“Navy brat, although you adapt quickly, but…” Rayleigh’s golden pupils suddenly contracted.

“Young man, don’t be too arrogant!” As he finished speaking, he pushed off the ground, his figure, like a flash of lightning, once again charged towards Gern!

The sword’s edge sliced through the air, Armament Haki twined around the blade, the dark gleam of the blade was like the Grim Reaper’s scythe, aiming directly for Gern’s throat!

However— “What kind of young man isn’t arrogant?” Gern, with a wild laugh, suddenly plunged black blade eight desolations into the ground.

The moment the blade tip pierced the reef, a terrifying tremor, like a tsunami, erupted!

“Heaven Tremor - Earth Rumble!”

“Rumble! ! !” The entire reef island trembled violently, the ground rolled like waves, and countless cracks spread wildly outwards from Gern’s center!

The rock beneath Rayleigh’s feet instantly collapsed, the powerful shockwave abruptly halting his advance.

He had no choice but to leap up, lightly tapping the splashing broken stones with his toes, adjusting his posture in mid-air.

“Trying to forcibly create distance with vibration?” Rayleigh’s eyes narrowed.

Just as he was about to press closer again, he saw a cold sneer curl on Gern’s lips.

“I’ve had no enemies along my journey, only teachers!

They taught me lesson after lesson, severing my innocence, killing my naivete, breaking my bones…

Making me understand that without failure and humiliation, a mature person cannot be forged.

I’ve never had any great enlightenment; any battle is simply… one wrong step after another, one realization after another!!”

Gern abruptly pulled black blade eight desolations from the ground, flicked the blade, and eight pure white orbs suddenly condensed around him!

The surface of each orb was covered with spiderweb-like cracks.

Inside, vibration energy capable of tearing space was compressed, hovering in the air, emitting a piercing hum.

“Heaven Quake - Eight Extremes Orb!” Gern raised his blade and pointed.

“Whoosh whoosh whoosh! ! !” The eight orbs simultaneously shot out, their trajectories bizarre, automatically tracking Rayleigh like living beings!

Even more terrifyingly, they did not fly in a straight line, but rather used tricky angles like spirals, reversals, and arcs to seal off all of Rayleigh’s evasion routes!

“Tracking attack?” Rayleigh frowned, his figure suddenly halted, and his long sword instantly transformed into a black afterimage.

“Thousand Cuts!” Sword light poured down like a torrential rain, precisely striking each incoming vibration orb!

“Clang! Clang! Clang! ! ” The moment the first three orbs were cut apart— “Boom! Boom! Boom!”

Space shattered like glass, the shockwaves of the vibration explosions formed a chain reaction, and the entire mid-air region was blasted into countless vacuum zones!

Rayleigh’s sword speed was extremely fast, but the vibration orbs had a very large explosion range. His shirt was torn in several places by the aftermath, and fine blood marks appeared on his skin.

“Tsk, troublesome things…” Rayleigh gritted his teeth, about to continue slashing the remaining five orbs.

But at this instant—Gern’s figure vanished!

“What?!” Rayleigh’s Observation Haki was fully activated, but Gern’s “Quake Flash” still rendered his perception completely ineffective!

The next second, Gern had already launched a surprise attack along the trajectory of the last vibration orb, his right leg sweeping horizontally like a battle-axe!

His Armament Haki-hardened calf was wrapped in pale, high-frequency vibrating particles.

“Black Quake - Meteor Kick!” The force of the kick was like a meteor falling combined with an eight-magnitude earthquake!

Rayleigh hastily blocked with his sword horizontally, “Bang!!!”

The sword body vibrated violently, and Rayleigh was kicked tens of meters away, his feet plowing two deep furrows in the sea surface.

The moment he stabilized his body, he shot back onto the island again.

Before he could steady himself, Gern’s figure charged in again!

“Quake Flash - Consecutive Stars!”

In an instant, left leg, right leg, elbow strike, knee strike.

Gern’s attacks were like a violent storm. Rayleigh’s Armament Haki covered his entire body, his hardened black skin gleaming with a metallic luster under the sun.

However, each of Gern’s attacks carried vibration power capable of tearing space.

