One piece: The Greatest Swordsman of the Rocks Era! Chapter 136: CP0 Director, Codename

"The arrogant lives of pirates rarely end well. Allow to introduce myself. I am the Director of CP0. Codena…"

He paused deliberately.

"Cloud."

The masked man's feet pressed against the air with Geppo, rising to hover several ters before Ares' face.

Countless pirates had perished beneath his hands whether ten thousand or rely eight thousand hardly mattered. To him, pirates were all the sa: brazen, self-important, strutting about as though they feared neither heaven nor earth.

Kaido's heart jolted. He muttered toward Ares:

"CP0… the World's Strongest Intelligence Agency. If the Governnt has dispatched CP0, then things must have escalated beyond anything ordinary. Sothing big must've happened this past year."

Ares nodded slightly. He knew of the CP organizations CP5, CP7, even CP9's mbers decades later were etched in his mory. But the enigma of CP0 was far deeper.

What concerned him more was not Cloud, but the bald swordsman standing quietly on the deck, katana in hand.

The swordsman's calm eyes lifted to et Ares'. His expression was as unshakable as a still pond, though a fleeting glint of doubt passed through them.

"Rocks Pirates' Bloodhand Ares. Bounty: 220 million berries. Less than six months since you joined the crew, and your bounty has already reached this level. Intelligence suggests you're no older than fourteen or fifteen."

"But that hardly matters. What interests is why, at first sight, you addressed as… 'Gorosei.'"

Invisible pressure bore down like the stare of a predator.

Ares felt it instantly. Narrowing his eyes, he suppressed his own edge. Inside, though, his thoughts raced.

Decades ago… does this an he has not yet beco one of the Five Elders, the World Governnt's highest authority?

It seed very likely.

He inclined his head slightly.

"That question… I cannot answer."

"You will," the bald swordsman replied. His pale face stretched into the faintest of smiles, tinged with intrigue. He turned to Cloud.

"Cloud. Take him alive. The other one deal with as you wish."

Defiant prisoners were common. The Governnt had endless ways of prying secrets from their enemies.

At that, CP0 Director Cloud released a chilling laugh.

"Ji-ha-ha-ha…"

"Consider yourselves the appetizer for this mission. Do struggle a bit, won't you? Otherwise, this will be terribly boring."

Beneath his white cloak glead a spotless white suit, immaculate as snow.

"Rankyaku, Garuda!"

Cloud's kick split the air. From his strike, a golden eagle unfurled its wings, each feather like a gleaming sword of light.

The radiant wingspan stretched dozens of ters wide. A single casual kick carried the devastation of a great swordsman's flying slash.

But suddenly.

A thunderous roar split the air.

"Kongō, Ryo!"

Kaido's massive kanabo whistled as he swung it down, his voice bellowing with wild defiance.

"Trash like you? I don't even need Ares-ani to dirty his hands this one's mine!"

The cylindrical club aura erupted like a blazing cannon, colliding head-on with Cloud's radiant eagle.

Boom!

The impact detonated with deafening force, scattering winds and waves in every direction.

"What?!"

Behind the mask, Cloud's eyes flashed in surprise. This little-known rookie had actually stopped his attack.

Yet the astonishnt lasted only a heartbeat.

"I see. Not hollow bravado then. How interesting."

"Soone like you might fetch a bounty in the hundreds of millions. But it's a pity… today, you die by my hand."

Kaido scowled, his pride stung by Cloud's arrogant tone, dripping with condescension.

His tiger-like eyes blazed.

"Strength isn't proven with words. It's forged with fists."

"I'll smash you into paste!"

He spun the massive kanabo like a windmill, air screaming around its arc.

Cloud's sneer deepened. The insult had nicked his pride. His voice ground low through clenched teeth.

"Very well. You won't even have a few more minutes left to breathe."

Confidence radiated from him. He didn't strike back imdiately but allowed Kaido to ready his swing.

Instead, his entire body began to darken.

The pristine cloak, the white suit blacked out entirely, swallowed in an armor of Haki.

Full-body Armant Haki.

And still, it escalated. Spiraling violet patterns surfaced across his skin, whorls of energy radiating outward.

Ares' pupils tightened. His heart pounded.

This is… the pinnacle of Armant Haki?! He's refined it to such an extre?

He had heard of this level from Whitebeard and Shiki themselves. Only a handful of living beings in the world could wield Armant at this height. Every one of them a titan.

Realizing the gravity of the threat, Ares could no longer stand idle. His hand rose, fingers cutting the air like the edge of a blade.

"Mudō-ryū, Pluto's Requiem!"

His arm sliced forward. The very air split like water under a blade, a crescent of blinding light roaring forth.

At that sa mont, Kaido unleashed the technique he had been charging.

"Raii Hakke!!"

Though lacking the future ferocity of Conqueror's-infused lightning, the attack was no less devastating a pillar-thick club aura lanced forward like a beam of pure destruction.

Cloud's eyes widened for a fleeting instant.

That strike… why does it resemble the Rokushiki?

There was no ti to ponder.

In the next breath, his form blurred, body twisting like a falling leaf, evading both attacks at an impossible angle.

The strikes carved empty air.

And in that void of a heartbeat, Cloud countered.

The air beneath his feet erupted with sharp detonations. Geppo thundered like gunfire. His figure flickered into a blur, vanishing entirely.

Ares' heart clenched in shock.

He's using Soru… in midair?!

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