What Head Was Blown Off? Golden Lion's!

"Enemy attack!!!"

Buggy looked at the pirate fleet descending from the sky and shouted in panic, but his voice quickly fell silent.

A large hand landed on his head. It was Captain Roger.

"Calm down, Buggy. Get ready to fight!"

When he looked up, he saw Roger's ever-unflappable face.

"Long time no see!!! Shiki!!"

"Roger!!!"

At the bow of the lead ship, whose prow was carved with a golden lion's head, stood a man with flowing blond hair amid more than a dozen warships.

This was a true pirate...

Even from afar, Austin could feel the intimidation of a top-tier powerhouse.

A former officer of the Rocks Pirates and one of the New World's three great overlords—

Golden Lion Shiki!!!

"How many times have I told you this, Roger?" Shiki declared grandly, his cloak billowing and a cigar clenched between his teeth. "We may have had plenty of grievances when we were young, but let's put all that behind us!"

"With the world-destroying weapon whose whereabouts you know, plus my forces and my plan, we'll surely conquer the world and make you my right—"

Bang—

Before he could finish, a gunshot cut Shiki off.

Who was it?

Who dared interrupt the Governor while he was speaking? They would definitely be killed, right?

The Flying Pirates grunts broke out in cold sweat and hurriedly looked toward the source of the gunshot.

"Ah... so it still wouldn't work?" A sigh sounded beside Roger.

In the next instant, a black bullet spun ceaselessly against Shiki's Armament Haki-coated face.

Only when its momentum was exhausted did it slowly fall into the sea.

Shiki's words caught in his throat and stopped abruptly. Veins bulged on his forehead as his gaze swiftly locked onto the figure beside Roger.

It was a short-haired youth in a military uniform, and wisps of smoke still rose from the muzzle of the long gun in his hand.

"Bastard!!!"

"You're courting death!!!"

Frightened and furious cries rang out continuously from the Flying Pirates fleet. This act had clearly gravely offended the Admiral's dignity.

However, under Austin's Observation Haki lock-on, none of those shouting threats could escape being sniped.

Red light flashed in his pupils, followed by one crimson muzzle after another.

Bullets infused with Armament Haki and Future Sight could only be blocked with even stronger Armament Haki unless one's Observation Haki surpassed Austin's.

As for the non-officer pirates, it was one shot per person.

"Hahahahaha!!! That's my answer, Shiki!!"

Captain Roger laughed when he saw this.

Clearly, Shiki's face instantly turned red with rage at those words. "So you mean you want me to kill you here?"

"I mean we'll crush every last one of you!!"

Austin had fired the opening shot of the war, and what followed was an exceptionally fierce battle.

Austin first fired a few Black Spear shots. Once the enemy ships drew close, he simply pulled the long blade from his waist and vanished from where he stood with a Soru.

Many lackeys never even saw him move before several wounds suddenly appeared on their bodies.

But officers soon came looking for him.

An abnormally burly man came forward. He seemed to be some sort of captain in the Flying Pirates, though Austin was clearly not very good at remembering unfamiliar faces.

"That brat dared fight Captain Dark? He'll definitely be brutally killed!"

The pirate grunts around them did not dare get close to Austin, but that did not stop them from bragging about their officer.

After all, the difference in size was right there.

A five-foot-three brat against a thirteen-foot-tall giant—the disparity was obvious at a glance.

But Dark, standing before Austin, was clearly not nearly as relaxed, because he could feel an intense sense of danger from this brat!

"In your future, the word victory doesn't exist."

Austin held his black blade one-handed. Though his Armament Haki had not yet reached a profound level due to his age, he could still manage simple coating.

He pursued excitement and battle to better temper his Haki—and to make a name for himself across the seas.

He would claim every single thing in the grand vision Captain Roger had painted for the world.

Wealth, fame, power...

Boom—

The entire deck began to cave in and roll as countless pirate grunts were flung backward. Dark's entire body was coated in gleaming, pitch-black Armament Haki as he charged forward and threw a punch at Austin with all his strength.

Clang—

When the billowing smoke dispersed, the crushing scene the onlookers had imagined was nowhere to be seen. That seemingly slender figure in military uniform stood firmly in place.

Austin had blocked that heavy punch with just one hand coated in Armament Haki!

"Not bad strength, but you're as slow as a snail."

Austin's expression and words brimmed with contempt. That arrogant tone instantly shattered Dark's composure, sending him into a mindless barrage of attacks!

He was surprisingly easy to deal with.

The corner of Austin's mouth curled into a smile, as though he were quite satisfied with Dark's performance.

Future Sight loved dealing with enemies like this—those who could only lash out in useless fury.

Still, Austin admitted that Dark's Armament Haki was more refined than his.

So whenever Austin felt like fighting, he traded punches with him. Whenever he did not, he danced around him like he was walking a dog.

The value of Austin's Armament Haki training kept rising.

Dark, on the other hand, was filled with frustration. His face was so red with rage that he almost seemed ready to awaken Life Return.

He had originally thought he was only dealing with a brat who had offended the Governor. He could earn merit with the Governor while avoiding a fight against the Roger Pirates' monsters. It should have been easy work.

But this brat was far tougher than expected, and the worst part was how good he was at mocking him.

Damn it...

"Urgh...!!!"

Dark threw another punch and felt as though he had struck something solid. A roar even rang out. He was just about to rejoice when he suddenly realized something was wrong.

Cold sweat streamed down from his forehead.

How could this be... How could such monstrous strength exist in a brat!?

After Austin caught his fist, Dark tried to pull it back, only to find that he could not move it at all.

The other boy's strength far exceeded his own!

Horror filled Dark's eyes, but Austin's gaze held nothing but boredom.

"Your purity is still too low. Your Armament Haki isn't even improving as fast as it does after taking a beating from the Captain."

"Lung Fog Pirates."

Austin curled his lip and, with an incomprehensible burst of brute strength, began swinging Dark's entire body around, drawing shocked cries from the surrounding lackeys.

Dark grimaced as he tried to stabilize himself, only to find it completely impossible. His entire body was flung through the air in circles.

With a sudden release, Dark was hurled onto another ship.

Then...

Uh...

Gaban chopped him to the ground with a single axe strike.

After throwing that guy away, Austin simply let loose. Seeing that he had nearly cleared out the nearby grunts, he used Geppo and Soru to rush back toward the bow of the Oro Jackson.

Shanks and Buggy were on the ship too. At that moment, they stood back-to-back, facing off against the pirates surrounding them.

"One Sword Style: Black Light!"

A streak of black sword light swept through the crowd. Wielding his black blade, Austin fought his way over, broke through the encirclement, and reunited with the two of them.

"Great, it's Austin! Austin, get over here!"

The battle was far too brutal. Even though every member of the Roger Pirates was an elite, they were still somewhat overwhelmed by the endless offensive.

The fighters aboard could not even spare attention for the three brats.

Buggy looked fierce on the outside, but he was panicking like crazy inside.

Austin, who had fought his way here, seemed to be glowing all over!