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Chapter 286: Shiki: "The Pirate King is Trash!" A Total Collapse of Faith!
"Jihahahaha!"
Shiki watched the dazed expressions of the crowd, his laughter growing increasingly rampant until tears welled up in his eyes.
He suddenly spread his arms wide, as if trying to embrace the invisible sky.
"The Great Pirate Era opened by Roger with his life?"
"One Piece?"
"The Pirate King?"
"Pah!!!"
Shiki spat heavily onto the ground, his eyes filled with undisguised contempt.
"What is the point of claiming kingship and hegemony inside this world at the bottom of a well?!"
"It's like a drove of pigs rolling in a mud pit, fighting over who is the dirtiest one!"
"It is simply..."
"Boring to the extreme!!!"
BOOM—!!!
These words thoroughly shattered the worldview of every pirate present!
If anyone else had said this, they would have been hacked to death long ago. But these words came from the mouth of the Golden Lion! They came from a legend who once vied for the world with Roger and had just fought the Marine's highest combat power alone at Marineford!
The impact was tantamount to the collapse of a religion!
Even Red-Haired Shanks, who had always aimed to make the next generation dream of being the Pirate King, felt the hand holding his wine bottle tremble slightly. Wine spilled onto his pants, but he remained completely unaware.
His Observation Haki told him clearly: Shiki was not lying.
This old madman truly regarded the title of "Pirate King" as trash!
"Truly..."
"Terrifying eyes."
Benn Beckman took a deep breath and crushed his unfinished cigarette underfoot. Looking at Shiki in mid-air, he felt a chill crawl up his spine.
He was too familiar with that look.
It was the look of a martyr!
For the sake of a pursuit in a higher dimension, one could unhesitatingly abandon everything—including dignity, including life!
"That shop owner..."
"What exactly did he show him?"
Beckman muttered to himself, his gaze involuntarily shifting toward the distant Foosha Village.
That small island, which originally seemed ordinary in his eyes, now seemed to transform into the giant maw of an abyss capable of swallowing everything!
Mysterious! Vast! And awe-inspiring!
"Gurararara..."
Amidst this dead silence, a burst of low, heroic laughter suddenly rang out. It broke the solidified atmosphere.
Everyone's gaze instantly converged on the figure known as the "Strongest Man in the World."
Whitebeard, Edward Newgate.
He wasn't angry. Nor was he frightened by Shiki's madness.
On the contrary, a look of unprecedented... interest appeared on his face!
Crumple.
He casually balled up the newspaper he had used to humiliate Shiki and tossed it into the sea.
Then, he raised his head, his golden lamp-like eyes looking directly at Shiki in mid-air.
"Shiki."
"It seems twenty years of prison life didn't turn your brain into mush."
"Instead..."
"It let you see something more interesting."
Whitebeard grinned, revealing his signature crescent mustache.
He could feel it. Shiki had changed. Not only had his body become younger and his legs grown back, but more importantly... the perspective of this old lion, who once only knew how to conquer the world with violence and schemes, had changed!
If the old Shiki was a ferocious beast, the current Shiki was like an explorer who had just peeked at the truth of the world!
"Are you trying to tell me..."
"That this sea I'm so proud of is just a dry well?"
Whitebeard slammed the Murakumogiri into the ground!
THUD!!!
The earth trembled violently!
A terrifying spirit capable of tearing apart the firmament exploded from his burly body!
Even without entering a dungeon. Even with a body still burdened by illness.
He was still Whitebeard! He was still the strongest man standing at the apex of the old era!
"Exactly!"
Shiki showed no weakness. His golden Haki clashed madly with Whitebeard's spirit in the air!
Zzzt! Zzzt!
Black-red lightning danced wildly between the two, tearing the sky to shreds!
"Newgate!"
"Isn't what you care about most in this life this group of 'family' members you play house with?"
"But have you ever thought..."
"If one day, a hand reaches down from the sky and crushes you, crushes your sons, like crushing bedbugs!"
