Golden sword energy, like surging waves rising from the ground, thousands upon thousands, layered and endless, continuously crashed against the colossal azure dragon in the sky.
Shiki, holding two swords, seemed like a different person.
Terrifying Conqueror's Haki swirled around him, and a menacing sword intent, sharp as Mihawk's, shot towards the Sky.
This was Shiki's sword, this was how he used to be when he wielded two swords.
Shiki never called himself a swordsman, yet his swordsmanship twenty years ago was still considered top tier in this sea, with few rivals.
He disdained this petty, showy title.
What if he became the world's greatest swordsman? In Shiki's eyes, that was merely a foolish title sought by mediocre individuals.
His goal was singular.
Even after being defeated by Roger, his goal remained one: to conquer the world, to become the king of this world!
Twenty years of struggles and ailments made him forget this dream.
His Haki, along with his ambition, had fallen into disarray, leaving behind nothing but a mad, old man.
But now, he was back.
He had found his former self, Shiki.
The lion who devoured the world, dominated the four seas, and pursued the world's crown!
"Good, very good, old man! You finally look a bit like your old self!!!"
Kaido exhaled thunderclouds and flames, maneuvering his body in the air, roaring with manic joy.
"Stay like this and then die here!!!"
Shiki ignored Kaido's provocation.
He merely used the layered sword energy of Myriad Grinding Valley to compress the thunderclouds and fire waves surrounding Kaido.
Under the effects of the Fuwa Fuwa no Mi, he still displayed terrifying mobility in the air despite having no legs.
His powerful Observation Haki always allowed him to dodge before fatal lightning struck.
His beloved swords Oto and Kogarashi in his hands seemed like extensions of his body, closing in on Kaido, easily suppressing him.
The golden sword energy tore through Armament Haki, leaving horrific wounds on Kaido's body.
"Roar!!!!"
Kaido let out a terrifying dragon's roar towards the sky.
Lightning from the thunderclouds descended and covered him, forming layers of lightning armor.
"Lion's Threat: Sky-Rending Earth Command!"
Shiki calmly dodged from in front of Kaido, spread his hands, and activated the power of the Fuwa Fuwa no Mi.
An invisible force removed the gravity from the air around Kaido, making him involuntarily float up into the clouds.
The Fuwa Fuwa no Mi cannot make living beings other than himself float, but it can make people ascend by interfering with surrounding matter.
In front of Shiki, an island instantly shattered into countless rocks, which then rained down on Kaido in the air!
Countless stones enveloped Kaido, along with his terrifying lightning armor.
The myriad rocks wrapped around him, forming a gigantic lion's head, like a stone tomb.
"Amazing, so amazing!!!"
Luffy watched the cool and chaotic battle in the sky, his eyes wide with amazement, opening his mouth and shouting excitedly.
"This is just the beginning.
Shiki is far from victory, and he probably still won't win."
Shin looked at Shiki, who held the advantage in the sky, but made a pessimistic prediction.
"You guys, seize the last chance to leave here, or go find your companion immediately! The battle between Shiki and Kaido won't last long.
If either side wins and you haven't left, your chances of survival will be very slim."
"Okay, let's go, let's go find Nami!" Luffy nodded, raised his arm, and led his companions to search for their navigator.
"Uncle, what about you?" Luffy asked with concern before leaving.
"I can escape. Barbatos's flight capability is much stronger than your Thousand Sunny," Shin smiled slightly.
"But before I leave, I do have a small request."
He turned his face towards Brook, the skeleton musician in the crowd, took out a polaroid camera, aimed it, and took a picture.
Taking out the photo, he handed it to Brook along with a pen, and said seriously,
"Please sign it and write 'To Barwick D. Redfield.'"
"Oh ho ho ho ho, sir, are you also a fan of my music?" Brook cheerfully took the photo and pen, signing it with a flourish.
"No, the person I'm going to give it to in the future is your fan," Shin smiled mysteriously.
"You might have a chance to meet him soon. Monkey D. Luffy, when you leave here, go save your brother."
"Huh? What happened to Ace?" Luffy asked anxiously.
