"What are you saying over there, blondie?" As soon as Golden Lion finished speaking, one of Zephyr's students stepped forward—a man in a leather jacket, with white hair and a cigar clenched between his teeth, looking more like a biker thug than a Marine.
"Kid, you're pretty arrogant, aren't you?" Golden Lion narrowed his eyes slightly and reached out to grip Withered Tree and Cherry Blossom Ten, the two Great Grade Swords.
But before he could make a move, Zephyr had already stepped forward. "Smoker! I'll hold off Golden Lion. The rest of you, get out of here now!"
"But..."
"That's an order! Do you understand?"
"Yes! Understood, Admiral Zephyr!"
"Escape?" Golden Lion threw back his head and laughed as though he had heard a joke. "This is my Floating Island. Where do you think you can run to?"
There was a saying: never boast too much, or you would easily get slapped in the face. The moment Golden Lion finished speaking, the slap came.
Smoker, the Marine in question, transformed into a massive cloud of smoke and instantly wrapped around every ship by the shore before plunging straight down.
The Logia Smoke-Smoke Fruit did not grant true Flight Ability, but it did allow its user to drift through the air. With Smoker's abilities, supporting the entire Marine ship while it floated was perhaps a little difficult, but merely slowing its descent was far from impossible.
Although the ships in the world of the Pirate King were made of wood, they were actually extremely sturdy. On top of that, these Marine cadets had all trained their bodies well. As long as they did not fall too quickly, even crashing into the sea would not be much of a problem.
Seeing this, Golden Lion was so furious that his nose nearly twisted out of shape. He had just finished bragging—did he really have to get slapped in the face so quickly?
Without another word, Golden Lion stretched out his hand, and the entire island began to warp dramatically. "Lion's Roar, Earth Roll!"
"Don't even think about it!" Zephyr roared, stomping through the air with Geppo as he charged forward and threw a punch at Golden Lion's head.
Golden Lion had no choice but to halt his attack. The two sharp swords wrapped in Armament Haki instantly became two streaks of golden light, slashing out an X-shaped Sword Qi.
"Lion Cross Slash!"
This had once been one of Golden Lion's sword techniques. However, after he had placed Withered Tree and Cherry Blossom Ten on his legs, he had been unable to use such a delicate technique. Only after fully recovering could he once again unleash the moves from his prime.
With a deafening boom, the crossing sword lights collided directly with Zephyr's iron fist wrapped in Armament Haki. After a violent tremor, Zephyr, who lacked Flight Ability, was ultimately swallowed by the Sword Qi, leaving several small wounds across his body.
Of course, injuries like these were nothing to monsters of their level. But from that single move, Zephyr could already tell that the lion had indeed recovered, perhaps even surpassed his peak. He was probably no match for Golden Lion.
"Judge! Minos! Stop them!" Seeing that the Marine cadets were about to leave the Floating Island, Golden Lion immediately gave the order.
Judge's face was full of hesitation. He was still the king of a World Government Member Nation. If he really attacked the Marines, there would be no turning back!
Judge hesitated under Zephyr's gaze.
Minos, however, had no such mental burden. On the contrary, he wanted to test exactly how strong he had become.
He lowered his body slightly, gripping his longsword with one hand. Minos took a deep breath, then exhaled. As the Breathing Technique circulated, the stream of air he expelled shot out like a sharp sword for three feet.
"Thunderclap and Flash!"
A streak of sword light, like a heaven-shaking rainbow and thunder crashing from the skies, flashed across the air in an instant. Amid a scream, the slowly moving Marine warship was split in two from bow to stern. The thunderous sword light pierced through the ship and shot into the sky, nearly cleaving the clouds apart.
At the same time, Smoke-Smoke Fruit user Smoker let out a cry of pain and reverted to human form. A diagonal wound appeared across his body, blood spraying out. The Sword Qi had pierced through his muscles and ribs, exposing his internal organs.
"Damn it! Smoker!" Zephyr shouted furiously and threw a punch, but Golden Lion merely raised his hand, and a wall carved with a lion's head rose up, swiftly blocking Zephyr's attack.
"You dare get distracted while fighting me? You really don't take me seriously at all, do you, Zephyr?!" Golden Lion sneered. Black lightning faintly crackled around the twin swords in his hands as he brought them down again.
Conqueror's Haki coating! Only now was Golden Lion truly getting serious!
Golden Lion's attacks came like endless waves. The ground trembled as countless lions rose up, blocking Zephyr's escape routes.
On the frontal assault, Golden Lion's sword light was incomparably sharp. His astonishing agility made his already formidable swordsmanship as unfettered as a Pegasus soaring through the heavens. The combination of his abilities and swordsmanship completely suppressed Zephyr.
Golden Lion even casually split the Floating Island apart, forming two separate battlefields to keep his fight with Zephyr from interfering with the other side.
On the other side, after using Thunderclap and Flash, Minos looked at the Marine cadets. "Surrender. You're no match for me now."
"Don't joke around! Hina is a Marine. How could she possibly surrender to pirates?!"
The speaker was a pink-haired girl. With a flick of both hands, two black iron rods shot toward Minos.
"Still refusing to give up until you see the coffin?" Minos sneered and casually knocked aside the two black iron rods.
Unfortunately, this girl's iron rods were merely ordinary iron rods, not some Pain's Chakra rods. Their power was average at best, and in Minos's eyes, they were not even as threatening as ordinary firearms.
Moreover, because of that reckless move, she exposed herself as a Devil Fruit user. Minos immediately realized who she was—Black Cage Hina, a contemporary of Smoke-Smoke Fruit user Smoker, also translated as Hina.
Hina's ability was not particularly powerful, but it was quite bizarre and could easily defeat someone the first time they encountered it.
As long as Hina touched an opponent's body, that part would turn into steel restraints that captured them. For example, after passing her arm through an enemy's body, iron bars would remain behind to bind them. Those unfamiliar with her ability would often be defeated in a single move during close combat.
Of course, for those who had reached a certain level of strength, iron bars were not particularly difficult to break through.
Overall, it was a fairly good Devil Fruit—excellent for crushing weak opponents early on, while still offering some support later.
Minos was not yet strong enough to easily break free from steel, but he was not purely a Body Technique fighter either. When facing such a bizarre ability user, the best approach was naturally to avoid close combat.
With a swing of his longsword, a Flying Slash cleaved toward the group of cadets.
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