Golden Lion's Fury!

Somewhere in the New World.

With a thunderous bang, an island floating high in the sky trembled.

Huge cracks spread across it, and countless rocks came crashing down.

They smashed into the sea, sending up one enormous water column after another.

"Impossible!!"

A roar of fury, as savage as a lion king's, swept through the clear sky alongside dark-red shockwaves. The surrounding white clouds were torn apart and blown away in an instant.

"B-Boss..."

Inside the banquet hall on the floating island.

Several hundred pirates who had joined the Flying Pirate Crew less than three years ago stared in terror at the bottomless slash mark in the middle of the room, one that had nearly split the entire hall in two. They scrambled and crawled frantically backward to either side.

On the platform, Golden Lion Shiki gripped the famed blade Oto tightly, consumed by overwhelming rage.

His fury was so intense that he kept panting heavily, his eyes crimson as blood.

The ship's wheel embedded in his head throbbed faintly as well.

Just moments ago, he had slashed the newspaper on the tea table into dust with a single swing.

"Roger! Roger was a man I acknowledged!"

"How could he—how could he have been captured by those worthless Marines? How could—?!"

Shiki roared again.

At the same time, immensely powerful Conqueror's Haki erupted from his body.

Large numbers of people immediately rolled their eyes back and collapsed to the floor.

In the blink of an eye, only a handful remained standing, their legs trembling.

Yet Shiki paid no attention to his subordinates. Wielding his twin swords, he transformed into a streak of gold and shot out of the hall.

He completely ignored the shouts of several officers behind him, flying away from the floating island at tremendous speed.

About five minutes later, Shiki vanished from sight.

Just as those officers stood there at a loss, the ground beneath their feet suddenly began to shake violently.

Their faces instantly turned deathly pale.

Soon, the entire floating island fell like a massive meteor.

With a thunderous crash, it stirred up terrifying waves before sinking into the depths of the sea.

From that moment onward, the Flying Pirate Fleet, which had terrorized the seas for nearly fifteen years, disappeared!

Marine Headquarters, Marineford.

"What? Golden Lion Shiki is going to attack this place?!"

Inside the Fleet Admiral's office, Admiral Sengoku had only just sat down when he heard Fleet Admiral Kong's report and sprang up from the sofa.

Even Garp, who was sitting opposite him eating senbei, stopped moving.

"Yes. The Five Elders just sent word, so we need to prepare as quickly as possible!"

Fleet Admiral Kong, his mountain-like head of white hair standing out, wore an extremely grave expression.

"If that's the case, Shiki must have set out for this place after reading today's newspaper. Factoring in the distance and the speed of the floating island, he should arrive around tomorrow morning?"

Sengoku voiced his thoughts.

But Fleet Admiral Kong shook his head. "No. The Five Elders said he'll be coming alone!"

"Alone?" Garp raised a brow.

"How could he dare?" Sengoku was equally astonished and confused. He immediately asked, "How did the Five Elders know this?"

"I don't know. They didn't say, but if you think about it, it's not hard to guess." Fleet Admiral Kong sighed.

"There's a Cipher Pol agent within the Flying Pirate Crew!"

Sengoku immediately made the connection. "That spy must have personally seen Shiki leave alone before sending the intelligence, which is why it's so precise."

"Yes." Fleet Admiral Kong nodded.

For a time, neither spoke, and the office fell silent.

Cipher Pol's intelligence-gathering capabilities were simply too terrifying, making them all the more wary and vigilant.

Then Garp spoke with a serious expression.

"What do we do next?"

No matter how carefree he was, even he understood the gravity of Golden Lion Shiki's impending attack.

"If he's coming alone, he'll definitely be faster. He'll arrive tonight—no, before tonight!" Sengoku said gravely.

"Then we wait for him. When he comes, we capture him!" Garp clenched his right fist.

"No."

Sengoku shook his head. Meeting Fleet Admiral Kong's gaze, he said, "We can't make Marineford the battlefield. Otherwise, it'll certainly cause massive destruction and casualties. But we can't be too far from here either, since Shiki's target is this place."

Fleet Admiral Kong pondered for a moment, then nodded in agreement and asked, "What do you have in mind? Let's hear it."

Sengoku slowly sat back down on the sofa. His brows furrowed as he began to think.

There were only three islands around Marineford: Enies Lobby, Impel Down, and the Sabaody Archipelago.

Clearly, none of those places could be used as a battlefield.

But without an island, were he and Garp supposed to fight at sea?

That would mean an aerial battle.

Against Golden Lion Shiki, a Float-Float Fruit user, that would give him far too great an advantage.

"What if we clear out a few Warships, gather them together, and place them in the waters outside Marineford?"

Fleet Admiral Kong came up with an idea.

"That could work, but a few probably won't be enough. Even if Garp and I join forces, taking down Shiki won't be easy. At least ten Warships."

Time passed little by little, and the golden sun high in the blue sky slowly began to descend.

Before long, it had become the setting sun, bathing the horizon in golden light.

Traces of night gradually appeared in the sky.

Suddenly, five Marine Warships appeared in the distant sky from the direction of the New World, floating high in the air.

The deck of every one of them was covered with the corpses of Marines.

Among them were several officers wearing Coats of Justice.

An extremely thick stench of blood filled the air around the five Warships.

From time to time, blood that had long since gone cold dripped from their hulls into the waves below.

Like demonic ships from the Abyss, they sped over the sea.

Golden Lion Shiki sat cross-legged atop the lookout tower of one of the Warships.

He glared furiously at the island ahead, where a dark silhouette had already come into view.

Marine Headquarters, Marineford—he had arrived!

He slowly rose to his feet, his hands tightening around his twin swords.

But as the distance rapidly closed, Shiki's pupils suddenly contracted.

Though he still could not see anything with his eyes, his Observation Haki had already sensed two immensely powerful and deeply familiar presences.

Shiki's heart filled with doubt and shock.

Around twenty minutes later.

The two sides had drawn close enough to see one another clearly.

Shiki finally saw two burly men in white Coats of Justice over black suits.

They appeared to be standing atop the calm sea?

"Sengoku! Garp!"

The five Floating Warships gradually slowed.

Golden Lion Shiki ground out their names through clenched teeth, the malice and killing intent in his eyes utterly undisguised.

At the same time, he saw what lay beneath their feet: ice.

A vast ice field that had frozen the entire sea around Marineford!

Clearly, the Marines had prepared for this long ago.

"You finally came. I've been waiting here for two damn hours. Later, I'm going to pound you with a few good punches!"

Garp rolled his thick neck and powerful arms, baring his teeth in a savage grin as he looked up at Shiki.

"Shiki, think this through. If you make a move today, don't even think about leaving."

Standing on the frigid ice, Sengoku spoke with a grim face.

Shiki flew into a rage at those words.

Since he had dared to come here, he had already prepared himself.

He needed an explanation!

"Tell me!"

"How did worthless Marines like you capture Roger?!"

"Bring him here! Even if he is to be killed, only I can cut him down with my own hands. He was a man I acknowledged!"

Sengoku and Garp gave no answer.

How could that possibly happen?

They only felt that Shiki was living in a dream.

The two exchanged a glance, then wordlessly tore off their Coats of Justice and flung them aside before striding slowly toward Shiki.

On the other side.

At Golden Lion's roar, the five enormous, blood-soaked Warships came crashing down like the sky itself was collapsing.

"Give Roger back to me!"

At the edge of Marineford's plaza behind them, Kuzan, dressed in black with a purple shirt, sat slumped on the ground and panted heavily, wearily watching the great battle erupt in the distance.