"Nothing, half a month ago he was just captured by Edward Teach, the newly appointed Warlord who replaced Crocodile, and sent to Marine Headquarters as a condition for becoming a Warlord."
Shin narrowed his eyes, smiling mysteriously.
"He will be publicly executed at Marineford next year. Go, Monkey D. Luffy, find a way to save your brother."
"Changed part of the Straw Hat Pirates' future trajectory, gained 20000 virtual evaluation points!"
If he could change key future nodes like this, even if it was just a single sentence, Shin could earn substantial evaluation points.
The Straw Hats' original historical trajectory changed.
They were supposed to head to the Sabaody Archipelago after dealing with Shiki, where they would beat up Saint Charlos, only to be individually knocked down by Kizaru who stormed their location and then sent to their respective training grounds by Bartholomew Kuma.
But with Shin's words, the outcome changed.
Luffy and his crew's destination fundamentally shifted, perhaps directly from Sabaody Archipelago to Impel Down.
Shin didn't know if it would succeed, but he got the points, and that was enough.
He now had 60,000 virtual evaluation points, plus the virtual evaluation points he was about to get from Shiki-enough.
The startup capital was enough.
Watching the Straw Hats disappear into the depths of the jungle, Shin exhaled deeply and approached Barbatos, opening the cockpit.
A puppet-like attendant, Prayer Hand, emerged from the cockpit.
The Devil Fruit user, No. 2, came out, while Long Arm No. 1 remained inside.
Shin found an empty spot and placed his mental subjection machine.
The bud-like Abyss Relic slowly opened, and a strange, ambiguous light burst forth from the center of its vibrant flower.
He slipped inside, seating himself on the throne-like part in the center, and closed his eyes.
In an instant, a vast and immense mental network unfolded in his mind!
Memories and emotions surged like waves, but Shin, having endured Kaido's mental torment, was no longer the same.
He remained calm under the mental cleansing of this relic.
A moment later, he 'opened' his eyes.
Before him was the familiar Barbatos cockpit, but this body was completely different.
"It's a bit of a stretch to pilot a Gundam with this body..."
Shin muttered, controlling the Prayer Hand's body to adapt to the cramped cockpit.
The other Prayer Hand, the Devil Fruit user, had a more normal physique.
Although still over two meters tall, at least piloting it wasn't so restrictive.
"After this is over, I'll need to catch a few more conventionally sized Prayer Hands for regular use."
As he murmured, the jet of fire from the thrusters stirred up the leaves on the island.
...
In this world, there are always some things that even the most powerful people cannot avoid, such as birth, old age, sickness, and death.
Even someone as great as Gol D. Roger, facing illness and death, was helpless.
He could only gamble the future on the next era, using his life, his wife's displacement, and the disbandment of his companions as a tragic end to usher in the Great Pirate Era.
And powerful heroes like Whitebeard and Shiki ultimately could not escape the clutches of time.
Their bodies were aging, their stamina no longer at its peak, and their Haki and strength declined accordingly.
One Piece manga author Eiichiro Oda once said that he wanted to draw a manga where old people are cool, rather than focusing on young people.
But he never said that the strong people of One Piece would not be affected by time.
In fact, even someone as strong and vibrant as Garp openly admitted that his stamina was no longer what it used to be.
Why was Whitebeard so eager to participate in the Marineford War? Saving Ace was the biggest goal, but he also sought a glorious funeral for himself.
His body was not what it once was.
An aging physique, accumulated injuries from early years, organ failure, declining stamina.
The world's strongest man was on the verge of dying in a sickbed.
Whitebeard was unwilling to accept such an end.
He was indeed a father who loved his children, but at the same time, he was also a man who had traversed the seas and created legends.
He and Kaido shared a similar idea-that life is only complete by dying in a battle without regrets.
The same applied to Shiki.
He was old.
His age was not younger than Whitebeard's, and his injuries were more severe than Whitebeard's.
The ship's rudder embedded in his head had already kept him disoriented for over a decade.
In these twenty years, he might have occasionally woken from his hazy madness, but upon seeing his own appearance and his current terrible situation, this once renowned great pirate might have only been able to close his eyes helplessly.
Choosing to helplessly accept reality and retaliate against the World Government in such a childish manner, Shiki might have also been seeking a suitable funeral for himself.
