Eroking
patreon
Chapter 163: Your Era Is Over, I'm Bringing Down the Curtain!
🕑 Added 2025-09-01 13:30:28 +0000 UTCChapter 163: Your Era Is Over, I'm Bringing Down the Curtain!
BOOM!
Rayleigh's body crashed to the ground like a cannonball, carving a deep trench dozens of meters long.
In the pouring rain, he struggled for a long time, but he couldn't get up.
He could only support himself on his elbows, half-kneeling on the ground, his aura at its absolute weakest, his breathing ragged and heavy.
Shane landed gracefully beside Rayleigh's sword. He glanced at it and casually flicked his foot.
ZING!
The longsword shot through the air, spinning through the curtain of rain and embedding itself precisely in front of Rayleigh.
"Your sword," Rayleigh heard the young man's voice through the heavy rain. "Get up. Let's continue."
Continue?
Rayleigh's trembling hand reached for the hilt of his sword, but he didn't even have the strength to pull it out.
He let out a bitter laugh and finally gave up, slowly closing his eyes.
After fighting for so long, the gap in their combat strength was now clear.
In a short fight, they were more or less evenly matched, and it would have been impossible to determine a winner. But the older he got, the more the long fight worked against him.
He had reached his limit.
"Do it. I was outmatched. I lost," Rayleigh's silver hair was plastered to his forehead by the rain. He took a deep breath, his voice hoarse but calm. "But a guy like you is destined to stir up a new storm, to make the Great Pirate Era even more exciting. To die at the hands of a junior like you is no disgrace to my life."
"The Great Pirate Era?"
Shane sneered, a look of mockery in his eyes. "It seems you haven't been paying much attention to the so-called 'enemy who killed Hachi.' You still think I'm a pirate? The kind of new seedling you're looking for, the kind of junior who will add fuel to Roger's dream?"
Rayleigh was taken aback and looked up at the curtain of rain before him.
RUMBLE!
A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, illuminating the handsome, rain-soaked face of the black-haired young man who was walking toward him.
He was now right in front of Rayleigh.
"Do you know why I set sail, Rayleigh?" Shane's voice was exceptionally cold in the thunder. The rain trickled down his sharp jawline and pattered on Rayleigh's face.
"Hmm?"
A large, bony hand reached out and grabbed Rayleigh's neck. "I'm asking you a question, Rayleigh. You should know why I set sail, right?"
"Cough, cough…"
Rayleigh's face turned blue, and the feeling of suffocation made him instinctively struggle, but his severely injured body was powerless.
"I'm a fruit farmer from the countryside. I could have just stayed there, growing tangerines, fishing every day, playing with my sisters in the mountains, and growing up happy together."
"But I couldn't. If I wanted to live… that was not an option."
Shane's voice was tinged with a hint of sadness, but his five fingers slowly tightened.
Rayleigh's breathing grew more and more labored. In his cloudy pupils, he saw the young man's increasingly grim face.
"Roger's last words drove the whole world mad. Pirates swarmed the seas like locusts, endless and relentless, plundering, killing, destroying… the East Blue, the South Blue, the West Blue, the North Blue, how many villages were burned to ashes? How many children died at the hands of pirates before they even knew what a tangerine tasted like?"
"I didn't want to die like that, and I certainly didn't want my family to die."
"So? I had to throw everything else away, train day and night, and do everything in my power to get stronger. Only then could I protect my family, my hometown."
"Did you know, Rayleigh? I used to love fishing. I could fish for a whole afternoon, and I'd feel restless if I didn't fish for a day. But because of the Great Pirate Era that you all started, because of a guy like your good friend, Hachi, who was coming to my island…"
"…I haven't fished a single time since I was a kid! Not once!!!"
Shane's voice rose, growing more and more ferocious, and the force in his hand grew stronger and stronger. Rayleigh's face had turned from blue to purple, and his eyes were starting to roll back.
"And you, Rayleigh."
"You think I set sail for some 'pirate's romance'? Or to find some damn ONE PIECE, to become the Pirate King?"
"TO HELL WITH THE PIRATE KING!!!"
"In the beginning, I just wanted to live! To let the people I care about live!"
With a roar, Shane suddenly let go of him with a savage look on his face and slammed a fist into Rayleigh's face!
THUMP!
The latter was powerless to resist and was sent flying, coughing up a mouthful of blood as he landed in the mud.
"And now."
"I have the strength, the strength to make the world take notice, and you think I want to make this Great Pirate Era even more exciting?"
"How ridiculous!"
SWISH! Shane drew the longsword from his back, the blade glinting coldly in the rain.
