The battle that erupted on the streets of the Upper District came suddenly—and ended just as quickly.
By the time Iceburg and the others rushed to the scene, all they saw was half a street in ruins, several buildings uprooted from their foundations, and dozens of shipwrights clutching their teary eyes in pain.
"Rear Admiral Rorschach, what exactly happened here? Were the attackers pirates?"
Iceburg glanced at the unconscious, bald giant Hanks lying on the ground, then at Jean Ango—whose head had been severed from his body but still glared with wide, angry eyes.
"What's up with this guy? His head's been separated, but he's still not dead?"
Franky crouched down, staring curiously at Jean Ango's furious, aggrieved expression.
"It was my negligence, Rear Admiral."
Pamela stepped forward with a guilty look, pointing at Jean Ango.
"This guy tried to steal the Rear Admiral's weapon while we were drinking at the bar. If it weren't for Major Rorschach stopping him, he might have succeeded. As for the bald guy, I don't know—maybe they're working together."
"What? Someone else is after my weapon again?"
Rorschach's mouth twitched.
Back in Sabaody, that panda-man, Daffy Lons, had his eyes on the Heavenly Dragon Halberd.
According to what Law mentioned, the guy wanted to eat the halberd to strengthen his body.
Was this weapon really that special?
Everywhere he went, someone wanted to snatch it.
Rorschach walked up to Jean Ango and stabbed the Heavenly Dragon Halberd into the ground beside him.
The moment Jean Ango saw it, his eyes immediately locked onto the weapon, as if magnetized, unable to look away.
"Hey, what's your deal? Can you stop staring at my weapon like that? It's gross. Now, tell me—why were you trying to steal it?"
Rorschach felt annoyed by Jean Ango's obsessive gaze and instinctively reached out, lifting his severed head.
"Your weapon?"
Jean Ango sneered mockingly.
**"That is clearly the national treasure of the Land of Flowers in the West Blue. Since when did it become a Marine's weapon?
I don't know how it slipped from Wang Zhi's hands and ended up in the possession of some random Rear Admiral like you…
But let me warn you—hehehe—you better not let people find out that you have the Heavenly Dragon Halberd.
Otherwise, Wang Zhi, Chinjao, and even the royal family of the Land of Flowers won't let you off."**
"Huh? You even know about this? Who the hell are you? A bounty hunter?"
Rorschach was genuinely surprised.
"This guy roams the Grand Line, specifically targeting pirates and stealing their treasures. He's known as Jean Ango, the Plundering Treasure Hunter."
Penn spoke in a low voice.
"A treasure hunter? So basically, another bounty hunter. But if that's the case, why was the bald guy after you? Did you steal from him?"
Rorschach had just finished his sentence when his expression suddenly shifted.
His brows furrowed sharply, and he spun around to look toward the far end of the street.
"What's wrong?"
The others followed his gaze in confusion.
At the far end of the long street, near City Hall, a crowd had gathered—curious onlookers who came to see the commotion.
Suddenly, chaos broke out among them.
A wave of panicked cries erupted, mingling with terrified screams.
"Move! Get out of the way! The ground is splitting!"
"What the hell is that?!"
Franky's eyes widened as he stared down the street.
A perfectly straight crack was snaking toward them from a distance.
In an instant, it had stretched over a hundred meters, splitting the street beneath the feet of the dense crowd.
The black fissure wavered like soft fabric, twisting and shifting.
Everyone saw it—at the front of the crack, there was a long, black zipper pull moving forward, seamlessly unzipping the ground itself.
Wherever the zipper passed, the earth split apart as easily as if it were fabric, creating a bottomless, abyss-like chasm.
Screaming people lost their footing and plunged helplessly into the dark void below.
"Another Devil Fruit user is hiding in the city!"
Hibari gasped.
"What kind of ability is that? It looks bizarre!"
Rorschach instinctively spread his fingers, ready to activate his ROOM to save the falling people.
