Ronan had still underestimated the strength of Beth and Alicia. At this moment, they had yet to release their Yoki Release.
As the floating island was plummeting, Beth and Alicia swung their enormous greatswords in unison, sending out a flurry of slashes.
"Shu! Shu! Shu! Shu!"
Each arc of sword energy struck the massive boulders and chunks of island that were about to crash down directly above the Silver Gull.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The huge rocks were smashed into much smaller rubble, which then rained down into the sea around the Silver Gull, kicking up countless tiny splashes and no longer posing any threat to the ship itself.
At the same time, however, the surrounding sea was churned up by other great fragments plunging into it, raising towering waves. Walls of water tens of meters high surged toward Ronan's position.
Faced with these enormous waves, Beth and Alicia poured Yoki into their arms at the same time. The greatswords wrapped in Haki darkened even further, turning a deep black as they ferociously slashed toward the incoming waves.
Two enormous crescent-shaped slashes cleaved into the wave-crests. Wherever the sword auras passed, the waves were sliced apart by invisible blades, their surging momentum forcibly shattered. In the end, all they did was make the ship rock violently, but they failed to overturn it.
Ronan stood at the bow, gripping the railing tightly to steady himself. In that moment, his understanding of power deepened once again.
When everything gradually returned to calm, Beth and Alicia slowly sheathed their swords. Their eyes reverted to their original silver, but their breathing was slightly ragged—clearly, the continuous high-intensity battle had taken a considerable toll on them.
"Ronan-sama, the threat has been eliminated." Beth bowed slightly, her voice carrying a trace of exhaustion.
Alicia did not speak. She simply gave a small, silent nod, confirming that Ronan was safe and sound.
Looking at the two of them, Ronan exhaled a long breath. Beth and Alicia had once again protected him. Long ago, he had already come to see them as the people closest to him.
"You've worked hard," he said softly.
Ronan walked to the stern and quietly watched the ravaged sea behind them. The massive floating island was gone. Only smaller chunks of timber and rock were still bobbing with the waves—proof that what had just happened was anything but an illusion.
"A legendary Great Pirate, and he ends like this…" Ronan couldn't help feeling a faint sigh in his heart.
Still, this also, from another angle, showed just how strong Beth and Alicia had become—their power was already no less than Golden Lion's. But he himself still needed to improve. Otherwise, whenever danger appeared, he would only ever be the one being protected. Just thinking about that was embarrassing.
With that thought, a new idea flashed through Ronan's mind.
Wait a second. Golden Lion's corpse… that's a walking treasure vault.
He didn't remember Golden Lion's exact bounty, but with that legendary status and the label of "the only escapee from Impel Down," the World Government definitely had a sky-high price on his head. If Ronan could find the body and cash in the bounty, then the funds for going to the Sabaody Archipelago to bid on that Devil Fruit would be instantly solved—and might even be more than enough.
That thought was extremely tempting.
"Beth, Alicia," Ronan turned and looked at the sisters. "Can you sense… where Golden Lion is? In the sea."
At his words, Beth and Alicia both closed their eyes, carefully feeling out the surrounding presences. Their sensing relied mainly on Yoki combined with Observation Haki to probe life energy. In certain aspects, it was much stronger than simply using Observation Haki alone.
A moment later, Beth was the first to open her eyes. She gently shook her head, a hint of apology on her gentle face. "I'm sorry, Ronan-sama. The interference from the seawater is too strong, and… his presence has completely disappeared."
Alicia opened her icy eyes as well and gave the same confirmation. "I can't sense him."
"What a shame…" Ronan muttered, disappointment flashing in his eyes along with a bit of frustration. But then he quickly shifted his mindset. "Forget it, 400 Quest Points is already an especially big harvest. As for Beli, a person can't be too greedy!"
He consoled himself like that.
Then Ronan took Beth and Alicia and steered the Silver Gull toward the Sabaody Archipelago, leaving this stretch of sea behind.
About half a day after the three of them left—
A somewhat crude-looking small sailboat entered the area, now covered with floating debris. At the bow stood a strange man in a white lab coat, his hair rising upward like blue flames. His face was smeared with heavy clown makeup, and his eyes were full of panic and dread.
This was the scientist Golden Lion trusted most—Dr. Indigo.
Before Golden Lion went into battle, Indigo had been on one of the auxiliary islets, carrying out research on the IQ secret drug. When the main island shattered and came crashing down, he had frantically modified his vessel on the spot, and only then did he survive that catastrophe.
"Boss Shiki… Boss Shiki!" Indigo's voice was choked with sobs as he stared out at the sea before him, grief and fury in his eyes. He still couldn't accept that Shiki had lost. He had grown up listening to Shiki's legends, after all. But the things he'd witnessed with his own eyes weren't something he could simply deny.
Like a madman, Indigo searched every corner of the wreck-strewn waters, unwilling to let even the slightest clue slip by. In his heart, he clung to a sliver of desperate hope—Boss must still be alive. There is no way he'd die this easily. He must be somewhere, waiting for me!
But the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. As time passed, Indigo's initial expectation ebbed away.
Just when he was on the verge of giving up in despair, a vaguely human-shaped object floating in the distance caught Indigo's eye.
His heart pounded wildly, a trace of joy surging up. He immediately steered the little boat toward that direction.
As the distance shrank, the human-shaped silhouette became clearer and clearer—long golden hair spread out like seaweed, drifting on the surface… and where his right leg should have been connected to Deadwood (Kogarashi), there was now only emptiness…
"Boss!!!" Indigo used every ounce of strength he had to haul Shiki's body onto the small rescue boat.
Dead. Truly dead.
A legendary pirate who had roamed the seas for decades, the "Flying Pirate" admiral, Golden Lion Shiki—confirmed fallen.
"Uwaaaah—!" Indigo collapsed to his knees beside the corpse, sobbing in anguish. All the grand plans they had built at the very beginning had turned to bubbles along with this icy body.
He cried for a very long time before he finally managed to choke back his sobs.
Revenge? The thought had barely risen before Indigo crushed it.
Even Boss Shiki had been defeated. What could a mere scientist like him possibly use to avenge him? Go throw his life away?
(End of Chapter)
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