He walked toward Rayleigh, step by step, the rain dripping from the blade and splashing on the ground.
"Listen up, Rayleigh…"
"My ultimate dream has always been one thing: to bring the curtain down on this shitty world, this shitty Great Pirate Era!"
"Whether it's pirates, the dogs of the World Government, or those arrogant fools who call themselves gods, no one can stop me! Anyone who stands in my way is my enemy! Do you understand, old man!"
Curtain Call…
Curtain Call!
So that's what it means?!!!
As if a bolt of lightning had struck him, Rayleigh's eyes shot open, his mind reeling.
He stared blankly at the black-haired young man who was getting closer and closer, his body beginning to tremble uncontrollably.
By the time Shane had slowly raised his blade, a wide grin had spread across his face, and he couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"Heh… ha, ha, hahaha…"
His laugh was hoarse and desolate. It pulled at the wounds on his chest, and he coughed up another mouthful of blood, but he was still laughing.
"The Curtain Call! To bring the curtain down on the Great Pirate Era? What arrogant ambition! What an incredible brat… hey, Roger! You bastard, did you hear that?! If you heard that, you'd probably be so mad you'd jump out of your coffin! Hahaha!"
Shane didn't respond. He just slowly raised his blade.
SWISH!
A flash of a sword, and blood sprayed!
Rayleigh grunted, and his right arm was severed at the shoulder, rolling several meters away in the mud.
He gritted his teeth against the searing pain and, after looking at his severed arm, he looked up in surprise. But he only saw Shane flick the blood from his sword and sheathe it.
"Why?"
Rayleigh asked, bewildered. "I was ready to go and see Roger… was it because I didn't want to kill you before, and I only asked for your finger, so you also…"
"Don't get me wrong. I'm a petty person, and I always hold a grudge. I don't have that kind of magnanimity,"
Shane said, glancing at him with an impassive expression. "The reason is probably because you were willing to save the slaves, even when you had your back to me. That's half of it. As for the other half, if you think about it, you should be able to guess."
"..."
Rayleigh was taken aback for a moment, and then he gave a bitter smile.
He looked down at the blood pouring from his severed arm, then up at Shane, a look of understanding in his cloudy pupils.
"I see…" his voice was filled with a self-deprecating tone. "You want me to watch, don't you?"
"To watch how you end this era, to watch how you crush everything that Roger started, bit by bit…"
Shane didn't answer, as if he disdained to answer. He just turned his back to Rayleigh and strode toward the shore.
Rayleigh was silent.
"Alright, alright…"
He struggled to push himself up with his remaining left hand and, shakily, he stood up. After taking a deep breath, he roared with all his remaining strength, "Then on behalf of Roger, on behalf of the Roger Pirates, I will live on, and I will watch with my own eyes—"
"—to see just how far you can go, you arrogant brat!"
By the time he finished speaking, Shane's figure had disappeared into the pouring rain.
Only Rayleigh was left standing in the blood and mud, looking in the direction he had gone, breathing heavily, and he stood there for a long, long time.
————
Slap.
The black-haired young man's foot landed steadily on the shore of the docks.
"Captain!"
"Lord Shane!"
"Big Bro!"
A variety of shouts rang out. His comrades, who had been waiting boredly, were overjoyed to see him emerge from the rain and quickly gathered around him.
"Is it finally over?" Nami asked, looking at him with puppy-dog eyes. "Big Bro, that old man, Rayleigh, I hear he was the vice-captain of the Pirate King! A super-strong guy! Did you really beat him?"
"Mmm," Shane said with a nod and a smile.
"Yeah!" Nami cheered. "I knew it! As expected of my brother!"
Shane didn't pay much attention to her and looked around.
The area was a mess, with signs of a battle everywhere.
There were pirate corpses scattered about, and Marine soldiers who had either been frozen or suffocated by smoke. The warships were gone from the shore. Clearly, most of the Marines had retreated.
Shane was not surprised.
His comrades had inherited his nature. They were merciless with the pirates, who were mostly villains.
But with the low-ranking Marine soldiers, they would usually spare their lives.
But… the leaders of the Marines were usually not so lucky.
Shane's gaze shifted to a deep crater on the shore. Chaton was lying there, his eyes wide open, clearly deader than dead.
"Hmm?"
He raised an eyebrow, a little surprised, and looked at Kuina. "This guy…"
"You've misunderstood,"
Kuina said, shaking her head slightly. "I'm confident I can beat that Doflamingo… but this Admiral candidate is a little stronger than me. I could only just manage to hold him off and keep him from interfering with you, my lord."
"Then how did he die?" Shane asked, a little curious.