But after consecutive battles with Jean Ango and William Hanks, his stamina was dangerously low.
Before he could act, a gust of wind roared past him.
In a flash, Rorschach's figure vanished—soaring over ten meters into the air, both hands reaching toward the far end of the street.
"Whoosh!"
The Invisible Storm
Invisible gusts of wind swirled and converged, transforming into chains of air that shot out with pinpoint accuracy, binding the falling citizens who had been swallowed by the abyss.
With a mere gesture of his hands, Rorschach effortlessly lifted dozens, if not hundreds of people from their impending doom, pulling them mid-air and placing them safely atop the surrounding rooftops.
Though the rescue was easy, Rorschach's brows remained tightly furrowed.
"What's going on? How did this person appear? Why didn't my Observation Haki detect them?"
Ever since William Hanks had caused the initial disturbance, Rorschach had expanded his powerful Observation Haki, covering nearly the entire Water 7.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that, with his Haki enhanced by his lightning abilities, every event within the city was clear to his senses.
Yet, this mysterious ability user, who had suddenly emerged in the Upper District, had never once appeared within his Observation Haki's perception.
"Zzzzt—"
On the long street's surface, the massive zipper pull continued to extend at high speed, splitting the solid ground apart as easily as unzipping a jacket.
This time, even Oimo, Kashii, and the recently arrived shipwrights from the Galley-La Company were on the verge of falling into the abyss.
"Air Barrier!"
Seeing this, Rorschach pressed his right hand downward.
In an instant, an invisible air barrier formed beneath everyone's feet, stretching across the entire Upper District's street.
It was like a thick pane of glass, strong enough to support their weight and preventing them from plunging into the dark depths below.
Rorschach didn't stop there. He sharpened his Observation Haki, locking onto the continuously advancing zipper pull—finally, he sensed a faint, almost imperceptible presence.
"Found you! 30 Million Volts—Thunderbird!"
Like a hawk, Rorschach dove downward, his right hand sweeping forward.
A massive electric bird crackling with lightning erupted from his palm, shrieking as it soared straight toward the zipper pull.
"Boom!"
The Thunderbird collided with the black zipper, triggering a violent explosion.
Electric arcs burst in all directions, sending debris flying and leaving a massive crater in the street.
As soon as the Thunderbird struck its target, the splitting ground stopped immediately.
"It stopped!"
The onlookers turned their gaze toward Rorschach, who was slowly descending from mid-air.
Their faces were filled with awe and admiration.
"He stopped the attacker so easily? As expected of Rear Admiral Rorschach!"
The warriors and shipwrights were about to cheer—
But Rorschach's expression remained grave.
"Zzzzt—"
His body shuddered, and a bad premonition struck him.
He spun around abruptly—only to see another black zipper pull appear further down the street.
This suddenly emerging zipper unzipped the shattered ground horizontally, pulling it apart like a massive, gaping black pouch.
The eerie black pocket yawned open upward, like a terrifying abyssal maw.
Before anyone could react—
William Hanks, Jean Ango, and even Rorschach's Heavenly Dragon Halberd were all swallowed into the dark void in an instant.
"You're courting death!"
From dozens of meters away, Rorschach's expression darkened.
A deep blue wave of Conqueror's Haki surged out from within him like a raging tide, flooding the battlefield.
It raced across the ground beneath everyone's feet, instantly engulfing the massive black pocket.
At the same time, crackling lightning danced across the surface of his Conqueror's Haki.
"80 Million Volts—Thunder Annihilation!"
Rorschach clenched his fingers into a fist.
"BOOOOOM!"
The black abyssal pouch—which had been swallowing everything—erupted violently, shredded by an explosive burst of deep blue lightning-infused Haki.
At that very moment—
Far away, nearly a kilometer away, in the abandoned Shipwreck Island in the Lower District—
A scream of agony echoed through the night.
"Found you!"
(End of Chapter)
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