The Cipher Pol Aigis Zero agents discussing Rocks and the bunch of villains under his command shivered in unison, tacitly steering clear of that terrifying name.
"Anyway, aside from the one on our ship, there's another freak in the Grand Line recently. He seems to be fifteen as well, and the paths these two guys took are pretty similar—both became the strongest warrior of their country at the age of ten.
A year ago, that guy named Kaido was sold out to the Marines by the king of the Vodka Kingdom who wanted participation rights in the Reverie, but unfortunately he managed to escape. Otherwise, once we returned to the Holy Land this time, these two freaks could have met. Maybe we could have seen which of them is stronger!"
The Cipher Pol Aigis Zero agents shifted the topic to Kaido, another freak on the sea of the same age and with the same background, origin, and betrayal by his own country as Oak. They sighed that had he not escaped, they might have even witnessed a clash between the two freaks after this mission ended.
Both freaks were known for their resilient physiques and possessed the strength to annihilate a country single-handedly even in their childhood days.
"Get real, don't overthink it and focus on finishing this mission. The target on this ship is someone the Five Elders specifically named. If any mistakes happen, none of us can bear the consequences!"
One Cipher Pol Aigis Zero agent spoke up, reminding everyone that the priority now was the mission, not debating which freak was the strongest.
"What's the big deal?"
Another Cipher Pol Aigis Zero agent acted indifferently.
"This guy has already fallen into our hands, and every day we make him inhale enough anesthetic to knock out several large Sea Kings. Surely he doesn't have any tricks to escape, or is some fool blind enough to attack our armed ship..."
Before he could finish, he was interrupted by yet another Cipher Pol Aigis Zero agent.
"Not necessarily. We're already in the Grand Line. Who's to say we won't run into the monsters under the command of Roc... Rocks? After all, the entire Grand Line is the active territory of those freaks."
Bringing up Rocks, this Cipher Pol Aigis Zero agent instinctively slurred the man's name, as if mortally afraid that the freak might hear him.
"We couldn't be that unlucky!"
The first Cipher Pol Aigis Zero agent replied upon hearing this, refusing to believe he could be so unlucky as to encounter such an infinitesimal probability event.
Yet sometimes people truly were that unlucky. The more they feared something, the more it happened. The moment his words fell,
"Rumble~"
The warship beneath their feet gave a distinct jolt, and then everyone felt their position continuously rising along with the warship.
"What's going on?"
The entire warship rocked violently during its ascent, tossing everyone on board in a dizzy blur. Those who had been knocked unconscious by Oak's Conqueror's Haki all woke up from the pain of various collisions against the hull, but just as they woke up and before they could figure out what was happening, they heard a "swish" sound, followed by the warship splitting from the middle into upper and lower halves.
The Cipher Pol Aigis Zero agents at the very bottom of the hold looked up and saw the upper cabin and an entire deck right above their heads.
"Plop, plop, plop~"
Amidst a flurry of dumplings dropping into water, the armed personnel who had just woken up on the deck and upper cabin fell into the sea one by one.
"Boom~"
Crashing down into the sea last was the deck and cabin that grazed the lower half of the hull. After landing, it kicked up massive waves, yet not a single drop fell around Cipher Pol Aigis Zero and Oak.
The Cipher Pol Aigis Zero agents looked down and realized that, unawares, they had risen to a height of hundreds of meters in the sky. Looking up, they saw blue skies and white clouds, and beneath the blue skies and white clouds, a golden, domineering figure floating there.
He chewed on a cigar, his long golden hair trailing to the ground like a lion's mane. He held two long swords flashing with cold light in his hands and burst into laughter: "Ghahahaha!"
"Gol... Gold... Golden Lion Shiki!"
Cipher Pol Aigis Zero gasped in shock, recognizing the domineering figure overhead. For a moment their voices knotted and their teeth chattered.
"Scram, small fry!"
Golden Lion descended boldly from the sky, landing on the lower half of the hull that his power kept floating in the air. Ignoring the Cipher Pol Aigis Zero agents, he strode directly toward the cell where Oak was locked.
"H-Halt..."
The Cipher Pol Aigis Zero agent who finally mustered the courage to try and stop him was enveloped by the sword qi erupting from the two long swords in his hands before he could even get close. A flash of white sword light later, there were no Cipher Pol Aigis Zero agents left in place; there was only a patch of drifting blood mist. These top agents, hailed as the "strongest shields of the Celestial Dragons," hadn't even taken a single blow from him before being completely buried in this sea area.
Plunged into a deep coma, Oak vaguely felt something slapping his face. When he opened his eyes, he was greeted by a familiar, ugly large face and a sword hilt forcefully striking his cheek.
"Finally awake!"
Seeing his eyes finally open, a malicious grin spread across that ugly face, and the next instant Oak felt a tremendous force transmit from his face. In the split second his entire body spun 180 degrees in place and flipped 360 degrees vertically, his head crashed embedded straight into the hull.
"What the hell!"
He blurted out a classic line, clenched his fist to smash the entire hull to pieces, and violent wind pressure mixed with hull fragments shot outward in all directions.
Then with a "whoosh" he leaped into the air, snapped the iron chains binding his body, and vanished on the spot with a step on the air.
"Boom~"
With a violent punch, he drove straight at that ugly face. Regardless of why Golden Lion Shiki had appeared here or why he had saved him, since he had been slapped in the face, Oak was bound to hit him back.
"Ghahahaha!"
"The Soru from the Six Powers, and the Hasshoken of the Country of Flowers in the West Blue—you know quite a few tricks, brat!"
Shiki laughed loudly, showing none of the tension of facing a freak going all out, and instead evaluating Oak's moves with keen interest.
The move Oak used to vanish on the spot was one of the Six Powers, Soru, while the impact-wave-laden punch he smashed forward was the Hasshoken habitually used by the Happo Navy of the Country of Flowers in the West Blue. Shiki was very familiar with these techniques.
With a "clang," he raised his swords to parry, a sound of metallic collision ringing out between the blade and Oak's fist.
"Tsk tsk tsk, brat, the toughness of this body of yours is on par with the Steel Bone Balloon of that woman Linlin! No wonder Rocks wants to see you."
Shiki clicked his tongue as he looked at the pair of fists—devoid of any flowing Haki, relying purely on flesh to collide with his two Famous Swords, Oto and Kogarashi—his eyes unable to conceal his curiosity. The toughness of this guy's physique truly was extraordinary. Thus, the next moment, he twisted his wrists and unleashed two massive slashes without holding back at all.
"Swish, swish, swish~"
For the first time in his life, Oak saw sword qi so massive it split the entire ocean right down the middle. He was blasted back over a hundred meters by this single sword strike. Before he could even steady his posture, he felt the collar of his clothing grabbed from behind, followed by a rough voice ringing out.
"Come quietly with me, old man! Rocks is waiting for you lot!"