose blade has fallen..."

"He was able to withstand a blow from Rayleigh, so his death wasn't entirely unjust."

"It's a pity that not only are the generals absent, but even Vice Admiral Momonga is gone. They certainly picked a good time..."

A reporter asked, "Hey, does anyone here recognize who he is?"

The marines all shook their heads: "We don't even know his name."

The reporter clicked his tongue: "What a pity. Such big news, do you expect me to report on some nobody?"

The marines were about to fly into a rage upon hearing the reporter's harsh words.

As for how the reporters reported it later, whether they wrote it as "a mob beating reporters," they didn't care.

A female reporter exclaimed excitedly, "What do you know! The more ordinary and unknown a marine is, the more they dare to confront a living legend like Rayleigh, which truly demonstrates the Navy's righteous fight against evil pirates!"

After the female reporter finished speaking, she picked up her camera, wanting to take a few more photos.

One of the marines angrily retorted, "Our comrades are not material for you to use to create a spectacle and grab readers' attention!"

"That's right!"

More than a hundred marines shouted in unison, startling the reporters.

Several reporters' faces twitched, and they stepped back.

Even if they held the reins, they wouldn't be foolish enough to go against the passionate marines.

Besides, a wise man doesn't fight a losing battle, right?

More than a hundred marines formed a human wall around the city, separating reporters and construction workers who came to watch.

As for Aaron's body, they haven't decided what to do with it yet.

With a soft "boom," like the sound of a gas stove being turned on and the flame instantly igniting, the sound clearly reached the ears of everyone present.

The marines turned around and saw flames shooting out from Aaron's body.

Several patriotic marines angrily shouted, "Who did this! How dare they desecrate a marine's body!"

Just as they were about to step forward to extinguish the flames, the flames suddenly burst forth, shooting into the air and rising more than ten meters high.

The air was scorched by the flames, and heat waves spread outwards.

The marines were so struck by the aura that they involuntarily took a few steps back.

The flames shot up again, soaring hundreds of meters into the sky, transforming into a fiery phoenix spreading its wings and soaring.

The reporter, with a camera in hand, captured this stunning scene.

The marines stared in disbelief, bewildered by what had happened, looking up at the fiery phoenix in mid-air.

That wasn't an illusion, but real flames.

Just like... the phoenix Marco they saw a few days ago in the war, only one was cyan-blue and the other was fiery red.

Footsteps sounded, soft yet clear.

"It's him! He's not dead!"

The marines excitedly ran toward the figure emerging from the flames.

Aaron asked, "Where are Rayleigh and the others?"

"I'm gone."

Aaron snorted and asked, "How long have I been unconscious?"

"About twenty minutes."

"Twenty minutes?"

Aaron sighed. "It's taking a while."

Aaron looked at his chest; the previously damaged Saint Cloth was now completely intact, its metallic sheen even more pronounced.

The Saint Cloth was strengthened, but it did not evolve and turned completely fiery red.

Aaron wasn't greedy; after all, this was just the beginning.

And his body became stronger once again.

After this rebirth, the energy contained within his body has increased significantly, and his perception of the microcosm has become much clearer.

He was certain that he would be able to use those moves with ease later on.

That's the advantage of the Phoenix Cloth: it can automatically repair itself and evolve.

Moreover, as the master of the Phoenix Cloth, Aaron can be reborn through the flames of the phoenix even if he dies in battle, and he will become stronger with each rebirth.

"Next time I encounter Rayleigh, I should be able to withstand that attack. I still need to train harder."

Seeing that Aaron was still alive, the marines were overjoyed and boasted about how exciting Aaron's battle with Rayleigh had been.

The most difficult thing is that he actually survived Rayleigh's knife.

Aaron smiled: "Don't flatter me. I was dizzy for so long."

"However, your injuries seem to be healed?"

"Yes, your mecha was damaged before, how did it repair itself?"

"Hey, is this Wapol alloy? I heard it's a special metal that can remember its shape!"

"Heh, I suppose so."

Aaron parted the crowd, wanting to leave Oris Square.

Several reporters caught up with them and shoved a thick, black microphone at them:

"Could you tell us your name, brave sailor?"

Aaron did not answer.

"Marine, how did it feel when Rayleigh slashed you just now?"