The natural system started off strong, but the navy finally reached its peak!

"Sizzle!" Blood gushed from Gern's chest.

If it weren't for the timely elementalization of the vibrational particles that rendered his vital parts intangible, this sword strike would have been enough to disembowel him.

Immediately afterwards, the black sword Bahuang suddenly flew out of his hand, and then Gern turned around in mid-air and launched a flying kick, which turned into a swirling black light and attacked Rayleigh's face.

Rayleigh flicked his sword lightly, striking the guard precisely.

The black blade, which should have been deflected, suddenly accelerated as if defying the laws of physics.

The shockwave that Gern secretly applied made this attack impossible to defend against.

“Interesting.” Rayleigh chuckled and tilted his head back as the tip of his blade grazed Rayleigh’s nose, severing a few strands of golden hair.

But this movement also caused him to lose his balance for the first time.

Gern seized the fleeting opportunity, stepped back to gather strength, hardened his right fist with Armament Haki, compressed vibration particles to the tip of his fist, and unleashed a punch.

"Supreme Hadouken!!"

Faced with this move, Rayleigh twisted his waist in mid-air and pressed down with his longsword upside down.

With a loud clang, the sword bent into a dangerous arc, using the force to gracefully retreat.

With a light touch of the toes on the crest of a wave, spiderweb-like cracks, hundreds of meters in diameter, instantly appeared on the sea surface!

"As expected of the future Pirate King's right-hand man." Gern panted as he recalled his black sword, sweat mixed with a little blood dripping from his chin.

Staring at Rayleigh, whose breathing remained perfectly steady twenty meters away, he suddenly grinned and said, "As expected of Roger's right hand."

"Heh." Rayleigh twirled his sword, the sea breeze making his open shirt flutter.

"No more than ten people on the high seas could withstand a hundred moves from me when I use my full strength."

........

On the deck of the Oro Jackson, Bucky excitedly waved his fist, his red nose appearing even more vibrant with excitement.

"Hahaha! Did you see that? Mr. Rayleigh completely overpowered that marine!" He laughed triumphantly, hands on his hips, then turned to Shanks and winked.

"What 'Skyquake' Gern? He was still being hacked back and forth in front of Hades, wasn't he? In a little while, Mr. Rayleigh will be able to easily take care of him!"

“That’s right, that’s right!” Jabba grinned, pipe in mouth. “Buggy is right, Rayleigh’s swordsmanship is no joke.”

That young navy kid has some skill, but ultimately he's still lacking.

However, while Buggy and Jabba were laughing and putting their arms around each other's shoulders, Shanks stared intently at the distant rocky island, his brow furrowed.

His gaze did not miss the subtle adjustments Gern made each time he was forced back, nor his eyes, which remained as calm as ice.

“No…” Shanks murmured, “Although Mr. Rayleigh suppressed Gern, it was only because Gern’s swordsmanship was not yet proficient enough.”

"Huh?!" Buggy turned his head sharply, looking annoyed. "Shanks, are you scared out of your wits? Rayleigh is a great swordsman!"

Didn't you see? That guy even kicked his knife as an attack to try and hurt Mr. Rayleigh!

Shanks shook his head, his tone grave: "It's precisely because Mr. Rayleigh is a great swordsman, and Gern's swordsmanship is clearly inferior to his..."

Even so, Mr. Rayleigh still couldn't truly cripple him...that's the real problem.

Just as Bucky was about to retort, a deep, hoarse voice suddenly came from behind the deck.

“The red-haired brat is right.”

Hearing the sound, everyone turned around and found that Barrett had managed to sit up. Although his chest was still sunken, his eyes had regained their sharpness.

"That navy man... he stared intently at the battlefield, a cold smile playing on his lips: 'He hasn't even used his full strength yet.'"

Bucky's eyes widened: "Barrett?! Have you lost your mind? That guy was clearly..."

“Shut up, clown,” Barrett interrupted him coldly, his gaze sharp as a knife. “You don’t understand real combat at all.”

Bucky choked, his face turning red, and was about to lash out when Roger's voice suddenly rang out, instantly silencing the entire deck.

