Chapter 148: Rayleigh’s Swordsmanship Lecture

The small boat sped across the sea like a flying fish. Monstrous white waves churned amidst the howling gale, leaving a perfectly straight silver line trailing across the calm, amber-blue surface of the water.

The fierce headwind and splashing spray made Cavendish, despite his formidable strength, feel somewhat overwhelmed.

His companion, the Dark King Rayleigh, however, remained completely relaxed and at ease, entirely unfazed by the surrounding wind and waves.

A gentle smile lingered on his face throughout, making him look precisely like an inoffensive retired old man.

Yet, Cavendish naturally did not believe that this senior, Rayleigh, was simply some mediocre elder. Aside from Rayleigh's resounding reputation and the oppressive aura he had previously displayed, Rayleigh's current performance filled Cavendish with awe:

The small boat they were riding in was now moving with lightning speed—easily more than ten times faster than when Cavendish had sailed alone—and the force of the waves it kicked up was almost comparable to Fish-Man Karate.

And all of this was simply because the person rowing had changed to Rayleigh.

Cavendish, who had always fancied himself a genius and refused to take even the Warlords of the Sea seriously despite experiencing countless setbacks, finally understood what it meant when people said there were always people greater than oneself, and heavens beyond the skies. The arrogance and narcissism in his personality unconsciously faded away entirely in Rayleigh's presence.

However...

To think that the renowned senior Dark King also used a sword to row a boat...

Watching the Black Blade Shusui in Rayleigh's hand being used as an oar, Cavendish's expression involuntarily turned peculiar.

"Hahaha..."

Noticing the young man's somewhat complicated gaze beside him, Rayleigh let out a hearty, unrestrained laugh:

"What? Never seen anyone row a boat with a sword?"

"No, no, no..."

Cavendish's face flushed, and he said hurriedly:

"I usually row my own boat the exact same way!"

"It's just that..."

Cavendish's face grew even redder, "I always feel like doing this might go against a swordsman's code of honor."

"Ha-ha."

Rayleigh chuckled softly, then shook his head and said:

"Why fret over such things? On the contrary..."

Rayleigh paused, taking the time to patiently offer guidance to this junior who had left a favorable impression upon him:

"Using a sword as an oar has three major benefits for a swordsman!"

"Oh?"

Cavendish's eyes lit up, suddenly realizing that he had stumbled upon a rare and magnificent opportunity to receive the profound mysteries of swordsmanship from a hidden master.

Disregarding the wind and waves beating against his face, Cavendish immediately adopted a solemn posture, sitting upright and listening intently.

"First..."

Rayleigh stopped his rowing motion and presented the jet-black blade of the Black Blade Shusui before Cavendish:

"This is the training of 'Qi'."

"A sword blade is merely an inch wide, while a sea vessel weighs thousands of tons."

"How does one propel an entire ship with such a narrow blade, and how can the released sword qi be made to exert the greatest possible thrust?"

As he spoke, the wrist holding the sword moved slightly:

The slender blade plunged abruptly into the water, instantly whipping up towering white waves more than a dozen meters wide behind them.

Upon seeing this, Cavendish experienced a sudden flash of enlightenment, feeling as though Rayleigh's words were like the resounding chime of a great bell, profoundly thought-provoking:

His own rapier, Durandil, was a Western light sword with a thin and slender blade; naturally, relying solely on the blade to propel the ship forward would result in insufficient power.

Therefore, every time he used his sword to row, he was actually unknowingly tempering his own sword qi.

It was just that when he rowed previously, he had failed to observe and contemplate carefully, thus wasting so many precious opportunities to elevate his swordsmanship cultivation.

"Second..."

Rayleigh submerged the blade of the Black Blade Shusui back into the water and continued: "This is also the training of 'Power'."

"How to stir up the fastest current with the minimum amount of force?"

"And how to control this current so that the fragile wooden boat maintains stability at high speeds without being destroyed by the surging waves?"

Rayleigh's black blade stirred the water once more, but this time the blade moved like a swimming fish, swift, agile, and completely silent.

Even though no splashes were raised, Cavendish could feel a drastic shift in the undercurrent beneath the hull, propelling the small boat even faster.

"Incredible!"

Cavendish felt a wave of profound realization, as if everything he had practiced in swordsmanship since childhood had been for naught:

"To think that such a simple rowing motion contains such profound mysteries of the sword!"

"Ha-ha..."

"It's nothing special, just muscle memory from practice."

Rayleigh smiled faintly, then said in a deep voice:

"And this third point is the most crucial one, as well as the fundamental reason for using a sword to row."

Completely immersed in his comprehension of swordsmanship, Cavendish asked eagerly, "What is it?"

However, Rayleigh suddenly stopped his explanation, pointed to the sea in the distance, and said:

"We've caught up!"

