At the front of the pirate ship, a man with flowing golden hair, holding two swords, stood at the very front. The aura around him was like an Awakening wild lion, arrogant and domineering.
"Golden Lion Shiki!"
The moment he saw that person, Nox knew who it was. Wasn't it Golden Lion Shiki, an executive officers of the Rocks Pirates?
With that iconic appearance, it was impossible to mistake him.
"We're already close to the Rocks Pirates' base camp, so it's not strange to run into Golden Lion."
Nox thought.
"Kyahahaha, an unknown Pirate dares to approach the Rocks Pirates' base camp!!!"
Golden Lion Shiki burst into laughter after seeing the Limitless Pirates sailing towards him.
Immediately, the golden-red Haoshoku Haki, like that of a wild lion, the king of beasts, surged forward. The once calm Sea suddenly became turbulent with huge waves.
"Hmph, it's just Haoshoku Haki. Who doesn't have it!"
Seeing Golden Lion Shiki's Haoshoku, Nox's Haoshoku also erupted from his body. That domineering, incomparably sharp Haoshoku was like a heavenly sword piercing the clouds, tearing the Sea apart.
Nox's Haoshoku Haki was not weaker than Golden Lion Shiki's in the slightest. Both sides' Haoshoku Haki were locked in a stalemate in the Sea between the two ships, neither giving way.
"Hmm? A Haoshoku Haki user? Interesting. Let me test just how strong your Haoshoku is!"
Seeing that there was someone in the opponent's inconspicuous small pirate group who could block his Haoshoku Haki, Golden Lion Shiki immediately became interested. He instantly pushed his Haoshoku Haki to the extreme, and golden-red lightning appeared within the golden-red Haoshoku Haki.
"It's just Haoshoku Haki, I won't lose!"
Seeing that Golden Lion Shiki had strengthened his Haoshoku Haki, Nox also pushed his Haoshoku to the extreme.
The blood-red Haoshoku Haki was filled with countless lightning bolts, like a strong magnetic field surging forward.
"What, the opponent also has Haoshoku Haki!"
After seeing Nox's Haoshoku Haki blocked by another surge of Haoshoku Haki, Kano was greatly shocked.
After all, the only other Haoshoku Haki user he had ever seen was Nox himself.
Before, they couldn't withstand Nox's full-power Haoshoku Haki, but now someone else also possessed such powerful Haoshoku Haki!
"Heavens, the sky is splitting!"
Originally, white clouds covered the sun in the sky, and the entire sky had darkened.
But under the clash of Nox's and Golden Lion Shiki's Haoshoku, the clouds in the sky above them were actually dispersed from the middle by these two surges of Haoshoku Haki.
For people like Karoo who had never seen Haoshoku Haki tear the sky, this was simply unprecedented shock.
Humans could actually change the weather phenomena simply by relying on their own aura?
Was this a human, or a god?
"Kyahahaha, not bad, not bad. You can actually block my Haoshoku Haki. I just wonder if you can block my slash."
"Wild Lion Slash!"
A phantom resembling a real lion suddenly appeared behind Golden Lion Shiki. He slashed down with his two swords, and the two slashes merged into one.
Like a real wild lion rushing forward with its limbs Sea Treading!, that wild slash impact, if it hit the pirate ship under Nox's feet, the hull would definitely be torn apart.
"Sea Abyss Sword: Sea Wave Drawing Sword Technique!!"
Seeing the opponent's slash, Nox also showed no weakness. After covering the long sword in his hand with Haoshoku, he suddenly drew his sword and slashed.
A hundred-meter-long light blue sword energy, carrying the momentum of endless Sea waves, surged towards the wild lion.
"Boom!!!!"
The two powerful sword energies exploded on the Sea, wearing each other down, canceling each other out, neither gaining an advantage over the other.
"It's rude not to reciprocate! Golden Lion Shiki, you take a sword from me too!"
Not fighting back was not Nox's character. Even if this person was Golden Lion Shiki, he had never been afraid.
Under his Kenbunshoku Haki perception, the current Golden Lion Shiki was very strong, stronger than him.
But he wasn't strong enough to completely crush him. He was confident he could reach Golden Lion Shiki's current level in a short time.
"Sea Abyss Sword: Severing the Sea!!"
The hundred-meter-long light blue sword energy revealed extreme sharpness; even the Sea was easily cut open.
Other Sea Abyss Sword techniques used the power of the Sea to enhance their strength.
Severing the Sea, however, used the power of the Sea to temper its sharpness, refining the slash to be even sharper, ultimately reaching the point where it could split the Sea in two.
"Kyahahaha, what an arrogant brat!"
After Golden Lion Shiki saw that Nox could block his casual slash, he no longer underestimated Nox.
"Lion's Roar Slash!"
Golden Lion Shiki slashed out another sword. The slash was like a wild lion roaring up at the sky, letting out a world-shaking lion's roar, completely dissolving Nox's incredibly sharp sword energy.
"Kyahahaha, I am Golden Lion Shiki, an executive officers of the Rocks Pirates! Brat, come and be my crewmate!"
After seeing Nox's strength, Golden Lion Shiki developed the intention to recruit him.
His strength was rapidly increasing. He was unwilling to stay as an executive officers in the Rocks Pirates and wanted to go out to Sea to be a Captain and form his own pirate group.
Therefore, recruiting powerful subordinates in advance was what he wanted to do most.
"I came to join the Rocks Pirates and become an executive officers, not to be a subordinate of you, Golden Lion Shiki!"
Regarding Golden Lion Shiki's recruitment offer, Nox refused without hesitation.
"Brat, do you want to die?"
Seeing that this brat dared to refuse him, Golden Lion Shiki, who had been laughing and inviting Nox, instantly turned into an enraged wild lion.
"It's still unknown who will win. Maybe you'll die by my sword!"
Nox, full of passion and heroic spirit, would not be threatened. If he disagreed, he would fight, it was that simple.
"Shiki, Captain Rocks is still waiting for me to return. Are you going to stop me?"
Just as both sides were filled with angry solemnity and the air of battle was about to erupt, Shakky stepped forward.
"Kyahahaha, so Shakky, you're here too. Captain Rocks specifically told us to look for you."
After Golden Lion Shiki saw Shakky on Nox's ship, the originally enraged Golden Lion instantly changed his demeanor.
He turned into a defiant yet not overly unruly lion. One could say his change of face was faster than a woman's mood.
As for Shakky, Golden Lion Shiki naturally knew very well. She was an important intelligence executive officers in the Rocks Pirates.
A lot of the Rocks Pirates' intelligence was in her hands. Almost every executive officers in the Rocks Pirates had received intelligence help from Shakky.
Therefore, no matter how foolish Golden Lion Shiki was, he wouldn't offend an intelligence executive officers like Shakky. Otherwise, he wouldn't even know who sold him out one day.