Golden Lion Shiki.
A name that struck absolute fear into the hearts of all common folk in the New World.
He was a legendary key combatant of the Rocks Pirates, a top-tier powerhouse in the New World standing on equal footing with Roger and Whitebeard.
Due to his boundless ambition and personal military strength, his threat level in the Marine rankings even surpassed that of Whitebeard.
If Raleigh had said he was going to capture Golden Lion before the naval battle with Roger, everyone would have thought he was a death-defying madman.
There was no helping it—this version of Golden Lion was not the crippled man destined to be defeated by Luffy decades later.
At this time, his legs had not been severed by his own hand, and the ship's rudder had yet to be embedded in his skull—until mere moments ago.
He was a truly terrifying powerhouse standing at the pinnacle of the New World.
A Devil Fruit mastered to perfection with overwhelmingly bizarre effects.
A dual-blade swordsmanship style that left few rivals in its wake. Peerless, triple-layered Haki.
Though Raleigh had never met Rocks D. Xebec and didn't know how strong he truly was, judging by Golden Lion's caliber, the strongest man in the world would only be marginally superior to him.
Compared to Roger and Whitebeard, Golden Lion's ambition and cunning made him far more troublesome for the Marines to handle.
On the deck of the warship, Raleigh alone was polishing his renowned blade.
This time, he would personally send a world-class powerhouse to his grave—he could not afford carelessness!
For the Marines, encountering such a weakened Golden Lion was a miracle nearly unimaginable: his Haki sealed by the traumatic injury of the rudder lodged in his skull, his stamina nearly depleted from battling the colossal tsunami, and his Devil Fruit abilities overtaxed—leaving only his exceptional swordsmanship intact.
This was Golden Lion's most disheveled and vulnerable state in history.
If he escaped back to his Floating Island and recovered for even a short while, the future event where Golden Lion would storm Marineford, single-handedly confront both Sengoku and Garp, and destroy half of the fortress would repeat itself.
Raleigh had no intention of inheriting a ruined Marineford, so Golden Lion must either die or be captured here and now.
After the tsunami, Golden Lion sat slumped against his ship's bow, breathing heavily with no regard for his usual dignity.
Blood streamed from his scalp, each crimson trail testifying to his horrific injuries.
Though his aura had weakened to an unprecedented degree, none of the surviving pirates dared meet his gaze.
Only Dr. Indigo dared approach Golden Lion at such a moment.
Despite his comical appearance, Dr. Indigo's ferocious aura mirrored Golden Lion's own.
"Piro, piro, piro... I've never seen you in such a sorry state, Shiki."
Dr. Indigo stared at the wooden steering wheel embedded in Golden Lion's head, reaching out without hesitation to grip it and attempt prying it loose.
Golden Lion's expression twisted violently as he gritted his teeth through the pain:
"Indigo, stop! I feel this thing has fused too deeply with my brain. If you pull it, I die."
Dr. Indigo immediately released the rudder and began meticulously examining its dimensions, calculating how deeply it had penetrated.
After a long silence, Dr. Indigo sighed:
"Shiki, I don't know whether to call your physique monstrous or your luck divine. By all reasoning, this rudder's depth should have killed anyone else instantly. Yet you remain standing—a miracle rare even in this world."
Though unable to remove the rudder, Dr. Indigo treated all of Golden Lion's wounds and wrapped the rudder itself in bandages to stabilize it.
"I feel my Haki has drastically diminished," Golden Lion rasped, clutching his forehead. "I can no longer summon Conqueror's Haki at all."
"Roger... you damn bastard. You actually managed to escape from a certain death situation and still caused me such tremendous trouble!!!"
Golden Lion's heart was bleeding.
After recovering some of his strength, he began testing how much the ship's helm had affected him.
His swordsmanship and Devil Fruit abilities remained completely unchanged, but when testing his spirit, Golden Lion discovered the brain injury prevented him from focusing his Conqueror's Haki.
This made the always arrogant Golden Lion wish he could immediately chase down Roger and his crew for revenge.
The self-proclaimed ruler of the New World, a Great Pirate, actually unable to use Conqueror's Haki? If this got out, all the pirates in the New World would laugh their heads off.
"Let's return to the Floating Island first. Roger and his crew have probably escaped far away by now. Besides, our current condition isn't suitable for fighting them to the death."
Dr. Indigo took two cigars from his pocket and tossed one to Golden Lion.
Click. Huff—
Golden Lion took a deep drag from his cigar, feeling the smoke swirl in his mouth before exhaling.
He wasn't someone easily driven by emotion.
In fact, among all the powerful pirates in the world, no one embodied what it meant to be a pirate more than Golden Lion.
For him, strength was certainly important, but survival was even more crucial.
Ever since the immensely powerful, sole Emperor of the New World, Rocks, was defeated and killed by the combined efforts of Garp and Roger, Golden Lion had understood something.
In this world, whether it's strength, status, or vast wealth, staying alive is the foundation of everything.
As a pirate, one must survive at all costs.
Looking at it now, he had paid with his Conqueror's Haki to ensure his survival from that terrifying storm—it couldn't be called a bad deal.
"That Roger... his body seems far less robust than mine."
Golden Lion exhaled another cloud of smoke.
During his earlier clash with Roger, Golden Lion could clearly detect subtle changes in Roger's expression before each move.
There was always a split-second of hesitation or grimacing before every attack.
Although others might see their battle as evenly matched, from the perspective of top-tier fighters like Roger and Golden Lion, the truth was clear.
"Roger's body... I suspect it won't hold up for long after one more all-out battle."
Golden Lion, who already believed he couldn't defeat Roger in a fair fight, lowered his stance.
His current plan was to wait.
Wait until Roger's body failed, wait until Roger could no longer stop him, and then make his comeback to rule the world.
"Roger, you'll never be a proper pirate. If I were you, I would have waited here with my ship after the storm ended to finish the job."
Golden Lion threw his head back and laughed heartily.
However, Dr. Indigo's expression turned somewhat unnatural.
He silently nudged Golden Lion and pointed at ships approaching in the distance:
"Bad news, Shiki. While the Roger Pirates didn't wait for us, there are three Marine warships over there. If I'm not mistaken, one of the ships chasing Roger belongs to Garp."
Golden Lion's face immediately darkened, as if he had just swallowed a fly.
"Since when do Navy rats dare to chase after me?"
After leaving the Rocks Pirates, Golden Lion had always enjoyed smooth sailing.
Wherever he went, both pirates and the Marines would steer clear of him.
Coupled with his special abilities, even if the Marines dispatched two Admirals, they posed no lethal threat to him.
Thus, Shiki had never experienced the taste of being chased by the Marines like common prey.
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