The Heart of a Strong Man, Shiki's Defeat

As the light faded, the terrifying sound of the explosion finally rang in everyone's ears.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The blazing sword energy Roya had unleashed grew clearer and larger in Golden Lion's eyes.

At that moment, he had nowhere left to hide.

"Bang!!!"

Another explosive crash rang out.

It was the sound of the sword energy striking Golden Lion's body.

The many Marine soldiers who witnessed the scene were shaken to the core!

In their minds, Golden Lion, a man of overwhelming strength, had actually been defeated by this mysterious person with a single sword strike!

And so cleanly, at that.

"How is that possible?!"

"That's Golden Lion!"

"That flying pirate was defeated by this mysterious man in one strike!"

They could vaguely make out Golden Lion's outline, warped and distorted by the rising flames.

There were no screams, only the continuous sound of burning fire.

No one dared imagine just how much pain Golden Lion was enduring within those searing flames.

If it had been them, they would likely have been screaming in agony before being reduced to nothing.

When the flames finally dispersed, Golden Lion, blackened like charcoal, came into view.

His golden hair, once draped across the ground, had vanished completely. His entire body was charred black, giving off the stench of burnt coal.

Yet even in such a miserable state, Golden Lion still slowly raised his hand through sheer force of will.

Everyone who saw it felt a chill run through their hearts.

"No way, Golden Lion still has the strength to fight back?!"

"Can he still have any power left in that condition?"

"What terrifying willpower!"

Seeing this, Roya knew that Golden Lion's will was willing, but his body could no longer keep up. Still, he had to admit that Golden Lion possessed the heart of a true strong man.

Thus, Roya softly said in a voice only Golden Lion could hear, "I take back what I said before. I acknowledge you as a strong man."

After saying that, Roya turned around and activated the Chicken Talisman.

In the blink of an eye, he vanished from everyone's sight and left with effortless grace.

Golden Lion clenched his teeth tightly. After hearing Roya's words, the severely wounded man suddenly recalled what he had once said to Gol D. Roger.

"You bastard, one day, I will definitely defeat you!"

After saying that, Golden Lion could no longer hold on. He closed his eyes and fell straight from the sky, smashing heavily into the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.

Only then did Sengoku and the others recover from their shock.

He stared deeply in the direction Roya had left. In his Great Buddha form, his hands clenched tightly in unwilling frustration.

"That bastard actually got away again!"

Sengoku said bitterly. At the same time, he released his Great Buddha form and ordered those around him, "Immediately restrain Golden Lion with Sea-Prism Stone shackles and return him to the sixth level of Impel Down's Infinite Prison."

After giving the follow-up orders, Sengoku looked at the carefree Garp beside him and said, "The mission was only half completed, yet you can still laugh? Tell me, what are you thinking?"

"I really didn't expect this mysterious man to possess not only unparalleled flames and swordsmanship, but also the same ability as Golden Lion. And the Op-Op Fruit should be in his hands as well. I'm truly curious how he managed it."

After saying that, Garp slowly put away his smile. "But from the looks of it, the sea is about to fall into chaos!"

Hearing Garp's words, Sengoku could not help but sigh. "Yes, the sea is about to fall into chaos. This mysterious man has ruined our operations time and time again. What a damnable bastard!"

This time, he had even defeated Golden Lion, who had just escaped from prison, with a single sword strike.

Although Golden Lion had only just escaped and was in poor condition, with both legs severed and no longer at the peak realm of a Great Swordsman,

his Devil Fruit ability had grown tremendously stronger. Even so, Roya had defeated him in one strike and burned him black like charcoal.

This undoubtedly refreshed Sengoku's understanding of Roya's strength once again.

--

At that moment, Roya was rapidly flying toward the Holy Land of Mary Geoise, because the system had issued his next sign-in mission.

[Ding, sign-in mission issued: Holy Land of Mary Geoise. Reward: a random top-tier Devil Fruit with no side effects. Time limit: 3 days.]

Roya used the power of the Chicken Talisman to swiftly float through the air.

But moving this way alone was simply too troublesome.

He planned to borrow Golden Lion's method.

After flying through the air for most of the day, Roya finally spotted an island in the sea.

Without any hesitation, Roya landed directly on that island.

The Chicken Talisman activated at full power, and a faint blue glow covered the island in an instant.

Under Roya's control, the island slowly rose into the air.

After the island left, countless waves collided beneath it, raising surging swells across the sea.

After turning the island into a floating island, Roya flew toward the Holy Land of Mary Geoise.

The Holy Land of Mary Geoise was located between the first and second halves of the Grand Line, at the peak of the Red Line.

It was home to the Celestial Dragons and contained countless top-tier combatants and intelligence agencies. Signing in there could be called an extremely dangerous undertaking!

But Roya had already formed a plan.

In the blink of an eye, three days passed, reaching the final day of the time limit.

Roya arrived above the Holy Land of Mary Geoise without any hurry.

It was night, with dark clouds covering the sky and no stars or moon in sight.

This was precisely what Roya had intended. He had deliberately chosen to come here at night.

The floating island beneath Roya's feet seemed to blend into the pitch-black night sky. It was impossible to spot, and no one would pay it any attention.

Standing at the outermost edge of the floating island, Roya looked down upon the Holy Land of Mary Geoise below.

Firelight blazed from the Holy Land of Mary Geoise beneath him.

Roya could faintly see unrest brewing below.

Roya raised a hand and pressed down the brim of his hat. If he remembered correctly, there had once been a disturbance at the Holy Land of Mary Geoise.

It had been when Fisher Tiger, once a slave himself, climbed the Holy Land of Mary Geoise with his bare hands and freed tens of thousands of slaves.

This unrest would make it even easier for Roya to fish in troubled waters and secretly infiltrate the Holy Land of Mary Geoise without being discovered.

Leaning forward, Roya jumped straight down from the floating island.

The cold wind of the night blew against Roya's cloak.

As Roya rapidly descended toward the Holy Land of Mary Geoise,

the chaos within the Holy Land became clearer and clearer in his eyes.

As Roya fell swiftly through the air, he even saw that Marineford had dispatched warships in the distance, rushing toward this place.

"What a beautiful sight."

Roya murmured, then concealed himself and arrived at the Holy Land of Mary Geoise...