Rayleigh was absolutely furious now.
He had considered the possibility that Vir might take action against the Celestial Dragons.
After all, for rookies like them just starting to make their names, it wasn’t a given that they could stomach the existence of those scumbags.
And if they couldn’t hold it in, acting out a little was understandable.
But… wasn’t slapping them around a couple times enough?
You had to kill them?
And not just one?!
You one-shot all three?!
Do you have any idea what those three missing heads represented?!
They were my peaceful retirement plan!
I was actually thinking of stepping in and playing around a bit.
But the moment I saw you show up, I decided not to.
And the result?
You brat! You damn brat!
You’re dead meat!
Great, just great.
Originally, I was supposed to be exchanging harmless blows with Kizaru.
And now?
Now I might not even have ashes left if this goes south.
I need to pack my bags and make a run for it, fast.
Otherwise, when those Admirals get here, they’re gonna crack these old bones of mine like twigs.
Rayleigh really wanted to bail.
But when he saw that straw hat sitting atop Luffy’s head, he hesitated.
That was Roger’s hat.
Shanks had mentioned it to him a few years back.
He talked about Luffy, that straw hat, and his missing left arm.
A kid worth betting an arm on.
If Rayleigh left now…
There’s no way that kid was getting away.
At best, they’d all get thrown in prison for life.
This was a real mess.
A flicker of hesitation and struggle passed through Rayleigh’s eyes.
Just as he was wavering…
Vir turned to greet the woman in front of him—Momousagi.
He hadn’t forgotten that there was still a Vice Admiral candidate watching them like a hawk.
“Yo, we meet again! Are you waiting here just for me? Still haven’t purged all the poison? Want me to give it another go?”
Vir flashed a wicked grin as he looked at Momousagi.
But the reaction he expected—his former “patient” recoiling in disgust and giving him a bunch of negative points—didn’t happen.
No furious outburst either.
Instead, Momousagi’s face turned bright red in an instant.
Vir was completely dumbfounded.
Huh? What the hell is this?
Why’s the script all different now?
Shouldn’t she be horrified and hit him with something like 80,000 negative points?
Why the hell is she blushing?!
“You—you shameless bastard! How dare you bring that up?!”
Seeing Vir’s dumbfounded face only made Momousagi blush even harder.
Memories of that time resurfaced—
Without another word, she drew her blade, Konpira, and charged straight at him.
But with her half-hearted attacks, actually landing a hit on Vir was a pipe dream.
With his current spatial teleportation ability, unless someone can actually affect space itself, they can forget about touching him.
Vir casually tapped Robin on the shoulder.
With a slightly puzzled expression, Robin vanished from where she stood…
And reappeared next to Luffy and the others.
That’s right—Vir didn’t leave himself.
He wanted to keep Momousagi busy while Robin and the others retreated with Old Man Rayleigh.
Robin glanced at the flustered, red-faced Momousagi and sensed something was off.
But now wasn’t the time to dwell on it.
Getting out of here was the priority.
By now, Luffy and the crew had regained their mobility.
Chopper immediately dove into Robin’s arms, trembling and crying.
He had almost suffered a fate worse than death just now.
Luffy stared at the flurry of lightning and swordplay where Vir was.
Without a word, he tried to rush in to help.
But before he could take a step—
A hand grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up.
“Kid, where do you think you’re going?”
Rayleigh, now fully clear-headed, stared at him seriously, one hand holding him up.
“I’m going to help Vir!”
Luffy squirmed, trying to break free.
*Bonk~!*
A full-power Armament Haki punch landed squarely on his head.
A huge bump popped up immediately.
Luffy’s face scrunched up.
“Ahhh—it hurts, it hurts, it hurts!!”
He scratched at his head furiously.
“Can’t you see he’s buying time for you all? Ugh… forget it.”
Rayleigh gave up trying to explain to the blockhead.
He just dragged Luffy along and walked toward Camie.
“All of you brats, move your feet and follow me.”
He glanced back at Zoro and the others. He wasn’t exactly in the mood to be polite right now.
Everyone was still a bit stunned.
Why had this old man suddenly shown up and taken charge?
Luckily, someone knew who Rayleigh was.
Hatchan, the octopus fishman, was Rayleigh’s old friend.
“That’s Silvers Rayleigh—the Dark King, the Pirate King Roger’s first mate. He’s my friend. He won’t hurt you. We should go with him.”
Everyone froze.
Roger’s first mate?
Dark King Rayleigh?
What the… why is he here?
Wasn’t this old man just some coating expert?
When they met him at Shakky’s Rip-Off Bar, they’d heard his name.
But Shakky never mentioned who he was—just said he was skilled with his hands.
Now, watching Luffy get dragged off helplessly, they didn’t hesitate for long before following.
With someone that strong—if he wanted to hurt them—he wouldn’t need to bother with tricks.
Vir saw Rayleigh stepping in and grinned.
Old Ray did step up, huh?
Good. Very good.
That makes things much easier.
Now, all he has to do is stick close to the old man later.
When the Admirals show up, he’ll just disappear for a bathroom break.
Let Old Ray really experience firsthand just how treacherous the younger generation can be.
As Momousagi’s blade came swinging down, Vir casually dodged with ease.
Right now, his Observation Haki was miles ahead of hers.
Predicting her moves was child’s play.
He didn’t even need to use his spatial techniques—she couldn’t touch him even if she wanted to.
Of course, that was partly because Momousagi wasn’t going all-out.
But seeing how casually Vir was treating her lit a fire in her chest.
This guy was seriously underestimating her!
She focused and started taking it seriously.
Because she could feel it clearly—Vir had gotten a lot stronger.
If she didn’t give it her all, he might not even spare her a glance.
He could probably fight her with his eyes closed and still dominate.
And then a thought struck her.
Wait a second…
Something’s not right here.
How long has it even been?
Ten, fifteen days?
Back at Enies Lobby, they were on par.
It wasn’t wrong to say they were evenly matched.
Well… except that part where he one-shot Chaton at the start.
But now? Vir’s growth rate was off the charts.
Just ten-odd days?!
What kind of absurd power scaling is this?
This guy is a total monster!
So why wasn’t Vir finishing her off now?
First off—he had a legit reason to stay here.
Letting Luffy and Rayleigh get closer would help build trust.
So Old Ray wouldn’t mind him tagging along later.
Second—she did go easy on him just now.
Third—and most importantly—Momousagi was going to be a crucial player in stopping Rayleigh’s escape later.
He couldn’t let her get knocked out this early.
If she got taken out too soon, who’d stop the old man from running for the hills?
If Rayleigh knew what Vir was thinking right now…
He’d probably come at him with Conqueror’s Haki and shout:
“I’LL KILL YOU, YOU LITTLE SH—!”