But now, Kaido has appeared, and his twenty-year plan has gone up in smoke-but that's fine.
Dying at the hands of Kaido, a junior from his past crew, now an Emperor of the new era, seems a fitting end for him, a remnant of the old era.
"Jie ha ha ha ha ha ha, Kaido brat, I heard Linlin has already had eighty-five children! What a big family! What do you think about that now?"
Shiki laughed loudly, his twin blades carving countless beautiful arcs.
One hand blocked Kaido's club, while the other left crimson scars on Kaido's body with a beautiful yet tragic bloody glow.
"I have nothing to do with that fat hag!!!!!"
Kaido roared back, furious.
A dazzling Thunder Bagua condensed in his club, swinging like the descent of a thunder god.
"I remember you still owe her a favor," Shiki chuckled maliciously, cigar in his mouth.
"What? She didn't make you have a child with her. Back then, Streusen instigated Linlin to look for powerful 'fathers' everywhere. Newgate and I were both bothered by her, trying to knock us out and drag us back to have children. You weren't even on her radar back then, were you?"
"You old man, just die for me!!!!"
With his old embarrassing stories brought up, Kaido furiously attacked Shiki.
His massive size displayed agility and technique completely inconsistent with his appearance and personality.
Each attack was like the descent of lightning, forcing Shiki to dodge and parry.
"Kaido brat, so the current Four Emperors are you guys. Besides that red-haired brat from Roger's ship, the three of you actually hold the three largest dominant positions on the sea."
Shiki looked at his beloved swords, which were glowing red hot as if they had been rolled in molten iron, and sighed.
"It's such a pity, truly a pity. Newgate cared too much about his family, Linlin never matured, and you are the most ambitious and strategic among the Four Emperors. It's just a shame that your relationships make it impossible to form a complete alliance."
He lowered his head, as if looking at Mary Geoise beneath the layered clouds, and as if looking at those golden eyes within Mary Geoise.
"The World Government isn't something that can be opposed by just two Four Emperors combined. Reaching the pinnacle of world power is too difficult in this era..."
"Roger opened the Great Pirate Era, stirring up what should have been a stagnant era after Rocks' death. But with your coronation as the Four Emperors, and that damn Warlord system, this sea has actually become stagnant."
Who was Roger waiting for? What did he see at Laugh Tale? What made him willing to endure the humiliation of being executed by the Marines to usher in a new era?
Shiki didn't know.
He only knew that his life as an overlord had, in fact, reached its end.
Just like him now, returning to his peak, fighting with all his might, his final battle had reached its ultimate climax.
His stamina was about to run out.
Twenty years of wasted life would ultimately demand its price.
Igniting Haki forgotten for two decades, wielding swords that had served as his legs for twenty years-all of this was furiously draining his remaining life.
Now, he only had enough stamina for one last move.
He spread his hands, and the now fiery red Oto and Kogarashi dropped downwards.
He slowly raised his arms, activating the ultimate power of the Fuwa Fuwa no Mi.
He hadn't even named this move.
It was something he had created but then couldn't replicate due to the loss of his Haki.
This was the first time, and perhaps, it would be the last.
Several islands trembled and disintegrated under an invisible force.
Dust, seawater, blizzards-countless elements of nature broke down into their smallest particles, surging violently into the high sky.
Under an invisible force, these chaotic particles converged in the sky, and with Shiki's incredibly wild Haki, they formed a raging, insane storm reaching ten thousand meters high-a terrifying tempest!
It was a storm, a pure storm, a mad storm, the disintegration, separation, and convergence of countless natural elements, finally forming a deterrent force of heaven and earth!
"Lion's Threat: Etwahl Storm!"
Shiki named this move after the most painful defeat in his life, perhaps out of lingering resentment, or to prove that he had surpassed his past.
The aged lion, with his greatest defeat, announced his final battle.
"What will the name of the next era be?"
"Impressive, old man Shiki! Hahahahahahahaha!!!"
Kaido laughed maniacally, raising his weapon.
Dragon form, Hybrid form.
The Beasts Yanko's savage Haki and immense power gathered in his hands.
"Finally, let me give you a funeral!!!!"
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