CHAPTER 87- Retired Legends, Violent Hints

"Admiral Luo Yu, we've already used every method we could think of, but there's still no trace of CP9. Could they have really escaped?" Isuka asked again, unable to hold back her concern.

Luo Yu took a long swig from his bottle and replied flatly, "If conventional methods don't work, we'll just have to resort to unconventional ones in extraordinary times."

"Unconventional methods during extraordinary times?" Isuka blinked, momentarily confused.

Only Ain's expression shifted abruptly, her voice rising in alarm. "Admiral Luo Yu, don't tell me you're planning to ask pirates for information again? Last time, you even extorted something out of Kaido of the Beasts!"

"If you approach pirates again to gather intel on CP9, never mind whether you'll get anything useful—if you offend someone important again, Fleet Admiral Sengoku might hold you accountable."

Extorting information from one of the Four Emperors?

Isuka was dumbfounded, staring at this fellow "rookie" who was apparently the same age as her.

Was this truly a special tactic… or just a death wish?

"Ain," Isuka asked suddenly, "I heard rumors that Admiral Luo Yu clashed with one of Kaido's Flying Six in Water 7. Is that true?"

Ain gave a bitter smile and nodded. "You heard right. In fact, the guy's still tied up on the warship. If you don't believe me, go take a look."

Isuka stood frozen in place.

She had thought those stories were just exaggerated gossip. In her mind, the Four Emperors were figures no one dared provoke.

Clearly, it wasn't that the stories were exaggerated—it was just her perspective was too limited.

People like this… really do exist!

But in this critical moment, what Isuka wanted to know even more was: what would Luo Yu do next to find CP9?

"Relax. This time, I'm just asking two retired old folks for a little help," Luo Yu said casually, brushing his nose and suddenly raising his head to look toward the forest ahead.

"Mr. Rayleigh, Miss Shakky, since you're already here, why not show yourselves?"

Someone was already there?

Isuka and Ain both tensed, quickly following his gaze. The first to emerge from the shadows, puffing on a cigarette, was none other than Shakky.

"Admiral Luo Yu, didn't you say there were two people?" Isuka asked, puzzled. Ain instinctively tightened her grip on her weapon.

As Zephyr's personal student who had remained in the Marine Headquarters Academy, Ain knew far more than someone like Isuka, who had trained in a regional division.

And now, looking at that vaguely familiar face before her—she felt she'd seen it somewhere before… but couldn't quite place it.

"The second one is here."

Luo Yu took another swig of his rustic liquor and spoke again.

Both Isuka and Ain froze as a powerful, unfamiliar pressure swept toward them.

And then they saw him.

A silver-haired man, scruffy and wild in appearance, shot out of the trees like a bolt of lightning.

His speed was terrifying. A hundred meters closed in just a blink.

As the glint of a drawn blade flashed toward them, Isuka instinctively rushed forward with her sword.

"Arrogant scoundrel! You dare attack an admiral? You'll have to go through me first!"

Shave!

Using the Marine's Six Powers technique, Isuka instantly reappeared several meters ahead, slashing downward with her katana.

"Heh… not bad, little girl. As expected of someone who debuted the same time as Admiral Luo Yu. Brave indeed. Unfortunately, just your courage won't be enough to stop me."

Rayleigh gave a dry chuckle as he extended his left palm through the air with a sudden thrust.

Isuka's expression froze. Her body went rigid in an instant.

A crushing pressure—like a charging tiger—slammed into her before she could even react.

Her whole body was flung away like a broken kite, soaring past Luo Yu and crashing toward a tree dozens of meters away.

Ain rushed forward in a blur, catching Isuka just before impact.

Even so, the two of them tumbled backward seven or eight meters before they could steady themselves.

But Isuka was still reeling from the reality—she had been launched into the air by an old man who hadn't even touched her.

"He… he's Rayleigh? Admiral Luo Yu, when you said 'retired elders,' did you mean that Rayleigh? The Dark King Rayleigh, right hand of the Pirate King Roger?!"

Ain suddenly exclaimed in shock.

Isuka's face turned ghostly pale.

Even if she'd never seen the pig run, she'd eaten the pork—she might not have known Rayleigh by face, but she'd definitely heard the name.

The right-hand man of the Pirate King from the previous era!

And just now, she—without thinking—had tried to attack him.

The more she thought about it, the colder her spine grew.

These "retired elders"... weren't they a bit too terrifying?

But before she could process further, a monstrous sword strike tore through the air—

"Hah! Kid, I've heard plenty about you. Now let's see what you're really made of!"

Rayleigh laughed heartily as, from over ten meters away, his blade erupted in a slashing arc.

A bladelike shockwave soared through the air, ripping up the ground in its path like a natural disaster.

Ten meters vanished in a blink.

Watching Luo Yu stand still as the wave approached, Isuka panicked.

"Don't worry," Ain grabbed her arm, pulling her back. "Admiral Luo Yu can handle this. Let's move!"

Isuka's lips parted, about to protest—but then—

That shockwave—its biting wind already lifting the strands of hair on Luo Yu's forehead—

Suddenly—

Her pupils contracted.

The deadly slash that had been rushing in stopped abruptly just inches from Luo Yu's body.

And then—

Boom!

The massive sword wave exploded on the spot.

As if struck by an invisible force, it shattered apart instantly.

Then, with an earth-shaking roar, Luo Yu's dormant Conqueror's Haki erupted like a hurricane.

In an instant, a vacuum shockwave radiated outward with Luo Yu at the center.

Everything in its path—trees, boulders, debris—was crushed and scattered as if a natural calamity had arrived.

Rayleigh's eyes sparkled with excitement as his famed blade rang with an ear-piercing screech.

Jet-black Armament Haki coursed over the weapon as he met the shockwave head-on with a direct clash of Haki.

BOOM!

Two titanic bursts of will collided, swirling like opposing tornados, neither yielding.

The resulting shockwave overturned everything within several hundred meters.

Amid the chaos, Isuka stabilized herself with Ain's help. Her face was deathly pale.

If Ain hadn't pulled her away in time, the aftershock from just that one exchange might've been fatal.

But the thing that truly made her tremble—

That terrifying old man who had effortlessly flung her aside just now… had been stopped by Luo Yu with nothing but a stare.

That level of power and presence—

Could Fire Fist Ace really be just "a little bit" stronger than this man?