"What!?"
Seeing the calm, assured confidence radiating from Red, Golden Lion Shiki felt an inexplicable sense of unease surge up in his heart.
In the next instant, dark-blue, bizarre streams suddenly burst out from the surface of the Island Lion that Red was pointing at. Like capillaries, they rapidly spread across the creature's entire body.
Looking closer, one could clearly see that these strange "capillaries" were none other than the Blue Blood Thorns that Shiki had accidentally fused into the Island Lion earlier.
"Damn it! What the hell is this now!?"
Faced with a development completely beyond his control, irritation and fury flashed through Shiki's eyes.
He immediately activated his Devil Fruit ability, forcing the Island Lion to change form in an attempt to suppress the strange plant.
But he soon realized that no matter how much soil and rock he used to cover it, the plant would always break through again from some bizarre angle.
Ground-type move — Rototiller!
Though it was originally nothing more than an utterly ordinary farming skill, after Red had spent so long using it to catalyze plants for Usopp, this move had long since become one of Red's signature techniques.
In terms of proficiency, it was even more refined than his strongest move, Hyperspace Hole.
At this moment, the Island Lion under Shiki's control had been transformed by Tilling into extraordinarily fertile soil!
And the Blue Blood Thorns, which possessed an extremely greedy trait that allowed them to absorb nutrients indiscriminately, naturally unleashed their biological instincts to the fullest in such an environment, frantically draining the Island Lion's nourishment.
In less than a minute, the Island Lion's massive body had visibly shrunk.
In its place was a dense, blue web covering its surface.
"Why does this guy always have such weird and outrageous tricks!?"
Savage killing intent flickered in Shiki's eyes.
Yet at this moment, he had no choice but to admit it—
Every single method Red had displayed was enough to shock even a legendary pirate like himself.
But if Red thought this alone was enough to make him concede defeat, then Shiki could only say that the young man was being far too naïve!!!
"I don't know what kind of trick you're pulling this time, but if you think this is enough to arrogantly declare the end of an era…"
"Then you're sorely mistaken!!!"
As his words fell, an unusual power suddenly surged from Shiki's body.
Though it vanished in an instant, Red saw it with absolute clarity—
Conqueror's Haki!
Unfortunately, this aging legend had already suffered far too many wounds.
That domineering presence that once looked down upon the seas never truly erupted.
Or perhaps Shiki himself understood all too well—
That he no longer had any chance of ruling the seas, and so even the kingly Conqueror's Haki faded away.
But at the very least, he had not completely surrendered!
His flame-wreathed golden hair suddenly billowed as he rose once more into the air. The awakened power of the Float-Float Fruit erupted at full force, spreading onto the ever-growing Blue Blood Thorns.
In an instant, the brambles entwining the Island Lion were forcibly condensed under Shiki's control into a deep-blue spear, which the Island Lion clenched in its jaws as it charged straight at Red.
Yet faced with Shiki's renewed assault, Red merely smiled faintly.
"Do you really think it's that simple?"
As if to echo Red's words, in that very instant, the Blue Blood Thorns under Shiki's control suddenly snapped apart.
The plants wrapped around the spear instantly lost all vitality, drooping lifelessly with no fighting power whatsoever.
"What!?" Shiki froze in shock.
Red continued smiling as he explained,
"I'm really sorry, Senior Golden Lion."
"The plant parasitizing the sky island you control is a special weapon developed by one of my companions."
"Do you really think…"
"That my understanding of it would be inferior to yours?!"
The reason Blue Blood Thorns had never been listed by Usopp as one of Green Devil's standard seeds was simple—aside from their infinitely greedy nature…
They had absolutely no other redeeming qualities!!!
Though called 'brambles,' their vines were as brittle as long-dead branches, snapping instantly at the slightest touch.
The truly terrifying part was—
After breaking, Blue Blood Thorns did not wither.
Instead, from the fractured ends, they would regrow into two new stems, rapidly devouring anything that could provide nutrients.
Unless Usopp intended to completely ruin an island or a nation, there was no way he would ever use such a plant on a frontal battlefield.
And this wasn't even its only flaw.
For example, Blue Blood Thorns would wither rapidly under drastic temperature changes, making them utterly unsuitable as a conventional weapon.
Unfortunately, Shiki didn't know any of this.
And as he stirred the brambles inside the Island Lion, their reproduction rate only grew more frenzied.
Right before everyone's eyes, the Island Lion was being devoured bit by bit.
At first, the brambles still showed some restraint.
After all, an Island Lion formed from nearly ten islands was no ordinary existence.
But as the area covered by the brambles expanded, the speed at which they drained nutrients increased dramatically.
In just a few short minutes…
The Island Lion under Shiki's control was completely engulfed in Blue Blood Thorns.
Seeing this, Shiki's face twisted with helpless, furious rage.
Before the Island Lion vanished entirely, he let out an enraged roar:
"I… will not surrender so easily!!!"
Perhaps because manipulating nearly ten islands at once had taken too great a toll, Shiki no longer believed with absolute certainty that victory was his.
With a thunderous roar, the massive blue lion plummeted from the sky once again, crashing toward Red.
But in the next second—
"Blizzard!"
Whoooo—!
The sky suddenly darkened as a howling gale swept across the battlefield.
Despite being in seas that felt like midsummer, a storm filled with pure white snow appeared out of nowhere, colliding head-on with the Island Lion.
