After the clash between Roger and York ended, Roger used the recoil force of Haki to backflip and land behind York.
York didn't intercept him in mid-air. Instead, he took advantage of this time to activate his Fruit Awakening.
A pitch-black flame ribbon appeared behind York's head, and his hair completely transformed into pure white flames.
Roger turned around, and the first thing he saw was York, looking like a deity.
"Oh? Is this your Fruit Awakening from the rumors?"
Curiosity appeared on Roger's face.
"I heard your Fruit Awakening destroyed Water 7. Isn't your ability to make people happy? Why did it change after awakening?"
"Devil Fruits are quite miraculous!"
York grinned.
"The abilities displayed before awakening and after awakening are sometimes inconsistent!"
Like Bonney in the original story.
Initially, her fruit was shown to change the age of herself or others, but when the Egghead Island arc came out, she turned directly into a second Nika...
Compared to Bonney's fruit, the change in York's ability couldn't be considered outrageous.
After all, when Bonney turned into Nika, she hadn't even awakened her fruit!!
"Haha! This is the first time I've heard of such a thing!!"
Roger gripped his long sword with both hands, burning fighting spirit surging in his eyes.
"By the way, is Tom from Water 7 okay? He's my friend!!"
"Don't worry, he evacuated with the civilians long before Garp and I started fighting. He was the one who built this ship for me!"
After answering Roger's question, York hesitated no longer. Raising his hand and beckoning towards Roger, an invisible gravitational force appeared instantly.
Caught off guard by this sudden force, Roger staggered, completely unexpected that York's ability would mutate so strangely.
Taking advantage of Roger's momentary lapse, York clenched his right fist, concentrating all his strength into it. Blazing white flame waves, like the surface of the sun, appeared on his fist.
This was a punch of 6,000 degrees Celsius, further amplified by the dual layering of Ryou (Emission Haki) and Conqueror's Coating.
The blazing white flame waves flowed like liquid over the surface of York's right fist, and in the process, black-red lightning generated from within.
With a sunny smile on his lips, York asked Roger softly: "Roger, do you know how high the temperature of the sun's surface is?"
"What?"
"Fist Bone · Sun Ring Meteor Strike!!"
Having just been thrown off balance by York's gravitational pull, and now asked a question he didn't know the answer to, Roger almost got distracted.
Fortunately, he was ultimately a top-tier powerhouse who used to be second only to Rocks and had now reached the same realm as Rocks.
A red light flashed in his eyes, and he clearly saw the image of his upper body being shattered by York's punch a few seconds later.
His face, which originally held a trace of playfulness, instantly tightened. Before York's punch arrived, he swung his sword in advance to block.
Boom!!
Haki lightning erupted, followed closely by a blazing white pillar of light pushing Roger back as he flew away.
Roger gripped the hilt with one hand and braced against the back of the blade with the other, simultaneously projecting Armament Haki outward to clash against the pillar of light.
But in the end, he still flew out of the range of the pirate ship and triggered a massive explosion of light and heat energy high in the sky.
Looking at the small sun exploding high above, York couldn't help but secretly think it a pity.
"Sneak attack failed."
Roger fell slowly from the sky, stepping on the air to return to the deck of the Red Flag.
However, he was currently in a wretched state.
Almost all the clothes on his body had been destroyed in the light and heat explosion just now. Only his pants, from the waist to the thighs, remained intact, barely preserving a shred of dignity for Roger.
Roger slowly straightened his body, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and stared at York with a serious gaze.
"You really wanted to kill me just now, right?"
"Of course!!"
York had nothing he dared not admit.
"Rather, I should be the one asking you! Why shouldn't I be able to kill you!!"
"If nothing unexpected happened, Rocks was taken out by you and Garp teaming up, right?"
"And Rayleigh!"
"With that attitude of his, he clearly wants to make a move on my woman."
"Shouldn't I feel angry about that?!"
Roger remained silent.
Before York threw that punch just now, Roger's mindset was actually still stuck back when they were on Hachinosu.
At that time, although he and Rayleigh had fought with York, the atmosphere was generally harmonious. While they weren't friends, they weren't enemies either.
"Sorry..."
Roger apologized with a pained expression.
"I overlooked the matter of God Valley."
He didn't explain that Rocks wasn't normal at God Valley, nor did he deign to tell York the subsequent truth of God Valley.
Since York viewed him and Garp as the culprits who killed Rocks, he naturally would only show the attitude a proper enemy should have.
The atmosphere between the two changed completely from this moment on.
Intense killing intent began to surge in both their eyes.
York, however, silently dispersed the light gathered on his fist.
The reason was simple: the Light Form wasn't as useful as he had imagined.
Because the pillar of light that erupted from the punch he threw at Roger just now had left a long, charred scar directly on the ship's deck.
And that was the effect of just one strike.
If he continued to use it, this ship he spent a fortune building would likely be destroyed by his own ability.
So York chose to switch abilities.
Anyway, from the moment his fruit awakened, he possessed both Light and Dark modes.
Switching from Light Awakening to Dark Awakening, his external form naturally underwent corresponding changes.
The black flame cloud ribbon originally coiled behind his head gradually transformed into pure white.
At the same time, his hair, which had been burning like white flames, returned to its original form.
At a glance, York's Dark Awakening looked almost unchanged except for the addition of a pure white flame ribbon.
However, Roger dared not be careless in the slightest at this moment.
Because York's punch just now had indeed posed a threat to his life. Now that York's ability had changed again, he dared not underestimate it anymore.
"Roger, not going to attack?"
York smiled and beckoned to Roger. Roger grinned.
"I was waiting for you to finish transforming!!"
"So kind? Then I really have to return the favor properly!"
Holy white light radiated from York's entire body. His posture now was almost identical to when Roger first met York.
Roger originally thought this was no big deal, but he soon sensed an anomaly.
"This... this feeling... Armament Haki can't nullify it?!"
Under the shine of the holy white light, Roger's body reacted uncontrollably.
Nervous, he quickly observed his surroundings, only to find that the other pirates were still fighting normally without any abnormalities.
York's explanatory voice rang out at the right time.
"Don't look around. My awakening power only affects you alone; no one else is affected."
Roger's face darkened. He thought of a terrible possibility.
"Don't tell me after your ability awakened, it changed from an area-of-effect to a single-target effect, and correspondingly, the potency increased geometrically?"
"As expected of you! To see through the essence of my ability at a glance!!"
York grinned.
"So now, are you ready to accept this happiness?"
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