Lion's Might. Earth Scroll (Seeking Votes)

"Eh? Who the fuck are you? You dare meddle in my business?"

Golden Lion Shiki roared domineeringly, a thick cigar still clenched between his teeth.

When he narrowed his eyes and saw that the person amid the light and flames was not Kizaru, one of Marine Headquarters' admirals, he sneered inwardly. So he was just some nobody!

"I'm Norse, vice-captain of the Kuja Pirates. Have you never seen my wanted poster? Or is a cross-era great pirate like you going to look down on a nobody like me?"

Norse strode toward Golden Lion Shiki, ready to properly take on this lawless bastard.

Although Shiki was exceedingly arrogant, he was also deeply calculating. How could he possibly be provoked by the other party?

"Go fetch me the wanted posters related to the Kuja Pirates."

Shiki suddenly ordered the lackey beside him.

To kill Norse with absolute certainty, he had decided it would be safer to first learn more about his opponent's background and information. Based on what had been shown so far, this man's methods were already far from ordinary.

"Captain, have you forgotten what kind of paper we've been using whenever we take a shit these past few days?"

The pirate lackey said helplessly, "We really can't produce one now. But if Captain wants to know about this Norse, I do remember that there was indeed a poster on the Kuja Pirates' ship with Norse's bounty record."

"What the hell did you say?"

Shiki flew into a rage upon hearing that. Unable to restrain himself, he slapped the pirate lackey across the face and roared, "One hundred Beli? Fuck your mother! As expected, you're nothing but a useless piece of trash!"

"Captain, Captain, everything I said is absolutely true! The Norse on the wanted poster was a rather good-looking woman, and the bounty really was one hundred Beli—unless the World Government and Marine Headquarters have seriously fucked up this time!"

The pirate lackey was sent flying several meters, with several teeth knocked out, yet he remained utterly loyal to Shiki. He crawled back and clung to Shiki's leg, insisting that there had not been a single lie in his words!

"Hmph, trash among trash. You actually dared mislead me into thinking my opponent was a pirate worth one hundred Beli!"

Shiki kicked the lackey beneath his feet toward Norse and said coldly, "Since you're so certain, why don't you charge to the front and take care of him for me!"

The pirate lackey who had been kicked away transformed into a half-beast birdman midway through the air. His expression was savage and agonized as his limbs twisted and forcibly thickened into incomparably sharp eagle talons. Then a pair of fleshy wings suddenly sprouted from his back, lined with rows of sharp keratin spikes.

"Ahhh!!! I'll tear your body apart for the captain!"

His altered body had made the pirate lackey crazed and twisted. With his heart wrenching in agony, he lunged at Norse, who had already landed on the island ship.

Norse watched the birdman with cold composure.

Who knew what unbelievable experiments Golden Lion Shiki had conducted in secret over the years?

Yet judging from this pirate lackey's transformation, Golden Lion had clearly gone mad enough to use human bodies to endure IQ mixed with beast-gene drugs, causing breakthrough changes in the human body.

But this transformation was obviously not something the human body could sustain. It was essentially consuming life force the entire time to maintain the beast form. So even if Norse did not kill him now, he would still die the next moment when his flesh-and-blood body could no longer bear the strain.

"Pathetic. Still, everything you're doing now shows loyalty to your captain. If you want to prove your worth before dying, you'd be more valuable dead in the sea, feeding the fish!"

An exceptionally slender flame-woven light sword appeared in Norse's hand, looking more like an electric baton. With a casual horizontal slash, it moved as fast as light itself, as though it had sliced through the space in its path.

The birdman actually instinctively raised his sharp eagle claws to block the attack from Norse's Logia ability. Little did he know that the flame-woven light sword ignored all physical defenses. In an instant, it split his claws and body in two. Before he could even react, his head had already been separated from his body.

"Shiki, didn't you tell them that only Haki or Armament Haki users can block attacks from a Logia ability? Or did you think my light sword was too dull to cut through his body?" Norse took a few steps forward and swung the bisected lackey's corpse off the battlefield, sending it into the sea.

"Pathetically weak!"

Golden Lion Shiki showed no sympathy for his companion's death. Instead, he was disappointed by it. In anger, he viciously hurled the cigar from his mouth onto the ground and said murderously, "But I'll make sure you never see tomorrow's sun, brat. I'll definitely take the other women of the Kuja Pirates with me! Jiehahaha..."

"Then let the battle begin!"

Norse suddenly vanished from where he stood, leaving behind nothing but a hazy afterimage.

Boom!

Golden Lion Shiki used his powerful Observation Haki to sense Norse's movements with perfect clarity. The two famous swords beneath his feet, Sakura Ten and Withered Wood, blocked a strike before he pulled away from Norse again.

"Hmph!"

Golden Lion snorted coldly.

He had never fought a battle he was not sure of winning, nor had he ever fought one he could not escape from unscathed. More importantly, this island ship was his means of flight—how could he truly start a massive battle on it?

"Brat, taste my flying slash attack!"

Shiki cursed as he swung a kick through the air toward Norse, unleashing a fast, precise, and ruthless golden sword aura. Space exploded in its wake, while the island ship's surface cracked open into a massive gash three feet wide under the strain.

Then, taking advantage of the opportunity, Shiki left the island ship and rapidly fell toward the sea thousands of meters below.

"As expected, you're a cunning old fox!"

Norse gripped his swords with both hands. His dual-sword style under Armament Haki was executed with masterful skill, and he instantly shattered the sword aura Golden Lion Shiki had sent at him. Then he pursued Golden Lion Shiki, intent on stopping the bastard from attacking the Kuja Pirates' ship.

Whoosh!

However, just as Norse shot out from the island ship, dozens of flying slashes—each more terrifying than the last—rose directly at him from below in an extremely dangerous barrage.

Norse could only react in time to counter more than half of the flying slashes. Several still could not be neutralized enough to remove the threat they posed to him.

In an instant, several glaring wounds were cut into Norse's arms and thighs from the side, blood pouring from them without stopping.

At that moment, Norse had no choice but to admit that his combat experience was still lacking. He simply could not compare to an old bastard like this, one who was both battle-hardened and scheming.

But everyone had a line that could not be crossed. Hancock and the others were his saviors. If anyone dared hurt them in front of him, then even if he had to become an ancient weapon and go completely berserk, he would still end them!

Thus, Norse transformed into an enraged sun, as though he could erupt in a nuclear explosion at any moment. Even hundreds of meters above the sea, the space and ocean within dozens of miles seemed to be boiling in a blazing inferno.

Shiki's reaction was fast enough as well.

He immediately launched a sneak attack on the Kuja Pirates, causing their ship to lose gravity and float continuously into the sky. Then he once again used the Paramecia Float-Float ability, slamming a palm toward the sea surface.

"Lion Majesty: Earth Coiling, Devour!"

P.S. I worked overtime too late today.

Would anyone be willing to tip one yuan and help me claim a fan spot? I also want to see how many friends are following along, so I can have an idea and keep up the motivation to post twice a day. Please? Thank you, everyone.