The moment Roger looked like he was about to make a move, Kurozumi Higurashi, who was in the middle of dialing the Den Den Mushi, jolted so hard her whole body trembled.
Beside her, Kurozumi Semimaru reassured her with absolute confidence.
"Higurashi, don't be scared. My Devil Fruit ability can block any attack!"
"Is that so?" Roger's gaze sharpened. "Then I don't believe there's anything I can't cut!"
Clang!
A blade's cry rang out.
Crimson lightning erupted from the black-and-red patterns along the blade, coiling around the sword. A soul-shaking pressure spread in an instant, and the red lightning, like living serpents, slithered out in every direction.
"Divine Departure!"
With a single slash, Roger brought down a cut so sharp it seemed to split the world, and the blade crashed straight into the barrier.
Clang!
A violent gale exploded outward, whipping faces raw and forcing eyes shut.
The shockwave rolled across the chamber. Solid walls split open at once, fractures racing like webs as the structure teetered on the brink of collapse.
Kurozumi Semimaru lifted his chin with a smug grin.
"It's useless! My barrier technique is the most invincible defense in the world!"
Even after Roger's Divine Departure, the barrier remained pristine.
The scene nearly shattered everyone's understanding.
"Captain Roger's Divine Departure didn't break it?!" the Fish-Man Sunbell gaped, trident in hand. "Captain Roger's sword is one of the Supreme Grade Blades, and he still couldn't cut through that barrier…"
Rayleigh clicked his tongue in disbelief.
"This barrier's defense really is stronger than even Tengetsu Ares's physical durability."
Wearing sunglasses with twin axes tucked at his waist, Scopper Gaban marveled aloud.
"What kind of ability is this? That level of defense is basically an invincible turtle shell!"
With Roger's strength, if he went all out, he could split an island in two.
Yet he couldn't do a thing to that bizarre barrier.
Even Roger's hand felt slightly numb from the rebound, his eyes wide as he muttered in shock, "So hard… so hard!"
"I still can't cut it…"
He had already used advanced Conqueror's Haki infusion, and it still wasn't enough. There was simply no way.
Suddenly, an alarmed shout rang out, jolting everyone.
"A Devil Fruit?!"
Rayleigh's expression changed. He snapped his head toward the source of the shout, only to see an orange Devil Fruit rolling across the floor, spinning straight to a stop right in front of Roger.
"Huh?!" Roger froze, then bent down and picked it up. "Hey… it's actually a Devil Fruit?!"
Scopper Gaban stared, surprised. "Looks like it fell out of one of those treasure chests."
"Captain really does have ridiculous luck," he added.
Sunbell's eyes blazed with excitement.
"If the Celestial Dragons kept it locked away, it's definitely not some ordinary Devil Fruit!"
Rayleigh suddenly laughed.
"Hahaha… Roger always has absurd luck."
Then his gaze sharpened, and his voice went certain.
"This is the Logia, the Flame-Flame Fruit."
Rayleigh had studied the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, and this orange fruit with flame-like swirls matched the illustration exactly.
Roger grinned.
"Hahaha! A Logia!"
Then he turned to Rayleigh and, without hesitation, held the fruit out.
"Hey, Rayleigh. You want it?"
"I don't want to become a hammer," Rayleigh said with a click of his tongue. A man who loved swimming, he rejected it outright.
Roger asked the others too, but no one in the crew wanted the Flame-Flame Fruit.
The sight made Kurozumi Semimaru and Kurozumi Higurashi's eyes turn bloodshot with envy.
A Logia, the Flame-Flame Fruit!
And nobody wanted it?!
If you don't want it, I do!!!
But with the Roger Pirates standing right there, they didn't dare snatch it. Being able to hide behind a barrier was already…
A blessing from the heavens.
At that moment, the Den Den Mushi connected.
"Moshi moshi. This is Rocks."
Higurashi's face lit up. She hurriedly said, "Captain Rocks! We ran into the Roger Pirates inside the palace!"
"And they got the Logia, the Flame-Flame Fruit!"
Outside the royal city, Rocks's expression sank, a terrifying red glint flashing in his eyes.
"The Roger Pirates are here too… and they're trying to steal the treasure that belongs to the Rocks Pirates right under my nose."
A Logia Flame-Flame Fruit was priceless, and the palace surely held far more treasure than that.
He wasn't about to let the Roger Pirates walk away with it.
Rocks's eyes went cold as he glanced at Saint Saturn of the Five Elders.
"Hmph. I'll let you off for now. Once I deal with the Roger Pirates, I'll come back and erase you."
Saturn wasn't his match. The only problem was that bastard's ability seemed to grant him something like immortality.
Killing him quickly wasn't realistic.
Right now, the Devil Fruits mattered more.
Rocks spoke into the Den Den Mushi at once.
"Higurashi. Semimaru. Do whatever it takes to stall the Roger Pirates. I'm bringing people over right now!"
"The Roger Pirates?!" Saturn's expression flickered, his face darkening. "Damn it… those dogs actually came to God Valley too?!"
Trouble never came alone. The Rocks Pirates were already a nightmare.
And now the Roger Pirates were here as well.
But then Saturn's thoughts shifted.
"If Rocks intends to wipe out the Roger Pirates… that's good for the World Government."
Let the dogs tear each other apart.
After deciding, Saturn immediately barked an order.
"Stop. Let them in."
The members of the God's Knights looked stunned, but they obeyed at once, withdrawing as ordered.
They watched, seething, as Rocks led his men into the royal city.
A God's Knight couldn't hold back and asked, "Saint Saturn, we're just going to let them in that easily?!"
"If we don't let them in, can we even stop them?" Saturn snapped back irritably. "When the Rocks Pirates and Roger Pirates both end up crippled, we'll have reinforcements and we can reap the fisherman's profit without lifting a finger!"
"Move now. Collect every fruit on this island. They cannot fall into pirate hands!"
…
At the entrance to the palace treasury
The Den Den Mushi's eyes shut and its head drooped.
"Stall the Roger Pirates?!" Higurashi's face twisted. "They have so many monsters, how are we supposed to stall them?!"
Semimaru answered with full confidence.
"I'll seal the passage with my barrier. The Roger Pirates won't be able to get out."
After all, even Roger with a Supreme Grade Blade couldn't cut his barrier.
Hearing Higurashi's report, Rayleigh's expression changed.
"Roger, we've been spotted. We need to leave immediately."
"How do we deal with these two?" Scopper Gaban asked.
Rayleigh narrowed his eyes.
"We can't break that barrier. Then we'll bring the whole palace down."
Boom!
Roger didn't waste a single word.
His execution was absurdly fast. Before anyone could even react, he drove a punch into the wall. The already-cracked stone split wider, fractures spreading like wildfire.
The palace treasury collapsed in an instant.
The Roger Pirates were completely dumbfounded as they dodged boulders crashing down from above.
Rayleigh, Gaban, and the others split the falling stone with their weapons, clearing a path.
In the end, the crew stood atop the rubble with their treasure chests intact.
But just as they were about to leave
A massive stone slab beneath them heaved upward.
The debris was shoved aside, and Kurozumi Higurashi and Kurozumi Semimaru emerged, standing atop a circular barrier that held the rubble back like a dome.
With the confidence of the Barrier Fruit as his backing, Semimaru shouted the bravest words he'd ever spoken in his life.
"Stop!"
"You can leave… but you're leaving the Flame-Flame Fruit behind!"
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