"He's coming..."
Amidst the ruins of the collapsed city wall, the golden Buddha of war slowly rose to his feet. Sengoku lifted his head solemnly, staring at the gloomy sky, his fists unconsciously clenched tight.
In front of him, everything within a hundred-meter radius had been reduced to rubble. The ground looked like it had been plowed by an invisible giant, leaving behind a massive, terrifying trench. At the far end of that trench were the Charlotte brothers, drenched in blood and gasping for breath.
Charlotte Perospero and Charlotte Daifuku stared in horror at the massive, unstoppable golden Buddha in the distance, their guts twisting with fear. Daifuku, especially, looked like he'd just crawled out of hell. His body had suffered at least ten fractures, with severe internal damage... If not for Perospero-nii-san's timely creation of a solid candy barrier to absorb most of the impact, he would've been nothing more than a splattered pile of bloody pulp by now.
"So this is the power of a Marine Headquarters Admiral... the legendary Marine, Sengoku the Buddha."
Perospero's face turned pale. He swallowed hard, but his throat felt unbearably dry. Blood streamed from both nostrils, staining his elaborate robe. His candy cane staff had snapped into several pieces.
"Jihahahaha!! Sengoku, it's been a while…"
A wild, sneering laugh suddenly tore through the sky, interrupting the Charlotte brothers' daze. They jolted.
That voice...
No way...
Perospero and Daifuku looked up in shock.
Above Coin Island, the churning mass of thick clouds began to part rapidly under an overwhelming force. From the massive rift in the sky, a figure oozing with menace slowly came into view.
The man had dark, weathered skin, eyes full of malice, and a lit cigar clenched between his teeth. He wore a gray-black kimono, but the most eye-catching part of him wasn't his clothes or even the overwhelming aura—it was his hair. Long, golden hair that reached down to his feet whipped wildly in the sky's fierce winds, radiating an arrogant, savage energy.
Even though he was just floating silently in the air, the pressure he exuded was suffocating—like a lion that ruled the sea, surveying his domain.
"Hiss!"
Every pirate present gasped sharply the moment they recognized him. Their souls nearly fled their bodies.
The legendary great pirate, the "Flying Pirate," the true overlord of the New World...
Shiki the Golden Lion!!
What made Shiki truly terrifying was how different he was from most pirates. This man was volatile, cruel, and completely ruthless. Wherever he went, cities turned into scorched earth. Civilians, pirates, Marines—even the forces of the World Government—if he decided to strike, he'd do it without a shred of hesitation!
Clang!!
A golden light sword clashed with a flaming longblade, unleashing a tremendous shockwave.
"We've got a real monster on our hands now…"
Borsalino glanced lazily at the distant Shiki, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.
King's expression was grim to the extreme. The Moa Moa no Mi auction had actually drawn in Shiki!
This guy used to be one of the top powerhouses in the same pirate crew as Kaidou-san! No—more accurately, back when Shiki was running rampant with the Rocks Pirates, Kaidou-san was nothing more than a rookie onboard!
Admiral Sengoku and now the great pirate Shiki... This just got a whole lot messier.
...
On the other side, Bullet's eyes gleamed as he stared at Shiki in the sky. He licked his lips.
"I've finally come face to face with Shiki the Golden Lion... the very opponent even Captain Roger acknowledged. This is going to be fun…"
"It looks like this trip was well worth it!"
Bullet trembled with excitement, his eyes bloodshot.
"As long as... as long as I get to clash with this guy, I'm bound to grow even stronger…"
With that thought blazing in his mind, Bullet began scanning the area, searching for anything he could use to leap into the air. He didn't have the power of flight—if he wanted to fight Shiki, this was the only way.
"Shiki!! You've finally shown yourself!!"
Sengoku suddenly shouted, his voice ringing out with hostility.
"Jihahahaha!!"
Shiki let out a wild laugh in response.
He swept his gaze across the chaotic battlefield, a mocking grin curling at the corners of his lips.
"I should be thanking you, Sengoku. If it weren't for you stalling these guys, they might've snatched the Moa Moa no Mi... That would've been a real pain for me."
"But now…"
A chilling gleam flashed in Shiki's eyes as he grinned savagely.
"The Moa Moa no Mi... is mine!!"
As he finished speaking, he drew both swords from his waist.
Cold light flickered along the edges of the twin blades—sharp and vicious like a lion's fangs.
The Meitos "Oto" and "Kogarashi"!!
Legendary blades that had accompanied Shiki the Golden Lion in his conquest of the seas!
There was no burst of energy, no stance or buildup, no flashy moves or chants. Shiki just sneered and swung one sword casually at Sengoku.
The blade sliced through the air without a sound—its motion plain and unremarkable.
Yet Daren's pupils instantly contracted.
From that one swing, he felt something disturbingly familiar.
A quiet... annihilation.
That feeling—it was just like...
Garp's punch!
In the next instant—
Swish!!
A dazzling arc of golden sword light, like a crescent moon brimming with destructive force, came crashing down from the sky toward Sengoku!
"Zanpa!"
Under countless horrified stares,
Shiki's deceptively simple strike, cleaved through the sky, ripped apart the air, like a divine iron whip slashing with unstoppable might.
"You bastard!!"
Sengoku bellowed in fury. As power exploded beneath his feet, the massive golden Buddha flew upward with a thunderous boom.
He threw a punch!
Boom!!
A thunderous shockwave erupted, so loud it made everyone's ears ring in agony.
The golden sword slash was shattered by the punch, but the remnants of the attack still crashed into the ground with relentless force.
The world suddenly fell silent.
Everyone stood frozen in place, expressions blank, bodies chilled to the bone.
They stared, dumbfounded, at the earth of Coin Island as a long, narrow crack began to form.
That crack spread rapidly, eventually turning into a massive chasm stretching for thousands of meters—carving through the island and nearly splitting it in two!
Rumble...
Buildings, houses, streetlamps—entire blocks crumbled and collapsed, swallowed by the abyssal rift. Dust and debris surged into the sky.
"Jihahahahaha!!!"
Amid the apocalyptic rumble, the mad laughter of the Golden Lion echoed through the heavens.
Pirates and underworld forces from across the seas stood in stunned silence.
In that moment, they witnessed...
The true terror of a pirate.