Shiki, who had been watching from the sidelines, jolted. His pupils shrank, and the smile on his face froze.
Even Whitebeard, who had been watching the show, widened his eyes in disbelief.
This was one of Golden Lion Shiki's proudest, most closely guarded techniques—the opening move that combined the Float-Float Fruit's ability to hover and build power with the ferocious slashes of Two-Sword Style!
How could Luo Tian possibly...
"Lion Threat: Slash Wave!"
At Luo Tian's low shout, his twin blades swung out in a fierce cross, one after the other, at slightly different angles!
Shrrrk—!!!
The air was ripped apart!
A massive X-shaped sword wave, its edges crackling with wild lightning, blasted through the air!
The next moment, before the stunned eyes of Shiki and Whitebeard, the X-shaped slash cut through the vast sea ahead with the ease of a hot knife through butter!
A colossal trench, dozens of meters wide and stretching straight to the horizon, opened before them!
The seawater on either side was forced apart and remained that way, revealing the dark seabed below!
Such power, such force, such precision and speed!
Neither Shiki nor Whitebeard had expected Luo Tian not only to imitate the opening move perfectly, but also to execute the technique at such a peak level—perhaps even surpassing the original!
This was no longer "imitation." It was as if Shiki himself had spent decades honing the technique and unleashed it at his absolute peak!
No—in some finer points of control and the efficiency of its power, it might have been even more perfect than Shiki's usual version!
But that wasn't the end!
Before the vast trench in the sea had even begun to close, Luo Tian suddenly moved!
Space warped slightly beneath his feet as he leaped into the air, reaching the perfect height to unleash his strength!
Gripping both swords tightly, he swung his arms in a blur, slashing again and again in crossing arcs!
"Lion Threat: Thousand-Slice Valley!!!"
In an instant, countless waves of sword energy poured down upon another stretch of sea below!
Each one was nearly as powerful and fast as the "Slash Wave" he had just unleashed.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The sea, still unsettled from the "Slash Wave," erupted once more!
Countless columns of water shot skyward, only to be sliced into finer mist by the slashes that followed.
The whole area looked as if it had been repeatedly plowed by countless invisible blades, left utterly shattered.
And Golden Lion Shiki, the creator of this technique, who had spent ten years perfecting it, was so thoroughly shocked that he couldn't speak!
He stood with his mouth agape, his golden hair tousled by the sea breeze.
Snapping out of his daze, Shiki urgently used his Float-Float Fruit powers to rise into the air.
He flew up to Luo Tian's height, disbelief written all over his face, and circled him twice, as if checking whether the person before him was really who he appeared to be.
What the hell! For crying out loud, which one of us is the Golden Lion here?!
I could barely manage to make your relatively simple "Sea-Severing" technique look right.
And you, kid—you quietly learned both of my secret techniques, "Slash Wave" and "Thousand-Slice Valley," and pulled them off flawlessly!
"Ahem! Ahem!"
"Luo Tian! You... you'd better come clean!
How did you manage to train my killing moves to such an... such an unbelievable level in just one month?!"
Luo Tian smiled. "It's simple..."
Shiki waited expectantly for him to finish.
"If you've got hands, you can do it. If you suck, just practice more." Luo Tian shrugged.
Pfft—Shiki nearly fainted from anger.
The aftershocks of Luo Tian's "Slash Wave" and "Thousand-Slice Valley" still churned the surrounding sea into chaos.
More than ten nautical miles away, a pirate ship with a distinctive skull sporting a wide, curled mustache painted on its sail was cruising leisurely along a New World route.
The ship belonged to the legendary man who would one day be crowned Pirate King: Gol D. Roger.
By now, the Roger Pirates had become a mighty force, infamous throughout the New World and a constant thorn in the side of Marine Headquarters.
They were powerful enough to roam the seas at will. Apart from the colossal Rocks Pirates, a gathering place for countless monsters, few could rival them.
Their captain, Roger, was a man of unfathomable strength, with formidable Haki, exquisite swordsmanship, and a powerful physique. He was every bit the equal of top fighters like Whitebeard and Golden Lion, and even surpassed them in some respects.
Their vice captain, the "Dark King" Silvers Rayleigh, was both brilliant and resourceful, with swordsmanship that had reached the divine.
Their core officer, Scopper Gaban, was just as unfathomably powerful.
The mood aboard the Roger Pirates' ship was relaxed.
The crew polished their weapons and tended the sails. Roger was laughing heartily as he chatted with Rayleigh and Gaban, a bottle of liquor in his hand.
But then—
Everything changed!
A colossal golden cross-shaped slash suddenly hurtled through the air from the distant island!
It was so fast and powerful that it seemed ready to cleave the sea—and the ship upon it—in two!
The relaxed atmosphere aboard the ship instantly froze.
On deck, Rayleigh, a bespectacled man with short blond hair and a beard, narrowed his eyes!
His right hand shot to his sword hilt. He drew, turned, and slashed.
CLANG—!!!
Amid a clear ring of steel, a moonlike sword wave burst forth, meeting the golden cross-shaped slash head-on!
BOOM—!!!!!
A deafening blast erupted across the sea!
The two terrifying slashes collided violently, exploding in a blinding flash and sending wild streams of sword energy in every direction!
A gale sprang up, the sails snapped, and the sea was blasted into a vast hollow.
In the end, Rayleigh split the golden slash apart in midair, and it dissolved into sparkling fragments.
"Tch..." Rayleigh landed steadily back on deck and slid his sword into its sheath.
Adjusting his glasses, he gazed toward the island with a grave expression. "The aura of that slash... Was that Golden Lion Shiki?"
He had sensed a familiar trace in the energy left behind by the attack.
By the ship's rail, Gaban kept polishing his enormous battle-axe and confirmed without looking up:
"You're not mistaken, Rayleigh. That was definitely Golden Lion Shiki's 'Slash Wave.'"
He paused, a knowing smile crossing his face. "At this distance, its power had already weakened considerably.
"Or maybe... that guy doesn't consider us worth his attention and was just testing his blade, with the slash going wide?"
Roger, who had been standing at the bow, burst into hearty laughter. "Hahahahaha! What a coincidence!
"I never expected to run into that arrogant Shiki in such a remote stretch of sea! Is this his new way of saying hello?"
Still smiling, Roger slowly closed his eyes, and his expression grew a little more serious.
His unique, top-tier Observation Haki, almost like the "Voice of All Things," spread silently around him.
"Interesting..." A keen, intrigued smile tugged at his lips.
"Shiki and Newgate are indeed on the island. But... the ones who used 'Slash Wave' and 'Thousand-Slice Valley' just now weren't Shiki himself."
At those words, Rayleigh's expression shifted. Even Gaban stopped polishing his axe and looked surprised.
Before you continue