Cavendish hurriedly looked ahead and saw two ships moored side by side, drifting together upon the ocean.

The masts and sails of one ship were tattered and shattered, but Cavendish could instantly recognize it as the vessel Moria had plundered from him.

As for the other ship, it turned out to be a Marine warship; its massive scale alone indicated that its specifications were far from ordinary.

Cavendish's expression immediately turned solemn: "Why are Marines here?"

Straining his extraordinary eyesight to look closer:

He saw Moria's conspicuous figure sitting on the deck of the ship, while before him stood a Marine commander wearing a Coat of Justice and a handsome knight in ornate armor.

Since Moria was positioned in profile to Cavendish, he could not clearly see the ferocious scars and ashen expression on Moria's face.

All Cavendish could discern were the subtle smiles on the faces of the Marine commander and the stranger knight, as if they were chatting and laughing cheerfully with Moria.

Yet Moria's robust physique—which even his own sword could not cut—was trembling incessantly before these two individuals...

Cavendish's pupils constricted as he instantly guessed the current situation:

It seemed the knight had told an extremely amusing joke, causing the fierce and terrifying giant pirate Moria to laugh repeatedly, trembling all over from the laughter...

"Damn it!"

Cavendish clenched his fists tightly and said through gritted teeth:

"Accursed Warlords of the Sea!"

"Moria actually ended up mixing with the Marines!"

Rayleigh's gaze also narrowed as he looked toward the ship with a hint of surprise.

However, his attention was not on Moria or the Marine Vice Admiral, but was instead entirely focused on observing Garen, who stood beside the Vice Admiral.

"Isn't this the young man Crocus wanted to thank?"

"Why is he mingling with scum like Moria?"

Rayleigh had come to Alabasta specifically to gift the Black Blade Shusui to Garen as a token of gratitude, so he had naturally reviewed intelligence and photographs of Garen beforehand.

Recalling the images Garen had cultivated in the newspapers—such as "law-abiding citizen," "friend of the Marines," and "supporter of the World Government"—Rayleigh could not help but frown slightly:

"Could it be that the young man Crocus thought so highly of has already fallen to such depths?"

"Sigh..."

With a soft sigh, Rayleigh turned to Cavendish and said:

"It's not just the Marines; I know that Marine commander."

"He is the infamous Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral, Dalmatian."

"In terms of strength, Dalmatian is undoubtedly one of the absolute heavyweights among Marine Vice Admirals."

Hearing this, Cavendish's expression grew stern, and his hand resting on the sword hilt tightened a fraction.

Rayleigh, with a solemn expression, revealed an even worse situation to Cavendish:

"And the knight standing beside him is Garen, the supernova who recently slayed Crocodile."

"Although he's a rookie, according to an old friend of mine..."

"His strength is probably not inferior to the Captain back in his youth."

"What?"

Cavendish's expression froze, and a profound shock erupted in his eyes.

Cavendish knew very well who the "Captain" spoken of by the Dark King Rayleigh referred to.

Could that knight possibly...

Be no less formidable than the King of the Pirates in his youth?

Cavendish was so astounded that his jaw dropped slightly.

Rayleigh gently stroked his neatly trimmed, silvery-white short beard and asked with an amused smile: "What... are you afraid?"

"Afraid."

Cavendish nodded, but replied firmly, word for word:

"However..."

"That child hasn't been rescued yet!"

"Never mind a Marine Vice Admiral and a supernova..."

A fierce determination gathered between Cavendish's handsome brows, and the unhealed scars on his face instantly transformed his pretty-boy persona into that of a rugged, genuine man of action:

"Even if a Marine Admiral and the Pirate King himself were here, I would never back down!"

"Very well."

Rayleigh stretched his lean and robust physique slightly, causing a series of crisp, synchronized cracking sounds to echo from his joints.

A fierce competitive spirit welled up in his eyes, completely replacing his gentle demeanor with a soaring, piercing sharpness:

"Then this old man will accompany you for a proper warm-up."

"Yes!"

Cavendish also drew his famed sword, Durandil, from his waist, his entire demeanor turning calm and composed.

Just as the two were about to leap up and storm the enemy vessel, however, Cavendish suddenly came to a halt.

"What is it?"

Rayleigh asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Senior Rayleigh..."

Cavendish asked, looking rather concerned: "Before the fight starts, could you tell me what the most important third benefit was—the one you hadn't finished mentioning earlier?"

"Uh..."

Rayleigh could not help but chuckle, asking in return: "How long would it take you to complete the voyage we just crossed if you had to rely solely on sails and ocean currents?"

"At least a day."

Cavendish answered earnestly, racking his brain to fully comprehend the deeper meaning behind Senior Rayleigh's question.

"Therefore, the greatest benefit of using a sword to row is naturally..."

Rayleigh explained with a solemn expression:

"It's fast."