Chapter 8

"Long, you're overstepping your bounds."

Soro lowered his voice, preparing to kill Long right there.

"Eh?"

However, what met Soro's eyes was an empty street and buildings on both sides reduced to ruins.

The arrogant and domineering Long had vanished without a trace.

This was something Soro had never expected.

He thought Long would fight to the death with him.

"Hmm?"

Soro suddenly turned, his gaze shifting to another building.

Long, draped in a green coat, now stood on the roof of that building, drenched in sweat.

He was panting heavily, looking utterly wretched.

He never dreamed that a small town like Loguetown would harbor a monster like Soro.

If he continued to fight, he would surely die here.

And he still had important things to do.

Then, while keeping an eye on Soro's movements, Long shook his right hand.

Whoosh!

A green gale swept through the street, picking up Luffy, who was lying on the ground, and delivering him to Long's hands.

"Ugh, what just happened?"

At that moment, Luffy suddenly woke up, feeling a sharp pain in his head.

The memory of being knocked out by Soro's punch came flooding back.

However, Luffy quickly realized that he was being carried by someone.

"Hey, mister, who are you? Put me down!"

Luffy shouted in protest and struggled.

Bang!

Long punched Luffy's back of the head, instantly forming a large bump.

Without explaining, Long kicked off with both feet and fled without looking back, controlling the gale to form two walls of wind to block Soro.

He had to get out of this place as quickly as possible.

Otherwise, neither he nor Luffy would survive!

On the other hand, Soro stood alone, disheveled by the wind.

His hand had just gripped the katana at his waist.

He hadn't even had a chance to strike.

And Long had run away!

The man known as the world's most dangerous criminal!

Had actually...

Chosen to flee!

"Is Long that cowardly?"

Soro blinked hard, wondering if he had seen something wrong.

He thought Long would fight to the death with him.

"Really didn't expect that..."

Soro couldn't help but mutter, and his consciousness opened the [Hidden Power System] in his mind for a glance.

There was no problem.

It seemed that merely releasing Haki of Conqueror's King did not count as exposing his true strength.

"Whatever."

Looking in the direction Long had fled, Soro took two steps back and sat down on the ground.

This ending wasn't bad for Soro.

After all...

Deliberately going to the New World to destroy the Revolutionary Army's headquarters was a bit troublesome.

He, Soro, just wanted to live a peaceful life.

However, he didn't know...

The Haki of Conqueror's King he had just released had created an immense ripple centered on this street.

...

To return to the Going Merry,

Sanji ran through Loguetown but suddenly encountered Soro, who should have been behind him.

"That green-haired guy, how did he get in front of me?"

Sanji couldn't help but complain.

"Curly-brow? Why are you alone? Where's Luffy?"

Soro frowned, remembering that Sanji and Luffy were together.

"Did you lose our captain?"

However, as Soro spoke, a massive shockwave swept towards him.

Its power was far more terrifying than what had knocked out Tashigi.

Even...

In this aura, visible black lightning, like a dragon with bared fangs, surged towards Soro.

For a moment, Soro was taken aback and quickly drew all his weapons to defend.

Boom!

A loud explosion rang out, and the overwhelming force instantly sent Soro flying through the air, drawing a parabolic arc before crashing to the ground and rolling several times before stopping.

Sanji didn't fare much better.

He was thrown back, hitting the ground, bouncing up, and hitting it again repeatedly.

He finally landed next to Soro, blood streaming from his scalp, and passed out.

If it weren't for his will to become the world's greatest swordsman and his concern for Luffy's safety, Soro would have met the same fate.

"Come on, this can't be real..."

Soro gritted his teeth, struggling to stand up. His palms were split, blood seeping out, and his hands were trembling.

In this state, he couldn't even hold his swords.

And this was just the aftermath.

"What kind of monster could have such terrifying power..."

In Soro's view, the opponent's strength was far greater than even Mihawk's.

Then, Soro shook his head, picked up his scattered swords, and kicked Sanji's arm hard.

No response.

With no other choice, Soro carried the unconscious Sanji on his back and prayed.

Such a terrifying shockwave must not happen again.

"Loguetown is truly a scary place..."

Soro took a deep breath, chose a direction, and set off towards the Going Merry.

At the same time...

The once large Buggy's Pirate Crew was now down to just Buggy, Alvida, and Mohji.

Even his lion, Richie, had been knocked out by the Haki of Conqueror's King.

Soro's Haki had directly blasted them away.

Alvida and Mohji had also lost consciousness, except for Buggy.

"Of all times, this has to happen now."

Buggy said with a bad temper, but he was also filled with fear.

He glanced back at the direction from which the Haki of Conqueror's King had come.

"Truly the world's most dangerous criminal..."

"I told you, getting involved with that kind of monster would never end well."

"But..."

"That Haki of Conqueror's King was really terrifying."

"Enough to be mentioned alongside Captain Roger."

Buggy couldn't help but think.

Although he always acted cowardly, he had been a crew member of the Roger Pirates in his youth.

He knew about Haki and had even witnessed the Haki of Roger, Whitebeard, Rayleigh, and Bartholomew.

The Haki he had just felt undoubtedly matched Roger's prime.

"No wonder the World Government fears Long so much. He..."

However...

Just as Buggy was certain that the Haki of Conqueror's King had come from Long, he saw a figure running towards him, his face filled with fear and tension.

"That person is... Long?!"

Buggy looked closely and realized that the person was indeed Long!

And in his hand, he was carrying Luffy!

Fleeing in a panic!

In the blink of an eye, Long passed by Buggy and disappeared from his sight.

"Wait, what just happened?!"

"Why did Long have that expression?"

"Could it be..."

"That Haki of Conqueror's King wasn't released by Long?"