Regardless of whether he was a great pirate on par with Roger and Whitebeard, his strength was at the very least superior to Belts's current level.
Talk about bad luck; it had been a long time since he'd visited One Piece, and he ran into Golden Lion the moment he arrived this time.
Should he go back now?
If he returned to the World of Bleach now, he could simply vanish; with this ability, he was practically invincible.
This trick was far more useful than Kamui.
But after brief consideration, he reached a conclusion.
He would first see what level Golden Lion was at, or rather, what his intentions were.
Even if Golden Lion was more powerful than him, if he just turned tail and ran because an opponent was stronger, then what was the point of talking about Haki?
Besides, Golden Lion might not necessarily be here to deal with him.
In any case, he had the trump card of traveling back; even if a fight broke out, he could still leave whenever he wanted.
Soon, he saw a massive ship approaching.
The current Golden Lion didn't seem to be using islands as his ships yet, but was instead flying a single ship directly through the sky.
With his arms crossed, he stood on the prow, a cigar in his mouth, looking at Belts with a strange grin.
Golden Lion Shiki had long golden hair, and even his beard was golden.
"Jihahahaha!!!"
Even from a distance, Golden Lion's loud laughter still carried over.
"I've finally found you! The thief of God Valley!"
"I wouldn't say that," Belts said in a low voice. "The things from God Valley were items I snatched fair and square."
Although he had taken the treasure through the shadows, he had indeed made his escape through his own efforts.
Even though the main forces in God Valley were concentrated on another battlefield, one couldn't call Belts a thief.
"Say what you like." Golden Lion reached out his hand. "Hand over the treasure you obtained, and I might spare your life!"
"Heh..."
Belts, transformed into a dragon, didn't care about Golden Lion's threat. He just chuckled and said, "The money has already been placed in a location where no one will ever find it. As long as I don't speak, you won't find it even if you kill me."
"Then I'll just kill you!"
Endless killing intent erupted in Golden Lion's eyes. Having had his arms crossed before, he now suddenly drew the twin blades at his waist.
Oto and Kogarashi!
With a single swing, blades of air broke through the void, slashing directly at Belts in his Dragon Form!
Puff!
Two streaks of sword energy struck Belts's body, leaving two bloody marks directly on his dragon scales!
However, Belts was not significantly affected.
Golden Lion's two sword strikes were powerful, but they weren't infused with high-level Armament Haki, nor did he use Conqueror's Haki. Without internal destruction, it was difficult to seriously wound him, given his dragon scales and Blut Vene.
Right now, it was nothing more than a minor injury.
"Hmm?"
Golden Lion was somewhat surprised to see that Belts was largely unaffected, but his smile quickly returned.
"Jihahahaha! You brat really do have some skill. No wonder you could take so much treasure from God Valley; even that kid Kaido couldn't catch you!"
"In that case, join my Flying Pirates!"
Golden Lion shouted, "Join me, or die!"
"What if I choose neither?"
Belts opened his mouth and spat out a blast of dragon breath.
Boom!
The blazing dragon breath blasted toward Golden Lion, but Golden Lion sliced it apart with a single sword stroke.
"Then you've chosen the latter."
Gripping his twin blades, Golden Lion took a combat stance, appearing ready to get serious.
Naturally, Belts could no longer fight Golden Lion in his Beast Form; to put it bluntly, the Dragon Form was for crushing weaklings.
His massive dragon body began to shrink, gradually transforming toward a human shape. However, he wasn't entering his human form, but rather... his Hybrid Form!
After such a long period of training, he had successfully mastered the Hybrid Form of the azure dragon fruit!
In his Hybrid Form, azure dragon scales grew over his body, a dragon tail even sprouted from his back, and a fierce aura appeared on his face.
His entire body seemed much more burly compared to his human form.
The moment he entered his Hybrid Form, a black blade of Reishi appeared in his hand.
"Ignorant brat, do you think eating the azure dragon fruit makes you invincible?"
Golden Lion didn't care when he saw Belts enter the Hybrid Form of the azure dragon fruit, saying with utter disdain:
"Let me teach you the most primitive laws of combat in this world!"
He flew directly off the ship, swinging his twin blades at Belts as he soared!
"Shishi Odoshi: Gosho Chichi!"
As he swung his twin blades, they immediately stirred up the massive air currents around them!
They were currently nearly ten thousand meters in the sky, and this strike swept in all the nearby cloud layers!
The thick clouds formed a massive lion's head, which opened its mouth as if letting out a great roar!
Facing this giant lion's head, Belts gripped his sword with both hands, and in the next instant, flames rose from the blade!
The Azure Dragon possessed the ability to manipulate elements; whether it was wind, fire, or lightning, he could control them all!
"Getsuga Tensho!"
He directly cosplayed Ichigo Kurosaki's move, raising his black blade high and then slashing forward!
The fire and Haki on the blade formed a crescent-shaped shockwave, blasting directly toward the roaring giant lion head!
Boom!
Fire and clouds collided, and a powerful force exploded in the air. The massive cloud layer seemed to ignite at that moment, spreading across the sky to form a giant sunset-colored fire cloud.
Meanwhile, Belts felt a massive force slam into his body, even more terrifying than Golden Lion's previous two strikes.
Even after entering his Hybrid Form, he was still shaken by this terrifying power and was pushed directly backward.
Golden Lion, however, was unaffected; as Belts was being pushed back, he had already flown over again.
"Jihahahaha! It seems your strength isn't as tough as your mouth! How about it? It's not too late to regret it now!"
Golden Lion swung another blade!
"I know the whereabouts of the ancient weapons!"
In that instant, Belts spoke in a low voice.
?!
Golden Lion's pupils dilated, and his entire movement slowed down.
Belts used his black blade to clash with the twin blades, and in an instant, powerful black lightning erupted!
The intense Haki collision shocked the surroundings, but Golden Lion did not apply more force; instead, he directly withdrew his twin blades!
"What did you say?!"
Golden Lion said in a low voice, "You know where the ancient weapons are?!"
Golden Lion had also heard rumors of the ancient weapons' existence.
Although he hadn't yet developed his forces to their peak, back when he was with the Rocks Pirates, he had heard Rocks mention some things regarding the ancient weapons!