Chapter 139: Do You Have a Preferred Way to Exit? Shiki!
As mentioned before.
The pirates gathered on this Floating Island were the subordinates 'Golden Lion' Shiki had slowly recruited in secret for his ambition after escaping Impel Down and discovering 'Merveille'.
However, to avoid his plans being discovered prematurely by the Marines or the World Government, few of the pirates he recruited were renowned figures.
Many were just drifters from the first half of the Grand Line, lacking even the ambition to venture into the 'New World'.
So...
Naturally, they never had the qualification or opportunity to witness a true 'Powerhouse of the Sea'.
"Th... that is..."
"Hey, hey, are you kidding me—"
Therefore, their dumbfounded reactions were hardly surprising.
WHOOSH!
Howling cold wind blew past them, and snowflakes fell into the palace.
Yes—snowflakes fell into the palace, which should have been warm.
Because at this moment...
The upper half of the 'Lion Palace', which ruled Merveille, was completely gone.
And the pirates knew exactly why.
Because...
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Amidst the snowstorm, deafening explosions, several times stronger than before and sounding like thunder, rang out incessantly.
They could feel the remaining foundation of the palace trembling, and their hearts trembled with it.
Their gazes were fixed on the sky above.
There, a battle was taking place.
Or to be precise—calling it a battle wasn't accurate.
Above the highest point of Merveille, massive golden glows shaped like fist imprints were surging.
That was the source of the palace's upper half vanishing into thin air.
But the pirates didn't panic.
Because compared to the entire Merveille right now, losing only the upper half of the palace could be considered 'Lucky'.
At this moment...
The mountains on the island had been shattered.
The snowstorm on the island had been suppressed.
The distant clouds were continuously tearing apart.
Yet...
The figure wearing the Marine coat with black gauntlets—was still moving, still punching.
And under his relentless punches.
The legend of the past, the existence named 'Golden Lion', was being blasted away repeatedly like a balloon.
His body was wrapped in black Armament Haki, but blood inevitably flowed from his mouth and wounds.
"Lion's Majesty · Falling Rock!"
He tried to resist.
For instance, the moment he was hit by a wave, he curled his fingers—the shattered rocks formed a massive lion head, biting at Roy.
But...
VMMM!
Roy didn't even need to defend. Intense waves blocked the massive lion head.
[Sovereign King Buddha · Body Protection Light]
Then, he raised his hand for another punch.
Shiki decisively manipulated the surrounding snowstorm, turning the cold snow into a massive lion body around him to block the damage.
But...
[Strong-Strong Fruit · 50x Muscle Enhancement]
[More-More Fruit · 30x Speed]
[Magma-Magma Fruit LV4]
"Super Wave Boxing · Great Sky Volcano!"
Roy's wave punch instantly carried scorching firelight, melting the white snow.
The next moment, the extreme speed of the punch left Shiki no room to dodge.
This was the reality of the battle, clear even to the pirates below.
"Not a match at all."
"The legendary Golden Lion is completely... suppressed!"
"Terrifying. Is... is this 'Black Judge'?"
"The future legend of the Marines—is he this strong?"
Yes.
The battle wasn't evenly matched—Shiki was clearly at an absolute disadvantage.
Although their exclamations couldn't reach the high altitude through the snowstorm.
But...
"This brat..."
Shiki himself was undoubtedly the one who knew this best.
"How can he be this strong!?"
Although he stayed on Merveille.
He had heard some intel about 'Black Judge'.
Admiral Candidate known as the future legend of the Marines, Zephyr's disciple, creator of a special martial art called 'Wave Boxing'.
But to Shiki, it was just 'that much'.
He never took Roy seriously.
After all, he was 'Golden Lion'.
The man who once invaded Marineford alone, who once suppressed Roger and Whitebeard.
His opponents should be Garp, Sengoku, the entire Marine Headquarters, and the World Government—how could a young brat qualify for his attention?
But now, the facts were before him.
BOOM!
Hit by Roy again, the immense pain brought immense humiliation.
"You brat, how dare you..."
How dare you make me lose face in front of my subordinates?
How dare you make 'Golden Lion' bleed?
"Lion · Thousand Cut Valley!"
He barely stabilized himself and kicked.
The famous swords 'Oto' and 'Kogarashi' replacing his legs unleashed golden, sharp flying slashes.
SLASH!
The slashes collided with Roy's wave punch, tilting against each other—the slash split a massive rock, while the wave punch pulverized a small hill.
In that instant, Shiki turned into an afterimage, appearing behind Roy.
"Slash Wave · Twin Lion Claws!"
Both legs kicked at Roy's neck simultaneously. But the next moment...
CLANG!
He saw the hand wrapped in 'Black Mane' blocking his sword-legs.
Creak! Creak!
Intense Haki erupted. Gritting his teeth, Shiki was horrified to find—his swords couldn't advance an inch!
Through the reflection on the blade.
Shiki saw Roy's eyes.
Still cold due to his subordinates.
But hidden within that coldness... was overwhelming confidence.
VMMM! (x2)
Intense waves erupted again.
"Argh!"
Shiki's body was swept by the waves, spitting blood again.
But this wasn't enough to defeat him—Shiki waved his hands, activating his fruit to drop two nearby small islands.
He prepared to fly away from Roy immediately, seeking the next opportunity.
But...
"!!!"
At this moment, Shiki was horrified to find.
"My ability..."
