You can read ahead up to 30 chapters on my Patreon: https://www.p*treon.com/darkshadow6395
"Boom... Rumble!"
The deafening roar of thunder weighed heavily on everyone's hearts in Marineford.
Within the dark clouds shrouding the sky, lightning raced about like dragons roaming the heavens, flickering between light and darkness.
"Hua la la!"
The rainstorm poured down in torrents, smashing into the ground and bursting into countless splashes.
"So it was you who captured Roger!" Golden Lion Shiki hovered in midair as he spoke in a deep and cold voice while looking down at the young Vice Admiral who had blocked his slash.
He held twin blades in his hands, and his aura was overwhelmingly powerful.
"Golden Lion Shiki!" Kojin raised his head with a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.
Even now, he could not forget the shock he felt when he saw that massive fleet two years ago.
The man before him was etched deep into his memory.
Back then, the Golden Lion had been high-spirited and domineering. He looked down upon the world, determined to wipe out the Roger Pirates in one fell swoop, subdue his rivals, and realize his grand ambition of ruling the seas.
"I don't believe it! A green little brat like you, how could you possibly have captured Roger?!" The Golden Lion suddenly swung his arm, his eyes wide as he roared.
With that shout, even the curtain of rain in the air seemed to freeze. A violent, overbearing aura burst forth, sweeping across Marineford.
Countless Marines were unable to withstand the shockwave, collapsing to the ground with a thud.
"Believe it or not, you'll know once we fight," Kojin replied calmly.
After a brief pause, his voice turned cold.
"No matter what you came here for today, it's unfortunate for you."
"You stop right here!"
As he spoke, his eyes narrowed slightly, and a ferocious burst of Haoshoku Haki surged outward, pressing straight toward the towering figure ahead.
"Buzz!"
The powerful Haoshoku Haki unleashed a fierce gale, blowing back the Golden Lion's blonde hair and causing his pupils to contract sharply.
This Haki instantly made him realize that the young man before him was no ordinary opponent.
"Jihahahaha! I've got no interest in fighting a green kid like you! Where is Roger?"
"Even if he's going to die, he should die by my hand! Not die so pathetically at the hands of you Marines!"
Shiki laughed loudly, his gaze razor-sharp.
"I already said, no matter your purpose in coming here... This is as far as you go!"
"As for Roger..."
Kojin paused, blue arcs of lightning flickering around his body.
"He will be publicly executed one week from now in East Blue at Loguetown."
Golden Lion Shiki's body shook as he shouted, "What?!
"A man like him is going to be buried in East Blue, the weakest sea, his birthplace?"
"That's an insult to him!"
Kojin's expression remained calm as lightning crackled around him, bathing his entire body in blue light.
"You say East Blue is the weakest sea. I don't agree with that. Though we stand on opposite sides, I still fully acknowledge Roger's strength!"
"And as for you..."
The blue lightning suddenly flared. Kojin's figure vanished in an instant. When he reappeared, he was already in front of Golden Lion Shiki, appearing in a flash of thunderlight. His right fist was clenched tightly and emitted a creaking sound.
The Seastone glove was still on his hand, though now there was an additional thin layer of insulation between them.
"Boom... Rumble!"
Thunder roared, and the sky above blazed with light.
"Let me see just how strong you were at your peak!"
That icy voice echoed in Shiki's ear, making him pause for a split second before his pupils shrank sharply.
His opponent was far too fast, so fast that the naked eye could no longer track him, like thunderlight. No, this brat was thunderlight itself!
"Fist of Bone!"
Kojin clenched his fist. Dense, black-and-red Conqueror's Haki lightning surged over his Seastone glove. Tekkai and Armament's Haki fully enveloped the glove, layering and focusing together into his right fist.
A burst of explosive power brewed at that very moment. Strands of electric arcs spontaneously coiled around him, flickering in rhythm with the fluttering Marine uniform on his body.
"Nuclear Blast!"
The words were spat out as his tightly clenched fist slammed downward.
"Crack!"
Black-and-red lightning intertwined with blue electric arcs and erupted in an instant, blasting straight toward Shiki at point-blank range.
The violent air pressure caused the surrounding rainwater to freeze in place as if time itself had stopped within a hundred-meter radius.
Shiki suddenly bared his teeth and burst into laughter.
"Jihahahaha! Arrogant brat!"
His right hand swung Kogarashi in a fierce arc. A razor-sharp slash surged forward as his golden hair whipped wildly behind him. His eyes were ferocious, and his face was twisted, like an enraged lion exuding overwhelming dominance.
"Buzz!"
The next second, Kojin's fist collided with Shiki's long blade, and the void itself shuddered.
"Boom... Rumble!"
Thunder roared as lightning struck around the two of them, crashing into the ground and scorching it pitch black. Shiki's body suddenly trembled, and shock flashed through his eyes.
"Bang!"
A deafening impact rang out as his body was smashed downward like a cannonball, slamming into the surface of Marineford's plaza. In an instant, stone within a thousand-meter radius shattered and collapsed.
The rainstorm prevented dust from rising, but the shattered stones shot outward like bullets in all directions.
"Retreat! Fall back now!"
"Vice Admiral Kojin blocked Golden Lion Shiki!"
"As expected of the man who captured Pirate King Roger!"
"That's incredible!"
The Marines retreated continuously, awe written all over their faces.
Kojin hovered in midair, looking down.
When he clearly saw Shiki's current state, his pupils contracted slightly before returning to normal.
Shiki hovered three feet above the ground at the center of the massive crater below. His body had not actually collided with the earth and only a thin trail of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
Then, one of the Three Great Legends wiped away the blood and grinned.
"Jihahahaha! Looks like I underestimated you! That punch of yours already has a bit of Garp's flavor!"
Kojin flashed into motion, transforming into thunderlight and landing on the ground.
"To think a technique like Conqueror's Haki infusion would appear in the hands of a junior like you!"
Shiki tightened his grip on both blades, his expression turning solemn.
He had completely discarded his initial contempt and was now facing Kojin as an equal, a powerhouse on the same level. The power of that punch shook him to the core, as it felt no different from fighting Roger or Garp.
"To be called one of the Three Great Legends, you are indeed worthy of the name." Kojin said softly.
"To witness you at your very peak... I am truly honored."
As he finished speaking, his body vanished once more. Amid a thunderous boom, his figure reappeared.... right in front of Shiki.
Kojin extended his right hand, fingers spread wide, and aimed it directly at Shiki's face.
The speed was unbelievable, far beyond what ordinary people could react to.
Even someone as strong as Gold Lion Shiki had to activate Observation Haki; a red light flashed in his eyes.
"Two hundred million volts!" Kojin spoke calmly.
Blue lightning erupted from his palm and expanded into a gigantic thunder pillar ten meters in diameter. Blinding blue light illuminated everything around them.
"Divine Punishment!"
The voice was ice-cold. Thunder roared as though a true god were delivering judgment from the heavens.
"Boom!"
The thunder pillar expanded once more, swelling to twenty meters in diameter as it roared forward.
Shiki's pupils contracted sharply. Holding both blades, his body was instantly engulfed by the blinding light and vanished.
(End of Chapter)