Though the difference in size between the two was enormous, in that instant—
The roaring blizzard became like a sharp spear, piercing straight into the Island Lion's heart and gnawing inward.
A deep-blue gleam flashed through Red's majestic eyes.
In the blink of an eye, his Three Legendary Birds Form shifted, leaving him transformed into Articuno, adorned only with crystalline ice wings.
Vast energy surged from his body, radiating endless cold that froze the sea below into countless shards of ice.
At that moment, a sacred beam of energy suddenly erupted from Red's mouth, like a blue slash that split heaven and earth, cleaving diagonally toward the massive Island Lion.
The Blue Blood Thorns that came into contact with the freezing beam instantly withered under the violent temperature change, turning into ice-blue powder that scattered into the distance under the blizzard's force.
And scattered along with them—
Was the last remnant of Golden Lion's indomitable spirit.
"I… lost."
Shiki's hands trembled as he stared in disbelief at his effortlessly neutralized trump card.
What he never expected—
Was that he would be defeated by the very Devil Fruit ability he once took such pride in.
Boom!!!
The Island Lion suddenly exploded, collapsing into chaotic debris that rained down into the sea below.
Seeing this, Red immediately guessed Shiki's thoughts.
"Have you already given up?"
Red narrowed his eyes slightly.
Moments later, he slowly returned to his human form, hovering high in the sky with Magnet Rise, gazing at Shiki from afar.
Out of respect for this remnant of the old era, Red abandoned any underhanded tactics.
With a single wave of his hand, he conjured a long, narrow chain exuding a pungent stench.
At the same time, blazing flames spread from his right hand, coiling around his arm.
"What a pity, Senior Golden Lion."
Red suddenly spoke.
"Someone who once stood shoulder to shoulder with Roger and Whitebeard has fallen to this level."
"Brat! You haven't truly won yet—don't get cocky!" Shiki roared.
But Red's expression remained calm and unruffled as he flew forward, closing the distance between them.
A subtle glimmer flickered in his deep, pitch-black eyes.
"Whether I'm being cocky or not, I think you understand that better than anyone, Senior Golden Lion."
"But…"
"To let a powerhouse like you fall in this nameless sea would be a real waste."
"I can give you a choice."
Red slowly extended both hands, presenting before Shiki the Venomous Chains, capable of taking a life, and the Sacred Fire, able to heal hidden wounds.
"Abandon your alliance with Blackbeard and become a member of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet."
"If you do, not only can you regain your former strength—you may even witness a far broader world."
"The choice is yours, Senior Golden Lion!"
"Brat! Are you pitying me!?"
Boom!!!
The moment Red finished speaking, a terrifying aura erupted across the heavens and earth.
Red's expression instantly changed as he stared in shock at Shiki, who was unleashing an overwhelming surge of Conqueror's Haki.
Blood streamed down Shiki's forehead, bursting from wounds that had long been sealed.
Yet he ignored it all, burning away his very life to push his presence to its absolute peak.
Boom!!!
Another hurricane-like wave of pressure swept over Red's body.
Jet-black lightning tore through the surrounding air.
At that moment, the blood-soaked Golden Lion looked like a demon clawing its way up from hell as he rasped at Red:
"Brat!"
"Maybe I really am old!"
"I have to admit, your strength exceeds my expectations!"
"But even if I have to fight with this broken body, I must tell you this…"
"Pirates are not children playing house!"
"You should be glad…"
"That you were not born in my era!!!"
"So this is your choice?"
After listening in silence, Red's emotions barely wavered.
In the next instant, a majestic golden light gathered and flared within his eyes.
"That's unfortunate, Senior Golden Lion."
"It seems we have very different ideas about what pirates are."
"To our captain, pirates are simply the freest beings on the sea."
"And there's one more thing—I owe you an apology."
"Because this next era, one far more spectacular than you could ever imagine…"
"You will have no chance to witness it!"
Boom!!!!!
An aura no less overwhelming than Shiki's erupted from Red's body.
Massive amounts of Pokémon energy manifested as tangible force, interwoven with Red's Conqueror's Haki as it clashed head-on with Shiki.
It was as though the heavens themselves were being torn apart by two giants, endless black lightning exploding between them.
In that instant, Red and Shiki moved simultaneously.
This time, Shiki used no schemes, and Red abandoned many of his most suitable Pokémon moves.
The two men collided in brutal close combat—fist against fist, weapon against weapon.
Thunderous impacts echoed again and again through the sky.
But as time passed, the frequency of those sounds gradually diminished.
Until at last, silence reigned.
Ink-dark clouds covered the sky, concealing the truth within.
Like the closing curtain of a grand drama, they slowly shrouded everything.
Moments later, Red descended from the clouds, arcs of electricity crackling beneath his feet as he carried a single figure toward the sea below.
In his grasp was none other than the legendary pirate—Golden Lion Shiki, his entire body drenched in blood, on the verge of death.
His clothes were in tatters, his flesh riddled with festering, bleeding wounds.
Of course—
Compared to the gash on his head that still poured out blood, the rest of his injuries seemed trivial.
Maintaining Shiki's final breath with Sacred Fire, Red let out a sigh.
"Maybe you're right, Senior Golden Lion."
"I might not be a qualified pirate after all."
"After all…"
"I really can't bear to destroy both the shadow of a top-tier powerhouse and a vessel capable of replicating the Float-Float Fruit with my own hands."
"Hah… I really am too kind."
(End of Chapter)