His body, and even the two small islands he wanted to move.
At this moment, clearly disobeyed him.
The reason was simple.
WHOOSH!
Because the howling wind around them.
The surging wind had unknowingly formed a massive 'Hurricane'.
The hurricane swept clouds, sand, and debris, wrapping Shiki and Roy completely—the gale bound Shiki, rendering him immobile.
Shiki could see the golden waves flowing within the hurricane.
"Wind Wave Boxing · Divine Sandstorm."
Shiki's eyes widened instantly. "Wind..."
"Impossible—your Wave Boxing isn't..."
As far as he knew, Roy's Wave Boxing didn't include this.
But the next moment...
"Your intel is outdated."
He heard Roy's voice.
"Using fists to drive the gale, of course I can do that."
"You're old."
He said calmly. "Time to exit."
Roy's words contained both truth and falsehood.
The false part was that his so-called Wind Wave Boxing was essentially the ability of the 'Gust-Gust Fruit'.
In fact, after determining he would likely fight Shiki, he hadn't unequipped this fruit.
The reason was simple.
He knew Shiki was a user of the 'Float-Float Fruit'.
His ability could make all non-living things float and control them at will—warships, items, islands.
He created his 'Flying Fleet' with this, once suppressing Pirate King Roger.
This ability was undoubtedly top-tier, but it had a fatal weakness.
'Wind'.
Floating without gravity meant being extremely susceptible to wind—the stronger the wind, the greater the restriction on him.
In the original story, Shiki tried to kidnap Nami, a genius navigator, precisely to predict and avoid storms.
The true part of Roy's words was...
He genuinely felt Shiki was old.
So far, he had fought many top powerhouses of the past or present era, directly or through The Zodiac.
Garp, Akainu... they were undoubtedly strong.
But Shiki was different.
His strength, Haki, vitality, ability, and combat skills were all high-level...
But Roy felt something strange about Shiki.
He didn't give Roy the unique threat of a top powerhouse of the sea.
He was certain—the pirate named Shiki before him wasn't fully equal to the 'Golden Lion' of the past.
But to Roy, this wasn't important.
Facing the 'Golden Lion' trapped by the violent hurricane.
Roy raised his fist again.
"Super Wave Boxing · Spear of Elbaf... Nation Severing!"
Without hesitation, the ancient Giant martial art and Wave Boxing erupted together.
This strike hit Shiki squarely in the face again.
The legendary pirate's body flew backward at an unprecedented exaggerated speed.
This time, he smashed through the island, plummeting toward the Floating Island below.
"..."
At this moment, even Shiki felt he was about to faint.
"Damn it..."
Piercing wind and air currents flowed past his ears; his eyes were closing.
But just then, he saw the seawater below.
The seawater suspended near the island, pulled up by his ability along with the island.
The water surface was clear, clear enough to reflect his appearance.
Shiki saw himself—covered in blood, looking miserable.
He was surprised to find his skin had become dark and wrinkled at some point.
'I didn't notice at all before...'
In this near-death moment, his thoughts became scattered and confused.
His mind instinctively began recalling things.
His actions over the years.
After cutting off his legs and escaping, discovering this 'Island of Rare Beasts' by chance, seeing it as the key to his ambition.
Hiding on this Floating Archipelago, waiting for subordinates to conduct experiments every day, dreaming of conquering the world in the future.
Until today, defeated by Roy in such a crushing manner.
Legend?
"...How ridiculous."
Suddenly, he felt... he was a bit ridiculous and unfamiliar.
Why did he think relying on a bunch of beasts could conquer this sea full of heroes?
Why did he think those trash-like pirates were qualified to be his subordinates?
Soon, Shiki found the answer.
'I have indeed become old.'
Yes, he had indeed become old.
Since when?
The hegemon who started the 'Battle of Edd War' with the Pirate King for supremacy.
The hero who invaded Marine Headquarters alone for an answer.
The Golden Lion who once roared across the sea and dominated the world.
Became a coward hiding on an island, daring not to reveal his tracks.
Became an old stubborn fool holding onto past glory, considering himself a legend, looking down on everything.
And now, everything told him...
He was completely wrong.
The young guys were growing, at a speed far beyond his imagination.
The sea was no longer like the past, yet he stayed in the coffin named 'Past', rotting unknowingly.
"I am truly an idiot."
At this moment, the corners of Shiki's mouth curled up.
Deeper memories began to surface.
He recalled Roger, Whitebeard, Kaido, Big Mom, the years gone by.
He almost closed his eyes.
But just then...
"Hey, Shiki."
Somewhere in his memory.
A man's drunken voice seemed to ring in his ear: "This sea has amazing guys in every era!"
That was an even older time, when he was just a member of a certain pirate crew.
"I am one of them, of course. You are too, Roger too. But in the future... there will surely be countless amazing guys!"
"If I succeed, there will be even more of them!"
That guy's laughter still felt piercing to Shiki.
"The world will surely be interesting then."
"When the time comes, how do you plan to exit?"
He remembered how stunned his younger self was hearing this question.
"Hah? Exit? Why do I have to consider such a thing?"
He asked back.
"Hahahaha—can't be helped. People can't stay young forever."
"Roger said something right... Everyone has their time to appear, but I think the way one exits is also important."
The next moment...
BOOM!
Shiki's body crashed heavily onto the island below.
But—
Wooooo...
Howling wind began to blow.
Like the roar of a lion.
☆☆☆
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