“Rayleigh…” Roger crossed his arms, unusually without a smile, and instead frowned slightly.

"You can't let yourself get bogged down, or... it'll get really difficult."

.......

On the rocky island, Rayleigh's sword once again tore through the air, forcing Gurn to parry with his own blade.

With a clang of metal clashing, Gern's boots ploughed two deep grooves into the rock.

"You rascal," Rayleigh's voice was calm and sharp, "are you trying to adapt to my fighting rhythm?"

A cold smile curled at the corner of Gern's lips, and the Black Blade Eight Desolations trembled violently, its dark purple Overlord Haki wrapping around it.

"You've observed very carefully, 'Hades'." Before the words were finished, the figure suddenly blurred and disappeared after activating 'Shock Flash'.

"It's that Instant Flash attack from Barrett!" Rayleigh's pupils contracted slightly; his Observation Haki couldn't detect anyone anymore!

"So this is what Barrett was facing back then?" Rayleigh murmured, his grip on his sword tightening slightly.

The next second, space collapsed into a blinding white light, and Gern suddenly appeared above Rayleigh like a white torrent.

Grip the sword with both hands and slash downwards with all your might; the moment the blade touches someone, it releases a spherical shockwave.

"Heavenly Tremor - Collapse of Realms!" A single slash descended.

"BOOM!!!" The entire reef island crumbled under the force of the tremor, with huge cracks spreading like a spider web, and towering waves were whipped up by the violent impact.

Rayleigh's figure flickered among the collapsing rocks, his sword flashing as it sliced ​​through the falling boulders, but his brow furrowed more and more deeply.

Gern's fighting style has completely changed!

No longer a swordsman barely managing to parry, but...

A real "earthquake"!

Chapter 127 A Step-by-Step Mistake, A Step-by-Step Enlightenment

“Navy brat, although you adapt quickly, but…” Rayleigh’s golden pupils suddenly contracted.

"Young man, don't be so arrogant!" With that, he suddenly exerted force with his feet, and his figure rushed towards Gern like lightning!

The sword's edge sliced ​​through the air, Armament Haki coiled around its blade, and the dark blade light resembled the Grim Reaper's scythe, aiming straight for Gern's throat!

However—"What kind of young man isn't arrogant?" Gern laughed wildly as he slammed his black sword, Eight Desolations, into the ground.

The moment the blade pierced the reef, a terrifying shockwave erupted like a tsunami!

"Earthquake and Earthquake!"

"Rumble!!!" The entire reef island trembled violently, the ground churned like waves, and countless cracks spread wildly outward from the center of Gern!

The rocks beneath Rayleigh's feet instantly collapsed, and the powerful shockwave abruptly halted his advance.

He had no choice but to leap into the air, lightly touching the flying pebbles with his toes, and adjust his posture in mid-air.

"Trying to create a distance difference by using vibration?" Rayleigh's eyes sharpened.

Just as he was about to approach again, he saw a cold smile curl up at the corner of Gern's mouth.

"I have no enemies along the way, only teachers!"

They taught me lesson after lesson, severing my innocence, killing my naivety, and destroying my very essence...

It made me realize that without failure and humiliation, a mature person cannot be forged.

I've never had any profound enlightenment; every battle is simply... a series of mistakes, followed by moments of enlightenment!

Gern suddenly pulled the Black Blade Eight Desolations from the ground, and with a flick of the blade, eight pure white spheres instantly condensed around him!

The surface of each sphere is covered with a dense network of cracks.

It contains compressed vibrational energy powerful enough to tear space apart, and it floats in the air emitting a piercing buzzing sound.

"Heavenly Tremor - Eight Extremes Jade!" Gern pointed his sword.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!!!" Eight spheres shot out simultaneously, their trajectories unpredictable, automatically tracking Rayleigh as if they were living things!

Even more terrifying is that they don't fly in a straight line, but rather block Rayleigh's evasive routes with tricky angles such as spirals, zigzags, and arcs!

"A tracking attack?" Rayleigh frowned, his figure suddenly stopped, and his longsword instantly turned into a black afterimage.