"What meaning would your so-called 'Strongest' have then?!"
Shiki's voice exploded like thunder, every word stabbing directly at Whitebeard's softest spot!
"Power!"
"Only power that transcends the limits of this sea!"
"Only that can protect everything you want to protect!"
"Otherwise..."
"Everything is just a flower in the mirror, a moon in the water!"
"Just like that pitiful Kaido, who didn't even qualify as a punching bag!"
In the crowd, Blackbeard Teach, who was pretending to be a coward, felt his heart skip a beat when he heard these words!
His pupils contracted violently! Cold sweat instantly soaked his back!
All along, he believed that as long as he obtained the Dark-Dark Fruit, as long as he seized Pops' Tremor-Tremor Fruit, he would become the strongest in the world! He would dominate this era!
But now...
Shiki's words were like a basin of ice water, completely extinguishing his newly kindled fire of ambition!
If even the "Pirate King" was a frog in a well, then what was he, a conspirator still plotting for a few Devil Fruits?
A maggot at the bottom of the well?!
"That guy named Blake..."
"Is he really that strong?"
Teach lowered his head, fear and greed interweaving madly in his shadowed eyes!
He feared death! But he craved that power which could make even the Golden Lion bow his head in submission!
I must get it!
No matter the cost!
Even if I have to be a dog for that shop owner, I must obtain that kind of power!
"Gurararara!"
"Interesting!"
"Too interesting!"
Whitebeard laughed loudly, the light in his eyes growing brighter and brighter.
He didn't refute Shiki's words. As a monster who had lived for over seventy years, his intuition told him Shiki was right.
This world was bigger than he imagined! More unfathomable!
"Since that's the case..."
"Then let me go take a look too."
"Let's see just how bright that so-called 'Moon in the Sky' is!"
"Let's see if I can..."
"Poke a hole in this decaying sky!!!"
Whitebeard turned abruptly, his large coat flapping in the sea breeze.
"Sons!"
"Follow me!"
"Let's go witness the New Era that turned the Golden Lion into a madman!"
"OOOOHHHHHH!!!"
The members of the Whitebeard Pirates boiled with enthusiasm! Although they didn't quite understand the "frog in the well" part, if Pops was going, they would dare to storm even hell itself!
"Hey, Red-Haired brat."
Shiki looked at Whitebeard's back, then suddenly turned his head to look at Shanks not far away. A playful smile appeared on his face.
"And that dead fatty who only knows how to hide behind a woman and cry."
"If you don't want to be ants for the rest of your lives..."
"Put away those pitiful little schemes of yours."
"On this island..."
"Only that man is the one true God!"
With that, Shiki ignored everyone else. He transformed into a streak of golden light and flew directly toward Foosha Village!
He was going to find Blake! He was going to spend money! He was going to become stronger!
Strong enough to evolve from an "ant" to a slightly stronger "grasshopper"!
Watching Shiki's retreating figure, Red-Haired Shanks casually tossed aside the empty wine bottle in his hand.
Crash!
Glass shards exploded on the rock. It was like the structure of the old era shattering completely at this moment.
"Really..."
"Makes one have no choice but to bow their head."
Shanks gave a bitter laugh and touched the Gryphon at his waist. He looked at Beckman beside him, his tone carrying an unprecedented gravity.
"Pass the order down."
"Everyone, put away those damn pirate airs for me!"
"Even if you get scolded or slapped in the face, you have to endure it!"
"On this island..."
"We are not the Four Emperors."
"We are just..."
"Mortals coming on a pilgrimage!"
...
As the wills of the three Emperor-level forces unified, the atmosphere on the entire desert island underwent an extremely subtle change.
The pirates and Marines, who were originally at daggers drawn and couldn't stand the sight of each other, now strangely restrained all their killing intent. Even their voices were lowered by an octave.
An emotion named "Awe" permeated the air.
It was fear of the unknown strong. And also a desire to break their own limits!
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