"That guy has no sense of honor. Kuina said it was a one-on-one, so we all stayed out of it. Even after we had taken care of the others, we were still just watching from the sidelines,"
Nojiko snorted and pointed at Chaton's corpse. "But this guy, when he saw that all his men were taken care of, and he couldn't break through Kuina's defense, he thought he was surrounded and got more and more antsy. He suddenly turned and tried to break through, and of all directions, he chose Nami's, and he even tried to kill her."
So he saw the one with the lowest bounty, Nami, as his way out.
Shane's gaze on Chaton's corpse instantly grew cold. He turned and looked at Nami. "Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine, Big Bro!"
Nami said, spinning around with a grin to show that she was unharmed. "I've been training my ability too, you know. I just elementalized and dodged."
"That guy obviously didn't know I was a Logia user. He was so surprised he couldn't react, and in the next second, everyone had beaten him to a pulp. Oh, right, Jack was the first one to charge in. He turned into a mammoth and pinned him to the ground. He couldn't even move."
Pinned down by a big butt and then beaten to death by everyone?
No wonder Chaton's corpse looks a little flat. That sounds pretty pathetic…
Shane couldn't help but chuckle. He patted Jack's arm. "You're a real hero, Jack. Good work."
"Hehe, boss, don't praise me first. It was Boss Kuina who did the most," Jack said, scratching his head. "But that guy was just asking for it. If he dared to bully Boss Nami, of course I'd be the first one to step in!"
That was true.
"Thanks, Kuina," Shane said, giving his vice-captain a thumbs-up.
He and Rayleigh had fought for over three hours.
And Chaton and Kuina had fought for at least an hour.
To be able to hold her own against a Marine Admiral candidate for so long, and to only be at a slight disadvantage…
Tsk, at this rate of growth, it won't be long before he really has a crew member with the title of 'World's Greatest Swordswoman.'
"What about the ship's coating?" Shane asked.
"I just called a few minutes ago. It's done,"
the black-haired young woman's face was flushed, but she still tried to act nonchalant, her voice calm. "I originally placed a normal order, and it would have taken a whole day. But then I noticed that you were fighting someone, my lord, so I paid double to have them speed it up. In the end, it only took less than four hours."
Nice.
Shane gave his reliable vice-captain another mental thumbs-up. Robin then asked, "Captain, are we leaving?"
"Mmm,"
Shane nodded slightly. "Let's go. This place is too close to Marine Headquarters. We've been fighting for so long, a Marine Admiral could arrive at any moment."
If only one came, that would be fine. He was still in good shape. But if more than one came, that would be a bit of a problem.
The group quickly went to the docks. The Curtain Call was already coated and was quietly docked at the shore.
"All aboard! Let's go!"
With Shane's order, the crew all passed through the bubble and leaped onto the deck. Jack was the last to board, and he was in charge of raising the anchor and untying the ropes.
…
In the square in front of the big screen, the screen had now switched to the docks where The Curtain Call was docked.
But they didn't dare to get too close. From the perspective, it seemed to be from the roof of a tower hundreds of meters away, a bird's-eye view of the large, bubble-covered ship slowly sinking into the sea.
Although the fighting was over, more and more spectators were gathering, and the discussion was growing more and more heated.
"That Dark King, Rayleigh, was really defeated by Shane!"
"And he even lost an arm! The first mate of the Pirate King! How pathetic…"
"So what?! The Pirate King himself lost more than just an arm!"
"...I really can't talk to you. Speaking of which, the Marines also lost pretty badly. An Admiral candidate, and he couldn't even beat Shane's subordinates."
"It would have to be an Admiral himself. Strange, it's been so long, and there's still no movement from Marine Headquarters. Are they really just going to let them leave?"
As if on cue, in response to that question.
SWISH!
On the screen, a blinding light suddenly appeared in the distant sky, and a golden laser shot through the rain, rapidly approaching the docks.
"That's… Kizaru's fruit ability!" someone with a keen eye immediately recognized it, their voice trembling. "A Marine Admiral is really here!"
"Awesome!"
"Dammit! Run!"
The crowd was instantly in an uproar. Some were overjoyed, some were terrified and retreated, and some were on their tiptoes, trying to get a better look.
"The Curtain Call hasn't gotten very far! They're not going to be able to escape!"
"I hear Kizaru's fruit ability can reach the speed of light! How can they possibly escape?"
"Hey! Look! That Shane seems to have noticed!"
In the live feed, Shane, who had been standing at the bow of the ship, suddenly turned his head and looked straight at the approaching golden light.
A cold smile slowly spread across his lips.
"So you've finally arrived…"