Even the strongest defense was still shaken, causing his internal organs to churn, and a trace of blood to spill from the corner of his mouth.

“Bang!” Another side kick, Gern’s figure appeared like a ghost, his right leg sweeping horizontally, the air compressed into a visible shockwave.

Rayleigh blocked with his sword horizontally, the moment the sword body collided with his calf, the shockwave exploded!

“Crack!” The reef beneath his feet instantly shattered, Rayleigh was forced back several steps by the aftermath of this blow, and a trace of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.

“With this level of physical combat, why bother with a sword!” He squinted his eyes, his Observation Haki once again fully extended, trying to capture Gern’s movement trajectory.

But Gern gave him no chance at all.

“Quake Flash!” His figure blurred, then disappeared.

Rayleigh’s pupils suddenly contracted; in his Observation Haki perception, Gern’s aura was completely gone, as if erased by an eraser.

The next second— “Bang!” To his left!

Rayleigh quickly turned, his long sword blocking horizontally, Armament Haki condensed on the blade, taking Gern’s elbow strike head-on.

However, the impact of this blow far exceeded imagination; his feet plowed two deep furrows in the ground, and his arm muscles tingled slightly from the violent vibration.

“It’s not over yet.” Gern sneered, his figure disappearing again.

“Quake Flash!”

“Bang!” To his right!

Rayleigh barely managed to raise his sword, Gern’s knee strike had already arrived, the vibrating particles on his knee penetrating the Armament Haki defense like a drill, making his internal organs churn.

“Quake Flash!”

“Bang!” Above! Rayleigh gritted his teeth and leaped up, his sword tip striking upwards, colliding with Gern’s downward leg chop, the air current exploded, and the sea surface was churned into huge waves by the aftermath.

“Quake Flash!”

“Bang!” Behind! Rayleigh spun around abruptly, his sword tracing an arc, but Gern’s fist had already struck, the knuckles colliding with the blade, sparks flying!

“Cough!” Rayleigh groaned, the web of his hand split open, blood dripping down the hilt of his sword.

Gern’s attacks were like an unending storm, each flash accompanied by vibration power capable of pulverizing mountains.

Even more terrifyingly, his ‘Quake Flash’ completely disrupted Rayleigh’s Observation Haki predictions, forcing the “Pluton” to only defend passively, responding hastily the moment Gern appeared.

“No, if this continues… it’s not good.”

Rayleigh’s heart tightened; he knew he was being pushed into a corner.

Gern’s tactic was extremely simple, yet extremely effective.

Utilizing the unpredictability of “Quake Flash,” he forced Rayleigh to react within an extremely short time.

And each hasty defense would leave a tiny flaw.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!” Three more consecutive flash attacks, Rayleigh’s sword barely managed to block, but Gern’s offensive became faster and heavier.

Finally, “Quake Flash!” Gern’s figure disappeared again.

Rayleigh’s Observation Haki still couldn’t pinpoint his exact location.

He could only rely on his combat instinct to predict Gern’s most likely direction of attack—to his right!

“Here he comes!”

Rayleigh suddenly turned, slashing horizontally with his long sword. Somewhat angered, he directly condensed Conqueror's Haki onto the blade, preparing to give Gern a big taste of his own medicine.

However—Gern did not kick.

“See? You’re acting impulsively again.” A cold voice sounded in his ear, and Rayleigh’s pupils suddenly contracted.

“Didn’t you guess wrong?” Gern’s five fingers formed a claw, combined with Conqueror's Haki, and fiercely grabbed towards Rayleigh’s face!

“Heaven Quake - White Vortex!” A terrifying vibration wave erupted directly from Gern’s palm!

Space wrinkled like cloth; the moment Rayleigh was grabbed, time seemed to freeze.

In his vision, Gern’s palm was like a black hole swallowing all light, pale, high-frequency vibrating particles violently collapsed, forming a miniature white hole.

“Boom! ! !”

The shockwave exploded! Rayleigh’s head distorted in the vibration, his vision instantly blurred, and his body stiffened for a moment.

And in this brief stiffness, Gern had already swung his arm and thrown him high into the air!