Noah remained on the moon's Lunar Governor's District until October of the Year 1508.
Of course, Noah's presence on the moon didn't mean that other members of the Noah Family were idle.
Before leaving, Noah had instructed Shiki to establish the Sky Empire, operating under the alias of the Golden Lion. He was adamant, however, that Shiki not revive the Flying Pirates. To Noah, calling themselves pirates was beneath them; he'd rather control the underworld mafia from the shadows than reestablish a pirate crew.
The reasoning was simple. The mafia, as a gray force, represents underground order rather than unchecked pillaging. Pirates, on the other hand, are purely chaotic and criminal. If Shiki were to reassemble the Flying Pirates, it would forever taint Noah's reputation.
Noah didn't care how the World Government would label the Sky Empire—as long as his subordinates weren't viewed as pirates, he wouldn't acknowledge them as such. This was a matter of principle.
After over half a year of secret preparations, Shiki had located an ideal area for the Sky Empire in the New World—the Brin Sea.
The Brin Sea was situated near Wang Zhi's Hive Island, nestled between Whitebeard's and Big Mom's territories and bordering the Calm Belt on the West Blue side.
Known also as the "Sea of Hell," this region was filled with volcanic islands and active undersea volcanoes. Constant eruptions shrouded the surrounding sky in a perpetual haze.
Positioning the Sky Empire here allowed them to harness the volcanic activity to extract Sea Stone components for manufacturing their signature Empire Clouds.
Currently, the Sky Empire had produced a mass of Empire Clouds—over ten times the size of the Empire Clouds floating above Jaya Island.
Shiki used the Float-Float Fruit to lift thirty islands from the Calm Belt and the seafloor, moving them into the clouds. Together, these islands could host millions of people.
To bolster Shiki's forces, Noah assigned him a formidable lineup, including Daz, the newly refashioned Beta and Hanover, and Wiper, who had recently acquired a Devil Fruit.
Wiper's fruit, the Bomb-Bomb Fruit, had been located by the Brewery in the South Blue in August. It was the same fruit later possessed by that "snot guy" from Baroque Works.
In terms of strength, Daz, Hanover, and Wiper were all elite Vice Admiral-level fighters. Meanwhile, Beta, who was already a Vice Admiral before his transformation, had now reached near-Admiral level, thanks to the Heat-Heat Fruit, Barton's life-force infusion, and doses of the Origin Blood serum, making him an ideal deputy to Shiki.
To protect their true identities, Beta and Hanover adopted the public personas of The Sun and The Hermit, keeping their real names concealed.
After months of preparation, the Sky Empire was finally ready to bare its fangs.
On Skydome Island, the heart of the Sky Empire, ten newly improved Ark-Class ships, along with the flagship Maxim-Class vessel, were loaded with thousands of elite family members.
With a grand gesture, Shiki raised his arm and commanded, "Let's go!"
The fleet surged toward Hive Island at full speed.
On Hive Island, Wang Zhi remained oblivious to the looming threat. He'd faced a tough few years himself, losing significant territory due to the expansions of the Beasts Pirates and Big Mom Pirates. Had it not been for Kaido and Charlotte Linlin's caution, fearing that Wang Zhi might retaliate and drag them down with him, they would have seized Hive Island long ago.
In under three days, the floating fleet appeared above the eastern skies of Hive Island.
The pirates stationed on Hive Island immediately spotted the intruders and sounded the alarm.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The ground shook as a massive stone giant rose from the island's center.
This was the power of Wang Zhi's Island-Island Fruit.
Seeing the floating fleet in the sky miles away, Wang Zhi's expression turned serious. He bellowed, "Shiki! What are you doing on Hive Island?"
"Hahaha…"
With a wild laugh, Shiki drifted closer to the stone giant, exhaling smoke from his cigar. "Hah… Wang Zhi, you've really gone downhill in your old age."
"You!" Wang Zhi's face twisted in irritation. But then he noticed something strange—the Golden Lion in front of him looked far younger than he should, almost as if he'd returned to his pre-imprisonment state. Even the rudder on his head was gone, and both legs were intact.
"What's going on here? This bastard's body is completely different!"
Shiki sneered. "Enough chit-chat, Wang Zhi. I didn't come here to play pirate games."
"Shiki! What are you planning?"
"Planning? The Golden Lion of old was far too naive. Now that I've returned from the depths of hell, it's time to show the world true power."
Noah's spirit suddenly descended upon Shiki, and a surge of crimson Conqueror's Haki exploded skyward.
Boom! The white clouds above Hive Island split apart.
Boom! Wang Zhi unleashed his own Conqueror's Haki.
The two forces collided fiercely in mid-air, but Noah's Haki, enhanced through resonance with the will of the entire airborne fleet, overwhelmed Wang Zhi's dark-colored Haki in seconds.
The stone giant stumbled back several hundred meters.
Wang Zhi's face drained of color. "Impossible!"
"This is my new power. The Golden Lion you once knew perished at Edd War. Now I am Emperor Shiki, and I will never taste defeat again!"
"Don't underestimate me…"
"Hahaha… Ikari ZAN!" Shiki roared, his twin swords, Sakura Ten and Kiki, enveloped in a terrifying aura of Conqueror's Haki.
A sky-splitting slash wave tore through the stone giant, carving two massive trenches, each over ten kilometers long, into the ground of Hive Island.
"Ahhh!" The Island-Island Fruit's weakness became glaringly obvious. When merged with an island, any damage the island sustained would be directly inflicted on the user.
"You're too weak! Wang Zhi, your time is over!"
"Damn…"
With Noah's power bolstering him, Shiki had become even stronger than he'd been at his peak.
Moreover, the Island-Island Fruit was no match for the Float-Float Fruit.
Even when Wang Zhi disengaged his fusion with the island, he was powerless against Shiki's onslaught.
In less than half an hour, Wang Zhi, the Vice Admiral-level pirate, lay battered and barely alive, dangling from Shiki's grasp like a defeated dog.
"Everyone else—attack!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
The Sun, the Hermit, Daz, and Wiper led their troops onto Hive Island. As an island ruled solely by pirates, there were no civilians to worry about. Anyone who wasn't a Devil Fruit user or didn't possess exceptional physical strength was cut down in an instant.
The Battle of Hive Island concluded in just over two hours.
The Sky Empire made its grand debut in a thunderous fashion, leaving the world in stunned silence.
Though many spies from various factions had infiltrated Wang Zhi's crew, they managed to send word of the Golden Lion's return before meeting their end.
Joshua, who had secretly accompanied the mission as a precaution, intercepted these communications. However, he didn't stop them from being sent.
After all, the Sky Empire intended for the Hive Island battle to be known far and wide, to intimidate neighboring powers.
Especially Charlotte Linlin. After all, the Sun had openly used his Heat-Heat Fruit powers, and as long as the Big Mom Pirates weren't fools, they'd realize who had killed Oven.
Noah was curious to see if Charlotte Linlin would dare challenge them.
Compared to the desolate Brin Sea, Noah had his sights set on acquiring territory controlled by the Big Mom Pirates.
The bait had been set; now, it was just a matter of seeing whether the Big Mom Pirates would take it.
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