"Thousand Cuts!" The sword light poured down like a torrential rain, precisely slashing at each of the incoming vibration balls!

"Clang! Clang! Clang!!" The moment the first three spheres were cleaved apart—"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Space shattered like glass, and the shockwave from the explosion created a chain reaction, blasting countless vacuum zones into the entire half-space!

Rayleigh's sword was incredibly fast, but the shockwave had an enormous blast radius. His shirt was torn in several places by the aftershocks, and fine bloodstains appeared on his skin.

"Tsk, troublesome stuff..." Rayleigh gritted his teeth, about to continue slashing the remaining five spheres.

But in that instant—Gern vanished!

"What?!" Rayleigh activated his Observation Haki to its fullest extent, but Gern's "Shockwave" completely rendered his senses ineffective!

The next second, Gern arrived with the trajectory of the last shockball, his right leg sweeping like a battle axe!

Armament Haki hardened calves, wrapped in pale particles vibrating at high frequencies.

"Black Shock - Meteor Kick!" The force of the kick was like a meteorite falling combined with an eight-magnitude earthquake!

Rayleigh hastily parried with his sword – "Bang!!!"

The sword trembled violently, and Rayleigh was kicked dozens of meters away, his feet carving two deep furrows in the sea.

The moment he regained his footing, he shot back onto the island.

Before he could regain his footing, Gern charged at him again!

"Shaking Flash - Consecutive Stars!"

In an instant, left leg, right leg, elbow strike, knee strike.

Gern's attacks were like a storm, Rayleigh's Armament Haki covered his entire body, and his hardened black skin gleamed with a metallic sheen in the sunlight.

However, each of Gern's attacks carried a shockwave powerful enough to tear space apart.

Even the strongest defenses were shaken, causing internal organs to churn and a trickle of blood to escape from the corner of his mouth.

"Bang!" Another side kick, and Gern's figure appeared like a ghost, his right leg sweeping across, compressing the air into a visible shockwave.

Rayleigh parried with his sword, and the shockwave exploded the moment the sword collided with his calf!

"Crack!" The reef beneath his feet shattered instantly, and Rayleigh was thrown back several steps by the aftershock of the attack, a trickle of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.

"With this level of physical skill, what's the point of using a sword!" He narrowed his eyes, unleashing his full Observation Haki once again, trying to track Gern's movements.

But Gern gave him no chance at all.

"Flash!" The figure blurred and disappeared.

Rayleigh's pupils suddenly contracted, and in his Observation Haki, Gern's presence vanished completely as if erased by an eraser.

The next second—"Bang!"—from the left!

Rayleigh swiftly turned around, his longsword held horizontally, Armament Haki concentrated on the blade, and he forcefully blocked Gern's elbow strike.

However, the impact of this blow far exceeded expectations. His feet plowed two deep furrows in the ground, and the muscles in his arms went slightly numb from the violent shock.

"It's not over yet." Gern sneered, and his figure disappeared again.

"Shockwave!"

"Bang!" From the right!

Rayleigh barely managed to raise his sword when Gern's knee strike arrived. The vibrational particles on his knee pierced through his Armament Haki defenses like drills, causing his internal organs to churn.

"Shockwave!"

"Bang!" Above! Rayleigh gritted his teeth and leaped up, his sword blade slashing upwards, colliding with Gern's downward kick. The shockwave exploded, and the sea surface was whipped up by the aftershocks.

"Shockwave!"

"Bang!" Behind him! Rayleigh suddenly turned around, his sword drawing an arc, but Gern's fist had already slammed in, the fist bone colliding with the blade, sparks flying!

"Cough!" Rayleigh groaned, his hand split open, and blood dripped down the hilt of his sword.

Gern's attacks were like a relentless storm, each flash accompanied by a shockwave powerful enough to shatter mountains.

Even more terrifying was that his 'Shock Flash' completely disrupted Rayleigh's Observation Haki prediction, forcing this "Dark Lord" to only be able to passively defend and hastily react the moment Gern appeared.

"No, this can't go on... this is bad."