East Blue.
Above Proceus Island, several floating islands drifted silently amid the clouds.
Among them, the largest island housed the palace of the legendary pirate, Shiki the Golden Lion.
Its original name had been "Merveille," a remote island Shiki discovered after escaping from Impel Down. The island was home to aggressive animals mutated by ingesting plants containing the "IQ" compound. Shiki, using his powers, lifted the entire island into the sky and converted it into one of his aerial domains.
He renamed it Strong World.
For the past twenty years, Shiki had hidden from the world, retreating to this sky fortress with his trusted scientist, Dr. Indigo, researching the properties of IQ and plotting his return.
His grand plan was to unleash these monstrous beasts on East Blue—Roger's birthplace and the so-called "weakest sea"—as a show of power, an act of revenge against the World Government.
At this moment, a grand feast was taking place within the palace atop Strong World.
Shiki, with his flowing golden hair and the ship's rudder embedded in his head, wore a traditional orange-yellow striped kimono. He danced gleefully below his throne alongside Dr. Indigo and a massive gorilla, moving to a rhythm only they understood.
Since the rudder became lodged in his skull, Shiki's behavior had grown increasingly eccentric.
He would often space out without warning, or spout utter nonsense—strange antics that veered between terrifying and comical. Outside of battle, his biggest passions were dancing and making a spectacle of himself.
Seated cross-legged below the throne were rows of peculiar pirate captains.
These were not members of the Golden Lion Pirates, but rather a ragtag group of nobodies Shiki had gathered over the years—vicious, unprincipled men lacking true strength but exuding the cutthroat, chaotic aura of real pirates.
They were ruthless, bloodthirsty, lawless criminals.
And that was precisely the quality Shiki found most appealing.
He didn't consider them comrades, only tools.
The pirate captains drank and roared with laughter as they watched Shiki dance.
Suddenly, he froze mid-movement.
The moment one of the floating test islands was destroyed, Shiki sensed it instantly.
That island had been intentionally dropped to test Kouta. And now, it was gone.
A wicked smile curled across his lips.
"Gehahaha! That silver-haired brat's got a bit of bite, huh?"
Lighting a cigar, Shiki took a long drag, then turned toward his eccentric deputy.
"Dr. Indigo, I'm heading out for a bit. Keep the party going."
"Kahlulu! Kahlulu!"
Dr. Indigo replied with exaggerated gestures and mimed movements, flailing about like a stage performer.
Shiki blinked at him in confusion. "Huh?"
Seeing Shiki's blank stare, Indigo stomped in place, making long squeaky noises like gas escaping a balloon.
"Pfffzzzz... pffffzzz..."
Just as Shiki seemed about to yell at him, Indigo suddenly spoke.
"I said go on already!"
Shiki stared in shock. "You can talk?!"
"Gehahahahaha!"
Shiki burst into laughter, then threw on his cloak and soared out of the palace.
As he vanished into the sky, a bounty poster fluttered to the ground behind him—the face of Kouta staring up from the parchment.
The pirate captains glanced at it, but none reacted.
A rookie with a 70 million bounty? Nothing worth losing sleep over.
To them, and especially to Shiki, it meant nothing.
After all, this was the man once hailed alongside Gol D. Roger and Whitebeard as one of the strongest pirates alive. A living legend who once invaded Marineford and escaped from Impel Down, the world's most secure prison.
…
Back on the ground.
The bearded bartender, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, suddenly froze, his eyes bulging in disbelief as he stared toward the sky.
As the dust settled, a golden figure hovered in midair before Kouta.
The bartender trembled uncontrollably.
That golden silhouette...
"Are you kidding me?! What's he doing in East Blue?!"
It was impossible to forget. Twenty years ago, this very man had wrought chaos upon Marine Headquarters.
At the time, the bartender had still been a recruit, training in the rear lines. He hadn't participated in the battle itself, but he remembered the carnage vividly—the shattered walls of Marineford, the rivers of blood, the overwhelming fear.
Now, seeing that figure again, he couldn't suppress the terror rising in his chest.
Nearby Marines looked on, baffled.
"Has the Colonel gone mad?"
They couldn't recognize Shiki from this distance. To them, he was just a speck of gold in the sky.
One soldier rushed up to the colonel and shook him by the shoulders.
"Colonel! Sir! Are you alright?"
His voice snapped the man from his trance.
Thoughts raced through the colonel's mind.
There was no time to waste.
Only he knew how dangerous that man in the sky truly was.
He cast one last glance at Shiki, steeling himself as fear clawed at his chest.
Then he jumped to his feet, yelling urgently.
"Stop standing around! Now's not the time to dawdle!"
"Move it!"
"Gather the villagers and get everyone to the harbor—we're evacuating immediately!"
If Shiki was here, there was no telling how many floating islands were above them.
If a battle broke out between Kouta and Shiki, their shockwaves alone could destroy the island below.
Two master swordsmen colliding above them was not a sight they wanted to witness.
And if Shiki decided to drop another island, there would be no escape.
"Why, sir? What's going on?"
The Marines remained confused.
"No time to explain! Just tell them this—if they don't move now, they'll die. Hurry!"
Seeing the colonel's panic, the Marines finally understood the urgency.
They scattered across the village, sounding the alarm.
None of them knew exactly what was coming.
But they knew it was big enough to make a hardened officer tremble.
Big enough for him to order the complete evacuation of an island.
…
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